2y ago

President Joe Biden says he will request more funding for a new coronavirus vaccine

abcnews.go.com President Joe Biden says he will request more funding for a new coronavirus vaccine

President Joe Biden said Friday that he is planning to request more money from Congress to develop another new coronavirus vaccine, as scientists track new waves and hospitalizations rise, though not like before

91 comments

So, just a general message to all the commenters who are eye-rolling this:
Viruses mutate, and COVID has mutated continuously since it has been in the wild. All those shots did serve a purpose to continue to provide protection, and that this one will too.
You're tired? Viruses don't get tired. It's not only a good thing, it's a miracle that we even are able to keep up with these mutations and almost completely mitigate the risk of, oh, just death and life-long debilitating symptoms with a 15 minute visit to the doctor to get a shot every so often.
- Viruses mutate, and COVID has mutated continuously since it has been in the wild. All those shots did serve a purpose to continue to provide protection, and that this one will too.
  It's somewhat baffling that this needs repeating after three years of COVID, but yet here we are.
  
  the ones that really need to 'hear' it at this point, won't ever 'listen', regardless of how often it's repeated.
- Not even the doctor. I've never once gone to the doctor to get a COVID shot. Once a clinic and the rest of the time CVS or Kroger or whoever has the most convenient appointment time.
  
  First time visiting our city's new sports stadium was ending the pandemic with a long queue of people getting vaccinated.
- We had 1 chance to eradicate COVID and that was when countries first started locking down. We failed... Miserably. So now COVID is endemic, meaning it is NEVER GOING TO GO AWAY. We will be going in for COVID and Flu shots every year for the foreseeable future. If we are lucky, they'll eventually be able to roll the flu and COVID shots into one inoculation.
  
  The terrible part being that Covid is several times more deadly than the flu, so we're going to have 60,000 more deaths on average per year than we used to. And that's only until some other viral epidemic occurs.
- Yeah, we all know that viruses mutate. That’s like 4th grade science. We all know that new vaccines would be part of the deal. After all they roll out a new flu vaccine every year. I’m not saying that Covid is comparable in devastation to the flu. I’m just saying that anyone who even halfway knows how things work knew this would be the deal.
  That’s why I don’t care. I knew from the beginning that this would be how this played out. It’s not a bad thing. I’m not an “anti-vaxer”. Everybody should get their yearly Covid vaccine and flu vaccine.
  But when you knew this is how it would work all along it’s not really news is it? It kind of feels like they are just distracting from providing real help to struggling people.

So the government will fund it with tax money, and pharma companies will sell it back to the government for “undisclosed” amount. Did i get it right? Oh what capitalism will do for our collective good.
- Still an improvement over the current policy of "shut the fuck up, covid is over."

Republicans will fight him on this, because somehow they’ll find fault in this if a DEMOCRAT does it.
- To be fair, the companies are raking in huge profits on the vaccines still. They can afford to do faster research themselves. If the public coffers pay, they should get equity.
  
  Hey, lemme know when we get that dividend for the oil profits we’ve been subsidizing for decades.
- A majority of their voters are antivaxxers, so it is not just because a Democrat doing it. It is the fact that it is being done at all.
  
  Not a majority, but a substantial number of them. Majority of Republicans got vaccinated, and even a slim majority favored vaccine mandates, but that eroded as it became a Party talking point.

If the government funds the research and development of a vaccine then any taxpayer should get it for free. None of this handing money to a pharma company only for them to sell it back to us bullshit.
- And if it gets sold for profit to other countries, we as the investors should see some dividends too.

Every day i'm thankful to the people who voted Biden/Harris and ousted the criminal fascist trump admin. THANK YOU from Canada.

They are already working on a new booster that should be out at the end of September, but I don't know if it is targeted enough for the new dominant Eris variant, whose main mutation allows it to better escape prior immune detection, or with the emerging Pirola variant, which has a concerning 30 new mutations whose effects are still being investigated.
So, an entirely new vaccine to deal with the newer mutated variants would be great. And with the advances in mRNA vaccine development over the past few years, it shouldn't take long to make a new vaccine either.

I'm immunocompromised and have to stop some of my drugs to take the vaccines. There's no way I can do it again.
- Then you should pray that everybody else does, you know
  
  I don't do magic, but, yeah, I'll have to be careful.
  I just can't do it again. I'll kill myself before going through more pain like that. I just got my meds back after having to stop one for a while over liver enzymes. I like being able to button my pants and shower. Being able to work and make money is also lovely.
- Imagine downvoting someone expressing their legitimate experience with a challenging problem they face.
  Or you got downvote brigaded. Either way, this is a valid concern but unfortunately just underlines the reality of being immunocompromised - you are vulnerable and it is the responsibility of your friends family and neighbors to think about the vulnerable and do these things to protect people like you so you can live as long and healthy as possible.
  
  Yeah, it's kind of wild. The original point of herd immunity was to cover for people that for whatever reason couldn't vaccinate. Luckily, the array of bullshit I'm on hasn't caused huge problems past feeling like shit and becoming lactose intolerant.

That'll turn those dropping pharma stocks trending back up.

Maybe this time it will go through the correct channels. None of this "get it out quick" bs.

Yes, keep making more vaccines but don’t make people wear masks and keep distances. Theres literally nothing we can do to prevent diseases spreading besides vaccines. Surely covid was the last virus to threaten us.
- When do we stop wearing masks, in your estimation? Never, since airborne diseases will always exist?
  
  When you’re not breathing ten centimeters away from me. Thank you
- You're the first anti-vax, pro-mask person I've ever seen.
  
  Mate, im not anti vax. Im simply saying that the vaccine is not the only way for us to defend against diseases. We can do things to prevent them, much cheaper and quite reasonable things.

Why not the Flu too? Both are similar now it seems and both are a nuisance. Why just a vaccine for Coronavirus?
- I'm pretty sure there's already a flu vaccine for this year's strains, what with me having already gotten one.
  
  Right you are.

These days the coronavirus isn't really severe anymore right? Not saying that research should be stopped, but wondering if those who were going to die due to coronavirus sir to other health complications in combination with COVID probably already did die, which would be a majority of the deaths. (Yes, it is quite brutal but I believe this is true). These days even masks are not worn.
- Every COVID variant has the possibility to be more transmissible and more deadly. Taking this with the cavalier attitude you want to is ridiculous. You sound like the "it's just the flu" people, who ignore the fact that 50 million people died of the flu in 1918.
  COVID needs funding because COVID is even more serious. We don't know how to treat it as well as we do influenza, which is well-studied and nowhere near as novel.
  So it doesn't matter if it isn't severe right now. The potential is not worth taking lightly.
- Don't forget about that often ignored long COVID possibility either. The research is suggesting that each time you get COVID your chances of having more issues down the road go up. I don't know if the risk is increased that much yet, but it's a worrying trend that it seems mainstream media have stopped reporting on (probably because the economies needed people to get back to work).
- Whether you think COVID isn't that bad anymore or not, it's sucks to get it. I would 100% take a shot every year instead of the flu shot if it meant I wasn't bedridden for weeks
  
  Not to mention long COVID.
- SARS-CoV-2 isn't really any less severe, if anything the newer variants are more aggressive, but in a way that's a good thing. The original strain had a particularly long incubation period, meaning an infectious person could do a lot of social mixing before the first symptoms appeared, and the same for all the people they came in contact with, leading to an explosion in cases that could overwhelm healthcare systems. There were varying reports of two weeks all the way up to a month.
  Now, between more aggressive strains, and pre-existing antibodies from vaccines and/or prior exposure (even if "outdated") the immune response kicks in much faster and people know they have it much sooner and there's less opportunities for spread (even if some assholes don't care and mix anyway). That combined with awareness of the virus and better treatment for the manageable number of people who get seriously ill means society is able to cope much better while "returning to normality"
  Still sucks for individuals who get severe cases even now.

Who fucking cares. I’m so tired of the coronavirus. I got the first vaccine, and all 3 boosters. Plus I caught corona. Twice. I don’t fucking care any more. Let’s talk about housing. Let’s talk about minimum wage. Let’s talk about healthcare. I’d take dental care and optical at this point.
- Ugh, if only we knew we could have fixed it years ago by saying we’re tired of it. That would have saved a lot of hassle.
  Research into vaccines doesn’t preclude any of those conversations and coronavirus still uses up lots of health resources. Better vaccines for new variants would help healthcare in general.
  
  So, I guess you don’t know how viruses work? Well they mutate really fast. So you constantly have to make new vaccines to deal with the new variants. See, if you had known this about viruses. Then you would have known from the beginning that new vaccines at least every year would be part of the deal, and then this wouldn’t be news at all.
  I think everyone should get their vaccine if they can afford it. After all in America flu vaccines cost money, and I guarantee these new COVID vaccines won’t be free. I mean at some point these pharmaceutical companies have to make money right?
  That’s why I’m tired of it. I want the vaccine. Hell, I want treatment for TMJ. But if you can’t afford it. All the cool new vaccines in the world won’t matter.
- They said it late in the pandemic too: we may be tired of that virus but unfortunately it doesn't care and it is not done with us.
  
  Oh, I know. Is this vaccine going to be free? I would like the new vaccine. Like, I’m not an anti-vaxxer. But I literally just had to take out a loan to get a tooth filled. How much will this vaccine cost? Because like you said. This virus isn’t done with us. It never will be. How much are the yearly vaccines going to cost Americans?
- Good for you bud and so happy that you don’t give a shit anymore! So sorry that you can’t seem to understand that a virus that kills people other than you is a bad thing.
  
  Oh, I think you misunderstood. First off i think everyone should get vaccinated. Like, I would like to get the new vaccine. But how long are these vaccines going to be free in America? After all the flu vaccine isn’t free. I can’t afford one of those. Shingles vaccine isn’t free. I can’t afford that either, and I’ve had shingles. It fucken hurts.
  If you even halfway paid attention in grade school science, or realized that a new flu virus is rolled out every year to combat the new strains. You knew this is how the vaccine situation was going to work. If you knew from the beginning that this is how vaccines work. Well, it’s not exactly news is it?
  Meanwhile my rent doubled in 3 years. I literally just took out a loan to get a tooth filled. I live everyday in pain from TMJ.
- I don't care about it, so that means we shouldn't focus on it anymore!
  
  I didn’t say that we shouldn’t focus on it. But here’s a question for ya. How much is this new vaccine going to cost Americans? I mean the same people that charge ridiculous amounts of money for insulin aren’t going to give away vaccines right? Is the US government going to pay for these vaccines for everyone? All the vaccines in the world do no good if people can’t afford them.
- You tired, but the virus doesn't
  
  If we all sit completely still maybe the virus will just pass over us. We could commemorate that day and turn it into a holiday and call it "Overpass" or something.
- Aw honey.

Oh you mean to tell me that the first 6 needles they offered up did absolutely nothing for the long run? Guess we’ll just toss another 6 needles into everyone for this type of Covid too. Wonder how quickly the whole population has long term health problems due to that.
- Lemme guess… you have a degree in immunology from trump university
  
  Close. It was the school of hard knocks. Equally shitty.
- Nobody got 6 doses, so you’re already strawmanning.
  Second, the original vaccine was highly effective against original Covid. Then it mutated so a booster was necessary, and that was dramatically effective in the long run. Deaths fell. Hospitalizations fell. Long Covid fell. The change in those factors is what allowed life to resume.
- Antivaxxers are a shitplague.
- Damizel
  Wonder how quickly the whole population has long term health problems due to that.
  I'd prefer avoiding to contribute to the worst long term health problem. Death.
  Get your vaccines people.
- It'll continue to be better than the long term health problems caused by actual Covid infections.
  This is not going to be different from the annual flu vaccine. None of this is unusual or surprising. Get your shots, folks.
- Hey man, it’s your life, but I wouldn’t go advertising to the world if I was uneducated and gullible
- Turns out the way to approach problems changes as the problem changes. Who knew?
- And what's your scientific basis for thinking that?
- Creationism isn't a good look.

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