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AstraZeneca begins clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine in Japan

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That fixation on a vaccine is driven by Big Pharma and its stakeholders.

Instead, we should be looking at improving treatment. Already such much more has been learned about the virus that early mistakes are not made any more. If you follow some medical blogs, you get a different impression from what media is telling us.

That makes no sense, treatment is a hugely more profitable source of income for pharmacological companies, instead of selling one single cheap vaccine they get to sell a plethora of medicines for people that can remain in the hospital for weeks, and then frequently require treatment and rehabilitation for months.

The real reason why doctors are betting more on a vaccine than on treatment is because we are finding out that the disease is much more complicated than originally thought, drop the blogs and go directly to the scientific reports at pubmed, you will find that a not so tiny percentage of patients are left with lungs or brain damage from the clotting, that children that had no symptoms of the infection still end up with generalized inflammation that sometimes damages permanently their hearts, changes in the immune system still without explanation and a very long etc.

Recovering from the disease, or not having symptoms of it, is not guaranteed to leave you same as before, not betting for a vaccine instead of the infection is one of the mistakes science is warning us about.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

That fixation on a vaccine is driven by Big Pharma and its stakeholders.

Instead, we should be looking at improving treatment. Already such much more has been learned about the virus that early mistakes are not made any more. If you follow some medical blogs, you get a different impression from what media is telling us.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

In this regard I don't understand why people from India(/Bangladesh), Peru (/Colombia/Mexico), Sweden, Iran, Israel, Indonesia

Astra Zenca is doing trials in developing countries too, I think India is on the list with a local manufacturer planning to produce a billion vaccines .

The numbers of anti-vacciners sprouting up is surprising and ironic considering this bunch complains the loudest about wearing masks and their loss of freedom!!!

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@Chicanoinjapan

Rushed to market without proper trials. Think I’ll pass

“Did you bother reading the article? The headline itself says clinical trials are to begin in Japan.

Both phase 1 and 2 have shown promising results which is why the larger scale phase 3 is being conducted in several countries.”

Yeah I see what you’re saying, especially since I read the article as well. And that was also a very good point about the H1N1 vaccine.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

...as it plans to begin supplying the vaccine in the country in the first quarter of next year.

if they’re able to do this, then It’s don’t think we have to worry about the Olympics being either delayed or canceled. It would be able to safely go on if this does come to pass.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

We don't have enough cases in Japan so I don't understand why clinical trials are taking place here. There are many other countries where pandemic is spreading far more quickly and common sense tells me that the results of tests conducted in Japan will NOT be reliable since we will NEVER know if test groups have ever been exposed to virus. Additionally such tests should have included people from different ancestral backgrounds, and risk groups who cannot self-isolate. It is NOT clear whether AstraZeneca has included enough number of candidates from varying backgrounds and risk groups i.e. those over 65 or people with underlying conditions. In this regard I don't understand why people from India(/Bangladesh), Peru (/Colombia/Mexico), Sweden, Iran, Israel, Indonesia have NOT been invited to their trials.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Japan also agreed to receive a vaccine by the end of June next year from U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE.

Trump confirmed that his country is leaving the WHO and he blamed China for this. However, the truth is obviously far from it. The US (and its allies) want the rest of the world suffer and submit to their (Trump's) never-ending demands. I note that WHO and UN are although two different entities, they work very closely and together. In this sense I would have expected the US to withdraw from the UN too but that will NEVER happen and the US will continue to use the UN to bully the rest of the world. Pity, WHO didn't allow the US to bully the world...

I note that in the recent months the US and British media have started to give out misleading information as to the difficulties of producing enough number of vaccines for the rest of the world. It is simply a lie for them to say their pharmaceutical cannot produce the vaccine in enough numbers. Considering this is a PANDEMIC and countries HAVE TO work in co-operation (with or without the WHO), why is it that the US and UK rule out producing the vaccine with other pharmaceutical companies across the world. China, India, Mexico, Brasil, Turkey, SA etc have the technology to produce the vaccine for themselves and the rest of the world...Surely WHO doesn't stop such co-operation between member and non-member (US) countries. So what will happen to the other countries who did not have the chance to make any arrangements with the US gov? Will the lucky ones watch and let the rest die, and use the (US) patent laws as an excuse when questioned? That would register in the history books as the 21st century's first systematic genocide no matter what the privileged ones say...

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Rushed to market without proper trials. Think I’ll pass

Hypothetically, in a dog eat dog world, if c19 vaccinated is a requirement for a job position. would you pass on the job opportunity as well ?

I just really want to get an idea of the fear levels at play here. Is it just the fear of the unknown ? Is it really so horid that you simply can't compare it to any other aspect of everyday life ?

Hypotetically again, if all of Brazil does indeed get vaccinated , would you consider getting the shots after 1 year ?

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Vaccine development takes up to 10 years, because the clinical trials part of the process need to be spread out over many years to prove safety and efficacy.

Only very rare exceptions take so much time, if that were not the case there would not be any vaccines, patents only last 10 years which would make a terribly business to invest billions of dollars so by the time is ready for the market anybody could make a generic version.

The real reason why vaccine development takes so much time is because the easy developed ones are already done, and only diseases with special difficulties (that are dealt with in development) remain to be tackled. A new disease does not have these special difficulties and a total development over a single year is perfectly normal and do not require any kind of rush. The first test in vitro and in vivo can be done literally a week after the genetic sequence of the pathogen is know. And Phase III trials of 6 months are nothing out of the ordinary.

Short time side effects of the vaccine are bound to be known by the test, that include thousands of people over months of time, by the amount of detail being examined on the volunteers statistically it becomes certain that any non-predicted long term problems would be possible only on very minuscule probability. This is specially important for a vaccine for any new disease, that is also completely unknown. Meaning that is is less likely that a person would have future problems because of the vaccine than because of the disease.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Not knowing the short and long term effect as it is the case

Even though largely well accepted by the body, some trials participants have experienced increase in body temperature and sore arm.

As for the long term negative effect, please provide an example of a vaccine where to certain extent this is known. I just want to see what knowing actually means

From googling around it seems to me there is only one way to obtain knowledge with a reasonable level of certainty and that is using it over a long period of time after approval.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The firm’s lawyers have demanded that clauses to that effect be put in their contracts with the countries AstraZeneca has agreed to supply with its Covid vaccine.

Different countries different laws . I think that is the real reason for an explicit clause in the contract.

Just googled in the US (all 51 states)

A manufacturer is not liable for harm caused by a nondefective product due to its inherent or unavoidable dangerousness. Thus, if a properly manufactured vaccine will cause harmful side effects in some portion of the recipient population, the manufacturer of the vaccine is not liable for those side effects.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

And it seems most of the countries have ceded to this demand.

Luckily countries around the world have experts teams that assess risks before making the purchases.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

AstraZeneca Said : AstraZeneca is unwilling to be held responsible for any potential side effects of its ‘hopeful’ vaccine candidate. In other words, the company is completely protected, or indemnified, against lawsuits from people who are injected with their vaccine and experience negative effects, regardless of how severe or long-lasting they are.

Do you have an example of let's say other vaccines where the producers are willing to held responsible for negative effects ?

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

AstraZeneca is in Partnership with Oxford/Gates----The EU Technocrats ordered 400 Million Doses and Australia 25 Million of same one......You will NEVER know how many die or get harmed from the Injections because they sign Non Disclosure Agreements with the Governments...Australia's Health Minister already said they signed NDAs with them. Whats to Hide??..So Overall a "Virus" that has Exclusively affected Elderly and again "with COVID" not of COVID-LABELED COVID and they order this many?

AstraZeneca Said : AstraZeneca is unwilling to be held responsible for any potential side effects of its ‘hopeful’ vaccine candidate. In other words, the company is completely protected, or indemnified, against lawsuits from people who are injected with their vaccine and experience negative effects, regardless of how severe or long-lasting they are.

The firm’s lawyers have demanded that clauses to that effect be put in their contracts with the countries AstraZeneca has agreed to supply with its Covid vaccine. The company says that, without such guarantees of indemnity, they would not be incentivised to produce the drug. And it seems most of the countries have ceded to this demand.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Not knowing the short and long term effect as it is the case

Non efficient vaccines never reach phase3 clinical trials. Soon we will have more granular perspective on the efficiency.

As for long term we can't really tell now but I don't see why we can't have another shot later again

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

What is a proper trial ? Please help us understand

Not knowing the short and long term effect as it is the case

with all the covid-19 vaccines.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Rushed to market without proper trials

What is a proper trial ? Please help us understand

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Vaccine development takes up to 10 years, because the clinical trials part of the process need to be spread out over many years to prove safety and efficacy.

Even if development = development + testing + approval this is not true. I suppose depending on circumstances It could takes 10 years it could take more why not.

The quickest a safe vaccine has ever been developed was 4 years, and that was a one-off (for ebola)

Which one took 4 years ?

On a side note, If I recall correctly WHO recommend/approved using a vaccine completely untested.

There really is no justification for not following the protocol for vaccine development and rushing it through like this

AZD1222 is following protocol.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Yiasy, I believe it took that long in the past but things and processes have moved on as well as a lot of effort and money devoted to 

... to promoting vaccines.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

It seems quite odd that this is a worldwide pandemic but many countries are going it alone to develop a vaccine.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The quickest a safe vaccine has ever been developed was 4 years, and that was a one-off (for ebola).

Then please explain the vaccine for the H1N1 strain in 2009. Clinical trials began in the summer, results were overwhelmingly robust and the vaccine began being administered in October of the same year. I still remember, I was a senior in high school lining up to get the vaccine.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/2009-pandemic-timeline.html

Don't forget that there are multiple clinical trials for several vaccines being carried out simultaneously in a global effort. If the trial 3 phase proves successful, I'd say why not? I'm sure experts have carefully considered both short-term and long-term effects when coming up with the vaccine. Let the experts do their job.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Yiasy, I believe it took that long in the past but things and processes have moved on as well as a lot of effort and money devoted to the development that under normal commercial considerations could be spread over a number of years to minimise the impact on the bottom line

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

Rushed to market without proper trials. Think I’ll pass

Did you bother reading the article? The headline itself says clinical trials are to begin in Japan.

Both phase 1 and 2 have shown promising results which is why the larger scale phase 3 is being conducted in several countries.

Vaccine development takes up to 10 years, because the clinical trials part of the process need to be spread out over many years to prove safety and efficacy. The quickest a safe vaccine has ever been developed was 4 years, and that was a one-off (for ebola). This is not an ebola-type illness - most people have no symptoms or a very mild illness - so there really is no justification for not following the protocol for vaccine development and rushing it through like this. Unsafe vaccines are a major public health risk.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

Rushed to market without proper trials. Think I’ll pass

Did you bother reading the article? The headline itself says clinical trials are to begin in Japan.

Both phase 1 and 2 have shown promising results which is why the larger scale phase 3 is being conducted in several countries.

7 ( +15 / -8 )

Rushed to market without proper trials. Think I’ll pass

-2 ( +14 / -16 )

Where do I sign up for the trial?

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

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