Large-scale coronavirus vaccine trial begins in South Africa

[PeteS in CA]

Large-scale coronavirus vaccine trial begins in South Africa

https://thehill.com/policy/international/504328-large-scale-coronavirus-vaccine-trial-begins-in-south-africa

A large-scale coronavirus vaccine trial began in South Africa on Wednesday, making it the first African nation included in such a study.

The University of Oxford in Britain is conducting vaccine trials in South Africa, Britain and Brazil. The university, the Oxford Jenner Institute and University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg are collaborating in the South African part of the trials, according to a release.

The first participants for the trial were screened last week and will be vaccinated this week, Shabir Madhi, a professor of vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand who is leading the South African trials, said.
...
Oxford University and AstraZeneca are expected to begin their third phase of testing in the U.S. in August, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases confirmed to The Hill earlier this month.

From https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/basics/test-approve.html ,

[quote[During Phase I, small groups of people receive the trial vaccine. In Phase II, the clinical study is expanded and vaccine is given to people who have characteristics (such as age and physical health) similar to those for whom the new vaccine is intended. In Phase III, the vaccine is given to thousands of people and tested for efficacy and safety.[/quote]

In CDC parlance, Phase III is the last testing stage before approval.

[PeteS in CA]

  Bleep you can't make up ...

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/06/26/africa-african-americans-and-the-coronavirus-vaccines

I mentioned yesterday in my post about anti-vaccine arguments that there seemed to be suspicions on social media platforms about vaccine testing in Africa. I’ve been looking around for more of that, and finding plenty of it. I’ve also heard from a colleague with some pertinent thoughts about how these things get going, and I think it’s worth addressing all this in a separate post.
...
I feel that I need to lead with the bad stuff, because it’s real and it has to be taken into account. But now let’s look at what’s going on with the coronavirus pandemic. As far as I can tell, this news is what has set off the latest arguing in social media. It’s about the first coronavirus vaccine trials in Africa, which are being conducted with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine by the University of Witwatersrand. What seems to have happened is that many took the headline to mean that this was the first vaccine trial anywhere, and that an African population was being used as the initial test subjects. Thus the uproar.

But that’s not the case. The Oxford vaccine itself first entered human trials with over a thousand people in Oxford, Southampton, London, and Bristol, England. Requirements were that participants be 18 to 55 years old, in good health, had not tested positive for the coronavirus, nor had participated in any other trials against the disease. The next phase of the study began in May, recruiting over 10,000 volunteers around the country in a wider range of age groups. Why, then, are they also testing in South Africa? Because it’s in the Southern Hemisphere, where winter is coming on, for one thing. And for another, Oxford (like all the other groups developing these vaccines) is having to go to the locations where the epidemic is spreading. That’s why they’ve also announced a 2,000-patient trial in Brazil. If you want good statistics on whether your vaccine protects people from infection, your best shot is in a population where the likelihood of such infection is higher. ...

When blacks keep separate from whites (or vice versa) that gives fertile soil for suspicions and paranoia. IMO, that is the true purpose of blacktivists who demand blacks-only "safe spaces". And to a substantial degree that is what is being seen here. Suspicious blacks have cut themselves off from sources of facts, such as the early phases of the tests having been done in the UK, such as that testing where the virus is particularly active is likely to yield more and better results earlier.

The irony, IMO, is that blacks complained for decades, correctly, that drug tests often did not include a significant number of blacks in the tests, resulting in unexpected complications and side effects. That has been pretty much corrected, I think, but now this craziness when blacks are included in tests!

[libertybele]

Bleep you can't make up ...

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/06/26/africa-african-americans-and-the-coronavirus-vaccines

I mentioned yesterday in my post about anti-vaccine arguments that there seemed to be suspicions on social media platforms about vaccine testing in Africa. I’ve been looking around for more of that, and finding plenty of it. I’ve also heard from a colleague with some pertinent thoughts about how these things get going, and I think it’s worth addressing all this in a separate post.
...
I feel that I need to lead with the bad stuff, because it’s real and it has to be taken into account. But now let’s look at what’s going on with the coronavirus pandemic. As far as I can tell, this news is what has set off the latest arguing in social media. It’s about the first coronavirus vaccine trials in Africa, which are being conducted with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine by the University of Witwatersrand. What seems to have happened is that many took the headline to mean that this was the first vaccine trial anywhere, and that an African population was being used as the initial test subjects. Thus the uproar.

But that’s not the case. The Oxford vaccine itself first entered human trials with over a thousand people in Oxford, Southampton, London, and Bristol, England. Requirements were that participants be 18 to 55 years old, in good health, had not tested positive for the coronavirus, nor had participated in any other trials against the disease. The next phase of the study began in May, recruiting over 10,000 volunteers around the country in a wider range of age groups. Why, then, are they also testing in South Africa? Because it’s in the Southern Hemisphere, where winter is coming on, for one thing. And for another, Oxford (like all the other groups developing these vaccines) is having to go to the locations where the epidemic is spreading. That’s why they’ve also announced a 2,000-patient trial in Brazil. If you want good statistics on whether your vaccine protects people from infection, your best shot is in a population where the likelihood of such infection is higher. ...

When blacks keep separate from whites (or vice versa) that gives fertile soil for suspicions and paranoia. IMO, that is the true purpose of blacktivists who demand blacks-only "safe spaces". And to a substantial degree that is what is being seen here. Suspicious blacks have cut themselves off from sources of facts, such as the early phases of the tests having been done in the UK, such as that testing where the virus is particularly active is likely to yield more and better results earlier.

The irony, IMO, is that blacks complained for decades, correctly, that drug tests often did not include a significant number of blacks in the tests, resulting in unexpected complications and side effects. That has been pretty much corrected, I think, but now this craziness when blacks are included in tests!

Thanks for the post -- good info.