11/09/2020

My dear Friend, DJT,

            Isn’t it exciting that Pfizer’s BNT162b2 vaccine has promising results in phase 3 of its  trial? The fancy messenger RNA technology seems to be working, although I wonder how much of the 90% effectiveness result is due to chance. As you may know, factoring in variability is a key idea in statistics, so the fact that most of the 94 people who have come down with CV in their trial received the placebo, does not mean that will always be the result.

I’m surprised that of the 44,000 participants, so few have contracted the disease. I guess it’s only a week since their 2nd dose, so that number might go way up in the next couple of weeks as CV is supposed to spike. Hopefully, by that time we’ll get a better idea if the vaccine works in older folks. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

            I know how much you’d like to take credit for this result, but Pfizer did not get any of those Warp Speed $$ you handed out to Moderna & other pharmaceuticals. Pfizer will get a nice wad of cash for the 100 million doses that the US will buy from them, so their willingness to devote all of their attention to “project Lightspeed” will probably be worth the risk. I wonder how the vaccine will be transported around the country, given that it needs to be stored at ultracold temps. I understand that dry ice is in short supply. Is there a plan for that?

            So, what do we have to look forward to? The media is speculating about what Ivanka & Melania will do in 2021 when they aren’t in the WH anymore. Many think you might go to jail. My friends are asking me if I will keep writing letters. I guess we will all have to wait and see.

            BYBS,