[hrothgar]

thepossum, on 2022-July-11, 20:57, said:

Very few industries (other than maybe software technology) keep using the failure of previous versions to sell upgrades

Very few industries are running the Red Queen's race in quite this same manner

The previous versions of the vaccines continue to work just fine against the strains of the virus that they were intended to protect against.
The virus itself is changing

Each year we get a new set of flu shots to protect against new strains of the flu

Why would you expect COVID to be any different

[pilowsky]

thepossum, on 2022-July-11, 20:57, said:

I am sure there will be increasing drug-cocktail options available as time goes on

In other news billions of people worldwide face serious food insecurity - maybe not as profitable

Very few industries (other than maybe software technology) keep using the failure of previous versions to sell upgrades

Food insecurity is an important problem and it is likely that the COVID19 pandemic, food insecurity, population growth and climate change are mechanistically related.
What is not clear is what you mean by 'failure'.
The failure of communities to seize the opportunity to become fully vaccinated despite the availability to them of effective vaccines is an obvious failure.
The failure of wealthy communities to make the fruits of their research and development of vaccines is another failure.

SARS is like influenza - it mutates and requires new vaccines to the new protein.
In that way it is similar to food insecurity - one meal doesn't fix the problem - hunger always comes back.

[thepossum]

I simply have concerns about conflicts between profit and making the best decisions for the world in any industry

Example issue that concerns me as a none expert with a fair bit of understanding

1. We all know SARS 1 and 2 mutate like all viruses. Was every single decision of the (seemingly excessive number) all vaccine research and development projects made using best science to prevent spread of the virus without consideration of revenue streams. To me it seems not

2. Can also those vaccine (and other) projects be justified

3. Is leaving such decisions up to a very greedy market which can easily pull the wool over questioning eyes appropriate

Etc

[thepossum]

Hi sorry. I didn't think you were awake. I was editing 🙂

[barmar]

Are you seriously suggesting a conspiracy between vaccine manufacturers and the governments so that we would buy more vaccines than are really needed? Like we don't really need multiple boosters.

It's true that the Covid vaccine and drug manufacturers are reaping huge financial benefits. But if we actually need these drugs, what's wrong with the manufacturers doing well -- that's how capitalism wiorks. We don't expect them to give things away (although I think the WHO required them to free up patents) -- it's the government's job to pony up the cash for disasters.

Are the drug companies driving up the prices that they charge the government, like the company a few years ago that raised the price of epi-pens by orders of magnitude? They do have us over a barrel, so there might not be anything to stop them (what politician wants to be caught saying "Sorry, Pfizer, that's too much -- we're going to let people die"?). I don't know anything about how the prices were negotiated, do you have any evidence that there's something wrong, or are you just stirring up FUD?

Or maybe just that we don't need vaccines from 3 different companies, 1 or 2 would have been adequate? Generally, competition is good for consumers.

[cherdano]

thepossum, on 2022-July-21, 06:56, said:

2. Can also those vaccine (and other) projects be justified

Yes.

Quote

3. Is leaving such decisions up to a very greedy market which can easily pull the wool over questioning eyes appropriate

No it's not. And that's why we don't.

What kind of s* are you smoking?

[barmar]

My father's first occupation (before he joined the family business of houseware distribution) was as a chiropractor. He went into that field of medicine because he severely distrusted the medical establishment, espectially drug companies. He was also especially skeptical of mass vaccination programs, he thought they were a conspiracy with the government. Even though he grew up in the 30's and 40's, and must have seen the devastation of diseases like polio that have since been essentially eradicated by vaccination. I'm not sure if schools required children to be vaccinated when I was growing up in the 60's, and I think I didn't receive the usual vaccines; I came down with measles when I was in college.

[y66]

Quote

https://www.ft.com/c...dit_cb_20220808

BioNTech and Pfizer will start a clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine adapted to the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of Omicron this month, as the German biotech forecasts an increase in demand at the end of the year.

...

BioNTech has been manufacturing doses of its first Omicron vaccine — targeted at the BA.1 variant — since spring and is ready to deliver whenever it is approved by a regulator. The company expects to be able to start delivering shots targeted at BA.4 and BA.5 as early as October if it receives regulatory sign-off.

Özlem Türeci, chief medical officer, said data from studies in mice — which has previously been predictive — showed the shot targeted at BA.4 and BA.5 elicited a stronger immune response against those variants and all the other sub-variants of Omicron. She said this data, combined with their extensive experience and data from prior Covid vaccines, may be sufficient for emergency approval, and enable a “timely response”.