A Potential COVID-19 Vaccine

[John Clark]

A lab in Briton has used genetic engineering to jump ahead of everybody else and has developed a COVID-19 vaccine in record time. It seems safe in humans and has been shown to work with rhesus macaque monkeys. Six of the animals were given one shot of the vaccine and then exposed to very high levels of COVID-19. Animals that didn't get the vaccine consistently got sick, but after 28 days all 6 vaccinated monkeys remained healthy. Last week a Phase 1 clinical trial involving 1,100 humans started and next month a combined Phase 2 and Phase 3 trial involving 6,000 people will start, it will be the first time any COVID-19 vaccine is tested for effectiveness and not just safety. If it works in humans as well as it does in monkeys (a big IF) we could manufacture several million doses of the vaccine by September, much earlier than previously thought.

Keep your fingers crossed, I don't believe that superstition helps but they say it works even if you don't believe it.

In Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine, an Oxford Group Leaps Ahead

John K Clark.

[Alan Grayson]

Supposing the most optimistic outcome becomes a reality, will it come soon enough to avoid an economic depression? West Texas Intermediate, a quoted grade of crude oil, is now trading around $13 per barrel, way too low for US shale, fracking, and crude producers to avoid bankruptcy. And given the dire effects on small businesses, apartment renters and those holding mortgages, the combined effects of bad debt implies a full blown banking crisis is an ominous near term threat. AG 

[Alan Grayson]

WTI crude now around $12/barrel, compared to its average price during 2019 of about $54/barrel, way too low for any producer, by any method, can make a profit, SA being the only exception. I see a major banking crisis by summer, or possibly earlier. AG 

 

 

 

[smitra]

On 28-04-2020 02:30, Alan Grayson wrote:
> On Monday, April 27, 2020 at 2:01:48 PM UTC-6, Alan Grayson wrote:
>
>> On Monday, April 27, 2020 at 1:31:36 PM UTC-6, John Clark wrote:
>>
>>> A lab in Briton has used genetic engineering to jump ahead of
>>> everybody else and has developed a COVID-19 vaccine in record
>>> time. It seems safe in humans and has been shown to work with
>>> rhesus macaque monkeys. Six of the animals were given one shot of
>>> the vaccine and then exposed to very high levels of COVID-19.
>>> Animals that didn't get the vaccine consistently got sick, but
>>> after 28 days all 6 vaccinated monkeys remained healthy. Last week
>>> a Phase 1 clinical trial involving 1,100 humans started and next
>>> month a combined Phase 2 and Phase 3 trial involving 6,000 people
>>> will start, it will be the first time any COVID-19 vaccine is
>>> tested for effectiveness and not just safety. If it works in
>>> humans as well as it does in monkeys (a big IF) we could
>>> manufacture several million doses of the vaccine by September,
>>> much earlier than previously thought.
>>>
>>> Keep your fingers crossed, I don't believe that superstition helps
>>> but they say it works even if you don't believe it.
>>>

>>> In Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine, an Oxford Group Leaps Ahead [1]

>>>
>>> John K Clark.
>>
>> Supposing the most optimistic outcome becomes a reality, will it
>> come soon enough to avoid an economic depression? West Texas
>> Intermediate, a quoted grade of crude oil, is now trading around $13
>> per barrel, way too low for US shale, fracking, and crude producers
>> to avoid bankruptcy. And given the dire effects on small businesses,
>> apartment renters and those holding mortgages, the combined effects
>> of bad debt implies a full blown banking crisis is an ominous near
>> term threat. AG
>
> WTI crude now around $12/barrel, compared to its average price during
> 2019 of about $54/barrel, way too low for any producer, by any method,
> can make a profit, SA being the only exception. I see a major banking
> crisis by summer, or possibly earlier. AG

An economic depression is rather simple to prevent, precisely because
the while World is affected by this problem. Everyone essentially owes a
debt to everyone else, so you can at least in principle just ignore all
the debts and restart all the business as usual. This then requires
another system to absorb the debts and settle the bills later, this is
essentially what government borrowing to keep business running and
handing out money to people to buy food, achieves.

Saibal

[Brent Meeker]

It's not only a matter of paying debts.  The basis of an economy is
production.  If people are not working then things are not being
produced.  Handing out money doesn't make food or movies or clothes or
toilet paper appear.

Brent

>
> Saibal
>

[Alan Grayson]

Handing money to people, perhaps in the form of a guaranteed income, will prevent

the demise of small businesses, which employ tens of millions of Americans. AG