25 September, 2020
Brisbane woman's push to be infected with COVID pays off
The UK government has given the green light to controversial tests that could see Brisbane researcher Sophie Rose deliberately infected with coronavirus, which could also speed up the search for a vaccine by six months.
A coronavirus vaccine could be available six months earlier after a groundbreaking study proposed by a Brisbane public health student was approved.
Sophie Rose, a Brisbane Girls Grammar graduate, was behind a campaign to have volunteers deliberately infected with coronavirus to fast-track the testing of vaccines.
Now the British government has given it the green light.
Ms Rose was a key figure in the push for the trials as founder of campaign group 1DaySooner, which found 37,000 volunteers for trials and lobbied governments across the globe.
"I'm really excited. Given what's at stake we need to keep testing vaccines until we find the best vaccine that we can have," she said. "It's really exciting, I'm really pleased and proud of all our team."
The epidemiologist, who is studying at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has helped organised a coalition of public health heavyweights from across the world.
The trials will be conducted on a range of vaccines, which will help move them along the testing pathways, speeding up approvals by up to six months.
The Oxford vaccine, the world's front runner, was not involved in the challenge trials. It is already in stage three trials with results likely to come back before Christmas.
However, there are dozens of other vaccines at various stages of testing, including the University of Queensland's candidate, that could benefit from the challenge studies.
And while a vaccine such as the Oxford candidate may be approved, the studies will be able to check which other vaccines would be more effective, Ms Rose said.
The challenge trials were also important as lockdowns reduced the amount of virus circulating in a community.
That success makes it harder for scientists to work out if people were not infected because the vaccine worked or simply because they did not come into contact with a virus carrier.
"Say for example the Moderna vaccine works, we can only produce so many doses of that at a time," she said. "And the more people we have vaccinated then the less vaccine testing we can do because people have already been exposed to the virus."
Oxford researchers had to test in the United States, Brazil and South Africa to find a wider pool of the virus because, until recently, lockdowns had limited the spread of COVID-19 in Britain.
1 Day Sooner said in a statement that it welcomed the British government move. "These trials will help make COVID-19 vaccines equally accessible to everyone around the world, regardless of race or nationality by quickly narrowing the field of promising vaccine candidates," the group said.
"We are glad to have had the opportunity to provide input into the preparations. We hope and expect that volunteer voices will be further incorporated into publicly available protocols for these studies."
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the UK will sign off on the start of any trials. Doses of the live virus will be prepared by December, paving the way for the trials.
American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has announced it has begun its phase three trial in testing its potential coronavirus vaccine, sparking new hope for a COVID cure
It is the fourth pharmaceutical company backed by the Trump administration's COVID-19 vaccine program Operation Warp Speed to enter late-stage testing. The others are Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
The trial will enrol up to 60,000 adult volunteers across 215 locations in the US and other countries, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Participants will be randomly selected to receive a dose of the potential vaccine or a placebo, according to details of the trial, which will determine whether the vaccine is safe and effective.
"Four COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in Phase 3 clinical testing in the United States just over eight months after SARS-CoV-2 was identified," Dr Anthony Fauci said in a statement.
With the move, Johnson & Johnson becomes the 10th maker globally to conduct a Phase 3 trial against COVID-19, and the fourth in the US.
Right and Left have very different ideas for the nation's direction
Well, here we are. We have regrettably arrived at America's constitutional crossroads. Two hundred thirty-three years ago, our Constitution was signed by the Founders, and the United States began its journey of individual freedom, republican government, free enterprise, and respect for spiritual norms. The Founders had achieved agreement that the new Constitution would be the bedrock for future limited government across all the states and their peoples.
With the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it is clear that battle lines (ideological and perhaps, God forbid, physical) are being drawn at the crossroads between those who cherish our longstanding constitutional government and those who would move the United States to a socialist or even Marxist regime. The friction is enormous, and the rhetoric is sizzling.
It appears that the appointment and confirmation of the next Supreme Court justice - a single human being - will offer an epic turning point. If a proven conservative jurist is confirmed, the Supreme Court will have a solid constitutional majority. One can expect that the laws and rulings that come before it will be interpreted against the actual words of the Constitution and the Founders' intent for governance.
If a more liberal jurist is confirmed, the country can expect a majority of justices who desire to interpret the Constitution in terms of today's societal meanderings, and thus the Court will surely approve many laws and directives that will rapidly move the nation to socialism or beyond.
Standing at the center of this epic moment is President Donald Trump. He will decide who and when to nominate, then turn that name over to the Senate for confirmation or rejection. But it is Trump who has become the lynchpin for the future of America.
And already, the saber-rattling is loud, with threats of violence and carnage should Trump dare nominate a new justice this close to an election. From what we have seen over the last six months, these are likely not idle threats. If Trump moves on a nomination, we're told those threats could lead to civil unrest, strife, and even - again, God forbid - armed conflict. Armed conflict means we could face another civil war on America's homeland.
Many will contend that Trump should acquiesce on behalf of more peaceful and so-called stable outcomes. Just let the next Supreme Court justice be nominated by the next president and confirmed by the next Senate, many argue. If Trump just acquiesces, much blood and treasure will be spared, they say. In all this they hope that at the polls they can secure either the presidency, the Senate, or both. They will use any tactic, legal or illegal, to ensure at least one of these three outcomes. With the presidency or the Senate or both secured, they will never allow a conservative jurist to become a Supreme Court justice. Thus, socialism will accelerate its march across the land - just as they desire.
Trump's decision lies before him. Nominate now and face potential civil strife, or, worse, surrender and don't nominate during this term. Allow the future of the United States to be tossed to the election and all its clear and looming frailties imposed by leftists.
So, what will he do?
One must look at the man. What has happened to him personally since he decided to run for and ultimately was elected president? The list, of course, is long, but there have been three keystone events that will surely underpin his decision on what to do now.
First, on the day he announced his bid to run for president, the "deep state," which is very real - I've seen it up close and personal - began a horrendous and unconstitutional campaign to remove him from office should he be elected. The result was Robert Mueller's investigation, and although it found no instance of collusion with the Russians by Trump or his team, the process had to deeply impact Trump's soul. His worst instincts about the deep state had been confirmed. Strike one.
Second, he was impeached on the flimsiest of charges by the House of Representatives. Thank God, the Senate trial found him fully innocent of all charges. But to the president, this was surely strike two for his opponents.
Third, accepting the speaker of the House's invitation to deliver his State of the Union Address to Congress and the American people on February 4, 2020, President Trump made his address only to have Speaker Pelosi literally shred the officially presented document behind his back but in front of national cameras. This was a clear signal by the speaker that the constitutional processes of separation of power and civility in governance were now terminated as long as Trump was president. Strike three for his opposition.
President Donald J. Trump has been savagely attacked by his political opposition arguably more than any president in our history. In the big three attacks against him personally, he has survived and, in many respects, even prospered. He is still standing, now with a full understanding of the evils of current governance surrounding him. His wounds from the ghastly attacks may be open, bleeding, and festering, yet he is still standing strong and steeled from battle. He is ready for the task at hand.
The Democrats have struck out in their attempts to depose and eliminate the president of the United States. President Trump must now take his turn at bat. Within one week from today he should and must nominate a conservative American who has a proven record of interpreting case law in accordance with the written words of the Constitution as signed by the Founders. I served and fought for 39 years in defense of those words. I cherish them. Our president must also insist that the Senate consider the nomination expeditiously and vote to approve the nomination before the election.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell must drive this process relentlessly and purposefully.
Bloodied and injured yet victorious through years of political battle, President Trump stands at the crossroads of American history. May God give him the courage and perseverance to do what is right for America as envisioned by our nation's Founders, just as they came out of a Revolutionary War and secured freedom's first great victory. Our Founders are at today's crossroads standing firmly with our president. Regardless of what the future may bring, even strife or internal conflict, may President Trump take the right turn at the crossroads as our Founders cheer perhaps the greatest American victory of all time.
IN BRIEF
"The Obama administration ignored the glaring warning signs": GOP-led committees release interim report on Hunter Biden-Burisma probe (Fox News)
Burisma bribed officials to shut down investigation seven months after Hunter joined board (The Federalist)
Hunter's Chinese payments raise criminal concerns, extend to James Biden (The Federalist)
Jill Biden's ex-husband says Joe - whom Democrats put on a pedestal - lied about marriage to cover up infidelity (The Washington Free Beacon)
Cindy McCain endorses Biden, citing debunked hit piece on Trump's disparagement of troops (The New York Times)
House approves spending bill, sends legislation to Senate just days before government set to shut down (USA Today)
GOP senators introduce bill to prohibit schools from allowing biological men to compete in women's sports (Washington Examiner)
Free college, guaranteed income: State and local officials steer coronavirus aid money toward leftist priorities (Fox News)
Seattle's woke city council overrides mayor's veto of police cuts (Fox News)
Florida advocates rally to raise money, pay legal obligations, register felons to vote (Washington Examiner)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg enabled an atrocity equal to slavery, and Andrew Cuomo wants to build her a statue (The Federalist)
Iran says it is ready to swap all prisoners with U.S. (Reuters)
Election watchdog finds 350,000 dead registrants on voter rolls in 42 states (The Washington Free Beacon)
"Defund the police" activist Alyssa Milano sparks massive police presence after calling 911 (Daily Mail)
Tucker Carlson airs never-before-seen footage from Kyle Rittenhouse shooting in Kenosha (The Daily Wire)
Policy: To counter China, we must strengthen ties with Europe (American Enterprise Institute)
Policy: What's needed for healthcare reform: Personalized care that puts you and your doctor in charge (The Daily Signal)
For more blog postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated), A Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in). GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.
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