COVID-19 (Coronavirus) (continued)

[Jaded-Fan]

If only.

I'm aging out of that stuff and they're 40 years older than I am.

Perfect. Old people are like children. Just look at Kirk and me.

The only drawback is that children can use technology. Most of us old people have trouble with a television remote and mistake it for a phone.

 

[ColePens]

It just means that you’re saying something (usually negative) about someone present without mentioning them by name.

Hi. My name is ColePens. I have an embarrassing 99k posts where i've said this about positive thinking from everything from the Crosby/G era, vaccine/covid news, to pretty much every subject from music to animals to well even Star Wars movies that got ripppppppppped to shreds.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I won't say who, but we need to get together for an expensive shoe addiction intervention.

Did I do it right?

Or do I need to call someone on my television remote to ask how to google the answer?

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Story at a glance

• “The results are really quite good, I mean extraordinary,” Fauci said, according to The Washington Post.
• The nation’s top infectious diseases expert said the results may indicate that Moderna’s vaccine candidate may also have positive results since both vaccines use similar technology.
• Pfizer said it hopes to have the safety data required for the FDA’s emergency use authorization by the third week of November.

If both get approved that would mean around 100 million doses released in a matter of weeks.

Both with a north of 90% effectiveness.

 

[T1K]

I think I saw some discussion on funding for Pfizer, figured I’d share. Sorry if this is old news I don’t keep up with this thread too closely.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Seriously - I said it before and will say it again that Operation Warp Speed may go down as one of the best American accomplishments of all time. We should all be very proud. And hell even for planet earth we should be proud. If we can start to help other countries... just wow. Just wow.

I understand we have to wait and gather more data - but this is a big moment.

This literally has nothing to do with Operation Warp Speed, Pfizer itself said so.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

I stand by what I said. Not going to restate why. Reread what I said above.

Without the unprecedented devotion of effort and resources toward this pandemic under the umbrella of operation Warp Speed we would not have this announcement today.

I am beyond certain of that.

Pfizer's patting themselves on the back was all about positioning to charge what they want for it, not to make a political statement.

You can't just wishcast things into existence. Claims on this site need to be substantiated.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

This literally has nothing to do with Operation Warp Speed, Pfizer itself said so.

So they were funded by Germany according to the article and partially self funded. And got an upfront $2 billion dollars in a US Government Contract.

And distribution will be helped, and paid for, by the taxpayers.

Big Whoop.

Does not 'disprove' a single word that I said.

Moderna likely gets approved around the same time as linked above. They did take money from the Federal Government. But like I said before no one is really on their own. The lines are very blurred when this much money is being spent.

I stand by every single word of my statement.

And I really do not get why it is even a big deal.

Who in their right mind gives a damn other than this is great news? People no longer dying in obscene numbers is to be celebrated without reservation.

 

[ColePens]

This literally has nothing to do with Operation Warp Speed, Pfizer itself said so.

Oh so their agreement with the Trump administration didn't assist them at all in having the funds to perform this. Okay. If this trick fools you, then I am afraid you may be fooled by a loooooot of business moves out there.

Allocation of funds, people. It's beyond simple. It's really business 101 stuff here.

 

[Beau Knows]

"We were never part of the Warp Speed," Jansen told the Times. "We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone."

Pfizer's head of vaccine development notes 'we have never taken any money from the U.S. government'

 

[Tom Hanks]

Doesn’t matter where the $$$$ came from it a global effort/responsibility.

Whether it came from Average Joe’s or........

White Goodman from Globo Gym

 

[bambamcam4ever]

So they were funded by Germany according to the article and partially self funded. And got an upfront $2 billion dollars in a US Government Contract.

And distribution will be helped, and paid for, by the taxpayers.

Big Whoop.

Does not 'disprove' a single word that I said.

Moderna likely gets approved around the same time as linked above. They did take money from the Federal Government. But like I said before no one is really on their own. The lines are very blurred when this much money is being spent.

I stand by every single word of my statement.

And I really do not get why it is even a big deal.

Who in their right mind gives a damn other than this is great news? People no longer dying in obscene numbers is to be celebrated without reservation.

Of course it's great news. I'm excited. That doesn't mean we should automatically credit those with dubious levels of involvement.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Of course it's great news. I'm excited. That doesn't mean we should automatically credit those with dubious levels of involvement.

I am at a loss as to what point that you are making?

All hail Pfizer.

The efforts of the hundreds of thousands of career scientists at the CDC and elsewhere both here and around the world was wasted and worthless. We threw trillions of dollars down the toilet and should have just let Pfizer go it alone.

Pfizer had this all along. Did not get any assist from anyone else.

You do see how silly that is, right? And completely untrue.

 

[Fogel]

Animals are on the bottom of the list to be vaccinated.

You are misinterpreting the article, they aren't talking about vaccinating animals. They are talking about a mutation that caused covid in minks to transfer to humans. The Dutch government is talking about euthanizing 17 million minks to prevent further cross species infections.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Meanwhile the stupidity continues unabatted.

At least ND acknowledges it and is trying to do something, although at this point they will barely touch to tip of the iceburg of the damage that was done.



Both there and other celebrations this weekend, both sports and political related, and many gatherings completely unrelated to any of the above.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

You are misinterpreting the article, they aren't talking about vaccinating animals. They are talking about a mutation that caused covid in minks to transfer to humans. The Dutch government is talking about euthanizing 17 million minks to prevent further cross species infections.

 

[Beau Knows]

I am at a loss as to what point that you are making?

All hail Pfizer.

The efforts of the hundreds of thousands of career scientists at the CDC and elsewhere both here and around the world was wasted and worthless. We threw trillions of dollars down the toilet and should have just let Pfizer go it alone.

Pfizer had this all along. Did not get any assist from anyone else.

You do see how silly that is, right? And completely untrue.

You specifically credited "Operation Warp Speed", which this development was not a part of.

“Pfizer, unlike its competitors, did not join Operation Warp Speed, the government initiative designed to erase the financial risk of vaccine and therapeutics development by providing funding to companies and helping coordinate the trials,” The Washington Post’s Carolyn Y. Johnson reported Monday. “Instead, Pfizer plowed $2 billion of its own money into the project and then struck a $1.95 billion contract with the U.S. government to provide 100 million doses, contingent on the vaccine being effective.”

“We were never part of the Warp Speed,” Pfizer vice president Kathrin Jansen told the New York Times. “We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone.”

 

[Fogel]

In theory is not in practice, Jaded. Come on now, we both know that. There will be hiccups and there will need to be a strong centralized response to coordinate it all. And considering the current coronavirus task force isn't even meeting and hasn't met for an unspecified period of time, there's still a lot of work to be done before a vaccine is ready.

Anything more than that is straying too much into politics for this board, but we should be able to take it as a positive no matter where you are on the political spectrum that there is a strong institutional will among our public health and scientific organizations to deal with the virus, even when there is a growing lack of a public will to deal it with it.

The federal government wanted the states to have plans for distribution, but is the federal government going to give them money for this distribution when all state coffers are getting blown up from decreases in revenue? I have a feeling that some, but not all the funding for distribution will come from the federal level, but states will be asked once again to squeeze more blood out of the proverbial stone. I am hoping that I am wrong, but in this day and age, anything is a funding football.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is on the fast track by FDA

Story at a glance

• Pharmaceutical company Novavax said that it’s prospective COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for a fast-track designation by the FDA.
• Novavax is one company receiving funding from Operation Warp Speed.

Oh yeah, and:

Both Novavax and Pfizer have received federal funding as part of Operation Warp Speed, an initiative established by the Trump administration that provided funding to pharmaceutical companies to develop COVID-19 vaccines in a record-breaking time frame.

Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is on the fast track by FDA

 

[Jacob]

So what happens when multiple vaccines hit the market simultaneously? Will different insurance companies cover one but not the other? Will different countries fund whichever one benefits that country the most? Assuming efficacy is statistically similar will any be sufficient for proof of vaccination?

 

[Jaded-Fan]

So what happens when multiple vaccines hit the market simultaneously? Will different insurance companies cover one but not the other? Will different countries fund whichever one benefits that country the most? Assuming efficacy is statistically similar will any be sufficient for proof of vaccination?

They will get distributed. I would imagine that the CDC, or the federal government, will direct where.

It simply means that we get more out more quickly.

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is on the fast track by FDA



Oh yeah, and:



Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is on the fast track by FDA

What? Newsmax wasn't available for comment??

 

[NMK11]

What? Newsmax wasn't available for comment??

The Hill is not a source I regularly follow, but I thought they were decent? I might be off here and confusing them with someone else.

Irregardless, I thought Operation Warp Speed was funding grants, i.e. government gives you money so you can do the thing you want to do. It seems like Pfizer had a stipulation on the money they received in that it was an upfront payment for the results, i.e. the actual completed vaccine, not just funding for development. If that's true, it seems technically different, so mic dropping on people might be a little off. But it's still sort of just a technicality because there's money coming from the government.

Happy that there's a vaccine on the way, and keeping my fingers crossed, but the amount of stuff being posted on here with dubious sources or just straight up hearsay is getting out of control. I think we all need to recognize that this topic is a little different than talking hockey and to be a little more careful of what we post as fact or fiction.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

What? Newsmax wasn't available for comment??

CNN is not reliable either.

This is CNN's fact checker:

@KIRK with the assist.

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

CNN is not reliable either.

This is CNN's fact checker:

@KIRK with the assist.

I don't wish to get into a long debate, particularly with an attorney AND regarding a subject on which I've zero expertise, but it is worth clarifying some points here. I am a Pfizer investor, I read their 10-Qs, and try to stay conversant with what the company is doing, at least from a macro perspective. They clearly received no US Government financial support during the development/trial process of their potential COVID-19 vaccination. Their CEO has gone on the record multiple times defending this decision, as he wanted the company to be independent during the development/testing process. I thought *that* was what we were talking about with respect to "Warp Speed". However, the government DID enter into a "pre-commitment" agreement with Pfizer promising to purchase 100 million doses @ $1.95 billion UPON approval (including expedited "emergency" authorization, which has yet to occur, but looks likely). There is little question having a provisional order of that size has positive impact on the risk profile of that drug's development. It comes down to a matter of perspective, I think. Looking forward, Pfizer believes it can produce 50 million doses by the end of the year and 1.2 billion doses in FY 2021. There are big logistical hurdles with respect to deployment as this is one of the vaccines that has to be kept very cold (-94 degrees), and two doses are required. Still, I think this is very good news, and while I've been critical of our current administration, it is worth recognizing the pre-commitment deal likely shaved months off of time to market.