You're taking what Biden and Harris said out of context. Essentially they said they wouldn't take it if Trump told them to, but would take it if scientists and medical professionals told them to. I agree 100% with that rationale. I think most people do, as well.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...oderna-covid-19-vaccine-young-men-2021-10-07/ Looks like the Nordics halted Moderna for the young folks. Swedish health minister Peter Bjorn John MD confirmed this to Reuters.
Again, curious to know, if you're already vaxxed up and in a high exposure setting on a regular basis, is re-exposure not superior to a booster? What are we learning?
Been nearly a month since anyone has posted in this thread. I see the D&D thread is alive and well. I guess that goes to show what covid really represents to most people these days. Anyhow, those Pfizer pills look very promising. Difficult to tell how they compare to vaccines, but seems somewhere in the neighborhood of effectiveness but it was only just a press release so far. No deaths and 89% reduction in hospitalization in at risk groups. They are doing studies on non-at risk groups and if it can reduce transmission as well. It will be interesting to see if it can prevent infection too like Truvada for HIV. Interestingly enough with that reference It looks like it's just ritonavir (used for HIV treatment) rebranded as Pavlovid and marked up a shitload. Ritonavir would be around $35 for a full 10 pill treatment. Highly disappointing that this is yet another covid related drug that we are getting absolutely raped by big pharma. Remdesivir, monoclonal antibodies, Merck's pill and now Pfizer's pills. If it wasn't bad press I'm sure we'd be getting greatly overcharged for vaccines too. https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-r...l-covid-19-oral-antiviral-treatment-candidate https://www.reuters.com/business/he...l-cuts-risk-severe-covid-19-by-89-2021-11-05/ Bourla added that for high-income countries Pfizer expects to price its treatment close to where Merck has priced its drug. Merck's U.S. contract price is around $700 for a five-day course of therapy. For low-income countries, Bourla said Pfizer is considering several options, with the goal of "no barrier for them as well to have access." https://arstechnica.com/science/202...reatment-hammered-for-700-price-a-46x-markup/ Merck's advance purchase agreement with the US government pegs the price of a five-day treatment at about $700. But an independent analysis by public health researchers at Harvard estimated that a sustainable generic price—with a 10 percent profit margin built in—would be just $20 per treatment. Further, rival generic manufacturers in India are already expected to offer the drug at $15 or less for a treatment once it's authorized for use. Given that, the $700 price tag in the US represents a 46-fold markup of the drug, which is named after Thor's hammer, Mjölnir. Another strike against Merck's plans so far is that, while the pharmaceutical giant is expected to reap billions in profits, it was not responsible for the drug's development; Merck is not recouping research and development costs here. Molnupiravir was developed by researchers at Emory University with an estimated $35 million in federal funds, including grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Defense Department. The drug was in the works for years before the pandemic. Pharmaceutical company Ridgeback Biotherapeutics bought the rights to the drug in early 2020 and partnered with Merck a few months later. Merck is not only selling molnupiravir to the US government at a 46-fold markup; it's selling a drug the US government has already spent millions to develop. Industry analysts have projected that Merck will make $5.3 billion in sales in 2022 alone and $22 billion through 2030 Don't think anyone will watch but I'll post it. Basically he feels extremely good about the safety profile of the Pfizer drug versus Merck's covid pills due to the very long safety record of the type of antiviral that Pfizer has.
I meant to make a correction to my prior post. The drug is actually a combo of ritonavir and PF-07321332. Either way the US Govt was directly involved in funding for development and again we are paying a dramatically inflated price. https://www.reuters.com/business/he...ses-pfizers-covid-19-pill-529-bln-2021-11-18/ Nov 18 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Thursday the U.S. government would pay $5.29 billion for 10 million courses of its experimental COVID-19 antiviral drug, as the country rushes to secure promising oral treatments for the disease. The deal is for around twice as many treatment courses as Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) has agreed to supply the United States under its contract. The price for the Pfizer pill is nearly 25%lower at roughly $530 per course, compared with about $700 for Merck's. Pfizer applied for emergency authorization of the drug, branded as Paxlovid, this week after reporting data showing that it was 89% effective at preventing hospitalization or death in at-risk people. read more The trial's results suggest that Paxlovid surpasses Merck's molnupiravir which was shown last month to halve the risk of dying or being hospitalized for COVID-19 patients at high risk of serious illness. "While this pill still requires a full review by the Food and Drug Administration, I have taken immediate steps to secure enough supply for the American people," President Joe Biden said in a statement. He added that his administration was making preparations to ensure the treatment is easily accessible and free. Pfizer said it would begin deliveries of the treatment as soon as this year if it is authorized by the U.S. FDA. Shares of Pfizer were up 0.65% at $51.20 on Thursday afternoon, while shares of Merck were nearly flat at $82.63. Getting vaccinated should still be the priority for Americans but having pills that can keep people out of the hospital "could be a lifesaver," said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. Pfizer has said it expects to manufacture 180,000 treatment courses by the end of next month and at least 50 million courses by the end of 2022.
Other countries get generic versions... https://www.npr.org/2021/11/16/1056142912/pfizer-generic-paxlovid-deal-countries Pfizer agrees to license generic versions of its COVID-19 pill — in some countries Pfizer has signed a licensing deal to allow dozens of lower-income countries to benefit from generic versions of its new COVID-19 pill. The agreement covers 95 nations, but it omits some hard-hit countries. The antiviral pill is not yet available to the public. On Tuesday, Pfizer announced that it is seeking federal authorization for emergency use of the medication in the U.S. The medication is meant to treat patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 cases who are at higher risk of hospitalization or death. Pfizer said earlier this month that the medicine, called Paxlovid, had shown promising results in clinical trials. Effective COVID-19 pills are seen as potential game-changers in the pandemic, because they could be administered at home early after an infection, reducing both the coronavirus' toll and the potential for a single patient to spread it. "This license is so important because, if authorized or approved, this oral drug is particularly well-suited for low- and middle-income countries and could play a critical role in saving lives" and quelling the pandemic, Charles Gore, executive director of the U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool organization, said in a joint news release with Pfizer. The licensing deal applies to 95 countries, covering up to approximately 53% of the world's population, according to Pfizer and the MPP. The generic drug will be legal in many countries that are classified as either low-income, lower middle-income or upper middle-income territories. But it will not be available in Russia, Turkey, Brazil, or Romania — all of which are in the world's top 10 countries for COVID-19 case numbers and are also considered upper middle-income countries by the World Bank. While the list of approved countries includes many nations in Latin America, neither Mexico nor Argentina are among them. In response to the deal, Doctors Without Borders warned that its limits mean many countries and by extension millions of people will not benefit. It also noted that the drug has an expected price tag of around $700 per treatment course in high-income countries, with lower amounts set for lower-income nations. "We are disheartened to see yet another restrictive voluntary license during this pandemic while cases continue to rise in many countries around the world," said Yuanqiong Hu, senior legal policy advisor for MSF's Access Campaign, in a statement sent to NPR. The Pfizer antiviral pill is aided by co-administering a low dose of ritonavir, a drug used in HIV/AIDS treatment regimens. Ritonavir helps protease inhibitors like the Pfizer drug persist longer in the human body, making them more effective in fighting a virus. Noting that ritonavir's patent has lapsed and the new Pfizer drug does not yet have a patent, Doctors Without Borders urged drugmakers in countries that are excluded by the deal to explore producing the generic medicine themselves. "The world knows by now that access to COVID-19 medical tools needs to be guaranteed for everyone, everywhere if we really want to control this pandemic," Hu said.
It's time to stop this nonsense. The world will never be fully vaccinated. There are still areas that get polio, measles, smallpox, etc.
You know Google is awful when it takes me 10 minutes to find a freaking Bill Maher video on it. No Youtube. No Google video... https://www.realclearpolitics.com/v...s_an_amulet_that_wards_away_evil_spirits.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/vi...that_wards_away_evil_spirits.html?jwsource=cl
A few minutes into the video... ...no evidence of it evading the vaccines and no evidence of it being more virulent... Great fear p*rn headline though
This is just so strange to have so much hype so fast around this one variant of concern. It still has to show it can spread effectively and there have been many "worrisome" variants of concern. Those Pfizer covid pills would seem to be even more viable considering their mechanism of action. They prevent the virus from replicating.
I have my Pfizer booster scheduled for tomorrow. I wonder if I should just cancel given a new variant is emerging apparently? Or, do we just take them every six months or so? This is ridiculous!
https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/new-concerning-variant-b11529 Finally found a good link discussing this. Definitely one to watch but it’s so extremely early. There might be some sampling bias but need more data.
