Moscow to reinstate tough measures if COVID-19 rules ignored
Source: Reuters
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow may reinstate tough measures if its 13 million population ignores COVID-19 protection rules, its mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Thursday after the Russian capital started to record increases in daily cases of infection.
Moscow, the epicentre of Russia’s coronavirus outbreak earlier this year, registered 2,424 new cases overnight, up from below 700 in new daily cases in early September.
In an attempt to curb the recent spike in infections, Sobyanin has earlier ordered to extend an upcoming school holiday by a week and advised anyone with chronic health problems or those older than 65 to stay home.
On Thursday, he ordered employers to send at least 30% of their staff to work remotely from Oct. 5, saying on his blog that hospitalisations of people with COVID-19 were rising in Moscow by around 5,000 per week and that the share of children among the city’s sick had risen above 19% for the first time.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia-moscow/moscow-to-reinstate-tough-measures-if-covid-19-rules-ignored-idUSKBN26M5YT
I thought that Russia had announced the approval of a vaccine to much fanfare similar to Trump's planned announcement of the approval of a vaccine a week or so before the election?
= new reply since forum marked as read
"Nope. There Never Was A Vaccine"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lancet
The Lancet published the phase 1 and phase 2 studies for the Russian vaccine.
Hitchens's razor
Hitchens's razor is an epistemological razor expressed by writer Christopher Hitchens. It says that the burden of proof regarding the truthfulness of a claim lies with the one who makes the claim; if this burden is not met, then the claim is unfounded, and its opponents need not argue further in order to dismiss it.
Hitchens has phrased the razor in writing as "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence."[1][2][3][4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchens%27s_razor
Enjoy your Evening.
TomCADem: "I thought that Russia had announced the approval of a vaccine to much fanfare similar to Trump's planned announcement of the approval of a vaccine a week or so before the election?"
Um, your own OP article seems to answer that quite clearly.
Russia has so far developed two anti-coronavirus vaccines, Sputnik V backed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and another developed by Siberia’s Vector Institute, with final trials for the both yet to be completed.
Sobyanin [Moscow's mayor] said on Thursday Moscow hoped to get a big supply of an anti-coronavirus vaccine in November-December which could resolve issues related to the pandemic, TASS quoted him as saying.
And it's nice though, isn't it, that the Mayor of Moscow seems to be planning a rational, science based response to a spike in cases in his city, unlike most of the Republican Governors here at home, hmmm?
Glad to be of assistance.
Last edited Thu Oct 1, 2020, 06:00 PM - Edit history (1)
Previously, with some fanfare, the REGISTRATION of the first Russian vaccine, Sputnik V was announced.
And what does that mean exactly?
Well this article from the New York Times explains that some while reporting that a second Russian vaccine will soon also be registered.
Early clinical trials have been completed on a second Russian vaccine, a health official said Wednesday, moving it closer to registration under the Russian approach of approving vaccines for emergency use before beginning late-stage trials to determine whether they are effective.
Early trials provide information about safety, though rare side effects may go undetected until much larger late-stage trials are conducted. The later trials, known as Phase 3, are the only means of determining whether a vaccine actually protects against the coronavirus.
Russia registered its first Covid-19 vaccine — one based on common cold viruses — in August, and is now offering a small number of doses outside of trials to people at elevated risk of infection, like health care workers. Western vaccine experts criticized the Russian approach as potentially dangerous.
Anna Papova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, a Russian agency regulating health care, said on Wednesday that researchers had completed early clinical trials of a different vaccine, based on proteins that mimic those in the coronavirus.
Ms. Papova defended the Russian regulatory approach, saying that it drew on a long history of Soviet vaccine development. “The Russian vaccines deserve absolutely no criticism,” she said.
Her agency said earlier this month that it planned to register the second vaccine, made by Vektor, a Siberian laboratory that studied biological weapons during the Cold War, by Oct. 15. A third Russian vaccine, made by the Chumakov Institute in Moscow and based on inactivated coronavirus, is now in early-stage trials.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/09/30/world/covid-19-coronavirus#a-second-vaccine-nears-approval-in-russia
So, the Russian approach is once these vaccines have gone thru the small phase 1 and phase 2 studies, they will REGISTER the vaccine as suitable for use in those high risk workers most exposed to possible infection. In the case of the Sputnik V vaccine, those phase 1 and phase 2 studies seemed promising, with no alarming side effects. Further studies will ultimately determine it's effectiveness and safety for general use.
Honestly, this is similar to our approach here about allowing experimental treatments on a compassionate basis for diseases and conditions with no approved cures/treatments.
Again, most glad to be of assistance. I hope this clears up any confusion that anyone might have about what REGISTRATION of a treatment after phase 1 and phase 2 studies in Russia actually means.
Also, let me once again commend the Moscow mayor for pursuing a rational, science based response to the pandemic in his city. As your OP stated:
On Thursday, he ordered employers to send at least 30% of their staff to work remotely from Oct. 5
That's so much saner than the reckless disregard exhibited by Republican Gov. DeSantis in Florida, no?
"Russia is not really any further along on a vaccine then the U.S., Europe or China"
I agree, Russia is definitely among the world leaders in vaccine development and all those leaders are in the same ballpark in terms of vaccine delivery.
I have taken the opportunity in this thread to point out, with facts, how far along Russia's vaccine development is, and how their approach to roll-out differs from ours here in the US. In my opinion, both approaches have some merit and some drawbacks.
What has made Russia's approach noteworthy is the assessment that it would be unethical not to allow those people most exposed to the virus--namely heath care workers, doctors, teachers--the choice of taking their vaccine at this point in time, as opposed to waiting for all phase 3 testing to conclude. They feel that people should have the choice to take the vaccine if they feel the risks of contracting covid 19 would be even greater.
That sounds pretty reasonable to me.
My family members -- a nurse and two teachers -- agree. All three said, for example, they would take the Pfizer vaccine now, even though its phase 3 studies are not complete.
This statement of yours makes a cogent point:
The early roll-out of the Sputnik V vaccine was both a source of Russian national pride and an opportunity for their sovereign investment fund to stake out some world market share for their vaccine.
Thanks for the discussion.
Enjoy your evening.
Um, in terms of GDP PPP, Russia has the 5th or 6th largest economy in the world.
GDP comparisons using PPP are arguably more useful than those using nominal GDP when assessing a nation's domestic market because PPP takes into account the relative cost of local goods, services and inflation rates of the country, rather than using international market exchange rates, which may distort the real differences in per capita income.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)
Also, having a strong bio-research sector is not that expensive a proposition. Especially since many countries, the US and Russia included, have long established and well funded biological warfare programs --For purely defensive purposes, I am sure-- that can be readily applied to vaccine research.
Or 6th largest. Germany and them are neck and neck, but economists project that Russia will definitively have the largest economy in continental Europe in a matter of years. Sanctions not withstanding. But sure, countries like Russia and China and India are not as rich as, say, Luxemburg, but they are economically vastly more powerful.
"per capita" rankings would place a country like Kuwait at or near the top, which in terms of actual economic power is meaningless.
Russia, with a population of 146 million is in the same economic ballpark as Japan with a population of 126 million and Germany with a population of 84 million. These are midsized countries population-wise in today's world.
The UK, which is also a world leader in vaccine development, has an economy smaller than Russia's. That's illustrative that vaccine development is not that constrained by GDP.
Enjoy your evening.
