health

AstraZeneca says its vaccine needs additional study

7 Comments
By JOEL SAGET

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7 Comments
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The problem with the current trials for the AstraZeneca vaccine is not the dosing, it is not rare that a lower initial dose of a vaccine using a viral vector can work better because the immune reaction is directed towards the vaccine instead of the virus used to deliver it (if you use too much, the response may be mostly towards the adenovirus proteins, not the coronavirus)

The real problem is the terribly lax approach they took for the trial, changing parameters on the fly without looking for approval first, replacing a big trial with several smaller ones, and only reporting partial results that are favorable but not all of them as it is required.

Of course this does not mean that the vaccine will not work or that it will be more dangerous, but the process for a vaccine approval is there for a reason and not following it strictly makes impossible to correctly judge the merits and disadvantages of this vaccine, specially to compare it with the others.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

It's likely that the same can be said for all of these hastily-developed vaccines... You can't rush science

No, it is not, that is the whole point. The other vaccine candidates have done the trials as the pre-registered protocols indicate, without replacing or changing things midway.

The vaccines follow a protocol of testing that has been used on vaccines that we are using right now, they cannot be validly called not "rushed".

0 ( +3 / -3 )

they cannot be validly called not "rushed".

Very well said. For once, I agree with you.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Obviously, and since the reasons provided prove it, they cannot validly be called "rushed",

0 ( +2 / -2 )

So "Big Pharma" (which used to be a bogey man term for many) was not transparent and "by the book" on perhaps THE most waited for and watched for medical product in a couple generations.

Many will disagree, but that is very telling to me.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Are any of those other drugs ready???.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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