COVID-19 >> New Drug Activity & VACCINE TRACKING!!

[Anonymous]

Further - I looked it up - This is for BC, but likely similar anywhere in Canada



http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/testing/antibody-testing">http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/disease ... dy-testing">http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/testing/antibody-testing



Can I request an antibody test from my health care provider?



Not yet. Antibody testing is being used for limited clinical and research uses and select outbreak investigations. Health providers may use antibody testing in limited settings such as for patients in hospital with less common symptoms of COVID-19 but need to have their COVID-19 infection confirmed to help direct their medical care. Health care providers and public health will work together to determine when antibody tests should be used.



How Accurate is the test?



From our experience with the tests so far, positive results are correct approximately 95% of the time (95 out of 100 results are correct). Negative results are correct approximately 99% of the time (99 out of 100 results are correct). No laboratory test is perfect, but the BCCDC Public Health

Laboratory is testing samples using a combination of different tests to try to improve accuracy.





If I have antibodies can I get COVID-19 again?



‎We don't know yet. For some infections, having antibodies protects people from getting the infection again. For other infections, it doesn't.

Alberta was supposed to have a lot of antibody testing, but so far it hasn't happened.

[cc]

Yes, same here



Dunno what is going on and it's not mentioned in news - which is why I did some searching



I find no date on what I posted above - I'll keep looking

[cc]

August 6 - HuffPo https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/antibody-test-herd-immunity-canada_ca_5f2c32aec5b6b9cff7eeadcc?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHy98zKFN5fMSVbzNiYQQOmeu4TAtpnhj9h4v8pzY4avgXeuNV5PRD2dC90Nb789NQRsEPEHdZWrWHYsu8LBlo4UcMAa-7j4l0-lmEBbnbvxrYe7F80clIiEcudh4bH27CUpQp2kltwwPHqyPzRDKTzwn-Hp0SWC7THGsfuqulsm">https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ant ... HGsfuqulsm">https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/antibody-test-herd-immunity-canada_ca_5f2c32aec5b6b9cff7eeadcc?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHy98zKFN5fMSVbzNiYQQOmeu4TAtpnhj9h4v8pzY4avgXeuNV5PRD2dC90Nb789NQRsEPEHdZWrWHYsu8LBlo4UcMAa-7j4l0-lmEBbnbvxrYe7F80clIiEcudh4bH27CUpQp2kltwwPHqyPzRDKTzwn-Hp0SWC7THGsfuqulsm



Antibody Testing Results Are Rolling In Across Canada. Here's What We've Learned.



Several provinces have released results of serology testing for COVID-19 antibodies.



Health officials across Canada are rolling out results from the first wave of serology (also known as antibody) testing to try and figure out how many people actually were infected with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.



After someone is infected with a virus such as COVID-19, their body develops antibodies that could potentially help fight it the next time they are infected. Therefore, serology testing can give health officials a better idea of the number of people who've developed antibodies, which indicates they had contracted the virus at some point, rather than just those who tested positive.



Antibody testing has its flaws. Someone might test negative for the antibodies when their body just hasn't developed them yet, while people currently infected with COVID-19 may also test negative. Current serology testing also relies on blood donor banks and doesn't necessarily reflect the entire population.



More in article

[Anonymous]

August 6 - HuffPo https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/antibody-test-herd-immunity-canada_ca_5f2c32aec5b6b9cff7eeadcc?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHy98zKFN5fMSVbzNiYQQOmeu4TAtpnhj9h4v8pzY4avgXeuNV5PRD2dC90Nb789NQRsEPEHdZWrWHYsu8LBlo4UcMAa-7j4l0-lmEBbnbvxrYe7F80clIiEcudh4bH27CUpQp2kltwwPHqyPzRDKTzwn-Hp0SWC7THGsfuqulsm">https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ant ... HGsfuqulsm">https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/antibody-test-herd-immunity-canada_ca_5f2c32aec5b6b9cff7eeadcc?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHy98zKFN5fMSVbzNiYQQOmeu4TAtpnhj9h4v8pzY4avgXeuNV5PRD2dC90Nb789NQRsEPEHdZWrWHYsu8LBlo4UcMAa-7j4l0-lmEBbnbvxrYe7F80clIiEcudh4bH27CUpQp2kltwwPHqyPzRDKTzwn-Hp0SWC7THGsfuqulsm



Antibody Testing Results Are Rolling In Across Canada. Here's What We've Learned.



Several provinces have released results of serology testing for COVID-19 antibodies.



Health officials across Canada are rolling out results from the first wave of serology (also known as antibody) testing to try and figure out how many people actually were infected with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.



After someone is infected with a virus such as COVID-19, their body develops antibodies that could potentially help fight it the next time they are infected. Therefore, serology testing can give health officials a better idea of the number of people who've developed antibodies, which indicates they had contracted the virus at some point, rather than just those who tested positive.



Antibody testing has its flaws. Someone might test negative for the antibodies when their body just hasn't developed them yet, while people currently infected with COVID-19 may also test negative. Current serology testing also relies on blood donor banks and doesn't necessarily reflect the entire population.



More in article

It seems we can't rely on antibody test results.

[cc]

I did read



How Accurate is the test?



From our experience with the tests so far, positive results are correct approximately 95% of the time (95 out of 100 results are correct). Negative results are correct approximately 99% of the time (99 out of 100 results are correct). No laboratory test is perfect, but the BCCDC Public Health

Laboratory is testing samples using a combination of different tests to try to improve accuracy."



So not bad - 2 tests would be pretty definitive



From that I'd say pretty reliable - what is not reliable is making it widely available



I don't know why it's not being utilized lot more - the story has fallen off the radar

[Anonymous]

I did read



How Accurate is the test?



From our experience with the tests so far, positive results are correct approximately 95% of the time (95 out of 100 results are correct). Negative results are correct approximately 99% of the time (99 out of 100 results are correct). No laboratory test is perfect, but the BCCDC Public Health

Laboratory is testing samples using a combination of different tests to try to improve accuracy."



So not bad - 2 tests would be pretty definitive



From that I'd say pretty reliable - what is not reliable is making it widely available



I don't know why it's not being utilized lot more - the story has fallen off the radar

That's encouraging.

[cc]

https://www.euronews.com/2020/09/02/iceland-study-on-coronavirus-immunity-suggests-covid-19-antibodies-last-at-least-four-mont">Iceland study on coronavirus immunity suggests COVID-19 antibodies last at least four months



COVID-19 antibodies, proteins that help humans fight off the virus, last for at least four months and do not fade quickly, scientists in Iceland said after in an exhaustive study of coronavirus immunity.



The results of the study are encouraging for vaccine efforts aiming to trigger an immune response that produces antibodies to protect against the virus.



The new study "provides hope that host immunity to this unpredictable and highly contagious virus may not be fleeting and may be similar to that elicited by most other viral infections," wrote two doctors from Harvard University and the US National Institutes of Health in a commentary posted alongside the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.



The study authors, who are affiliated with deCODE Genetics in Reykjavik, analysed more than 30,000 people in Iceland where about 15% of the population had been tested for coronavirus.



Over 90% of people who had tested positive by a laboratory PCR test (nearly 2,000 of the individuals), tested positive for antibodies twice and continued to have antibodies 120 days after infection, the authors said, A positive result was determined by two positive antibody tests.



Importantly, people who had been hospitalised for COVID-19 with a more severe form developed antibodies more quickly.



Immunity appeared to increase two months after the coronavirus diagnosis test, researchers said, and it "remained on a plateau" for the remainder of the study.



[4 months is as much as they can verify because that was how long they tested for , but it appears it could last a long time]

[Anonymous]

https://www.euronews.com/2020/09/02/iceland-study-on-coronavirus-immunity-suggests-covid-19-antibodies-last-at-least-four-mont">Iceland study on coronavirus immunity suggests COVID-19 antibodies last at least four months



COVID-19 antibodies, proteins that help humans fight off the virus, last for at least four months and do not fade quickly, scientists in Iceland said after in an exhaustive study of coronavirus immunity.



The results of the study are encouraging for vaccine efforts aiming to trigger an immune response that produces antibodies to protect against the virus.



The new study "provides hope that host immunity to this unpredictable and highly contagious virus may not be fleeting and may be similar to that elicited by most other viral infections," wrote two doctors from Harvard University and the US National Institutes of Health in a commentary posted alongside the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.



The study authors, who are affiliated with deCODE Genetics in Reykjavik, analysed more than 30,000 people in Iceland where about 15% of the population had been tested for coronavirus.



Over 90% of people who had tested positive by a laboratory PCR test (nearly 2,000 of the individuals), tested positive for antibodies twice and continued to have antibodies 120 days after infection, the authors said, A positive result was determined by two positive antibody tests.



Importantly, people who had been hospitalised for COVID-19 with a more severe form developed antibodies more quickly.



Immunity appeared to increase two months after the coronavirus diagnosis test, researchers said, and it "remained on a plateau" for the remainder of the study.



[4 months is as much as they can verify because that was how long they tested for , but it appears it could last a long time]

That's encouraging.

[Anonymous]

Very good news for patients suffering from severe COVID symptoms.



Inexpensive steroids reduce deaths of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, WHO analysis confirms



Use of inexpensive, readily available steroid drugs to treat people hospitalized with Covid-19 reduced the risk of death by one-third, according to an analysis encompassing seven different clinical trials conducted by the World Health Organization and published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.



The positive steroid findings — the result of a pooled look at data known as a meta-analysis — confirm a similar survival benefit reported in June from a single, large study. Corticosteroids are the first, and so far only, therapy shown to improve the odds of survival for critically ill patients with Covid-19.



Based on the newly published data, the WHO on Wednesday issued new treatment guidelines calling for corticosteroids to become the standard of care for patients with "severe and critical" Covid-19. Such patients should receive 7-10 days of treatment, a WHO panel said. But it cautioned against use of the steroids in patients with non-severe illness, saying that "indiscriminate use of any therapy for COVID-19 would potentially rapidly deplete global resources and deprive patients who may benefit from it most as potentially life-saving therapy."

https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/02/covid19-steroids-reduce-deaths-of-hospitalized-patients-who-analysis-confirms/">https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/02/cov ... -confirms/">https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/02/covid19-steroids-reduce-deaths-of-hospitalized-patients-who-analysis-confirms/

[cc]

Very good!!!

[cc]

https://twitter.com/DrMartyFox/status/1300470525941223427">https://twitter.com/DrMartyFox/status/1 ... 5941223427">https://twitter.com/DrMartyFox/status/1300470525941223427

[Anonymous]

https://twitter.com/DrMartyFox/status/1300470525941223427">https://twitter.com/DrMartyFox/status/1 ... 5941223427">https://twitter.com/DrMartyFox/status/1300470525941223427

From impeaching Trump while the pandemic was percolating in Asia, to opposing travel bans, to supporting mass protests, to putting coroanvirus patients in senior's homes to opposing HCQ which has been around and used safely for decades, the democRATs have shown that winning the election is more important than saving lives. I frickin hate that party.

[cc]

.... the democRATs have shown that winning the election is more important than saving lives ....

That's very sad,  but it's true

[cc]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/cdc-urges-states-to-fast-track-sites-for-vaccine-delivery-by-nov-1_3485819.html">CDC Urges States to Fast-Track Sites for Vaccine Delivery by Nov. 1



https://img.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2020/04/22/robert-redfield-700x420.jpg">

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during the daily briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House in Washington on April 17, 2020.



The nation's top health official sent a letter to state governors last week, calling on them to fast-track the establishment of vaccine distribution sites by removing administrative barriers to make them fully operational by Nov. 1.



In the Aug. 27 letter, first obtained and reported on by McClatchy, Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that a key hurdle to the distribution of what could potentially be hundreds of millions of vaccine doses meant for nationwide distribution was the time it takes to obtain new permits and licences for distribution sites.



"CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities," he wrote, adding, "and, if necessary, asks that you consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by November 1, 2020."



Redfield said that as federal health agencies are rapidly preparing to surge vaccine distribution across the country, they have partnered with McKesson Corporation on logistics. The company is expected to begin sending permit applications to state licensing agencies on a mass scale "in the near future," which may include applying for relevant business and building permits.



"The normal time required to obtain these permits presents a significant barrier to the success of this urgent public health program," Redfield wrote, adding that states may be asked to waive certain requirements to accelerate the process.



"The requirements you may be asked to waive in order to expedite vaccine distribution will not compromise the safety or integrity of the products being distributed," he insisted, adding that fast-tracking the permits will be "critical to this public health effort to mitigate the threat presented by COVID-19."



The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, the pathogen that causes the COVID-19 disease, has so far killed around 185,000 Americans.



While Redfield did not specify any milestones besides calling for distribution centers to become fully operational by Nov. 1, both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence said at last week's Republican National Convention that a vaccine could be approved by year's end.





"Last week, Joe Biden said 'no miracle is coming,'" said Pence, who heads the White House Coronavirus Task Force. "What Joe doesn't seem to understand is that America is a nation of miracles and we're on track to have the world's first safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year," he added.



Touting "Operation Warp Speed," the code name for the administration's effort to develop and distribute a CCP virus vaccine and therapeutics, Trump spoke of "hundreds of millions of doses" being produced in advance so they can be made available quickly once approved.



"Under Operation Warp Speed, we have three different vaccines in the final stage of trials, right now, years ahead of what has been achieved before," he said, adding: "We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year. And together we will crush the virus."



A number of vaccine candidates are currently in phase 3 of trials—the final stage—or are scheduled to enter it in the near future.

[Anonymous]

President Trump is doing so much more than our prime minister to make sure that Americans have treatments and vaccines..



What's amazing is that he has the speaker of the House trying to stop him..



Our prime minister, on the other hand prorogued parliament, so nothing can be done..



Donald Trump has a better work ethic than Justin Trudeau even though our pm is twenty five years younger than the American president.