Tl;dr: please, please, please use reliable sources when information about a vaccine starts circulating. Find sources you trust and verify through multiple places. Make sure your bullshit meter is in good working order! 2/11
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We are going to have to talk A LOT about the prospect of a vaccine for COVID-19, and you’re probably going to have to wade through a bunch of bullshit propaganda along the way. So let’s start right now. 1/11
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Generally it takes years to develop a vaccine that is both safe and effective. Candidate vaccines go through 3 phases of clinical trials for safety and effectiveness followed by a process of building manufacturing infrastructure and production of an adequate number of doses. 3/
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The quickest we have ever gotten a vaccine to market is 4 years, from start to finish. With COVID-19 we are trying to get it done in less than a year. There are numerous ways this process can fail: 1. There may be significant side effects in early trials. 4/11
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2. The vaccine may fail to stimulate an adequate immune response. 3. The vaccine may not produce a sustained immune response. 4. The virus may mutate in such a way that the vaccine is no longer effective or is only partially effective. 5/11
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5. It may become apparent that multiple doses are needed, or that a booster is required to sustain immunity. We have been trying for decades to develop vaccines for HIV and the common cold; efforts have failed due to one or more of the above factors. 6/11
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Once 1 or more effective, safe vaccines are developed, we enter manufacturing phase. The manufacture & distribution of vaccines is complex & expensive. Sterile facilities, qualified personnel, reliable distribution & transportation must be present to support an effective program
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The manufacturing phase usually doesn’t ramp up until after a safe & effective vaccine is available; this is a step where we can shorten the time frame, & it appears that is being done. Facilities are being created & repurposed while the clinical trials are going on. 8/11
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In addition, there must be adequate production of the syringes and needles used to give millions of doses of the vaccine. There are already murmurs of supply chain issues for this. 9/11
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All of this is made even worse because we have an administration that is aggressively anti-science, has completely failed in managing the pandemic thus far, and a President who is trying to bypass certain steps *for political gain*. 10/11
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All of this is to say: I will be reading reliable medical journals & sources before I recommend any vaccine that is developed under these circumstances & under this administration. Follow along if you want. I’ll be passing info on along the way. 11/11https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/02/us/politics/coronavirus-vaccine.html#click=https://t.co/9XRKYGStGg …
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