4 ms·

Yeah, there's a few things suggesting that the Moderna dose should be about half what it actually is, but it was rushed to approval due to the Covid-19 emergenc

by makomk 5y ago

Yeah, there's a few things suggesting that the Moderna dose should be about half what it actually is, but it was rushed to approval due to the Covid-19 emergency and I don't think the dosing got tweaked as much as it could've been.

kube-system 5y ago
IIRC they errored on the side of “let’s put in extra mRNA so if some degrades before administration there will still be enough left.” It might be to blame for more intensely reported side effects.
ajross 5y ago
The simple existence of the second mRNA doses is similar. Almost all vaccines do better with a booster. They didn't know whether they needed it or not, and it was an entirely new technique, so they went with a conservative choice. In fact we know now that single-dose mRNA vaccines work at around 70% effectiveness, which is great. That's essentially the way they're being deployed in the UK and now Canada, people get one dose and then go back to the end of the line. And this is working extremely well, quite a bit better than the vaccination regime in the US, which is "wasting" all those early second doses on comparatively much less effective booster shots.
- kube-system 5y ago
  We have so many doses in the US now that it doesn’t really matter if we “wasted” them as early second doses. We now have doses sitting on the shelf expiring. We haven’t had lines for vaccines for over a month, and I’m in one of the highest demand locations in the US. US vaccinations peaked mid April, and the decline after that has been 100% due to demand.
- makomk 5y ago
  Unfortunately, a single dose of the mRNA vaccines or any other vaccine seems to be pretty ineffective against the variant currently circulating in the UK - it really takes two doses, and there doesn't seem to be any way to change the rollout to give both doses sooner.

4 ms·

Yeah, there's a few things suggesting that the Moderna dose should be about half what it actually is, but it was rushed to approval due to the Covid-19 emergenc

by makomk 5y ago

kube-system 5y ago
IIRC they errored on the side of “let’s put in extra mRNA so if some degrades before administration there will still be enough left.” It might be to blame for more intensely reported side effects.
ajross 5y ago
The simple existence of the second mRNA doses is similar. Almost all vaccines do better with a booster. They didn't know whether they needed it or not, and it was an entirely new technique, so they went with a conservative choice. In fact we know now that single-dose mRNA vaccines work at around 70% effectiveness, which is great. That's essentially the way they're being deployed in the UK and now Canada, people get one dose and then go back to the end of the line. And this is working extremely well, quite a bit better than the vaccination regime in the US, which is "wasting" all those early second doses on comparatively much less effective booster shots.
- kube-system 5y ago
  We have so many doses in the US now that it doesn’t really matter if we “wasted” them as early second doses. We now have doses sitting on the shelf expiring. We haven’t had lines for vaccines for over a month, and I’m in one of the highest demand locations in the US. US vaccinations peaked mid April, and the decline after that has been 100% due to demand.
- makomk 5y ago
  Unfortunately, a single dose of the mRNA vaccines or any other vaccine seems to be pretty ineffective against the variant currently circulating in the UK - it really takes two doses, and there doesn't seem to be any way to change the rollout to give both doses sooner.