Covid 44: The Sickening

[LongRider]

It's being reported that Glenn Beck has contracted covid for the 2nd time and that he's not vacc'd.  He's claiming to be being treated with Ivermectrin, and "Beck told Levin he was not being treated with monoclonal antibodies, some of which are less effective against the omicron strain of the virus, but was instead taking ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, fluvoxamine - none of which are approved coronavirus treatments - and that his doctors were "hitting it really hard."  and that it is going into his lungs.    Beck article in The Hill.   

[RhaenysBee]

37 minutes ago, Clueless Northman said:

The number of previous doses or infections doesn't really matter with Omicron. It replicates so fast that only the amount of antibodies matter, and your odds of being infected and sick are lowered considerably if you got your last taste of immunity a few weeks ago - having had a 2nd dose 3 weeks ago will protect you more than having had a 3rd dose 4 months ago. Previous exposures help with the core layer of the immune system - T and B cells -, not with the outside layer of antibodies; they can react reasonably fast to mass-produce antibodies and help you get over Omicron infection in a few days, instead of having to go to the hospital.

Hopefully, getting Omicron after vaccine doses will have a similar, and possibly way better, effect as getting mixed vaccines - first Pfizer, then Moderna, or first AZ then Pfizer: the immune system will better react to a slightly mutated virus.

Yes, I get that. But I stand by my previous point. 6 months ago we all believed that a previous infection combined with whatever number of shots would protect you in the future. Then omicron came along. Nobody knows if something else comes along 6 months from now, against which an omicron infection will be equally of as little use as my previous (alpha?) infection is against omicron. I’m not trying to argue, the future is entirely unpredictable and we are once again pretending that it isn’t (entirely). 

[Luzifer's right hand]

Just read that 7 tourists with positiv tests violated quarantine and flew home from Tyrol. Lol.

Why do we even call this honour system based system quarantine?

A magnificent farce...

[Padraig]

52 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

Nobody knows if something else comes along 6 months from now, against which an omicron infection will be equally of as little use as my previous (alpha?) infection is against omicron.

Well yes.  If anyone sounds very sure about how COVID is going to progress, it is safe to ignore that person.

We are not totally in the dark though, because COVID is just another Coronavirus and we know how they normally progress.   That is what Impmk2 was responding to previously.   That science doesn't suggest we should be pessimistic.  But it is too early to be sure (and Omicron isn't a good trend point).

[Heartofice]

1 hour ago, RhaenysBee said:

Yes, I get that. But I stand by my previous point. 6 months ago we all believed that a previous infection combined with whatever number of shots would protect you in the future. Then omicron came along. Nobody knows if something else comes along 6 months from now, against which an omicron infection will be equally of as little use as my previous (alpha?) infection is against omicron. I’m not trying to argue, the future is entirely unpredictable and we are once again pretending that it isn’t (entirely). 

As long as vaccines / previous infection protect us against serious disease then that is what we should be thankful for. Wasting mental energy worrying about whether you are going to catch Covid now is pointless and counter productive 

[DireWolfSpirit]

15 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Please let this be true:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-12/cannabis-compounds-prevented-covid-infection-in-laboratory-study

I know at least 3 weed smokers that have recently got the virus so.........

[Luzifer's right hand]

4 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

I know at least 3 weed smokers that have recently got the virus so.........

Might be one of those "if you bath cells in an unrealistic concentration of this substance it works" studies.

I did not read it I'm trying to find a dealer... Just kidding.

 

[Zorral]

3 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

I know at least 3 weed smokers that have recently got the virus so.........

This was duly noted by Partner etc. this AM!  

Which got me reminded of early on with Covid, the frequency in a variety of online forums, including this one, there were people who were determined it was true that tobacco provided a high level of protection from getting Covid, or at least severe Covid .

I sure do wish it were true about Cannabis -- but like you, I have know all too many people who acquired Covid who are regular imbibers of it.  For decades even.  Sigh.

 

[Luzifer's right hand]

2 minutes ago, Zorral said:

This was duly noted by Partner etc. this AM!  

Which got me reminded of early on with Covid, the frequency in a variety of online forums, including this one, there were people who were determined it was true that tobacco provided a high level of protection from getting Covid, or at least severe Covid .

I sure do wish it were true about Cannabis -- but like you, I have know all too many people who acquired Covid who are regular imbibers of it.  For decades even.  Sigh.

 

But it can't hurt of you eat it right?

RIGHT?

[TrueMetis]

16 hours ago, VigoTheCarpathian said:

Anti-vaxx SiL and BiL (mid-40s and overweight) in Indiana now are down and very sick with COVID-19, as well as 2 of their kids (9 and 12).  Their oldest had it shortly after Christmas and recovered.  As she promised, they both got monoclonal treatments (2 days ago), but still experiencing serious symptoms.

The kids are doing OK, but not mild symptoms, either. It’s frustrating and heartbreaking and I don’t really know how to feel other than silently hoping the adults experience something that makes them regret their decisions but not enough to permanently injure/kill them.

Just FYI, if it's omicron the monoclonal treatment's probably not going to do anything.

Anyway I believe I mentioned somewhere on this forum how I found out my mom hadn't gotten vaccinated despite telling me she would. So anyone got any advice for trying to convince someone who just doesn't think vaccines work? Like she doesn't believe they're dangerous, doesn't believe that they give you autism nonsense, just they don't work. The really weird thing is she otherwise follows all the protocols, masks everywhere, and when the pandemic started was *way* more concerned about it then me, everyone in my family was. Throughout the entire fucking thing my reading of how severe it is has been better than all of them yet they sill won't listen to me.

[Fragile Bird]

I noticed on my news feed that Polish scientists say they have found a gene that more than doubles the risk of the person with it getting severely ill from Covid-19, and they hope this will help identify people who need the most help. 

[The Anti-Targ]

10 hours ago, Padraig said:

It is a little shocking to see Australia now join the "worst in class" list when it comes to COVID cases.  Almost like a pure L shaped curve.  But still, countries are beginning to come down from their peak.  A number in Europe and Canada maybe (Canada has done a lot better than most Western countries if so)?  Although, fatalities continue to rise depressingly across all those countries.  And the US is significantly above its previous hospitalisation peak now.

In case numbers perhaps. But hopefully with high vaccination rates and it being predominantly Omicron the kill count will remain closer to being the best in class. Australia is still only at 97 deaths/million, and if it can keep it in the 3 digits by the end of the pandemic it will have done well. We're at 10 deaths/million, and somehow we have managed to really avoid a true delta wave (can't really call 220 cases/day and 3 deaths on one day only much of a wave for delta (US equivalent would be 14,000 cases and 196 deaths)). I didn't think our vax rate and traffic light measures would be as effective as they seem to be. I was still expecting triple figure cases per day and deaths on a daily basis, but that hasn't happened. It will be very curious to see what happens when omicron eventually breaches the border. If we hold the line on traffic light measures it might make the spread managable, but it won't stop it being a real wave I don't think. I don't think having a high vax rate will hold it back like it has with delta.

[The Anti-Targ]

5 hours ago, Luzifer's right hand said:

Might be one of those "if you bath cells in an unrealistic concentration of this substance it works" studies.

I did not read it I'm trying to find a dealer... Just kidding.

 

It likely means the two (non-high-making) compounds under consideration need to be extracted and purified and delivered in substantial doses which cannot be achieved by recreational levels of intake. So, be hopeful that they have actually found something that does what some claim ivermectin to does. But don't get all excited that your local weed dealer is now going to be a pandemic hero.

[BigFatCoward]

Djokovic has had his visa revoked, good, fuck him the tin hat wearing prick.

I hope all his sponsors drop him. And Nadal ends up the all time GS leader because he wins this AO.

And something bad happens to his pig ignorant parents and all his stupid fans. 

[Teng Ai Hui]

All this week my school (and all of the other schools in the city) did lessons online.  The city govt has been testing everyone every other day.  Many apartment complexes are in lockdown.  For my students, the semester is now over, but next week we have two days of teacher meetings.  Admin decided that teachers should come into the office to conduct these meetings.  Sounds like a recklessly unsafe idea to me.  I'll be telling them that my community is locked, even if it isn't true, and that it is impossible for me to go anywhere.

[RhaenysBee]

The biggest news portal published two articles within one week, both are featured as top stories on the website now. One of the headlines says: head GP says we are in the hallway of herd immunity. The other goes as: chief health officer doesn’t think herd immunity is achievable.
Quarantine days are down to 7 days for adults, unless you are asymptotic in which case a negative test can get you out in 5 days. For school children, quarantine time is 5 days, but only for the unvaccinated. (Whatever that means and implies) 
Protection IDs are now Vaccination IDs - which means previous infection doesn’t give you one, only 2 or 3 vaccines within 6 months. (We don’t know what happens when you got your 3rd vaccine in more than 6 months) I haven’t ever experienced Vaccination IDs’ being actually checked, so I’m not sure this will result in practical differences. But there’s certainly an outcry about this roundabout way of “technically mandating vaccines but not really”. 
All the while the government encourages people to take up a 4th dose as early as 4 months after the 3rd one. 
 

[Luzifer's right hand]

Germany has declared us a high risk country again.

That might cause a lockdown because tourism being hurt is important unlike the health of people.

Except for the first lockdown all lockdowns happend shortly after the tourist lobbying orgs demanded one. I wish I was kidding.

[Padraig]

5 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

All the while the government encourages people to take up a 4th dose as early as 4 months after the 3rd one. 

Hmm.  I'm still very skeptical of this.  If 3 doses doesn't do it, why should 4?  You probably will have a few weeks where you are unlikely to get infected but then you are back to the same place again.  A next generation vaccine may have some appeal but we are a few months away from that option.

So South America has the highest rate of vaccination on a continental level.  Interesting.

https://english.elpais.com/usa/2022-01-13/how-south-america-became-a-global-leader-in-covid-19-vaccination.html

Quote

as of January 5, according to statistics from the Our World in Data website, South America had vaccinated 76% of its people with at least one dose, and 64% of inhabitants are fully vaccinated, just above Europe (66% and 62%) and the United States (74% and 62%). 

This highlights one thing though.  The US has done reasonably well with getting people vaccinated. Its problem is that way too many people stopped at one dose.  South America had the same problem for whatever reason.  Is that because of side effects?  Work commitments?  I never noticed there was such a huge gap before.

Europe is a lot more logical.

Quote

Poorer nations last month rejected more than 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines distributed by the global programme Covax, mainly due to their rapid expiry date, a Unicef official said on Thursday (Jan 13).

That's why this thing is never going to go away.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/poorer-nations-dump-millions-of-close-to-expiry-covid-19-vaccines-unicef

But this sounds cool if very early days.

Quote

Researchers in Finland say they’ve created a novel nasal spray treatment that can provide brief but effective protection from the coronavirus and its many variants, including Omicron. In a recent preliminary study of cells in a petri dish as well as mice, the nasal spray appeared to block the virus from infecting cells up to eight hours following a dose. But more research would have to be done before we could expect this therapy to reach humans.

The Helsinki team’s treatment, is a synthetic protein that’s much smaller than an antibody, but one that can still recognize and bind to the spike protein of the virus. To further amplify the protein’s potential, they smushed together three of them into a single package.

https://gizmodo.com/experimental-nasal-spray-could-provide-temporary-protec-1848334237

[Larry of the Lawn]

59 minutes ago, Padraig said:

Hmm.  I'm still very skeptical of this.  If 3 doses doesn't do it, why should 4?  You probably will have a few weeks where you are unlikely to get infected but then you are back to the same place again.  A next generation vaccine may have some appeal but we are a few months away from that option.

So South America has the highest rate of vaccination on a continental level.  Interesting.

https://english.elpais.com/usa/2022-01-13/how-south-america-became-a-global-leader-in-covid-19-vaccination.html

This highlights one thing though.  The US has done reasonably well with getting people vaccinated. Its problem is that way too many people stopped at one dose.  South America had the same problem for whatever reason.  Is that because of side effects?  Work commitments?  I never noticed there was such a huge gap before.

Europe is a lot more logical.

That's why this thing is never going to go away.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/poorer-nations-dump-millions-of-close-to-expiry-covid-19-vaccines-unicef

But this sounds cool if very early days.

https://gizmodo.com/experimental-nasal-spray-could-provide-temporary-protec-1848334237

 

If one isn't good enough, why get 2?  

 

[RhaenysBee]

2 hours ago, Padraig said:

Hmm.  I'm still very skeptical of this.  If 3 doses doesn't do it, why should 4?  You probably will have a few weeks where you are unlikely to get infected but then you are back to the same place again.  A next generation vaccine may have some appeal but we are a few months away from that option.

Who isn’t? More and more experts are saying that it’s not a viable and sustainable (financially or otherwise) solution to vaccinate the globe every 4 months. With the same substance that just hasn’t yielded lasting protection. Either we need a new vaccine, or we should settle for yearly boosters, or go back to lockdown or develop better meds or anything. But am I really supposed to get the same vaccine for a 4th time within 12 months? I just don’t see why.