rickair7777

UK observes very good protection against hospitalization in elderly after the first shot of two-dose regimens....

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKCN2AT3A5

BoilerUP

Given ThE sCiEnCe that has emerged from the UK and Israel on this specific topic, I'm a bit surprised the US hasn't adopted a modified version of the UK's vaccination plan spreading out doses in order to get a much higher percentage of population inoculated as quickly as possible given still-scarce vaccine resources.

The FDA could double the interval between Pfizer/Moderna shots to 6/8 weeks, respectively, to get more first doses in arms of those under age 65 or so NOW providing clinically-observed protection from both symptomatic illness and strong protection from severe disease, and provide second doses later as production rapidly increases.

I mean, if THE VARIANTS were truly as big a risk as we've been lead to believe, why not go down this path? IMO, risk aversion due to lack of data is a hollow argument at this point.

rickair7777

I'd actually prefer that they stick with the schedule which was tested in the trails. Don't want to end up later this year with everybody vaccinated (who's going to be) but not quite at herd immunity... then what? Have to start trialing boosters or multi-vaccine regimens.

IMO they should make darn sure that everybody gets their second dose on schedule, otherwise you might be mortgaging the future for short-term gains. At this point I think the vast majority of the really at-risk population should have had the opportunity to get it, or will within just a few weeks. Everybody I know over about 70, in multiple states, already had it.

rickair7777

AZ vaccine effective against Brazil variant, may not be as effective against SA variant. Fringe benefit to having multiple vaccines, using different technologies... some will have more utility against certain mutations than others.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN2AX1NS

fcoolaiddrinker

Where I live the county is targeting the homeless with J and J due to the fact their less likely to come back for round 2 when their supposed to if at all.

TransWorld

Probably a good idea.

Gordie H

Congrats, Michael Osterholm agrees with you...I like his ideas / his style. He personally is just taking one shot for now and that's good enough for me to copy. He has other good ideas too but seems the cdc (in typical bureaucratic fashion) won't follow his sensible lead...

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021...cine-shot.html

Nantonaku

He may have been right about many things but he was also wrong on multiple other things. The daily case count is already down at 41k, when the article was written it was at 70k. That is a huge drop, he has been saying the house is on fire for a year now. He totally missed the mark on the great job NY did. Many virologists are not as concerned about variants as he is. And currently the numbers don’t support his concern. He was right about masks and called out the CDC on it when mask mandates were issued with little to no evidence they work. He was also right about the previous mask guidance from the CDC and vaccinated people. They finally changed it this week. It is a little crazy how much he locked himself down being only 67. His risk of death was what, 2 in 1,000? If he was healthy it was most likely way less than that.

PossibleDeviation

You mean "Dr. Doom"?? Dude said back in late January we were heading for a Category 5 hurricane with the amount of cases that were about to come from the "variants".. Whatever happened to that? Don't think we're feelin any breeze from those winds. Also, he just said he wouldn't dare go out to eat at a restaurant even when he was fully vaccinated.. Dude's a quack.

Gordie H

​​​​​​All dude is saying is worse case scenario the variants surge. He knows he could be wrong and says so. But he’s saying plan for the worst and do easy things like spread out the doses (which the data supports). Makes perfect sense to me. He’s definitely hanging it out there saying this stuff and I respect that.