3 ms·
> Global health leaders including Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, have pleaded with developed countries not to ad
by criticaltinker 5y ago
> Global health leaders including Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, have pleaded with developed countries not to administer boosters given that most of the world’s population hasn’t received even a single dose. [1]
> U.S regulators authorized a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer Inc (PFE.N)-BioNTech and Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) on Friday for people with compromised immune systems who are likely to have weaker protection from the two-dose regimens. [2]
> "It will be a patient's attestation, and there will be no requirement for proof or prescription or a recommendation from an individual's healthcare provider," CDC official Dr. Amanda Cohn said [2]
Clearly we are facing a supply shortage and distribution problem with the vaccines - and citizens of wealthier & more developed countries will fare better given the dynamics playing out. Perhaps that's just the status quo, not sure why I'm even surprised at this point.
For the poor and rural populations in less developing countries, we really need to be pursuing early treatment using combinations of existing and widely available medicines, which have been shown to be very effective at preventing hospitalization and death [3][4] - it's what many front line doctors are already doing anyway, just without the same level of press coverage that vaccines are getting.
[1] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/08/grim-warning-israel-vaccination-blunts-does-not-defeat-delta https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/08/grim-warning-israel-...
[2] https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-fda-authorizes-covid-19-vaccine-boosters-immunocompromised-2021-08-13/ https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-fda-authorizes-...
[3] Pathophysiological Basis and Rationale for Early Outpatient Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Infection
https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(20)30673-2/fulltext https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(20)30673-2/fulltex...
[4] Multifaceted highly targeted sequential multidrug treatment of early ambulatory high-risk SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19)
https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1139&context=infectiousdiseases_articles https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?a...
- arpyzo 5y agoEarly on in the pandemic it looked like things might unfold differently. You can read about why that didn't happen here: https://newrepublic.com/article/162000/bill-gates-impeded-global-access-covid-vaccines https://newrepublic.com/article/162000/bill-gates-impeded-gl...
- nradov 5y agoVaccine exports are underway and on track. However the vaccines require refrigeration which can be logistically challenging in underdeveloped countries. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-says-it-has-shared-110-million-covid-19-vaccine-doses-overseas-11627981201 https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-says-it-has-shared-110-mill... Those poor countries tend to have fewer people at risk due to having younger populations and lower incidences of co-morbid conditions like obesity and diabetes. A recent meta analysis calculated an infection fatality rate of 0.05% in Africa. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eci.13554 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eci.13554
- tinus_hn 5y agoAll we need to do is quarantine the developed world for just a little longer..