University Of Oxford To Study Nasal Administration Of COVID-19 Vaccine
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the University of Oxford web site.
These two introductory paragraphs outline the structure of the tests.
The Phase I trial, which will enrol 30 healthy volunteers aged 18–40, will investigate the level of immune system responses generated by the vaccine using this delivery technique, as well as monitoring safety and for any adverse reactions.
All of the volunteers will receive the same vaccine that is currently being delivered by intramuscular injection as part of the national roll out of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. The volunteers, who will be drawn from the local Oxford region, will be followed for a total of four months.
This is surely a very worthwhile study.
Blood Clots And Vaccines
I had a little bit of trouble with my Roche Coaguchek INR meter yesterday and had to phone Roche.
I indicated that I would soon be having my second AstraZeneca jab and measuring my INR before and after as a medical experiment.
I was then told that all vaccines can cause blood clots. That can’t be right?
But Roche should know!
Jaw Jaw Is Better Than War War!
There is an article in The Times today with a title of Britain Ready To Share Dutch-Made Vaccine With EU.
It talks of compromise and how Boris Johnson has effectively told his ministers to cool it.
I feel that Boris is right to seek a compromise. As Churchill said “Jaw, jaw is better than war-war!”
I wouldn’t be surprised that we have a lot to offer the EU about other things than making the vaccine.
Vaccination
There have been several examples published in this newspaper and other media outlets, about how we have squeezed extra doses out of the Pfizer vaccine and made sure we have potential recipients on hand, so that nothing goes to waste.
Perhaps we have a suitable brigadier, doctor, mandarin or project manager, who could put some drive and organisation into the EU’s flagging effort.
If it is a big loss of face to some EU politicians so be it.
AstraZeneca’s Problem
If AZ do have problem, it appears to be in the manufacture.
After all it is AZ’s first vaccine.
This surely, is a problem, that can be solved, even if it upsets AZ a bit on how it is done!
European Vaccine Reluctance
But I do think the EU’s vaccination is not helped by the population’s reluctance to have a jab.
We had Tom Jones and the US had Dolly Parton, amongst others who backed vaccinations.
Have stars of similar standing backed the vaccination in the EU?
Help From The Yanks
As usual, the Americans have arrived late to bolster the efforts.
Lets hope that their data published today persuades more EU citizens to take the jab and even one from the UK!
But surely any vaccine that gives you 100 % protection from severe disease, as the Yanks say that the AZ does, can’t be all bad!
Conclusion
I believe that as the UK and the EU share a common will to defeat the virus, that a good compromise can be developed over the next few days.
Let’s hope it goes better than the last time, we told the French what to do in a serious situation.
My father told me about Churchill’s dash to Paris in 1940 to offer union with France to try and save the country.
Read all about it in this article on the London School of Economics web site, which is entitled June 1940: Britain’s Forgotten Attempt To Build A European Union.
What Churchill Actually Said
In trying to find when Churchill used the title of this post, I found this page on the International Churchill Society web site, which is entitled Quotes Falsely Attributed To Winston Churchill.
The actual quote was “Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war” and it was misquoted later by Harold Macmillan.
Does meeting Zoom to Zoom count?
Is The UK Ready For A Tourist Boom This Summer?
Imagine one scenario, where we continue to vaccinate against Covid-19 and and large parts of the EU doesn’t, or at least goes slower and slower because of reluctance to use the AstraZeneca vaccine.
A simple mathematical model could mean that our number of cases drops like a stone and the anti-AZ countries suffer successive waves of the covids.
Where will vaccinated well-off North American, Antipodean and Far Eastern tourists want to go for their dose of European culture?
Fergus Walsh On The AstraZeneca Vaccine
I have just watching a ten-minute interview on BBC Breakfast with Fergus Walsh, who is the BBC’s Medical Editor.
If you are worried about Covid-19 vaccination and the AstraZeneca vaccine in particular, I suggest you find the interview on iPlayer. It took place at 0815.
He is undoubtedly well-connected to healthcare in the UK, as during the pandemic, he has had deep-access to doctors, researchers and patients, so anything he says, should surely be taken seriously.
Clots Caused By The AstraZeneca Vaccine
On this he said, it was at the same rate as the Pfizer vaccine. Now there’s a thing!
The rate of those, who broke their ankle after being vaccinated is also probably the same for both vaccines.
Fergus Has Had The AstraZeneca Vaccine
This happened on Sunday.
His endorsement of the vaccine, is probably as well-reasoned as anyone.
Conclusion
Why are politicians and others rubbishing the AstraZeneca vaccine, when respected agencies say there is no problem?
Is it just jealousy?
- What are they going to say about Oxford’s malaria vaccine, that I wrote about in What Will Oxford Do For An Encore?
- Or about their new cancer treatment, that I wrote about in Oxford Vaccine Team Use Same Tech To Revolutionise Cancer Treatment.
Given the success of the vaccine with AstraZeneca, I doubt Oxford will be looking for another partner.
First French Region Signs Hydrogen Train Contract
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the International Railway Journal.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The Bourgogne-Franche Comté region has signed a contract with Alstom, through operator French National Railways (SNCF), for the supply of three Coradia Polyvalent electro-hydrogen dual-mode multiple units.
These are some points from the article.
- The three trains are from an order for 14 from four French regions.
- The trains can use 1500 VDC and 25 KVAC electrification.
- They will be able to use hydrogen power, where there is no electrification.
- Range on hydrogen will be 400-600 km.
- Operating speed will be up to 160 kph.
- Trains will be four cars, with a capacity of 220 passengers.
- Trains will start test running in 2024 on the 19km non-electrified Auxerre – Laroche – Migennes line.
As with the Alstom Class 600 hydrogen trains for the UK, deliveries don’t seem to be fast.
I wrote Hydrogen Trains Ready To Steam Ahead in January 2019. This is the first few paragraphs.
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in today’s copy of The Times.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Hydrogen trains will be introduced in as little as two years under ambitious plans to phase out dirty diesel engines.
The trains, which are almost silent and have zero emissions, will operate at speeds of up to 90 mph and release steam only as a by-product. The new trains, which will be called “Breeze” will be employed on commuter and suburban lines by early 2021.
Wikipedia is now saying, that these trains will enter service in 2024.
As Alstom haven’t got any orders for the train, I will be very surprised if they achieve that date.
Is it Alstom, French project management or problems with hydrogen?
I don’t think it’s anything to do with hydrogen, as the Germans built the successful iLint for Alstom and Birmingham University put together a hydrogen demonstration train in double-quick time.
Given all the problems that the French are having with rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine could it be that the French have a Can’t Do! attitude, rather than most other countries, which seem to have a Can Do! attitude.
Long Covid And Coeliac Disease
I recently heard an interview with Adrian Chiles on Radio 5 about the so-called long covid
I am 73 and the more I read about Long Covid, the more I think I had something similar around 1958, when I had just started Minchenden Grammar School, where I missed most of the Spring Term. This was at the time of the 1957-8 flu pandemic., which killed between one and four million people worldwide.
This article on New Decoder is a personal memory of that pandemic, from an experienced journalist called Harvey Morris.
Last night, I was listening to another program about kids with long covid and they seemed to be describing how I felt all those years ago.
One of those two programs, also said that one doctor tested patients for coeliac disease.
In 1997, at the age of fifty, I was diagnosed as a coeliac and have been gluten-free ever since. From friends and acquaintances, who are also coeliac on a long-term gluten-free diet, it appears that none of us have had a serious dose of the covids, including one who works in an office with several cases of Covid-19.
This observation has been backed-up by peer-reviewed research at the University of Padua, who followed a group of coeliacs on a long-term gluten-free diet through the first wave of the pandemic. None caught the virus.
It should also be noted that Joe West at the University of Nottingham, has shown that coeliacs on a long-term gluten-free diet are 25 % less likely to get cancer, so do we have a strong immune system, that gives us this protection against against both cancer and the covids.
Coeliac disease has been called the many-headed hydra by some doctors, so could it be an alligator in the swamp of Covid-19?
Research needs to be done!
But could it be that in 1958, my less than perfect immune system, because I was not diagnosed as a coeliac and was not on a gluten-free diet, had difficulty overcoming the flu at the time?
Oxford Vaccine Team Use Same Tech To Revolutionise Cancer Treatment
The title of this post, is the same as that as an article on The Times.
I’m no medic, but I know enough about cancer, vaccines and the human immune system, to know that the team that developed the Oxford vaccine, could be on to something here. Especially, as they have got backing from Google’s venture capital arm.
Europe Blocks 250,000 AstraZeneca Vaccine Doses Bound For Australia
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Australian newspaper The Age.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Officials in Europe have blocked the shipment of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia in a ploy set to trigger a major diplomatic dispute.
It is a surprisingly calm article.
Although it does say this.
More than 150 international deliveries were authorised without a hitch over recent weeks, but Italy has now opposed the delivery to Australia. Rome’s objection was endorsed by the European Commission.
It looks to me that Australia has been singled out. Could it be because to EU officials, it is seen as a British colony?
Or is it because the EU believes that the French-born CEO of AstraZeneca; Pascal Soriot, is a traitor for taking up Australian citizenship?
Aussie comedians will have a field day.
I also suspect, that when Australia starts delivering its own locally-made AstraZeneca vaccine towards the end of the month, some will be exported to the EU to solve their self-inflicted vaccine shortage.
Some Bad Vaccine News From Italy
This reassuring article in The Times with a reassuring title of Single Covid Vaccine Reduces Risk Of Going To Hospital By 90%.
But it does contain one piece of bad news.
An Italian study has suggested that the Pfizer vaccine is less effective in overweight people.
The Anonymous Widower 