Vaccines - Covid 19

[sateeb]

Ditto, I was there for my 2nd jab with a 9am appt. Got there at 8am and apart from the ignorant twunts who rocked up just before 9 and jumped the queue was plain sailing. Back in HH just before 1pm. Traffic was slightly busier than for my 1st jab but nothing major. Vaccine Cert. issued and the whatsithingamajig App on my phone fully updated.

[PeteC]

Needle-free vaccine patch closer to reality

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/22066 ... to-reality

Effective vaccines, without a needle? Since the start of the Covid pandemic, researchers have doubled down on efforts to create patches that deliver life-saving drugs painlessly to the skin, a development that could revolutionise medicine.

The technique could help save children’s tears at doctors’ offices, and help people who have a phobia of syringes.

Beyond that, skin patches could assist with distribution efforts, because they don’t have cold-chain requirements — and might even heighten vaccine efficacy.

A new mouse study in the area, published in the journal Science Advances, showed promising results.

The Australian-US team used patches measuring one square centimetre that were dotted with more than 5,000 microscopic spikes, “so tiny you can’t actually see them", David Muller, a virologist at the University of Queensland and co-author of the paper, told AFP.

These tips have been coated with an experimental vaccine, and the patch is clicked on with an applicator that resembles a hockey puck. “It’s like you get a good flick on the skin,” said Muller.

The researchers used a “subunit” vaccine that reproduces the spikes that dot the surface of the coronavirus.

Mice were injected either via the patch over the course of two minutes, or with a syringe.

The immune systems of those that got the patch produced high levels of neutralising antibodies after two doses, including in their lungs, vital to stopping Covid, and the patches outperformed syringes.

The researchers also found that a sub-group of mice, who were given only one dose of vaccine containing an additional substance called an adjuvant used to spur immune response, “didn’t get sick at all", said Muller.

Easy to apply

What makes the patches more effective?

Vaccines are normally injected into our muscles, but muscle tissue doesn’t contain very many immune cells needed to react to the drug, explained Muller.

In addition, the tiny spikes cause localised skin death, which alerts the body to a problem and triggers a greater immune response.

For the scientist, the logistical advantages couldn’t be clearer.

First, when dry-coated on a patch, the vaccine is stable for at least 30 days at 25 degrees Celsius and one week at 40C, compared to a few hours at room temperature for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. This offers a major advantage particularly for developing countries.

Second, “it’s very simple to use", said Muller. “You don’t necessarily need highly trained medical professionals to deliver it.”

Burak Ozdoganlar, a professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in the US city of Pittsburgh, has also been working on the technology since 2007.

He sees yet another advantage: “Less amount of vaccine delivered precisely to skin can activate an immune response similar to intramuscular injection,” he told AFP. It’s an important factor as the developing world struggles to procure enough Covid vaccine.

Ozdoganlar can produce around 300 to 400 patches a day in his lab, but hasn’t been able to test them out on mRNA vaccines, which have come to the fore during the pandemic, because he hasn’t been authorised by Pfizer or Moderna.

‘The future’

The patch used in the study published on Friday was made by the Australian company Vaxxas, which is the furthest along. Human trials are planned from April.

Two other American companies are also part of the race: Micron Biomedical and Vaxess.

The latter, founded in 2013 and based in Massachusetts, is working on a slightly different type of patch, with microneedles that dissolve in the skin. It says this approach has the benefit of requiring fewer spikes per patch — just 121 — made of a protein polymer that is biocompatible.

“We’re working on a seasonal Covid and flu combination product that will be mailed directly to patients’ homes, for self-administration,” CEO Michael Schrader told AFP.

The Covid vaccine they are using is produced by the company Medigen, already authorised in Taiwan.

Vaxess has just opened a factory near Boston, with funding from the US National Institutes for Health. They aim to produce enough patches to vaccinate 2,000 to 3,000 people in clinical trials, which are to be launched next summer.

The main challenge right now is production, with no manufacturers yet able to make enough patches en masse.

“If you want to launch a vaccine you have to produce hundreds of millions,” said Schrader. “We do not have that scale as of today — no one really has that scale.”

But the pandemic has given a push to the nascent industry, which is now attracting more investors, he added.

“This is the future, in my opinion, it is inevitable,” said Schrader. “I think you’re going to see over the next 10 years, this (will) pretty dramatically reshape the way that we get vaccines around the world.”

[Big Boy]

WTF?

Give the paint time to dry please!

Leading up to Recharge, Hua Hin was showing 1st needle >100%, and 2nd needle >85%

Recharge has happened, and it becomes this. Please give us credit for at least 1 brain cell. We can read.

Vaxed.png

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hhinner, you can normally put some kind of positive spin on these things. What am I missing please?

An example of a pre-Recharge chart:

vaxed_before.png

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[Big Boy]

I've just tracked back, and the big adjustment took place on 29th October. Now, what day were we given the green light to proceed with Recharge? I don't need an answer to that.

[hhinner]

BB, your cynicism is well founded when it comes to things administrative in Thailand. As for the percentages of vaccinated there have been some comments in the facebook announcements of the numbers being rebased. I take this to mean that someone eventually realised that what they were publishing (eg 104% being vaxxed) was garbage and then presumably another interval until higher authorities could be convinced that it looks more stupid to stick to rubbish numbers than admit to a mistake (however quietly).

The actual numbers of vaxxed remain consistent, just that they possibly realised that basing percentages on the archaic house registration system, which doesn't reflect the true population, leads to false and misleading statistics.

This must be equally true in other jurisdictions, especially Bangkok, but I don't suppose any changes to the system will be forthcoming.

And, no, I don't know what the new baseline is or how it's calculated. Quite possibly some high up said "Look, 104% is quite ridiculous. Make it more believable. Say the current numbers are 75% or thereabouts and work from there".

[Big Boy]

I am probably the Juntha's biggest fan regarding the way they have knuckled down and pushed the vaccine roll-out programme. However, publishing stats like these spoil everything.

I questioned the numbers being quoted previously, and it was you who convinced me I was wrong, and they were right.

I find the sudden turnaround quite insulting to people's intelligence, and it will be quite difficult to believe what they say in future. However, we've re-opened now, so unless we move backwards (the Phuket untruths tell us that won't happen), it doesn't really matter.

[buksida]

I don't think anyone that publishes a statistic that says 104.31% of the population has been jabbed spent much time at school!

[Big Boy]

I actually thought 104% sounded quite realistic. People come and people go, so the perceived 100% will always fluctuate slightly.

[Big Boy]

Thinking about the above stats a lot (I don't lie, and hate being lied to), seeing the target population has increased by about 36K for Hua Hin alone, I wonder if the adjustment has something to do with adding kids into the equation. That would 'sort of' account for the differences. Does 36K school kids sound about right for Hua Hin?

[hhinner]

^^ I'd just come to the same realization. The base number changed because school kids, students and more young people are now included. Maybe.

[Dannie Boy]

I appreciate that we all have a different outlook on life, and like BB I’m a follower of telling the truth, but I find it hard to get very excited about any of this data. We all know that what’s published and what’s the reality could be two very different things. My main concern is have I been double jabbed (yes), do I take reasonable precautions (yes), do I avoid crowded areas as much as is possible (yes). Whether the unvaccinated percentage is 5% or 30%, I could still end up being next to somebody who is contagious - hopefully my jabs and precautions will keep me safe.


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[handdrummer]

I appreciate that we all have a different outlook on life, and like BB I’m a follower of telling the truth, but I find it hard to get very excited about any of this data. We all know that what’s published and what’s the reality could be two very different things. My main concern is have I been double jabbed (yes), do I take reasonable precautions (yes), do I avoid crowded areas as much as is possible (yes). Whether the unvaccinated percentage is 5% or 30%, I could still end up being next to somebody who is contagious - hopefully my jabs and precautions will keep me safe.


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Your precautions are better protection than the jabs. The vaccine doesn't prevent you from being infected, doesn't prevent you from passing on the infection, doesn't prevent hospitalization or death. It can lessen your chances of those events, but no one knows if it will. As they say in boxing, "protect yourself at all times."

[PeteC]

Indonesia authorises Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 6-11

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/22076 ... -aged-6-11

JAKARTA: Indonesia has approved the Sinovac Biotech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 6-11, its food and drug agency said on Monday, following the US Food and Drug Administration's approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for younger kids.

Until Monday, Indonesia had cleared the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine only for people aged 12 and above, of which it has the most amount in its arsenal with over 200 million doses. ..................

[HHTel]

I'd have liked to see some independent studies. All the approvals so far are based on trials carried out in China by guess who? Sinovac themselves of course.

[PeteC]

One (1) person has recorded on the poll that he/she has had Moderna as their 2nd shot. If still reading in, can you tell us if you had any reaction to the Moderna vaccine, and what it was?

My wife is lined up to begin her Moderna injections soon, and it would be good to know if the reaction after the 2nd shot is similar to the fatigue people experience after the Pfizer 2nd shot, and I think the Astra 2nd shot as well? Thanks.