Bharat Rakshak

Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine authorised for use in infants and children aged 6 months to 4 years

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pfiz ... D%20GOV.UK

obviously any proper study wouldn't have beeen allowed in this age group so what is the basis of jabbing 6 months old with mRNA vacine!

Amber G. wrote:Also: a nice article about XBB15 ( , acquired a critical double mutation that maintains high level of immune escape while increasing infectivity etc..)
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 3.522427v1

this is the dominant strain in North UK, SCotland, US North...back to same grind! A variant with enhanced ability to attach & replicate, evades antibodies...virus will stay a step ahead of vaccine always. Mask & SD in public places must + handwash/sanitisation

^^^WHO is taking it seriously ... there is likelihood that this (XBB15) may get its own greek alphabet ... informally some are calling it ‘Kraken’ .
US Numbers continue to rise -- highest since Feb 22..

IndraD wrote:Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine authorised for use in infants and children aged 6 months to 4 years

FWIW: In USA - (CDC recommendation is quite fuzzy and not all experts agree but this is what they say and many are doing similar things)

- mRNA booster for 5+ years (and older) (if it has been at least 2 months since your last dose)
- For children aged 6 months–4 years who completed the Moderna primary series (and if it has been at least 2 months since their last dose).

There was a HHS.gov alert - recommending (for those in high-risk area) to get another bivalent booster if the last one was taken before September 2022).. (Some are even taking Novovax as
(6th) booster, if their work involves a lot of exposure)...(Point - vaccine induced immunity last in order of months for infection - for serious illness protection is longer)

I (and my family- especially those who are doctors and have to work) are focusing on masks etc (as it is not that inconvenient), will avoid unnecessary travel and indoor gathering.

Amber G. wrote:^^^WHO is taking it seriously.

Seems to me, nobody (in the US). Sorry couldn't resist the wordplay, Amberji.. Point is that I'm not seeing any advisory from authorities and everyone acts like aal eej well!

There seems to be a generalized covid fatigue. Not sure where that will lead us.

if India can serve as an example (of herd immunity + covid fatigue) it is doing well with China next door exploding with covid cases !

Cain Marko wrote:

Amber G. wrote:^^^WHO is taking it seriously.

Seems to me, nobody (in the US). Sorry couldn't resist the wordplay, Amberji.. Point is that I'm not seeing any advisory from authorities and everyone acts like aal eej well!

I think very accurate, CDC is quite ineffective and being irresponsible IMO. (I am even having trouble navigating for data and routine information on CDC site as it is not well managed - even simple guide lines are sometimes quite confusing))

3 years ago today and 19 days before this thread appeared in BRF:
A man in Wuhan, China became the first confirmed death from COVID-19.
Since then, at least 6.7 million people have died.

Ocugen-Bharat Biotech Covid vaccine Covaxin meets main goals in US Trias

Ocugen Inc said on Monday the Covid-19 vaccine developed by its Indian partner Bharat Biotech International Ltd met the main goals of a trial in the United States.
The vaccine, sold under brand name Covaxin, showed an immune response in individuals who had not received a Covid vaccine previously as well as those vaccinated with mRNA vaccines by Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc

Guyana Prez Irfaan Ali lauds Indian PM Modi for sending vaccines to his country

"

We owe you depth of gratitude, when the world locked it's border, you showed the world thr is still love when hardest of time hit us"

,

Evidence wrt to bivalent vaccines keeps getting stronger
Latest from Israel

- Compared to vaccinated folks who had NOT gotten bivalent ( Among Older people)

- 81% reduction in hospitalizations
- 86% reduction in deaths
(>622,000 sample size)..
Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm ... id=4314067



(Numbers in USA are similar..

Deleted

Meanwhile - what I was strongly recommending to my family (here in BRF) regarding new variant..:
(Masks are (again) strongly recommended by WHO for long haul flights)
WHO urges travellers to wear masks as new COVID variant spreads

For interested scientists:

Sharing a outstanding appraisal of SARSCoV2 evolution as an antigen .. and the role of immune imprinting , ..and strategies to prevail..

https://www.jci.org/articles/view/162192

(Article ought to be read in detail - if interested ,,)


Also sharing Nature article:
Coronavirus variant XBB.1.5 rises in the United States — is it a global threat?

The XBB.1.5 subvariant now makes up around 28% of US COVID-19 cases, according to projections from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, and its prevalence is on the rise globally. In the Northeastern United States, it seems to have rapidly out-competed the menagerie of other immunity-dodging variants that were expected to circulate alongside one another this winter.

“It’s almost certainly going to dominate in the world. I cannot find a single competitor now. Everything else is incomparable,” says Yunlong Cao, an immunologist at Peking University in Beijing whose team is studying the properties of XBB.1.5 in the laboratory.

Sorry, AmberG, brief interruption to scheduled programming...

Finally a BRFite, a voice of reason and data, contributing and leaving a mark. U know, who,....simply amazing

"Braving A Viral Storm: India's Covid-19 Vaccine Story"

New Book On India's Covid-19 Vaccine Journey Set For Early January Release

https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status ... 9597735937

^^^

Thanks The effort of this kept me busy and away from this site for a while.

chanakyaa wrote:Sorry, AmberG, brief interruption to scheduled programming...

/sigh/ Sorry for what??? .. I (and *many*) knew about the book (Rupa Publications anoncement ) when the news broke for public about a month ago. I was waiting for Suraj to announce it in brf for quite some time. (He would do much better job than me).
Congratulations Suraj. Waiting to read it.

Thanks ! I was in two minds about posting here because it was my personal effort and I had no intention of implying anyomes obligated to read it, given my mod status here. But I was being gheraoed by BRFites in Twitter asking why I’m quiet. Also neither Aashish nor I had any idea the publicity would be so enormous and we are now overwhelmed by it. Thanks too those who are buying the book and we hope you enjoy reading it.

Great work Suraj garu, will get the kindle version if its avl outside India

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 924850.cms

Limit vaccinations to at-risk population, declare end of the pandemic, says expert task force

India should recommend Covid vaccines only for people with comorbidities or those who have never been infected, a joint task force of medical experts from three leading health organisations has said in a report.

It also said people who have had a Covid infection may not gain any "additional benefits" from either two primary doses, a precautionary dose or any additional doses, as naturally infected individuals have a lower chance of being reinfected and, therefore, of becoming a source of further transmission.

Cyrano wrote:Great work Suraj garu, will get the kindle version if its avl outside India

It is available on Amazon.com.

Braving A Viral Storm: India’s Covid-19 Vaccine Story” by Aashish Chandorkar & Suraj Sudhir

Suraj wrote:^^^

Thanks The effort of this kept me busy and away from this site for a while.

does it have kindle edition as well? Many congratulations!

furore in UK scientific community after noted cardiologist airs his anti mRNA covid vaccine views on BBC

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... ase-deaths

BBC criticised for letting cardiologist ‘hijack’ interview with false Covid jab claim

Malhotra told the Guardian: “Medical science is ever-evolving – discussing new developments openly is hard because the complicit media wants to only frame mRNA as right or wrong, to conflate mRNA vaccine debate as an entire attack on all vaccines, and to politicise views as left or right.

“I’ve promoted vaccines my entire career, including Covid vaccines on Good Morning Britain in early 2021. Labelling individuals who flag mRNA vaccine concerns as anti-vaxxers – pursuing personal attacks rather than analysing the latest data (with now overwhelming evidence of serious and common cardiac harms) and who funds it – sows public distrust and leads to a dangerous fall in safe vaccine uptake.”

IndraD wrote:

Suraj wrote:^^^

Thanks The effort of this kept me busy and away from this site for a while.

does it have kindle edition as well? Many congratulations!

Thank you, yes it’s on Kindle too.

Suraj wrote:^^^

Thanks The effort of this kept me busy and away from this site for a while.

Congratulations.

Congratulations Suraj!

Suraj wrote:

IndraD wrote: does it have kindle edition as well? Many congratulations!

Thank you, yes it’s on Kindle too.

purchased the kindle edition this morning, will try to push it around in desi circle, all the best Suraj & team!

What happened? China got injected with truth serum? It is admitting to 60 k Covid deaths in ONE month.
NYT

^^^ I (scientists in general - outside China) now have (more trustable)numbers to refine SUTRA for China - (It would be nice if we can get hold of reliable data about sero-survey - even in any past time in some part in China)..
(If you look at my previous posts - epsilon was estimated 1/(500+) - IOW the actual numbers were estimated *at least* 500 times then "reported" numbers)
***
Looked at the original sources - Officially the figures is about 6000, (still higher that "6" or so) from "covid-19 onlee" ..60,000 figure is if they count "all" hospital deaths .. actual number estimated (IMO- closer to real value) is ~ 500,000 in these 5 weeks. From data bout 9000/day at peak but IMO this is more likely to be as high as 20K per day.
I don't believe their "official" broadcasting as those most dying are aged 80+.

hearty Congrats Suraj Saar for doing yeoman service crunching numbers and data, I will try to get my hands on the book at the earliest available opportunity.

Well done India...

India demanded a local trial which pfizer refused.

pfizer demanded legal immunity which India refused.

pfizer never entered India & the people of India benefited.

This is how government protects its citizen, by not cowering to big pharma.

This is just one example of a small but aggressive lobby that ran down Indian vaccines in the process of shilling for #pfizer .

This behaviour was the worst kind a betrayal of our people, at one of our most vulnerable moments.

kejriwal & congress was batting for pfizer & videshi vaccines & the ecosystem was berating Swadeshi vaccines

Why was this being done?

What was the DEAL ??

Why?

he who pays the piper calls the tune, no......

Two years ago:

From: President of Brazil: Jair M. Bolsonaro:
Namaskar, Prime Minister @narendramodi

Brazil feels honored to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil.
Dhanyavaad! धनयवाद

With hundreds of millions of doses to hundred of countries, India provided vaccines to the world.

New in JAMA Pediatrics
: A summary of 17 studies with nearly 11 million vaccinated kids ages 5-11 shows COVID-19 vaccines are effective at reducing infection and severe consequences with rare adverse events. A major work showing safety and efficacy.

Link:Assessment of Efficacy and Safety of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Children Aged 5 to 11 Years
A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Given the amount of information currently available to parents, the decision to vaccinate their children should be an easy one.

From Nature:
Should COVID vaccines be given yearly? Proposal divides US scientists

vaccines once a year, similar to the agency’s approach to updating influenza vaccines. At a meeting of the FDA’s vaccine advisory panel on 26 January, some researchers argued that the plan would help to simplify the country’s complex COVID-19 immunization schedule and might boost uptake as a result.
<snip>

The XBB.1.5 variant now accounts for ~75% of new cases in the United States, with no other variant showing gains (including CH.1.1 -- which is of concern in UK etc).

For doctors and other interested parties -
Nearly all Paxlovid drug-drug interactions can be circumvented by holding the drug or reducing its dose.
A quick and practical summary ..
Safely Prescribing Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir—Avoiding Drug-Drug Interactions

Some time ago, there was a NY Times article..

Two months after China ended “zero Covid,” rough estimates suggest that between 1 and 1.5 million people died — far more than the official count.




Not surprised at the estimate - consistent with SUTRA's - posted here -- When wave is sudden and has high peak, deaths tend to be a lot more than otherwise... China paid for serious mishandling of the pandemic ought to be learning from India's learnings (and my posts here in BRF )

Article link: NYT: How Deadly Was China’s Covid Wave?

Very serious - Cambodia reports 2nd human case of H5N1 bird flu.
https://bnonews.com/index.php/2023/02/c ... -bird-flu/