Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Florida: university, dangerous, move)

[robr2]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Not a personal hesitation. I'm getting my vaccine. More or along the lines of legal, however I believe Pfizer will likely be fully approved by the fall, so my hesitation for legal reasons is likely moot.

I think the bigger issue is students from where the Chinese and Russian vaccines are being used. Those may never be approved by the FDA. India has committed to buying or manufacturing almost 1 billion doses of the Russian vaccine and Brazil is using both the Russian and Chinese versions.

[yesmaybe]

AZ is probably never getting approved either.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by robr2

I think the bigger issue is students from where the Chinese and Russian vaccines are being used. Those may never be approved by the FDA. India has committed to buying or manufacturing almost 1 billion doses of the Russian vaccine and Brazil is using both the Russian and Chinese versions.

I don't want AZ and J&J. There's a trend now of just giving J&J to poorer people.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/10/jj-c...questions.html

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by mdovell

I don't want AZ and J&J. There's a trend now of just giving J&J to poorer people.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/10/jj-c...questions.html

J&J is still very effective. They are clearly doing it because one shot is easier.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

J&J is still very effective. They are clearly doing it because one shot is easier.

Exactly. I really wish this notion of "inferior" vs "superior" hadn't taken hold amongst a public that's largely uneducated about what clinical trial efficacy means. Heck, after the past year, I take a dim view of the average American's scientific & statistical knowledge, period.

[elnrgby]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Well, I don't know. Just got off the phone with my friend who is in the hospital with COVID and he sounds better. He's the one who had one shot of Moderna and was due for the next one April 9th. He said he's hoping to get out in time to get the shot. I told him I don't think he'll be getting the shot any time soon. He is immune now and they make people who have had COVID wait for...? months? before getting the shot. What a mess--does he start all over again with shot #1 or does he get shot #2 and when does he get them?

At least he said he got the drug Remdesivir or at least that's what he thinks he got. Said it started with an "R." Could have been the other "R" drug but whatever it is, he sounds better than he did.

From talking with him I also found out what happened to his elderly woman friend who is homebound and was exposed to COVID when he visited her. Turns out she is now in the hospital too. She called 911 and was admitted today. She wasn't returning my calls and I was concerned since she lives alone and twice tried to get the vaccine but both times there was not enough vaccine available when the time came.

I am a bit upset! This woman is almost 80 years old, legally blind, lives alone and should have had the vaccine when it first came out. Now younger people can get vaccinated but they still haven't figured out how to get the vaccine to a homebound elderly person who was in the first group! This is in the Newburyport area.

Sorry, I don't check the MA forum very often even though my primary home is in Boston... so, you seem to be saying your friend got one dose of Moderna, and got COVID requiring hospitalization? How many days after the vaccine did he develop symptoms, and does he have any idea when and how he may have gotten infected with the virus? Why was he hospitalized?

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Exactly. I really wish this notion of "inferior" vs "superior" hadn't taken hold amongst a public that's largely uneducated about what clinical trial efficacy means. Heck, after the past year, I take a dim view of the average American's scientific & statistical knowledge, period.

Right but about that.

https://www.businessinsider.com/mill...eck-nyt-2021-4

"An audit conducted for AstraZeneca specifically highlighted the risks of viral cross-contamination, which experts believe was responsible for tainting the millions of Johnson & Johnson doses, according to a review of the confidential document by The Times. The audits and investigations also flagged a persistent problem with mold in areas required to be kept clean, poor disinfection of some plant equipment leading to growth of bacteria, the repeated approval of raw materials that had not been fully tested, and inadequate training of some employees."

um


"In their own audit last July, Emergent’s auditors said errors “are not investigated to determine root cause, or are not investigated adequately,” a report stated. “Investigations are terminated without sufficient cause.”

In one example, the Emergent auditors said mold had been repeatedly discovered in the room where cell cultures were grown. Mold can be serious if airborne spores contaminate the vaccine substance. Emergent workers conducted “essentially no investigation” beyond checking the wheels of one cart for mold, and wrongly classified the incident as minor, the audit said.

While the Baltimore plant remains under scrutiny, another 62 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine made there are in jeopardy until it can be determined whether they were also contaminated. Over the weekend, Johnson & Johnson assumed responsibility for the manufacturing at the direction of the Biden administration, which also limited future production to only the Johnson & Johnson vaccine."

Is this being made in the "Dings Dongs and Dents" department of building 19?

[OutdoorLover]

As has been said many times, if you compare efficacy rates for J&J vaccine vs BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna, you're not comparing apples and apples, because the conditions they are trialed under, and the trial design, can vary. Per the linked article: "J&J’s phase three trial started about two months behind Pfizer’s and Moderna’s, was conducted more broadly across the world and in countries where more infectious variants that are able to evade the vaccines had already taken hold." - so you'd expect these to be more challenging conditions to run the trial under for J&J.

Moreover, while the % infected observed was 70% lower, the % of deaths and hospitalizations for those receivingthe J&J vaccine was 0%, so it's not like the data looks poor. If I showed up at a vaccination center and they gave me the J&J vaccine I'd take it and say thank you. It's not some dark conspiracy.

[mdovell]

I don't think it's a conspiracy. But the manufacturing process seems to be a bit more screwed up with J&J. The fears people would have with it is that if it is a bad or useless batch and then someone has to take it again. I just had my first shot and the process was pretty smooth and in four weeks I'll do it again. I don't know anyone that would want to go three or four times etc.

[Lampert]

I am hoping to get the J&J vaccine.