International COVID-19 Megathread

[Former President tack50]

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1379621738850422787
Read this thread just out what the Trump team did.

I mean, that was bad for the rest of the world, but given how fast the US are vaccinating compared to other places, it was good for the country.

It is basically a "Prisoner's dilemma" type scenario where in the end the US ended up with the big payoff.

[CumbrianLefty]

UK update in a couple of hours regarding the AZ vaccine bloot clots "scare".

[parochial boy]

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1379621738850422787
Read this thread just out what the Trump team did.

I mean, that was bad for the rest of the world, but given how fast the US are vaccinating compared to other places, it was good for the country.

It is basically a "Prisoner's dilemma" type scenario where in the end the US ended up with the big payoff.

There is a bit of a double standard about this I think. If the EU had stuck in export bans and priority or exclusion clauses (especially forcing Biontech to partner with, say Bayer rather than Pfizer) at the tme like the UK and US did, the current situation with vaccination in the EU would be rather different. As in, the 100m odd doses exported from the EU wouldn't have been exported, and a huge chunk of those went precisely to the UK and US - who both have have engaged in vaccine nationalism to the extent of priority clauses and refusing to allow exports (Biden has banned US exports as well fwiw, so it's not like he is any different to Trump in that respect).

Which makes it kind of questionable as to why EU vaccine nationalism or export blocks now is outrageous whereas other countries doing what amounts to the same thing, but earlier, was apparently fine. I mean, either the US and UK have behaved despicably, or the EU reciprocating is acceptable, but you can't honestly argue that neither is true.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/EMA_News/status/1379794539456688137

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine: EMA finds possible link to very rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets

EMA confirms overall benefit-risk remains positive
EMA’s safety committee (PRAC) has concluded today that unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as very rare side effects of Vaxzevria (formerly COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca).

In reaching its conclusion, the committee took into consideration all currently available evidence, including the advice from an ad hoc expert group.

EMA is reminding healthcare professionals and people receiving the vaccine to remain aware of the possibility of very rare cases of blood clots combined with low levels of blood platelets occurring within 2 weeks of vaccination. So far, most of the cases reported have occurred in women under 60 years of age within 2 weeks of vaccination. Based on the currently available evidence, specific risk factors have not been confirmed.

People who have received the vaccine should seek medical assistance immediately if they develop symptoms of this combination of blood clots and low blood platelets (see below).

The PRAC noted that the blood clots occurred in veins in the brain (cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, CVST) and the abdomen (splanchnic vein thrombosis) and in arteries, together with low levels of blood platelets and sometimes bleeding.

The Committee carried out an in-depth review of 62 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and 24 cases of splanchnic vein thrombosis reported in the EU drug safety database (EudraVigilance) as of 22 March 2021, 18 of which were fatal.1 The cases came mainly from spontaneous reporting systems of the EEA and the UK, where around 25 million people had received the vaccine.

COVID-19 is associated with a risk of hospitalisation and death. The reported combination of blood clots and low blood platelets is very rare, and the overall benefits of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks of side effects.

Vaxzevria is one of four vaccines authorised in the EU for protecting against COVID-19. Studies show that it is effective at preventing the disease. It also reduces the risk of hospitalisation and deaths from COVID-19.

https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/1379801649951113218

[Alcibiades]

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1379621738850422787
Read this thread just out what the Trump team did.

I mean, that was bad for the rest of the world, but given how fast the US are vaccinating compared to other places, it was good for the country.

It is basically a "Prisoner's dilemma" type scenario where in the end the US ended up with the big payoff.

There is a bit of a double standard about this I think. If the EU had stuck in export bans and priority or exclusion clauses (especially forcing Biontech to partner with, say Bayer rather than Pfizer) at the tme like the UK and US did, the current situation with vaccination in the EU would be rather different. As in, the 100m odd doses exported from the EU wouldn't have been exported, and a huge chunk of those went precisely to the UK and US - who both have have engaged in vaccine nationalism to the extent of priority clauses and refusing to allow exports (Biden has banned US exports as well fwiw, so it's not like he is any different to Trump in that respect).

Which makes it kind of questionable as to why EU vaccine nationalism or export blocks now is outrageous whereas other countries doing what amounts to the same thing, but earlier, was apparently fine. I mean, either the US and UK have behaved despicably, or the EU reciprocating is acceptable, but you can't honestly argue that neither is true.

Exactly. I don’t think it necessarily makes these threats by the EU right, but this aspect of a double standard is something that’s been missing almost entirely from the narrative here, even among normally fairly pro-European types.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1379621738850422787
Read this thread just out what the Trump team did.

I mean, that was bad for the rest of the world, but given how fast the US are vaccinating compared to other places, it was good for the country.

It is basically a "Prisoner's dilemma" type scenario where in the end the US ended up with the big payoff.

There is a bit of a double standard about this I think. If the EU had stuck in export bans and priority or exclusion clauses (especially forcing Biontech to partner with, say Bayer rather than Pfizer) at the tme like the UK and US did, the current situation with vaccination in the EU would be rather different. As in, the 100m odd doses exported from the EU wouldn't have been exported, and a huge chunk of those went precisely to the UK and US - who both have have engaged in vaccine nationalism to the extent of priority clauses and refusing to allow exports (Biden has banned US exports as well fwiw, so it's not like he is any different to Trump in that respect).

Which makes it kind of questionable as to why EU vaccine nationalism or export blocks now is outrageous whereas other countries doing what amounts to the same thing, but earlier, was apparently fine. I mean, either the US and UK have behaved despicably, or the EU reciprocating is acceptable, but you can't honestly argue that neither is true.

Is there any nations besides UK & Aussies "outrageous" because of "EU vaccine nationalism"?

UK's critism is probably purely post-Brexit political - look how Evil EU threat us. And one can feel sorry for Aussies.

huge chunk of those went precisely to the UK and US

Isn't it just like 1mln to US? And 10 to UK?

[President Johnson]

As of now, Germany continues its "recommendation" to use AstraZeneca only for older people.

Meanwhile, the German CureVac vaccine is likely to be approved in the EU by June. CureVac was one of the first companies here to invent a vaccine and at the forefront early on, but it took longer than expected in the end. The good news, however, is that they're prepared to ramp up massive production in the EU relatively soon.

[Silent Hunter]

How good is CureVac?

[Omega21]

How good is CureVac?

Phase 3 study was still in progress last time I checked.

[Mike88]

In Portugal, a study found that the AstraZeneca vaccine isn't having much adverse reactions, and in fact it's the Pfizer vaccine that is having more adverse reactions:

1,914,460 vaccines administered; Pfizer - 2.1 reactions reported per thousand doses doses given; AstraZeneca - 1.4 reactions reported per thousand doses doses given; Moderna - 1.2 reactions reported per thousand doses doses given.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/dw_politics/status/1379814722548027393

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/France24_en/status/1380473212102963200

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1380292891990441995

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/business/status/1380504796956925959

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/fthealth/status/1380542149746438149

AstraZeneca has slashed the number of Covid-19 shots it will deliver to EU nations this week by almost half, causing a hold-up that the company claimed would be temporary and was because of delayed testing of a batch of vaccines.

The company now expects to deliver 1.3m doses to the EU's 27 member states, plus Iceland and Norway, down from the 2.6m forecast for this week that it made in mid-March, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.

The cut is equivalent to a reduction of 49 per cent and is evenly distributed across countries, according to the documents.

AstraZeneca said it told the European Commission and member states last week that the batch required testing and would be delivered soon. It said it would still meet its target to deliver 70m doses in the second quarter.

“Weekly deliveries typically show small fluctuations depending on a number of operational factors, such as distribution or completion of quality and safety testing,” the company said.

The latest delay has caused frustration as it comes after the company had dramatically revised down its forecasts for EU deliveries in recent months, delivering about a quarter of maximum targeted supplies in the first quarter and more than halving projections for the second.
 
[...]


A person familiar with the interactions between the drugmaker and member states said there would be “practically no deliveries this week”.

“And the same will happen next week,” the person added. “This is happening all the time.”

[Tender Branson]

Vaccinations have hit a daily Austrian high yesterday with 78.000 doses used.

That would be 3 million per day in US terms ...

[Meclazine for Israel]

Australia's Department of Health has made a significant medical breakthrough in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

I know you guys think that because Australia has virtually no COVID-19 virus, we are not able to research the application of the vaccine in terms of the prevention of the virus. But this article proves we are at the pinnacle of medical research:

https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/is-it-true/is-it-true-can-covid-19-vaccines-connect-me-to-the-internet

"Can COVID-19 vaccines connect me to the internet?
COVID-19 vaccines do not – and cannot – connect you to the internet."

[President Johnson]

Some good news for Europe:

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1381635721564393472

Meanwhile, Germany has hit 3 million cases:

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1381539588041228289

[FrancoAgo]

Was expected to get over 54 millions doses of J&J for the end of June

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/dw_politics/status/1381904532423241728
https://twitter.com/dw_politics/status/1381904830424358912

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://www.ft.com/content/dd56ff32-f117-49a7-8471-8f39c1884998

Johnson & Johnson to delay vaccine rollout in Europe

Johnson & Johnson said it would delay the rollout of its vaccine in Europe after US health agencies called for a pause in its use while they investigate several incidents of rare blood clots.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said they were reviewing six reported US cases of “rare and severe” blood clots in individuals who had received the J&J vaccine. The individuals were all women aged between 18 and 48, who developed symptoms 6 to 13 days after vaccination.

J&J said it had also been reviewing the cases with European health authorities and had decided “to proactively delay the rollout of our vaccine in Europe.” The Europe-wide rollout of the single-shot jab was set to begin on Wednesday.

“The safety and well-being of the people who use our products is our number one priority,” the company said.

US agencies’ call for a suspension in vaccinations follows similar issues with the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, which were investigated by the European Medicines Agency. Last week, the EMA concluded that very rare cases of unusual blood clots should be listed as a side-effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Both the J&J and AstraZeneca jabs are adenovirus-based vaccines.

The delayed rollout of the J&J jab is likely to affect Europe’s vaccine programme as the EU was depending on the single-jab vaccine to hit its targets in the second quarter.

[Tender Branson]

Austrian Health Minister (Rudy Anschober from the Greens) resigns, after being overworked, repeated death threats and intrigues from the conservative coalition partner (Kurz-ÖVP):

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/austrias-health-minister-resigns-overworked-77039270

[politicallefty]

I'm somewhat puzzled now. With J&J on the hook now alongside AstraZeneca for apparently having vaccines that cause blood clots, why hasn't this been an issue in the UK? From what I've read, they both use the adenovirus vector technology. If any country would be seeing significant side-effects, wouldn't it be the UK on account of massive use of the AZ vaccine?

[urutzizu]

I'm somewhat puzzled now. With J&J on the hook now alongside AstraZeneca for apparently having vaccines that cause blood clots, why hasn't this been an issue in the UK? From what I've read, they both use the adenovirus vector technology. If any country would be seeing significant side-effects, wouldn't it be the UK on account of massive use of the AZ vaccine?

UK has the Issue too (79 blood-clotting cases, 19 Deaths). But compared to rest of Europe is much less per AZ dose, correct, because UK (very rightly in my view) has a strict age based rollout with only very limited exceptions. That + very high vaccine acceptance means that in UK practically everyone over 50 has gotten a dose, but only few people below. On the other hand In US most states have opened to all age groups, or here in Germany for instance (and in most mainland European countries I know) certain essential workers were also vaccinated very early. That, plus the fact that AZ was not used for +65 in Germany for a long time, meant that most people who got AZ intitially here were Teachers, Medical/Senior home staff etc., i.e. Groups that are disproportionately young and female. So we vaccinated AZ right into the groups most at risk of blood clots, while UK did the opposite, hence in Germany people started panicking. Maybe also the fact that there was distrust in AZ already before contributed to finding/reporting more blood clots in Europe in the initial phase.

[CumbrianLefty]

This death from blood clots thing seems to be a, quite literally, million to one chance?

Not for the first time, one wishes that society generally was better at assessing risk.