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C7 always happy to support BJ and our gov
However, The way the UK airports are not geared to test passengers on flights from SA is unacceptable
It’s OK to draw attention to matters reported in the papers thanks to TF
Come on Scancell time is of the essence. Sooon is good “prove it or loose it”
Rats, curious about your statement “ Also worth remembering the general angle and apparent motivation of Kashdog's posts”…I posted a link to UCT website and essentially, asked the question as to why they were advertising for candidates many weeks after the trial had started.
I didn’t think that was unreasonable.
Let me restate, I am a massive supporter of SCLP with a very healthy investment in them.
I can only imagine that you are some sort of conspiracy theorist, probably refused vaccination because you believe there is a chip in the vaccine and that their are “Reds under the bed”!! :-D
I guess we could ask the Head of the Temporary Investments Department.
Not sure if he’s open on a Sunday though.
I'd expect patients are 'encouraged' to partake as far as I know no other trials there have had recruiting problems though might be worth a look as you say violin 40 does not seem too much of a hurdle... but till we know we don't I suppose going off the twitter feed there is a sense of all going well
I do wonder what " pool " of patients/ recruits the Western Cape Lung Institute draws from. If it is mainly from poor areas then there may be an issue with HIV , TB (trial exclusion ?? )and poor education leading to vaccine resistance. There are quite alot of trials in SA, I wonder if some companies ..or agencies recruiting for them...actively or passively recruit?
Either way 40 doesn't seam like a large number to achieve.
The news agencies say only about 40% of the population of SA is vaccinated so there should be a large pool to draw 40 patients ...and ..."expenses" paid.
Thanks for responses. I guess the reality is, we don’t know. Maybe they only have 5, maybe they have 35. Would also expect the clinical trials.gov status to change from Recruiting, to Recruited but of course someone has to provide that update (last updated 14/10).
My needle is in the middle of the ramp v damp barometer on this. Just chewing over the info available to us on the trial right now.
Given how many weeks the trial has been running and the urgent nature of the while thing I think it incredibly unlikely there will have been any shortage of patients. Also worth remembering the general angle and apparent motivation of Kashdog's posts.
Even if that were the case (which I doubt) with the last few days news there will be lots of renewed interest in it now and no doubt filled very quickly.
Still a tad concerned about how quickly the COV trial is progressing given Kashdog suggested the page at the link below, was only put up by Lung Institute on 25/11.
https://lunginstitute.co.za/2021/11/25/better-quicker-cheaper-new-tb-drug-steals-the-headlines-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=better-quicker-cheaper-new-tb-drug-steals-the-headlines-2
That must surely indicate they don’t have the 40 candidates?
Sure and I think they are far more media savvy and understand the power that has in getting your products attention and backing... interesting time considering data may well be not too far away
Crumbs
I agree data will be king here. It wouldn’t surprise me though if the team will be rapidly making and testing the Omicrom spike protein in new lab test. One would assume that they have still banked samples from previous Covidity tested mouse models. It wouldn’t be too difficult to run some of those on new variant material to see whether they’re reactive. I have every faith that LD and team are astute enough to stay one step ahead of the game on this front.
We just do not know yet ... And this won't be the last variant so better prepare for the worst possible variant... meaning better-pushing variant resistant vaccines through trials, something our Gov has obviously quickly decided on first gen success was no longer a priority.... pharma will lead this though as they see that $120 plus billion prize... Covidity if it is a proven answer will end up with a pharma partner and maybe will not be UK market prioritised which is a shame for UK as it is here right under the Govs nose!.....
Crumbs, IF Omicron symptons prove to be mild, surely there won't be a need for full lockdowns ? Maybe just a few more restrictions ? Come on Scancell !
From that Guadian article ... that says it all really and let us hope Gov reacts fast now to correct its lack of foresight:
'His criticisms echoed those of Kate Bingham, the first chair of the vaccine taskforce, who warned in a speech last week: “Had we relied on the existing machinery of government, the outcome [of the vaccine programme] could have been very different.” Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s former chief adviser, has also called on the government to publish its plans for tackling vaccine-resistant Covid variants.
Under Dix’s strategy, a coordinating team would seek out new vaccines, give the company involved a “fast track” to a swift trial, access to the data and regulatory approval, in return for early access to new vaccines. He said this system worked at the start of the pandemic and should be repeated.
He warned that by simply waiting to buy vaccines once they had been developed, Britain would find itself at the back of the queue because bigger customers would be prioritised. “If we leave it to the industry to do, they’re going to go to the highest bidder, and the UK won’t be at the front of that queue any more, because it’s not a big market. Whereas if you act as a partner, you get things done. It’s not rocket science, and the infrastructure is there.”
He said that he had envisaged the French company Valneva as a key part of this process. However, he said the government’s “ridiculous” decision to scrap its existing contract with the company had damaged that approach.'
WTP thanks for the link - yes as soon as a new variant is discovered, it's a good idea to test PAX on arrival, even before 'Red List' action is taken.
DT again - have we had a Twickenham 'superspreader' ? : "The UK Health Security Agency (HSA) has launched a massive operation to track an estimated 9,000 people who have arrived in the UK from South Africa in the past 14 days, with officials using passenger locator forms to contact travellers. It is also thought HSA officials will be trawling through databases of recent PCR tests to see if any show “S gene dropouts” – a telltale sign of the new mutated form of the virus . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .The UK has reacted quickly to the news of the new variant, placing much of southern Africa on the travel red list, but there was criticism on Saturday of its border controls – a long-running national sore. Passengers arriving on a flight from Gauteng – the South African province where the new variant is rampant – were reportedly allowed to leave the airport without testing. “The captain read out a statement ‘advising’ self-isolation and further tests. But it’s at the discretion of passengers and it’s not legally enforceable,” noted a social media commentator with an acquaintance on the flight. “Passengers then got on the airport shuttle to baggage reclaim, mixing with dozens of other flights.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/fears-twickenham-rugby-match-may-have-omicron-superspreader/
Unfortunately, I think our Gov decided on the success of vaccination that that s it we can leave it to Astra and Pfizer now to sort out effective vaccines.... Was sad to hear from bobs AGM feedback that the Notts team are not expecting any more Gov funds... of course that could not all change!... Also I'm not sure about the CEPI angle it sounds from the AGM feedback that there has been interaction as we would expect but the whole they want to see data is the kind of rubbish we have heard from Scancell before on SCIB1 no CEPI do back vaccines with less data than Covidity.... so I tend to think it is Scancell themselves that want the data though of course CEPI may well have said yeah interested but not enough to back pre-clinical ... And of course with the data if it is indeed 'unrivalled' and shows new variant resistance things can happen fast it does seem to me there are Pharma on the scene and indeed they will only act on data (the best outcome for us).... An interesting time for Covidity and how Scancell play this but yup it is all going to be hanging on the coming data and what happens now with the looming variant lock downs....
The DM is a rag but they do this sort of report quite well sometimes :- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10249179/Up-FIFTY-direct-flights-South-Africa-arrived-UK-Omicron-detected.html
To close a loop, I'm not sure how many of the 60/80 positives at Schipol were actually Omicron, but it's good to find them anyway I guess.
C7. It's not 'political' because I state a fact, it's 'political' because you don't like the fact I state. And would it not have been wise to test RSA PAX on arrival once the existence of Omicron was known ?
I haven't said 'Europe' was smarter than the UK but as it happens, only Italy has a worse dpm among major European nations, that's despite the UK's head start with vaccines.
Filter back on.
Boring political rhetoric TF, AS EVER.
Explain why death rates throughout Europe are much higher than the U.K if they are are all so much smarter than us??
Apparently PAX on the last planes arriving from RSA at LHR, were not tested on arrival, some no doubt traveling on, maskless on Public Transport - in contrast to procedures at Schipol where 60/80 positives were found in the 600 arrivals.
Chris Whitby said today about 100 days, however I agree it will be longer than that.
They are just trying to appease the public.
This will hardly come as a shock to Scancell. It was a certainty that any number of mutations would occur.
I just don|"t understand the claims of certain Pharmas to have a vaccine ready in 30-90 days to beat these new mutations?