Covid 2/6/21 | COVID 19 Information Page

Covid19mathblog.com

Vaccine news:

Russia vaccine making headways – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-06/putin-s-once-scorned-vaccine-is-now-a-favorite-in-pandemic-fight?sref=qS0Eg2QL

“At least 19 countries have approved the inoculation for use, including European Union member state Hungary, while key markets such as Brazil and India are close to authorizing it. Now Russia’s setting its sights on the prized EU market as the bloc struggles with its vaccination program amid supply shortages.”

“Results from the late-stage trials of 20,000 participants reviewed in The Lancet showed that the vaccine has a 91.6% success rate.”

“Production constraints are the biggest challenge facing all manufacturers as global demand far outpaces supply. Russia, pledging free shots for its 146 million population, began output last year and the vaccine is currently being manufactured in countries including India, South Korea and Brazil.”

“Latin America is proving fertile territory. Argentina, which has struggled to obtain vaccine supplies, started its mass inoculation program after taking delivery of more than half a million Sputnik V doses by January. It’s been joined by Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela. In Brazil, the region’s biggest market, a decision announced Feb. 3 to scrap the requirement for phase three trials for emergency use may speed up approval.”

“Unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, Sputnik V can be stored in a fridge rather than a freezer, making it easier to transport and distribute in poorer and hotter countries. At around $20 for a two-shot vaccination, it’s also cheaper than most Western alternatives. While more expensive than AstraZeneca, the Russian inoculation has shown higher efficacy than the U.K. vaccine.”

“China, whose inoculations are as low as 50% effective in the case of Sinovac Biotech, retains a lead in Asia. Only a handful of countries have opted for Sputnik V, including the Philippines, which is in talks for 25 million doses.

Chinese developers may now team up with Russia. The RDIF struck a preliminary deal to test a combined regimen of shots from Sputnik V and China’s CanSino Biologics to boost effectiveness against Covid-19, people with knowledge of the matter said Friday.”

“While Russia says it expects the vaccine to be available to 700 million people this year, it’s facing production bottlenecks. “We have to be realistic. Given our other commitments, we will not be able to supply to Europe before May, other than Hungary,” said RDIF’s Dmitriev.

Still, the vaccine is paying dividends for Putin. Even as he visited Moscow Friday to confront Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell took time to congratulate Russia on developing Sputnik V.

“It’s good news for the whole mankind,” Borrell said. “It means that we are going to have more tools to face the pandemic.””

China vaccine – brings up the question preventing death and hospitalization good enough vs. infection? – https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-digest-chinas-sinovac-says-vaccine-stops-covid-19-deaths/a-56477998

“China’s Sinovac said its CoronaVac vaccine was found to be 100% effective in preventing the hospitalization and death of COVID-19 patients, citing late-stage trial data. However, the product had a lower efficacy rate in blocking infections. CoronaVac is one of three vaccines developed in China.

According to a trial in Brazil, the CoronaVac jab averted all coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths among the recipients and was also 83.7% effective in preventing cases that required medical treatment. However, it only managed to stop 50.65% of all infections. At the same time, another trial in Turkey found that the vaccine was 91.25% effective in blocking infections.

The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear. In comparison, BioNTech-Pfizer’s vaccine was reported to be 95% effective, with Russia’s Sputnik V providing around 92% protection, and a product by US company Johnson & Johnson lagging behind at 66% effectiveness.”

Variant issue not just from genetic mutations – but recombination which it would seem coronaviruses are the master – https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/the-coronavirus-is-a-master-of-mixing-its-genome-worrying-scientists-948133.html

“The novel coronavirus has a propensity to mix large chunks of its genome when it makes copies of itself. Unlike small mutations, which are like typos in the sequence, a phenomenon called recombination resembles a major copy-and-paste error in which are like typos in the sequence, a phenomenon called recombination resembles a major copy-and-paste error in which the second half of a sentence is completely overwritten with a slightly different version.”

“Recombination, in contrast, is rife in coronaviruses. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center led by the virus expert Mark Denison recently studied how things go awry during replication in three coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID. The team found that all three viruses showed “extensive” recombination when replicating separately in the laboratory.”

“Munster and his collaborators suggested that recombination is likely how both SARS-CoV-2 and the virus behind the original SARS outbreak in 2003 both ended up with a version of the spike protein that allows them to deftly enter human cells.”

Interesting to note if you add the confirmed per capita and fully vaccinated per capita perhaps that is the metric to watch? US at 10%. US death below 4K. Mexico zoomed up to 3K deaths.