Covid-19 miscellany

[lpetrich]

‘Nightmare Scenario’ book excerpt: Inside the extraordinary effort to save Trump from covid-19 - The Washington Post
"His illness was more severe than the White House acknowledged at the time. Advisers thought it would alter his response to the pandemic. They were wrong."

This article is adapted from “Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History,” which will be published June 29 by HarperCollins.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar’s phone rang with an urgent request: Could he help someone at the White House obtain an experimental coronavirus treatment, known as a monoclonal antibody?

...
When Hahn later learned the effort was on behalf of the president, he was stunned. For God’s sake, he thought, it’s the president who’s sick, and you want us to bend the rules? Trump was in the highest-risk category for severe disease from covid-19 — at 74, he rarely exercised and was considered medically obese. He was the type of patient with whom you would want to take every possible precaution. As it did with all compassionate-use applications, the FDA made a decision within 24 hours. Agency officials scrambled to figure out which company’s monoclonal antibody would be most appropriate given the clinical information they had, and selected the one from Regeneron, known simply as Regen-Cov.

...
For months, the president had taunted and dodged the virus, flouting safety protocols by holding big rallies and packing the White House with maskless guests. But just one month before the election, the virus that had already killed more than 200,000 Americans had sickened the most powerful person on the plan.

Trump’s medical advisers hoped his bout with the coronavirus, which was far more serious than acknowledged at the time, would inspire him to take the virus seriously. Perhaps now, they thought, he would encourage Americans to wear masks and put his health and medical officials front and center in the response. Instead, Trump emerged from the experience triumphant and ever more defiant. He urged people not to be afraid of the virus or let it dominate their lives, disregarding that he had had access to health care and treatments unavailable to other Americans.

What a sociopath.

 

[lpetrich]

Then when he announced his pick of Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court Justice.

he celebrations had continued indoors, where most people remained maskless. By that time, the virus was surging again, but Trump’s contempt for face coverings had turned into unofficial White House policy. He actually asked aides who wore them in his presence to take them off. If someone was going to do a news conference with him, he made clear that he or she was not to wear a mask by his side.

When he hosted some military families in the White House, he got worried that he might catch the disease. "He told his staff that they needed to do a better job of protecting him." He could have started by doing things that he disdained doing, like wear a lower-face mask.

Then the first debate with Joe Biden.

Trump was erratic that whole evening, and he seemed to deteriorate as the night went on. The pundits’ verdicts were brutal.

Almost 48 hours later, Trump became terribly ill. Hours after his tweet announcing he and first lady Melania Trump had coronavirus infections, the president began a rapid spiral downward. His fever spiked, and his blood oxygen level fell below 94 percent, at one point dipping into the 80s. Sean Conley, the White House physician, attended the president at his bedside. Trump was given oxygen in an effort to stabilize him.

The doctors gave Trump an eight-gram dose of two monoclonal antibodies through an intravenous tube. That experimental treatment was what had required the FDA’s sign-off. He was also given a first dose of the antiviral drug remdesivir, also by IV. That drug was authorized for use but still hard to get for many patients because it was in short supply.

 

[Rhea]

I remember wishing at the time that he survive because I didn’t want Pence to be at the top of the ballot and let the never Trumpers still vote Republican. I’m still glad for that, but it would have helped a lot of things if he remained unable to rally his insurrectionists.

 

[ZiprHead]

[TWEET]<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Donald Trump is gathering his unvaccinated supporters together in close quarters as the highly contagious and deadly Delta variant spreads in Ohio. What could go wrong?</p>— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1408873671976833030?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>[/TWEET]

 

[repoman]

Good to see that ivermectin will be in the PRINCIPLE trial run by Oxford. Was supposed to have started in February.


https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/oxford-university-explores-anti-parasitic-drug-ivermectin-covid-19-treatment-2021-06-22/

June 23 (Reuters) - The University of Oxford said on Wednesday it was testing anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as a possible treatment for COVID-19, as part of a British government-backed study that aims to aid recoveries in non-hospital settings.

Ivermectin resulted in a reduction of virus replication in laboratory studies, the university said, adding that a small pilot showed giving the drug early could reduce viral load and the duration of symptoms in some patients with mild COVID-19. read more

 

[repoman]

From CNN:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/23/health/coronavirus-sequences-database-scientist/index.html

Scientists investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic might be working with the wrong samples, because some early samples of the virus submitted by a Chinese researcher were deleted from a shared database, an expert in the evolution of viruses says.
Jesse Bloom, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, said he found genetic sequences taken from early coronavirus cases in China that were deleted from a US National Institutes of Health database. Examination shows some of the early cases in the Chinese city of Wuhan are different, genetically, from the variants that eventually spread to cause the pandemic.

The sequences themselves do not shed any more light on the renewed debate about whether the virus spread naturally from animals to humans, or was the result of a laboratory leak, Bloom told CNN.

Surprised that someone did not save that data somewhere. Come on Qanon Army, be useful for once.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

From CNN:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/23/health/coronavirus-sequences-database-scientist/index.html

Scientists investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic might be working with the wrong samples, because some early samples of the virus submitted by a Chinese researcher were deleted from a shared database, an expert in the evolution of viruses says.
Jesse Bloom, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, said he found genetic sequences taken from early coronavirus cases in China that were deleted from a US National Institutes of Health database. Examination shows some of the early cases in the Chinese city of Wuhan are different, genetically, from the variants that eventually spread to cause the pandemic.

The sequences themselves do not shed any more light on the renewed debate about whether the virus spread naturally from animals to humans, or was the result of a laboratory leak, Bloom told CNN.

Surprised that someone did not save that data somewhere. Come on Qanon Army, be useful for once.

I'm sure the data is somewhere. Note the sequence of events--China required all covid-related papers to be reviewed by Beijing. The data in question was pre-print papers, they hadn't been reviewed and so they got pulled by their authors. This doesn't say there's anything nefarious going on.

Besides, the data is out there--and confirms what I have suspected for some time: The version that blew up Wuhan is actually a variant, not the original.

 

[southernhybrid]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/health/coronavirus-vaccines-immunity.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Health

The vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna set off a persistent immune reaction in the body that may protect against the coronavirus for years, scientists reported on Monday.

The findings add to growing evidence that most people immunized with the mRNA vaccines may not need boosters, so long as the virus and its variants do not evolve much beyond their current forms — which is not guaranteed. People who recovered from Covid-19 before being vaccinated may not need boosters even if the virus does make a significant transformation.

“It’s a good sign for how durable our immunity is from this vaccine,” said Ali Ellebedy, an immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis who led the study, which was published in the journal Nature.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I was talking with my Doc Father-in-Law and he was saying those who were infected, most likely had the best protection. That study is certainly welcomed data, and of course, needs more data to back it up. Hopefully it continues in that trend.

 

[repoman]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/health/coronavirus-vaccines-immunity.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Health

The vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna set off a persistent immune reaction in the body that may protect against the coronavirus for years, scientists reported on Monday.

The findings add to growing evidence that most people immunized with the mRNA vaccines may not need boosters, so long as the virus and its variants do not evolve much beyond their current forms — which is not guaranteed. People who recovered from Covid-19 before being vaccinated may not need boosters even if the virus does make a significant transformation.

“It’s a good sign for how durable our immunity is from this vaccine,” said Ali Ellebedy, an immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis who led the study, which was published in the journal Nature.

Some may not like a study showing good protection from "not a vaccine".

 

[ZiprHead]

Anti-vaxxer mistakes pub beer tent for Covid testing site and shouts at it

She filmed herself as she confronted a man in a hi-vis vest outside the marquee in the car park of the Queen of Hearts in Runcorn, Cheshire.

The woman, who posted the clip on social media under the name ‘Thepeoplesresistance’, started going on about Covid testing.

She tells him he ‘should be ashamed of himself’, describing the pandemic which has claimed more than 125,000 lives in the UK, as a ‘scamdemic’.

This was despite the fact the tent was being used for customers to watch Euro 2020 matches.

It is fitted with wooden garden tables and chairs and decorated with England flags which are clearly visible even from the main road.

But in her post, ‘Thepeoplesresistance’ said: ‘Guys urgently need as many people as possible to get to runcorn at 3.30 today testing babies an [sic] kids in the carpark!!!

[TWEET]<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nutbag shouts at pub beer tent, after mistaking it for a covid testing centre <a href="https://t.co/YA2dMOdZ3s">pic.twitter.com/YA2dMOdZ3s</a></p>— Hardley Yeadon #KP²F #ᵂʳᵒⁿᵍᴬᵍᵃᶦⁿʸᵉᵃᵈᵒⁿ (@MichaelYeadon3) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelYeadon3/status/1409276165102215176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>[/TWEET]

 

[ZiprHead]

[TWEET]<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On 9/2/20, Brent wrote, "I've never taken a flu shot and I'll never take a COVID shot."<br><br>On 5/3/21: "Zinc & vitamin D regiment > Moderna and Pfizer"<br><br>On 6/23/21: "This is Brent's daughter... dad died of COVID...PLEASE save your families this heartache. Go get your shot."<br><br>?????????????????? <a href="https://t.co/bKdniJo6P2">pic.twitter.com/bKdniJo6P2</a></p>— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) <a href="https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1408915466760900613?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>[/TWEET]..

 

[bilby]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/health/coronavirus-vaccines-immunity.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Health

The vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna set off a persistent immune reaction in the body that may protect against the coronavirus for years, scientists reported on Monday.

The findings add to growing evidence that most people immunized with the mRNA vaccines may not need boosters, so long as the virus and its variants do not evolve much beyond their current forms — which is not guaranteed. People who recovered from Covid-19 before being vaccinated may not need boosters even if the virus does make a significant transformation.

“It’s a good sign for how durable our immunity is from this vaccine,” said Ali Ellebedy, an immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis who led the study, which was published in the journal Nature.

Some may not like a study showing good protection from "not a vaccine".

Some have worked out that what people like or dislike is no guide to reality.

 

[ZiprHead]

Henry Ford Health System in Detroit will be requiring all employees to be vaccinated.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

Don2,

I take it you are probably recovered now - at least, I see you're posting and debating normally -; that's good to see.

So, here is my late reply:

Well, hold on here. It may have made sense to assess the situation, let studies complete on effectiveness of AZ against Delta, check spread and check which countries may be good at stopping Delta without the vaccine. I mean, if he sent it to a country with high Gamma rate or high Alpha rate instead of Delta that might be best but he may not have known that or which specific places to send it to. The other thing is that there is a limit on supply and so people are not going to be triple or qadruple dosed anytime soon (boosters or more than one vaccine). So once you tell people to take the less effective AZ, they are locked in for some time. So you want to make sure it will benefit them.

However:

1. Biden has been sitting on tens of millons of doses for at least two months, before Delta was a concern.

2. It is known for example that over here (and in several other countries), we do not yet have Delta in the community, even though we will.

3. The alternative to AZ is not Pfizer. It's a vaccination with AZ that takes longer if one is lucky; otherwise, one gets Sinopharm, which is much worse than AZ. I do not know how many lives could have been saved here by donating the AZ (and probably other countries would have been an even better alternative, but figuring this one out would have been immediate), but many given the numbers.
Granted, here we also have Sputnik, but with significant supply problems which result in delays, etc. - and Biden was not holding on AZ just in case we could get more Sputnik, anyway.


4. AZ is actually very effective against Delta, as long as you get two doses.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...ve-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant

It may not be effective at preventing illness, but it is 92% effective against illness that requires hospitalization - and probably even higher against death.

There are plenty of people who got one dosis here and have waited for several weeks. Having an extra dosis would be great.

I agree that AZ _was_ alright, but now with the rapid non-linear growth of variant Delta, AZ is not good. It is 60% effective at 2 doses.

60% at preventing infection or illness?
At any rate, it is 92% effective at preventing hospitalization. I do not know the rate of Sinopharm, but I'm pretty sure it's much lower, as it was already much worse than AZ all around (except for the blod clots that sometimes kill people, but it's better in terms of numbers even counting that).

The truth is that those AZ vaccines could be used over here or in a number of other countries. There would have been many fewer fatalities and serious illnesses if they had been donated earlier. And there will be a lot fewer if they are donated now vs. in a month, or never.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

I have to wait anyway; by the time I'm eligible for vaccine I may have my choice of vaccines! What is TFT wisdom on the relative efficacy of the vaccines? (I could Google, but end up with irrelevancies and confusions.)

From reportedly best to worst, the choices seem to be
Pfizer
Johnson & Johnson
Moderna
AstraZeneca
Sinevac

Is this correct? What of the rumors that some vaccines are ineffective against the Delta variant?

No, that's not correct. As far as I can tell, and counting only the ones you listed, it's:


1. Pfizer or Moderna.

It's hard to tell; Pfizer was a bit better but within the margin of error; then Moderna was modified I think to deal with Beta, and I have no idea whether a combination of the two Moderna variants is better. But in any case, they better than any other.

2. AZ (in terms of effectiveness, though it seems it's more likely to kill you, but that's still very rare).

3. J&J.

4. Sinovac. This one is pretty bad.

At least, that's what I've read, but I'm no expert.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

Sinovac/Sinopharm I understand are pretty primitive - just chopped up viruses. Results are not great.
All normal (Moderna/Pfizer/AZ/Sputhik) vaccines target specific parts of the virus which are considered stable and don't mutate. They are much more effective.
AZ does cause some reaction and death in some people. The rest does not seem to have data which suggest severe reaction/death.

I'm not sure how AZ does that. They have a viral vector with the SARS2 spike protein, right? But how do you prevent your immune system from targeting the viral vector? And one could say the same could happen with Sputnik, though mitigated by the use of two viral vectors.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

What about lab verified antibodies to a previous covid infection?

The problem is variants.

Your body produces antibodies, but you don't control what part of the virus the antibodies target. If the body attacks the spike protein, fine, the infection-conferred resistance is as good as the vaccine. However, there's no guarantee that's what happens. If the body targets something else that changes you won't be protected against the variant that changed that part of the virus. We have seen this in the field--prior infection doesn't provide decent protection against some variants.

There's always a chance the spike protein mutates sufficiently to evade the vaccine, but that's nowhere near as likely as the other parts changing.

But how do you keep the immune system from attacking another part of the coronavirus (Sinopharm, Sinovac), or even from attacking the viral vector (AZ, J&J, Sputnik - Sputnik at least increases the chances by picking different vectors).

 

[Angra Mainyu]

I am surprised to see AZ is only 66% against "normal" british variant.
Even then, GB was doing pretty great with their AZ until recent spike.
Delta is just more transmissible and vaccinations alone is not enough. This shit will continue for this year

That's effectiveness against illness, not against serious illness or death though.

Well, pfizer is ~90-92% effective against illness then. And they were all 100% effective against death. Not sure how it is now. I suspect with large statistics, we have now, some people did die even after being fully vaccinated.

Yes, some people die, but very, very few.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Can somebody please explain how the UK can have a vaccination rate pushing 70% while also having an exponentially increasing spread of Covid-19? Isn't the vaccine working?

https://ourworldindata.org/explorer...NK~SWE~IDN&Metric=People+vaccinated+(by+dose)

https://ourworldindata.org/explorer...aks=false&country=USA~GBR~DEU~ITA~IND~DNK~SWE

No, the Delta variant isn't an answer. The vaccine should protect against it. As well as having a prior infection. If a smaller and smaller group of people are able to transmit a disease why does it keep increasing? Something doesn't add up.