J&J Shot Raises Fewer Antibodies Against Delta Variant in Study https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...wer-antibodies-against-delta-variant-in-study Delta variant accounts for 83% of U.S. cases, CDC says J&J data released earlier indicates shot fights delta strain Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid vaccine produced relatively low levels of antibodies against the delta variant in a study, raising questions about how well the shot will hold up against the strain that accounts for the vast majority of U.S. cases. The laboratory study, released on the preprint server bioRxiv, hasn’t been published in a peer-reviewed journal and focuses on one key portion of the immune response, called neutralizing antibodies. New York University scientists found that J&J’s vaccine produced roughly five-fold lower levels of the protective antibodies against the delta variant compared to the levels raised against an early coronavirus strain. The delta variant accounts for 83% of genetically sequenced cases in the U.S., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday in a Senate hearing. While two-dose messenger RNA vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. also produced fewer antibodies against the highly transmissible delta strain, the reduction was less dramatic, the study found. Compared to two shots of mRNA vaccines, the single-shot J&J vaccine “showed a more pronounced decrease in neutralizing titer against the variants, raising the potential for decreased protection,” the researchers from NYU researchers said in the study. One Aspect The study examined only one aspect of protection, J&J said in an email, and didn’t consider long-lasting responses among immune cells stimulated by its vaccine. “The data do not speak to the full nature of immune protection” from the shot, spokesman Jake Sargent said. J&J’s vaccine has been shown to produce a strong immune response that lasts at least eight months after immunization, he said. Earlier this month, J&J researchers said their own data indicated that the vaccine neutralizes the delta variant and booster shots weren’t needed. Study author Nathaniel Landau of NYU Grossman School of Medicine said the results of his study and J&J’s antibody analysis are not totally different. Both found a decreased level of antibodies, he said in an email. “We just found a greater degree of decrease,” he said.
Pfizer-BioNTech to start producing Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa in 2022 https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/21/africa/covid-vaccine-manufacture-pfizer-africa-intl/index.html Pfizer and BioNTech will start to manufacture their Covid-19 vaccine in South Africa, they announced jointly on Wednesday, in a move that could significantly increase the availability of doses across the continent next year. When fully operational, the companies said annual vaccine production would exceed 100 million doses, to be distributed exclusively within African countries. In a statement, the companies said they signed a letter of intent with the Biovac Institute in Cape Town to transfer technology, install equipment, and develop manufacturing capability. The raw material for the vaccines will be transported from Europe and the first doses will be produced in 2022. Vaccination rates across Africa remain extremely low, with just over 20 million full vaccine doses administered to a population of over 1.3 billion, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which says only 1.5% of the population has been fully vaccinated. Several countries including Mali, Niger and Ethiopia have hardly administered any doses per 100 people. he announcement received a positive response. "It is great and welcome news that must be celebrated in the context of this pandemic as every action counts. I see this as a part of the collective action to address technology transfer and intellectual property," John Nkengasong, the director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN. There have been steady calls from countries including India and South Africa to waive the intellectual property rights on vaccine technology -- part of ongoing negotiations at the World Trade Organization. The vaccine rollout on the continent has been plagued by a shortage of doses, much of which are supplied by the global vaccine distribution initiative COVAX. Many of those doses were scheduled to come from the Serum Institute of India, but exports were suspended amid India's disastrous second wave of Covid-19 and will not restart until the end of the year. Countries including South Sudan and Kenya have either run out of jabs, or have come close to running out, as cases surge across the continent. Last week, WHO announced that countries in Africa had recorded a 43% week-on-week rise in Covid-19 deaths. South Africa, where Pfizer/BioNTech will manufacture the much-needed doses, is currently in the throes of a deadly third wave triggered by the Delta variant. The country entered a strict lockdown at the end of June but has seen 63,000 Covid-19 deaths over the course of the pandemic, with current levels of more than 300 deaths per day.
"There have been steady calls from countries including India and South Africa to waive the intellectual property rights on vaccine technology -- part of ongoing negotiations at the World Trade Organization." Careful wit dat.
Not surprising since the large majority of the Israeli population is vaccinated.... and the unvaccinated are effectively not allowed out of their homes since they don't have a green pass to go to shops, bars, restaurants, entertainment venues, or any public indoor space where people gather. Tell us how the total number of weekly cases are looking now compared to when everyone in Israel was unvaccinated. Are they still seeing 6000+ cases each day?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/...nford-students-test-positive-coronavirus.html Seven fully-vaccinated Stanford students test positive for coronavirus in a single week - all of whom are symptomatic
White House declines to release number of breakthrough COVID-19 cases among vaccinated staff https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...e-number-breakthrough-covid-cases/8074172002/