When politics meets cutting-edge science

[kiaa]

What doesn't a Dear Leader do for the sake of propaganda...

Russia Is Trying to Steal Virus Vaccine Data, Western Nations Say
"The hackers have been targeting British, Canadian and American organizations racing to create coronavirus vaccines."

‘This Is All Beyond Stupid.’ Experts Worry About Russia’s Rushed Vaccine
"Vaccines are among the safest medical products in the world — but only because of the intense rigor of the clinical trials that test their safety and effectiveness."

Russia Approves Coronavirus Vaccine Before Completing Tests
"The country became the first in the world to approve a possible vaccine against the virus, despite warnings from the global authorities against cutting corners."

Oh goodie, Putin's medical team has developed a cure! It's the most beautiful cure in history! Some may wonder how that's possible, what with the day and a half it took to do so, but hey, y'know Trump will no doubt believe comrade Vlad, and advertise the new "discovery" to substitute hydroxychloroquine and injected bleach in the list of wonder medicines. All shall be glorious, folks!

Really... What's the point of being "first" when the whole world believes your vaccine is crap? Worse, when science says it's most probably crap. When you endanger your own people, and the side effects inevitably start to kick in, what do you gain? This is indeed beyond stupid.

We all know where the problem is. This supposed vaccine has not yet been proven safe and efficient, nor has it passed the required clinical trials. Furthermore, the results have not yet been published or peer approved by credible experts. Therefore, this discovery is to be treated as a sad joke by an egomaniacal leader who censors and controls the flow of information to suit his agenda. Much like China.

Hopes are slim, but here they are: hopefully, China will be more forthcoming and transparent, and the results of their clinical trials will be published, verified and peer approved if they are to find a safe, effective vaccine. It's highly suspicious that China has not yet sent their vaccine to Canada to be tested in a large trial as promised several months ago.

As for the science,

"Turning to the literature, Light, Andrus, and Warburton (2009) outline the short pithy answer -- you need “a variable amount of time [...] plus about 5 years”. Here, the five years are the years necessary to get past clinical trials and registration[4], and the highly variable amount of time is the time you need to find a vaccine that will get past the clinical trials. After passing clinical trials, one would then need about 5-10 years to scale and distribute the vaccine (Hecht and Jameson, 2011)."
...
"Only 22% of developed vaccines are successful, start to finish (Struck, 1996)[6], which would mean that 4.5 vaccine candidates are needed on average to produce a workable vaccine."

So there it is. Russia's approach is obviously a joke. And yet, there'll be thousands if not millions who'd be welcoming it with glee. And some will be taking the untested vaccine. And then when it fails, those same folks will be bashing vaccines in general.

That's exactly how science gets torpedoed.

Comments

[mahnmut]

[ex_flameandsong751]

After the way 2020 has gone, I am lining right up for that. I think I might need two or three vaccines just to make sure it really works.

[johnny9fingers]

Uncle Vlad is betting on being lucky. He has been up to now.

By your own stats it’s a roll of the dice. Chancers gonna chance.

Ergo, BoJo, Trump, etc & etc.

[oportet]

If it works, good for them.

If it doesn't work - the world's opinion really wont change at all. They wont be punished or taken less seriously.

So from Vlady's point of view - there isnt really a downside here. It's either going to be a win, or worst case - a push.

[mikeyxw]

Politically, maybe. However, if it doesn't work, you're going to have a lot of Russians who think they're protected but aren't. The official line will also support this belief.

Of course, about 90% of those who die are over 65, so maybe Uncle Vlad is using this to reduce expenses for pensions and chronic medical conditions. That would be classic Uncle Joe.

[asthfghl]

One conspiracy theory says that this was the purpose of "releasing" the Coronavirus.

[mikeyxw]

Thinking this is a man made virus that was intentionally released is a bit too much. However, thinking a government is indifferent to the health of it's people, especially the old and sick, isn't really much of a stretch.

[dancesofthelight]

I mean it's Russia, since when have its rulers given a flying fuck about offering up a few Muzhiks for the glory of the autocrat?

[dancesofthelight]

I mean it is Russia, who's surprised that its dictators are trying to allege they can handwave a problem by proclaiming its existence solvable by propaganda slogans? Ask millions of Ukrainians how the last attempts to do that worked out in the 80s and the 30s.