NationStates

CoraSpia wrote:

A-Series-Of-Tubes wrote:
It's impossible to tell with the intermingling of State and Capital in their country, but China is very likely subsidizing their vaccine to the developing world.

The West could really get screwed in a foreign aid race, particularly if Sinovac production increases to the point they can give away a billion doses for free. Foreign aid has always been about buying goodwill, but not just that: it's showing off how prosperous a country is that it can afford to be generous. And things could get even worse for the West if a Sinovac 2.0 which is more effective appears.

I wouldn't be surprised if a free supply of vaccines from the Chinese government came with strings attached, possibly including natural resources.

Then you don't understand foreign aid. Unsurprising really.

A-Series-Of-Tubes wrote:

CoraSpia wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if a free supply of vaccines from the Chinese government came with strings attached, possibly including natural resources.

Then you don't understand foreign aid. Unsurprising really.

I understand that foreign aid is a way of increasing your countries soft power. It helps when the country that has been donating this aid wants a favour from the one which has received it. It can be a very good reminder of how good they've been in the past.

CoraSpia wrote:

A-Series-Of-Tubes wrote:
Then you don't understand foreign aid. Unsurprising really.

I understand that foreign aid is a way of increasing your countries soft power. It helps when the country that has been donating this aid wants a favour from the one which has received it. It can be a very good reminder of how good they've been in the past.

Except that direct aid to the foreign government works better. If the people don't know about it, they're less likely to be pissed about their national park getting cut down to build a mine.

Foreign aid in this sense, whether distributed by an aid agency to the people, or distributed by government, is absolutely out in the open. Governments that can afford to (eg US) routinely refuse foreign aid, because the people knowing its a foreign government (or charity) saving their asses, makes it obvious their own government failed to do so.

Perhaps I'm using the phrase "foreign aid" wrongly, but I mean anything the recipient country vitally lacks -- other than money -- which then has to be distributed to the people somehow. It's distinct from Direct Aid, which is typically money to their government to spend however they like. By the magic of money (once you have it, you can use it without having to say where it came from), no one government program can be singled out as "foreign".

Now, a corporation is usually involved, if some trees have to be cut down to build a mine. Corporate "aid" is even less accountable, so they can use the best form of Direct Aid, which is money to the host government, or to individual members of it, which nobody else knows about. Secret Direct Aid, or more simply: bribery.

Direct Aid strengthens the host government (Humanitarian Aid weakens it), so it's better for securing sweet deals, tax breaks etc. But even that's not necessary, or the best value for money, compared with Secret Direct Aid.

Using Humanitarian Aid to secure favors from a government is wasting money. What it's really good for is influencing their people to like your country more. And of course, making your people happy that indirectly they've helped some other people they will never meet ... though of course not everyone feels that. To argue FOR more direct (or secret direct) spending, is not to argue AGAINST more Humanitarian Aid. They are barely related.

According to the latest report of Science:California coronavirus strain may be more infectious—and lethal
The variant is also present in other states, but its prevalence among more than 2000 samples collected in California swelled from 0% to greater than 50% between September 2020 and late January, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
those carrying the variant were 4.8 times more likely to be admitted to the ICU and more than 11 times more likely to die.


A puzzling message from the Lancet:Vaccination with a second AstraZeneca's vaccine within six weeks significantly reduced the effect
a single standard dose of vaccine from day 22 to day 90 after vaccination was 76·0% (59·3–85·9)
In the participants who received two standard doses, after the second dose, efficacy was higher in those with a longer prime-boost interval (vaccine efficacy 81·3% [95% CI 60·3–91·2] at ≥12 weeks) than in those with a short interval (vaccine efficacy 55·1% [33·0–69·9] at <6 weeks).

If you get a shot of the vaccine, it's 76% effective,if two after 12 weeks ,it's will up to 81.3%.However,if you get the second in 6 weeks,It's going to drop to 55·1%.

A bad news for South Africa:
Test data for several vaccines in South Africa are far lower than those in other regions,one under 25%

Shanghai industrial complex wrote:According to the latest report of Science:California coronavirus strain may be more infectious—and lethal
The variant is also present in other states, but its prevalence among more than 2000 samples collected in California swelled from 0% to greater than 50% between September 2020 and late January, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
those carrying the variant were 4.8 times more likely to be admitted to the ICU and more than 11 times more likely to die.


A puzzling message from the Lancet:Vaccination with a second AstraZeneca's vaccine within six weeks significantly reduced the effect
a single standard dose of vaccine from day 22 to day 90 after vaccination was 76·0% (59·3–85·9)
In the participants who received two standard doses, after the second dose, efficacy was higher in those with a longer prime-boost interval (vaccine efficacy 81·3% [95% CI 60·3–91·2] at ≥12 weeks) than in those with a short interval (vaccine efficacy 55·1% [33·0–69·9] at <6 weeks).

If you get a shot of the vaccine, it's 76% effective,if two after 12 weeks ,it's will up to 81.3%.However,if you get the second in 6 weeks,It's going to drop to 55·1%.

A bad news for South Africa:
Test data for several vaccines in South Africa are far lower than those in other regions,one under 25%

So we should wait three months before getting the second vaccine?

Borderlands of Rojava wrote:So we should wait three months before getting the second vaccine?

Follow the doctor's advice. Vaccines from different manufacturers are not the same

Borderlands of Rojava wrote:

Shanghai industrial complex wrote:According to the latest report of Science:California coronavirus strain may be more infectious—and lethal
The variant is also present in other states, but its prevalence among more than 2000 samples collected in California swelled from 0% to greater than 50% between September 2020 and late January, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
those carrying the variant were 4.8 times more likely to be admitted to the ICU and more than 11 times more likely to die.


A puzzling message from the Lancet:Vaccination with a second AstraZeneca's vaccine within six weeks significantly reduced the effect
a single standard dose of vaccine from day 22 to day 90 after vaccination was 76·0% (59·3–85·9)
In the participants who received two standard doses, after the second dose, efficacy was higher in those with a longer prime-boost interval (vaccine efficacy 81·3% [95% CI 60·3–91·2] at ≥12 weeks) than in those with a short interval (vaccine efficacy 55·1% [33·0–69·9] at <6 weeks).

If you get a shot of the vaccine, it's 76% effective,if two after 12 weeks ,it's will up to 81.3%.However,if you get the second in 6 weeks,It's going to drop to 55·1%.

A bad news for South Africa:
Test data for several vaccines in South Africa are far lower than those in other regions,one under 25%

So we should wait three months before getting the second vaccine?

Dunno, thats the fun part of experimental vaccines being rushed to market. No one is really sure of everything.

Shanghai industrial complex wrote:According to the latest report of Science:California coronavirus strain may be more infectious—and lethal
The variant is also present in other states, but its prevalence among more than 2000 samples collected in California swelled from 0% to greater than 50% between September 2020 and late January, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
those carrying the variant were 4.8 times more likely to be admitted to the ICU and more than 11 times more likely to die.


A puzzling message from the Lancet:Vaccination with a second AstraZeneca's vaccine within six weeks significantly reduced the effect
a single standard dose of vaccine from day 22 to day 90 after vaccination was 76·0% (59·3–85·9)
In the participants who received two standard doses, after the second dose, efficacy was higher in those with a longer prime-boost interval (vaccine efficacy 81·3% [95% CI 60·3–91·2] at ≥12 weeks) than in those with a short interval (vaccine efficacy 55·1% [33·0–69·9] at <6 weeks).

If you get a shot of the vaccine, it's 76% effective,if two after 12 weeks ,it's will up to 81.3%.However,if you get the second in 6 weeks,It's going to drop to 55·1%.

A bad news for South Africa:
Test data for several vaccines in South Africa are far lower than those in other regions,one under 25%

Minor point: it's not that it's reducing the effectiveness. It's that the effectiveness of the first shot drops off over time (so after the delay to the second shot, you've missed some of the highest efficacy period), and the second one doesn't top it up effectively (probably due to immunity to the vector), meaning that you're just averaging without some of the highest values for the efficacy.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/94 ... 1625&faf=1

Janssen/J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Cuts Transmission, New Data Show

Also, there's a new variant from Nigeria, which has spread to 15 other countries so far

I think we should all be cautious about news reports regarding the new variants. While we should investigate new viral variants and keep an eye on them, the news would have you believe that the new variants have rendered the vaccine completely and utterly useless and that isn't how it works, but the news is in the business of fear mongering because let's face it, their viewership comes through hysteria and panic.

Borderlands of Rojava wrote:I think we should all be cautious about news reports regarding the new variants. While we should investigate new viral variants and keep an eye on them, the news would have you believe that the new variants have rendered the vaccine completely and utterly useless and that isn't how it works, but the news is in the business of fear mongering because let's face it, their viewership comes through hysteria and panic.

Good news on that front, then we're getting a massive Google-funded COVID database to track variants and immunity

Unlike the global COVID-19 dashboard maintained by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and other popular trackers that list overall COVID-19 infections and deaths, the new repository at the data-science initiative called Global.health collects an unprecedented amount of anonymized information about individual cases in one place.
[...]The repository was created by 21 researchers at 7 academic institutions in the United States and Europe, with technical and financial support from Google and the Rockefeller Foundation. So far, the team has collected information from 24 million cases across some 150 countries.

[...]For each individual, the database includes up to 40 associated variables, such as the date when they first had COVID-19 symptoms, the date they received a positive test and their travel history. Anyone can register to access up to 8 gigabytes of anonymized data on the latest version of the Global.health database. Half of the 24 million cases collected have data for a dozen variables, and about 10% have more, says Scarpino. For now, the website’s data visualizations are limited to maps displaying data the team has collected. Scarpino notes that infographics haven’t been a focus, because they prioritized standardizing data collection and navigating privacy issues so that people around the world can add to the database. The project’s architects consulted legal and ethical specialists about how to securely handle and share anonymized data about individuals, he says, which are often closely guarded by government agencies, universities and hospitals.

So long as the vaccines are effective against the new strains I can handle the reports on these mutations.

Rusozak wrote:So long as the vaccines are effective against the new strains I can handle the reports on these mutations.

Johnson and Johnson is apparently effective against the variants. But it’s only 70% (thereabouts) effective for SARS-CoV-2 to the other two’s 93%-95% effectiveness. All percentages are approximate in my post, I can’t recall exact numbers.

Kowani wrote:The FDA will allow transportation and storage of the Pfizer vaccine at lower temperatures-standard freezers instead of ultra-cold

You mean higher temperatures?

Kowani wrote:The FDA will allow transportation and storage of the Pfizer vaccine at lower temperatures-standard freezers instead of ultra-cold

Not sure how I feel about this. Surely there was a reason why the temperature requirements existed in the first place?

I would be very upset if I, or someone I cared about, got Covid after receiving an improperly stored vaccine.

Dogmeat wrote:

Kowani wrote:The FDA will allow transportation and storage of the Pfizer vaccine at lower temperatures-standard freezers instead of ultra-cold

Not sure how I feel about this. Surely there was a reason why the temperature requirements existed in the first place?

I would be very upset if I, or someone I cared about, got Covid after receiving an improperly stored vaccine.

It sounds to me like they're just changing storage requirements for vaccines that are intended to be used within two weeks. Temporary storage before use. But I'd still be concerned about the possibility of ruining doses.

Rusozak wrote:

Dogmeat wrote:Not sure how I feel about this. Surely there was a reason why the temperature requirements existed in the first place?

I would be very upset if I, or someone I cared about, got Covid after receiving an improperly stored vaccine.

It sounds to me like they're just changing storage requirements for vaccines that are intended to be used within two weeks. Temporary storage before use. But I'd still be concerned about the possibility of ruining doses.

That's more or less what I figure as well. It would be nice if the article went into more detail about the reasoning and science behind this. As right now it's kind of hard for a layman to judge if it's a good move or not.

You'd hope that the FDA knows what they're doing. But they have a long history of letting corporations pressure them into very questionable decisions.

Diahon wrote:

Vassenor wrote:




Small wonder Sinovac is taking hold in the developing world then. It's not being price-gouged.

take the vaccine that's only 50% effective on the cheap, or sell the barn for any of several vastly more effective vaccines?

jesus fuck, what hellish timeline is this?

The timeline where Southeast Asians, Brazilians, Chileans, and Turks are forced to be guinea pigs in an ongoing, CCP-backed, third-phase clinical trial that I, my loved ones, and hundreds of millions of us never fucking consented to and have no right to opt out of. If I'm to receive the Sinovac jab, I'll be a literal walking guinea pig, a possible carrier and superspreader, and I might even get sick with mild symptoms (due to low vaccine efficacy, not the vaccine itself). Or worse, my parents might get sick (from the virus, not the vaccine). Sample sizes from the Sinovac trials are far too small and it feels as if the data's been manipulated.

CoronaVac barely passes muster and I can't believe Sinovac will be arriving in my country TOMORROW and the NPRA is set to approve it within the NEXT WEEK OR TWO. God help us all. This is a FUCKING SCAM and ME AND MY LOVED ONES ARE GOING TO BE ITS VICTIMS. FUCK THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT FOR SELLING US OUT AND FUCK THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT FOR EXPERIMENTING ON US WITHOUT OUR FUCKING CONSENT.

I've already signed up to be vaccinated via the official Android app, which doesn't allow us to choose the vaccine type like Serbia does. I could refuse and be denied access to certain services due to being unvaccinated in an inoculation-apartheid scenario that's slowly beginning to take shape around the world.

The Malaysian government could make vaccinations mandatory and forcibly insert Sinovac needles into our arms, something it hasn't ruled out should uptake remain low.

I could turn up at the vaccination stadium, find out the only vaccine that's available is Sinovac, flat-out refuse to take the shot on the spot, and be arrested and charged with obstructing a public servant.

I could publicly speak out against Sinovac and publicly urge netizens to resist the Sinovac shot only to be arrested and charged with "spreading vaccine misinformation" and "making any statement that could confuse or cause concern to the community". Like, that's the whole point of a freaking democracy.

(Incidentally, I don't know if the NS mods consider criticism of Sinovac to constitute "misinformation". If they do, then they are effectively in league with the CCP.)

I could take to the streets in protest like most people do in other countries instead of cowering in our homes like most Malaysians are apt to do. Malaysia's a country where barely a dozen people protesting something in public can be arrested, charged, and jailed under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 even one year on. Plus, we're in the middle of a state of emergency and our PM rules by decree.

My parents and I emigrated from Hong Kong to get away from the CCP's suffocating tentacles. I didn't come all the way down here just to have the CCP shove its duplicitous Belt-and-Road BS down our throats all over again. People call the coronavirus pandemic the China virus or the CCP virus because the CCP could've prevented all of this but didn't do so. Billions of lives have been turned upside down and 2.5 million people have had their lives snuffed out because of the lying, thieving, corrupt, incompetent, greedy, selfish, bullying CCP.

As if Malaysians didn't have it bad enough, shipments of the Pfizer vaccine to Hong Kong have just been delayed indefinitely due to what the Chinese occupation government claims are "incomplete export procedures". Sinovac is the only shot available right now and the territory's vaccination program begins today. THEY ARE DOING THIS ON FUCKING PURPOSE. I KNOW IT. STAND WITH HONG KONG.

The only ray of good news is that my home state's Chief Minister and his lieutenants just received the first Pfizer shots a few hours ago, kickstarting Sarawak's vaccination rollout.

Small comfort for those of us who are uncertain of what the future holds. I just feel so scared, confused, angry, and helpless right now.

(Today is also Chap Goh Mei, the last day of the Lunar New Year festivities. Expect a huge spike in daily cases over the coming weeks.)

GIVE US PFIZER. GIVE US ASTRAZENECA. GIVE US SPUTNIK V AND J&J. GIVE US ANYTHING BUT SINOVAC OR SINOPHARM.



As America's greatest Secretary of State and No. 1 2024 POTUS candidate, Mike Pompeo, would say, we need to learn to stand up to China. We need to learn to "distrust and verify".

So theres this funny thing with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines being developed. Pfizer is currently in phase 2 and phase 3 of trials for their vaccine while Moderna is solidly in phase 3. The funny part though is Pfizer has its vaccine approved by various oversight agencies while Moderna, not so much. Yet people are still expecting Moderna to be the more reliable future supplier of the two. Why? And as a side note, their vaccines are comparible to each other and both are double-doses at 21days apart. I realize governments are definitely going to order supplies from both of them, but why arent people as invested in Pfizer? Or am I completely wrong about this?

Also:

• PH DOH: Health workers can opt out of Sinovac! And my physician cousin would most certainly agree to that!
• Coof Shots 101: the community version.
• PH DOT agrees: Streamlined travel procedures in the Age of The Coof work!
• Speaking of which...

Dogmeat wrote:

Kowani wrote:The FDA will allow transportation and storage of the Pfizer vaccine at lower temperatures-standard freezers instead of ultra-cold

Not sure how I feel about this. Surely there was a reason why the temperature requirements existed in the first place?

I would be very upset if I, or someone I cared about, got Covid after receiving an improperly stored vaccine.

Everyday we can do something to stop covid. And everyday we have to be stupid and make it worse .

Taiwan identifies new Covid drug more effective than remdesivir

30 times more effective. Good news for seriously ill patients. Now if only the WHO would stop stonewalling them and if only Joe Biden would insist on Taiwan's entry into the world body.