Epidemiologist Mikhail Favorov - on vaccines, the nature of covid and the oddities of statistics

Hero of the YouTube channel "FEIGIN LIVE" became Mikhail Favorov - epidemiologist, doctor of medical sciences, head of DiaPrep System Inc., educator living and working in Atlanta. Here are some excerpts from the interview.

On the weirdness of Russian covid statistics

It is impossible to focus on morbidity, it is an easily manipulated indicator, it very much depends on the desire of the registrars: if they want, they will write "ARVI", if they want - "covid". There is more serious data - registration of deaths. Although she can also be manipulated, the total number of deaths needs to be put somewhere: in order to bury a person, you need to issue a certificate. Therefore, the Bureau of State Statistics is a serious problem. What tells me about the strangeness of Russian statistics is that since June, mortality in Russia has stood like a wall, without any changes. This is so strange for an epidemic where there is always a so-called wave and so-called dynamics. But in Russian statistics, the mortality rate above 900 and below 1000 stood for four months. And then suddenly, instead of falling, mortality began to rise. That is, apparently, such a huge number of unaccounted deaths had accumulated that they had to be recorded on this extended number of death registrations. There is a well-known specialist Raksha who says that the number of people who have died is three times higher.

Of course, this is largely due to the general strategy - there was an election period, many meetings, and this could lead to a large number of diseases.

But there are also objective reasons for the increase in morbidity and death. And the main problem is the complete failure of the vaccination campaign. Whatever "Sputnik" is, this is the vaccine that protects against covid. Why do I say "whatever"? The vaccine is good. I recommend people get vaccinated with Sputnik, because they have nothing else. The problem is that 30% of vaccinated Russians have no effect on the pandemic: the virus has enough "material" that it can infect. Only 70%, like in England and other countries. Now in England 100 people die a day, and in Russia - more than 1000.

Sputnik's Achilles' heel

Sputnik is a normal vaccine, it works, there are millions of examples. I have data from 15 hospitals throughout Russia, and in all 15 there are 90% of the unvaccinated and only 10% of the vaccinated, in some - 2%. The vaccinated also get sick, but much less often. But Sputnik has an Achilles heel - production. There is not one plant, there is a whole set of industries that have never been discussed, no list has been published. Who are these professional people who have been working for a long time, or were they recruited from the street yesterday? Therefore, concerns arise. The second is registration, the European Union commission recognized the production as not complying with the standard. This is all chatter that was not allowed for political reasons: the commission arrived in Ufa, it seems, and there came out a lady who pours Sputnik, with such a haircut, with such nails, with an uncovered head.

About "KoviVake" and "EpiVacCoron"

Chumakov's vaccine ("KoviVak" - Ed.) Is quite decent. In my opinion, this is a vaccine for revaccination, for example, after Sputnik, because it is based on the Wuhan virus, and it has changed since then. But the production is not able to produce large quantities of doses of KoviVac, and therefore it is impossible to talk about this vaccine as a factor in containing the epidemic.

I do not support the vaccine "Vector" ("EpiVacCorona. - Ed.) At all." This is a peptide vaccine, the only peptide vaccine in the world, and not just for covid. I only know the peptide vaccine for dogs. And the very idea of participation in its production of government agencies, the director of Rospotrebnadzor as the person who allegedly developed it, the whole idea gives off a very bad smell.

About who stole the vector vaccine from whom

If this work was started by Astra-Zeneka, it is only because Russian adenovirus vaccines have been developed since the 1970s. This idea appeared at the Institute of Virology in Russia. There were stills that could do it, they made the Ebola vaccine, and it worked. Then Oxford realized that it was possible. The rarest case when a Russian development came into practice, it must be admitted. Of course, ours did it on the old reliable human adenovinus, on the 5th and 26th types. And what did Astra-Zeneca decide? We will do this on one, a monkey. It turned out that you can't do one, you need two. Both times they inject the same virus - it works worse than Sputnik. When everyone understood this, they began to inject "Astra-Zeneca" for the first time, and the second - other vaccines, "Pfizer" for example. However, both of these vector vaccines serve their purpose, and both work. Sputnik probably gives 80%. "Astra-Zeneca" - the chimney is lower, the smoke is thinner - about 70%.

On revaccination: when and with what?

At first, I doubted, because it is possible to develop immunity to this vector, it is possible to develop allergic reactions to the third dose. But when we received data on millions of boosters, we saw that not everything is so bad. So, dear Russians, you need to get revaccinated - in 6-9 months. Your protection drops after 6 months by 10-20% every month. But the main thing is that you can use Sputnik Light, even better - KoviVak, it will give other antibodies. Getting two vaccines is the best way out. Another option is to get vaccinated with "Sputnik", and revaccinate with one of the Western vaccines. Now it's easy - Kiev is nearby, and there you will be given a whole list to choose from. Or Chinese vaccines, which can be considered along with KoviVac: vaccinated with Sputnik, after 9 months - with SinoVac. For people in the West - they got used to "Modern" or "Pfizer", after nine months - to repeat any. There are no specific recommendations for them, I personally got used to "Modern".

On the laboratory nature of coronavirus

The significance of this question receded. The audience finally realized that this is not an artificial virus. But he leaked due to the fact that they worked with him in the laboratory. When there is an analysis of the epidemic in the future, serious measures will be taken to prevent what happened. Because if this happens again, nothing will save us. Many scientists fear that they will be banned from working altogether.

What to do

If you are just sick, have lost taste, the temperature has risen, but breathe, this is one thing. There are two drugs - one by "Merck" released, the other - monoclonal antibodies. But they must be applied when you do not yet know that you are sick. If the disease flares up, it's too late. In short, today there is no panacea. There are excellent protocols for the treatment of critically ill patients, and this is important - the lethality, that is, the number of those who died in the hospital has dropped fivefold. It is necessary to be vaccinated so that there is no illness. And this is especially important for regions where there is not enough vaccine, people sign up and they are told: come tomorrow, we have three people, and the bottle is for five. Well take the injectors! There are solutions, but no one is looking for them. Complete paralysis of the system that was in the Soviet Union. Yes, in the Soviet Union everyone would have been vaccinated long ago. The state has given everything - one vaccine, another vaccine for revaccination, and you are dying for patriotic reasons so that the state does not spend money on your pension, sorry. It's just a disaster.

About why they get sick after vaccination

It is impossible to administer a drug so that it does not affect anyone. Someone has been ill for three days, but this is not serious. There is a thrombosis, which is very unpleasant, but there are one in a million of such cases on the Pfizer, and one in half a million on the Astra Zeneca. That is, 1% of those who die. Yes, vaccines pose a risk - just like going out or driving. And what, you don't drive a car? Everything is very modest with Sputnik - I have not seen any publications. We will assume that everything is within the "Astra-Zeneca", because the mechanism is similar.

About the future of covid

We know pretty well that any epidemic always ends. We are trying to reduce the number of deaths by vaccination, but that the virus will remain with us forever, that's for sure. Zoonoses remain: if you catch a gopher and try to catch the plague, you will become infected. Covid will remain and become an important cause of death for the elderly. Now people are dying from diseases of the heart, lungs, and so on - among the reasons there will be covid, but which one it turns out to be in importance, we'll see. Therefore, you need to vaccinate: the epidemic will end - the circulation will never. But there is a loophole - a virus can become a mutant, and it will be such a mild illness that we will not notice it. He will live with us, like the 18,000 other coronaviruses, about which we know nothing but a slight runny nose.