43 years ago a G.P. colleague (Dr. X) of Dr Hopkins' became a football playing team mate of mine. A few years after that, he (Dr. X) became a regular golf partner of mine. In fact one of my best friends - a lad from Dunfermline. He's still my most regular golf partner. Dr. X explained Dr. Hopkins' logic to me after I'd related the story of that first medical interview. He was trying to shock me into cutting down my alcohol intake by suggesting I return to England to be a burdon on the NHS, as opposed to wasting the time & money of the Canadian National Heath System. He spotted the same issue Barchu !!
There are lies, damned lies and …the results of clinical trials. That might be the conclusion from internal AstraZeneca documents made public during litigation on its antipsychotic drug Seroquel, which is now coming to a close. They highlight apparent efforts by the group to communicate favourable data selectively to boost prescriptions. Their full context may never be fully scrutinised because of out-of-court settlements being finalised with US patients and prosecutors.
It really doesn't matter Chazz. And here is the reason why. Globally there are sufficient people who have the qualifications to analyse the data sets, the method of development and the means of production, to challenge the outcomes. I place my trust in the scientists and not the commentators. You hinted at the issues with thalidomide and I will counter that by saying there is absolutely no comparison other than the basics. The vaccine is a means of protection that is an adapted virus and not a chemical compound used for treatment of a condition. The lessons learnt through SARS, MERS and Ebola, mean that we have the science to develop vaccines quicker. 3 in 1000 people will suffer some side effects. 10 million vulnerable people in this country now have a PROVEN (yes proven) ability to not only have reduced reaction to the virus, but actually the data shows that they are less likely to carry the virus and spread it to others. I don't have to prove anything to you Chazz, I wouldn't want to. But I have not cut and pasted anything from Google in my reply. I read, watch and listen to reports from a vast amount of places and I believe that not only is having the vaccine the right thing to do, it is the only thing to do, if you don't want to see this virus kill someone you love.
It wasn’t a vaccine, so you’d look as daft as all the other conspiracy theorists if you did, so it’s lucky that you’re not one. I read yesterday, that around 50% of adult Americans were going to refuse to be vaccinated, Darwinism at its finest.
I ts not about an exact is it ffs It’s that drug companies are the biggest lying bastards gong and don’t to be a **** about hiding the truth See my other post about Astra Zeneca to blindly put faith in them is something I won’t do.there’s some articles in the FT tht I can’t access that are about concerns regarding Astra Zeneca and this vaccine
Bmj? The UK’s approach of leaving an interval of three months between doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine has been supported by new data, with the Oxford University researchers also saying the vaccine “may have a substantial impact on transmission.” The paper, a preprint currently under review at the Lancet, is an analysis of additional data from trials involving 17 177 participants in the UK, Brazil, and South Africa.1 It includes the results of a further month of data collection with 332 cases of symptomatic covid-19—an additional 201 cases than were previously reported.2 A single standard dose of vaccine provided 76% protection overall against symptomatic covid-19 in the first 90 days after vaccination with protection not falling in this time frame. It is not clear, however, how long protection might last with a single dose as there were too few cases after 90 days to make any meaningful judgment. The analyses suggest that it is the dosing interval and not the dosing level which has the greatest impact on the efficacy of the vaccine. This is in line with previous research supporting greater efficacy with longer intervals with other vaccines such as influenza and Ebola. The study found vaccine efficacy reached 82.4% after a second dose in those with a dosing interval of 12 weeks or more (95% confidence interval 62.7% to 91.7%). If the two doses were given less than six weeks apart the efficacy was only 54.9% (CI 32.7% to 69.7%). As part of the UK arm of the trial, the researchers obtained weekly nose and throat swabs from volunteers to check for infections. The vaccine appears quite poor at preventing asymptomatic infection; its efficacy increased with a longer gap between doses but the confidence intervals were wide. However, the researchers found that after a single dose of vaccine, overall polymerase chain reaction test positive cases of covid-19 (both symptomatic and asymptomatic) fell by 67%, raising hopes that it may have a substantial impact on transmission by reducing the number of infected people in the population. Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial, and co-author of the paper, said that the new data “supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for a 12 week prime boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to rollout, and reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine.” Commenting on the study, Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said, “Taking all this evidence together, the 12 week gap between first and second dose is clearly the better strategy as more people can be protected more quickly and the ultimate protective effect is greater. Given the poor efficacy at preventing asymptomatic infections, the vaccine will not stop transmission of covid but will still go a long way to reduce the R value and transmission because there will be far fewer symptomatic infections and people who are symptomatic are rather more infectious than those who are asymptomatic.” Azra Ghani, chair in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London, urged caution over the results, however, pointing out that the study was not designed to look at different dosing gaps or at one versus two doses. “Participants who received a single dose were younger, more likely to be female, more likely to be a healthcare worker, more likely to be resident in Brazil, and more likely to be white than those who received two doses. In addition, those who received a single dose were followed for a significantly longer period of time,” she said. “This means that it is not sensible to compare the efficacy estimates from a single dose with those from two doses.” This article is made freely available for use in accordance with BMJ's website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained. https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usage
One of the people who I admire most on the Radio is Tim Hartford. He is a great broadcaster and his Radio4 show "More or Less" is a great listen. I admire this man so much that I bought his latest book as a present for my Granddaughter. She is in her final year of Studying Phycology at Guildford University. She is very interested in statistics, to the extent that she is hoping that she gets offered a job with the National Office of Statistics. Tim Hartford writes for the FT and it is probably one of his articles that Chazz refers to. Hartford looks at the history of lies and deception by large corporations and mainly by cigarette and drugs companies in their manipulation of data and information. Everyone should read this article. It is an honest view of the situation as of September last year. And that is important, September last year. The speed of development and the vast amount of data available between now and then is what counts. Google is only as good as the information that is put on it and so much is changing every day with this pandemic, a view from even as recently as September 2020 cannot be considered to be accurate any longer. The pace of development is far to fast for this. https://www.ft.com/content/92f64ea9-3378-4ffe-9fff-318ed8e3245e
Yes, people will have it if they want to exchange Wetherspoons for a full English breakfast in Benidorm followed by a few pints in the George and Dragon as they discuss how travel broadens the mind.
