Well, I have some breaking news to report. I see though since I last checked in on this thread we have Covidiot on the loose! He needs seeing off pretty sharpish.
This may turn out to be what we have feared. As has been the norm in this pandemic, there has been further antigenic drift, which Sars viruses are prone to.
The WHO announced today a new variant of concern, the Mu variant. This variant has a lot of antigens shared with previous variants, but some novel ones. It arose in Columbia. Unfortunately this appears to possibly be outpacing the Delta variant there. It is significantly resistant to vaccines and natural immunity.
Here is a link to the
article in Lancet, hot of the press. I think you should all read this.
There have been 48 cases in the UK so far. It is already in 40 countries that we know off. It has been found in 49 US states.
Here is a link to the BBC magazine, Science Focus.
So I suspect more data will come thick and fast on this development.
Other news is an article in JAMA. This article shows that the Moderna vaccine induces significantly greater immunogenicity than the Pfizer vaccine. I find this surprising as they are both mRNA vaccines. The only significant difference is the nanoshield. However the Moderna shield has shown itself to be more stable than the Pfizer. So I wonder if this has something to do with it.
In addition, although the AstraZeneca vaccine produces slightly less initial effectiveness, there is data in the UK suggesting that the immunity is longer lived. The protection lines of time a crossing over in the UK, with the AstraZeneca vaccine showing slightly greater protection with time and the lines separating. We have no data on the J & J vaccine, the other mDNA vaccine, on this issue yet, as far as I know. If this is true it is good news as the AstraZenca vaccine is the backbone of the vaccination programs in many parts of the world.
GSK are now in phase three trials using the AstraZenca vaccine as a control. It is not considered ethical now to do a placebo Covid-19 vaccine trial now. This is an mRNA vaccine. However GSK say it is stable and easy to produce. This is a project developed by GSK and South Korea for the third world. This vaccine appears to produce a really good immune response. Hopefully this will be a big step to inducing worldwide immunity if the virus does not outrun us with mutations.
These sort of projects are vital if we are going to get the acute phase of this crisis behind us.
The other piece of good news is that US vaccinations have increased 17% since full FDA approval.
I think that is all of consequence to bring to members attention at this time.
I am however disturbed to find we have a belligerent member threatening to derail this thread. So may be mods could at least caution the offender. I really don't want to have to waste time correcting false information from that quarter.
We are still in the highly critical phase of this pandemic, and science needs to rule the day, and not politics. I will continue to update what I hope has been and will continue to be an accurate source of information to the membership.
