COVID-19 - Wuhan Coronavirus (a non-political thread, see pg. 36 #1778)

[Lathum]

Thats great to hear

[sterlingice]

I saw the news about the 1 dose vs 2 dose thing and, sadly, here was my first thought. Wow: a legit policy decision where rational adults from 2 administrations can respectfully disagree about what is legitimately the right way to handle a complex problem that doesn't have a simple answer. As opposed to the usual "MASKS ARE TYRRANY" or "I WON'T TAKE A VACCINE BECAUSE I MIGHT GET 5G COOTIES!" that we've seen so much of the past year.

SI

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I saw the news about the 1 dose vs 2 dose thing and, sadly, here was my first thought. Wow: a legit policy decision where rational adults from 2 administrations can respectfully disagree about what is legitimately the right way to handle a complex problem that doesn't have a simple answer. As opposed to the usual "MASKS ARE TYRRANY" or "I WON'T TAKE A VACCINE BECAUSE I MIGHT GET 5G COOTIES!" that we've seen so much of the past year.

SI

Absolutely agree. It will be great to have an adult in the room asking people to assess & figure things out methodically vs an irrational narcissist who refuses to concede he is mistaken.

It's like "good people can agree to disagree" but at least let's have the conversation.

[Edward64]

Went to the dentist for 2 fillings (yay, nothing left on the treatment plan other than cleanings). Spoke to office manager (wife of Dentist) on the way out.

Wife: will you take the vaccine?
Me: yes, would not want to be first but will take it after the first batch
Wife: we have our vaccinations next week
Me: that is great
Wife: but 5 of us don't want to take it
Me: why?
Wife: don't you think they developed it too fast?
Me: yes and they probably left out some test groups and they really couldn't test for long term impact. But approx 2M people have been vaccinated, we haven't heard of any widespread problems and zombie apocalypse hasn't happened ..
Wife: do you want my shot?
Me: absolutely, if its legal

So we have 5 people (out of maybe 10) that work in a Dentist office that prefer not to take shots now. They aren't idiots. The wife is definitely not a Trump supporter.

A little disappointed that healthcare professionals (and those that work in healthcare setting) would not want to take the shots. Seems like what's being reported though so no big surprise.

[molson]

It seems like whatever demographic you can come up with, somewhere around 30-50% don't want the vaccine. Even health-care providers. Part of the slow rollout is a certain number of vaccines are allocated for a certain hospital or nursing home, and then only half of them want it, and there's not a backup plan for the rest. I know in my state they're trying to figure out how to estimate for that now, and ways to move everybody else up the line.

Europe seems like they're reluctant too. I keep reading the same % of people don't want to take it. It's a somewhat different philosophy of anti-vaccer than we have in the U.S, but it's very pronounced there too. And Europe also failed on acquiring vaccines, and betting early on a vaccine that didn't work out. The U.S. and U.K. have vaccinated close to 2% of their populations, other European countries are way below that, and a bunch haven't started yet. France is 0.07%, Norway is .21%, Austria .07%, etc. It's been sluggish in the U.S, but hopefully we see really benefits by the late spring. For the rest of the world, I don't know what the timeline is.

[Atocep]

I know people at work that have been hesitant to get it, but no one that's outright refused it. I'm sure there are quite a few I just don't know.

I do have a friend whose wife works at Tacoma General, though, and they've had several nurses refuse the shot and a group of them got together outside of work and 12 of them ended up testing positive for COVID last week.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by molson

The U.S. and U.K. have vaccinated close to 2% of their populations, other European countries are way below that, and a bunch haven't started yet. France is 0.07%, Norway is .21%, Austria .07%, etc. It's been sluggish in the U.S, but hopefully we see really benefits by the late spring. For the rest of the world, I don't know what the timeline is.

Is there a website that tracks these %?

[molson]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Is there a website that tracks these %?

This is the best one I've found. States and countries vary on how quickly they update their info (and those dates are on there), but those updates seem to be getting more regular as we go.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by molson

It seems like whatever demographic you can come up with, somewhere around 30-50% don't want the vaccine. Even health-care providers. Part of the slow rollout is a certain number of vaccines are allocated for a certain hospital or nursing home, and then only half of them want it, and there's not a backup plan for the rest. I know in my state they're trying to figure out how to estimate for that now, and ways to move everybody else up the line.

Europe seems like they're reluctant too. I keep reading the same % of people don't want to take it. It's a somewhat different philosophy of anti-vaccer than we have in the U.S, but it's very pronounced there too. And Europe also failed on acquiring vaccines, and betting early on a vaccine that didn't work out. The U.S. and U.K. have vaccinated close to 2% of their populations, other European countries are way below that, and a bunch haven't started yet. France is 0.07%, Norway is .21%, Austria .07%, etc. It's been sluggish in the U.S, but hopefully we see really benefits by the late spring. For the rest of the world, I don't know what the timeline is.

It’s being reported there’s an 85% take up here. I expect that may go down as we get to the younger and less vulnerable, but 85% is a decent number

[whomario]

A big monthly survey in Germany had those wanting to definitely or likely get a vaccine jump by like 15 points this round, very encouraging and a sign that transparent messaging has gotten through. Plus of course a new sense of urgency due to it spiraling here ...

Hope the studys regarding asymptomatic infection with vaccine/placebo (meaning possibly still able to transmit) bring good results, should be getting that done soonish ...

[miami_fan]

I suspect the number of people who change their minds from a no to a maybe to a yes with go continue to rise with time. I know I am ready whenever they call me. My wife not so much mostly because she has allergies and the advice at the moment is not to take it. She has made it perfectly when she can take it she will. I get those that are reluctant to take it though.

[Edward64]

I don't know if y'all know this already, if not consider it a PSA.

In GA, I found my county website to make an appt.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/Respo...dBWUpYNlpHWi4u

District 2 Public Health – Prevent. Protect. Promote.

You can see it tells you what population is eligible to make the appt. Currently at

This vaccination request form is for any person who works or resides in District 2 and is currently within an eligible category to receive the vaccine:
- Healthcare workers in clinical settings (e.g nurses, physicians, EMS, laboratory technicians, environmental services)
- Staff and residents of long-term care facilities
- All law enforcement and fire personnel (including volunteer departments)
- Adults aged 65 and older (and their caregivers as applicable

We appreciate your patience and ask that if there are no appointments available for the day that you wish to schedule an appointment, to please continue checking back as availability is subject to change.

Basically, I think its up to the individual to monitor the website and check when one is eligible and then sign up. I'm guessing there is a similar website for your counties.

[cartman]

New Zealand's Average Mortality Is Actually Lower Than Normal Years

[JPhillips]

Obviously needs follow-up, but every bit helps.

Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with Roche's Actemra or Sanofi's Kevzara arthritis drugs significantly improves survival rates and reduces the amount of time patients need intensive care, study results showed on Thursday.

The findings, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, showed that the immunosuppressive drugs - Actemra, also known as tocilizumab, and Kevzara, also known as sarilumab - reduced death rates by 8. 5 percentage points among patients hospitalised and severely ill with the pandemic disease

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by cartman

New Zealand's Average Mortality Is Actually Lower Than Normal Years

Well, that can't be right because facebook people have told me lockdowns literally killed millions and no one can die from COVID.

[miked]

At my places of business, doctors and nurses are hovering near 100%. I got my Moderna 1st dose and I overheard a very high compliance number.

Amazingly, I was reading that Northeast GA for some reason has 2x as many doses as Dekalb County (one of the largest counties in GA) and has dispensed a few hundred out of 12,000 possible doses. From my trips up to Blue Ridge, I think we are looking at around 50-70% of people who will not take the vaccine, though at their current rate in the country counties, they will have that many infected in the next few weeks/months.

[Atocep]

I got dose 2 today as it was the first day dose 2 was available to general staff at our hospital. As of 1pm when I got mine they said they had 200 people so far today.

My wife got her 1st dose through her dental clinic today. They were originally supposed to get it Wednesday but it fell through. She said 2 people she works with weren't going to get it on Wednesday but had changed their minds by today.

[whomario]

@miami fan: 'Boilerplate' allergies ? Not sure about the US, but over here those are cleared without resrvation. There also were no elevated adverse effects in the studies on people with allergies. The incidents reported upon start of the campaigns were people with really severe allergy, most of them routinely having them with medications in general.
Of course, your wife might fall into that category but thought i'd mention it in case she's merely having some run off the mill allergies to pollen or dust or sth.

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Well, that can't be right because facebook people have told me lockdowns literally killed millions and no one can die from COVID.

They are still trying. Example "NZs net mortality was actually the highest ever and XXX higher than 20 years ago". Which is 'true' but also trivial: That metric goes up in almost all countries due to the population aging and in NZ this year went up by the same proportion as prior years.
Example 2: "Covid is just replacing other pneumonia/Influenza/coronavirus deaths and illnesses"

I explicitly don't want to minimise the risk of f.e. deferred treatment or the destructive potential of unemployment or poverty. But neither of those is averted simply by keeping "the economy" open by decree. There is also plenty of solid analysis that dealing well with the Covid side of things has been better for the economy as well. And hell, does anybody think there would be less deferal of treatment if you just let er rip ? I mean, have people seen the videos of california hospitals ?
Or even Latin America where by necessity (them not being the richest countries on earth and all that) where in many places people are dying at almost 3 times the normal rate. 3 times !!! Mexico City usually averages 1600 a day early december, this year 4400 and still rapidly climbing at the cutoff for the statistic. (Over the course of the entire period from march it is a 97% increase, the whole country of Peru registered 2x normal deaths for the whole year which still includes 3 months without significant spread). I'd not want to be sick/injured from anything in a place with uncontrolled rampant Covid19 spread.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by whomario

@miami fan: 'Boilerplate' allergies ? Not sure about the US, but over here those are cleared without resrvation. There also were no elevated adverse effects in the studies on people with allergies. The incidents reported upon start of the campaigns were people with really severe allergy, most of them routinely having them with medications in general.
Of course, your wife might fall into that category but thought i'd mention it in case she's merely having some run off the mill allergies to pollen or dust or sth.

When she got her first allergy test on base after we got married, she said that the doctor brought in five other doctors because they had never seen anyone test positive in all seven categories of allergies lol. She controls it with meds and levels of exposure so she not living on a knife's edge because of them. She should be next up for the vaccination as she is a school teacher. She is approaching it in a sensible manner. She trust that her PCM who has a bit of history with her health history won't give her a vaccine that will do her harm. At the end of the day, isn't that what we are all doing with all medical care?

[Edward64]

Watched the first episode of The Stand.

A little too close to home with the super flu. Funny thing, as I was watching the early days of the super flu, my head was saying "why isn't anyone wearing a mask or practicing social distancing. Totally unrealistic"

Yeah, the Stand was written back in late 70s, early 80s and the episodes were probably filmed before the coronavirus. But still ...

[sterlingice]

Meanwhile, in Texas

Austin can prohibit late on-site dining over holiday weekend, judge rules | The Texas Tribune

Austin puts into effect a restaurant curfew from 10:30-6. You can get curbside, carry-out, drive-thru, and delivery but no dine-in. They're sued by the the Texas Attorney General (Ken Paxton) and lose in court.

But now there's this headline: "Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton tell Austin restaurants to defy COVID-19 order banning overnight dine-in services".

So, the governor and state AG are telling business owners to overrule a court ruling because they don't like the local statute.

SI

[JPhillips]

And so more people can catch a potentially deadly illness.

[miked]

Party of law and order.

[albionmoonlight]

A lot of actions make sense when you realize that Republicans do not consider Democrats legitimate.

[bob]

Just curious- are any of you planning anything for the summer yet, or do you think vaccine distribution will still not be sufficient yet?

[henry296]

Originally Posted by bob

Just curious- are any of you planning anything for the summer yet, or do you think vaccine distribution will still not be sufficient yet?

Just booked a beach house as a back-up plan. We are hoping to take a trip that we had to postpone from this past April.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by bob

Just curious- are any of you planning anything for the summer yet, or do you think vaccine distribution will still not be sufficient yet?

I was just going to post about this.

We go to Nantucket for 2 weeks every summer, went last year and will be going again this year. Was a little different last year but not terrible.

The one we are struggling with is our 2 best friend couples from when we lived in Ohio are going to Daufuskie island, SC, for spring break at the end of March with their kids, etc. I am really on the fence about it. Would be fun, each family would have their own cottage and the island seems quaint. We have all vacationed together before and have always had a great time. The problem is having to quarantine when we get back and not be able to send the kids to school for 2 weeks or whatever. We know the right decision is to not go, but we really want to.

[Edward64]

My guess is majority of country will have at least the first shot by summer, especially since Biden is focused on first shot and not saving second shot in reserve.

The second shot by summer is questionable but assume first shot will continue to help prevent or reduce severity.

So yeah, definitely planning for the summer. In a perfect world, would like to go overseas (Portugal or possibly China) but who knows. Plan B is Orlando Galaxy's Edge. Haven't spoken to missus yet though and a lot is dependent on other countries.

[rjolley]

We had a big trip planned for the summer to Chicago and Atlanta, but we've pushed it off a year. Still a bit too sketchy on whether it would be good to make the trip then. We do plan to have family here for the holidays in December.

[sterlingice]

I think there's a bit of a risk of mutation scrambling things again so I'm going to wait a couple of months before making summer plans.

That said, if it's safe-ish, prices are likely to be sky high this summer as everyone will want to get away.

SI

[miami_fan]

I feel the opposite of the pessimism that I felt leading into last summer. The planning for vacations has begun. We have not made any financial commitments yet, but it is not like leading into last summer where all plans were cancelled and money was refunded by March 15th.

[molson]

I booked a few flights this weekend, and plan on booking a few more in the next few weeks. Prices are low, there's cheap miles redemption opportunities, I have some companion fares from last year that got extended, and everything can be moved without fees if needed. We'll book hotels a few months from now of things are looking do-able.

We're hoping to go to Alaska in May and Boston in June. I've been trying to get back to Juneau and southeast alaska since I had a legal internship there over the summer 15 years ago. Seems like a great time to beat the cruise ships back. And of course I haven't seen any family in the northeast in a long time. Then I'm looking at Costa Rica in the fall, and our cancelled Denmark/Estonia trip in the early spring 2022. And hopefully a Vegas weekend somewhere in there too. All with points, credits from cancelled trips, or companion fares. I have a lot of vacation time to burn, and our workload should be low with so few trials occuring in 2020. (And then shit will hit the fan again in 2022 after the system hopefully churns back to life in 2021, so I have a window here).

[Edward64]

Some good news ... not yet peer reviewed but first article re: additional research done against the UK (and SA) variants.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/11/covi...w-strains.html

The CEO of German pharmaceutical company BioNTech has said he remains confident the company’s Covid vaccine, developed in partnership with Pfizer, will be effective against the highly-infectious variants of the virus discovered in the U.K. and South Africa.
:
His comments referred to research published Thursday that showed Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine appeared to be effective against a key mutation in the more infectious variants of the virus discovered in the U.K. and South Africa.

The study, conducted by U.S. pharma giant Pfizer and not yet peer-reviewed, suggested the vaccine worked to neutralize the so-called N501Y mutation. This mutation has been reported in the coronavirus variants discovered in the U.K. and South Africa.

[Thomkal]

Good news here in SC-they have accelerated when people 70 years and older (like my 83 year old mom) can make appointments to start getting the vaccines to later this week.

[molson]

I got an email from the medical group that was doing all the testing and antibody testing when this first broke out, and they told me they'll email me when I'm eligible for a vaccine through them, which they estimate will be in May. My girlfriend is in the category for February, but she doesn't know how or with who that will go down.

This group, affiliated with a hospital and funded by an Idaho billionaire a while back, was very efficient churning out tests in the early days of this, it sounds like they'll be able to convert to drive-up vaccinations, which is cool. I have no idea how they assembled a team of staff and volunteers so quickly then (not just the people giving the tests, but people coordinating staffing, intake, setting up and putting down the whole setup, etc), but I'm glad they're able do it.

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Good news here in SC-they have accelerated when people 70 years and older (like my 83 year old mom) can make appointments to start getting the vaccines to later this week.

FYI, doctor's offices don't have them. They've applied for the ability to receive and give vaccines, but they're in a DHEC hell. My wife's office has a brand new, $6k freezer sitting there waiting for DHEC to get off their ass.

Only options are hospitals.

[JPhillips]

My mother may get out of isolation later this week. Remarkably, she hasn't had any symptoms other than a slight cough that has gone away. Hopefully, she's beaten COVID.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

My mother may get out of isolation later this week. Remarkably, she hasn't had any symptoms other than a slight cough that has gone away. Hopefully, she's beaten COVID.

Wonderful news!

[thesloppy]

noice!

[sterlingice]

Good deal

SI

[GrantDawg]

Fantastic Jphillip!

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

FYI, doctor's offices don't have them. They've applied for the ability to receive and give vaccines, but they're in a DHEC hell. My wife's office has a brand new, $6k freezer sitting there waiting for DHEC to get off their ass.

Only options are hospitals.

This is the first time I've looked at getting the vaccine for my mom, so just going on what the announcement said-along with DHEC, Doctor's Care clinics would have them, and Tidelands which has been opening places here in Myrtle like crazy this year has said they will be open for appointments too-are the vaccines for all of them coming from DHEC?

[Thomkal]

Yay JP!

[JPhillips]

The head of the FL GOP is scheduled to speak at an anti-vax rally.

[CrimsonFox]

'We did something right here': Seahawks finish season as only NFL team without a positive

[CrimsonFox]

btw I'm told it was a year ago today that the first Coronavirus death occurred.

what an anniversary

[Butter]

I'm fine that a bunch of people don't want the vaccine... means I'mma get it sooner.

[Edward64]

Specific to my county, my wife is Phase 1b, and kids & me are Phase 2.

Apparently the expectation is for you to check the website. So much better if they ask for your email/text so they can let you know when your "phase" comes up. Do your counties have better signup/notification capabilities?

Phase 1-B

People who play a key role in keeping essential functions of society running, including:
Critical workforce employees (e.g., educational faculty and staff, court employees, nuclear power plant employees, air traffic controllers, food processing, grocery workers, transportation, etc.)

Phase 2

Individuals in homeless shelters
Individuals in congregate settings (e.g. homeless shelters, dormitories, group homes)
Individuals in jails, prisons, detention centers
Other people living in congregate settings
All adults between the ages of 41-64-years-old

[Edward64]

Not great news re: first shot only vs plus second shot efficacy.

I am supportive of giving out as many first shots as possible even with the risk that the supply chain of the second shot may not ramp up enough/in time for the second shot in +3 or +4 weeks.

This was under the assumption that first shot only would give good efficacy. Apparently it drops the 94-95% efficacy down to 50-52% efficacy if only the first shot is received. Not sure what I think of the "Biden option" right now.

The CDC Just Gave a Shocking COVID Vaccine Update

The CDC emphasizes that it's important to get the second shot after the primary injection to achieve the best results. "Both COVID-19 mRNA vaccines will need 2 shots to get the most protection," the CDC states.

If you only get the first shot, your vaccine is just over 50 percent effective. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Moderna vaccine is 50.8 percent effective after the first dose, and the Pfizer shot is 52.4 percent after the first dose.

[JPhillips]

It's no longer the Biden option. Azar announced that it starts now.