Procurement of Pfizer, Moderna, J&J urged to cope with South African strain

[webfact]

Vials labelled “COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine” and a syringe are seen in front of the Pfizer logo in this illustration taken February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

 

A senior doctor, at Siriraj Centre of Research Excellence Management, is urging the government to procure the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines quickly, in preparation for the possible spread of the South African variant in southern Thailand.

 

Dr. Manop Pithukpakorn said in a Facebook post yesterday (Saturday) that the Pfizer and, probably, the Moderna vaccines have shown to be the most effective against the South African strain, with 75% efficacy, followed by Johnson & Johnson at 66% and Novavax, 60.1%.

 

He noted that both AstraZeneca and Sinovac, the two main vaccines in use in the country, are ineffective against the South African variant, with the efficacy of AstraZeneca being shown to drop to just 10.4%.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/procurement-of-pfizer-moderna-jj-urged-to-cope-with-south-african-strain/

 

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[RichardColeman]

17 minutes ago, webfact said:

A senior doctor, at Siriraj Centre of Research Excellence Management, is urging the government to procure the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines quickly

Guys on another planet if he thinks anything more ordered now will arrive by the end of  this year

[sammieuk1]

Another world renowned Dr quoting ridiculously low AZ figures from where? facebook probably. note to self must tell Boris  ????   

[faraday]

I have difficulty keeping up with all these 'variants of concern', the Dr's opinion - which it often seems to be, & a plethora of signs & symptoms.

 

It's almost like a game of Top Trumps.

 

Keeps the media busy, & - as I have mentioned before, any skulduggery at Davos or wherever.

 

Look at this title from the linked BBC piece- I almost thought it was a joke:

 

"How are the mutants behaving?"

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55659820

 

Anyway, to focus my post more "on topic" please see below a link to the BHF about all the variants;

 

https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health/covid-variant#SAdeadly

 

[sezze]

15 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Guys on another planet if he thinks anything more ordered now will arrive by the end of  this year

I read many negative comments on this forum of people who do not give any chance to any kind of plan , while some are clearly possible .

In this case , i believe you are 1000% right , not possible to have anything ordered now to have it , even in 4th Q of the year .

I think they should rather push AZ and Sinovac , to adapt littlebit of the vaccine so that it is more protective vs the SA strain ( and others also ) . While that might not be possible also , chances are much higher since i am sure that the companies are well aware of it and are working on it .

So many countries are fighting against the clock to get the vaccines , anything ordered now , is certainly behind many others in line . Especially if you are talking about Pfizer and Moderna , which have proven to work very good (-> getting more big orders from rich countries ) , vs the problems with AZ ( not used anymore in some countries / delivery problems , failure to comply orders ...) .

They rather have more chance to go to Russia with the Sputnik V vaccine , with is also a mRNA , and looks to be working like pfzier and moderna .

J&J so far , still in early days , production still not in full force ( production might be , deliveries not yet ) .

[AnnieSeek]

One dose of J&J is a game changer.

[dinsdale]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

 

He noted that both AstraZeneca and Sinovac, the two main vaccines in use in the country, are ineffective against the South African variant, with the efficacy of AstraZeneca being shown to drop to just 10.4%.

Very interesting. What is not mentioned though is that the other vaccines mentioned are also less effective and need tweeking to deal with this vaiant and I assume variants to come.

[mackayae]

Right now they have basically zero. A few 100,000 Sinovacs arrive periodically. The local Astrazeneca has yet to be made. They should follow Dr. Manop's advice and order the Phizer, Moderna and J&J as a contingency plan. They will probably need them as a booster against the variants in 2022. Singapore will be producing the Phizer in 2022. Place the order now.

 

[wasabi]

It is time Thailand admitted they need the Farang manufactured vaccines (and Farang tourists) However probably very little of both available til well into next year.

Edited May 23, 2021 by wasabi

[Jeffr2]

Too little too late.  Sad the government is trying to control the import of vaccines.  Just trying to make money off it?  Seems so...

[Pattaya Spotter]

My understanding is the EU, following their A-Z and Sanofi vaccine fiascos, has now jumped the que and recently ordered 2 BILLION doses of the Pfizer vaccine...following Donald Trump's international relations maxim of "Europe First." Therefore, there is little to no supply of this lifesaving medical therapy for other (mostly poorer Yellow, Brown, and Black) nations. 

[clivebaxter]

 

1 hour ago, AnnieSeek said:

One dose of J&J is a game changer.

 

Unfortunately not for Thailand though

[mrfill]

Procure from where?

Perhaps he thinks you can order it with Amazon Prime to get next day delivery or pop down to Makro and pick up a few crates in the pick up...

[topt]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

He noted that both AstraZeneca and Sinovac, the two main vaccines in use in the country, are ineffective against the South African variant, with the efficacy of AstraZeneca being shown to drop to just 10.4%.

Not the results the UK were reporting yesterday -

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57214596

Quote

Two jabs of either vaccine give a similar level of protection against symptomatic disease from the Indian variant as they do for the Kent one.

However, both vaccines were only 33% effective against the Indian variant three weeks after the first dose.

This compared with 50% effectiveness against the Kent variant.

but this is only one dose.

[sathornlover]

20 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

My understanding is the EU, following their A-Z and Sanofi vaccine fiascos, has now jumped the que and recently ordered 2 BILLION doses of the Pfizer vaccine...following Donald Trump's international relations maxim of "Europe First." Therefore, there is little to no supply of this lifesaving medical therapy for other (mostly poorer Yellow, Brown, and Black) nations. 

Surplus vaccines are primarily shared with COVAX. As we all know, Thailand does not participate in COVAX for reasons we can only speculate about.

 

And everyone can work out for themselves how a late order from Thailand in the low tens of millions is treated "preferentially" in the current market environment.

 

And the further these orders are delayed or blocked, the prospects will probably not improving soon …

EU shares COVID-19 vaccines with COVAX – how much and when?

[mortem]

For the ones who don't know where is coming from the efficacy number of 10.4% of AZ vaccine against the SA variant, and are spreading stupid comments such as those number are coming from unverified sources such as FB, please find below the source:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2102214

[petedk]

25 minutes ago, topt said:

Not the results the UK were reporting yesterday -

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57214596

but this is only one dose.

 

All these variants make us confused.

The original article is about the South African variant first discovered in South Africa. The link you give is about the Indian variant first discovered in India.

 

WHO wants us to stop using countries in naming the variants haha.

Actually, there are many other variants of the virus. How long will it be before the virus mutates in Thailand and we have the "Thai variant"?

Edited May 24, 2021 by petedk

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

A senior doctor, at Siriraj Centre of Research Excellence Management, is urging the government to procure the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines quickly, in preparation for the possible spread of the South African variant in southern Thailand.

As proven in the UK and some other nations, it's not so much the above mentioned vaccines being better, but the administering of the second dose in a timely manner to increase the efficacy of the immune system to it's maximum potential.

How many second doses have been injected so far here in LOS.

[CANSIAM]

  Tourism will commence 3rd quarter 2023...... ?

[mackayae]

The efficacy of no vaccine is zero.

[Rampant Rabbit]

2 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Very interesting. What is not mentioned though is that the other vaccines mentioned are also less effective and need tweeking to deal with this vaiant and I assume variants to come.

yet  all stop you dying or  geting seriously  ill

 

[Rampant Rabbit]

6 minutes ago, CANSIAM said:

Tourism will commence 3rd quarter 2023..

2033

[Isaan sailor]

Interesting that Covid-19 variants are named for the country of origin.

So why didn’t they do this when naming the actual virus that came from China?

[Pattaya Spotter]

1 hour ago, sathornlover said:

Surplus vaccines are primarily shared with COVAX. As we all know, Thailand does not participate in COVAX for reasons we can only speculate about.

 

And everyone can work out for themselves how a late order from Thailand in the low tens of millions is treated "preferentially" in the current market environment.

 

And the further these orders are delayed or blocked, the prospects will probably not improving soon …

EU shares COVID-19 vaccines with COVAX – how much and when?

Oh yeah...forgot to mention the woke EU's failed hand-me-down Covax vaccine initiative; thanks for reminding me.

[faraday]

1 hour ago, petedk said:

Actually, there are many other variants of the virus. How long will it be before the virus mutates in Thailand and we have the "Thai variant"?

Never.????

[IamNoone88]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

He noted that both AstraZeneca and Sinovac, the two main vaccines in use in the country, are ineffective against the South African variant, with the efficacy of AstraZeneca being shown to drop to just 10.4%.

Yep, time to open Phuket, quarantine free.

[Stargeezr]

Good luck Thailand.  I think you will be needing all of it that you can get.

  Stay cautious and vigilant.

Geezer

[placnx]

7 hours ago, sezze said:

I think they should rather push AZ and Sinovac , to adapt littlebit of the vaccine so that it is more protective vs the SA strain ( and others also ) . While that might not be possible also , chances are much higher since i am sure that the companies are well aware of it and are working on it .

The AZ should be updated for sure, and the update should be substituted at all production sites.

 

7 hours ago, sezze said:

They rather have more chance to go to Russia with the Sputnik V vaccine , with is also a mRNA , and looks to be working like pfzier and moderna .

Sputnik is a vector vaccine using adenovirus, same as J&J and AZ.

[placeholder]

8 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Another world renowned Dr quoting ridiculously low AZ figures from where? facebook probably. note to self must tell Boris  ????   

https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/03/17/astrazeneca-vaccine-fails-to-protect-against-the-south-african-variant/?sh=47104526526e

As the article notes, though, none of the vaccinated people needed to be hospitalized or died. On the other hand, the group tested was mostly young people. The study doesn't really tell us much about the most important aspect of the vaccine: averting serious symptoms and saving lives. Still, the 2nd most important factoris stopping transmission. There it didn't seem to do much at all. But a better study is definitely needed.

[Venom]

Obviously they don't want the competition. ????????????