Promising New Coronavirus Vaccine

[Chris Kern]

Novavax today announced that the Phase 2b and 3 trials of its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine produced good results against coronavirus infections, significantly including both the more aggressive U.K. and South Africa variants:

Preliminary analysis indicates that the UK variant strain that was increasingly prevalent was detected in over 50% of the PCR-confirmed symptomatic cases (32 UK variant, 24 non-variant, 6 unknown). Based on PCR performed on strains from 56 of the 62 cases, efficacy by strain was calculated to be 95.6% against the original COVID-19 strain and 85.6% against the UK variant strain. . . .

In the South Africa Phase 2b clinical trial, 60% efficacy (95% CI: 19.9 – 80.1) for the prevention of mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 disease was observed in the 94% of the study population that was HIV-negative. Twenty-nine cases were observed in the placebo group and 15 in the vaccine group. One severe case occurred in the placebo group and all other cases were mild or moderate.

Also significant, from the perspective of deployment: it remains stable at modest levels of refrigeration:

NVX-CoV2373 contains a full-length, prefusion spike protein made using Novavax’ recombinant nanoparticle technology and the company’s proprietary saponin-based Matrix-M™ adjuvant. The purified protein is encoded by the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein and is produced in insect cells. It can neither cause COVID-19 nor can it replicate, is stable at 2°C to 8°C (refrigerated) and is shipped in a ready-to-use liquid formulation that permits distribution using existing vaccine supply chain channels.

As lagniappe for participants in this forum, there is even a photography industry angle to the new vaccine: it is manufactured at Fujifilm's Diosynth Biotechnologies’s facilities in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, England.

No regulatory approval yet.  I presume the first review will take place in the United Kingdom and that one in the United States won't be far behind.

[Jeremy Roussak]

It's very promising. And as lagniappe for me, I've learned a completely new word!

Jeremy

[faberryman]

As lagniappe...

Thank you for using the word lagnilappe. At the risk of showing my ignorance, I have never heard it used before and don't recall having ever seen it in print. Naturally, I looked it up:

"A lagniappe is "a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase", or more broadly, "something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure."

Anyway, I probably will never use the word, but at least I will now know what it means if I run across it reading.

[Chris Kern]

And as lagniappe for me, I've learned a completely new word!

If aging memory serves, I first encountered it many years ago when my wife and I were served a couple more beignets than we ordered at a coffee stand in in N'Awlins.

[faberryman]

...beignets...

An Obi Wan moment: "Now there's name I haven't heard in a long, long time."  I used to get beignets regularly at this place in the Latin Quarter when I was a student in Paris. I have had a few over the years over here, but they were never the same.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

The good news is that many here have a new word!

The bad news is that the effectiveness of a lagniappe in protecting you from Covid is untested.
The same, unfortunately, also applies to beignets.

 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... U.K. and South Africa variants...

Apropos words... ain’t it funny how nobody blinks at calling it British or U.K. or South African virus, but God forbid someone says Chinese virus?

[William Walker]

Apropos words... ain’t it funny how nobody blinks at calling it British or U.K. or South African virus, but God forbid someone says Chinese virus?

I am pretty sure you could politicise either in two seconds...

[athegn]

Watch it! We British are proud to have our own virus. We don't want you Johnny foreigners trying to take it away from us.

[faberryman]

Apropos words... ain’t it funny how nobody blinks at calling it British or U.K. or South African virus, but God forbid someone says Chinese virus?

I think that may be because no national leader has accused the UK or South Africa of creating the variants in a lab and deliberately spreading them throughout the world as a form of biologic and economic warfare, and claimed a right to reparations from them for having done so. Unlike the terms UK variant and South African variant, the terms Chinese flu, kung flu, and the like are used as shorthand for J'accuse....

Of course, I am no expert, so that is only a guess.

[Chris Kern]

Johnson & Johnson has also announced that a large, multinational trial of its non-replicating viral vector vaccine produced acceptable results against all major variants of the coronavirus:

Vaccine Candidate 72% Effective in the US and 66% Effective Overall at Preventing Moderate to Severe COVID-19, 28 Days after Vaccination

85% Effective Overall in Preventing Severe Disease and Demonstrated Complete Protection Against COVID-19 related Hospitalization and Death as of Day 28

Protection Against Severe Disease Across Geographies, Ages, and Multiple Virus Variants, including the SARS-CoV-2 Variant from the B.1.351 Lineage . . . Observed in South Africa

Although the clinical trials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine did not achieve the remarkable results of the mRNA vaccines that are currently being administered in many countries, the fact that it only requires a single dose and can be stored for an extended period at normal refrigerated temperatures makes it an attractive candidate for arresting the rapid spread of severe disease and the consequent overburdening of hospital capacity and medical staff.

The information about the vaccine is from a company press release; the full clinical trial data required to support applications for regulatory approval apparently haven't been published yet.

[marvpelkey]

Happened to watch part (paying attention to two things at the same time, so could be wrong on some of the details) of a CNN interview today in which an expert was saying the test results of the J and J vaccine is from trials in South Africa and Brazil (?) and they are now in trials in the US.

Of interest though, is the expert believed that the US trials are with two doses and opined the double dose may prove more effective (similar to a Pfizer/Moderna 1st dose is not as effective as two doses). Here's hoping.

Marv

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Interesting...

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Interesting...

According to that chart, the U.S. has not vaccinated anybody yet. Not true! I got my first Pfizer shot yesterday, and the second is scheduled for three weeks from today.
 

[Jeremy Roussak]

Slobodan is being somewhat selective in the data he has chosen to show, removing a few countries with higher vaccination rates from the display. It's an interesting site, though, and (if accurate) worth playing with. It's here.

Jeremy

[faberryman]

Slobodan is being somewhat selective in the data he has chosen to show, removing a few countries with higher vaccination rates from the display. It's an interesting site, though, and (if accurate) worth playing with. It's here.

No. Really?

[jeremyrh]

The same, unfortunately, also applies to beignets.

 

You say that but my intensive research on the subject is not complete.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Slobodan is being somewhat selective in the data he has chosen to show, removing a few countries with higher vaccination rates from the display...

I didn't do anything, except pilfering the chart from the Internet. It seemed to me the chart represents a geographical Europe.

What are "a few countries with higher vaccination rate"?

P.S. A similar info comes from this Turkish site:

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/serbia-europes-2nd-fastest-covid-19-vaccine-rollout/2126629

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

No. Really?

What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying I have a habit of posting doctored information?

[faberryman]

What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying I have a habit of posting doctored information?

No, I do not think you doctor information. I think that you frequently present very selective information, and that is worthwhile to look beyond it.