[HN Gopher] FDA panel recommends Pfizer's Covid booster doses fo...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       FDA panel recommends Pfizer's Covid booster doses for people 65 and
       older
        
       Author : geox
       Score  : 84 points
       Date   : 2021-09-17 19:46 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cnbc.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cnbc.com)
        
       | oezi wrote:
       | If you got a bit over one hour, spend it and hear the section on
       | the experience in Israel with boosting:
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/rsEGC38rhII?t=5063
       | 
       | (starts around 1:25h)
       | 
       | I can't grasp that we don't heed their warning that waning
       | immunity needs to be countered to prevent a 4th wave. Fall and
       | winter will be tough in Europe and the US.
        
       | cm2012 wrote:
       | They then approved it for people with 25+bmi, which is 73% of the
       | adult pop
        
         | nradov wrote:
         | As with most other studied diseases, the real risk factor comes
         | not from high BMI per se but rather from excess visceral fat.
         | This is linked to metabolic diseases like diabetes.
         | Subcutaneous fat is much less dangerous.
         | 
         | https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-880193/v1
         | 
         | But it's expensive to measure visceral fat accurately. So from
         | a public health standpoint BMI is a good enough proxy.
        
         | beebmam wrote:
         | This is a really important point which is being missed by
         | virtually all commentators on this topic.
        
           | void_mint wrote:
           | Even HN users don't actually RTFA
        
             | MatteoFrigo wrote:
             | Wonderful triply-nested trolling, thanks for the laugh!
        
         | sigmar wrote:
         | I watched from the first vote, discussion of how to change the
         | question, second vote, and post vote discussion. They didn't
         | seem to want to wade into details of what "higher risk of
         | severe covid-19" means (though bmi 35+ was mentioned) and
         | figured the FDA and CDC would be more specific (panel vote, as
         | I understand it, is non-binding and FDA can do whatever they
         | want to it).
        
           | beebmam wrote:
           | According to this article: "A CDC advisory panel meeting,
           | slated for next week, will delve further into who will
           | qualify for the additional dose."
           | 
           | https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fda-panel-votes-against-
           | pfize...
        
         | throw_nbvc1234 wrote:
         | Using BMI to measure obesity is like relying purely on line
         | coverage to measure the quality of software testing. Why is
         | this still the go to measure? Is it just the cost of other
         | measurements?
        
           | chownie wrote:
           | In the vast majority of cases high BMI maps pretty directly
           | to obesity, the number of bodybuilders hanging out in the
           | obese and morbidly obese ranges is a vanishingly small number
           | in comparison to those overweight.
           | 
           | It's easier to just let the bodybuilders not take the shot -
           | given that's their right anyway - than to use bodyfat % or
           | some other measure as the prerequisite for boosters, even if
           | those measures more specific they end up less accurate (hope
           | I'm getting those terms right)
        
       | lame-robot-hoax wrote:
       | Headline needs to be updated to "FDA panel recommends Pfizer's
       | Covid booster doses for people 65 and older after rejecting third
       | shots for general population"
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Changed now. Submitted title was "FDA panel rejects plan to
         | administer Pfizer's booster doses to general public". I'm not
         | sure if that was the article's previous headline (legit) or an
         | editorialized submission (not legit per
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html).
         | 
         | edit: according to other commenters, the article's own headline
         | was changed (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28570880)
        
       | trident5000 wrote:
       | have people constantly exposed after being vaccinated by ditching
       | masks and distancing measures to build heard immunity and you
       | wont need continual boosters. whats that called again...your
       | immune system or something. doesnt go to big pharma bottom line
       | though.
        
       | mactitan wrote:
       | technically the vaccine is still under emergency use
       | authorization & not approved (last paragraph)
       | https://www.fda.gov/media/150386/download
        
         | boc wrote:
         | https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-appr...
        
         | lame-robot-hoax wrote:
         | Not entirely correct and potentially misleading.
         | 
         | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/08/26/fac...
         | 
         | https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/sep/17/tiktok-pos...
         | 
         | https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/scicheck-researcher-distor...
         | 
         | It's only under EUA in certain populations, such as those 12-15
         | or as a booster in those immunocompromised.
        
         | ceejayoz wrote:
         | This talking point is about a month out of date.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | MatteoFrigo wrote:
       | Aside from the specifics of the case, the contrast of headlines
       | is interesting. CNBC says "FDA panel rejects ...". Bloomberg
       | says: "FDA Advisers Back a Narrower Authorization for Pfizer
       | Booster"
       | 
       | Reminds me of an old Soviet-era joke. Ronald Reagan and Leonid
       | Brezhnev race the 100 meters, and Reagan, being much younger,
       | wins the race. Headline in the Pravda: "Brezhnev places second,
       | Reagan second-to-last".
        
         | kaczordon wrote:
         | Felt like political pressure meant Marks could not leave that
         | room without some positive vote, and they would make up
         | questions until it happened.
         | 
         | Sad day for science. No one on earth can tell a 65 yo or HCW
         | with confidence that they will be better off after the booster
         | than before. No good efficacy data, no good safety data on
         | boosters.
        
           | mrtesthah wrote:
           | You just wrote FDA fan fiction.
           | 
           | This comment shows how peoples' unwitting exposure to
           | political propaganda shapes their view of reality via an
           | implicit bias which they interpret as "gut feelings".
        
         | pc86 wrote:
         | Meanwhile CBS' headline is "FDA advisers unanimously endorse
         | Pfizer booster shots for some Americans."
        
           | lame-robot-hoax wrote:
           | I mean the CBS headline is technically 100% correct.
           | 
           | AP's
           | 
           | US panel backs COVID-19 boosters only for elderly, high-risk
           | 
           | https://apnews.com/article/fda-panel-rejects-widespread-
           | pfiz...
        
             | pc86 wrote:
             | The most news-worthy takeaway is obviously that the panel
             | vote overwhelmingly _against_ recommending the booster,
             | something I think most people would have expected.
             | Approving it for a small, high-risk subsegment of the
             | population isn 't particularly newsworthy.
        
         | yawnxyz wrote:
         | Maybe it's A/B tested? I'm getting a headline which seems more
         | fair and less clickbaity: "FDA panel recommends Pfizer's Covid
         | booster doses for people 65 and older after rejecting third
         | shots for general population"
        
           | MatteoFrigo wrote:
           | CNBC updated the headline after the fact.
           | 
           | The panel initially voted to reject the booster. Afterwards,
           | they held a second vote in which the panel approved the
           | booster for 65+.
        
       | newbamboo wrote:
       | People can easily get a booster by just telling cvs or Walgreens
       | that they haven't been vaccinated yet. When I talk to the pro-
       | booster folks and tell them this they shudder and say, "well I'd
       | never!"
       | 
       | But they want the decision forced on the general public by the
       | current political administration. Am I the only one to sense a
       | sort of cognitive disconnect on this?
        
         | maushu wrote:
         | That feels like lying and possible stealing that dose from
         | someone that has not been vaccinated yet.
        
           | AdrianB1 wrote:
           | US and many Europe countries reached a point where the number
           | of vaccines ordered and delivered is higher than the number
           | of people that wants to take the vaccine. My country donated
           | a few million doses that were in danger to expire.
        
           | thatswrong0 wrote:
           | We don't have an issue in the US with a lack of supply of
           | vaccines
        
           | newbamboo wrote:
           | We bought so many doses that we are literally throwing them
           | away! Meanwhile poor people on other continents go without.
           | The admin wants people to have boosters. Are they, the
           | current admin, wrong to push for boosters? The FDA members
           | that have resigned might say so, but what about the old and
           | infirm, and health care workers, who have rapidly waning
           | protection?
        
             | jaywalk wrote:
             | The "old and infirm" (65+ or immunocompromised) are already
             | authorized and eligible to receive a third dose booster
             | shot.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | And effectively anyone can. AFAIK no one is requiring
               | proof of why you're claiming to be immunocompromised.
        
         | AdrianB1 wrote:
         | I know some guy that took the booster in a similar way in
         | Europe; he took the first shot in his native country, the
         | second in the country where he lives and works and the third
         | back in his native country 5-6 months later.
        
         | pasquinelli wrote:
         | because everything just gets folded into the culture war. but
         | why?
        
           | newbamboo wrote:
           | The human mind likes to find patterns and binaries are the
           | simplest pattern. As social creatures we apply this to our
           | interactions because it makes it easier to filter
           | information.
        
       | grillvogel wrote:
       | it's really interesting seeing the "follow the science" crowd's
       | reaction to this
       | 
       | somehow they know better than the scientists that they really
       | need these boosters
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | robbedpeter wrote:
         | Sciencism? Scientism? Something like that.
        
       | h2odragon wrote:
       | For contrast: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/covid-boosters-
       | pfizer-says-i...
       | 
       | So if the WHO and the FDA disagree on this, do the censors start
       | putting misinformation warnings on the FDA?
       | 
       | Are the FDA "anti-vaxxers" now?
        
         | lame-robot-hoax wrote:
         | This is an outside panel of experts advising the FDA.
         | Technically, the FDA can go okay thanks, we're approving it for
         | everyone anyways, or for a subset of people, etc.
         | 
         | And no, they'd just be "anti universal boosters for everyone"
         | considering they advised for the authorization of all the
         | vaccines in the first place.
        
       | throwawaysea wrote:
       | Why isn't the public allowed to make its own determination about
       | what medical care they want to receive or reject? I would like
       | the freedom to be able to purchase a booster shot at the market
       | price if I so choose. That's a voluntary transaction between me
       | and the manufacturer and I do not agree with the FDA standing in
       | the way. Is safety really a concern? Or is this more of a
       | political decision to reserve vaccine doses for other countries
       | per the WHO's request?
        
         | outside1234 wrote:
         | I think that's still possible - there just wasn't data that it
         | is necessary for the under 65 yet.
        
         | prox wrote:
         | As long as there isn't a surplus, I doubt that will happen.
        
         | EamonnMR wrote:
         | Same argument against letting the general public administer
         | care of their choice-Health Insurance does not want to pay for
         | mistakes. Doctors are entrusted with making these decisions.
        
         | loeg wrote:
         | For now, the market price for individuals is infinity. All the
         | doses are being sold to governments.
        
         | AdrianB1 wrote:
         | There are 2 reasons:
         | 
         | 1. Most don't have the knowledge to make an informed choice
         | (how many people have enough medical knowledge?)
         | 
         | 2. It is generally accepted that seat belts are mandatory,
         | helmets on motorcycles are mandatory in most of the world
         | (except a few states in US), but that is not seen as lack of
         | own determination. What is the difference? All these are
         | preventive actions.
        
           | kaczordon wrote:
           | _Most don 't have the knowledge to make an informed choice
           | (how many people have enough medical knowledge?)_
           | 
           | You could say this about anything: camera lenses, frozen
           | food, airline flights. How much do you really know about how
           | these things operate/are made? Prices externalize that
           | information that allows people to decide whether it's worth
           | it. Also most people are far smarter (especially when it
           | regards their own bodies) than the assumption you're making
           | here...
        
         | DoreenMichele wrote:
         | Personal choices that have the ability to significantly
         | negatively impact many other people have something of a
         | tendency to get regulated and controlled in some manner.
         | 
         | That's reality and it's not unreasonable. The thing we need to
         | sort out is where to draw those lines to optimize for best
         | outcomes for both individuals and society.
        
           | psychlops wrote:
           | Nicely worded and I completely agree. For better or worse,
           | individual choice is being bludgeoned to death by today's
           | irrational zero risk mentality.
        
             | DoreenMichele wrote:
             | It's an especially thorny issue for medical stuff because
             | if you insist that all people do X and for some people that
             | makes them sicker, you haven't actually achieved zero risk.
             | You've just traded one sickness for another and maybe
             | that's even worse.
        
         | grillvogel wrote:
         | by that logic i should be able to go buy myself a big box of
         | fentanyl for the medical care i've decided that i need
        
           | akomtu wrote:
           | What's wrong with it? It's your body after all.
        
             | grillvogel wrote:
             | so you are against doctors and prescriptions?
        
               | akomtu wrote:
               | You can consult with a doctor, just like you can consult
               | with a lawyer or a HVAC specialist, but the ultimate
               | decision is yours because you bear all the risk.
        
         | throaway46546 wrote:
         | Is anyone stopping you? Can't you just make an appointment at a
         | vaccine site? They aren't even checking ID. I know people who
         | have already gotten boosters.
        
       | LurkingPenguin wrote:
       | Listening to the panel, I was struck by how big the gaps are in
       | our knowledge of the vaccine. For instance, members of the panel
       | raised the following issues:
       | 
       | 1. We still haven't been able to correlate antibody titers to
       | protection.
       | 
       | 2. The vaccine's effects on transmission are not clear.
       | 
       | 3. It seems there is virtually no meaningful data on memory B and
       | T cell responses even though we know this is a critical part of
       | immunity.
       | 
       | Even more striking to me was how weak Pfizer's
       | presentation/argument for a 3rd booster was.
        
         | mschuster91 wrote:
         | > I was struck by how big the gaps are in our knowledge of the
         | vaccine.
         | 
         | Most of what you describe is not just "knowledge of the
         | vaccine", it's "knowledge about how immune systems actually
         | work". For example, we still have no certain knowledge about
         | how measles manages to wipe out your immune system.
         | 
         | Most of medicine is (although often very good!) guesswork.
         | 
         | > 2. The vaccine's effects on transmission are not clear.
         | 
         | Indeed, but the vaccine's effects on infection are clear. Less
         | infected people automatically means _less people transmitting
         | the virus_.
        
           | LurkingPenguin wrote:
           | Did you even listen to the panel? You seem to be casually
           | dismissing issues that the members themselves raised.
        
             | mschuster91 wrote:
             | The issues described (or rather, the lack of knowledge that
             | is at the bottom of these issues) are not new, they are
             | true for many, _many_ forms of medicine we use today. ffs
             | we don 't even know how exactly virtually _all_ medicine
             | used in treatment of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia
             | and depression work - most medical treatments consist of
             | trying all available candidates and varying the dosage
             | until you find a somewhat effective one - and yet we accept
             | this lack of knowledge.
             | 
             | As for what this means for vaccines: It is by now widely
             | accepted that a vaccination drastically reduces the effects
             | of a COVID19 infection and all but eliminates the risk of
             | fatal outcomes and that in billions of people vaccinated by
             | billions of doses of various vaccines the side effects were
             | negligibly small, and it is widely accepted that even in
             | young healthy people, COVID19 can cause severe, even long-
             | term cases. Therefore, the potential risks of vaccination
             | are nowhere near as risky as risking the infection with the
             | actual pathogen.
        
               | LurkingPenguin wrote:
               | > As for what this means for vaccines: It is by now
               | widely accepted that a vaccination drastically reduces
               | the effects of a COVID19 infection and all but eliminates
               | the risk of fatal outcomes and that in billions of people
               | vaccinated by billions of doses of various vaccines the
               | side effects were negligibly small, and it is widely
               | accepted that even in young healthy people, COVID19 can
               | cause severe, even long-term cases. Therefore, the
               | potential risks of vaccination are nowhere near as risky
               | as risking the infection with the actual pathogen.
               | 
               | The vaccination discussion you're trying to have has
               | already been settled. The panel was not revisiting the
               | approved 2-dose course. It was considering the benefits
               | and risks of a third (booster) jab for individuals aged
               | 16 and above.
               | 
               | If you had listened to the panel, you'd understand the
               | vote: there is not enough data at this time to conclude
               | that the benefits outweigh the risks for a booster in
               | such a broad group.
        
           | WalterBright wrote:
           | It also seems patently obvious that in order for the
           | vaccinated immune system to destroy the virus, one must first
           | have the virus in the body, i.e. be infected with the virus.
           | 
           | This will take a non-zero amount of time. Hence, a vaccinated
           | person can in the interim test positive for the virus, even
           | if the vaccine protection is working perfectly fine.
        
             | Throwawayaerlei wrote:
             | Not necessarily so from what I've read about neutralizing
             | antibodies. You'll only have a lot of them for a while
             | after an exposure, but if they latch onto, in this case,
             | every spike protein on the surface of a SARS-CoV-2 virus,
             | the virus will never get a chance to infect a cell.
             | Antibodies latched onto surface proteins can also stick to
             | each other and form clumps that limit or eliminate the
             | ability to infect.
             | 
             | Otherwise you're correct as far as I know, the other
             | mechanisms of the adaptive immune system only come into
             | play once cells get infected. But there might not be very
             | many of them, perhaps not enough for a RT-PCR test to find.
        
         | heisenbit wrote:
         | The immune system is a curious thing. There is e.g. a vaccine
         | against pneumonia but you my doctor explained to me that you
         | can only get it once in your life. There is another one which
         | is not as good so you may get that some years later. The
         | recommendation is - at least here in Germany - to take the
         | vaccine only once you are older and have a higher
         | hospitalization (and with it associated infection) risk.
         | 
         | Clearly a booster would reduce infections but that effect
         | probably is dwarfed by vaccinating the un-vaccinated. Rolling
         | out a booster across a large population takes resources (and
         | the health sector is running very, very low on resources -
         | Idaho gave up on normal standards of care now).
         | 
         | The question is also what is the impact of the booster on
         | medium term development, medium term options and vaccination
         | discipline of the general population. We also lack
         | understanding of Pfizer vs. Moderna stats. Then the is the lack
         | of understanding what repeated short term boosting does - it is
         | not typically done. And last but not least the question is what
         | is the best strategy to deal with the threat of new variants
         | emerging. Reducing infections in the US will help reduce the
         | chance for a concerning variant to emerge but possibly these
         | resources are better spent fighting the virus globally as these
         | variants tend not to stay in one place only.
         | 
         | Pushing for a quick approval and rollout for the first vaccine
         | was a relatively clear cut risk - benefit trade-off. There are
         | risks with the booster (small but there are with any medicine)
         | and the benefit is vastly smaller. The trade-off is different
         | and we should not pressure experts to come to conclusions on a
         | shortened timeline.
        
           | trident5000 wrote:
           | This is just getting ridiculous. Get everyone who wants it
           | the vaccine and then drop the distancing measures and masks
           | so heard immunity builds and repeat exposure keeps peoples
           | immune system responsive to it in perpetuity. Pharma
           | companies are going to push boosters forever as they make
           | money on it.
           | 
           | downvote this all you want and tremble in your basement with
           | the blinds closed but this is how we move past this.
        
             | p_j_w wrote:
             | >repeat exposure keeps peoples immune system responsive to
             | it in perpetuity.
             | 
             | This strategy works well for the flu! Oh that's right, it
             | doesn't, and a different vaccine is required every year.
        
               | trident5000 wrote:
               | Except it does. A vaccine is not "required" every year.
               | Its there if you want it particularly if you're in a high
               | risk category. You're constantly exposed to the flu and
               | many other things on an ongoing basis with or without a
               | booster. I lived in nyc for 11 years without a flu shot
               | on crowded subways. Never was sick even 1 time after the
               | 1st year because your immune system learns and adapts.
        
               | Forbo wrote:
               | More exposure means more viral reproduction. This means
               | more opportunities for the virus to mutate. This is
               | exactly why the flu shot changes every year, dependent on
               | what strains are predicted to be the most widespread.
               | 
               | Edit: I am so beyond sick of the narrative comparing this
               | to the flu.
        
               | trident5000 wrote:
               | The WHO disagrees with you:
               | 
               | https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-
               | world-n...
               | 
               | Its never going away, it will mutate regardless, and it
               | will become less impactful like the flu over time as we
               | get accustomed to it.
        
               | [deleted]
        
             | jasonlaramburu wrote:
             | >Get everyone who wants it the vaccine
             | 
             | Presumably this has already occurred. COVID daily death
             | rates in the US are on track to meet or exceed the previous
             | all time high. It is undeniable at this point that the
             | vaccine effectively eliminates the possibility of death
             | from COVID-19, so there are presumably still many Americans
             | without protective immunity. Government should do
             | everything to get people vaccinated and prevent needless
             | death.
             | 
             | >heard [sic] immunity builds and repeat exposure keeps
             | peoples immune system responsive to it in perpetuity
             | 
             | This does not seem to be an accurate understanding. I know
             | of many people who contracted COVID-19 during the alpha
             | wave, declined vaccination thinking they had protective
             | immunity, and then contracted Delta with severe symptoms a
             | year later.
             | 
             | >this is how we move past this.
             | 
             | How do you figure? If we don't get more people vaccinated,
             | deaths will continue to accelerate. There is also no known
             | protective immunity better than vaccine + infection.
        
               | logicalmonster wrote:
               | > Presumably this has already occurred. COVID daily death
               | rates in the US are on track to meet or exceed the
               | previous all time high. It is undeniable at this point
               | that the vaccine effectively eliminates the possibility
               | of death from COVID-19, so there are presumably still
               | many Americans without protective immunity.
               | 
               | It's a bit tough to follow the logic of this comment. If
               | we have more vaccinated than ever, but there are more
               | cases and deaths than ever, how does it therefore follow
               | that it is "undeniable" that the vaccines are doing
               | exactly what we want? Maybe and perhaps that can be
               | partially explained through mutations, but with more than
               | half the population fully vaccinated by now, you'd think
               | that infection rates would be declining, not increasing.
               | It's very easy to see how vaccine skeptics would continue
               | to think that everything doesn't fully add up here.
               | 
               | PS: What tests did your friends use to differentiate
               | between alpha and delta infection?
        
               | prox wrote:
               | It's sad that people seem to downvote lots of good
               | comments by chance of opinion, rather than the quality of
               | the conversation. It makes an interesting discussion
               | harder to follow.
        
             | slumpt_ wrote:
             | I always get my medical advice from _software engineers_.
        
               | [deleted]
        
           | oezi wrote:
           | I find it really saddening that we aren't ramping the
           | spending on these questions and issues. We should spend on
           | the order of 100-200 billion globally to research and fights
           | the pandemic. That would be a drop in the bucket compared to
           | the economic impact of the pandemic.
        
             | dragontamer wrote:
             | 9 mothers can't birth a baby in 1 month.
             | 
             | More money only allows us to conduct more parallel research
             | to answer questions in parallel. It doesn't mean that we
             | iterate any faster in the "question -> answer -> think of
             | new question" bottleneck.
             | 
             | We've got research on Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson,
             | Novavax (and other vaccines) coming in. We got research on
             | corticosteroids (dexamethasone, Prednisone,
             | Methylprednisolone ), IVM, hydroxychloroquine, etc. etc.
             | (even if we have no reason to believe that Ivermectin or
             | hydroxychloroquine will work, we'll conduct the research
             | anyway so that some loud people out there can finally shut
             | up about it). There's monoclonal antibodies (REGN10933 and
             | REGN10987), with probably more in the works. Etc. etc.
             | 
             | There is research on Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Blood type, etc.
             | etc. So much research, and many of that research is getting
             | replicated over-and-over again, to ensure accuracy.
             | 
             | And of course: there's research about _how long does the
             | vaccine last_, which is fundamental to this entire FDA
             | question. There's a myriad of measurements going on, and it
             | seems like the scientists aren't agreeing upon the research
             | yet.
             | 
             | --------
             | 
             | That's fine. CDC has one set of research. FDA has another.
             | White House will make a decision. When agencies disagree,
             | we take it up to the higher-levels of discussion to make a
             | decision through other means.
        
               | thaumasiotes wrote:
               | > 9 mothers can't birth a baby in 1 month.
               | 
               | This is one of the stupidest stock examples ever
               | invented. The idea is that one of the most parallelizable
               | processes known to mankind, characterized by its rapid
               | growth and perfect scaling, is the paradigmatic example
               | of a process that bottlenecks itself.
               | 
               | It takes one woman more than 30 months to have _two_
               | babies. Two women can do it in 9 months.
               | 
               | When someone says "9 mothers can't have a baby in one
               | month", you have to wonder whether the lesson they want
               | you to draw -- that some other process can't be
               | parallelized -- applies to that other process any better
               | than it applies to the process of population growth.
        
               | heisenbit wrote:
               | The example is excellent since while the dna research can
               | be executed in parallel the trials with humans (and
               | animal trials before) do take real calendar time. And
               | unlike test tubes where breakage is part and parcel of
               | doing stuff breaking human experimental subjects is
               | frowned upon and their involvement is scaled up slowly in
               | stages for ethical reasons.
        
         | nradov wrote:
         | In March 2021 the FDA authorized the Adaptive Biotechnologies
         | T-Detect test which assays one aspect of memory T cell
         | responses. It's disappointing that most recent studies still
         | aren't routinely using that test in combination with PCR and
         | antibody tests. It could give us a more complete picture of
         | population immunity levels and changes following infection or
         | vaccination.
         | 
         | https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavi...
        
         | oezi wrote:
         | Sometimes I wish the experts would not just talk about their
         | desire to know more, but also considering the consequences of
         | taking or not taking chances.
         | 
         | For example there wasn't enough data to support giving AZ to
         | elderly people, which made Germany not give it to elderly
         | people, which turned out doubly bad: AZ works in older people,
         | but is more dangerous in younger ones (well 1 in 100.000 dead
         | dangerous). This likely cost us something like 5.000 to 10.000
         | of our 90.000 deaths.
         | 
         | In hindsight waiting for phase 3 trials on the vaccines
         | similarly cost so many lives around the world it seems crazy
         | now. Could we have prevented some of the last fall wave?
         | 
         | Boosters seem to be in a similar position. If you have the guts
         | (like Israel) to take a chance as a society you might save
         | another 1 life per 2.000 to 10.000 this fall.
        
           | arcticbull wrote:
           | This is the psychology of prison reform. You don't want to be
           | the elected official who's responsible for one released
           | prisoner killing someone so you lock up all the prisoners
           | forever.
           | 
           | [edit] it's also the psychology of investing in
           | infrastructure for your software project. It's impossible to
           | count the set of things that didn't happen because of your
           | work. It's much easier to count the set of negative things
           | that did happen as a result of your not doing that work.
        
             | oezi wrote:
             | But we want prison reform. We should demand it rather than
             | letting politicians hide behind status quo in-action.
             | Right?
             | 
             | Investing software quality is a goos example because we all
             | know the trade-off between perfect software and launching
             | with bugs. The conversation with vaccines in the epidemic
             | has been too much looking for perfection.
        
               | arcticbull wrote:
               | Agreed, it's been a lot of demanding perfection from
               | vaccines in case there's some nebulous potential harm - a
               | feeling we can never assuage - while allowing the virus
               | with known, realized, actual harm run rampant.
               | 
               | I _still_ hear people talk about how they don 't want the
               | vaccine "because it hasn't been studied enough" when it's
               | literally been given almost six billion times.
        
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