Thought of the Day - December 14 - Vaccine War Snippets

The press announcements, approvals, distribution plans, and prognosis of upcoming vaccine candidates are well publicized. Here are six behind-the-scenes news items you might find interesting.

1) This statement was issued at the end of last week - "It is possible for someone to have a serious adverse reaction to a vaccine. The chances of this are extremely rare — less than one in a million — and we have a duty to help if this occurs. It is for this reason that the Public Health Agency of Canada is implementing a pan-Canadian no-fault vaccine injury support program for all Health Canada approved vaccines. This program will also bring Canada in line with its G7 counterparts with similar programs, and ensure the country remains competitive in accessing new vaccines as they become available."

What this really means:

1. This will limited the level of government settlements, keeping greedy lawyers at bay (okay);

2. Canada will indemnify, "hold harmless", the pharma-companies that rapidly developed these vaccines from any legal repercussion from side-effects (wait, what!);

3. Canada is really doing this in order to secure an early supply (something that the international community has already condemned - accusing Canada is selfishly "hoarding" early available vaccine) of the vaccine (really).

2) If you are in a fairly "high-risk" group for complications from COVID-19, you might also be in the same boat with the mRNA vaccines. The list of those for whom it is not advised to get the Pfizer (and probably the Moderna) vaccine now includes:

1. Those under the age of 18;

2. Those over the age of 85;

3. Pregnant women ( Thought of the Day - December 10 - COVID and Pregnancy );

4. Those with significant allergies (anaphylaxis) to another vaccines, drugs, or certain foods;

5. Those with compromised immune systems.

3) Moderna just announced that vaccine candidates still have high-levels of anti-bodies against the Corona virus three months after their first inoculation - humm, didn't they administer a second dose a month later? In short, we still don't know how long the effect will last.

4) AstraZenica, admitting that they have been beaten to the punch by the mRNA duo of Pfizer/Moderna, is now combining research-forces with Sputnik V. These two more traditional vaccine candidates may prove to be complementary in providing the best vaccine cocktail for the rest of us.

5) More and more vaccine-candidates and consortia are falling by the wayside - either because they are proving not to be effective enough, are seen to have side-effects, are on the wrong-side of political aliments, or are realizing that they have missed the market. For example:

• Australia (ScoMo - UoQ) vaccine - much reported as scrapped due to HIV infections;

• Canada/China consortia CanSino scrapped (not sure if this was to be SinoPharm now being deployed in UAE (said to have 86% efficacy) or SinoVac CoronaVac now being deployed in China/Indonesia/Turkey/Brazil/Chile) but either way this option is off the table;

• J&J has cut the size of US vaccine trial testing its single-dose vaccine candidate, probably to try to make up for lost time.

6) Canadian provinces and the Feds are grappling with the Immunity Passports issue ( Thought of the Day - October 9 - Immunity Passports Revisited ). Passports are a tool to add pressure to get a vaccine, even if you have already survived as a diagnosed case of COVID-19, in order to enjoy freedoms such as unrestricted travel.

Cheers

Cliff