No COVID positives as CIG prepares for vaccine

| 26/08/2020 | 15 Comments

(CNS): All of the 127 COVID-19 tests carried out over the last 24 hours were negative, as reported on Wednesday, continuing the trend in the Cayman Islands which has not seen a case of community transmission since 11 July. Meanwhile, Cayman is set to get a share of any vaccine approved in the UK and has also joined COVAX, a coalition of international charitable organisations intent on finding a vaccine for COVID-19, as a means of accessing any safe inoculation that emerges.

On Tuesday Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee spoke about the issue of antibodies and their connection to a vaccine. He reported that health technicians here have now carried out 2,402 antibody test, but just 57 people were found to be carrying the antibodies.

Nine of them have no direct connection to the virus, such as knowingly having had the virus, being close to someone who has or had the virus, or had a travel history. Most of those who have taken an antibody test were people who had previously tested positive, or were their contacts or healthcare and other front-line workers, who were more likely to be exposed.

With the news from Hong Kong of a confirmed case of reinfection, Dr Lee said there was nothing to be gained here from re-testing those who were first infected here to see if they still have the antibodies because those antibodies are not the only response mounted by a body to this coronavirus.

Dr Lee said that to be infected by a coronavirus is not uncommon, pointing out that the common cold is a type of coronavirus. But the scientific community is keen to see the research on reinfection because of the impact it will have on a vaccine and how long, if it works in the first place, it will last.

As vaccine trials continued all over the world, Governor Martyn Roper said that Britain was at the forefront of the research and the overseas territories would get quick access to any safe and effective vaccine that gets licensed by the UK. Health Minister Dwayne Seymour also revealed that Cayman has joined COVAX to access any approved COVID-19 vaccines once they are developed.

The goal of this consortium of charitable rganisations, led by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is to ensure that everyone has the same access to vaccines. “The Cayman Islands is one of 150 countries that has expressed an interest in the purchase of COVID vaccines through joining the COVAX family,” Seymour said.

Russia has already announced advanced trials for new COVID-19 vaccine, despite not completing a full trial process, and the Trump administration is reportedly attempting to push the FDA to clear a vaccine in the US before the November election. However, this potential vaccine is already being politicized, which could also undermine its effectiveness, since vaccination can only work if a significant proportion of the population is inoculated.

Given the negative view of all vaccines in some quarters because of the anti-vax movement, rushing a vaccine that has not been properly tested could undermine the fundamental objective of the vaccine research. Another issue is that the body’s immune response triggered by a vaccine may be only short-lived, requiring more than one shot to work. This means that any covid vaccine may prove to be less effective than vaccines for other diseases.

Although more treatments are emerging for those who have serious symptoms of COVID-19 and the percentage of those that die appears to be falling, evidence is mounting that some people suffer long-term and unexpected lingering effects long after the virus has gone. Therefore, prevention rather than cure appears to be the best solution for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, here in Cayman the two travellers who tested positive in quarantine last week remain in isolation and these remaining active cases are expected to be cleared any day now. With the arrival of a number of flights recently, there are also another 179 people in isolation, either at a government facility or in their homes.


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Comments (15)

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  1. Me says:

    Let me know if the vaccine is going to be mandatory so I can move to another country before it gets here.

  2. Anonymous says:

    In my opinion, Bill Gates is a criminal XXXXX

    CNS:
    This is not your opinion. You have been brainwashed on social media by crazy far right conspiracy theories, including QAnon. You can usually spot people susceptible to such conspiracy theories because of their tendency to call everyone else “brain dead”, accompanied by utterly ridiculous arguments.

    • Anonymous says:

      My “thumps up” was for CNS response.

    • Anonymous says:

      If you google the word “conspiracy” nearly 100% of articles are bashing conspiracies and people who believe in it.

      Why?

      Are all people who believe in conspiracy theories crazy, in need of psychiatric help or brainwashed?

      And who is really brainwashed- people who believe in conspiracy theories or those who say they are brainwashed? Could be the latter brainwashed to believe that the former are brainwashed?

      I don’t think anyone can brainwash me about anything. Unless someone convinces me why WTC 7 collapsed on 9/11, I’ll continue to believe it was
      orchestrated.

      Unless someone convinces me that it is by pure chance, by oversight, an infamous Cayman‘ official continues avoiding any consequences of his despicable actions, I’ll continue to believe there’s more than an eye can see.

      And I don’t like, to say the least, Bill Gates. Has nothing to do with the fact that he is a billionaire.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Google Guillain-Barré (Ghee-YAN Bah-RAY) syndrome (GBS). It is one of the devastating consequences of flu vaccine. The warning is written on the vaccine insert. It is rare, but no so rare since 2 people I know got it. They did not get GBS overnight or even a couple of weeks later. It took time. Both were nurses that were forced to vaccinate. “Were”, because neither can work today.

    The point of this comment is not to frighten you, but to bring your attention that it takes years to develop a “safe” vaccine. Yet none exists.

    From CDC site (US):
    On very rare occasions, they may develop GBS in the days or weeks after getting a vaccination.

    According to the Vaccine Injury Table
    https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/vaccinecompensation/vaccineinjurytable.pdf, symptoms of GBS after a flu shot should manifest 3-42 days following vaccination to bring an on-Table claim, although it is still possible to file a successful claim if symptoms do not strictly fall within this time period.

    • Anonymous says:

      Thank you for sharing this with us. Many of us are not surprised.
      All we need is a media outlet that champions the truth.
      This one works to a degree.

    • Anonymous says:

      No, your point was to frighten people. Stop lying to yourself.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Everyone’s at the “forefront”, but there’s a good chance there will never be a useful vaccine. There isn’t one for any other coronavirus.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Like most things CIG: ready, shoot, aim. There is still no viable/approved vaccine folks. Similarly, no cure for cancer, the common cold, AIDS…let’s all just manage our expectations a little bit better knowing our relative slice and priority of a science fiction production quota will come months later.

  6. Anonymous says:

    I’m not an anti-vaxer, but there’s no way in hell I’m being vaccinated for a disease that’s so deadly you have to be tested to know you have it.

  7. Anonymous says:

    No thanks. I’m not anti vaccines, but I won’t be a test rat for this. It generally takes years to develop a drug, so I’m a bit skeptical on this overnight rushed injection. All Governors and Government ministers should take it first😂

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