COVID vaccines and the immune system

We explore the latest ZOE data from over 500,000 logged vaccines to understand how they are working in the real world. We’ll cut the data to look at efficacy and after-effects in different sections of society, and bring in experts to unpack what this means for people with compromised immune systems, including those on immune-suppressing drugs.

Featuring:

Prof. Ellie Barnes
University of Oxford

Professor Ellie Barnes is a Professor of Hepatology and Experimental Medicine at the University of Oxford. She leads an established research group with a focus on T cell immunology relevant to gut and liver disease, and seeks to translate laboratory and clinical findings through to human experimental medicine studies. Ellie is also a member of the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium.

Dr. Anna Goodman
Infectious Diseases Consultant at Guy's and St Thomas’ Hospital, London

Anna Goodman is an Infectious Diseases Consultant at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London. She has been working on vaccines since her PhD with the Jenner institute and has worked extensively on malaria vaccines. She is currently PI for the Oxford and Novavax COVID- 19 vaccine trials.

Prof. Tim Spector, OBE
Lead investigator on the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app

Prof. Tim Spector is a scientific co-founder at ZOE, lead scientist of the ZOE COVID Symptom Study, professor of genetic epidemiology and director of the TwinsUK Registry at King's College, London. Having published over 800 research articles, he is ranked in the top 1% of the world's most-cited scientists by Thomson-Reuters. He is also a prolific writer, with several popular science books including 'The Diet Myth' and 'Spoon-Fed'.

Hosted by Christina Hu, Head of Product | ZOE COVID Study

The app is available to download from:

[mjramirez]

You all are doing amazing work and I thank you for your dedication to informing the public on the most up to date results. Kudos!

[helenporter]

Can anyone explain why the UK NHS is till using Dexmethasone when trials have shown Methylprenisolone saves more lives? Please see FLCCC website?
Also why isn't the UK NHS checking Covid patients vitamin D levels on admission and supplementing where necessary with intramuscular Vitamin D injections?

[sofiagaravito]

Thanks a lot for keeping us informed in a clear and concise manner for the general people who are not health professionals. Sometimes it is a big challenge trying to understand some experts. Well done!!!

[carolebythesea]

Thank you. I Just got my rating from your nutritional survey on the ZOE app. I eat mainly veg, fruit, chicken and fish, Brown bread, rice, some dairy etc. NO fry- ups, or processed food or takeaways, just fresh made. I was honest, I put sweets and crisp as snack, but my meals are healthy. (So I believed).I got a rating of 9 and listed very low as "A poor diet." Fresh veg, fruit, fish, chicken???? I thought was doing well until now!😟

[TheBnary]

Lost me at passports. Fine with the vaccinations being offered and glad they are showing fantastic efficacy -- but I cannot agree to passports that are based on current status of vaccination (how many - yearly? Every six months? Every variant?). Otherwise, really helpful interview.

[Raven-gokt]

Had horrendous side effects. Vaccinated one month ago and still suffering. Symptoms began 12hrs after injection. I do have pre existing conditions so maybe this is why.

[tricianorth]

Hi Tim and thanks for the webinar today. I was a bit surprised that high dose vitamin D wasn’t mentioned as one of the factors to help boost the immune system. Was this intentional?

[jenw]

I have been watching John Campbell on you tube who suggests that it is best not to use paracetamol or ibuprofen to lessen side effects unless they are severe as the immune response needs to be activated to get a good response. Do you agree?

[petertenconi]

Excellent session, many thanks for taking the time to arrange it.

[evasell]

Thank you Team for this informative and encouraging news - It is interesting that the variants "may die out in time" - we all hope that will be the case in time. Also thank you for the reassuring news about the side effects between the two vaccine types discussed. I have my 1st vaccine next week - I am glad I watched this bulletin today to be prepared.

[ImTash]

Are we going to get a video like this that includes moderna? I’m on day 8 being in bed with dizziness fatigue and migraines which started up 4 days after my first jab- I’ve just been prescribed motion sickness pills. Otherwise fit and healthy aside from a concussion several weeks beforehand. No idea how long this will last but so far it feels like it will never end. I wish I had Pfizer and just had a sore arm like everyone else I know. I did ask if I had the option but no.

[lizhallworth]

Can you share the data from Oxford showing that 2 doses protects against the South african variant? Give that strain hasn't spread here, i would like to know how they reached that conclusion? Also Africa has a young population so they wouldn't be hospitalising many anyway. Why did South Africa sell the vaccines back to Europe if it was effective?

[spin]

Thanks for posting this discusssion, it is most enlightening.

[TekAutomatica]

Transparency of figures would help build trust rather than coersion of "vaccine passports", ability to work etc as proposed in Israel.

Why do we record a positive test within 28 days of death from whatever underlying cause as a "with or of" covid19 marker but within 28 of vaccine as old age or bound to happen instead of "with/despite X vaccine" or "of X vaccine response"?

[lizhallworth]

My friend has been smelling petrol for months and said his wife is now getting same symptom. I think that is a Covid symptom, i think he had loss of smell or taste as well.

[juneg]

Please stop saying 'you know' Ellie - we tuned in cos we don't!

[barbarawijngaard]

Have any AstraZeneca studies like those being carried out in Israel on the Pfizer vaccine, been published, and are they accessible to the general public? What are the reasons behind the recent incidents in Sicily, Austria and Denmark which led to the temporary suspension of the use of this vaccine?

[clivemence]

With the masses and masses of data, why are we not being told how many people who tested positive have been vaccinated? In the webinar some one stated it was a coincidence, you statisticians are there to investigate coincidences.

[brisbanenorthmetatrongolde]

Well, many people would have died anyway, its' just that they also had COVID, so COVID is not all that dangerous.