Covid- Thank you, Next! Get out of our lives.

[Zorral]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/health/covid-19-patients.html?

"Many Post-Covid Patients Are Experiencing New Medical Problems, Study Finds An analysis of health insurance records of almost two million coronavirus patients found new issues in nearly a quarter — including those whose Covid infection was mild or asymptomatic."

Also, US deaths pass 600,000. Even as we open up everything and drop all restrictions and regulations.

Yay! US!  The governor tonight ordered fireworks displays throughout the state to celebrate.

 

 

[Mlle. Zabzie]

29 minutes ago, Zorral said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/health/covid-19-patients.html?

"Many Post-Covid Patients Are Experiencing New Medical Problems, Study Finds An analysis of health insurance records of almost two million coronavirus patients found new issues in nearly a quarter — including those whose Covid infection was mild or asymptomatic."

Also, US deaths pass 600,000. Even as we open up everything and drop all restrictions and regulations.

Yay! US!  The governor tonight ordered fireworks displays throughout the state to celebrate.

 

 

And yet...people need hope.  Though there is an element of declaring premature victory, the virus isn't going away.  It is going to continue to mutate, and we will continue to vaccinate.  Cases in this state are very, very low right now.  And at some point we are going unfortunately to have to accept a certain amount of "background covid" because we cannot vaccinate the population by force, and the restrictions were no longer effective (in the sense of people were less and less willing to be compliant).  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

12 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

And yet...people need hope.  Though there is an element of declaring premature victory, the virus isn't going away.  It is going to continue to mutate, and we will continue to vaccinate.  Cases in this state are very, very low right now.  And at some point we are going unfortunately to have to accept a certain amount of "background covid" because we cannot vaccinate the population by force, and the restrictions were no longer effective (in the sense of people were less and less willing to be compliant).  

I know you're more pro carrot than stick from the governments perspective, but do you feel the same way about the private sector at this point?

[VigoTheCarpathian]

13 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I know you're more pro carrot than stick from the governments perspective, but do you feel the same way about the private sector at this point?

Once the willingness to vaccinate starts hitting the health insurance actuarial tables and affecting the premiums of dumbshits…

[Mlle. Zabzie]

9 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I know you're more pro carrot than stick from the governments perspective, but do you feel the same way about the private sector at this point?

Sorry, please explain further?  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

50 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

Sorry, please explain further?  

Say your firm's new policy was all new hires, regardless of position, must prove they're vaccinated before a position is formerly offered, and that all current employees have three months to get the vaccine if they want to keep their jobs.

[Fragile Bird]

The NIH has reported that the blood of a person who donated a sample on Jan. 7, 2020, in Illinois, contained Covid-19 antibodies. Since it takes a few weeks to build up antibodies, that person likely became infected around Christmas, 2019.

The blood donation was part of the NIH’s “All of Us” program, a multi-year study to “advance precision medicine” by gathering detailed health information from a large and diverse group of people. More than 280,000 people have participated to date. 24,000 volunteers provided blood samples between January and March of 2020. Two different antibody tests were used on the blood samples. Nine people tested positive and 7 lived in five states that had not reported any cases yet. None of them lived in Washington, New York or California, considered the gateway states for Covid-19. Of the 9, 7 were minorities, 5 were black and 2 were “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish”. It’s possible than 1 or 2 of the tests were false positives, but it’s a low possibility, the reason two tests were used. And their travel histories are not known. However, it was only 9 people out of 24,000, so it seems Covid-19 was not widespread yet, and all the people who had bad colds in late 2019 and early 2020 who think they may have had Covid-19 likely only had bad colds.

The story comes from the WaPo.

[Gorn]

48 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Say your firm's new policy was all new hires, regardless of position, must prove they're vaccinated before a position is formerly offered, and that all current employees have three months to get the vaccine if they want to keep their jobs.

Many small business owners are anti-vaxxers themselves, and majority of others want to avoid the controversy and bad press. I wouldn't get my hopes up too much.

[Filippa Eilhart]

Delta variant in luxembourg now represents 30% cases (15% last week) but the numbers keep falling (-40% compared to last week).

[Zorral]

13 hours ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

...people need hope. 

Hope is one thing.  This determined blindness is just determined denial of what, one way or another, is inevitable, judging by the history of massively infectious diseases.

However! if time proves me wrong about the future, I shall rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, and thank the lordessa I was wrong!

[JoannaL]

13 minutes ago, Fillyjonk Eilhart said:

Delta variant in luxembourg now represents 30% cases (15% last week) but the numbers keep falling (-40% compared to last week).

Thats really great news! so even when the delta variant will have taken hold in the EU it may be that our vaccination effort will be enough to stop it from building a wave.

[Zorral]

Additionally, when talking 'giving hope', for whom is this 'hope' targeted?

The homeless who are now being moved out of the hotels back to the shelters where nothing has changed except they re even more run-down and chaotic?

The white party-hearty college students who make life a living hell in the East Village including stomping around in vast hordes while drunk out of their minds, blasting terrible music, screaming and fighting, and doing it right on your roof, right over your head, night after night?  While down below the same shyte goes on in the packed bars, covid sheds, streets and on the sidewalks?

For the average pedestrian attempting to get through the inadequate space for the sheer density of bikes, strollers, waiters, tables, walls, and cars squeaking by on the other side, not to mention there is no way at all for anyone in a wheel chair to find a passage, much less a safe one?

The craycray who drive their cars into wherever they want, hitting pedestrians, diners and children?

The number of shootings and violent attacks perpetrated at all times everywhere randomly, though often driven by racism and xenophobia and other bigotries -- not to mention the insane, and those driven insane by desperation of intolerable pressures just to live from one day to the next.  Opening everything will not give us hope these conditions will even be mentioned, much less addressed.  

Looks like the only hope here is for the real estate industry and high finance (as they used to call it).

[Mlle. Zabzie]

5 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Say your firm's new policy was all new hires, regardless of position, must prove they're vaccinated before a position is formerly offered, and that all current employees have three months to get the vaccine if they want to keep their jobs.

Then we would lose associates in droves.  Skadden (think it was Skadden) got a HUGE amount of blowback just for saying you needed a vaccine (or a negative Covid test based on certain parameters) to come to the office.  Right now, this is an associate’s market (market starting salary is now over $200K at top firms).  

[lady narcissa]

6 hours ago, L'oiseau français said:

The NIH has reported that the blood of a person who donated a sample on Jan. 7, 2020, in Illinois, contained Covid-19 antibodies. Since it takes a few weeks to build up antibodies, that person likely became infected around Christmas, 2019.

I remembered reading something that sounded similar but for Italy and Spain.  Just a quick search and I found this about Italy.

https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-italy-timing/researchers-find-coronavirus-was-circulating-in-italy-earlier-than-thought-idUSKBN27W1J2

So it does seem like it was spreading earlier than first detected in multiple countries beyond China.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

47 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

Then we would lose associates in droves.  Skadden (think it was Skadden) got a HUGE amount of blowback just for saying you needed a vaccine (or a negative Covid test based on certain parameters) to come to the office.  Right now, this is an associate’s market (market starting salary is now over $200K at top firms).  

Isn't there a flip side to it though? I would thing a fully vaccinated office would be appealing to a lot of associates.

And if I was hiring them, it would cause me to pause if a candidate didn't want to be vaccinated at this point. Unless they have a very good reason, I'd be left questioning their critical thinking skills.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

41 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Isn't there a flip side to it though? I would thing a fully vaccinated office would be appealing to a lot of associates.

And if I was hiring them, it would cause me to pause if a candidate didn't want to be vaccinated at this point. Unless they have a very good reason, I'd be left questioning their critical thinking skills.

Yeah, you would.  But you would be wrong.  And remember that we are a global business, and would prefer to set policy at least country wide.  Our biggest centers of gravity include such places as TX.  There is a D&I element as well, and remember that high end BigLaw is busier than it has ever been.  We are DESPERATE to retain and attract talent, and frankly if someone is vaccine hesitant that is not going to stop me from hiring them.  I might personally prefer that they decide to work from home, but we need to be more thoughtful than that.

ETA:  We are making it as easy as possible to be vaccinated, including offering on-site vaccines, and making sure people feel that they can take time off.

[Week]

NFL protocols for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated:

Seems to ... make sense? Yes, you have personal autonomy to choose the left column or the right column. Now choose.

[Zorral]

 

 

3 minutes ago, Week said:

NFL protocols for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated:

Seems to ... make sense? Yes, you have personal autonomy to choose the left column or the right column. Now choose.

Now if all that applied to the spectators as well.

 

[Padraig]

A bad day for vaccines.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/16/health/curevac-vaccine.html

Curevac reports preliminary results of 47% efficiacy.  

Quote

The outcome confirms that only one single case was attributable to the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. More than half of the cases (57%) were caused byVariants of Concern. Most of the remaining cases were caused by other less characterised variants such as Lambda or C.37, first identified in Peru (21%) and B.1.621, first identified in Colombia (7%). 

I didn't realise we had a lambda variant already.  While Novavax reported results recently also, it was focused on the US market, which doesn't have the variety in variants (at least in high volumes).  When Novavax was previously tested in South Africa, it got a 49% efficiacy (IIRC).  So Curevac isn't particularly unique in its struggles.  Although, Pfizer and Moderna seem to hold up better.

The length of time it has taken Curevac to reach trial stage is counting against it now since it has ended up facing so many variants.  Testing in South America was a brave move, given the level of variants there.  On the other hand, it probably had no choice given disease rates were falling in other continents (and vaccinatations were increasing).

Its possible that Curevac could do fine against serious illness (Pfizer and AZ most struggled against asympototic COVID) but it will be hard to ignore the 47% figure.  Although final results are still a few weeks ago.

The vaccines that had the most potential to be produced cheaply have had the most misfortune so far.  AZ, then J&J and now Curevac (the "cheap" mRNA vaccine).  Not good.  Novavax is the best of the lot but i'd like to see how it does beyond the alpha variant.

[Rippounet]

So I learned tonight (while having a beer) that the French government is ending both mandatory mask-wearing and the curfew (11pm) this week...

I'm really torn. It's so odd to have all restrictions suddenly lifted after a year and a half... Thing is, even if this is good news, I can't help but be slightly critical of the decision.
- 30M people have received at least one shot (14M two) (including myself), 45% of the population. Not bad.
- The numbers of people being hospitalized keep going down, despite the restrictions being eased in the last few weeks (12,000 hospitalized, about 2,000 critical).
OTOH, there are dangerous variants about, 55% of the population is still not vaccinated at all, and... There are elections (regional) this sunday.

It's such a naked attempt at winning votes, I can't help but frown. It's quite clearly a gamble. A reasonable one, but a gamble nonetheless.

But how many people will pay for this gamble? Right now, about 700,000 people are getting a shot each day. Basic maths tells me we would have reached a safer 60% of the population having had a shot in three weeks (70% in five). The original plan was in fact to wait 10 more days and reach at least 50%... There are still several dozen people dying every day... Not enough... ?
Not that many people give a fuck anymore. It's terribly hot here (heat waaaave, thanks global warming!), and people are eager to go out and enjoy life (drinks) again.
Never mind the fact that lifting the restrictions before hitting 60% or 70% also means more people will be reluctant to take the shot, especially before the summer/holidays... And that elections were proved to help spread the virus last year.

Is it my hatred for Macron speaking, or is this really another instance of this government being fucking terrible?