Covid Little Pill

[headshot]

Today the PM said that the UK will develop drugs to treat Covid at home “by the autumn”.

Basically a promise of a silver bullet medication to “stop Covid in its tracks”.

So how plausible is this? Is it just a pipe dream promise that he’s put out there two weeks before an election??

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... its-tracks

[OffTheRock]

I don’t think they mean developing. More like what they did with the Dex & tocilizumab.

Can they find an existing antiviral that works? Possibly.
Can we do it by autumn? Bit of a stretch, given the world’s probably been looking for a year.

I’m guessing by now we have a list of stuff we know doesn’t work that should help narrow it down.

[headshot]

I don’t think they mean developing. More like what they did with the Dex & tocilizumab.

Can they find an existing antiviral that works? Possibly.
Can we do it by autumn? Bit of a stretch, given the world’s probably been looking for a year.

I’m guessing by now we have a list of stuff we know doesn’t work that should help narrow it down.

But they’re talking about medication that can be taken outside of a medical setting, specifically to treat oneself at home.

[Bird on a Fire]

I really hoped this would be about an Alanis Morissette #scicomm effort.

[shpalman]

I don’t think they mean developing. More like what they did with the Dex & tocilizumab.

Can they find an existing antiviral that works? Possibly.
Can we do it by autumn? Bit of a stretch, given the world’s probably been looking for a year.

I’m guessing by now we have a list of stuff we know doesn’t work that should help narrow it down.

But they’re talking about medication that can be taken outside of a medical setting, specifically to treat oneself at home.

I thought so too, which is why most of what the Guardian mentions probably isn't applicable, e.g. the first two anti-inflammatories on that list, which are indicated for damage-limitation towards later stages of illness severe enough to put you in hospital. (Taking such things at home when you're still in mild stages probably makes things worse.)

[wilsontown]

Yes, if only someone had thought of this before.

Going to be difficult to say much until we have some idea of how this announcement is supposed to relate to reality. I won't be holding my breath.

[Martin_B]

Today the PM said that the UK will develop drugs to treat Covid at home “by the autumn”.

Basically a promise of a silver bullet medication to “stop Covid in its tracks”.

So how plausible is this? Is it just a pipe dream promise that he’s put out there two weeks before an election??

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... its-tracks

350 million pills a week to save the NHS?

[OffTheRock]

I don’t think they mean developing. More like what they did with the Dex & tocilizumab.

Can they find an existing antiviral that works? Possibly.
Can we do it by autumn? Bit of a stretch, given the world’s probably been looking for a year.

I’m guessing by now we have a list of stuff we know doesn’t work that should help narrow it down.

But they’re talking about medication that can be taken outside of a medical setting, specifically to treat oneself at home.

Plenty of existing antivirals in tablet form. From memory they ruled out oseltamivir last year, remdesivir looks like it’s probably no good, ritonavir/lopinavir got ruled out by the Recovery trial recently. I think there are a few being trialled at the moment. Favipirivir is about to start being used as part of Principle and something in the us is showing some early promise.

The problem is the press release. They were so busy showboating about the dexamethasone/tocilizumab it confused everyone. Those were successes of the existing therapeutics task force. What they are doing is setting up an antiviral task force that will work in the same way but with a focus on existing anti viral tablets.

Probably doesn’t need a separate task force, but I assume there’s a friend of Hancocks’s who needs a ridiculous amount of money to head up a task force.

[tom p]

Today the PM said that the UK will develop drugs to treat Covid at home “by the autumn”.

Basically a promise of a silver bullet medication to “stop Covid in its tracks”.

So how plausible is this? Is it just a pipe dream promise that he’s put out there two weeks before an election??

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... its-tracks

As if you even needed to ask.
It's a statement from noted liar & fantasist Boris Johnson, a man who will say absolutely anything to win an election, regardless of the post-election consequences. And it will work because the British public are a bunch of f.cking morons who still think his braying b.llsh.t & illiterate alliteration is clever & funny and that his racism is either a great thing or just a jolly jape that can be overlooked because of his hilarious hair.

[headshot]

Today the PM said that the UK will develop drugs to treat Covid at home “by the autumn”.

Basically a promise of a silver bullet medication to “stop Covid in its tracks”.

So how plausible is this? Is it just a pipe dream promise that he’s put out there two weeks before an election??

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... its-tracks

As if you even needed to ask.
It's a statement from noted liar & fantasist Boris Johnson, a man who will say absolutely anything to win an election, regardless of the post-election consequences. And it will work because the British public are a bunch of f.cking morons who still think his braying b.llsh.t & illiterate alliteration is clever & funny and that his racism is either a great thing or just a jolly jape that can be overlooked because of his hilarious hair.

Did you take control of my brain and make me say this EXACT THING to my wife yesterday?

[tom p]

Today the PM said that the UK will develop drugs to treat Covid at home “by the autumn”.

Basically a promise of a silver bullet medication to “stop Covid in its tracks”.

So how plausible is this? Is it just a pipe dream promise that he’s put out there two weeks before an election??

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... its-tracks

As if you even needed to ask.
It's a statement from noted liar & fantasist Boris Johnson, a man who will say absolutely anything to win an election, regardless of the post-election consequences. And it will work because the British public are a bunch of f.cking morons who still think his braying b.llsh.t & illiterate alliteration is clever & funny and that his racism is either a great thing or just a jolly jape that can be overlooked because of his hilarious hair.

Did you take control of my brain and make me say this EXACT THING to my wife yesterday?

Sorry about that. I was testing out my new mind-control ray and it seems to have misfired.

[OffTheRock]

It does bear all the hallmarks of something they scribbled down on the pack of a fag packet in 5mins because they needed something to say in the press conference. Which was why nobody could answer any questions on it.

Why does the antiviral task force need to be a separate task force to the therapeutics task force anyway?

[sTeamTraen]

This is basically just the bridge to Ireland, isn't it? Boris is just saying "Wouldn't it be marvellous if you could just take a pill and get better?", as if most of the major pharmaceutical companies in the world haven't had a bunch of people working on little else since Covid appeared, or for that matter since HIV appeared. When there is no such pill available in 6 months, is he going to blame the world's boffins™ for not working hard enough?

[Sciolus]

There is a definite belief among many members of this government that if you want something, you just have to tell someone to do. If they don't do it, you just have to shout at them louder. You would think that Johnson's track record of failing to achieve a single damn thing he boasts about would have taught him that this doesn't work.

[TimW]

There is a definite belief among many members of this government that if you want something, you just have to

...give a huge contract to a Tory mate.