D&D and the rising pandemic

[Umbran]

Are you gonna get a choice if vaccines? I assume our government will aquire some, they'll be free and you get what's available.

Maybe?

In early phases, I suspect it will be "take what you can get" because supply will be stretched to the limit. But for those of us who get it late in phase 3 of the vaccination plan, maybe there will be choice.

But, most probably have no reason to exercise choice - this year, there were a few flu vaccines available, and you could request one over another. But most just walk into their provider and say, "I want a flu shot" and get one.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

For the first time I can recall, there were some slowdowns in flu vaccinations because they were making distinctions between the standard one and the one for 60+go’s. That caused a delay for both of my parents.

I don’t recall any other choices, though.

 

[Umbran]

They first offered the caveat that there was zero research on doing something like that...

And no company has incentive to do that research. Why would Pfizer want to test AstraZeneca's product... and end up selling less of their own product as a result? You'd have to wait for purely academic research to answer the question.

I ran across an analogy (so, imperfect) but it may make some sense. Consider it like scent-training a dog. Say you want to teach a dog to recognize and find things treated with mint extract. You start training them on peppermint. You do not, halfway through training, switch to spearmint. They are both mints, very similar scents. And once fully trained, a dog trained on Peppermint might find Spearmint as well. But, if you switch it up halfway through, the slight differences may mean the dog doesn't know exactly what it is supposed to be looking for, and finds neither of them particularly well.

 

[Umbran]

For the first time I can recall, there were some slowdowns in flu vaccinations because they were making distinctions between the standard one and the one for 60+go’s. That caused a delay for both of my parents.

I don’t recall any other choices, though.

My CVS had, I think, the higher dose for 60+, a standard (tri-valent, IIRC?) and another option (might have been bi-valent or quadri-valent).

 

[Garthanos]

So, first off, it isn't necessarily "higher quality". Remember - the reported efficacy of the AZ vaccine is an average of two different dosing regimens. One of those, alone, seemed to be 90% effective, but it wasn't a large enough part of the Phase III study to just lay claim to that number.

It may be that, with the right regimens, the three vaccines are basically equivalent in efficacy.

You're right. That makes it a bit preliminary and I remember reading it sounded sketchy the way its efficacy was described. Well here is hoping.

Speaking of vaccines and having unexpected impact.
There have been indications that people who have the flu vaccine recently have significantly better chances in not having severe cases and similarly the reason someone with a recent MMR vaccine. (this latter may be why kids tend to have milder cases)

 

[Umbran]

You're right. That makes it a bit preliminary and I remember reading it sounded sketchy the way its efficacy was described. Well here is hoping.

In my reading, it has seemed less "sketchy" and more simply unexpected.

Speaking of vaccines and having unexpected impact.
There have been indications that people who have the flu vaccine recently have significantly better chances in not having severe cases...

Yeah. The discussion of that I've seen is that the data isn't conclusive, but suggestive.

The most often proposed explanation has been that, if you had one of those vaccines recently, your immune system is somewhat more active in a way that helps keep down covid-19, too. Possibly an unexpected bonus.

Folks ought to get the flu vaccine anyway, but this is a nice icing on the cake of motivations to do so.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The AZ oddity probably has something to do with having a sweet spot for dosing. Too much, and maybe it works as poorly as too little.

 

[Zardnaar]

Germany not doing so good along with Russia.

Covid: Record deaths in Germany and Russia

Germany is facing calls for a second lockdown before Christmas.

www.bbc.com

No surprise for Russia but Germany was doing well earlier in year.

Hubris/complacency?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I’ve seen anti-mask protests in the UK. Maybe a similar root cause in Germany?

 

[Zardnaar]

I’ve seen anti-mask protests in the UK. Maybe a similar root cause in Germany?

Article says regional authorities.

Countries like Germany and Sweden tend to be in lists of best healthcare in the world type things and I guess they though they would be alright.

Throw in EU open borders, usual population whatever and perhaps a generation divide multiple levels.