Covid-19 miscellany

[bilby]

About this omicron variant. Is there omicron infection rate data for vaccinated and/or previous Delta infection?

I read some doctors saying it could be that having Delta or vaccination could make you more susceptible to omicron.

I think the WHO is a reliable source of information: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron

Unfortunately, they have become sufficiently politicized that they're not too reliable anymore.

That's simply not true.

The first step in generating FUD by deniers is to claim that the neutral organisations that base their recommendations on science have "become too politicised", with the "evidence" for this being that they rarely or never agree with the claims of the deniers.

"Too politicised" is code for "I want my opinion to be given equal attention to that of the experts, and any resistance to my desire is an unacceptable infringement on my democratic rights".

Sorry, but democracy is a last resort way to resolve disputes for which there's no scientific or evidentiary resolution.

If there's a right answer to a question, then that answer should, indeed must, override public opinion. Democracy is strictly for questions where the right answer is not known. We don't vote on whether rocks fall up or down, and nor do we vote on what does or doesn't protect against a disease.

 

[Toni]

About this omicron variant. Is there omicron infection rate data for vaccinated and/or previous Delta infection?

I read some doctors saying it could be that having Delta or vaccination could make you more susceptible to omicron.

I think the WHO is a reliable source of information: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron

Unfortunately, they have become sufficiently politicized that they're not too reliable anymore.

That's simply not true.

The first step in generating FUD by deniers is to claim that the neutral organisations that base their recommendations on science have "become too politicised", with the "evidence" for this being that they rarely or never agree with the claims of the deniers.

"Too politicised" is code for "I want my opinion to be given equal attention to that of the experts, and any resistance to my desire is an unacceptable infringement on my democratic rights".

Sorry, but democracy is a last resort way to resolve disputes for which there's no scientific or evidentiary resolution.

If there's a right answer to a question, then that answer should, indeed must, override public opinion. Democracy is strictly for questions where the right answer is not known. We don't vote on whether rocks fall up or down, and nor do we vote on what does or doesn't protect against a disease.

Just replying to clarify when Bilby quoted the posts he was replying to, what I wrote was actually cut off so it might appear that I was agreeing that WHO was ‘too politicized to be reliable.’ I disagree strongly with that statement.

Bilby’s post is in every other respect very accurate and goes int much better detail than mine.

 

[crazyfingers]

Had a call with my uncle today. He's 85. We talked about how when he was young Polio was a real threat until the vaccine arrived. He can't believe so many people are being so stupid these days.

 

[barbos]

I would hate him to be right in general but some actual researchers are saying that omicron could be that vaccine against both itself and other variants. You can't avoid "vaccination" with omicron because it appears to be more contagious and symptoms are mild.

 

[lpetrich]

Jen Psaki Just Went Full Ninja On Ron DeSantis And Used His Own Words To Wreck Him
notes
Sarah Reese Jones on Twitter: "Jen Psaki turns the tables are Ron DeSantis, " I want public health officials to make decisions about how to keep my kids safe, not politicians, and not only is Governor DeSantis not abiding by public health decisions. He is fundraising off this." (vid link)" / Twitter

 

[southernhybrid]

Breaking News! It may not be in print yet, but the tv news just said that if you've had the Pfizer booster, it will neutralize the Omicron variant. I'm good! Moderna hasn't released the results of their studies yet.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Breaking News! It may not be in print yet, but the tv news just said that if you've had the Pfizer booster, it will neutralize the Omicron variant. I'm good! Moderna hasn't released the results of their studies yet.

A couple different things. South Africa says the vaccine isn't as effective, but don't talk about boosters (probably because they don't have any boosted people in South Africa.

The Omicron coronavirus variant partly escapes the protection offered by the Pfizer vaccine, but people who have been previously infected and then vaccinated are likely to be well protected, researchers working in South Africa reported Tuesday.

Pfizer is claiming the vaccine booster works.

A booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine appears to provide strong protection against the omicron variant, the companies announced Wednesday.

They said lab study results show a third dose of their vaccine provides a similar level of neutralizing antibodies to omicron, comparable to two doses against the original coronavirus and other variants that have emerged.

Blood samples from those who received only the primary series of the vaccine, on average, did see a 25-fold drop in antibodies against the new variant. That may indicate that two doses of the vaccine may not be sufficient to protect against infection with omicron, although they may still prevent severe disease, the companies said.

So, if you got Pfizer vaccination, you have to get boosted.

 

[southernhybrid]

I think you need to get a booster regardless of which vaccine you had, and if my dog's vet hasn't gotten his booster yet, I'm going to give him hell next week when I take Zoie back to have her ears rechecked. I've decided if I have to act like someone's mother, I will.

I'd take a booster every month if it would keep me from getting sick. Sadly, a friend of mine has a son who has a severe phobia of needles. She and I were trying to figure out a way to get him to take. the vaccine. I suggested that she find a way to sedate him, then take his hand and march him to the nearest pharmacy. The man is 50 years old. Motherhood never ends.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

About this omicron variant. Is there omicron infection rate data for vaccinated and/or previous Delta infection?

I read some doctors saying it could be that having Delta or vaccination could make you more susceptible to omicron.

I think the WHO is a reliable source of information: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron

Unfortunately, they have become sufficiently politicized that they're not too reliable anymore.

That's simply not true.

The first step in generating FUD by deniers is to claim that the neutral organisations that base their recommendations on science have "become too politicised", with the "evidence" for this being that they rarely or never agree with the claims of the deniers.

"Too politicised" is code for "I want my opinion to be given equal attention to that of the experts, and any resistance to my desire is an unacceptable infringement on my democratic rights".

Sorry, but democracy is a last resort way to resolve disputes for which there's no scientific or evidentiary resolution.

If there's a right answer to a question, then that answer should, indeed must, override public opinion. Democracy is strictly for questions where the right answer is not known. We don't vote on whether rocks fall up or down, and nor do we vote on what does or doesn't protect against a disease.

No. I do agree the experts should be the ones to make the call. It's just I'm no longer confident that the experts are the ones making the calls at WHO. Same as the FDA and CDC were tainted under His Flatulence.

 

[TSwizzle]

I'd take a booster every month if it would keep me from getting sick.

It sounds like you will forever need a booster to boost the third/fourth vaccine. A never ending cycle of boosters to boost the booster. No guarantee that you will not get sick of course.

I was thinking of getting the booster this year but I've decided I will not get it. I'm out.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I think you need to get a booster regardless of which vaccine you had, and if my dog's vet hasn't gotten his booster yet, I'm going to give him hell next week when I take Zoie back to have her ears rechecked. I've decided if I have to act like someone's mother, I will.

I'd take a booster every month if it would keep me from getting sick. Sadly, a friend of mine has a son who has a severe phobia of needles. She and I were trying to figure out a way to get him to take. the vaccine. I suggested that she find a way to sedate him, then take his hand and march him to the nearest pharmacy. The man is 50 years old. Motherhood never ends.

Likely both mRNAs will need a boost (Moderna seems like later, possibly due to the higher dosage). However, the numbers available at the moment are only Pfizer, so I stuck with what has been released.

 

[ZiprHead]

Ron Johnson, on a Wisconsin tele-town hall, pushes mouthwash as a COVID treatment.

"By the way, standard gargle, mouthwash, has been proven to kill the coronavirus. If you get it, you may reduce viral replication. Why not try all these things?"

 

[Toni]

I'd take a booster every month if it would keep me from getting sick.

It sounds like you will forever need a booster to boost the third/fourth vaccine. A never ending cycle of boosters to boost the booster. No guarantee that you will not get sick of course.

I was thinking of getting the booster this year but I've decided I will not get it. I'm out.

I hope you reconsider. The best way to end the pandemic (abs the need for endless boosters) is for everyone to get vaccinated as fully as recommended for their demographic. This will help stop the continuing mutations abs allow us all to achieve true herd immunity.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I'd take a booster every month if it would keep me from getting sick.

It sounds like you will forever need a booster to boost the third/fourth vaccine. A never ending cycle of boosters to boost the booster. No guarantee that you will not get sick of course.

I was thinking of getting the booster this year but I've decided I will not get it. I'm out.

We need shots for flu every year.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Ron Johnson, on a Wisconsin tele-town hall, pushes mouthwash as a COVID treatment.

"By the way, standard gargle, mouthwash, has been proven to kill the coronavirus. If you get it, you may reduce viral replication. Why not try all these things?"

Surely there are substances they can gargle with that are even more effective at killing the coronavirus.

Watch this space.

 

[southernhybrid]

/

I'd take a booster every month if it would keep me from getting sick.

It sounds like you will forever need a booster to boost the third/fourth vaccine. A never ending cycle of boosters to boost the booster. No guarantee that you will not get sick of course.

I was thinking of getting the booster this year but I've decided I will not get it. I'm out

Fine, but I will never understand the hesitancy or refusal to take a vaccine which is safe and effective, and which in the vast majority of cases will prevent a disease that could be deadly or make you so sick that you could be putting your local healthcare system at risk of being so overwhelmed that the providers keep leaving due to burnout and extreme stress. If I'm told by those who have studied and helped develop life saving vaccines that I should get another one, it's only a minor inconvenience for me to take it. I guess those who refuse to take the recommended vaccines and boosters like playing Russian roulette.

 

[Harry Bosch]

/

I'd take a booster every month if it would keep me from getting sick.

It sounds like you will forever need a booster to boost the third/fourth vaccine. A never ending cycle of boosters to boost the booster. No guarantee that you will not get sick of course.

I was thinking of getting the booster this year but I've decided I will not get it. I'm out

Fine, but I will never understand the hesitancy or refusal to take a vaccine which is safe and effective, and which in the vast majority of cases will prevent a disease that could be deadly or make you so sick that you could be putting your local healthcare system at risk of being so overwhelmed that the providers keep leaving due to burnout and extreme stress. If I'm told by those who have studied and helped develop life saving vaccines that I should get another one, it's only a minor inconvenience for me to take it. I guess those who refuse to take the recommended vaccines and boosters like playing Russian roulette.

It's bizarre. I'm actually pretty conservative regarding business and taxes and other such issues. But I'm done being a republican as their party has turned away from science (and of course the whole 2020 election thingy!). But I'd be curious if republicans were similarly against the vaccines from the 1920's that cured polio, scarlet fever and other such diseases.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

/

I'd take a booster every month if it would keep me from getting sick.

It sounds like you will forever need a booster to boost the third/fourth vaccine. A never ending cycle of boosters to boost the booster. No guarantee that you will not get sick of course.

I was thinking of getting the booster this year but I've decided I will not get it. I'm out

Fine, but I will never understand the hesitancy or refusal to take a vaccine which is safe and effective, and which in the vast majority of cases will prevent a disease that could be deadly or make you so sick that you could be putting your local healthcare system at risk of being so overwhelmed that the providers keep leaving due to burnout and extreme stress. If I'm told by those who have studied and helped develop life saving vaccines that I should get another one, it's only a minor inconvenience for me to take it. I guess those who refuse to take the recommended vaccines and boosters like playing Russian roulette.

The problem is they think you are the one playing Russian roulette. The misinformation, hyper-partisan nonsense, and fear are just pegged.

 

[TomC]

I'm actually pretty conservative regarding business and taxes and other such issues. But I'm done being a republican

I'm pretty conservative in many ways.
But the GOP started going off the rails back in the 90s. Then the TeaParty took over in 2010. I hold my nose and vote straight ticket Democrat nowadays.
Yuck!

Tom

 

[TSwizzle]

I'd take a booster every month if it would keep me from getting sick.

It sounds like you will forever need a booster to boost the third/fourth vaccine. A never ending cycle of boosters to boost the booster. No guarantee that you will not get sick of course.

I was thinking of getting the booster this year but I've decided I will not get it. I'm out

Fine, but I will never understand the hesitancy or refusal to take a vaccine which is safe and effective,

Safe, probably. The need for constant boosters makes its effectiveness questionable. I'll bide my time.

and which in the vast majority of cases will prevent a disease that could be deadly or make you so sick that you could be putting your local healthcare system at risk of being so overwhelmed that the providers keep leaving due to burnout and extreme stress.

Plenty vaccinated people are still getting infected, getting sick and heading into the hospital. And this statement about the healthcare system being overwhelmed is just fearmongering BS.

I guess those who refuse to take the recommended vaccines and boosters like playing Russian roulette.

It's nothing, absolutely nothing like "playing Russian" roulette. What nonsense you come out with.