2 COVID Vaccines Approved, End to Pandemic in Sight??

[LevelUP]

Pfizer and Moderna both saying vaccines 90%+ effective, looks like the first doses to be given in December 2020.

Likely health workers and maybe first responders first in line to get the vaccine.  Then maybe we should just start at age 100+ yr old and work our way down the age bracket till we get to 18yr old.  I heard they still need to test in children so they won't get vaccine till summer.  Most everyone should get a vaccine by around March/April.

330 million population - 75 million (18yr & younger) = 255m population USA.  Maybe around 100- 125m will take vaccine.

At the same time, this virus looks like it's getting out of control again here in the U.S. and Europe.

This latest outbreak of COVID changing anyone's Thanksgiving plans?

Do you plan on taking the vaccine?

[ss20ts]

You forget that the general public actually has to want and go get these vaccines when they become available. Don't expect massive lines of people signing up for this.

I would not get any of these vaccines at this point. They are not properly being studied. Vaccines take time to study - YEARS not months. There's no way to know any of the long term side effects with these vaccines yet. It's impossible to know.

COVID has changed our Thanksgiving plans. Our state is shutting things down in various parts of the state again. Instead of hoping we would eat at a restaurant like usual, we decided to just eat at home. It's just the 2 of us and we don't live near family so holidays aren't that spectacular.

[rachel83az]

I am also wary of these vaccines in particular. If they turn out to be safe and effective, I'll be lining up to get one. But, as it stands right now, I'm going to stay locked inside as much as possible for at least the next 12-18 months.

[LevelUP]

Both these vaccines use mRNA which has never been produced on a large scale for humans.

We don't know yet if taking this vaccine will lead to permanent or temporary immunity for COVID. 

“When you look at the history of coronaviruses, the common coronaviruses that cause the common cold, the reports in the literature are that the durability of immunity that’s protective ranges from three to six months to almost always less than a year,” Dr. Anthony Fauci

[Merlin]

Pfizer and Moderna both saying vaccines 90%+ effective, looks like the first doses to be given in December 2020.

Likely health workers and maybe first responders first in line to get the vaccine.  Then maybe we should just start at age 100+ yr old and work our way down the age bracket till we get to 18yr old.  I heard they still need to test in children so they won't get vaccine till summer.  Most everyone should get a vaccine by around March/April.

[...]

Do you plan on taking the vaccine?

I'd say those dates are a bit optimistic as well considering that neither vaccine even has emergency use authorization yet. Pfizer is scheduled to earn that in December or January, and the Moderna one probably won't meet the requirements until at least a few weeks later. They need to manufacture enough for everyone too. It sounds like Pfizer will be able to make 20 million doses a month to start and ramp up from there. So first responders, doctors, teachers, and the military will probably get access to the vaccine in early 2021 and everyone else will get access in the late spring or summer. It will probably be fall before everyone who wants the vaccine will have access.

Hopefully, it will go faster than that with two providers, but that is the timeline that experts were pushing recently.

Of course, that doesn't include all the people who are going to hold off on taking either of these vaccines until we have proof that they are safe. We're not anti-vaxxers, but we're not going to be the first in line for what is effectively an experimental treatment. We want to see how this shakes out in the general population before we sign up. Maybe one of the other vaccines will prove to be safer and more effective. So we're planning to keep sheltering as much as possible over the next 12-18 months and look at getting vaccinated once we have more widespread evidence of safety and efficacy.

Both these vaccines use mRNA which has never been approved for use in humans as far as I know.

We don't know yet if taking this vaccine will lead to permanent or temporary immunity for COVID. 

“When you look at the history of coronaviruses, the common coronaviruses that cause the common cold, the reports in the literature are that the durability of immunity that’s protective ranges from three to six months to almost always less than a year,” Dr. Anthony Fauci

As we see how the vaccines play out in the general population over the next year we should have a much better idea of the durability of these vaccines.

My guess is that we're going to need to get booster vaccinations every 6 months to start, and then annually for the next decade or so until we're sure that it has been eliminated from circulation anywhere in the world. Of course, this also assumes we eventually manage to get 100% worldwide vaccination coverage in a short period of time, so that may be overly optimistic.

[dfrecore]

The fact that they've NEVER been able to create a CoronaVirus vaccine before - and this rush to get a new one. No thanks. We will let other people be the guinea pigs.

The fact that they may not last more than a year, means the hope of people going to get one EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. going forward? Yeah, not going to happen. First, maybe 50% will get it, but within a couple of years, I guess less than 25% of people will be getting them annually.

We are going to continue living our lives exactly as we've been. We'll do the holidays exactly as we've always done them. At this point, I think this whole thing is a scam, and I am not listening to "the experts" at this point at all. (and yes, of course the virus exists, but with >99% of people either not getting it, or recovering from it, I'm not worried). Even my parents who are in their 70's said they won't get the vaccine, and won't change how they're living.

[StoicJ]

I am somewhat glad a vaccine is going to be rolled out. Not that I or anyone in my household will be getting it, but if it satisfies the masses and gives the State another reason (?) to open things back up that would be very nice. I left a job in June largely because the company's face diaper and anti-social distancing requirements were so dispiriting to me.

We will be doing Thanksgiving this year the same way we normally do, which is 10-20 people at the in-law's home.

[dfrecore]

Only 60% of doctors and 40% of nurses said they would get these vaccines. If THEY won't get them, why would I??

[Merlin]

The fact that they've NEVER been able to create a CoronaVirus vaccine before - and this rush to get a new one.  No thanks.  We will let other people be the guinea pigs.

My thoughts as well. I'm cautiously optimistic, but if I wanted to be part of an extended clinical trial, I would have signed up for one. My family is waiting to see how this shakes out for others first.

The fact that they may not last more than a year, means the hope of people going to get one EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. going forward?  Yeah, not going to happen.  First, maybe 50% will get it, but within a couple of years, I guess less than 25% of people will be getting them annually.

It may be more often than once a year to begin with, but yeah I agree here as well. That said, if enough people gain immunity at the same time and for a long enough time, whether that is from a vaccine or natural immunity from contagion, herd immunity may purge it completely. Or at least limit it to smaller pockets of infection where a more focused vaccination regimen can deal with it.

We are going to continue living our lives exactly as we've been.  We'll do the holidays exactly as we've always done them.  At this point, I think this whole thing is a scam, and I am not listening to "the experts" at this point at all. (and yes, of course the virus exists, but with >99% of people either not getting it, or recovering from it, I'm not worried).  Even my parents who are in their 70's said they won't get the vaccine, and won't change how they're living.

The thing that worries me is that while a lot of people recover from Covid, many of those people end up with lasting damage (side effects) that impairs their circulatory, respiratory, or pulmonary functions even after the virus has been eliminated. Personally, I have enough trouble in my life... I'd rather avoid any long-term side effects, new medical issues, or run the risk of my child facing such issues.

My family plans to continue to limit outside contact and mask up where we don't have that option. At least until we know more about the durability, safety, and long-term efficacy of these vaccines. Until then it's going to be impossible to weigh the risks.

I can't fathom how people think this is a scam though. I mean, it's not like this is a made-up disease. So many people have already died and hospitals are filled beyond capacity. The evidence is clear that it is a serious threat even if you don't follow the news media. It's only getting worse as new cases are increasing so rapidly. Healthcare workers were already overwhelmed in some areas, and it's just getting worse. Some of those people are quitting their jobs because they can't handle the stress and long hours, which is making the others have to pick up more work. This is unsupportable unless something changes soon.

Only 60% of doctors and 40% of nurses said they would get these vaccines.  If THEY won't get them, why would I??

Well, a lot of people won't get them during the first rounds since nobody is sure how safe they are. Medical personnel know the risks better than most of us. Regardless of how quickly we can push a drug through trials, that doesn't allow enough testing across a broad population to prove that the vaccine does its job and isn't going to cause its own problems. We need multi-year trials to begin to make those kinds of claims.

I'm not sure where your statistic comes from, but I can only imagine that not wanting to be in the first round of vaccinations is likely the basis for it. I doubt that many people in the medical community would go on record as stating that they will never consider taking any of these vaccines even if they are proven safe.

I have friends and family who are nurses and/or work in healthcare and they are all very optimistic about these vaccines. I don't know how long they intend to wait before taking the vaccine themselves though. I will need to inquire since now I'm curious. Personally, if I worked on the front lines and had a high likelihood of contracting Covid, I'd probably be more likely to consider taking a vaccine anyway to minimize the risks to myself and my family.

[Seagull]

The fact that they've NEVER been able to create a CoronaVirus vaccine before - and this rush to get a new one.  No thanks.  We will let other people be the guinea pigs.

My thoughts as well. I'm cautiously optimistic, but if I wanted to be part of an extended clinical trial, I would have signed up for one. My family is waiting to see how this shakes out for others first.

The fact that they may not last more than a year, means the hope of people going to get one EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. going forward?  Yeah, not going to happen.  First, maybe 50% will get it, but within a couple of years, I guess less than 25% of people will be getting them annually.

It may be more often than once a year to begin with, but yeah I agree here as well. That said, if enough people gain immunity at the same time and for a long enough time, whether that is from a vaccine or natural immunity from contagion, herd immunity may purge it completely. Or at least limit it to smaller pockets of infection where a more focused vaccination regimen can deal with it.

We are going to continue living our lives exactly as we've been.  We'll do the holidays exactly as we've always done them.  At this point, I think this whole thing is a scam, and I am not listening to "the experts" at this point at all. (and yes, of course the virus exists, but with >99% of people either not getting it, or recovering from it, I'm not worried).  Even my parents who are in their 70's said they won't get the vaccine, and won't change how they're living.

The thing that worries me is that while a lot of people recover from Covid, many of those people end up with lasting damage (side effects) that impairs their circulatory, respiratory, or pulmonary functions even after the virus has been eliminated. Personally, I have enough trouble in my life... I'd rather avoid any long-term side effects, new medical issues, or run the risk of my child facing such issues.

My family plans to continue to limit outside contact and mask up where we don't have that option. At least until we know more about the durability, safety, and long-term efficacy of these vaccines. Until then it's going to be impossible to weigh the risks.

I can't fathom how people think this is a scam though. I mean, it's not like this is a made-up disease. So many people have already died and hospitals are filled beyond capacity. The evidence is clear that it is a serious threat even if you don't follow the news media. It's only getting worse as new cases are increasing so rapidly. Healthcare workers were already overwhelmed in some areas, and it's just getting worse. Some of those people are quitting their jobs because they can't handle the stress and long hours, which is making the others have to pick up more work. This is unsupportable unless something changes soon.

Only 60% of doctors and 40% of nurses said they would get these vaccines.  If THEY won't get them, why would I??

Well, a lot of people won't get them during the first rounds since nobody is sure how safe they are. Medical personnel know the risks better than most of us. Regardless of how quickly we can push a drug through trials, that doesn't allow enough testing across a broad population to prove that the vaccine does its job and isn't going to cause its own problems. We need multi-year trials to begin to make those kinds of claims.

I'm not sure where your statistic comes from, but I can only imagine that not wanting to be in the first round of vaccinations is likely the basis for it. I doubt that many people in the medical community would go on record as stating that they will never consider taking any of these vaccines even if they are proven safe.

I have friends and family who are nurses and/or work in healthcare and they are all very optimistic about these vaccines. I don't know how long they intend to wait before taking the vaccine themselves though. I will need to inquire since now I'm curious. Personally, if I worked on the front lines and had a high likelihood of contracting Covid, I'd probably be more likely to consider taking a vaccine anyway to minimize the risks to myself and my family.

At a certain point they have to stop the big scare and have to call the disease endemic as so many cases are not equal number of deaths, so it becomes the same as regular flu, which, by the way, still causes lots of deaths each year but since it cannot be exploited politically and economically with fear, unlike covid 19, no one is worried about it and no one goes crazy stocking up on toilet paper just because the regular flu is in season.