Coronavirus: what Canadians need to know

Merkel: Germany on track to hit vaccine targets

German chancellor defends speed at which EU negotiated coronavirus vaccine deals.

https://www.politico.eu/article/angela-merkel-germany-coronavirus-vaccin...

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/canada-on-verge-of-deal-to-make-covid-19-vac...

https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2021/02/02/poll-finds-overwhelming-sup...

The relentless Western government/media attacks on the early emergency approval of the Russian Sputnik V before phase III trials were completed will likely fade somewhat with the new safety and effectiveness results published in Lancet today:

 The trial results show a consistent strong protective effect across all participant age groups. Also known as Gam-COVID-Vac, the vaccine uses a heterologous recombinant adenovirus approach using adenovirus 26 (Ad26) and adenovirus 5 (Ad5) as vectors for the expression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. The use of two varying serotypes, which are given 21 days apart, is intended to overcome any pre-existing adenovirus immunity in the population.2
Among the major COVID vaccines in development to date, only Gam-COVID-Vac uses this approach; others, such as the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, use the same material for both doses. The earlier vaccine for Ebola virus disease, also developed at Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology (Moscow, Russia), was similar, with Ad5 and vesicular stomatitis virus as the carrier viruses,3
and the general principle of prime boost with two different vectors has been widely used experimentally.4
....
Vaccine efficacy, based on the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases from 21 days after the first dose of vaccine, is reported as 91·6% (95% CI 85·6–95·2), and the suggested lessening of disease severity after one dose is particularly encouraging for current dose-sparing strategies.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00191-4/fulltext

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00234-8/fulltext

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210202-russia-s-sputnik-v-vaccin...

None of this should be surprising as the Gamaleya institute has been at the forefront of coronavirus research and vaccine development for MERS, though that coronavirus, more deadly but not nearly as communicable, died out before vaccine deployment. They had previously relied on their adenovirus vaccine platform employed for Covid-19. https://sputnikvaccine.com/about-us/previous-vaccines/

Don't expect Canada to pursue any licence for acquisition or production as it is geo-politcally unacceptable for the servants of US imperialism and we are committed to dumping cash in the overpriced, less effective, Washington approved corporate predictors (with the exception of the not too effective Oxford vaccine).

I doubt Trump's sanctions against Russian research institutes will be lifted by the russiagate dependent Biden administration:

"The sanctions that the United States adopt against the vaccine research institutes of the Russian Federation constitute a serious attack against the freedom of autonomy of scientists, not only Russians, but all over the world", says Tiberio Graziani, head of the Italy-based Vision and Global Trends International Institute for Global Analyses.
Washington
According to the Italian scholar, the recent ruling amounts to nothing short of "a crime against humanity, as it puts a cutting-edge research centre on vaccine research in difficulty".

Russia announced the registration of the world's first coronavirus vaccine, based on the well-known adenovirus platform, on 11 August and was immediately subjected to a firestorm of criticism from Western politicians and media pundits who threw the drug's efficacy and safety into question. According to American and British pharma companies, their most advanced vaccine candidates, including Moderna's mRNA-1273 and AstraZeneca's AZD1222, will be ready by October-December and become available no sooner than early 2021.

"With these sanctions, Washington is trying to slow the development and production of the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 in an absurd struggle for scientific supremacy", suggests Graziani. "The reason behind the sanctions seems to be specious.​ It belongs to the Western narrative and is part of the hybrid war that since the Gulf War has formed the plot of the aggressive actions of the United States against countries that are beyond their control".

https://en.interaffairs.ru/article/observers-us-sanctions-on-russian-ins...

https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2021/02/02/Getting-Used-Life-Alone/

Thanks contrarianna

Of course it would be much better if we all worked together. The lack of trust and money(profits) are two of the factors preventing that.  

contrarianna wrote:

The relentless Western government/media attacks on the early emergency approval of the Russian Sputnik V before phase III trials were completed will likely fade somewhat with the new safety and effectiveness results published in Lancet today:

 The trial results show a consistent strong protective effect across all participant age groups. Also known as Gam-COVID-Vac, the vaccine uses a heterologous recombinant adenovirus approach using adenovirus 26 (Ad26) and adenovirus 5 (Ad5) as vectors for the expression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. The use of two varying serotypes, which are given 21 days apart, is intended to overcome any pre-existing adenovirus immunity in the population.2
Among the major COVID vaccines in development to date, only Gam-COVID-Vac uses this approach; others, such as the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, use the same material for both doses. The earlier vaccine for Ebola virus disease, also developed at Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology (Moscow, Russia), was similar, with Ad5 and vesicular stomatitis virus as the carrier viruses,3
and the general principle of prime boost with two different vectors has been widely used experimentally.4
....
Vaccine efficacy, based on the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases from 21 days after the first dose of vaccine, is reported as 91·6% (95% CI 85·6–95·2), and the suggested lessening of disease severity after one dose is particularly encouraging for current dose-sparing strategies.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00191-4/fulltext

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00234-8/fulltext

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210202-russia-s-sputnik-v-vaccin...

None of this should be surprising as the Gamaleya institute has been at the forefront of coronavirus research and vaccine development for MERS, though that coronavirus, more deadly but not nearly as communicable, died out before vaccine deployment. They had previously relied on their adenovirus vaccine platform employed for Covid-19. https://sputnikvaccine.com/about-us/previous-vaccines/

Don't expect Canada to pursue any licence for acquisition or production as it is geo-politcally unacceptable for the servants of US imperialism and we are committed to dumping cash in the overpriced, less effective, Washington approved corporate predictors (with the exception of the not too effective Oxford vaccine).

I doubt Trump's sanctions against Russian research institutes will be lifted by the russiagate dependent Biden administration:

"The sanctions that the United States adopt against the vaccine research institutes of the Russian Federation constitute a serious attack against the freedom of autonomy of scientists, not only Russians, but all over the world", says Tiberio Graziani, head of the Italy-based Vision and Global Trends International Institute for Global Analyses.
Washington
According to the Italian scholar, the recent ruling amounts to nothing short of "a crime against humanity, as it puts a cutting-edge research centre on vaccine research in difficulty".

Russia announced the registration of the world's first coronavirus vaccine, based on the well-known adenovirus platform, on 11 August and was immediately subjected to a firestorm of criticism from Western politicians and media pundits who threw the drug's efficacy and safety into question. According to American and British pharma companies, their most advanced vaccine candidates, including Moderna's mRNA-1273 and AstraZeneca's AZD1222, will be ready by October-December and become available no sooner than early 2021.

"With these sanctions, Washington is trying to slow the development and production of the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 in an absurd struggle for scientific supremacy", suggests Graziani. "The reason behind the sanctions seems to be specious.​ It belongs to the Western narrative and is part of the hybrid war that since the Gulf War has formed the plot of the aggressive actions of the United States against countries that are beyond their control".

https://en.interaffairs.ru/article/observers-us-sanctions-on-russian-ins...

Smith in the And so ends a journey thread

NDPP wrote:

I read your article and see no mention of any 'Smith' there. Who is the expert you are referring to?

Two Radical Proposals for ‘Getting to Zero’

Expert reports from Germany and Canada highlight the failure of our pandemic response — and offer a new way forward.

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2021/02/03/Two-Radical-Proposals-Getting-To-...

You can have it your way, they don't seek supply, when our allies don't help, or in limited amount.  Following the original purpose, critisize them, and also critisize Canada for not having enough.  Must take comfort. 

earthquakefish wrote:

I thought the original idea of COVAX was to implement a vaccine supply program beyond weatlh.  They can't help, if countries prioritized and nationalized their supply.   Yes the first shipments, likely from rich countries prioritizing themselves first, the program focused on lower wealth.  What was Canada to do?  Not ask? Given what the countries that are rich, and have a way to produce, when Canada would be vacinne 'poor', not take care of what you ask them to do?

NDPP wrote:

Canada is the only G7 country to take vaccines from fund that helps developing countries

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-the-only-g7-coun...

"Canada is the only Group of Seven country to draw on a supply of COVID-19 vaccines meant primarily for developing countries, leading to fresh charges of hoarding against a country that is already a world leader in vaccine purchases per capita. Canada's decision to accept vaccines from COVAX is 'the clearest evidence yet of how rich countries are hedging their bets,' Ms Hassan said. Jason Nickerson, humanitarian affairs adviser at Medecins sans frontieres said there is a danger that Canada's use of COVAX could undermine the program's ability to ship vaccines to countries with higher needs..."

[email protected]

ps what an asshole.

Canada has only vaccinated 2.58%. Yikes!