All of john_a's Comments + Replies

john_a40

Quote: “But at this point it’s only ~4 months until I’d get a vaccine anyway, so the price tag is only arguably worthwhile.”

I’d question this assumption, due to the new mutations such as E484K. It’s looking probable that “v1” vaccines will be significantly less effective against it - and v2 vaccines may not be out until end of 2021.

Theoretically, assuming RadVac is effective, once they update for new mutations, you may be able to do a new batch and self-vaccinate quicker than waiting for your turn at v2.

3johnswentworth
In addition to this, the current version of radvac was designed to be more robust to mutations on its own. Specifically, it targets some non-spike/RBD parts of the virus, which are more evolutionarily conserved. And of course simply having an immune response to a different part of the virus than the large population of mainstream-vaccinated people is itself helpful, since mutations will be selected to circumvent the most common immune mechanisms.