Too many critical issues are being ignored while the Tories keep us distracted with PR spin and News headline ‘handyfloss’ about miraculous vaccines. With this shambolic Tory Government even the vaccine rollout could turn into another massive disaster due to obsession over central privatized control, Tory greed, or deliberate sabotage. A Canary Article entitled, “Medical experts expose critical flaws in UK government’s flagship coronavirus operations,” alerts us to very serious potential problems with following the Government’s Covid vaccine strategy. They say that, “In recent weeks, a number of articles and papers have been published in prestigious medical journals warning of flaws in the UK government’s coronavirus (Covid-19) flagship testing and vaccination operations. Some of the warnings coincided with news that UK coronavirus cases per capita are higher than anywhere else in the world. Also that UK daily coronavirus death rates per million, when compared to US and EU rates, are approaching a new high.”
The Canary warn of “Second dosage questions. Medical experts in the British Medical Journal have raised questions about the time gap between the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and the second dose. They commented: ‘[the] decision to delay the second [Pfizer/BioNTech] dose to between 4-12 weeks is not based on data from the trial, but on an assumption of what would have happened if the second dose hadn’t been given at 21 days. While assumptions can be useful for generating a hypothesis, alone they are not a sufficient reason to alter a known effective dosing regimen’. The World Health Organization subsequently stated that the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can be administered up to six weeks after the first. But that’s only under ‘exceptional circumstances’.” The UK shouldn’t be following a whacky suggestion first put forward by thoroughly discredited former PM who many consider a nationally disgraced war criminal; Tony Blair knows nothing about Medical issues at all!
The Canary add to the compelling and credible scientific evidence by reporting that, “The European Medicines Agency added: Any change to this [delay] would require a variation to the marketing authorisation as well as more clinical data to support such a change, otherwise it would be considered as ‘off-label use,’ Importantly, Pfizer has stated specifically that ‘There are no data to demonstrate that protection after the first dose is sustained after 21 days’. With regard to the low-cost Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, trials showed that “vaccine efficacy 14 days after a second dose was higher in the group that had more than six weeks between the two doses (65.4%) than in the group that had less than six weeks between doses (53.4%)’. However, both efficacy figures are notably low when compared to 95% for the Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna’.”
The Canary alerts us to another ‘off label’ concept our Government are apparently considering, “Mixing vaccines – Another worrying development is that earlier this month the government reportedly decided to mix vaccines. So they are considering giving people the Oxford-AstraZeneca dose followed by the Pfizer one, or vice-versa. Although a Public Health England (PHE) official added that mixing vaccines in this way would only be on a ‘very exceptional basis’. But there’s no evidence that shows these two very different vaccines can work in this way. Indeed, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that the vaccines ‘are not interchangeable’. Vaccine expert John Moore, at Cornell University, commented that officials in Britain ‘seem to have abandoned science completely now and are just trying to guess their way out of a mess’.” Drug companies conduct strictly controlled double-blind trials to ascertain efficacy so why would the Government even consider wasting vaccines on an uncontrolled experiment?
The Canary report on, “Limited immunity” by saying that, “A government announcement points to a PHE study which found that someone who’s been infected with coronavirus is likely to be immune for at least five months. However, during that time they may still transmit the virus to others. The announcement reads: ‘this means many people who contracted the disease in the first wave may now be vulnerable to catching it again’. PHE senior medical advisor Susan Hopkins commented: We now know that most of those who have had the virus, and developed antibodies, are protected from reinfection, but this is not total and we do not yet know how long protection lasts. Crucially, we believe people may still be able to pass the virus on.” This is worrying because people may enjoy a false sense of security after surviving Covid even experiencing a false strength that veterinarians report in animals they treat with dexamethasone which is now given to Covid patients; Trump bragged of this directly after he was released from Hospital.
We know that reinfections rarely occur, but we don’t know how capable they are of infecting others? The Canary say that, “Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at PHE, warned a Commons select committee: If it [the virus] protects against transmission only for a few months then clearly we would have to reinstate measures at a later time or go back and boost everyone. In other words, we need to remain cautious well after having the vaccine.” In abysmal Tory Government shambolic mismanagement news the Canary warn we should also be concerned about, ‘Testing problems. Research also shows that students who were tested using the lateral flow method at the University of Birmingham and universities in Scotland resulted in 58% false-positives. A separate study also found that the lateral flow method ‘failed to detect three in 10 cases with the highest viral loads’. The problem with this, as professor Jon Deeks points out, is that: Clearly, there is a risk of giving false reassurance to people who get a negative result.”
While I am sure wasting public funds is unimportant to Dido ‘Tallyho’ Harding, the Canary say, “You also have to question whether mass screening using a test that performs so poorly is the best use of our limited resources. Deeks is a professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham and leader of Cochrane Collaboration’s coronavirus test evaluation activities. Unless there’s a change in plan, lateral flow testing is the method the government intends to use in schools once they reopen, despite the accuracy problems.’ They point to a, ‘Lack of foresight,’ saying that, “The Johnson government is great at making promises, but less so at delivering those promises. Or as the Guardian’s Aditya Chakrabortty commented: Last summer the health secretary, Matt Hancock, boasted to parliament that ‘we have already secured 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine’. This became ‘30 million doses available by September’, which was swiftly halved to ‘aiming to deliver up to 15 million doses … in 2020’.” PM spin…
The Canary criticize the Governments, “Lack of long term planning by the government and under-investment by the pharmaceutical companies in their UK bases are the likely causes. Indeed, Chakrabortty adds how: pharmaceutical companies, which often draw heavily on subsidies from the British taxpayer, have continued to run down their manufacturing in the UK and to stick their factories wherever they get tax breaks: Ireland, Belgium, Singapore. Overcoming vaccine supply problems and finding enough trained staff to administer the vaccines will be crucial.” The Canary say it’s, “Not all bad news – there is also some good news, though little reported. The REMAP-CAP trial, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, has found that the inflammatory drugs tocilizumab and sarilumab may improve survival of critically ill patients who have coronavirus. This is in addition to the news in June 2020 that patients on ventilators and oxygen are more likely to survive Covid-19 if administered dexamethasone.”
The Canary offer us another glimmer of hope reporting that, “AstraZeneca has developed an antibody treatment, currently under trial at University College Hospital London. This treatment can: offer immediate and long-term protection to people who have been recently exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, to prevent them developing Covid-19. A separate study, but also applying antibody treatment, is to be trialled with people who are ‘older or in long-term care, and who have conditions such as cancer and HIV which may affect the ability of their immune system to respond to a vaccine’. If approved, the treatment could be available as early as March or April. Meanwhile, Germany-based GNA Biosolutions has reportedly developed a testing method that claims 96.7% accuracy, with results available within 45 minutes. The company is aiming for approval by EU regulators in March.”
The Canary warn that, “whether it’s about virus testing, the periods between vaccine doses, or mixing vaccines, the Johnson government’s approach seems to be all about cutting corners for political gain. Or, worse, just making it up as they go along. Such an approach is inherently dangerous, not only in terms of deaths from coronavirus but for the politicians themselves, who will and are being exposed for their spectacular failures.” Your Doctor issues a prescription and insists that you should ‘take as directed’ and complete the whole course of an antibiotic treatment even if it doesn’t seem necessary. There’s good reason for that sound advice, half kill off an infection and it can rebound. Nature’s response is Darwinian: natural selection will try to find a way around a Pharma challenge and render former reliable treatments ineffective. We have created multi-drug resistant superbugs with such tampering and now this Tory Government wants to vaccinate the UK population with an off-label vaccine regimen!
This follows on from the insane ‘let it rip’ strategy of Diminic ‘Herd Nerd’ Cummings who thought it would be a great idea for the entire population to become infected, thereby solving the burdensome problem of paying for pensioners as the elderly would be mercilously culled by the ‘Holocaust in Care.’ While some younger people were dying, others were developing the ongoing health problems of ‘Long Covid,’ but we weren’t acquiring reliable long-term Herd Immunity to Covid 19; we were also providing the perfect environment for viral mutations. But while the scientists warned of the consequences, the Tories were hoping that their ‘Slaughter of the Sheeple,” targeting the most vulnerable, elderly, disabled, the working poor and minorities, would still allow the survival of the fittest workers to survive for future exploitation. While more humane regimes in industrialised countries paused their economies to save lives, the greedy Tory elite would climb over the corpses to romp ahead with their newly streamlined, efficient slave state.
Although the Covid crisis has provided a bonanza in corrupt financial deals with massive payoffs, the Tories have been caught out a few times. The PPE cash cow still pays high enough dividends to buy any electoral challenges that occur before voting totally shut down. People forgot about the money wasted setting up the Nightingale PR stunts, but Dido’s test and trace scam still remains under siege. A Skwawkbox Video: “Sky warns single vaccine doses promote new mutations, 2 days after Socialist Telly told you Sky News has announced that COVID experts are warning that giving only one vaccine does, as the Tory government is now doing, will drive the emergence of new and potentially far more dangerous mutations: But on Monday, Socialist Telly and SKWAWKBOX‘s Skwawk Talk had brought viewers the same information two days earlier: Watch the full Socialist Telly/Skwawk Talk episode here. As so often, the new left media were ahead of the game and for once, at least one part of the ‘mainstream’ media eventually caught up.”
The Canary Article entitled, “UK to face short-term delay in delivery of the Pfizer vaccine,” warns of another potential glitch in the Tory vaccine rollout prestige race, that is more about PR spin than safety or efficacy. They say, “The UK is set to face short-term delays in delivery of the Pfizer coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine as the pharmaceutical company upgrades its production capacity. Pfizer is upscaling production at its plant in Puurs, Belgium. This is in an to produce more doses than originally planned for 2021 – temporarily reducing deliveries to all European countries. Shipments of the vaccine, produced in partnership with Germany’s BioNTech, to the UK are set to be affected during January. But the overall number of doses due to be delivered between January and March will remain the same, according to the US firm. In response, a spokesperson for the government said that it’s still working to its plan of vaccinating all four priority groups by 15 February.”
The Canary remind us that, “The vaccine from Pfizer is not the only candidate available in the UK, with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca jab also currently being rolled out.” In terms of progress the Canary report, “Quarter one – A Pfizer spokesperson said: We understand a change to deliveries has the potential to create uncertainty. However, we can confirm the overall projected volumes of delivery to the UK remain the same for quarter one (January to March). We continue to liaise with the UK Government and the Vaccines Taskforce to work through short-term impact of these changes to our January deliveries and support the goals of the UK Covid-19 vaccination programme. The UK has secured 40 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech. A government spokesperson said: We are in the process of understanding the implications of Pfizer’s announcement today to our plans. However we continue to plan to hit our target of vaccinating all four priority groups by February 15.”
The Sky News Article entitled, “COVID-19: Single vaccine dose leads to ‘greater risk’ from new coronavirus variants, South African experts warn,” should concern us all. They say, “The variant is thought to be responsible for 90% of infections in South Africa, and has already been found in the UK. Britain is putting vulnerable people at risk from mutant variants of the coronavirus by delaying the second dose of the vaccine, according to South Africa’s top adviser on immunisations. South Africa is suffering a sharp spike in cases, driven by a new variant that may reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. That threat has been underlined by new lab tests showing that antibodies may be at least 10 times less effective against the new variant, which is separate to the mutation that was originally identified in England.
Sky News describe the, “Second new COVID variant ‘highly concerning’ UK health secretary Matt Hancock has described the variant as ‘incredibly worrying’ and transport links with South Africa were severed after two cases were identified in London and the North West of England. Professor Barry Schoub, chair of the South African government’s vaccine advisory committee, told Sky News that border controls won’t stop the virus and that giving just one dose would reduce protection in the most vulnerable. ‘There is greater risk,’ he said. ‘It is more transmissible, and your immunity is only half what it should be, so that will increase the risk transmission. ‘I’d think the variants would be a motivation to go for the double dose as much as you can’.”
Sky News report on, “Prof Schoub’s warning came as new research suggested that a key mutation in the virus allows it to evade antibodies taken from some people who have recovered from COVID-19. It suggests COVID vaccines could be less effective against the variant – and some people who’ve recovered from the disease may be at risk of re-infection. Researchers from the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle describe the finding as ‘worrying’. The research has been published as pre-print on bioRxiv and hasn’t been peer reviewed. The researchers tested the ability of antibodies taken from people who have recovered from the disease to kill a range of new variants of the virus. All had mutations in what’s called the receptor binding domain of the spike protein, which the virus uses to latch on to human cells.”
Sky News say that, “A mutation called E484K, which is found in the variant from South Africa and another in Brazil, was strongly associated with reduced antibody effectiveness in some, but not all, of the 11 samples tested. Tests on the UK variant, which doesn’t have the same mutation, showed there was no reduction in the ability of antibodies to kill the virus. Associate Professor Jesse Bloom, who led the research, tweeted: ‘E484K (South African lineage) worrying for immune escape. Mutations in UK lineage less so.’ We mapped how all mutations to #SARSCoV2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) affect recognition by convalescent polyclonal human sera (https://t.co/fCJvAnXhs8). Among implications: E484K (South African lineage) worrying for immune escape; RBD mutations in UK lineage less so (1/n). — Bloom Lab (@jbloom_lab) January 5, 2021”
Alarmingly Sky News report that, “Professor Schoub agreed. There seems to be significant reduction of the neutralising ability (of antibodies),’ he said. ‘This is lab work, so how does that translate to patients? ‘It doesn’t necessarily mean the lab finding will mean infections in those who have been vaccinated. ‘We need ongoing studies in countries where we have rolled out vaccination programmes to see if there are breakthrough infections.’ Cases in South Africa have surged past 1.1 million, with 90% now due to the new variant. Research suggests it is 70% more transmissible than previous versions of the virus, but it doesn’t appear to cause more serious disease. Further research is now being carried out to gauge its impact on vaccine effectiveness. The Department for Health has been approached for a comment.”
I found this December 30th Science Media Centre Article entitled, “expert reaction to the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine being approved for use in the UK by the MHRA” rather interesting. They reported that, “It has been announced this morning that the UK government has accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use.” What I found interesting was “Prof Sheila Bird, Formerly Programme Leader, MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge” description of the rollout.
Prof Bird said, “Bookings for a person’s first dose of the Pfizer vaccine are not accepted unless the person can guarantee to return for the second dose within a specified time-window during which booking for their 2nd dose is assigned. Those who are first to receive the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine should do so on the basis of agreement to return for their second dose within a specific fortnight during the period 4 to 12 weeks after their first dose. Hence, I support the suggestion by Prof Sir Jeremy Farrar that major tranches of the first recipients of the Oxford/AstraZeneca be randomised to receive their second dose during weeks 4-6; 7-9; 10-12. Initially, randomisation might be unequal, for example [30%; 40%; 30%] to favour the longer delays between doses, as occurred inadvertently in the randomised controlled trials. Alternatively, the choice might be [40%; 30%; 30%] to learn more about the shorter interval, including in older citizens who may have most to gain from their second dose.”
Prof Bird added that, “UK has excellent major Clinical Trials Units who could assist in delivering a rigorous protocol which could include adaptive randomisation, whereby the randomisation-ratio is adjusted, say by age-group, on the basis of emergent information about SARS-CoV-2 diagnoses and hospitalisations of those randomised to different dosing-intervals. Effective randomisation of the large numbers initially vaccinated will ensure efficient, unbiased learning.” This is not strictly speaking a standard vaccination program, but essentially a third phase randomized trial, although not double-blinded. This may be appropriate under the extreme circumstances of a spiraling out of control Pandemic, but how well informed are the participants? The UK Media were quick to ridicule the Russian Sputnik Vaccine being rolled out ahead of any UK approved jab accusing them of still trialing their vaccine. But here it turns out the new protocol for the UK roll-out is itself a randomized trial: ‘pot calling kettle black!’
This also does not excuse the first Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine recipients giving consent to the drug company approved schedule for their two shots only to have that changed after the fact without their consent. There is no guarantee that it will function in exactly the same way as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the US drug company have not approved this scheduling. If there are any problems the recipients do not have a leg to stand on as the used the vaccine in a non approved way, ‘off-label.’ The US Pharma position on this could be economically driven as they know their vaccine will become less competitive once less costly alternatives that only require simple refrigeration hit the market. It could be simply a cautious liability issue. But where does the NHS stand if there is a problem due to deviation from the USPharma protocol?
I would feel more confident if this vaccination program were not under the direction of this dodgy Tory Government who pursued ‘Herd Immunity’ based on the toxic eugenics ideology of Herd Nerd Dominic Cummings. Are we heading down another rabbit hole on the dubious advice of Bush’s poodle, the war mongering, ‘they have WMDs’ B’liar’? Look at the toxic mess his last screw-up embroiled us in. Does Boris Johnson actively seek the company of dangerous whack jobs like Trump, cumings and Blair or do they just spot a buffoon the second they meet our PM? Will Johnson slither out of office when his atrocities are exposed or will he stay in the suspended animation of permanent denial as he hangs on ny his toe nails? The seriously corrupt result of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election got us in this mess; we must Protest, Challenge, Investigate and Expose the Truth to get Johnson and his rabid Tory cabal out of office before he costs more UK lives and misappropriated more public fund to squander: Get The Tories Out! DO NOT MOVE ON!