What Have You Got to Lose? China, Taiwan & Japan Need US.

I don't really think anyone can say too much at present about a vaccine against the cause of Covid-19 as none has currently been proved viable. Whatever people say is just speculation.

The matter of "repeat infections" has often been explained by unreliable testing - but, again, none of us knows for sure what is happening.

It is true that vaccines (named because the first one, against smallpox, used a related virus - one causing cowpox - and vaccinus means 'relating to the cow') are used to give immunity before a disease is contracted. Scientists have been for many years working on 'therapeutic vaccines' to be given to people already suffering an infection, but I am not aware of any great success to date.

So with the vaccine for the cause of Covid-19 they will be working on using part of the outer protein coat or some of the genetic material enclosed within (that is really all a virus is and why it cannot reproduce by itself) or a killed version of the virus or a weakened version. I suspect different labs will have different approaches and probably some not included in my list.

Apart from requiring a vaccine that produces an adequate antibody response, they need to be sure it does not cause any harmful effects to the host. Also, as you stated, finding out how long the immunity lasts and whether or not repeat doses are required.

 

SmartKoala and anyone else interested in a drug that shows promise for treating Autism.
Suramin has been around for over 100 years and had good results in early testing.

https://health.ucsd.edu/news/topics/suramin-autism/pages/q-and-a.aspx

 

This is the challenge. During these studies the test subjects are not intentionally exposed to the virus. As a result the tests can only be done where the virus is spreading naturally. Maybe because of the "do no harm" doctrine of medicine. This is why the study cannot be done in China.

The problem with previous coronavirus infections, (SARS, MERS) is that they did not last in the human population long enough for a vaccine to be developed. We would have been in a much better position for producing a vaccine for COVID-19 if the trials for SARS and MERS had the chance to be completed.

This exposes a good point. Should these viruses be kept viable in a lab and then when a vaccine is ready the test subjects would be intentionally exposed? This would prepare the population for future outbreaks of the same or similar disease.

 

Do no harm. Agree that would be ethical.
IMHO Big Pharma and Ethical in the same sentence is an oxymoron.

 

Never wishing to contradict someone who has a child he shows great concern about, but perhaps you might be interested in this:

https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/immunization/vaccine_safety/truth_about_autism.htm

I must disagree about your view of vaccines - they save millions of lives and a huge amount of suffering. As long as they are thoroughly tested (the whole process usually takes years) they are very important in World health. Many (perhaps most) on this Forum would not be alive today if we had no vaccines.

There will always be cases of individuals who have a reaction to a vaccine but you can liken that to the relatively few who die because they can't get their seat belt off in a car crash.

 

fingers cr

Aluminum is the third most common naturally-occurring element, after oxygen and silicon. It is found in plants, soil, air, and water. A breast-fed infant will naturally ingest around 7 milligrams of aluminum in her diet throughout the first six months of her life. In contrast, the standard vaccines administered over the first six months of an infant's life contain an average of just 4.4 milligrams of aluminum. Aluminum has been used safely for over six decades in vaccines, with no scientific evidence indicating otherwise.