AstraZeneca says vaccine against new Covid variants may take six months

[brooklynite]

Source: The Guardian

AstraZeneca has said it could take between six and nine months to produce Covid-19 vaccines that are effective against new variants of the coronavirus, and begin administering them to the public.

The company’s vaccine, developed jointly with scientists at the University of Oxford, remains effective against the original virus and at least one variant, first discovered in Kent, England. But preliminary findings in a small-scale trial prompted South Africa to limit its use while it ascertains its efficacy against the variant that emerged there.

A six-month turnaround for an updated vaccine would represent a vast improvement over traditional vaccine development timelines.

“Work on the variants hasn’t started today, it started weeks and months ago, as soon as those new variants were identified and … we are aiming to be in the clinic in the spring, with next generation vaccines for the new variants,” said Sir Mene Pangalos, executive vice-president, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/11/astrazeneca-says-vaccine-against-new-covid-variant-may-take-six-months

[Moostache]

1. The danger in not getting ahead of the virus faster is mutation and shifting variants...

THIS is why masks should have been MANDATORY - and backed by civil fines and forfeitures if necessary to compel compliance. Without EVERY possible barrier in place to slow and prevent transmission, this thing is not only deadly, it has the potential to keep evading vaccines and spreading and mutating, eventually getting to something even more horrifying that we have already seen.

If you see someone not wearing a mask, tell them to stop aiding the virus spread by offering it a convenient target or being an unwitting spreader.

[Yavin4]

3. I concur with your post, but here's THE problem.

To really enforce what you, and I want, to combat the virus -- mandatory masks, social distancing, quarantining, etc.--requires massive investments in public services, e.g. $2000 relief checks per month for everyone, high-speed public WiFi for children to attend school, housing subsidies, tax breaks for businesses to close, etc.

Our governments, federal and local, have not done nearly enough to help stop the spread of the virus. Wearing a mask alone does not do enough to stop the spread.

[Goonch]

2. ;-{)