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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/25/busin...doses.html
:facepalm:
... what is wrong with people?
Maybe someone here more experienced with viruses and vaccines can tell me what the consequences of this might be. Certainly I would think people who don't receive the second dose are putting themselves at higher risk of contracting the virus, but I also wonder if we will see something similar to people who don't take the full dose of an antibiotic: you're effectively "selecting" for something that can survive/resist the antibiotic, by allowing the infection to continue and therefore the bug to mutate.
Meanwhile, over in India ... https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/25/asia/indi...index.html
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The UK ran this experiment, a single dose gave a lot of protection, and the second dose can be delayed for months.
Still, plenty of fools out there.
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PeterB wrote:
Maybe someone here more experienced with viruses and vaccines can tell me what the consequences of this might be.
You and I probably know as much as the experts do on this.
These vaccines haven't been around long enough to know for sure and the manufacturers didn't test single-dosing.
We can speculate as to what the effect *might* be...
Might be that immunity is of lesser duration.
Might be that the immune response to the virus is less strong.
Might still make a very big dent in infections. Seems that one dose of a mRNA vaccine might be roughly on par with one dose of J&J, at least in the short-term.
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Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the delay but it would be comforting if it was resolved.
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sekker wrote:
The UK ran this experiment, a single dose gave a lot of protection, and the second dose can be delayed for months.
Still, plenty of fools out there.
The UK ran the experiment, but not at a time when we're seeing the levels of surges we're now seeing (c.f., India and Michigan).
If, as the Pfizer/Moderna data suggested, one shot gave 85% protection, that's still a lot of people who will have gotten vaccinated but will still end up getting sick. When those people get sick, the question is whether the virus' mutations will be selected for, in terms of host immune system evasion. Then we end up with a virus for which the vaccines might be far less effective or totally ineffective.
I know it's unlikely, but on the other hand, we're already seeing decreased efficacy with the variants for pretty much all three vaccines.
And I still don't think you can directly compare the three vaccines:
https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/health...98fecd8544
https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/covid-...comparison
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PeterB wrote:
If, as the Pfizer/Moderna data suggested, one shot gave 85% protection, that's still a lot of people who will have gotten vaccinated but will still end up getting sick. When those people get sick, the question is whether the virus' mutations will be selected for, in terms of host immune system evasion. Then we end up with a virus for which the vaccines might be far less effective or totally ineffective.
Would that be artificial or natural selection?  tartrek2:
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Get those second shots to get your T cells primed and ready.
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I saw that coming - so much mention of aftereffects scared many away. If a third dose or annual dose is needed, it will be worse unless the fever/soreness/etc is addressed.
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I hadn't thought about the possibility of mutant viruses being selected for, but it makes sense -- the only viruses that would get to replicate are those that get past the immune system.
That said, we did not see that happen with smallpox or polio, so perhaps it won't be a problem.
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Ombligo wrote:
I saw that coming - so much mention of aftereffects scared many away. If a third dose or annual dose is needed, it will be worse unless the fever/soreness/etc is addressed.
I don't think it's the aftereffects as much as the buzz about them. My family found the aftereffects to be similar to the annual flu shot. A bit worse for some. Immunizations have always had after effects. That's how you know it's working.
Too many people expect hollywood magic.
"Here is your immunization shot against the apocalypse"
"Wow, I feel SO much better now !"
Instead of:
"Yeah I'm gonna go lie down for a day or so. Watch my back while I rest ?"
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