The UAE has approved a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine for emergency use https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/15/the...e-coronavirus-vaccine-for-emergency-use-.html
China doing what China does best. China's quiet brucellosis outbreak sickens thousands in northwest Leak at vaccine plant leaves some Lanzhou residents facing chronic illness https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/C...losis-outbreak-sickens-thousands-in-northwest
One of the rapid tests looking good, for the Brits anyway. Although I would like to have a dime and two nipples for everyone of these that was touted at one level but turned out to be more questionable out in the real world. I do think that one or more will work out nicely over time and turn out to be usefully effective. Just have to figure which one it is. Rapid 90-minute COVID-19 test shown to be highly accurate https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-rapid-minute-covid-shown-highly.html
As discussed, the chinese and russian vaccines are out there and various populations are lining up in droves to take them, so we will see some results from them good, bad, or ugly reasonably soon, presumably. Also, as discussed, I am not in favor of American researchers cutting any corners but it is undeniable that results in other countries will have an impact on the thinking of Americans. Maybe not the only factor but it goes into the mix. If they see a vaccine working well in another country without problems, Americans will want to know what is holding us up. Or on the other hand, if people are having adverse effects and their dicks are falling off in Brazil and Singapore from taking a vaccine, that will increase reluctance to take vaccine here- even moreso I should say. No punchline. Just sayin it is a factor, and it is in progress regardless of how we feel about the track records of Ruskie and Chinese misconduct in the research world. ‘I just want this suffering to be over.’ Brazilians flock to COVID-19 vaccine trials https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...over-brazilians-flock-covid-19-vaccine-trials
Looks like the Chinese are not only supplying vaccines to Brazil but are also spinning off production rights to one of the vaccines. Bolzanaro is in the same situation as Trump, ie. he is anxious to redeem himself by getting a vaccine out there. Ideally, the vaccine will work too and be safe- always a plus- but not always required in some of those countries. Sao Paulo signs agreement with Chinese producer for COVID-19 vaccine doses, but price over $2 each: source The government of Brazil’s Sao Paulo state signed a contract on Wednesday to receive 46 million doses of a potential vaccine from China’s vaccine producer frontrunner Sinovac Biotech. But a company source told the Global Times the price of each dose would not be as low as $1.96, as what the Sao Paulo governor implied. João Doria announced at a press meeting on Wednesday that the state and Sinovac signed a $90 million contract to receive 46 million doses of a potential vaccine from Sinovac. The announcement triggered widespread speculation about the price of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine offered by China to Brazil which would be as cheap as $1.96 per dose. But Sinovac source denied this, though the source did not confirm the accurate price given the confidentiality of the contract. “The vaccine won’t be that low-priced, because the shipping cost for each dose will be around two dollars. The Sao Paulo governor's statement on Wednesday was misunderstood,” the source said. The contract Doria announced also contemplates the transfer of technology of the inactivated vaccine, called Coronavac, from Chinese to Brazilian institutes, and would be produced entirely at the Butantan Institute next year. The moment was considered "historic" by the governor. “Sao Paulo will be one of the first places in the world to vaccinate the public,” said Doria, local media reported. Sao Paulo, the richest and most populous state in the country, with about 46 million inhabitants, is the region of Brazil most affected by the pandemic, with over 979,000 cases of infection and 35,000 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health . The 46 million doses will be available to Brazil by December 2020, 6 million of which will be ready in October, and the remaining 40 million to be produced at Butantan. Sinovac has also pledged to provide another 14 million doses, which should arrive by February next year, according to the statement released by the Butantan Institute. Phase III clinical trials are being conducted in research centers throughout Brazil, and are recruiting 13,000 volunteers, all of whom are health professionals working to combat COVID-19. At the end of this last stage of testing, the study will be submitted for analysis by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa). Only after approval by the agency can the vaccine be made available to the population, the statement said. Coronavac, a coronavirus immunizer developed by Sinovac together with the Butantan Institute, is one of the most promising in the world, because it uses technology already known and widely applied in other vaccines. The Beijing-based laboratory has tested the product on thousands of volunteers in China, in phases I and II, with excellent safety standards to date, the statement shows. The experimental model applied to monkeys showed impressive results in terms of the immune response against virus proteins. In China and Brazil, clinical tests involve volunteers over 60 years old, the group most vulnerable to the COVID-19. The late-stage trial will end by October 15, according to the Sao Paulo government website. If Coronavac is successful, Butantan will request the emergency approval of the immunizer from Anvisa. The objective of the Government of São Paulo is to start a vaccination campaign against the coronavirus in the second half of December, with priority for professionals from all public and private health units in Sao Paulo. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1202629.shtml
I put this here without editorial comment: WHO: 10% of world's people may have been infected with virus The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization said Monday its "best estimates" indicate that roughly 1 in 10 people worldwide may have been infected by the coronavirus—more than 20 times the number of confirmed cases—and warned of a difficult period ahead. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-world-people-infected-virus.html
I think this is likely from a world-wide basis. Most estimates in countries that properly reported confirmed cases is that 10 times then number of people are infected as the number of cases reported (approximately). There are several countries that are outright providing incorrect information about the number of cases; such as Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, etc. There are other countries that simply don't have the equipment, money and tests to perform testing --- so testing is only done for the very wealthy or political elite. Many countries in Africa fall into this category - their COVID deaths and cases across the population are not well tracked or reported. From a global perspective it may be likely that the number of actual infections are 20 times more than reported cases. In countries doing their best to track and report the number of infections is likely 10 times more than the number of reported cases --- this leads to the difference of CFR being reported at 3% and the estimated IFR being 0.3% to 0.8% Note that 10% of the world population is still nowhere near "natural herd immunity" -- in fact this infection level will not even slow COVID down.
As noted many times before the COVID CFR (Case Fatality Rate) is 3.0% -- -this is a proven figure. The COVID IFR (Infection Fatality Rate) is estimated between 0.3% and 0.8%. The seasonal flu has a CFR rate of 0.1% and an IFR of 0.025%.