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I got this reply on reddit (on a specific question on scaling up the manufacturing of the Oxford vaccine): Oxford is making an "adenovirus vector vaccine" Effe

by tpmx 7y ago

I got this reply on reddit (on a specific question on scaling up the manufacturing of the Oxford vaccine): Oxford is making an "adenovirus vector vaccine" Effectively they are using a adenovirus with some DNA inside it that will make the spike protein of the coronavirus which the immune system will then attack. No eggs involved. The egg-based vaccines we have work by taking a human virus, letting it evolve in chicken embryos until it is more adapted to chickens and poorly adapted to humans, and then using that weakened virus as the starting point to make a vaccine. Interesting overview of covid-vaccines here https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/04/23/a-close-look-at-the-frontrunning-coronavirus-vaccines-as-of-april-23 https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/04/23/a-... ... But I guess my question remains: Can we scale up the manufacturing, packaging and distribution using existing (private) infra, or do we need do build this stuff from scratch?

lbeltrame 7y ago
Totally from scratch probably not, but it will likely require adjustments to the infrastructure (some very significant). That's why all the players are going at-risk and starting this process now.
- tpmx 7y ago
  Do you feel this effort is progressing at a scale where we can have something for 60% of the global population (now 7.8B) within a year? (Edit: Yeah, now that I review this, I realize it's impossible for you to answer. I wish there would be more transparancy in in things like these.)
  - lbeltrame 7y ago
    Most of the manufacturers don't disclose their projected capacity, as far as I've looked. We're likely getting tens or at best (truly best estimate) hundreds of millions of doses with full capacity. That's why I'm hoping for multiple vaccines to succeed. Like that there will be a faster distribution to the population. Whether we'll get there or not, we'll have to see. The immune system can act worse than the most spoiled of children.

by tpmx 7y ago

lbeltrame 7y ago

Totally from scratch probably not, but it will likely require adjustments to the infrastructure (some very significant). That's why all the players are going at-risk and starting this process now.

tpmx 7y ago
Do you feel this effort is progressing at a scale where we can have something for 60% of the global population (now 7.8B) within a year? (Edit: Yeah, now that I review this, I realize it's impossible for you to answer. I wish there would be more transparancy in in things like these.)
- lbeltrame 7y ago
  Most of the manufacturers don't disclose their projected capacity, as far as I've looked. We're likely getting tens or at best (truly best estimate) hundreds of millions of doses with full capacity. That's why I'm hoping for multiple vaccines to succeed. Like that there will be a faster distribution to the population. Whether we'll get there or not, we'll have to see. The immune system can act worse than the most spoiled of children.