Has anyone heard about this relatively new vaccine, called GeoVax? Cook Co. Board President Todd Stroger is for it, some on the board are against it...it is only the fifth to make it to Round 2 trials with humans. I hadn't heard of it until I heard about a protest for it later today at a south side church. Here's the initial link

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressReleas...009+PRN20090618


Here's the story about the protest:



For Immediate Release


OVER 1500 TO APPEAL TO COOK COUNTY HEALTH SYSTEM CENTER TO EMBRACE PRESIDENT TODD STROGER’S EFFORT TO BRING
GEOVAX VACCINE FOR HIV TO COOK COUNTY

GEOVAX VACCINE IS BEING TRIED IN OTHER CITIES AND COULD GIVE HOPE TO THOUSANDS OF HIV INFECTED
RESIDENTS OF COOK COUNTY


COUNTY HEALTH OFFICIALS BLOCKING STROGER BACKED HIV VACCINE THAT COULD BRING HOPE TO THOUSANDS


Sweet Holy Spirit Church of Chicago

Sunday, August 16th, 2009@ 11:30 AM

8621 S. South Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois





Bishop Larry D.Trotter- Senior Pastor of the Sweet Holy Spirit Church of Chicago- will be joined by over 1500 Cook County residents in appealing to the Cook County Health and Hospital System (CCHHS) to embrace President Todd Stroger’s plan to bring a cocktail based vaccine to Cook County. In the winter of 2009 President Stroger researched and contacted the Geovax Lab Company in Atlanta, Georgia. Geovax has shown tremendous success in raising the T-Cell count and strengthing the immune systems of people infected with the HIV Virus. Geovax is currently running trials in Atlanta, Seattle, the University of Alabama and Harvard University in Boston.



On June 15th, President Stroger along with Commissioner and CORE Center Foundation Chairman, John Daley and CCHHS CEO William Foley entered into an agreement with Geovax to advance the fight against HIV/AIDS by accelerating the clinical trials at the Cook County CORE Center. The CORE Center is a clinic for the prevention, care, and research of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases located in Chicago, Illinois. The CORE Center sees three out of every five HIV infected residents in Cook County.



However on June 24th, the CORE Center and CCHHS Board later declined the opportunity to work with the Geovax Company based upon what they claim as “Medical and Scientific Reasons”. The denial was signed by the President of the CORE Center Foundation and Cook County Commissioner, John Daley and Dr. Robert Weinstein, Executive Director of the CORE Center. The CCHHS is also supporting the denial of this company.



Bishop Trotter is challenging Dr. Weinstein to come forward and present his “medical and scientific” facts for blocking the Geovax vaccine.



The trio of denials was based upon Dr. Weinstein’s opinion that Geovax would require current CORE Center patients to stop using their current medications provided by the CORE Center. However the contract in which the Geovax Company and CCHHS initially agreed upon clearly states that the company desired newly diagnosed HIV patients. The trails would begin with Geovax putting newly diagnosed patients on cocktails (medicines) and then taking them off to administer the new vaccine.



Bishop Trotter feels that it should not be left up to Dr. Weinstein to make that choice for the patient. The patient needs to be informed about options that are available to them and they alone should make that choice. The trials are voluntary.



The National Institute for Health (NIH) and the Human Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) has not partnered with any other company but Geovax. The NIH has given Geovax 17 million dollars to Geovax for the trials. The NIH is considered the standing experts. Geovax is the only vaccine left, compared to the 79 others that have failed. Dr. Weinstein has agreed that the NIH is the expert in this filed.



Bishop Trotter fully supports President Stroger’s efforts in bringing this promising breakthrough vaccine to Cook County. He hopes that politics is not playing a role in this denial. The Bishop is requesting of Dr. Weinstein to present the Medical and Scientific data that led to the denial by Chairman Daley, the CCHHS and himself.



Geovax will market this vaccine with or without Cook County. President Stroger should be applauded for attempting to help hurting people with this deadly disease. But for the CORE Center to block President Stroger and not allow HIV patients with a choice as it relates to living or dying ,is unacceptable.



Stroger, Doctors Disagree About HIV Vaccine - cbs2chicago.com



[ http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/hiv_aids_trials ]



[ http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/3768 ]

Perhaps the concerns of the county as expressed in the quoteshould be given primary weight.

Risky treatments often of necessity are offered to vulnerable populations. In this case that would include people who not only have a potentially life-threatening infection but who may be gay and/or black and/or other minority.

I have worked for a company that made an HIV vaccine that had passed stage 2 and was to be tested in a foreign country. I left that company voluntarily when I though that they were prematurely disposing of samples of the vaccine, even thought they had every legal right to do so, before I or anyone else could test them for the cancer-causing reagent used to manufacture the vaccine. Though the compound is extremely fragile in normal room-temperature conditions, the vaccine is stored at refrigerated temperatures and some preliminary tests I had made in correcting problems with the test method showed that the reagent persisted longer in the refrigerated samples than at room temperature. The vaccine was routinely stored in refrigeration and warmed to room temperature before administration. These tests have to be carefully done.