Forums >Health and Nutrition>The COVID-19 Wild West Thread
One day at a time
I am signed up as a volunteer for a phase III trail of the Moderna vaccine. Of course that means if they actually enroll me, I stand a 50:50 chance of getting the placebo. Alas. The speed of vaccine development does not worry me because it is not brand new vaccine technology coming de novo. In many ways, this is akin to the annual influenza vaccine which builds on known technology. I happen to work very closely with several virologists and immunologists who have been working on this technology for decades. So it’s pretty old and proven.
I am signed up as a volunteer for a phase III trail of the Moderna vaccine. Of course that means if they actually enroll me, I stand a 50:50 chance of getting the placebo. Alas.
The speed of vaccine development does not worry me because it is not brand new vaccine technology coming de novo. In many ways, this is akin to the annual influenza vaccine which builds on known technology. I happen to work very closely with several virologists and immunologists who have been working on this technology for decades. So it’s pretty old and proven.
Thanks, Trent, that's good to know. I will get the vaccine the second I'm allowed to.
Interval Junkie --Nobby
I am signed up as a volunteer for a phase III trail of the Moderna vaccine.
This makes Bill Gates very happy.
Real question: if you unknowingly get the placebo, will the inform you after the trails so you know you still need the real vaccine? Or will you forever be in the dark?
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Good Bad & The Monkey
They will unmask at the end of the trial, according to the consent form I received to preview.
The trial is blinded. However, there are reports that the vaccine comes with some side effects. So I will likely have a good guess whether I receive saline or vaccine.
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rectumdamnnearkilledem
Same. I was planning on it, anyhow. I probably have enough risk factors to get first dibs, but given how many anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists there are in my midst, I likely wouldn't be far back in the line.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
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They will unmask at the end of the trial, according to the consent form I received to preview. The trial is blinded. However, there are reports that the vaccine comes with some side effects. So I will likely have a good guess whether I receive saline or vaccine.
I hope some of these side effects include super powers.
Also: unmask. I see what you did there.
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Trent - I thought I was reading that some of these firms actually were using new technology (can't remember if it was the RNA stuff or not) Also, what about Moderna never having brought a vaccine to market before?
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Pfizer and Moderna are both working with mRNA vaccines. AstraZeneca/Oxford are working with an adenovirus-vectored vaccine. These technologies have been studied for years for vaccines for other viruses, but there has never been an approved mRNA vaccine and I don't think there has ever been an approved adenovirus-vectored vaccine. I disagree with the assessment that this is akin to a new seasonal flu vaccine, but that doesn't mean it won't be safe to take. Answering the safety question is a big reason why the biomedical community is going through the 3 stages of clinical trials.
^^ exactly.
Which is why these vaccines are getting Phased trials while the annual flu vaccine does not.
That Moderna has not made a vaccine before gives me some pause, but I think that will be a bigger issue when it comes to ramping up production more than the actual testing.
Feeling the growl again
^^ exactly. Which is why these vaccines are getting Phased trials while the annual flu vaccine does not. That Moderna has not made a vaccine before gives me some pause, but I think that will be a bigger issue when it comes to ramping up production more than the actual testing.
I agree with this.
A big plus here is we finally have a proving ground for mRNA vaccines. I'm not going to go into the details here but there is a huge upside to the field of vaccines and possibly other therapeutics if this is finally validated. And I agree we need the full gamute of trials as one of these has not been approved before. But based on the nature of the technology, I'm really hopeful that safety is not going to be the issue. And once one is approved, I am certain safety concerns are going to be much lower for follow-on products. Again based on an understanding of the underlying biology I'm not going to dive into.
Continuing on the comments on not going into detail I'm very familiar with mRNA vaccine technology. I've been shocked at the magnitude of the guaranteed doses being shared in these contracts with the US government. I would not have imagined they had access to such manufacturing volume. Again, remember, this is a new technology without a single approved product, being run by biotech companies (not large established companies) and they are guaranteeing hundreds of millions of doses. Sounds like they have it worked out but I'm surprised in the manufacturing volume trajectory if they do...
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I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
The annual flu vaccine is a very different technology (chicken egg production, or baculovirus-produced HA protein) than mRNA vaccines (in vitro transcription mRNA encapsulated in liposomes). I'm curious that you associate them so closely? There has literally never been an approved mRNA vaccine. Moderna, Curevac, and BioNTech are racing for this prize. Some more effectively than others.
Never approved, but well developed over the years. There just was never a reason to pay for and conduct Phase III trials. The closest was for SARS CoV 1, but we never got to the point where we needed a vaccine for that.
MoBramExam
The closest was for SARS CoV 1, but we never got to the point where we needed a vaccine for that.
Why not? Would not think that SARS CoV 1 would have been the virus to end all viruses?
Spaniel - if you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living? This was very helpful, I assume you're in the field.
Additionally, it seems like there are various technologies being used for this vaccine. Is there any one technology you're more hopeful for in terms of efficacy?
Are we there, yet?
I'd say the concentration camp is putting everyone on lockdown because you have the power to and what they're doing bothers you. I'm not a history major so I don't know a lot about concentration camps other than if they existed they were in Europe or something like that.
You might want to Google Manzanar, one of 10 concentration camps in California for Japanese-Americans during World War II.
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Because we were able to control it using public health measures to the point that it no longer was a threat. That happened faster than the vaccine could go through trials with adequate follow up.