Possibility of football stopping (again)

Just carefully think through the implications of what you are proposing.

So you have to go through the process of delivering one shot of the vaccine to the population, which is currently in excess of 68,000,000.

The government has bought 40,000,000 shots. Enough to vaccinate 20,000,000. Within that purchase, there will undoubtedly be some wastage due to unforeseen situations, say 15%. Remember this material has to be stored at minus 70, defrosted in a clinical setting over a determined timescale!

The logistical exercise of actually vaccinating up to 68,000,000 people will take a heck of a lot of time and resources.

The vaccine to be effective has to be delivered within a clinical time frame, currently reported to be 21 days between inoculation A and B.

If only one dose is to be administered, then the simple ‘follow up’ will not be simple! It will require two further doses of that drug or a totally different one.

Resources, both human and clinical, timescale of repeating the exercise by 50%, availability of additional medication and finally the cost, may well mean that this scenario, is a ‘Bridge to Far’!

 

Exactly. It would require a submission of the new evidence, on the efficacy of a single jab approach, and subsequent authorisation by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency).

 

The 'Oxford' vaccine is also a two dose vaccine with, I understand, a slightly longer (1 month) gap between doses.

 

There are currently two vaccines which are single dose.

The first is the Russian Sputnik vaccine which, according to Putin's scientists, has a high efficacy rate but does have its non-lethal side effects. The second vaccine is the Trump Inc©/Domestos vaccine which has still to undergo clinical trials outside of the Prez's immediate family. It's only single dose because the side effects of the first dose can be lethal.

You pays your money and you takes your chances!

 

I would suggest you take anything in the Express with a healthy dose of scepticism (followed by a second dose of course).

I think that the Express are following up on the 'Blair' suggestion which, for the 'Oxford' vaccine, is a suggestion that the second dose is heavily delayed (three months has been suggested). So a single dose to start with.

The problem with the 'Blair' proposal is that any significant variation in the doses, should go through a trial, followed by the appropriate review. So, rather than commencing with a two dose strategy, the proposal seems to be to wait 3 to 6 months whilst we undertake new trials then, if the trial is successful, go with a single dose strategy.

It's a non-starter and, if the MHRA were to approve such a proposal, without new trials, it would call into question their integrity.

With the approval of the two dose 'Oxford' vaccine, we have the resources we need to get out of the worst of this virus by the end of March 2021.

In the meantime, we need to tighten the restrictions, at least for the first part of thes coming three months, and if that means a circuit breaker for football for a few weeks, so be it.