This is particularly true of the hit and run viruses that have a short lifespan, do their thing, and then are on their way to other environments/people. Some viruses are neither highly deadly up front, nor do they fall into the fast spreading, hit and run category. They are more like hangers-on that may or may not weaken over time and may or may not get more deadly. Hepatitis, HIV, etc. They are a bitch too but they can produce some mean strains. When you have viruses that like to infect and hang in there for years the virus can also become much more deadly. Such as HIV which does not spread easily (relatively easy that is, you have to do certain things mostly) and does not complete its cycle and then move on. The longer it hangs on without either killing or going away, the longer it has to develop new defenses. And the more drugs you throw at it, the more the resistant it becomes unless the treatment does a true knockout.
Why would people follow it very closely in early September. By then everyone knew we are f@cked due to the government's piss-poor response. Effectively "nothing more to see here". At least back in early March there was hope that Trump would do something reasonable.
While Trump Touts 'Cure' Made By Regeneron, Its CEO Is A Member Of Trump Golf Club https://www.forbes.com/sites/robert...-is-a-member-of-trump-golf-club/#18c5215f60c8 The CEO of Regeneron —which makes the experimental Covid-19 therapy taken by President Trump — is also a member of Trump's golf club, and the two have met and discussed Regeneron's drugs, according to a report that casts new light on Trump’s exclusive access to the company’s experimental antibody treatment that he lauds as a “cure” for Covid-19 and vows to make freely available. The Guardian reports that Leonard Schleifer — who Trump reportedly calls “Lenny” — is a member of the Trump National golf club in Briarcliff Manor, New York, and had met the president in May to discuss the drugs his company was developing. The relationship casts new light on Trump’s ability to access the treatment, which has not been approved for widespread use, and incorrect public proclamations that it is a “cure” for Covid-19. Trump was treated with Regeneron’s experimental antibody therapy following his diagnosis with Covid-19 on Friday following a compassionate use request made by his doctors, which grants access in rare circumstances. The experimental therapy is unavailable to most Americans with fewer than 10 other people having been treated under compassionate use arrangements, a Regeneron spokesperson said. Trump piled lavish praise on the therapy following his treatment, incorrectly calling it a “cure” before vowing, without saying how, to make it available to all Americans for free; Regeneron’s antibody therapy is not currently approved for widespread use and is still undergoing clinical trials. Following the president’s comments, the biotechnology firm applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use approval. Key Background Trump was taken to Walter Reed Medical Center less than 24 hours after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 on Friday. In addition to Regeneron’s antibody therapy, the president also has received the experimental antiviral remdesivir, produced by Gilead Sciences and approved for use by the FDA under an emergency authorization, and the steroid dexamethasone, which is ordinarily reserved for severe cases. Trump has piled praise on Regeneron’s therapy in the days since his treatment, and called on regulators to approve Regeneron’s request for emergency authorization in a video Wednesday. $500 million. Regeneron has received more than $500 million from the federal government as a part of Operation Warp Speed. What To Watch For Keep an eye on the FDA. The organization will evaluate Regeneron’s request to authorize its experimental antibody therapy for emergency use which could see the therapy rolled out across the U.S. Crucial Quote Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer told CNBC that treating the president with the company’s experimental antibody therapy created a “very tough situation” for the company as the therapy has not received approval for widespread use. Big Number 50,000. Regeneron said it currently has enough doses for roughly 50,000 patients, with plans to expand this to 300,000 within the next few months. Tangent This week Eli Lilly also requested emergency authorization from the FDA for its antibody therapy to treat Covid-19.
Good news for hamsters!! The take home message, though, is that I think we are beginning to evolve toward some treatments that also have some benefits for prevention even though they may not qualify as a vaccine. You know, if you load someone up with antibodies for treatment- antibody analogues- those antibodies help to kill current infections but if they hang around long enough they also have preventive value. I know that type of thing drives the binary minds here crazy because it is not a vaccine but neither is it without preventive value. Everybody gets all hung up on whether you will be going in for one shot or two shots and it will only last three months or whatever. But what if that looks like snorting a nasal spray that lasts three months and then you have to snort it again a couple months later. So what? I mean for those who are not opposed to doing it. Some are, and that is fine. Experimental COVID-19 treatment given to Trump found to relieve symptoms in macaques and hamsters https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-experimental-covid-treatment-trump-relieve.html
Not really much of a story here when you lift up the hood and look at the details and underlying condition but I will post this for the "sky is falling" crowd who may want to feed off of it. I don't doubt that if she had survived she could get it a third time too. One of the things that goes with being very elderly and/or very sick is that you cannot produce T-cells and antibodies so getting the disease or getting a vaccination - when it comes- does not help much. Thus there are flu shots and pneumonia shots but the flu and pneumonia are still the leading causes of death among the elderly (the final event anyway). You still have to have some remnant of a functioning immune system for those vaccines to work. Dutch researchers report first death from COVID-19 reinfection https://bnonews.com/index.php/2020/...report-first-death-from-covid-19-reinfection/
Ruskies continue to roll out one of their vaccines around the world. UAE, Brazil, Venezuela, etc. They are doing everything but releasing data from their previous trial studies. womp..womp Russia says human trials of its coronavirus vaccine have begun in the Middle East https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/12/rus...ne-human-trials-begin-in-the-middle-east.html
I would love to be a fly on the wall in the U.S. (wait, I already am) if the Trump administration proposed this here. I mean someone other than Emperor Fauci. They would be howling like Huskies over at CNN and MSNBC. Not saying yeh or nay to it. Just saying there would be lots of entertainment value to see Trump announce it. UK to infect healthy volunteers to speed up vaccine efforts https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-international-news-7cceba422eb5c430dc56673c84c01ac9
Kroger pharmacies to offer rapid COVID antibody testing with 15-minute results Antibody testing to be available at all Kroger pharmacies by end of Nov. https://www.clickondetroit.com/heal...ovid-antibody-testing-with-15-minute-results/
Well this is good news. People can see if they contracted COVID in the past and still have anti-body immunity. Hope to see some other drug stores offering this also.