Contrast this with an earlier article ➡ that said it would be years before we had a vaccine.
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A new vaccine against bird flu developed by GlaxoSmithKline is more effective than any previous version and works at a far smaller dose, the company reported yesterday on its Web site.
The ability to immunize people with small doses greatly increases the possibility of making enough vaccine to protect much of the population in the event of a pandemic.
Until now, high dosage requirements have been a major obstacle to making a vaccine for avian flu. An earlier vaccine, made a year ago by Sanofi Pasteur and stockpiled by the government, required such large doses that it would be difficult or impossible to keep up with a pandemic.
More… ➡
The Great Bird Flu Vaccine Hype!
All around the world people are rejoicing today!
It seems that an inexpensive and effective vaccine has been developed by a British company.
According to MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said this about the new vaccine “The data are really very impressive,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “It changes the whole complexion of the issue that we have to face of getting enough vaccine for people who might need it in a pandemic.”
But hold on here!
What is this at the end of the same article?
I mean, right at the bottom of the article and certainly not in the form of a headline?
“Creating a prototype pandemic vaccine, however, does not guarantee that countries will be protected in the event of a flu pandemic. “This vaccine will only give protection against this particular H5N1 strain and possibly other H5N1 strains,” said Osterhaus. Thus, if the next influenza pandemic is sparked by a subtype other than H5, much of this vaccine may prove of little use” reads the same article. .” Because it is impossible to predict which influenza strain will spark the next pandemic, it is equally impossible to produce a vaccine that will be completely effective.”
What!!
So we have this great new vaccine, which er.. “may prove of little use”.
I see.
Well…
Not sure what to think now.
Well, that’s why I pointed backwards to the earlier article that says that it might be ten years.
I have little confidence in any of these pronouncements. That’s why I went out of my way six months or more back to get prescriptions filled for both Tamiflu and Relenza to cover myself and my wife. The effectiveness of these is by no means guaranteed but I think it’s better than waiting for a government to bail us out (isn’t going to happen) if the bird poop hits the fan.