Makes more sense to vaccinate 2 million people a week with a dose that will prevent them being sick enough to need hospital care than to vaccinate half that number and tie up the scarce low temperature freezer space. Looks like experts in USA may take the British approach, as Churchill said 'America will normally make the right decision, but only after they have exhausted all other possibilities'...
I read a report on test done on a single dose of Oxford / AZ vaccine trials that said within 14 to 20 days a good level of immunity was given, the second dose is a booster, to try to ensure immunity lasts for a longer time.
If the mutations of virus continue an new vaccine may be needed anyway and the second shot of original vaccine may have been wasted.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcar...d-vaccinations
Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Herring
What is particularly important is the instance of serious Covid cases after just the first dose. There were thirty nine cases of Covid within the subject group (some 21,700 people) with only one of these being classified as serious. In the similar sized placebo group there were 82 cases of Covid (hence the 52% efficacy figure) but of these nine were classified as serious. In essence this is saying that after a single dose you are half as likely to catch Covid but nine times less likely to develop serious symptoms.
Given that it is those with serious symptoms that are going to bring the NHS to it's knees (or die......) I can still see why they are driving administering just the single dose.
|