Thought of the Day - February 24 2022 - Hope for the Immunocompromised

With the wind-down of COVID mass vaccination, it is good to see that we are now focussing on additional treatments for the vulnerable. There are many people who were advised not to get mRNA vaccinated or had a significant reaction to the treatment. Until now these people have been lumped in with the much-maligned anti-vaxxers and governed by the discriminatory use of vaccine passports. But there is now a light at the end of the tunnel.

On the vaccine front, last week we reported on the approval of the Novavax vaccine ( Thought of the Day - February 18 2022 - Novavax Shipment on the Way ), being based on more traditional "protein-based" vaccine technology this provides an option for some. Today, Canada was the first to approve the Canadian-developed Medicago vaccine, Covifenz, whose underlying technology is classified as "virus-like particles".

Yesterday, it was announced that the Canadian government has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to procure 100,000 doses of a COVID-19 antibody therapy. The product, Evusheld, is a pre-exposure preventative targeted at specific high-risk patient populations, such as people who are immunocompromised. The US approved the treatment back in December but at this point Canadian final approval is still pending.

Such treatments, coupled with the removal of vaccine passports, hold the promise that after almost a year thousands of people can fully participate in society once again.

Cheers

Cliff