We’re obviously failing to understand each other. At any rate, I’ve posted the scientists’ own words above as well as a link to the full study. Others here can decide for themselves what they make of their findings and conclusions.
My takeaway is that, if the vaccines don’t eradicate the virus quickly enough to prevent mutations, we may have to end up constantly tweaking the vaccines on a level of what happens with annual flu vaccines. I didn’t read anything particularly alarming.
The study supports my statement. The vaccines being less effective vs the S African variant does not mean they don’t work at all. From the article you attached:
I didn’t say it didn’t work at all—nothing remotely like it. My words were very clear and in keeping with the scientists’ own.
In fairness, you’re quoting a part pertaining to a second study. The first showed less effectiveness, but researchers noted the small sample size and lack of real-world analysis. Basically, it’s saying the vaccines may have to be tweaked, something the vaccine makers know and are already doing.
I guess I don’t consider any drop in effectiveness to mean they don’t work and maybe that’s where the disconnect is. When the original poster asked if the vaccines still worked against the variants I said yes, there is no evidence anywhere that they don’t. That‘s 100% true. AstraZenneca did fail the efficacy test in S Africa so that vaccine does not work vs that variant.
It's as if when people were told that as the new variants became dominant in the US we would see an increase in cases in places because we have not yet vaccinated enough people to stop transmissions, people didn't believe it. I posted earlier that experts were watching Michigan because they had the 2nd most incidents of B.1.1.7.
Seems to always turn out that the end results and conclusions of these articles are far less dramatic or alarming than their headlines. Pfizer’s like “yeah we got that.”
www.theguardian.com
I quoted the scientists’ own conclusion, which I don’t believe the article’s headline misrepresents or sensationalises in any way. Neither Pfeifer nor Moderna would be developing a booster for the South African variant if there were nothing to be gained from having one.
“I don't necessarily think we have to deploy the booster until we kind of cross the threshold of someone who's vaccinated getting hospitalized with one of the variants, so I think it’s important to have this ready to go if necessary, but I don't think we've crossed the threshold where this is absolutely going to be needed because even in the face of the variants, our vaccines do very good at preventing severe disease hospitalization and death,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said.
www.wbaltv.com
And again, I’ve said or posted nothing to contradict this. I’m all for vaccinations—I got my first shot the other day. I think they’re our best way out of this mess, and I’m beyond grateful that we’ve got so far so quickly. To point out that the South African variant is potentially of some concern is to report what scientists themselves have said. I’m really bewildered by the reactions I’m getting.“I don't necessarily think we have to deploy the booster until we kind of cross the threshold of someone who's vaccinated getting hospitalized with one of the variants, so I think it’s important to have this ready to go if necessary, but I don't think we've crossed the threshold where this is absolutely going to be needed because even in the face of the variants, our vaccines do very good at preventing severe disease hospitalization and death,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said.
UM School of Medicine testing booster shot for Pfizer vaccine
Now that the COVID-19 vaccine distribution is well underway, pharmaceutical companies are beginning to test booster shots.
"Laboratory studies have shown that some vaccines that work well against earlier variants are less effective — though they still offer significant protection — against the variant known as B.1.351, which was first found in South Africa in December and has become the dominant one there."
An Austrian Region Becomes a Coronavirus Vaccine Laboratory (Published 2021)
Scientists want to inoculate every adult in one Austrian district, in a real-world test of how the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine works against the variant first seen in South Africa.www.nytimes.com
I wasn't saying you were against vaccines. Life is not that black and white. I certainty never try to promote that mentality either. You made a statement and I showed why they are testing different boosters... to be safe. Not sure why my response is bewildering. It was simply a response. They are indeed trying to do real world testing the best way they can to either confirm or deny what was found in the lab. How that is bewildering is really baffling to me.
I apologise for grouping your response together with some of the others I’ve received, which suggested that I was saying the vaccines didn’t work at all or that I was sharing stories with sensational headlines. Those responses I did find bewildering.
No worries at all. I get your view and those who see it as sensationalized. Headlines are meant to draw in and the headlines don't always match the story causing us to read deeper to find out what the real news is. Some are far more sensitive about wording than others. Some read the meanings differently too. Testing has shown in the lab at least with Pfizer a reduction doesn't mean it's not working well enough. Hopefully the real world numbers confirm. I wait and see personally. I don't discount a need for figuring out what is what though. I just chill now until I'm told not to. It's where I am emotionally though. I figure also if my trial calls me in for variant booster trials then we need to worry lol. Of course I just want to ditch these masks forever so I could be in la la land
