The Pandemic Informer

Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is notably less effective six months after the second dose is administered, a new study finds. Researchers from King’s College London in the UK analyzed COVID-19 testing data and found the vaccine’s effectiveness falls from 88 percent to 77 percent after five to six months. They could not determine whether the lower effectiveness caused an increase in hospitalizations or deaths. The findings could spell trouble in the U.S., where more than 100 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine – especially as the Indian ‘Delta’ variant continues to spread, causing cases to surge. Federal officials hope that plans to administer boosters in September – pending approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will help shore up protection. The British study, published last week, included 1.2 million participants who had received either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines. While not available for emergency use in the U.S., the AstraZeneca vaccine is widely used across Europe. More than 400,000 participants in the study had been vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine by July 3. Britain was hit by a third wave of infections during this period after the more infectious Delta variant sparked outbreaks across the country. ZOE, a health data science company that contributed to the study, built an app that would ask users to report daily on whether they are unwell, their symptoms and if they have tested positive for the virus. Using data gathered from the app and Covid testing, researchers determined that a month after vaccination, the vaccine was 88 percent effective. That figure falls to 74 percent after five to six months. NB: Research show the vaccine effectiveness after 8 months falls to 30 to 40 percent. Antivaccers are going crazy. Hello we all new from the start that the vaccines wears off and new variants pop up. No one is jumping off a bridge because the Flu vaccine requires a yearly jab.

Continue reading “Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness drops after 6 months – study”

LONDON (Reuters) – A patchwork of campaigns for an extra COVID-19 shot are being rolled out across the European Union even before the region’s drug watchdog rules on whether they are safe and effective.

Italy, France, Germany and Ireland have already started to administer booster shots and the Netherlands plans to do so soon but only to people who are immuno-suppressed. Continue reading “Amid COVID-19 booster data dilemma, EU nations’ plans diverge”

The United States reached another grim milestone on Friday, as the confirmed coronavirus death toll topped 700,000, just over a year and a half into the pandemic, and despite the wide availability of vaccines. The milestone, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, comes less than two weeks after the national death toll surpassed the estimated number of fatalities in the U.S. during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Despite national COVID-19 metrics showing encouraging signs of decline, approximately 1,500 Americans are dying from the virus every day, according to federal data. “Reaching 700,000 deaths is a tragic and completely avoidable milestone. We had the knowledge and the tools to prevent this from happening, and unfortunately politics, lack of urgency and mistrust in science got us here,” said John Brownstein, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and ABC News contributor. Continue reading “US: 158,284 new cases, death toll tops 700,000”

Former FDA head says Merck’s oral pill could become a powerful tool in combating COVID in high-risk patients who are already symptomatic. Merck cheered investors and healthcare experts alike on Friday with the news that its COVID-19 antiviral cut the risk of hospitalization or death by roughly half in a late-stage trial, and could become a powerful tool in reining in the pandemic. Continue reading “‘This is a profound game changer’: Merck’s antiviral pill cuts risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and death in half, data show”

Remdesivir Shows A Lot Of Promise In Clinical Studies

A new study reveals that myocarditis cases may be because the jab hits a vein.

JERUSALEM, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Israel’s Health Ministry has identified fewer than 10 cases of heart inflammation following a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine among millions administered, according to recently released data.
Continue reading “Israel reports very few myocarditis cases after Pfizer boosters… Urgent Aspirating the syringe when getting shot”

Continue reading “Pfizer seeks FDA clearance for COVID-19 vaccine in younger children”