Light at the end of the tunnel: the vaccine

All the shit that doesn't fit!
If it doesn't go into the other forums, stick it in here.
A general free for all
Post Reply
User avatar
Long Run
Posts: 6717
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2010 2:47 pm

Light at the end of the tunnel: the vaccine

Post by Long Run »

Fauci has been in the news in the last week with an optimistic take on a vaccine being ready for use by early 2021 (with the normal provisos). This is consistent with what I hear from investment managers who have their own medical experts -- the vaccine = economic recovery = more profits = positive investment returns -- and investing the billions in their charge accordingly. These are serious people not prone to phony optimism or making a sales pitch. So, if they are right and a vaccine is on the way, it seems policy should follow:

1. Try to limit the spread while still being as "open" as possible. But clearly, being more cautious makes sense if you are highly confident there is an end in sight. So, yes, be cautious with school opening, fall sports, and bars, restaurants and entertainment, etc.

2. Prop up the economy, with a priority to provide aid to those who have been hammered by the shut down, though, for the life of me I don't know how it can be justified to pay people more not to work than they were making when they worked (UE benefits should be capped at 100% of actual pay).

3. I am guessing the U.S. will not be the first country to be providing a vaccine. Should be interesting to see how other countries deal with the same dynamic, as well as how that will affect the rollout.

We are into our sixth month of dealing with this, and there has been a lot of success when there has been the appropriate focus. If the target is another six months and we can begin to get back to our normal, that is doable in the minds of most people. In contrast, if there is an open-ended time when the virus will be handled, then it is fair to ask what is the point of all the sacrifice? Fortunately, it looks like we are looking at the former scenario.

ex-khobar Andy
Posts: 5418
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2015 4:16 am
Location: Louisville KY as of July 2018

Re: Light at the end of the tunnel: the vaccine

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

It will be interesting if, for the sake of argument, China develops a vaccine first.

Will we (US) try to license the formula so we can make it here? Will we say no - not good enough - we gotta have our own? Will there be multiple competing vaccines? We will presumably need 7 billion doses assuming everyone wants one and it's a one dose vaccine. All this will take time - maybe even under the most optimistic scenario a couple of years. Will someone be monitoring the progress during this period and determining that Vaccine A appears to be effective while B & C are 75% effective while D is a waste of time? Will nationalist egos take second place to the science?

User avatar
dales
Posts: 10922
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2010 5:13 am
Location: SF Bay Area - NORTH California - USA

Re: Light at the end of the tunnel: the vaccine

Post by dales »

I heard that the Soviets Russians will have a vaccine by October.

Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.


yrs,
rubato

User avatar
Gob
Posts: 33642
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:40 am

Re: Light at the end of the tunnel: the vaccine

Post by Gob »

Britain has become one of the biggest buyers of potential vaccines against Covid-19, following an agreement to purchase a fourth vaccine that takes the UK stockpile to 250m doses so far.

In a worldwide scramble, which has been criticised by campaigners who warn vaccine nationalism will cause billions of people in poorer countries to lose out, the UK, the US and EU are in effect securing their own supplies. Wealthy countries are able to take a gamble, signing deals for vaccines that may not work.

The latest contract signed by the UK is with the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and its French partner, Sanofi Pasteur, for 60m doses of the Covid-19 vaccine they are developing. It already has deals for 100m doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine and for 90m doses of two others.

The hope is that the UK could begin to vaccinate priority groups, such as frontline health and social care workers and those at increased risk from coronavirus, as early as the first half of next year, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... al-vaccine
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

Post Reply