Bummer, I was kind of hanging my hopes on a skiing holiday next Winter. That might not be happening, but then infection numbers will still play a role in that decision.
Might have to invade Canada instead.
Or go to Switzerland instead. They don’t seem to give a fuck!
The current number of doses per day will not remain unchanged, so this seems pointless
Canada is likely to be falling further behind the EU for a while. Pfizer stopped all shipments this week, and will be reduced well into February. Our government doesn’t seem to understand the distinction between ‘soon’ and ‘lots’.
Target is 100% by the end of the summer, but I just don’t think that is realistic - vaccine availability will improve, but we would need to have a remarkable surge in late Spring-Summer.
Of course - like he said it wasn’t a prediction. It was more to highlight how much more countries need to do in order to meet the 70% target of the commission.
I shouldn’t but oh well.
Switzerland is a bit silly. £8 for a what amounted to a poor version of a McDonalds Hamburger (I flew out of Geneva once)
We’ve lost Merck’s potential vaccine from the mix…
Yeah, I saw that - not sure it’s a big deal as they said that the ones they had in the works didn’t appear to be as effective as the ones already available. Interestingly they said that they’re going to concentrate on working on covid treatments - possibly an area that hasn’t had as much attention as the drive to try and get to a vaccine.
Oh boy. So you tempt me with fine stories of Fernie and then whip the carpet out from under my snowboard.
On a serious note, manufacture did cross my mind. The drive is unprecedented at the moment and how the world meets that demand will be some achievement.
yes, I was thinking more in terms of the fewer vaccines we have that work, the smaller the supply we have to get people vaccinated by September. I’m not sure whether the Sanofi/GSK vaccine has also been pulled, or just running behind schedule.
The current vaccines out on the market can ramp up supply further, I’m just not sure how quickly.
That must get to a point where they cant create more with new manufacturing lines I guess. I wonder how close we are to that point?
I don’t know what would be involved, but presumably deals can be done with other pharma companies to use their manufacturing facilities. That might however lead to issues over protecting data.
Close. The new Biontech one in Germany alone is expected to produce 750m doses
Yes, the emphasis must be on ramping up production of the vaccines that work. I wonder whether Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca (for example) would be prepared to license their vaccines for production by other pharmaceutical companies to assist with that?
Also, interesting that the government put additional investment into some super factory designed to mass produce vaccines last summer (a few months into the pandemic). I’ve seen that this should be operative by the end of this summer (rather than next summer as originally intended pre covid pandemic). If covid becomes cyclical then that should help deal with future outbreaks and, of course, help respond to future pandemics caused by other viruses.
Over what period? That’s the critical factor here. How many doses can the worlds current manufacturing lines make over a given period? That then gives a very high level indication of when everyone gets covered. (removing the politics of buying it etc.)
This year. Pretty substantial, since that’s just one factory of one of the vaccine companies.
It seems that the EU is going into full on protectionism mode.
Funny, because it seems like the UK supply remains unchanged, while the EU is cut by 60%.