Dosage

Call it 'vaccine nationalism' or 'mutant jingoism', there's an unpleasant tinge to the media-fuelled spats between the EU, EU countries, global pharmaceutical companies, and UK politicians over Covid vaccinations. 

Would you fancy a neighbour who was at their window on a daily basis, shouting to passers-by "I'm brilliant - I've stockpiled all the food from the village shop, and pre-ordered the vast bulk of their future supplies. I fully understand some of you may be starving, but I have a contract" ? 

I have an experienced reader who believes the BBC is prey to some of this jingoism, boosting Astra Zeneca's remedy whilst not always reminding us that its efficacy is lower than other jabs. Better than most flu jabs, but, in the PHE's own paper, updated yesterday, 52.69% after one dose, rising to 70.42% after two.  The Moderna vaccination is 92% effective; the Pfizer/BionNTech 95%. 

The PHE paper on Astra Zeneca notes, as did the advisory German group yesterday, "The number of COVID-19 cases (2) in 660 participants ≥65 years old were too few to draw conclusions on efficacy". 

Yesterday, the BBC joined those celebrating the new Novavax vaccine, with claimed 89% efficacy, produced by a company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with no manufacturing plants of its own, but contractors in Billingham in the UK.  Yes, it's a UK investment - but will we still need 60 million doses from April ?  Might we share some of them ?