Is there any good news in the fight against COVID-19?

[AsherO]

This really isn't a lot in the big scheme.

Also, I think it's quite obvious why pretty much all treatments etc are being developed here. Profit is a major incentive for innovation.
The United States is pretty much sponsoring the entire world's socialized medicine.

Yup, I wonder what this drug cost to produce and how much it’ll sell for abroad.

[S209]

Like the military researchers who concluded that a flying machine was impossible, shortly before the Wright brothers invented the plane?

As I said profit is generally the major driver of innovation but the AZN vaccine is one clear example of profit not being everything.

[AsherO]

AstraZeneca’s COVID antibody cocktail Evusheld gets FDA approval (EUA?) for prophylactic use in immunocompromised individuals age 12+

[AsherO]

We’re so COVID fatigued nobody bothered to post this here:

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-first-oral-antiviral-treatment-covid-19

[jye]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-marches-toward-endemic-status-in-u-s-as-omicron-spreads-11640255407?mod=mhp

“Andrew Noymer, an infectious-disease epidemiologist and demographer at the University of California, Irvine, who studies the 1918 flu pandemic, said he expects variant-driven waves of Covid-19 to hit the U.S. periodically for decades, particularly in winter. Mortality will likely drop over time, as population immunity rises, he said. The price will likely be more disease and deaths among people most vulnerable to the virus.

“Covid is part of the woodwork now,” he said. “It’s part of the furniture.”

[aygart]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-marches-toward-endemic-status-in-u-s-as-omicron-spreads-11640255407?mod=mhp

“Andrew Noymer, an infectious-disease epidemiologist and demographer at the University of California, Irvine, who studies the 1918 flu pandemic, said he expects variant-driven waves of Covid-19 to hit the U.S. periodically for decades, particularly in winter. Mortality will likely drop over time, as population immunity rises, he said. The price will likely be more disease and deaths among people most vulnerable to the virus.

“Covid is part of the woodwork now,” he said. “It’s part of the furniture.”

This is the good news?

[biobook]

We’re so COVID fatigued nobody bothered to post this here:

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-first-oral-antiviral-treatment-covid-19

It's just an EUA.  Don't we need 10 years of clinical trials before we consider this "good news"?

/s to the nth power

[AsherO]

It's just an EUA.  Don't we need 10 years of clinical trials before we consider this "good news"?

Are you being sarcastic? This treatment will save lives, if they can ramp up production in time.

[yelped]

Are you being sarcastic? This treatment will save lives, if they can ramp up production in time.

Are you really questioning if that was sarcastic or not? 

Demodded again.

[drosenberg88429]

What's the public sentiment on this? Seems like a conspiracy theorist's dream.

https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/12/us-army-creates-single-vaccine-effective-against-all-covid-sars-variants/360089/

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(21)01639-9

[jye]

This is the good news?

That we are starting to acknowledge the reality and restore a degree of normalcy? Yes.

[AsherO]

What's the public sentiment on this? Seems like a conspiracy theorist's dream.

https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/12/us-army-creates-single-vaccine-effective-against-all-covid-sars-variants/360089/

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(21)01639-9

It's very preliminary, but sounds promising.

[AsherO]

Are you really questioning if that was sarcastic or not? 

Demodded again.

Y'all have such high standards for unpaid volunteers.

[AsherO]

We’re so COVID fatigued nobody bothered to post this here:

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-first-oral-antiviral-treatment-covid-19

And now Merck's drug as well, but it "only" reduces hospitalization/death by 30%.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/22/health/pfizer-antiviral-pill-authorized/index.html

[yelped]

And now Merck's drug as well, but it "only" reduces hospitalization/death by 30%.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/22/health/pfizer-antiviral-pill-authorized/index.html

Begining and end of the article contradict each other. Quite frankly, I'm concerned about the Merck pill and I don't see the need to approve it, especially as it is only 30% effective and there is a much more effective alternative.

[AsherO]

Begining and end of the article contradict each other. Quite frankly, I'm concerned about the Merck pill and I don't see the need to approve it, especially as it is only 30% effective and there is a much more effective alternative.

CNN articles are hastily cobbled together copypasta, if I wasn't lazy I'd find an official announcement like I did last time. The Pfizer antiviral is reportedly much more effective, but both these treatments will have scarce availability until supply outpaces demand, so if someone can only get a hold of the Merck treatment it's better than nothing.

[biobook]

And now Merck's drug as well, but it "only" reduces hospitalization/death by 30%.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/22/health/pfizer-antiviral-pill-authorized/index.html

Surprised it got approved, after discussion of possible side effects.  No /s here.

Scoot down to the bottom, "Weighing up the risks", and note that this is a serious scientific journal, not conspiracy theorists.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03667-0

[aygart]

That we are starting to acknowledge the reality and restore a degree of normalcy? Yes.

Where does it say anything about restoring normalcy?

[yuneeq]

Where does it say anything about restoring normalcy?

It’s part of the path to recovery. We are somewhere between Bargaining and Depression.

[jye]

Where does it say anything about restoring normalcy?

“The CDC says a disease is endemic when it is continuously circulating in an area at a baseline level and in a predictable pattern. A lack of social disruption is another hallmark of an endemic disease, some public-health experts said.

The question then becomes: How much risk and how many Covid-19 deaths will people and governments tolerate?

“That’s where the political and social will part comes in,” said Lisa Lee, an infectious-disease epidemiologist and associate vice president at Virginia Tech. Without some sustained precautions, “we will stay vulnerable,” she said.“

“More than 1,200 people in the U.S. are dying of Covid-19 each day. But even at far higher levels of death and transmission than are typical for the flu, public-health experts say Covid-19’s spread will likely settle into a pattern predictable enough to be considered endemic.“