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I honestly think ppl are throwing the baby out with the bath water losing our minds over AstraZeneca. So I’m going to add some more bullet points. Remember, expert opinion is the lowest form of evidence. 
1) The Az trial was really small and especially the data for B1.351
1) The Az trial was really small and especially the data for B1.351
2) We kind of expected it wouldn’t work well against mild to moderate disease. This is upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). Immunity here relies on highly specific antibodies. Like the 
to and 
. So change one tooth of means the lock can’t be opened & closed very well
to and . So change one tooth of means the lock can’t be opened & closed very well
We had seen neutralizing activity (like testing the in a in the lab) had shown there was lowered neutralizing activity. The titles (concentrations) needed to be higher. So this is like if you tried a many times with the imperfect and sometimes it works.
in a in the lab) had shown there was lowered neutralizing activity. The titles (concentrations) needed to be higher. So this is like if you tried a many times with the imperfect and sometimes it works.
The numbers in the Az trial weren’t high enough - to show if you try the enough times you’ll get some benefit. So we need a better vaccine for mild to moderate disease.
enough times you’ll get some benefit. So we need a better vaccine for mild to moderate disease.
2) The people were all young and healthy so no one developed severe disease. We can’t then say anything definitively about severe disease. This is a lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) requiring hospitalization and oxygen support.
From the slides Prof Mahdi showed Sunday, there is a different immune response involved in preventing severe infections and LRTI, so a different type of lock. These are t-cells and the key is less specific. Kinda like one of these:
They could not show the tcells were protective against severe disease cause there was none in the trial to compare rate in placebo vs Az vaccinated for B1.351 (trouble maker variant). But, prof madhi showed they have examined to lock, & the key, it really looks like it fits still
JJ trial Prof Gray presented, shows vector vaccines (which Az is) not a great antibody match (prevents infection taking hold as URTI) but can induce a tcell response to prevent LRTI. We don’t have 2, but we have 1+1 to show we could prevent severe disease & death with Az.
(prevents infection taking hold as URTI) but can induce a tcell response to prevent LRTI. We don’t have 2, but we have 1+1 to show we could prevent severe disease & death with Az.
