The biology of coronavirus COVID-19 - including research and treatments

I agree that could be a problem, but I've seen other centres saying they make sure they use them up by having lists of people they can call in at short notice. And some health service staff have had their second dose. I suspect it's not as widespread as the article suggests - it's extrapolating from a single centre.
 
Sly Saint said:
the article says 1-3 doses a day and there are around 1,350 vaccination centres.
I think the point the author is making is that if they can't get people on the official 'list' at short notice then they should be able to 'use up' the leftover doses by giving frontline staff their second shot.
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I think a few frontline staff have already had their second shot...anecdotally my cousin who is a nurse has had hers already and another relative who takes blood regularly (haematology) is about to get hers as well. I think front line staff are already prioritised already?

I think we will get more of these types of articles as people realise how long they have to wait ...only natural I suppose ...personally I think they should prioritise the under 60’s in terms of key workers that have to be exposed to the public or have to work closely to one another (shop workers, assembly line workers, abattoirs, bus drivers etc etc). I suppose teachers could be included in that lot as well but I would like to see evidence that they have a higher risk than someone working in a supermarket....but I digress
 
Wasn't sure where to post this and felt too wimpy to listen to it with all that went on last week...

Inside Health BBC R4, broadcast 26th Jan 2021, 28 mins

Available on BBC i-player: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000rlpj

"Exercise in the time of Covid
It’s an exercise special on Inside Health. This week Amanda wants to know how quickly she can get back to exercising after Covid. Dr David Salman has drawn up some advice and Dr Navjoyt Ladher explains why this virus means we should be taking it easy, as well as having a shocking confession of her own. We check in on George, Jen and Dr Helen Hawley-Hague to see how they are getting on with their physiotherapy in the height of lockdown. And we explore with Sport England’s Tim Hollingsworth what the pandemic can teach us about improving exercise levels. Oh and I think I nearly broke our resident GP Margaret McCartney talking about 'adaptogens'. "
 
Mij said:
Oregon health workers who got stuck in a snowstorm on their way back from a COVID-19 vaccination event went car to car injecting stranded drivers before several of the doses expired.
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Yes. I’ve seen examples of people in the U.K. being innovative in making sure any spare doses are used. Reserve lists of patents to call in at short notice. Using the spare doses to vaccinate the volunteers who help at the vaccination centres etc....
 
I have been working at a vaccination centre for a few days and have seen the efforts to use up every last dose at the end of the night with staff staying late to wait for police and other key workers called in to use up any spares. I have been so impressed with the energy and drive of everyone working so hard towards a single goal.
 
Beneficial effects of colchicine for moderate to severe COVID-19: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Lopes et al. RMD Open (2021)
Objective To evaluate whether the addition of colchicine to standard treatment for COVID-19 results in better outcomes.

Design We present the results of a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of colchicine for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19, with 75 patients allocated 1:1 from 11 April to 30 August 2020. Colchicine regimen was 0.5 mg thrice daily for 5 days, then 0.5 mg twice daily for 5 days. The primary endpoints were the need for supplemental oxygen, time of hospitalisation, need for admission and length of stay in intensive care unit and death rate.

Results Seventy-two patients (36 for placebo and 36 for colchicine) completed the study. Median (and IQR) time of need for supplemental oxygen was 4.0 (2.0–6.0) days for the colchicine group and 6.5 (4.0–9.0) days for the placebo group (p<0.001). Median (IQR) time of hospitalisation was 7.0 (5.0–9.0) days for the colchicine group and 9.0 (7.0–12.0) days for the placebo group (p=0.003). At day 2, 67% versus 86% of patients maintained the need for supplemental oxygen, while at day 7, the values were 9% versus 42%, in the colchicine and the placebo groups, respectively (log rank; p=0.001). Two patients died, both in placebo group. Diarrhoea was more frequent in the colchicine group (p=0.26).

Conclusion Colchicine reduced the length of both, supplemental oxygen therapy and hospitalisation. The drug was safe and well tolerated. Once death was an uncommon event, it is not possible to ensure that colchicine reduced mortality of COVID-19.

Trial registration number RBR-8jyhxh.
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The Guardian: Gout drug could reduce Covid hospital stays, new research finds
 
The great hope for drug treatments against Covid-19 – the monoclonal antibodies – are failing against variants of the virus, such as those that have emerged in South Africa and Brazil, scientists have found.

There have been high expectations of the drugs. One, made by Regeneron in the United States, was given to Donald Trump and may have played a part in his recovery. It is being trialled in hospital patients in the UK.

But to the dismay of those who work on therapies against the disease, all three leading contenders – Regeneron’s, and drugs from Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline – fail against one or more of the variants.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...pe-in-covid-treatments-fails-against-variants
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The Covid vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is nearly as effective against the Kent variant as it is against older forms of the virus, according to preliminary research results.

Researchers analysed swabs from trial volunteers who developed asymptomatic or symptomatic infections to determine which variant of the virus they had caught after receiving the vaccine or a control jab.

In a preprint under review at the Lancet, the scientists reported that levels of neutralising antibodies – those that wipe out the virus – were nine times lower in vaccinated people who caught the Kent variant, named B117, compared with those who contracted older variants.

But the reduced antibody response was associated with only slightly lower protection against symptomatic infections with the Kent variant, the scientists said. Among the small number of people included in the study, vaccine efficacy fell from an average of 84% against older variants to 75% against the Kent variant.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...effective-against-kent-variant-trials-suggest
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Wits_End said:
A friend alerted me to reports of some sort of possible treatment coming out of Israel:

New Israeli Covid drug which cured 30 cases of disease hailed by scientists as 'huge breakthrough'

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/me...eakthrough/ar-BB1dqXuc?ocid=ASUDHP&li=AAnZ9Ug

Only phase 1 so far, though.
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Enlivex Reports Positive Top-Line Results from Phase II Clinical Trial Evaluating Allocetra in Severe and Critical COVID-19 Patients and Provides a Program Update

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-...9-Patients-and-Provides-a-Program-Update.html

eta:
"
AllocetraTM is a universal, off-the-shelf cell therapy designed to reprogram macrophages into their homeostatic state. Diseases such as solid cancers, sepsis, COVID-19 and many others reprogram macrophages out of their homeostatic state. These non-homeostatic macrophages contribute significantly to the severity of the respective diseases. By restoring macrophage homeostasis, AllocetraTM has the potential to provide a novel immunotherapeutic mechanism of action for life-threatening clinical indications that are defined as “unmet medical needs”, as a stand-alone therapy or in combination with leading therapeutic agents."

 
mango said:
A professor at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden stops researching covid-19 because of hatred and threats.

KI om hoten: Aldrig sett så hårt tonläge
https://tt.omni.se/ki-om-hoten-aldrig-sett-sa-hart-tonlage/a/QmjPP8

Google Translate, English ("KI about the threats: Never seen such a harsh tone")
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Example of his COVID-19 research:
https://covid19.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/jonas-f-ludvigsson

"Children are unlikely to be the main drivers of the COVID-19 pandemic – A systematic review"

Conclusion: Children are unlikely to be the main drivers of the pandemic. Opening up schools and kindergartens is unlikely to impact COVID-19 mortality rates in older people.
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"Systematic review of COVID-19 in children shows milder cases and a better prognosis than adults"
 
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