Covid Vaccine developed (First Stage)

[Cleoriff]

The first effective coronavirus vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19, a preliminary analysis shows.

The developers - Pfizer and BioNTech - described it as a "great day for science and humanity".

Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been raised.

The companies plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of the month.

A vaccine - alongside better treatments - is seen as the best way of getting out of the restrictions that have been imposed on all our lives.

There are around a dozen in the final stages of testing - known as a phase 3 trial - but this is the first to show any results.

The UK have ordered 30 million doses according to BBC News.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54873105 

[gmarkj]

Saw that news earlier.
On the back of the news the stock market has seen an overall increase.
The FTSE jumped 4% while the European index rose 5%!
Travel firms including BA have also seen large increases - think people are starting to count chickens though...
Link to BBC news story on the markets:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54874108

[Bambino]

This is very good news, but I still intend to be in the 'You go first' group. Please don't misunderstand me. I think this is great, but it needs to be tempered with the fact that there is no data on long term effects, because there couldn't be at this point, and there's no certainty on how long the vaccine will be effective for. I have a feeling that this will probably become an annual event, like the flu vaccine is, and I have no problem with that at all.

Hooray for science!

[Cleoriff]

BBC News has just reported the vaccine is ready to be rolled out next month in England.

It's expected that NHS staff, carers and the elderly will be the first in line for the vaccine.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/covid-vaccine-nhs-start-december-matt-hancock-b62446.html 

This is all dependent on the vaccine gaining approval from the MHRA.

They are looking at the army for the logistics of deployment.

The Pfizer vaccine needs to be held at -70C until the last few hours before it is deployed, which obviously makes things more complicated.

[gmarkj]

Slightly off topic, but read this earlier:
After Boris saw the requirement for the Covid vaccine storage he asked Priti if she could store it in the coldest place he knew: Priti's heart...

[Cleoriff]

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@gmarkj wrote:
Slightly off topic, but read this earlier:
After Boris saw the requirement for the Covid vaccine storage he asked Priti if she could store it in the coldest place he knew: Priti's heart...

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[ComaChameleon]

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@Bambino wrote:

This is very good news, but I still intend to be in the 'You go first' group. Please don't misunderstand me. I think this is great, but it needs to be tempered with the fact that there is no data on long term effects, because there couldn't be at this point, and there's no certainty on how long the vaccine will be effective for. I have a feeling that this will probably become an annual event, like the flu vaccine is, and I have no problem with that at all.

Hooray for science!

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@Bambino  summed it up very well for me - and I am one of those first in line of getting it...