[News] The Coronavirus Good News thread

*Sky News with positive article shocker*

Entire country could be vaccinated by mid July !

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...-these-figures-are-anything-to-go-by-12188909

Sorrel said:

They told you which vaccine it was? I thought they might not do that in case people had been reading "What Vaccine?" and wanted a different one - but I'm glad to see such openness.

Did they say anything about the second dose? (And remember only positive statements in this thread.)

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Second dose in 10-12 weeks. This extended gap is designed to nearly double the rate at which the population as a whole gets the significant protection from a first dose.
The trials had a much shorter gap, but there is confidence that the overall efficacy will not be impaired. The following is an extract from an article in the British Medical Journal.

"Andrew Pollard, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group and chief investigator into the trial of this vaccine, said that extending the gap between vaccines made biological sense. “Generally, a longer gap between vaccine doses leads to a better immune response, with the second dose causing a better boost. (With HPV vaccine for girls, for example, the gap is a year and gives better responses than a one month gap.) From the Oxford vaccine trials, there is 70% protection after the first dose up to the second dose, and the immune response was about three times greater after the second dose when the second dose was delayed, comparing second dose after four weeks versus second dose after 2-3 months,” he told The BMJ, referring to the MHRA’s summary of product characteristics.11

“With the Pfizer vaccine, there are no published data comparing shorter and longer gaps between doses because all participants had the second dose at 3-4 weeks. However, the biology is straightforward and will be the same as with all vaccines . . . The immune system remembers the first dose and will respond whether the later dose is at three weeks or three months.”

In a statement the British Society for Immunology said, “Most immunologists would agree that delaying a second ‘booster’ dose of a protein antigen vaccine (such as the two approved covid-19 vaccines) by eight weeks would be unlikely to have a negative effect on the overall immune response post-boost. We also would not expect any specific safety issues to arise for the individual due to delaying the second dose, other than an increased potential risk of disease during the extended period due to lowered protection.”

Mr H said:

Second dose in 10-12 weeks. This extended gap is designed to nearly double the rate at which the population as a whole gets the significant protection from a first dose.
The trials had a much shorter gap, but there is confidence that the overall efficacy will not be impaired. The following is an extract from an article in the British Medical Journal.

"Andrew Pollard, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group and chief investigator into the trial of this vaccine, said that extending the gap between vaccines made biological sense. “Generally, a longer gap between vaccine doses leads to a better immune response, with the second dose causing a better boost. (With HPV vaccine for girls, for example, the gap is a year and gives better responses than a one month gap.) From the Oxford vaccine trials, there is 70% protection after the first dose up to the second dose, and the immune response was about three times greater after the second dose when the second dose was delayed, comparing second dose after four weeks versus second dose after 2-3 months,” he told The BMJ, referring to the MHRA’s summary of product characteristics.11

“With the Pfizer vaccine, there are no published data comparing shorter and longer gaps between doses because all participants had the second dose at 3-4 weeks. However, the biology is straightforward and will be the same as with all vaccines . . . The immune system remembers the first dose and will respond whether the later dose is at three weeks or three months.”

In a statement the British Society for Immunology said, “Most immunologists would agree that delaying a second ‘booster’ dose of a protein antigen vaccine (such as the two approved covid-19 vaccines) by eight weeks would be unlikely to have a negative effect on the overall immune response post-boost. We also would not expect any specific safety issues to arise for the individual due to delaying the second dose, other than an increased potential risk of disease during the extended period due to lowered protection.”

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[emoji106][emoji106] The other key point is that a single dose is considered to give sufficient protection against serious illness from the virus even if the recipient does catch it......

More widely, a nice positive summary on this Twitter thread :

https://twitter.com/coronavirusgoo1/status/1350154759899140099?s=21

dazzer6666 said:

... They’re using the Russian-developed vaccine though..........

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Russian vaccine reports 91% effective. now might be cynical they got in the 90% range same as others, its based on the same method as the Oxford one, so unlikely its wildly out if massaged.

beorhthelm said:

Russian vaccine reports 91% effective. now might be cynical they got in the 90% range same as others, its based on the same method as the Oxford one, so unlikely its wildly out if massaged.

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Fair point......my pal was a bit reticent about it (but is still having it today anyway). Good news for us as it’s not one we’re relying in for our programme [emoji106]

wehatepalace said:

*Sky News with positive article shocker*

Entire country could be vaccinated by mid July !

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...-these-figures-are-anything-to-go-by-12188909

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Also worth bearing in mind these figures don’t include either Johnson & Johnson or Novovax vaccines, both of which the UK has orders for and both of which we’re hoping to see positive movement on in the coming weeks.

I honestly think everyone (who wants to be) being vaccinated by July is beginning to look like a conservative estimate.

[TWEET]1350199904673685504[/TWEET]

Looks like they’ll be moving into priority groups 3-4 soon.

Mellotron said:

Also worth bearing in mind these figures don’t include either Johnson & Johnson or Novovax vaccines, both of which the UK has orders for and both of which we’re hoping to see positive movement on in the coming weeks.

I honestly think everyone (who wants to be) being vaccinated by July is beginning to look like a conservative estimate.

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It’s been looking on the cards for several days now, I genuinely think the main press have been asked to keep a lid on positive news in case it fuels lower compliance with lockdown restrictions.

Vacc programme racing ahead of track, infection numbers stabilising (barely gets a mention on any news reports - they simply state the number and not the trend at the moment - the weekly average is dropping) etc. Suspect we’ll see this change once the death rates start to fall and the positive direction becomes even more obvious.

dazzer6666 said:

It’s been looking on the cards for several days now, I genuinely think the main press have been asked to keep a lid on positive news in case it fuels lower compliance with lockdown restrictions.

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Exactly how I've seen it, and why I've been unhappy at the people whinging about "the negative press". I'd rather the press pumped out doom and gloom which kept people indoors and adhering to the rules than deciding everything's fine and dandy and cracking on with it. In part I think this current Christmas-related spike is because many outlets went nuts on the "Christmas has been saved!" angle which led to so many people ignoring the rules and doing whatever the hell they wanted.

It's better to stay outside the cage thinking the tiger will rip your throat out than to be told the tiger's probably not going to hurt you and go pull it's tail.

We seem to be wandering into opinions about press coverage...perhaps good for debate on covid forum

Not even going to that reply about the media pumping out doom, it’s terrible the lack of understanding some people have with mental health and the impacts it will have for years to come.

Moving on, by the end of today over half of 80+ age group will have been vaccinated, this should quickly get much higher, this is especially good news considering an estimated 80% of coronavirus deaths occur in these age groups, it’s really massive for saving lives. The light at the end of the tunnel does feel like it’s getting within touching distance now.

The Wizard said:

Not even going to that reply about the media pumping out doom, it’s terrible the lack of understanding some people have with mental health and the impacts it will have for years to come.

Moving on, by the end of today over half of 80+ age group will have been vaccinated, this should quickly get much higher, this is especially good news considering an estimated 80% of coronavirus deaths occur in these age groups, it’s really massive for saving lives. The light at the end of the tunnel does feel like it’s getting within touching distance now.

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The night is always darkest just before the dawn, its what I've been saying to myself these past few days as there have been a number of positive cases in the team I work with closely and therefore T&T has wiped out 75% of that department. It brought it really close to home and my mental health has suffered greatly as a result.

The good news for me is my sister-in-law is booked in for her jab on the 26th, my sister has her invitation to book but she just needs an appointment and the time to get it done as they are both in home carers. My parents should be getting the invitation soon as they are 73 and 74, both with underlying health conditions.

Stick to the advice/rules/guidance, whatever you want to call it, the end is in sight, don't fudge it up now.

Another 324,711 doses given today, of which just shy of 321,000 were first doses which means over 3 million people have had at least 1 dose now.

For those ITK, or more so than I am, are the numbers expected to dip at the weekends or is it just a case of ploughing on through?

Madafwo said:

Another 324,711 doses given today, of which just shy of 321,000 were first doses which means over 3 million people have had at least 1 dose now.

For those ITK, or more so than I am, are the numbers expected to dip at the weekends or is it just a case of ploughing on through?

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Not quite, it’s even better - yesterday there were 324,233 first doses (yet another increase), total first doses now at 3.56 million, and total doses have actually gone over 4m (was over 3m on Tuesday).



https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare

In other really good news, a big drop in positive tested cases too, down to 41k after a few days hovering around 50k. Weekly number down 77k or 18%



Finally, R rate believed to be 1.2-1.3 (was 1.4-1.6 a few days ago)

dazzer6666 said:

Not quite, it’s even better - yesterday there were 324,233 first doses (yet another increase), total first doses now at 3.56 million, and total doses have actually gone over 4m (was over 3m on Tuesday).

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare

In other really good news, a big drop in positive tested cases too, down to 41k after a few days hovering around 50k. Weekly number down 77k or 18%

Finally, R rate believed to be 1.2-1.3 (was 1.4-1.6 a few days ago)

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I blame the BBC, I lifted the numbers directly from the website.

Edit: I blame me, I quoted the England numbers, not the UK numbers.

Headline looked good
https://twitter.com/telegraph/status/1350506781265567745?s=12

LamieRobertson said:

Headline looked good
https://twitter.com/telegraph/status/1350506781265567745?s=12

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Read that article earlier, it's very good news for the future if there's ongoing variants of covid piping up every year. Means as a nation we can bash out loads of vaccine and not be reliant on imports.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...-these-figures-are-anything-to-go-by-12188909

This sounds very promising.....

10 more mass vaccination centres opening on Monday.

Extract from the DT this morning :

Every adult in Britain will be vaccinated by the end of June, senior Government figures hope, as they grow increasingly optimistic they will be able to accelerate the rollout.

The Telegraph can reveal Whitehall sources believe this target could now realistically be achieved as they plan to vaccinate four to five million people a week within months.

A further two vaccines in the pipeline, from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, could help Britain speed up the process to vaccinate all 54 million adults. A source said: "All over-18s by June – yes." They added: "It is delivery, delivery, delivery.”

While senior Government figures are now privately working to this target, the Department of Health – which said it hoped to have vaccinated "tens of millions" of Britons by April – are reluctant to publicly acknowledge a deadline.

Separately, the chief executive of Britain's new £158 million Government vaccine factory in Oxfordshire told The Telegraph it will be able to vaccinate the entire nation against dangerous new Covid strains within four months when it opens in full by the end of the year.

.....and this :

Officials have been encouraged by data from Israel that has shown a big fall in serious illness and mortality in the over-60s by 25 per cent after two weeks of vaccinating 20 per cent of the target population.

The hope in Government is that in the UK, hospitalisations and deaths from Covid-19 will fall sharply in early-March, two weeks after all of the top four priority groups have been vaccinated.


One source said: "The beauty of this is if we have vaccinated the most vulnerable then actually we are in great place because the rest of the economy can begin to open up.

“We still have to be careful – we still have to socially distance but at least we can go back to normal and know there are no more lockdowns coming.”

Writing in The Telegraph, Mark Harper, chairman of the Coronavirus Recovery Group of Tory MPs, calls for a "clear roadmap" to lift restrictions by March 8. He says: "There cannot be any more excuses and there's no need to wait until Easter. We need a clear roadmap to all our freedoms, economy and health prospects being fully restored."

Boris Johnson is due to review the rules governing the third national lockdown this week.

The UK has pre-ordered 17 million doses of the Moderna vaccine – 10 million more than planned – but supplies are not expected to arrive until spring. Britain has also already struck a deal for 30 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, with the option of ordering 22 million more, but it has yet to be approved by regulators.

Dr Matthew Duchars, of the Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Oxfordshire, said: “We’ll be able to make 70 million doses within a four to five month period, enough for everyone in the country, when we open late this year.

“New Covid variants are absolutely part of the thinking. We probably will need to make seasonal vaccine variants because there may well be mutations in the virus, as well as vaccines for other diseases. You never know what’s coming next.”

Currently under construction at the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, the VMIC was first conceived in 2018 and originally planned to open in 2022.

When the Covid pandemic struck, the Government pumped a further £131 million into the not-for-profit company to bring the project forward by a year.j