Covid #35: I am the Alpha and the Omega.

[Week]

13 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

We've moved on from people competing in the free market of ideas to just people competing for value as a source of profit to the market.

Monetized engagement has incentives all types of engagement - controversy is the easiest, most impactful, and corrosive long term. Short-term profits versus long term stability too.

[The Anti-Targ]

The continued shifting sands on scientific views around the origin of the virus.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/07/19/1016005828/new-data-leads-to-rethinking-once-more-where-the-pandemic-actually-began

 

Quote

Back in May, a group of scientists — many at the top of the virology field — shifted the debate about the origins of COVID-19. They published a letter in the journal Science saying the lab-leak theory needs to be taken more seriously by the scientific community.

Given the current evidence available, the scientists wrote, the outbreak is just as likely to have originated from a laboratory — specifically the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which studies coronaviruses — as from an infected animal. "We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data," they concluded.

Now one of the scientists who signed that letter says new data has come to light. And that information, summarized in an online review, has changed his thinking.

"I do think transmission from another species, without a lab escape, is the most likely scenario by a long shot," says evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey at the University of Arizona.

In fact, Worobey thinks, the most likely scenario, given the current information, is that the coronavirus pandemic began at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, even though the World Health Organization says it's unlikely to have started there. "The data are very consistent with it starting at the market — very consistent," Worobey says.

  

[IheartIheartTesla]

Quote

Fox News host Sean Hannity had a message for viewers of his primetime show on Monday night: “Please take Covid seriously.”

The influential host, a close ally of Donald Trump, also said: “I believe in science, I believe in the science of vaccination.”

If only the rest of Fox News were in lockstep, they could have saved so many lives. T*cker is a prime example of someone who has been vaccinated yet is casting doubts on them. Pathetic.

[Padraig]

On 7/18/2021 at 6:44 PM, A Horse Named Stranger said:

 

I am not sure there's generally speaking that much reliable data out wrt to Sputnik. I don't fully trust the official Russian data. The vaccination rate in Russia is pretty low, and there were some issues with the Sputnik deliveries to Slovakia IIRC.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Sputnik turns out to be fine.  But I don't think the Russian's appreciated the amount of data required to get this thing approved in the West.  And then there are different procedures that need to be audited.  They seem to have a lot of paperwork issues basicly.

It is been reviewed by the EU's EMA at the moment.  But I wouldn't be confident about approval this year.

The EMA has just started to actively review the Sanofi/GSK vaccine.  (It is similar to Novavax's option).  It is still months away from approval but it is good to see more options finally emerge (and Sanofi/GSK should have the capability to produce a lot of doses).  After an early rush, the last approval in the EU was in March.  Curevac failed.  Novavax got delayed and delayed again.  Although, it may finally submit approval in the coming weeks (in the UK I think).  The EU is also reviewing Sinovac.  It will be interesting to see where that application goes also, given Sinovac's performance is much more controversial than Sputnik's.

On 7/19/2021 at 5:29 PM, lady narcissa said:

Meanwhile two of my cousins just came down with the Delta variety of Covid.  One is in Chicago and the other in Boston.  Both are doctors.  Both were vaccinated in early winter.  Both are extremely careful and hand washing mask wearing sorts.  But none the less they got it, that's how easy it is. 

Ouch.  I hope it was a light enough dose at least!

[Zorral]

This is good news, if we must have people who still refuse to vax, as well as billions who --at this time at least -- don't have access to vaccines.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/3-existing-drugs-fight-coronavirus-with-almost-100-success-in-jerusalem-lab/

Quote

 

Israeli scientists say they have identified three existing drugs that have good prospects as COVID-19 treatments, reporting that they illustrated high ability to fight the virus in lab tests.

They placed the substances with live SARS‑CoV‑2 and human cells in vitro. The results “showed that the drugs can protect cells from onslaught by the virus with close to 100 percent effectiveness, meaning that almost 100% of the cells lived despite being infected by the virus,” Prof. Isaiah Arkin, the Hebrew University biochemist behind the research, told The Times of Israel.

“By contrast, in normal circumstances, around half the cells would have died after two days following contact with the virus.” He added there are strong indications that the drugs will be robust against changing variants . . . .

 

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

The Deer District, what the fuck are we doing?

[DireWolfSpirit]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

The Deer District, what the fuck are we doing?

I'm glad I'm about 180 miles north of these animals. Now if we can just keep them from fanning to the 4 corners 

[RhaenysBee]

So much drama.

Pfizer doesn’t recommend mixing Pfizer with other vaccines without testing. But it’s also expert recommendation (including Katalin Karikó’s) to do mix vector based vaccines with the newer technology for the most thorough immunization.

Healthcare professionals are also leaving their jobs because of the mandatory vaccination. 

And we can’t account for the outcome of 30thousand-ish covid cases that are labeled as active. The best guess is that the data is lost in the overburdened administration system. Either way, I’m quite happy that someone pointed out that something may not be quite okay with that stat. 

 

[Zorral]

8 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

I'm glad I'm about 180 miles north of these animals. Now if we can just keep them from fanning to the 4 corners 

Like Sturgis, you will not, because they come from the whole vast swathe.

Here, the stupid mayor categorically denies the need for masking in public spaces, despite the redoubling every day or so of new infections.

Also we have the worst air quality of any city in the world right now, due to the smoke of the wildfires in the west reaching us.    There is always something that makes being outside here dangerous and difficult instead of relaxing.

[Fragile Bird]

10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

The Deer District, what the fuck are we doing?

????

[Maithanet]

8 minutes ago, L'oiseau français said:

????

There were estimated 60 thousand people packed together outside the stadium in Milwaukee for the Bucks championship last night.  It is referred to as The Deer District, but I've no doubt it will be quite the superspreader event.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

57 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

There were estimated 60 thousand people packed together outside the stadium in Milwaukee for the Bucks championship last night.  It is referred to as The Deer District, but I've no doubt it will be quite the superspreader event.

Pretty much. There was an outdoor concert held in the Netherlands recently and already over 1,000 of the 20k in attendance have tested positive. The organizers say they took all the precautions they could have. Somehow I doubt much of anything was done with all those drunk fans in Milwaukee.

[Fragile Bird]

Pfizer has made a deal with a South African company to start manufacturing it’s vaccine there. Good news!

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

On 7/19/2021 at 11:38 AM, Chataya de Fleury said:

On my first vaccine, I had no side effects. After the second, the pharmacist told me “6+ hours” was standard for reactions, and about 8 hours later, the headache and exhaustion followed, with a fever of 102-103 on the next day that was on and off all day (controllable with regular ibuprofen).

My side effects lasted about three - four days with the only side effect post day 2 being fatigue.

Not that it matters, but which vaccine?

I had AstraZeneca for my first shot and Moderna for my second. Second shot resulted in zero side effects. My first shot resulted in a milder version of what you're talking about. I just took it easy for a few days and I was fine.

A friend of mine informed me that this could be a problem if I want to travel internationally. If that were the case I'm sure I could get myself signed up for a booster.

On 7/20/2021 at 9:10 AM, IheartIheartTesla said:

If only the rest of Fox News were in lockstep, they could have saved so many lives. T*cker is a prime example of someone who has been vaccinated yet is casting doubts on them. Pathetic.

They should have gotten real about this over a year and a half ago. But hey, they were in an election year.

I'm seeing stories about a lot of prominent Republicans making public statements in favor of vaccines. If you take a look at where the lowest vaccination rates and the greatest increases in infection rates are, it's easy to see why. This is about saving Republican votes. 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/covid-19-in-the-u-s-how-do-canada-s-provinces-rank-against-american-states-1.5051033

 

[Week]

More of this please:

[Fragile Bird]

Canada has hit 80% of the population that’s 12+ being vaccinated with one dose and 60% of that group vaccinated with two doses. Overall it’s 70% of the population vaccinated with one dose.

We have actually dropped in the rankings, Singapore and Uruguay have edged ahead.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

1 hour ago, L'oiseau français said:

Canada has hit 80% of the population that’s 12+ being vaccinated with one dose and 60% of that group vaccinated with two doses. Overall it’s 70% of the population vaccinated with one dose.

We have actually dropped in the rankings, Singapore and Uruguay have edged ahead.

Unfortunately, (where I am) a closer look reveals that vaccination rates roughly correlate with age. Rates for people over 40 are pretty good. For people over 60, even better. For people 12-39, almost 40% haven't even had their first shot yet, and there's plenty of vaccine.

[Fragile Bird]

44 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Unfortunately, (where I am) a closer look reveals that vaccination rates roughly correlate with age cohort. Rates for people over 40 are pretty good. For people over 60, even better. For people 12-39, almost 40% haven't even had their first shot yet, and there's plenty of vaccine.

That’s terrible. Here in Toronto the 19-24 group is over 92% with a first dose and the 25-29 group is in the 80s.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

37 minutes ago, L'oiseau français said:

That’s terrible. Here in Toronto the 19-24 group is over 92% with a first dose and the 25-29 group is in the 80s.

Yeah, If I'm being optimistic I'd account for the fact that vaccines were unavailable to the under-40 cohort until just a few months ago. I'm also going off of Health Canada's numbers, which were last updated on July 10.

Still, as of that date Alberta was below the national average for vaccinations rates in every age cohort.  Unless the kids are waiting 'till the summer is over to get poked, it looks like we're going to plateau at around 75% for 12+ and <70% for 12-39.

Why the hell the Alberta health website still lists, "Average age of death = 80 years" on their stats page I'll never know. That just reinforces the, "It's only old people dying so I don't need to worry about it" rhetoric. I heard a 20 year old classmate utter those exact words before we ended in-person classes in March of last year. I ran into another classmate about a month ago, who got Covid earlier this year, who said he wasn't going to get vaccinated. You can't make this stuff up. 

Soon I'm going to start slapping people.

[The Anti-Targ]

NZ-Aus travel bubble has been popped (by the NZ govt) for 8 weeks while some Aussie states try to get the current outbreak under control. A pity for those states / territories with no outbreak. But reality is the vast majority of travel is between the states that are experiencing active infection. My sister's travel plans have been turned upside down, but she will probably transfer flights to the Cook Islands, which is probably a lower risk of an outbreak than here.