Quote:
Originally Posted by iamfishhead
I have a friend who has a PhD in virology, and he said, from the reports and papers he's read, the Oxford one is showing all good signs and is reason to be positive.
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As you know, I think, I'm a retired MD and read everything I can on the subject, scientific and otherwise. I agree with your friend the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine candidate is in the lead but the Moderna, Phizer and J&J candidates also look promising (but don't be surprised if the Chinese and/or the Russians actually start giving the vaccines they are developing to their citizens before any in the West are approved). I am quite sure there will be one, maybe several, vaccines approved in the US by the end of the year and probably they/it will be available to the public early in 2021. But unless it's 80-90% effective or better, which I am less certain about, I will probably still be taking precautions as long as there is any significant community spread. And likely there will be enough people who don't get vaccinated and/or have not recovered from the disease so they are still susceptible to keep sporadic cases popping up. And, of course, the great unknown is how LONG the immunity you get from a vaccine lasts. If it's reliably at least a year, that's OK--I don't mind getting an annual booster along with my flu shot. But it it's only a few months, we've still got trouble.
Anyway, even if I get vaccinated, I think I'll be riding more Uber and less Muni (though right now I'm even afraid to ride in a car with a stranger, aka Uber driver). And there's a good chance I will be wearing an N95 mask the next Muni I take because even before COVID I caught several colds a year, most of them riding Muni I'm quite sure. Actually, one of the good things to come out of the COVID experience may be the increased acceptability of people other than little old Asian ladies wearing masks in public.