Covid-19 #19 Tsunami Wave

[Zorral]

Teachers "Are Drowning" in North Dakota (and elsewhere surely too).  Can't get subs ... but remain determined to not pay them as much as Taco Bell pays its shift workers.  And some students are refusing to wear masks since for nearly a year masks have ridiculed and they have been told there is no such thing as Covid-19 -- even though Obama made it in a lab -- or was it the Chinese? -- but only black people get it.

https://www.inforum.com/news/education/6761184-Rural-schools-stressed-teachers-starting-to-drown-across-North-Dakota

And doctor sevrywhere are closing their practices and retiring, choosing to do something else.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/15/health/Covid-doctors-nurses-quitting.html?

This is what the shoggoth and his enablers have brought us to, because they chose to.

Quote

Obama recounts the difficulty of dealing with Mitch McConnell (Ky.), the top Senate Republican then and now. Obama writes that Biden told him of how McConnell had blocked one of his bills. When Biden tried to explain the bill’s merits, McConnell responded, “You must be under the mistaken impression that I care,” Obama writes, recounting McConnell’s “shamelessness” and “dispassionate pursuit of power.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-book-biden-trump-palin/2020/11/13/36c4828a-25b8-11eb-8599-406466ad1b8e_story.html

[Zorral]

The time for us all to self-isolate is right this minute.  Which I've been saying for the last 3 weeks at least.  And trying to do.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/11/lock-yourself-down-now/617106/

 

[Martell Spy]

And Washington state is closing down again.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Booty calls under COVID, so wrong, but so necessary. 

Also, honestly, how are you realistically suppose to fuck with a mask on? 

[Kalbear]

55 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

And Washington state is closing down again.

No, its not. This is the same alarmist bullshit that made people think a lock down meant some places are closed, ish.

Open gatherings are being restricted some. Thats it. 

[Martell Spy]

37 minutes ago, Kalbear Total Landscaping said:

No, its not. This is the same alarmist bullshit that made people think a lock down meant some places are closed, ish.

Open gatherings are being restricted some. Thats it. 

Don't mean to be alarmist and I do think it's needed and important. From what I saw of the Governor's order though all indoor gatherings of any size are banned though (with people from outside the household). That's the most relevant thing to me as it means we are shutting down our table-top gaming group in order to comply.

Also saw grocery stores are going to be limited to 25%. I could be wrong, but I don't recall that limitation being done in the March order. Also, bars/restaurants indoors shutting.

I don't know the details on things like haircuts and offices. A friend who works at Boeing said they haven't called her off work yet though. (Looks like haircuts and retail are open at 25%, so that is indeed a little different than in March)

 

[Kalbear]

Gatherings are being shutdown, gyms are down, as are indoor dining, but its hardly the lock down we had before. Drive thru are fine, schools are unchanged, groceries are open, and to my knowledge barber shops and whatnot are too (with the same restrictions as before).

It is increasing restrictions. It is emphatically NOT a lock down, and people really need to stop using that term unless they're referring to what China did. 

[Inkdaub]

We will be starting a two week freeze on the eighteenth I think.  Some places...the zoo, museums, gardens and outdoor rec spots...will be closed for the period.  Churches capped at 25 indoor and 50 out.  Stores capped at 75% occupancy.  All restaurants take-out only.  A small aside is a guy who has declared he will be selling take-out cocktails even though it is against state law.  He is saying it is civil disobedience.  He sounds like a goof but I think selling the takeout cocktails...within proper guidelines...should be alright.  

[BigFatCoward]

Moderna vaccine allegedly 95% effective. Also fewer logistical problems for storage and transport.  

[Fragile Bird]

I’m surprised there isn’t more posted about the Moderna vaccine. Pfizer says their vaccine is 90+ effective, Moderna says their’s is 94.5% effective.

Their Phase 3 testing has 30,000 people in it, a little smaller than Pfizer’s 40,000, and yesterday they were told there were 95 symptomatic cases of Covid-19, 90 in the placebo group, 5 in the vaccine group. Eleven cases were severe cases, and all were in the placebo group.

Bad news for the people who got the placebo.

Better news is the fact that the Moderna vaccine can be stored at normal cold temperatures, for 30 days. That will make distribution easier. I gather they have 40 M doses ready, so enough for 20 M people, since it’s a two dose vaccine. Those doses are in the US, I don’t know if they have any elsewhere. They expect to be able to produce a billion doses next year, for 500 M people.

Of course, as with the Pfizer vaccine, we have no idea how long the vaccine’s protection will last. In the US the initial vaccinations will be free, but this could turn into a long term money machine for the pharmaceutical companies.

[DaveSumm]

35 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

I’m surprised there isn’t more posted about the Moderna vaccine. Pfizer says their vaccine is 90+ effective, Moderna says their’s is 94.5% effective.

Their Phase 3 testing has 30,000 people in it, a little smaller than Pfizer’s 40,000, and yesterday they were told there were 95 symptomatic cases of Covid-19, 90 in the placebo group, 5 in the vaccine group. Eleven cases were severe cases, and all were in the placebo group.

Bad news for the people who got the placebo.

Better news is the fact that the Moderna vaccine can be stored at normal cold temperatures, for 30 days. That will make distribution easier. I gather they have 40 M doses ready, so enough for 20 M people, since it’s a two dose vaccine. Those doses are in the US, I don’t know if they have any elsewhere. They expect to be able to produce a billion doses next year, for 500 M people.

Of course, as with the Pfizer vaccine, we have no idea how long the vaccine’s protection will last. In the US the initial vaccinations will be free, but this could turn into a long term money machine for the pharmaceutical companies.

Sounds like great news! *checks how many the UK bought*

Oh.

[rotting sea cow]

On 11/15/2020 at 10:30 AM, Which Tyler said:

http://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4425

This is a damn good article! Thank you. There are many worrying signs around this pandemic. For example, many facistoid laws are being proposed "to deal" with the pandemic, when the failure has been mostly political.

https://www.thelocal.dk/20201113/explained-what-is-denmarks-proposed-epidemic-law-and-why-is-it-being-criticised

[rotting sea cow]

5 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

Sounds like great news! *checks how many the UK bought*

Oh.

Don't worry. Pfizer announced 90% effective, Russia announced 92% with theirs. Now Moderna 94.5%. Pretty sure that Oxford/AstraZeneca will be 98% or so.

As the time goes on, we will find ourselves with vaccines with 110% or 150% effective. Why not?

 

[Werthead]

1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

I’m surprised there isn’t more posted about the Moderna vaccine. Pfizer says their vaccine is 90+ effective, Moderna says their’s is 94.5% effective.

You don't necessarily need vaccines to be that effective to work. Malaria vaccines are about 75% effective, polio ones around 85-90% effective. Even the smallpox vaccine is around 90-95% and managed to wipe out the virus despite a non-trivial number of people still being vulnerable to the disease afterwards.

The most effective part of vaccines is halting community transmission and protecting the people whom the vaccine didn't work on or can't take the vaccine at all by forming a shield around them of immune people which the virus can't penetrate. In the case of COVID, where your individual likelihood of becoming seriously ill is significantly less than many other diseases, it should be even more effective at reducing the spread of the disease to a negligible level.

9 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Also, honestly, how are you realistically suppose to fuck with a mask on? 

I mean, there's an entire industry built around the concept.

[Fez]

1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

I’m surprised there isn’t more posted about the Moderna vaccine. Pfizer says their vaccine is 90+ effective, Moderna says their’s is 94.5% effective.

I think part of it is that we only have press releases to go off of, and who knows if there's other considerations going into what's being put in them. The fact that outside experts, like Fauci, seem optimistic is a good sign. But I think until data is publicly released there's not a huge amount to talk about.

[Argonath Diver]

10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Booty calls under COVID, so wrong, but so necessary. 

Also, honestly, how are you realistically suppose to fuck with a mask on? 

Had my first outside-my-circle houseguest over last weekend. Before some developments but long into the evening, she casually mentioned how four or five coworkers at her restaurant gig got the rona, which is just a big hassle for all their schedules and bla bla. Not a care in the world. I was upset, but didn't boot her into the night. Isolated since, tested 5 days after (Thursday), tests at the facility are regularly 3 day results, so every email buzz today will get a flinch out of me. No symptoms except a sore back I attribute to 2 hard days raking. 

It had been a long shutdown. "Worth it" ? Well, I know I havent exposed anyone else, but if I get that Negative today - yes, yes it was. Oh yes. If I contracted it and remain asymptomatic, I think turkey day with my parents is off, even if I test negative in the time between, and that will not go over well. 

The bartender, afaik, never even got a test. This is how little places in my area care. The great risk of hookups through this is that associated parties are inherently less likely to take preventative measures seriously.

[Hereward]

9 hours ago, Kalbear Total Landscaping said:

It is increasing restrictions. It is emphatically NOT a lock down, and people really need to stop using that term unless they're referring to what China did. 

While I agree that specific example doesn’t sound like a lockdown, I disagree that only what Chine did is a lockdown. China nailed people’s doors shut. No one could go out, full stop. I’m pretty sure the three and a half months where we could only leave the house for essential grocery shopping and once a day for an hour’s outdoor exercise counted as a lockdown, doors unnailed or not!

[Ormond]

2 minutes ago, Hereward said:

While I agree that specific example doesn’t sound like a lockdown, I disagree that only what Chine did is a lockdown. China nailed people’s doors shut. No one could go out, full stop. I’m pretty sure the three and a half months where we could only leave the house for essential grocery shopping and once a day for an hour’s outdoor exercise counted as a lockdown, doors unnailed or not!

If China was that restrictive, how did people get food? 

[Fez]

4 minutes ago, Ormond said:

If China was that restrictive, how did people get food? 

IIRC from the articles being published at the time, it varied. In some areas, 1 household member was allowed out to go grocery shopping. In others, all food had to be ordered online and delivered. In places where logistics were breaking down, food was delivered by the military.

And there were rumors, though I don't know if they were ever verified, of some households being given 14 days of supplies by the military and then being completely sealed off for the quarantine period.

[Hereward]

Ninjaed. One family member was allowed out for groceries, not less than every two days. Those who tested positive, or were isolating with someone who had tested positive, or sometimes those found to have ignored the lockdown, were sealed inside their buildings with supplies.