This will be useful for the hundreds of thousands of organ transplant recipients like my Dad. The two dose vaccines generally have no effect. Didn't with him or any of the other patients under his doctor's care. Luckily, he was part of the ~40% where the 3rd dose had some effect. Nowhere near healthy folks but at least some. For the other 60%, a drug like this will be life-saving.
It doesn't help that public is too sensitive about this subject. Government can't scrutinize companies like Pfizer enough if they are worried about public reaction. And I'm not too surprised if some companies rush since a lot of money is on the table.
To be fair, this is the best effort we have ever had to develop a vaccine. So I don't think it's fair to blame these companies if their vaccine wasn't effective on new variants as they initially promised. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't thoroughly scrutinize them.
> So I don't think it's fair to blame these companies if their vaccine wasn't effective on new variants as they initially promised. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't thoroughly scrutinize them.
It depends. On example: If they hid data that propped up their number, then we should blame. Otherwise we should not blame them. Either way, there needs to be scrutiny so that they don’t feel they can easily hide things that matter to public health
It will be interesting to see if this pill could be used as prophylaxis too, instead of only after the onset of symptoms. Might help with the need to recognize symptoms fairly early on.
Does this mean COVID is over? I thought once the vaccines were available we could move on with life, but somehow the goal posts kept moving. Will people accept the much smaller risk of hospitalization once this pill is available?
The goal posts change because the variables change while the prior post is never met.
In my world, everyone that could segregate from vulnerable populations already has and vice versa. They moved, and go out with everyone else that wont go home to an immunocompromised or prediabetic or elderly person.
Multiday 300,000+ attendee music festivals have occurred in major US markets without making the news as reckless and welcomed by all levels of government at the time.
Commonwealth countries and major markets in Europe seem to be less tolerant to the idea of governing, I mean a lower threshold to infection to justify continued restrictions.
Many of their citizens are coming to the US if they can, as well.
US is still doing way worse with infections, deaths, ICU capacity, but its a two tiered reality. And as long as emergency services remain available for everyone else I think thats a good enough bar for people to make their own decisions - which is an opinion matched by even the most restrictive major municipalities in the US, for some time. Remote work has been normalized enough for enough people/office jobs to not require a compromise to stay home.
The goal posts do keep moving, because vaccination uptake is slow, people keep arguing against public health measures, and while we waste time delaying measures or implementing half baked measures, the virus evolves.
When I took my first jab, the local clinic handed out a flier explaining in no uncertain terms that:
a) the current batch of vaccines work by giving our immune system a workout to be able to experience a COVID infection as either totally unnoticed or at most a mild case,
b) the current batch of vaccines does not nor did ever guaranteed you won't contract and spread COVID,
c) even with all shots we still need to practice basic higiene and health precautions like wearing a mask, wash hands, and social distance.
We're talking about pre-Delta times. This has been widely known from the start.
How come antivaxxers are the only ones repeating cynical comments on how the initial batch of vaccines, which we all are lucky to have but are still at the level of being better than nothing, would be a silver bullet?
Ivermectin acts on glutamate chloride ion channels. It is not a protease inhibitor. And even if it were (which it is not), something that inhibits one protease doesn't work on other proteases. We can't use HIV protease inhibitors to fight covid, for example.
You can enable "Show Dead" in your user prefs if you want to see flagged comments.
Spoiler alert: they're all conspiracy theorizing about how this _proves_ that the entire pandemic is all a part of Pfizer's master plan for making money.
> Can’t wait for the follow on months of real data disproving their terrible study.
Can you please elaborate on exactly which study are you referring to and your reasoning to accuse it of being "terrible"?
Meanwhile, we've endured at least two strains which are significantly different than the original 2019 Wuhan strain, and thanks to the vaccine the mortality risk has dropped to residual levels.
As a vaccinated, boosted republican, this attitude isn't helping. Yeah, there are a bunch of idiotic republican politicians out there. But there are also a lot of idiotic democrat politicians out there who aren't making COVID policy decisions based on science and evidence, but based on their ideological side: outdoor mask mandates, travel bans, blocking people's access to their own private property, etc. So no, not fucking republicans. Fucking tribalism. It's making humans act completely irrationally.
Unfortunately, the Pfizer pill needs to be taken early in the infection, so when patients may not be yet in the survival mode, but still in "it's just like a flu" mode.
Sure are a lot of missing comments here. It seems hardcore leftists love diversity in everything except diversity of opinions. Ah this place is basically group think extreme. More interesting than Reddit usually but just as hostile to debate about subjects that go against the TV gods or popular culture. Basically the internet is becoming little clicks of people that dare not even speak up for fear of losing more than something like posting privileges to a website. You think this issue is not political? It has been politics from the very first minute we saw it on TV.
The vaccines were also lauded as 100% effective in the early days by Fauci and others, so just a reminder that time and reproducibility matter before being too confident about it.
[+] [-] JohnTHaller|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baka367|4 years ago|reply
.. and that it also would not cost a fortune in 3rd world where we really need easily accessible and storable countermeasures against the bugger.
[+] [-] xienze|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] jimmyearlcarter|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] stunt|4 years ago|reply
To be fair, this is the best effort we have ever had to develop a vaccine. So I don't think it's fair to blame these companies if their vaccine wasn't effective on new variants as they initially promised. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't thoroughly scrutinize them.
[+] [-] throwoutway|4 years ago|reply
It depends. On example: If they hid data that propped up their number, then we should blame. Otherwise we should not blame them. Either way, there needs to be scrutiny so that they don’t feel they can easily hide things that matter to public health
[+] [-] thisiscorrect|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JanSt|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pokstad|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vmception|4 years ago|reply
In my world, everyone that could segregate from vulnerable populations already has and vice versa. They moved, and go out with everyone else that wont go home to an immunocompromised or prediabetic or elderly person.
Multiday 300,000+ attendee music festivals have occurred in major US markets without making the news as reckless and welcomed by all levels of government at the time.
Commonwealth countries and major markets in Europe seem to be less tolerant to the idea of governing, I mean a lower threshold to infection to justify continued restrictions.
Many of their citizens are coming to the US if they can, as well.
US is still doing way worse with infections, deaths, ICU capacity, but its a two tiered reality. And as long as emergency services remain available for everyone else I think thats a good enough bar for people to make their own decisions - which is an opinion matched by even the most restrictive major municipalities in the US, for some time. Remote work has been normalized enough for enough people/office jobs to not require a compromise to stay home.
[+] [-] epgui|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joe_guy|4 years ago|reply
The virus changes, so the end conditions change. It's frustrating but it is what it is.
[+] [-] fivea|4 years ago|reply
When I took my first jab, the local clinic handed out a flier explaining in no uncertain terms that:
a) the current batch of vaccines work by giving our immune system a workout to be able to experience a COVID infection as either totally unnoticed or at most a mild case,
b) the current batch of vaccines does not nor did ever guaranteed you won't contract and spread COVID,
c) even with all shots we still need to practice basic higiene and health precautions like wearing a mask, wash hands, and social distance.
We're talking about pre-Delta times. This has been widely known from the start.
How come antivaxxers are the only ones repeating cynical comments on how the initial batch of vaccines, which we all are lucky to have but are still at the level of being better than nothing, would be a silver bullet?
[+] [-] MaxMoney|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] ceejayoz|4 years ago|reply
Same reason it might not be sensible to have sex unprotected with a syphilis patient.
[+] [-] jmarbach|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] junon|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] desine|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] ufo|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] azinman2|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jiggawatts|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] hunterb123|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] dang|4 years ago|reply
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
[+] [-] solarkraft|4 years ago|reply
I can assure you almost all of them are flame-bait.
[+] [-] warning26|4 years ago|reply
Spoiler alert: they're all conspiracy theorizing about how this _proves_ that the entire pandemic is all a part of Pfizer's master plan for making money.
[+] [-] whb07|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] eli|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fivea|4 years ago|reply
Can you please elaborate on exactly which study are you referring to and your reasoning to accuse it of being "terrible"?
Meanwhile, we've endured at least two strains which are significantly different than the original 2019 Wuhan strain, and thanks to the vaccine the mortality risk has dropped to residual levels.
[+] [-] s5300|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] btmiller|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] yosito|4 years ago|reply
As a vaccinated, boosted republican, this attitude isn't helping. Yeah, there are a bunch of idiotic republican politicians out there. But there are also a lot of idiotic democrat politicians out there who aren't making COVID policy decisions based on science and evidence, but based on their ideological side: outdoor mask mandates, travel bans, blocking people's access to their own private property, etc. So no, not fucking republicans. Fucking tribalism. It's making humans act completely irrationally.
[+] [-] marklubi|4 years ago|reply
Please take your politically charged discourse elsewhere. This isn't the right place for mudslinging like this.
[+] [-] mixedbit|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ohiovr|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tommit|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beaned|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xboxnolifes|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] junon|4 years ago|reply