Clinical Pharmacologist by education. Breaking Science into easy to understand posts. No sensational headlines or politicizing. Just evidence based information. Toronto, Canada.
I have been getting a lot of questions on the AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine, and while data is evolving, here is some information Dr Elisabeth Marnik and I put together on its efficacy and safety. So far, it is very effective in preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death – both from clinical trial data as well
I made a stand-alone infographic on Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant and breastfeeding people because of how often this question comes up. It includes guidance from NACI and SOGC, as well as V-Safe Pregnancy Registry information released by CDC
I’ve received many questions on NACI’s most recent recommendations on delaying second doses up to 4 months. This is a complex topic, but I think important to discuss for transparency. The only absolute in science is that there are no absolutes. Throughout the pandemic, evidence has evolved and recommendations have changed based on new data.
Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccines becomes the 4th to receive Health Canada approval! 85% effective in preventing severe illness, 100% effective in preventing hospitalizations. Single dose, with data on efficacy in variants as well as preliminary data against asymptomatic disease. Best part – storage 2-8C. Will be a very valuable tool in our arsenal against
Now that we are at the cusp of getting other non-mRNA based Covid-19 vaccines, I wanted to take some time to explain how the Adenovirus vector vaccines work. Here’s is a simple infographic:
Here is an infographic showing the current variants of concern and the subsequent data on the vaccines. We currently have lab based data available, but expecting to see human trial data shortly. We do not expect to see as drastic a decrease (eg 6 fold) in efficacy given that neutralizing antibodies are only one component