10-05-2021, 12:45 PM
Another new treatment is on the way! AstraZeneca is seeking an Emergency Use Authorisation from the FDA regarding AZD7442. Apparently it reduces the risk of those jabbed with it developing Covid symptoms by 77%.
This jab isn’t a vaccine though. Vaccines act by prompting the body’s immune system to recognise and attack the Covid virus. But vaccines don’t have all that much benefit for immune-compromised people as the immune system often fails to respond as needed. This drug instead contains lab-made antibodies which stay in the body for months.
Apart from giving the immune-compromised some immunity they lack, perhaps it might also augment the immune response of those who have received a vaccine, but whether the benefits of this drug and vaccines are cumulative isn’t clear.
It is a cause for optimism that treatments and prophylactics such as this drug and other vaccines are being released at a steady clip and they are starting to fill in the gaps in vaccine coverage. Yet another reason to do everything we can to make sure we can delay infection as long as possible.
This jab isn’t a vaccine though. Vaccines act by prompting the body’s immune system to recognise and attack the Covid virus. But vaccines don’t have all that much benefit for immune-compromised people as the immune system often fails to respond as needed. This drug instead contains lab-made antibodies which stay in the body for months.
Apart from giving the immune-compromised some immunity they lack, perhaps it might also augment the immune response of those who have received a vaccine, but whether the benefits of this drug and vaccines are cumulative isn’t clear.
It is a cause for optimism that treatments and prophylactics such as this drug and other vaccines are being released at a steady clip and they are starting to fill in the gaps in vaccine coverage. Yet another reason to do everything we can to make sure we can delay infection as long as possible.