Covid-19 News

Quote from THHuxleynew

or perhaps not...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news…re-cases-israel-data-show

This is wonderful news. The Israeli researchers now have 3.4 million person-days of data for the boosters. That's a lotta data! It is definitive proof that the booster restores immunity from the initial infection, back to the ~95% level. Immunity against serious illness and death never attenuated. See also this tweet linked to the article:

I have been saying for some time that the Israeli doctors and researchers seem unfazed. They seemed to think the situation remained under control, despite the surge in cases. There was no proportional surge in deaths. I thought perhaps they were too confident. Now we see they were right, and a booster will bring things back under control.

There is a lot of good data from Israel. The author at COVID-19 Data Science has looked closely at it, and he wrote two excellent article about it, and several articles about UK data. People should read everything this author has to say:

Quote from Alan Smith

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Two doses of Pfizer (PFE.N) or AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine are nearly as effective against the highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant as they are against the previously dominant Alpha variant, a study published on Wednesday showed.

Officials say vaccines are highly effective against the Delta variant, now the dominant variant worldwide, though the study reiterated that one shot of the vaccines is not enough for high protection.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirms headline findings given by Public Health England in May about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZN.L), based on real-world data.

Wednesday's study found that two doses of Pfizer's shot was 88% effective at preventing symptomatic disease from the Delta variant, compared to 93.7% against the Alpha variant, broadly the same as previously reported.

https://www.reuters.com/busine…t-study-finds-2021-07-21/

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I am not sure I understand your response. Both Israel actual data and World o Meter indicate completely otherwise... current vaccine efficacy is greatly reduced by Delta. That is the problem with "studies". They can show whatever the investigators want... whether it be vaccine efficacy or ivermectin effectiveness....

Yet the real world shows quite differently... the current vaccines / vaccine implementation are not winning the battle.

Quote from THHuxleynew

The true promise from the vaccines is they would allow us to get on with our lives with minimal precautions and without the health service collapsing. That is what they do at the moment in the UK, and the difference between now and last year.

To the world at large, the vaccines have not made much of a difference in how we live. It is simply government mandate. If governments followed the same logic, we would be in lock down again. Significant increase in cases / deaths warranted lock downs last year but not this year????

The reason lockdowns are not as wide spread now is not because the vaccines have quelled the pandemic, it is because governments know that they 1) would cause a revolt or 2) simply do not work long term. Some lockdowns are still in place but not publicized much.

For instance, "Follow the science" Biden still has a travel ban between Canada and the US while he lets tens of thousands of untested illegal immigrants in at the southern border. The vaccine has made no difference there.

No, I do not see the vaccines allowing us to "get on with our lives" at all. That is ALL government politics and only government politics in play there. We will see.

Quote from THHuxleynew

The true promise from the vaccines is they would allow us to get on with our lives with minimal precautions and without the health service collapsing. That is what they do at the moment in the UK, and the difference between now and last year.

I disagree. Okay, various experts disagree, and I hope they are right. They say that if the vaccines were widely deployed worldwide, quickly, the virus would probably be wiped out. Driven into extinction in humans. It might come back from an animal host in the future, but it would gone for now.

I realize that other experts say it will remain endemic. I hope they are wrong. I cannot judge.

It cannot be deployed worldwide at present because the first world countries have not made enough doses. This should be done as quickly as possible to prevent new variants from evolving. It cannot be deployed widely enough in the U.S. to stop the pandemic because of politics. The GOP is using it to try to win the next election, even though this will kill hundreds of thousands of people. (Mostly their own voters, which might be considered a silver lining on a cloud of genocide. Sort of like the Volkswagen being a benefit of the Third Reich. At least we got something good from them!)

Quote from THHuxleynew

Bob#2 - I remember Pfizer and Moderna said they were all ready to develop and grow a delta modded version. They needed to be told this was wanted, and it would then take 3 months or something to availability.

The situation now:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.c…est-booster-effectiveness

“The ongoing booster trial is evaluating the safety and tolerability of the current BNT162b2 vaccine. While we believe a third dose of BNT162b2 has the potential to preserve the highest levels of protective efficacy against all currently known variants, including Delta, we are remaining vigilant and are also developing an updated version of the vaccine that targets the full spike protein of the Delta variant. The first batch of the mRNA for the trial has already been manufactured, and we anticipate the clinical studies to begin in August, subject to regulatory approvals.”

So they have this, but as always safety rules: they need to go through clinical testing, which will take 2 months at least.

Maybe that is one reason why the UK seems to want to delay boosters.

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Thanks Thomas , I always felt there would be more to a booster than just tweaking as jed has said. It's a redesign adding new antibody coding so full trials are called for by law.

Quote from Bob#2

Both Israel actual data and World o Meter indicate completely otherwise... current vaccine efficacy is greatly reduced by Delta.

No, they do not show that. On the surface, that is what they seem to show, but you have to look more closely to see that efficacy is not actually reduced much. Especially because there are three kinds of efficacy, and only one was reduced:

1. Preventing infection. This is somewhat reduced, but not as much as it seems. The reasons it is not as much are complicated, and require careful attention to understand. The good news is, we now know that a booster will bring this right back up to where it was in January, at 95%.
2. Preventing serious cases and hospitalization. This has not been reduced. The vaccines work as well as they did in January.
3. Preventing deaths. Again, this has not been reduced, thank goodness.

There is a surge in Israel, and there are more deaths, but they are nearly all among unvaccinated people. The vaccine cannot prevent this. It only protects people who are vaccinated. Compared to Israel, the Delta variant surge is far worse in places with low vaccination rates, such as Vietnam and rural Georgia.

This stuff is harder to understand than you might think. You cannot just look at World-O-Meter and draw conclusions from the raw data. See:

Quote from Bob#2

To the world at large, the vaccines have not made much of a difference in how we live.

Bob - I can only speak for the UK. Noticable differences are:

(1) we are no longer locked down

(2) in spite of this, running a high COVID rate, we no longer have a very large death rate, our hospitals can cope

(3) with almost no restrictions our COVID rate is saying roughly flat, so we expect (hope) our hospitals will continue to be ale to cope over the winter

those are wins, from out point of view. it may be different in different countries?

Quote from Fm1

Thanks Thomas , I always felt there would be more to a booster than just tweaking as jed has said.

Well, be that as it may, the Israeli data shows that the present formulation restores immunity to the original January levels, so we do not need a reformulated version. A reformulated one might be better, but what we have is good enough. This means we have time to develop a reformulated version. We don't have to rush. That's good news.

Sometimes, having a lot of the older technology is better than having a little of the new. WWII aviation is a good illustration. The DC3 was introduced in 1935. By 1940, it was obsolescent. Better transport airplanes were already being made. Uncle Sam decided to order 10,000 DC3s instead of, say, 5,000 of something more up-to-date. Production lines were all set up and people knew how to make the DC3, how to service it, and so on. They did make more advanced transport planes during the war, but the DC3 dominated.

Quote from Fm1

It's a redesign adding new antibody coding so full trials are called for by law.

The regulatory hurdles for any vaccine are high, I believe any change and you have to go through the full process, but it is less troublesome and regulators easier to satisfy if the changes are small from something known safe.

Quote from JedRothwell

Well, be that as it may, the Israeli data shows that the present formulation restores immunity to the original January levels, so we do not need a reformulated version. A reformulated one might be better, but what we have is good enough. This means we have time to develop a reformulated version. We don't have to rush. That's good news.

Sometimes, having a lot of the older technology is better than having a little of the new. WWII aviation is a good illustration. The DC3 was introduced in 1935. By 1940, it was obsolescent. Better transport airplanes were already being made. Uncle Sam decided to order 10,000 DC3s instead of, say, 5,000 of something more up-to-date. Production lines were all set up and people knew how to make the DC3, how to service it, and so on. They did make more advanced transport planes during the war, but the DC3 dominated.

Yes it restores but for how long, will we need another booster in January just to get through flu season? And your repurposing tech is an excellent idea, maybe they should try that with drugs!!!

Merck’s deadly Vioxx playbook, redux: a debunked smear campaign against its competing drug—the FDA-approved, Nobel prize-honored ivermectin

Merck’s deadly Vioxx playbook, redux: a debunked smear campaign against its competing drug—the FDA-approved, Nobel prize-honored ivermectin

Latest news reports of a cluster of ivermectin overdoses in Oklahoma were debunked by the hospital. Not one such case. The doctor who fabricated the story

trialsitenews.com

Latest news reports of a cluster of ivermectin overdoses in Oklahoma were debunked by the hospital. Not one such case. The doctor who fabricated the story hadn’t work there in two months.

On February 4, 2021, Merck, which is readying release of its new COVID-19 treatment drug, molnupiravir, issued a press release about that new drug’s competition, ivermectin.1 Merck itself had developed ivermectin, now off-patent, for human use, securing FDA approval in 1987, and distributed most of its 3.7 billion doses safely used worldwide since.2-4 It was thus curious that Merck’s press release about use of ivermectin for COVID expressed “a concerning lack of safety data in the majority of studies.”1

Recently, many news reports5-8 picked up on Merck’s theme, lambasting the use of a dangerous horse de- wormer by gullible consumers. The most recent were by the BBC,9 Rolling Stone,10 The Guardian,11 MSN12 and others, about Oklahoma hospital facilities being strained with ivermectin overdoses, delaying other emergency care. The hospital system in question debunked the story, noting that it had not one case of ivermectin overdosing and that the doctor who fabricated the story hadn’t worked there in two months.13,14

These false alarms about ivermectin safety, echoing Merck’s, are scientific nonsense. Ivermectin is FDA approved for human use,4 its discovery honored with the 2015 Nobel Prize for medicine, for “improving the health and wellbeing of millions,” with “limited side effects.”15 One of the safest modern drugs, it is well tolerated even at very high doses (details below). By a quirk of molecular biology, ivermectin binds to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and obstructs the morbidity of the virus.16-18 It thereby also obstructs Merck’s anticipated billions in revenues from its new COVID entry. As to Merck’s past playbook for such obstacles, consider its $410 million disinformation campaign for its deadly drug Vioxx,19 withdrawn in 2004.

“Dodge Ball Vioxx.” In a scathing critique of Merck’s duplicitous promotion of Vioxx,20 Richard Horton, the editor-in-chief of Lancet, noted how Merck prepared a sales presentation, entitled “Dodge Ball Vioxx,”21 with instructions for dodging awkward inquiries from physicians. To the question, “I am concerned about the cardiovascular effects of Vioxx?” the answer that Merck instructed was: “DODGE!”

“Neutralize,” “discredit,” “destroy.” Merck knew early of Vioxx’s cardiovascular risks, which resulted in up to 139,000 heart attacks and strokes, 30-40% of them likely fatal.22,23 Merck not only concealed some such deaths,22,24 but it systematically attacked those who warned of these fatal risks. It created a spreadsheet that named Vioxx critics and noted plans for each, including “neutralize,” “neutralized” or “discredit.”25,26 Merck also listed its staff assigned to each critic—an entire “task force” to one. On October 15, 2001, one Merck executive emailed another: “We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live.”1,26

Regulatory Capture.27 Horton, the Lancet editor, noted the role of the FDA in enabling Merck’s Vioxx scandal. The FDA saw “the pharmaceutical industry as its customer,” not the US public.20 When an associate FDA director, David Graham, MD, blew the whistle on Vioxx’s deadly record, he was subjected to threats, abuse, and lies orchestrated by his FDA superiors.28 The FDA Commissioner who approved Vioxx resigned and then went on to become senior counsel for Merck’s PR firm.28 Horton summarized, “with Vioxx, Merck and the FDA acted out of ruthless, short-sighted, and irresponsible self-interest.”20

Good journalists get extremely angry when they’ve been had. The major media do not generally spew scientific nonsense. It would appear to take a budget on the order of the $410 million for Merck’s prior Vioxx promotion19 to get incisive, respected journalists such as Paul Waldman of the Washington Post29 and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC30 to be duped into echoing Merck’s February PR claim that ivermectin is unsafe. Yet good journalists get extremely angry when they’ve been had. Any newsroom can fact check that ivermectin is FDA approved for human use, Nobel prize-honored, developed by Merck, now molnupiravir’s competitor, and extremely safe. Such brazen overreach can easily backfire into focus on Merck’s prior drug misinformation campaign. It takes rare PR brilliance for Merck, with its new drug release pending, to prompt a searing revisit of its past tactics in promoting its deadly drug, Vioxx.

On the science behind ivermectin and COVID-19, including clinical, animal, and molecular studies, see this recently published review.18 Its lead author is a prominent clinical researcher at Yale. Two coauthors are in the line of the only two Nobel prize-honored treatment breakthroughs for infectious diseases since the one for streptomycin in 1952. Notably, coauthor Thomas Borody in 1990 published the first clinical trial for the cure for H. pylori (peptic ulcers).31 That cure consisted of three repurposed inexpensive drugs: two antibiotics and bismuth.18 It was adopted immediately in Australia, in 1990, saving an estimated 18,000 lives.32 A decade later, after the patents for the billion dollar palliative drugs, Tagamet and Zantac, expired, that cure became the standard of care for peptic ulcers in the rest of the world.18

Ivermectin safety. Ivermectin is well tolerated even at ten times the standard dose of 200 μg/kg,33,34 and at high doses, in particular, for COVID-19 treatment.35,36 Cancer patients who took ivermectin at five times that standard dose daily for up to 180 consecutive days had no serious adverse effects from it, in experimental protocols with harsh additional drugs.37 Of 19 patients who took extreme overdoses up to 1,000-fold that standard dose of either ivermectin or the closely related abamectin, all using veterinary forms, only one 72-year-old male who took 440 times the standard dose died.38

As noted, ivermectin is FDA approved for human use,4 and as is the case with all but one of current COVID- 19 treatment drugs, is used off-label for COVID treatment. More generally, 21% of all drug prescriptions in the US are off-label.39,40 Since many news reports have hopelessly confounded the human and veterinary forms of ivermectin, this clarification is useful. Only human drug forms of ivermectin can be recommended for human use. Products for external animal use generally contain ingredients unfit for human consumption. The injectable liquids typically contain glycerol formal, which tastes nasty but is not toxic; these can be overdosed if not dispensed carefully. Most COVID-19 patients facing life-and-death decisions without access to the human drug have used the 1.87% horse paste in a squeeze tube for oral animal ingestion.

Do no harm. It should be noted that in the US, the standard treatment recommendation for the early stage of COVID is palliative, to take Tylenol.41 (Note, incidentally, that in the US, acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdoses account for more than 100,000 calls to poison control centers, 56,000 emergency room visits and an estimated 458 deaths from acute liver failure each year.42) Therefore, per the Hippocratic oath of do no harm, given the safety of ivermectin and solid indications of clinical efficacy against COVID-19,18 it is unconscionable to place obstacles to such clinical use. It is clear that the quest for profits has at times subverted public health, for example, with Merck’s Vioxx, and with the ten-year delay in the deployment of the cure for peptic ulcers until the patents for two billion-dollar drugs expired. It behooves all parties to study the science and refrain from and rectify misleading, negative reports about ivermectin.

David E. Scheim, PhD

US Public Health Service, Commissioned Corps, Inactive Reserve Blacksburg, VA

[email protected]

Below are links to key documents, including internal files from Merck and publications from major scientific journals as relate to the above.

Merck press release of April 28, 2000: University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library, qqqw0217. “In response to speculative news reports. Merck & Co., Inc. today confirmed the favorable cardiovascular safety profile of Vioxx.”1

Seife, Oct 1, 2016. Scientific American. How the FDA Manipulates the Media. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been arm-twisting journalists into relinquishing their reportorial independence, our investigation reveals.”43

Moynihan 2009. Court hears how drug giant Merck tried to “neutralize” and “discredit” doctors critical of Vioxx.26

Horton 2004, Lancet. Vioxx, the implosion of Merck, and aftershocks at the FDA.20

Merck’s sales presentation, “Dodge Ball Vioxx.”21 University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library, nghw0217, 2007.

Testimony of David J. Graham, MD, Associate Director for Science and Medicine, FDA, Office of Drug Safety.22

Curfman et al., 2000. Expression of concern: Bombardier et al., “Comparison of upper gastrointestinal toxicity of rofecoxib and naproxen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.24

Gotzsche, 2017, with forewords by Richard Smith, past editor-in-chief, The British Medical Journal, and Drummond Rennie, deputy editor, JAMA. Deadly Medicines and Organized Crime.28 Excerpts from Chapter 19.

List of doctors, Neutralize/discredit. University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library, pmhw0217, 2007.25

Email from Douglas Alan Greene to Barry J. Gertz, October 14, 2001. University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library, khpd0217.44

Topol, 2004, New England Journal of Medicine. Failing the Public Health — Rofecoxib, Merck, and the FDA.45

Eric Topol loses provost/chief academic officer titles at Cleveland Clinic and Lerner College, Medscape, December 11, 2005.46 “Dr Eric Topol may no longer be the provost of the medical college he helped establish and has lost his title as chief academic officer at the Cleveland Clinic, a result of institutional ‘reorganization,’ the renowned cardiologist was told one week ago today. Topol was informed that the change was ‘effective immediately,’ despite the fact that the board of trustees will only today be voting on the restructuring plan. Conspicuously, Topol’s ostensible loss of authority . . . came days after a federal jury heard Topol’s videotaped deposition in the latest Vioxx lawsuit. In it, Topol accused Merck of ‘scientific misconduct’ and testified that Merck’s former chair, Raymond Gilmartin, had in the past called fellow Harvard MBA alumnus Malachi Mixon, the chair of the clinic’s board of trustees, to complain about Topol’s vocal anti-Vioxx stance.”

2001 Profit Plan for Vioxx. University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library, mxpd0217, September 1, 2000.19

Grant, The Scientist, April 29, 2009. Merck published fake medical journal.47 It had the appearance of a peer reviewed journal, but was instead a marketing tool.

Letter from James Fries, MD, to Raymond Gilmartin, CEO of Merck, January 9, 2001, University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library, ltgw0217.48 As described in a letter from a Stanford University professor, James Fries, MD, to the CEO of Merck, Merck “employees have systematically attacked those investigators or speakers who expressed what Merck staff felt were critical opinions.” Fries noted individual cases of eight scientists with academic appointments jeopardized, speaking engagements canceled.

NPR, November 10, 2007. Timeline: The Rise and Fall of Vioxx.49

References

Merck Statement on Ivermectin use During the COVID-19 Pandemic. February 4, 2021: https://www.merck.com/news/mer…ng-the-covid-19-pandemic/.

Yagisawa M, Foster PJ, Hanaki H, et al. Global Trends in Clinical Studies of Ivermectin in COVID-19. The Japanese Journal of Antibiotics. 2021;74(1).

Crump A, Ōmura S. Ivermectin, ‘wonder drug’ from Japan: the human use perspective. Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci. 2011;87(2):13-28.

Juarez M, Schcolnik-Cabrera A, Dueñas-Gonzalez A. The multitargeted drug ivermectin: from an antiparasitic agent to a repositioned cancer drug. Am J Cancer Res. 2018;8(2):317-331.

Lavender P. FDA Warns Against Using Livestock Drug To Treat COVID-19. Huffington Post. August 21, 2021. https://www.huffpost.com/entry…_61214f75e4b0caf7ce312ec1.

Wade P. The FDA Is Begging You Not to Take Horse Dewormer for Covid-19. Rolling Stone. August 21, 2021. https://www.rollingstone.com/p…r-covid-fox-news-1215168/.

Medina E. Health officials warn people not to treat Covid with a drug meant for livestock. New York Times. August 21, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/0…a-covid-19-treatment.html.

Politi D. Health Officials Warn Against Using Ivermectin forCOVID-19 Amid Rise in Poisonings. Slate. August 21, 2021. https://slate.com/news-and-pol…rmectin-covid-poisonings- mississippi.html.

Ivermectin: Oklahoma doctor warns against using drug for Covid treatment. BBC. September 4, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58449876.

Wade P. Gunshot Victims Left Waiting as Horse Dewormer Overdoses Overwhelm Oklahoma Hospitals, Doctor Says. Rolling Stone. September 3, 2021. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics- news/gunshot-victims-horse-dewormer-ivermectin-oklahoma-hospitals-covid-1220608/.

Pengelly M. Oklahoma hospitals deluged by ivermectin overdoses, doctor says. The Guardian. September 4, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/wo…rmectin-covid-coronavirus.

Teh C. Oklahoma’s ERs are so backed up with people overdosing on ivermectin that gunshot victims are having to wait to be treated, a doctor says. MSN. September 5, 2021. https://www.msn.com/en- us/health/medical/oklahomas-ers-are-so-backed-up-with-people-overdosing-on-ivermectin-that-gunshot- victims-are-having-to-wait-to-be-treated-a-doctor-says/ar-AAO38Tm?li=BBnb7Kz.

Lie But Fake News Ran with It Anyway. MSNBC-TV. September 5, 2021. https://msnbctv.news/2021/09/0…-porn-that-people-taking- ivermectin-are-flooding-local-hospitals-turns-out-to-be-complete-lie-but-fake-news-ran-with-it-anyway/.

Carroll C. Rolling Stone‘s ivermectin fiction shows why Republicans don’t trust media. Washington Examiner. September 5, 2021. https://www.washingtonexaminer…olling-stones-ivermectin- fiction-shows-why-republicans-dont-trust-media.

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Press release. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet; October 5, 2015: https://www.nobelprize.org/pri…icine/2015/press-release/.

Lehrer S, Rheinstein PH. Ivermectin Docks to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor-binding Domain Attached to ACE2. In Vivo. 2020;34(5):3023-3026.

Zaidi AK, Dehgani-Mobaraki P. The mechanisms of action of Ivermectin against SARS-CoV-2: An evidence-based clinical review article. The Journal of Antibiotics. 2021;10.1038/s41429-021-00430-5.

Santin AD, Scheim DE, McCullough PA, et al. Ivermectin: a multifaceted drug of Nobel prize-honored distinction with indicated efficacy against a new global scourge, COVID-19. New Microbes and New Infections. 2021; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nmni.2021.100924:100924.

2001 Profit Plan for Vioxx, September 1, 2000. University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library. https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/docs/#id=mxpd0217. Accessed September 6, 2021.

Horton R. Vioxx, the implosion of Merck, and aftershocks at the FDA. Lancet. 2004;364(9450):1995-1996.

Merck Presentation re: dodge ball. University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library. https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/docs/#id=nghw0217. Published 2007. Accessed September 6, 2021.

Testimony of David J. Graham, MD, Associate Director for Science and Medicine, FDA, Office of Drug Safety. US Senate Finance Committee; November 18, 2004: https://www.finance.senate.gov…edia/doc/111804dgtest.pdf.

Bhattacharya S. Up to 140,000 heart attacks linked to Vioxx. New Scientist. January 25, 2005. https://www.newscientist.com/a…-heart-attacks-linked-to- vioxx/#ixzz75GQgdWKg.

Curfman GD, Morrissey S, Drazen JM. Expression of concern: Bombardier et al., “Comparison of upper gastrointestinal toxicity of rofecoxib and naproxen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis,” N Engl J Med 2000;343:1520-8. N Engl J Med. 2005;353(26):2813-2814.

List of doctors — Neutralize/discredit. University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library. https://www.industrydocuments.…du/drug/docs/#id=pmhw0217. Published 2007. Accessed September 6, 2021.

Moynihan R. Court hears how drug giant Merck tried to “neutralise” and “discredit” doctors critical of Vioxx. British Medical Journal. 2009;338:b1432.

Baxter LG. Chaper 2: Understanding Regulatory Capture: An Academic Perspective from the United States. In: Pagliari S, ed. The Making of Good Financial Regulation: Towards a Policy Response to Regulatory Capture. Guildford, Surrey, UK: Grovesnor House Publishing Ltd; 2012.

Gotzsche P. Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Healthcare. 1st edition ed: CRC Press; 2017:238-240,247.

Waldman P. Opinion: How right-wing media and social isolation lead people to eat horse paste. Washington Post. August 31, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com…/31/how-right-wing-media- social-isolation-lead-people-eat-horse-paste/.

Maddow R. New facet of Covid crisis: Misguided people taking ivermectin anti-parasite animal drug. MSNBC. August 28. 2021. https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-m…ew-facet-of-covid-crisis- misguided-people-taking-ivermectin-anti-parasite-animal-drug-119660101526.

George LL, Borody TJ, Andrews P, et al. Cure of duodenal ulcer after eradication of Helicobacter pylori. Med J Aust. 1990;153(3):145-149.

Eslick GD, Tilden D, Arora N, et al. Clinical and economic impact of “triple therapy” for Helicobacter pylori eradication on peptic ulcer disease in Australia. Helicobacter. 2020;25(6):e12751.

Guzzo CA, Furtek CI, Porras AG, et al. Safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of escalating high doses of ivermectin in healthy adult subjects. J Clin Pharmacol. 2002;42(10):1122-1133.

Navarro M, Camprubí D, Requena-Méndez A, et al. Safety of high-dose ivermectin: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 2020;75(4):827-834.

López-Medina E, López P, Hurtado IC, et al. Effect of Ivermectin on Time to Resolution of Symptoms Among Adults With Mild COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2021;10.1001/jama.2021.3071.

Krolewiecki A, Lifschitz A, Moragas M, et al. Antiviral effect of high-dose ivermectin in adults with COVID- 19: A proof-of-concept randomized trial. EClinicalMedicine. 2021;37.

de Castro CG, Jr., Gregianin LJ, Burger JA. Continuous high-dose ivermectin appears to be safe in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia and could inform clinical repurposing for COVID-19 infection. Leuk Lymphoma. 2020;61(10):2536-2537.

Chung K, Yang CC, Wu ML, et al. Agricultural avermectins: an uncommon but potentially fatal cause of pesticide poisoning. Ann Emerg Med. 1999;34(1):51-57.

Radley DC, Finkelstein SN, Stafford RS. Off-label prescribing among office-based physicians. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(9):1021-1026.

Stafford RS. Regulating Off-Label Drug Use — Rethinking the Role of the FDA. N Engl J Med. 2008;358(14):1427-1429.

Managing COVID-19 at Home. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; August 17, 2021: https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-c…on/managing-covid-19-home.

Lee WM. Acetaminophen and the U.S. Acute Liver Failure Study Group: lowering the risks of hepatic failure. Hepatology. 2004;40(1):6-9.

Seife C. How the FDA Manipulates the Media. Scientific American. October 1, 2016. https://www.scientificamerican…da-manipulates-the-media/.

Email from Douglas Alan Greene to Barry J. Gertz, October 14, 2001. University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library. https://www.industrydocuments.…du/drug/docs/#id=khpd0217. Accessed September 6, 2021.

Topol EJ. Failing the Public Health — Rofecoxib, Merck, and the FDA. New England Journal of Medicine. 2004;351(17):1707-1709.

Wood S. Eric Topol loses provost/chief academic officer titles at Cleveland Clinic and Lerner College. Medscape. December 11, 2005. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/788062.

Grant B. Merck published fake journal. The Scientist Magazine. April 29, 2009. https://www.the- scientist.com/the-nutshell/merck-published-fake-journal-44190.

Letter from James Fries, MD, to Raymond Gilartin, CEO of Merck, January 9. 2001. University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library. https://www.industrydocuments.…du/drug/docs/#id=ltgw0217. Accessed September 6, 2021.

Timeline: The Rise and Fall of Vioxx. NPR. November 10, 2007. https://www.npr.org/2007/11/10…he-rise-and-fall-of-vioxx.

It is always worth checking a reference when Wyttenbach deigns to provide one. Usually it only takes a 30 seconds or so to discover the flagrant error that caused his misunderstanding.

You might think the following is a mere example of the Dunning-Kruger effect. (i.e. when idiots are incapable of accounting for their idiocy). But I think its something more insidious - He believes whatever he wants to believe, despite contradictory evidence staring him directly in the face.

Quote from Wyttenbach

See Figure 12 : https://assets.publishing.serv…Technical_Briefing_20.pdf

Double vaccinated have a lower CT value than single vaccinated !!! This means higher virus load with delta what is a clear sign of ADE, that could become much worse with new variants.

So in the near future we will only see CoV-19 deaths among once double, triple, quadruple vaccinated due to ADE to new mutations.

Higher Ct means lower viral load.

Now how did I discover this fact? Funnily enough it was written in the first sentence below that 'figure 12' Wyttenbach was ranting about.

Which makes the following quote regurgitated from yesterday all the more delicious:

Quote from Wyttenbach

Only children site research papers line by line without understanding what these lines mean.

Although to be fair, I think Wyttenbach is more on the 'Biden' end of the scale than the 'child' end. Perhaps we should revise upward that 3% risk of his unvaccinated 63 year old ass dying on us, god forbid?

Quote from Fm1

Yes it restores but for how long, will we need another booster in January just to get through flu season?

That depends on nature, and evolution. It is not under human control. If we need another booster, that will still be cheaper and safer than a breakthrough case. However, I believe experts say only one per year will be needed in the worst case. Like a flu shot. I don't mind getting a flu shot every year.

If everyone would get vaccinated, we wouldn't need a booster. So, if you are looking for someone to blame for this mess, point the finger at the unvaccinated idiots.

Quote from Fm1

And your repurposing tech is an excellent idea, maybe they should try that with drugs!!!

I am sure you know that remdesiver and all of the other FDA approved drugs for treating COVID are repurposed. Only the vaccines are new. So, you are demanding the researchers do what they have already done. You will not take "yes" for an answer.

Quote from THHuxleynew

The regulatory hurdles for any vaccine are high, I believe any change and you have to go through the full process, but it is less troublesome and regulators easier to satisfy if the changes are small from something known safe.

Months ago I read in the NYT or someplace that a change to the mRNA vaccine would not require the full process. It would be pre-approved. I guess it would not need things like 60,000 people in a double-blind test. I don't know the details. Perhaps the regulators changed their minds. Or perhaps the researchers are considering a bigger change than they originally planned?

The researchers say it would be easy for them to target the Delta variant. I think they are already doing that.

Quote from Bob#2

The Delta variant has been around now for months... why has not the vaccines been modified...

Because they went all in with 1.351.... They can scratch all the booster now!

Quote from Alan Smith

Officials say vaccines are highly effective against the Delta variant, now the dominant variant worldwide, though the study reiterated that one shot of the vaccines is not enough for high protection.

This is the world wide FUD spread by the big pharma mafia. Reality shows the vaccines do not work for delta. Look at the post details above.

It simply is nuts to look at studies made 2 weeks after boosters that already killed some 100 Israel people due to induced CoV-19. You have to look at the data of 4 months after vaccination!

Quote from JedRothwell

There is a surge in Israel, and there are more deaths, but they are nearly all among unvaccinated people.

Where did you get this nonsense from?? Most killed in Israel are among vaccinated!

Quote from Zeus46

Higher Ct means lower viral load.

Even an undergraduate should understand the figure. Please ask if you need help... I know children have always problem in case lower means higher...

Quote from Alan Smith

I think you should look at these stats - this is my patch, and the case-rate is flat. Would not be significant if it was not for the facts that the next county over is the place where the Delta variant (AKA the Johnson variant) was first detected, and that we have a high vaccination rate locally.

https://www.havering.gov.uk/do…ending_27_august_2021.pdf

Schools are opening this week, it should be interesting to see if it stays flat, I hope it does but I'm not holding my breath. The past 5 weeks the sun has been very active, get your ivermectin!

I think the effect of schools - which has often been lower than expected - but maybe not for delta - is still TBC and may be OK. However things like parents meeting after school, everyone going back to offices and commuting after a socially distanced Summer, all those things we know will matter.

Still COVID is mysterious. We don't really know how close to useful herd immunity the UK is. We have 80% over-16 double vaccinated, and 90% antibody-positive. That is an achievement the US would weep to get, and one reason we have flat rates in spite of lots of population in crowded cities and cramped housing...

Quote from THHuxleynew

We don't really know how close to useful herd immunity the UK is.

As in all countries that only used the two worst vaccines (Pfizer, Astra-Oxford) the UK see a constant uptick in deaths among vaccinated.

As the last report (22) shows ICU/DEATH age > 50 among vaccinated/unvaccinated is 3:1. the ratio vaccinated/unvaccinated is close to 9:1. So the vaccine efficiency over all now is at 66% for death but < "0"! for a delta infection.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1014926/Technical_Briefing_22_21_09_02.pdf

The UK CoV-19 death rate is high. 120/deaths a day or about 2 deaths/million, Here it is about 0.6/mio. 0.3 in Germany but 1.4 in France. So the difference to Germany is big albeit Germany has a much lower vaccination rate....