Deep Concerns Emerging of Variants “We’re Playing Whac-a-Mole” - GoLocal Daily RI Vaccination Update

Tuesday, February 09, 2021

GoLocalProv News Team

 

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Tuesday's GoLocal vaccination update provides the most up-to-date information and data on the Rhode Island vaccination program as well as emerging national and global developments.

 

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1. Fine Warns Emergency of New Strains and New Vaccines Will Cause Biological "Whac-a-Mole" for Years

Dr. Michael Fine warns that battling the virus will be like playing whac-a-mole for years in trying to control the emerging strains of the coronavirus.

Fine, the former Rhode Island Director of Health, pointed out in his appearance on GoLocal LIVE on Monday that the state is sitting on 70,000+ doses of vaccine — almost enough to vaccinate everyone over 75 years of age.

“If we can get large portions of the population vaccinated sooner, than we expect then we may be able to beat the these new variants but we're just not moving fast enough around vaccination to get there,” said Fine.

Fine said he continues to be disappointed by the lack of progress with Rhode Island's vaccination program, “I think we did about 4,000 new people over the weekend. I would have loved to have seen six to ten thousand.  You know it's getting new people vaccinated that to me is where my hope is -- the more new people we can get vaccinated the better our protection is going to be.”

“We get some additional protection from second doses but the big the big protection is in the first doses,” said Fine.

 

Whac-a-mole

Fine said, “I think we're going to see new strains evolve and new vaccine combinations created. It's kind of a game of whac-a-mole and you know as new strains come up the vaccines are just going to change and the frequency are going to change.”

“The need for boosters is going to change. We will create new strategies as we are faced with new challenges. The good news is we have some vaccines to work with, but I don't expect one to be the ‘be-all, end all.' It wouldn't shock me if one or two of them end up getting pulled for a variety of reasons,” said Fine.

“At the moment i think we're going to see at least a couple of years of impact of COVID-19 on our lives from changes in how we deal with our social interactions to the need for vaccination. It's going to take a couple of years for us to really develop the kind of immunity both individual and community immunity we need,” said Fine.

Fine said he there are some bright spots. He said in Central Falls over the weekend Mayor Maria Rivera and members of the city council worked all weekend and implemented a successful vaccination clinic. As Central Falls has been a virus hot spot for a year — all adult residents in Central Falls are eligible for vaccination and can register HERE.

 

2. RI Now Has Utilized 62% of Its Vaccine

RIDOH officials continue to struggle to get Rhode Islanders vaccinated. Federal supply continues to increase.

According to the CDC and updated on Tuesday, RI has now:

Received 192,300 doses

Administered 120,484 doses 

Of the vaccine doses received, RI has utilized 62% - More than 70,000 doses have not been utilized

Updated 2/9/2021

 

3. AstraZeneca Ineffective Against South African Variant

On Monday, South African officials announced they were discounting the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine as officials reported it was ineffective against the now dominate strain in that country.

The South African strain has arrived in the United States.

Presently, AstraZeneca has been approved for use in the United Kingdom and by a number of EU nations for those under 65.

Science reports:

Another COVID-19 vaccine has run into trouble in South Africa, showing less protection there than elsewhere because a SARS-CoV-2 variant that can apparently dodge key antibodies has become widespread. In the wake of the new finding, the country halted plans to next week to launch the country’s first immunization campaign with the vaccine and may instead switch to a different one.

The stakes are high globally for this particular vaccine because its makers, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, hope it will be widely used in developing countries; they project they can produce 3 billion doses this year for about $3 each, far more product at a far lower price than any other vaccine shown to offer protection against COVID-19.

Yet the South African trial of the vaccine, conducted in about 2000 people, found such a low efficacy against mild and moderate disease, under 25%, that it would not meet minimal international standards for emergency use. But scientists are hopeful it might still prevent severe disease and death—arguably the most important job for any COVID-19 vaccine. That was impossible to tell from this placebo-controlled trial because it was small and recruited relatively healthy, young people—their average age was only 31. None of the subjects in either arm of the study developed severe disease or required hospitalization.

 

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