Covid-19 Politics

[Stavros]

Now for the morre serious content, from the UK where cases have been rising, and the argument now is that vaccinations are effective but need to be repeated, in part because of the Delta variant, in part because the effect just wears off. We may be moving to a scenario where, as with the 'Flu jab an annual shot is recommended. That the Govt is resisting any attempt to reimpose restrictions is typical -I wear a mask outside and in shops and on transport, but I note many now do not, which shocks people on the Continent. The UK may have got ahead of others on the vaccination front, but that clearly does not mean we have left the pandemic behind. But then Boris Johnson is a man who both leads from behind and often with his too. It is not a pretty sight.

"Infections have been rising sharply since the start of October but the government is resisting introducing the extra restrictions set out in its winter plan such as masks, vaccine passports and advice to work from home.
On Tuesday the UK reported 223 Covid deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive test - the highest for seven months – while the seven-day average for Covid-19 cases stands at 44,145 a day. The UK now has one of the highest weekly rates of new reported cases in the world."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...johnson-warned

"ONS data published on 6 October says that among 20,262 Britons who tested positive for Covid-19 between July 2020 and September 2021, there were 296 reinfections – defined as a new positive test 120 days or more after an initial first positive test – with an average (median) time of 203 days between positive tests.
However, the reinfection risk appears to have been higher since May 2021 when Delta took over as the predominant variant.
Further data from the US, where various states have now started tracking and reporting on reinfection rates, supports the idea there is a substantially higher risk of re-infection with Delta."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...say-scientists

[filghy2]

I'm confident we will eventually get to a higher percentage that the US, given attitudes to the virus have not been politicised here.

As I predicted a few months ago, the vaccination rate in Australia has now passed that in the US, despite being well behind earlier.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-...llout/13197518

[blackchubby38]

Fuck you! I'm getting a Moderna shot next time:

Pfizer CEO says fourth Covid vaccine doses may be needed sooner than expected due to omicron


/www.cnbc.com/2021/12/08/omicron-pfizer-ceo-says-we-may-need-fourth-covid-vaccine-doses-sooner-than-expected.html

[broncofan]

Fuck you! I'm getting a Moderna shot next time:

Pfizer CEO says fourth Covid vaccine doses may be needed sooner than expected due to omicron


/www.cnbc.com/2021/12/08/omicron-pfizer-ceo-says-we-may-need-fourth-covid-vaccine-doses-sooner-than-expected.html

Omicron data is still coming in and while there's good reason to question Bourla's objectivity I think he probably is right. From the data I've seen (and experts' interpretation of it) 2 shots of Pfizer doesn't neutralize Omicron at all but three shots provides 75% protection against infection. Given how much less effective our antibodies neutralize Omicron, the protection against infection probably wanes pretty quickly.

There's been a lot of debate about whether Omicron is less virulent than other variants-that is causes less death and severe illness. The numbers from South Africa indicate that it is less deadly but there are a number of confounds that make it possible it's similarly virulent. One possibility is that a lot of people in South Africa have previously been infected and while that may not protect much against subsequent infection with omicron the protection against severe disease (which depends more on t cell response) might be better than to infection. Data from Denmark and the UK are starting to come in and we'll hear more about its virulence and the duration of immunity from boosters.

Given the fact that Israel boosted earlier than everyone else it will be interesting to see what kind of breakthrough percentage there is with omicron in Israel. If they are 4 or 5 months from their boosters, we can get a sense of how much that 75% effectiveness has waned.

[filghy2]

Interesting article on the spate of fraudulent scientific studies relating to Covid-19, notably on therapeutics like Ivermectin. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2...research-fraud

You have to wonder about the motives of these researchers, and whether money or political leanings were involved. The rate of fraud seems more than might be explained by the usual motive of people trying to publish attention-getting results to advance their career. Some of the fraud is so blatant it looks like people haven't cared about the likelihood that it would be uncovered eventually. Perhaps the whole point was to generate enough attention that the fake results became accepted truth in some circles.

[blackchubby38]

I'm glad someone finally said it:

Health expert: Surge in COVID-19 cases should no longer be 'major metric' of pandemic.


https://thehill.com/homenews/587329-...ic-of-pandemic

[blackchubby38]

As someone who works in health information management, I agree with this:

NY makes major adjustment to COVID hospitalization reporting during omicron surge.

www.yahoo.com/news/ny-makes-major-adjustment-covid-153923006.html


I think he has a point:

'We can't vaccinate the planet every six months,' says Oxford vaccine scientist.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/healt...ntl/index.html


Finally, I'm glad he said it:

Fauci said 'focus on COVID-19 hospitalizations, not case numbers' just before US cases smashed records to top 1 million.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fauci-sai...125919639.html

[Nick Danger]

Speaking of hospitalizations as opposed to infections - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59873833

In a relatively small country that’s above 90% vaccinated, there were 271,686 new Covid cases yesterday.

I think the question we ought to be asking at this point is, if the Omicron variant were the full extent of the Covid problem, would we still be destroying lives via policy? Because Omicron now IS the full extent of the problem, and it’s just...not that bad if we’re being honest.

What I think is that the governments of the world are now addicted to mandates, lockdowns, and generally just harassing the fuck out of their constituents. You don’t get into the business of governing people unless you’ve got a lust for power.

I hate to say it, but I think there’s going to have to be some murderous rampaging before we regain our freedom from these people. There will have to be a high-profile assassination, or a mass shooting that’s easily traced to Covid madness, or multiples of those, before our power-mad overlords will relinquish their unprecedented control over the lives of their fellow humans.

[broncofan]

There have been no lockdowns where I live since omicron has been the main variant and in fact there have been no lockdowns for quite a long time before that. It seems like you have trouble with chronology and I don't see anyone having their life ruined by anything except their own choices.

I hate to say it but I think you want there to be a mass shooting because you sympathize with the senseless rage of people who use violence when they don't get their way. But I have no idea what you're talking about as nothing has been locked down here and the average number of deaths per day from covid has been 1200 for the last week.

I know you seem to think you win these debates but if it comes to saying things that are true rather than things you want to be true, your posts are riddled with falsehoods.

[Nick Danger]

There have been no lockdowns where I live since omicron has been the main variant and in fact there have been no lockdowns for quite a long time before that. It seems like you have trouble with chronology and I don't see anyone having their life ruined by anything except their own choices.

I hate to say it but I think you want there to be a mass shooting because you sympathize with the senseless rage of people who use violence when they don't get their way. But I have no idea what you're talking about as nothing has been locked down here and the average number of deaths per day from covid has been 1200 for the last week.

I know you seem to think you win these debates but if it comes to saying things that are true rather than things you want to be true, your posts are riddled with falsehoods.

BRONCO!! WB man. I'm snowed in in Nashville right now so I'd be more than happy to address your allegations of falsehood in my posts. Allegate away.

Yeah, I'd agree lockdowns are not happening right at this moment in the USA. But the threat looms ominously over every daily activity. I go to the gym. Will I be able to go to the gym next week? Tomorrow? I don't know, I honestly don't. I told you my extended family's in NYC. I can't do shit in NYC, can't eat, can't drink, hell, it took me 7 or 8 hours just to get tested to leave JFK last time I was there, which was Thanksgiving.

Schools are locked down indefinitely, in many liberal hellholes anyway, Chicago, Philly, many other places.

Mask nazis are relentless and everywhere. Some getting knocked the fuck out, and rightfully so. Probably end up tagging me one or two before it's all over. Vaccine-shaming is the norm now, even though the vaccine doesn't do anything but protect the individual who has it at this point.

The whole thing has become a statistical dick-measuring contest between politicians. And people are tired of it, it's definitely not just me. IIRC you live in Pittsburgh. Yeah, a liberal city, undoubtedly people there are bending over backwards to virtue-signal virus behavior.

In other countries it's much much worse. Australia, Netherlands, Canada, Austria, all those countries are either locked down or just recently came out of lockdown. Over what? 1200 deaths a day? Jesus titty-fucking Christ, there are 300,000,000 people in this country, 1200 deaths a day is nothing, if it went on like that for a full year it would still be only 438,000 deaths - .14% of the population and I used a calculator this time. That's one person in 684 - OVER A FULL YEAR! Sorry, but there's nothing you can say that will convince me saving 1 person in 684 justifies shattering 300,000,000 people's mental health, destroying the economy, and ruining our children's formative years. Absolutely ridiculous, laughable.

And BTW, Bronco, why do you think that I think I always win these arguments. Is it because I'm always claiming victory? Or is it the celebratory Macarena I do after every post?

Let me know about those lies. I'll be around all day, I'm too old for sledding. (I can still do it! I just don't want to.)