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1/ Australian Academy of Science Press Release at 20.40 on Jan 14th
"statement on the pandemic, vaccines and misinformation"
A 'suck-up to government', incorrect press release. I'll show you how @Science_Academy itself is spreading misinformation.
"statement on the pandemic, vaccines and misinformation"
A 'suck-up to government', incorrect press release. I'll show you how @Science_Academy itself is spreading misinformation.
2/ Firstly, my ears are burning somewhat, cos, call me paranoid, but I kind of get the feeling that I may be one of the "misinformers" they're thinking of.
Well, excuse me, but: Pot. Kettle. Black.
Never mind, my shoulders are broad.
Read on.
Well, excuse me, but: Pot. Kettle. Black.
Never mind, my shoulders are broad.
Read on.
3/ They say if you get vaccinated you will be protected from severe disease, but not from infection per se. Except then in the next line they correctly say conclusive data isn't available. So, as they admit, we don't actually know.
4/ You may well be protected from infection too - many vaccines do that - which is important as you'll see further down.
Anyway, it also goes on to say that both Pfizer and Astrazeneca are equally effective at preventing severe disease. Well, hang on a sec.
Anyway, it also goes on to say that both Pfizer and Astrazeneca are equally effective at preventing severe disease. Well, hang on a sec.
5/ Maybe they are, but it's a pretty strong statement to make on the available data, which is much more sketchy for AZ.
6/ The AZ study looked at only 9,000 patients (so far, more results to come), compared to 43,000 for Pfizer and there were very few hospitalisations in the AZ placebo group, so how reliable that data actually is, is open to question.
7/ It would have been more accurate (dare I say "less misinforming"?) to have said "On the limited data available, it APPEARS AS IF THEY MAY BE equally effective..."
8/ This next point is the most interesting of all and, pretty clearly, it is wilfully disingenuous.
9/ They say that public confusion has arisen around the question of AZ 62% efficacy vs 95% Pfizer efficacy, which they say relates to mild to moderate infection (actually it relates to "symptomatic infection"), not severe disease, for which they are "both amply effective"…
10/ …(well, maybe, but see above). They imply that the public has been incorrectly scared into believing that the AZ vaccine won't protect them from severe infection as well as the Pfizer one.
11/ The thing is, this was never the subject of the 62 vs 95 debate this week, which was all about which one could get us to herd immunity. (The 95, obv.)
12/ And @Science_Academy is behind the times, because herd immunity doesn't even get mentioned in this release and they say that the primary goal of this campaign is to prevent severe infecction.
13/ But hang on a second, the Aus government is now pivoting to say that we ARE attempting to reach herd immunity as the desired strategy. In fact I don't think they had a strategy at all until this week and they were forced to think about it by @rajah_mich.
14/ And the reason the strategy is jumping around so much is that they are inventing it on the fly. https://tinyurl.com/y3eqsqv4
15/ While I have been writing this thread @NC_Robinson has published this article in which we hear that Pfizer may actually have quite a lot of their vaccine available. https://twitter.com/NjbBari3/status/1349660689082720257
16/ So then we have to ask why we aren't getting any more of it in Australia and why the AAS has produced this puff piece press release to support the government's attempt to give most of us the AZ vaccine?
17/ There is a lot of behind the scenes scrambling happening in the Australian government at the moment as they blink in the unaccustomed glare of transparency and accountability.
18/ They are having to create a vaccine strategy on the fly which they should have done 6 or 8 months ago. The confusion in the Australian government gets passed on to the supporters they are drafting in to help shore them up.
19/ Poor old @Science_Academy! You thought you were helping the government out, but then they moved on and changed their minds and didn't tell you and you were left looking a bit silly.
Tough this politics game, isn't it?
Bless!
Tough this politics game, isn't it?
Bless!
