mina c

good point. For Pfizer, its ten days between the flu shot and COVID shots. I am in the US trial, so just went thru this. Since the two covid shots are two weeks apart, we had to wait 10 days after getting the second shot before getting the flu jab. Total of 24 days two finish out both. Of course that timing could change in the future.

TomMM

I watch an interview today with Dr. Fauci today and he was very optimistic about the vaccine and stated that Pfizer would be applying for an emergency use authorization within the next week or two which could see doses being given by the end of the month. He also stated that Modema's vaccine is very similar.

RGS5526

Those of us of even greater age may remember the days when we all carried our International Certificate of Vaccination Against Smallpox when flying. I think I still have mine, tucked inside an old passport. Perhaps we will be issued with a Covid-19 version when we get our second jab.

dylanks

I volunteered for the moderna trial in the US but unfortunately was not selected. So pretty much ASAP for me.

moral_low_ground

I partly agree - I think it is fair to say that we can now achieve more in a year than we have done in the past 30 years. The leap in technology has been truly astounding and the potential benefits in healthcare enormous. With this being true we are still at the beginning and we don't understand the human body that well. In addition, the biggest issue is PROFIT - we've already seen certain US drug companies claim they have treatments for COVID that the WHO says are ineffective and it is obvious to all that the best COVID treatment is going to make so much money for the drug companies that the odd side effect here and there can be "ignored". Technology is so complex the regulators have no way of auditing (as we all know re things like the 737 and so on). So let's see. Cures for cancer, dementia, TB, malaria are all far more pressing and take more lives but are not as profitable. The chances of catching (and dying of) COVID are still slim and I'd rather wait to see what happens in the first year to see if the medicine does its job without profit getting in the way.

IAMORGAN

As I understand it, what we know right now is that the vaccine prevents the virus in someone exposed to it from developing into Sars Covid-19. What is not yet known is whether it is possible to still be an asymptomatic carrier. Given that masks are, again as I understand it, more about preventing asymptomatic spread, then I would be surprised if mask rules were relaxed in 2021.

On vaccination certificates I have long suspected that in the future, a requirement to show a vaccination certificate in order to avoid either an entry ban / quarantine / testing could work. If you look at what they are doing with rapid tests in Liverpool, over time, it’s easy to join the dots and see how a venue such as The O2 could deliver an event with a combination of checking certificates (perhaps as part of the NHS App - which I’ve long said they will never let us get rid of) and for those who can’t show a vaccination certificate from an accredited vaccine (ie other countries / over time, we, might use more than one) would have to show a test result. I imagine a slightly less reliable test might be acceptable from a risk perspective because the most vulnerable will have been vaccinated - and it seems it’s a question of what level of risk is acceptable.

In the end of course the hope will be enough of the right people have been vaccinated that nobody needs to check and Covid becomes something like meningitis etc.

SonTech

I suspectt that if this vaccine is approved and successful more than one manufacturer will make it it. There is no way Governments will allow one company to control it and charge high prices and limit supplies.

Pilou

Spot on

Flying Doctor

That is the rumoured list as it stands from a outline proposal in September. It critically depends on how many doses you get, how quickly, and how easily the get distributed.
Also as other have said there is a lot we don't know yet about just how effective this is. This morning Brazil has halted trials of SinoVax over saftey concerns and AZ had a scare the other week.
This is a massive step forward but honestly you are looking well into 2021 to have anything like normality......

FD.

bakera

Thy've not found a cure for the common cold because there's too much money to be made from remedies.

MiraculousM

You will still need to wear a mask.

GBOAC

If a vaccine starts to roll out in 2021, and two classes of people exist in the mean time - vaccinated who can travel freely (even if they are older and less likely to be travelling) and unvaccinated who cannot/still subject to quarantine either overseas or back in the UK, where does this leave BAEC status going forward - extend for those who have not had a vaccine, rely on 25% reduced earnings for those vaccinated? It all starts to become complicated...

Exsilver

As a 66 year-old married to a 60 year-old, I still won't be able to travel until my wife has been vaccinated.

BrianDromey

I think it is way too early to speculate what might happen with vaccination and entry requirements. Many Governments will want their own high-risk populations vaccinated before allowing lower-risk individuals to benefit. We also do not know if this vaccine will reduce asymptomatic transmission, so it might not be suitable for a population-level vaccination programme. If it is not, other vaccines might be, or they might not. We just do not know. This is the problem with government taking heads getting on the news last night and this morning talking of "distant bugles" and this kind of nonsense. We are not there yet.

corporate-wage-slave

I largely agree with this, but perhaps I'm more optimistic on restrictions easing. The two key priorities are to stop the terrible death rate - all the more so when there is a realistic chance that there is a key remedy close to hand; also to reduce the pressure on the health service, since those who recover from covid sometimes need a lot of resources if they enter hospital, with wide implications for other healthcare. Hence the restrictions placed on all of us including restrictions on travel, given that's it's unrealistic to isolate everyone who is vulnerable.

45% of fatalities are for those over 80 years old, another 45% is for those 60 to 80 years. A high percentage of fatalities have secondary health conditions. So even with 10 million doses, the prospect of reducing both the death rate and health care resource implications are very much on the table now. This isn't going to happen by Christmas, but Easter maybe another matter, even if we are still wearing masks at that point. And the chances of this happening will go up if we can keep infection levels down ahead of a vaccination programme.