Coronavirus

[AlanSubie4Life]

Then send it out to other countries that could desperately make use of it.

There’s actually a lot of lack of clarity about why this is not happening and exactly where the holdups are. I get the sense that there is in a way ample vaccine and some other step (distribution?) is rate limiting (but I could be wrong - the reporting is really weak on this). Obviously there are IP issues too, lots of finger pointing, etc. And in regards to vaccinating in cases of disease-acquired immunity, there is plenty of reason to vaccinate our own country.

It’s not clear to me there is a tradeoff here. There may be. But it’s really not clear right now, except that vaccines are not being distributed globally nearly as quickly as they should be.

 

[BigNerd]

Then send it out to other countries that could desperately make use of it.

The logistics is an issue here. Maybe not as much for J&J but the refrigeration requirements for the mRNA ones makes it harder to transport and distribute.

Additionally, just because it cleared FDA here, does not mean you can just send it to another country without going through their red table (not to mention the blockade put up by whoever is the leading vax maker in that country).

Meanwhile, the variants don't have logistics speedbumps.

 

[wdolson]

Or gee - maybe a global pandemic that has disrupted the normal routine of people's lives, caused 3/4 million deaths, pain and suffering of millions and millions more has caused people to search for distractions from reality?

A study done after the Vietnam War found that the population's attraction to recreational drugs fell into three groups that broke down into approximately 10%, 80%, and 10%. 10% were born addicts and had to be very careful. They were prone to get hooked on something if they didn't constantly monitor themselves. 10% were never interested in escape or being high and their use of recreational drugs was light or non-existent.

The 80% in the middle were situational addicts. If they were in a high stress situation with emotions they were trying to suppress, they would seek out recreational drugs. But take them out of that situation and their interest went away. In Vietnam the stresses of the constant threats drove this 80% to drug use. The study found that when they got home, their interest in the drugs vanished.

With a global pandemic hanging over people's heads and some people forced to go out there and risk infection everyday while others sit home and brood about what's going on, a fair share of that 80% is going to be triggered and they are going to seek escape. Alcohol use went up dramatically too. And not just in the US.

I'd love to see some good data to back this up, because the anecdotal data I've seen shows that previous COVID infections does not prevent re-infection to any significant degree, long term.

But like some of the data that appears to show COVID vaccines losing their efficacy, that could be a result of people that are more likely to participate in risky behavior, just like how as the pandemic has gone on and vaccines have rolled out, the vaccinated have felt more comfortable participating in risky behavior.

I haven't seen anything recently, but last year the stories of people getting reinfected were rare enough to be newsworthy. Delta is much worse than any of the strains going around last year, so that may not be the case anymore.

For most diseases having had the disease gives you immunity to it. That's what a vaccine is intended to do, trick your immune system into thinking you've had the disease without actually getting it. It trains your immune system so it can fight off the real thing if it sees it.

 

[Dave EV]

For most diseases having had the disease gives you immunity to it. That's what a vaccine is intended to do, trick your immune system into thinking you've had the disease without actually getting it. It trains your immune system so it can fight off the real thing if it sees it.

I would just caution here that either having the disease or being vaccinated against it does not guarantee immunity - whether it's covid, pertussis or tetanus or anything else. It's also difficult to say which provides strong levels of resistance to the disease. The common DTaP series includes up to 4 shots - and even then you will need various boosters every 10 years or so.

 

[NikolaACDC]

Was thinking how 'funny'? it is that apparently the least believable part of the movie 'Idiocracy' is that it's set in the year 2505....

Seriously... WTF is wrong with people? Is it all the lead pipes????

Butler County judge orders West Chester Hospital to treat COVID-19 patient with ivermectin, despite CDC warnings

"A suburban Cincinnati woman, whose husband has been on a ventilator at West Chester Hospital with COVID-19, won a court order forcing the hospital to treat her husband's novel coronavirus infection with an antiparasitic treatment commonly used for livestock.
The case is one of a handful nationwide where courts have sided with family members and forced doctors to use ivermectin, which is unproven in the treatment of COVID-19 and is not recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
-------------
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Imagine how silly Mike Judge and Etan Cohen (writers of Idiocracy) would have felt if they included something like that in their script...

 

[nwdiver]

Butler County judge orders West Chester Hospital to treat COVID-19 patient with ivermectin, despite CDC warnings

"A suburban Cincinnati woman, whose husband has been on a ventilator at West Chester Hospital with COVID-19, won a court order forcing the hospital to treat her husband's novel coronavirus infection with an antiparasitic treatment commonly used for livestock.
The case is one of a handful nationwide where courts have sided with family members and forced doctors to use ivermectin, which is unproven in the treatment of COVID-19 and is not recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
-------------
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Imagine how silly Mike Judge and Etan Cohen (writers of Idiocracy) would have felt if they included something like that in their script...

That's actually the article I read that prompted my post.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Is it all the lead pipes????

It might be! Lead mitigation/abatement/removal is one of the highest ROI interventions government can do, from what I understand. Lead really, really sucks. Largely irreversible unfortunately.

 

[msm859]

Was thinking how 'funny'? it is that apparently the least believable part of the movie 'Idiocracy' is that it's set in the year 2505....

Seriously... WTF is wrong with people? Is it all the lead pipes????

Idiocracy was suppose to be a comedy. It turned out to be a documentary. And sadly yes it did not take 500 years - more like 15.

 

[Slipstream]

88-year old Georgia professor quits during class over student refusing to properly wear mask

Psychology professor Irwin Bernstein asked a student numerous times to wear her mask correctly. After she didn't, he resigned in the middle of class.

www.usatoday.com

 

[TespaceX]

For most diseases having had the disease gives you immunity to it. That's what a vaccine is intended to do, trick your immune system into thinking you've had the disease without actually getting it. It trains your immune system so it can fight off the real thing if it sees it.

Just want to second what @Dave EV wrote.

There is no perfect vaccine. Nor does having had a disease provide perfect immunity.

 

[wdolson]

Just want to second what @Dave EV wrote.

There is no perfect vaccine. Nor does having had a disease provide perfect immunity.

I wasn't asserting it was. I've said as much here within the last few weeks.

 

[traxila]

It might be! Lead mitigation/abatement/removal is one of the highest ROI interventions government can do, from what I understand. Lead really, really sucks. Largely irreversible unfortunately.

We were bathed in an atmospheric ocean of lead for decades.

Just read an article that the last country - Algeria - has finally phased out the use of leaded gasoline after regulatory agencies finally turned against the use in the 70s.

 

[JRP3]

What Pfizer's scientists consider the 'biggest surprise' about their COVID-19 vaccine

What Pfizer's scientists consider the 'biggest surprise' about their COVID-19 vaccine

www.yahoo.com

The aspect of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine that really stunned the company's scientists was the fact that vaccinated participants in the Phase 3 efficacy trial had protections against the pathogen by day 12, a time at which there was barely any antibody response, Stat News reports. "That was the biggest surprise," said Vidia Roopchand, Pfizer's principal scientist for viral vaccines.

 

[Slipstream]

Study Shows Moderna Creates Twice as Many Antibodies as Pfizer - Interesting Engineering

It might also be better at preventing infections in vaccinated individuals.

interestingengineering.com

 

[NikolaACDC]

Study Shows Moderna Creates Twice as Many Antibodies as Pfizer - Interesting Engineering

It might also be better at preventing infections in vaccinated individuals.

interestingengineering.com

The research letter at JAMA with some more data:
Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response Following Vaccination With BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273

 

[bkp_duke]

Study Shows Moderna Creates Twice as Many Antibodies as Pfizer - Interesting Engineering

It might also be better at preventing infections in vaccinated individuals.

interestingengineering.com

Not surprising, knowing that Moderna has 3X the mRNA per dose that Pfizer does. This endpoint literally was one of the design goals of the Moderna vaccine, with the hopes that the higher Ab titers would help protect the most vulnerable population (elderly).

 

[alloverx]

Q. Do folks that received Moderna have more severe initial side affects versus Pfizer?
In my limited sample size that was the case.

 

[dhanson865]

Tennessee underreported COVID-19 hospitalizations by about 5,100

The coronavirus pandemic hospitalized about 5,100 more Tennesseans than previously reported over the past 14 months, per updated state data.

www.tennessean.com

 

[FlatSix911]

Tennessee underreported COVID-19 hospitalizations by about 5,100

The coronavirus pandemic hospitalized about 5,100 more Tennesseans than previously reported over the past 14 months, per updated state data.

www.tennessean.com

Unfortunately, this sounds just like the under-reporting of Covid-19 deaths in New York State last year.

New York Gov. Hochul Reports 12,000 Covid-19 Deaths Not Counted By Cuomo

Hochul promised “transparency” after her predecessor was accused of undercounting nursing home deaths during the pandemic.

www.forbes.com

New York state adjusts COVID death toll after underreporting, adding nearly 12,000

New York's new governor said Wednesday that the state's COVID-19 death toll now aligns with the count from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after the state added

www.wsmv.com

 

[winfield100]

Q. Do folks that received Moderna have more severe initial side affects versus Pfizer?
In my limited sample size that was the case.

well, as a pair of data points, spouse & I got Moderna.(March/April)
mild soreness at injection point both times.
i seem to remember vague swelling, kinda tired but not much else memorable both of us.
maybe slept a bit more, did a bit of gardening and pedal kayaking
late 60’s early 70’s(me).
so you can add 2 data points as mild reactions at worst.