Puzzle Financial Advice

• This is of course, why we will all need vaccine boosters from time to time (eg maybe yearly - but we will know more as we get more evidence) to keep safe and ahead of new variants as they arise [And Pfizer is already seeking US CDC approval for their updated vaccine that is much more effective against Beta & Delta variants - see above]  ..... but this is also why they need to develop the broader spectrum vaccines that can cover all variants.

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/03/11/new-hope-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-that-protects-against-all-variants/?sh=6837ffb9259d  "New Hope For A Covid-19 Vaccine That Protects Against All Variants"  11/Mar/21

  • The first generation of Covid-19 vaccines has proven to be remarkably effective. But now that new variants of SARS-CoV-2 are on the rise, the durability and true extent of the protection they offer is being called into question. While we certainly hope that their makers will be able to adapt, there is now evidence that a vaccine capable of immunizing against coronaviruses more broadly—not just SARS-CoV-2 and its new variants—could be on the horizon. Were this pancoronavirus vaccine to come to fruition, revising existing Covid-19 vaccines year in and year out wouldn’t be necessary.

• https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/vaccines-can-protect-against-many-coronaviruses-could-prevent-another-pandemic "Vaccines that can protect against many coronaviruses could prevent another pandemic"  15/Apr/21

  • In 2017, three leading vaccine researchers submitted a grant application with an ambitious goal. At the time, no one had proved a vaccine could stop even a single beta coronavirus—the notorious viral group then known to include the lethal agents of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), as well as several causes of the common cold and many bat viruses. But these researchers wanted to develop a vaccine against them all.

  • Grant reviewers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) deemed the plan “outstanding.” But they gave the proposal a low priority score, dooming its bid for funding. “The significance for developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine may not be high,” they wrote, apparently unconvinced that the viruses pose a global threat.  How things have changed.

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• AFR 29/July/21  Pfizer: vaccine protective for at least 6 months  - from Reuters

  • The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine wanes slightly over time but it remains strongly protective for at least six months after the second dose, according to company data released. The findings are one piece of evidence that US health authorities will consider in deciding if and when booster doses might be needed. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have said they plan to seek authorisation for boosters. Most important, protection against severe COVID-19 remains very high, at nearly 97 per cent, researchers found. Overall, protection against symptomatic COVID-19 was 91 per cent over the six-month period, the study found. But a closer look shows that efficacy against any symptomatic infection dropped gradually every two months, from a peak of 96 per cent two months after study participants got their second dose. By month four, efficacy was 90 per cent and by six months, it was about 84 per cent.

  • Eric Topol also shares the related research on this here

    • https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/142041119400379187  29/July/21

    • https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1420779380654022659  30/July/21

      • The data from Israel, for fully mRNA vaccinated reduced protection vs severe illness from Delta, in age > 60, down from 97% to 81%, is yet unpublished, but has led to a change in policy to offer booster shots for this age group

      • Eric also shares the following article clip from the Financial Times