Covid-19 miscellany

[Ruth Harris]

And meanwhile, here in Missouri....

My county currently has about 24% of the population having received the first dose. This is not considered protective for the Delta variant now sweeping the state. There are about 20% fully vaccinated in the county. Even having been fully vaccinated myself since March, I still find it frightening to go out in public places due to the complete lack of masking, social distancing, and vaccinated population.

It has hit my immediate family too. My niece is now a COVID long hauler. She and her husband both firmly believed that COVID was "just the flu" and the government was trying to control us with recommended public health guidelines (not that Missouri had much in the way of that either, given our governor's lack of common sense. And last month, legislation was passed and signed which gives the state the authority to revoke any local health ordinance if the politicians don't agree with it). They took no masking or social distancing precautions in their personal life; their employers did require those things so at work they complied. She was originally infected in December of last year, wound up hospitalized twice in the following two months including an ICU stay, and is now struggling to overcome cardiac and lung function issues. She has not been able to return to work. She is in her 30's and was in very good health with no risk factors for COVID. She and her husband both kept this hidden from the family as long as they could, as they were apparently embarrassed by their previous public stance on COVID. Her husband and one of their children caught it too; her husband was off work for several weeks to recover, and her child did recover with no apparent long term issues.

I would not wish her experience on my worst enemies. This is a girl who was very active and now she has trouble walking from one end of a room to another. They have three young children and she is not even able to fully care for them. She was very involved with their extracurricular activities before this happened, and it is emotionally devastating for her now that she can't continue to do that.

Please, folks, don't keep thinking you are invincible. I guarantee that you are not.

Ruth

 

[ZiprHead]

Covid ? What Covid ? Wembley Stadium in London was packed for the Three Lions semi final win over Denmark yesterday. Wembley's official capacity is 60k but estimates put the crowd at 64k. Add to that, across England, pubs and city centers were jammed with England fans watching their team progress to their first tournament final since 1966. And yet, the doomsayers, killjoys, authoritarians and lockdown zealots continue to scold and wag their fingers at the plebs, rat lickers and what ever other derogatory term they can think of;

England's Euro 2020 final against Italy will cause a massive spike in coronavirus cases because millions will pack together in pubs and public transport, scientists warned today. Thousands of jubilant fans were pictured tightly packed together leaving Wembley last night as supporters across the nation gathered to celebrate the Three Lions victory over Denmark. But experts warned England's most successful international tournament since 1966 could cause a fresh surge in infections, as people meet up in large groups to watch the historic match on Sunday night. Dr Christina Pagel, a mathematician at University College London and member of Independent SAGE, said there is 'no doubt' cases will spike because of the final. She told MailOnline: 'The worry about the finals at Wembley — and the matches have gone before — are about more than just the event. It's the celebrations before and after in pubs, with hugging shouting, singing in crowds — all high risk activities for transmission

DailyMail

In any event, despite the constant pressure from the doomsayers, Boris Johnson is going to press ahead and lift all covid restrictions on July 19th. It's a formality now as it would appear a large part of the population is already getting back to normal.

Do you think that is a smart move with cases in England and the delta variant both on the rise?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Do you think that is a smart move with cases in England and the delta variant both on the rise?

I think it's reached the point that we should quit trying to protect the covidiots. Keeping things closed down is just putting off the inevitable. At this point public anti-Covid measures should be masks.

 

[TomC]

I think it's reached the point that we should quit trying to protect the covidiots.

It's not just the covidiots.
It's everyone from people who cannot be vaccinated safely, to people who are prone to such illness despite vaccination, to all of us in danger of another variant, etc. etc.

People who insist that they don't need or want a vaccination resemble people who feel free to drive drunk. "I haven't killed anybody! What about my freedumb?"
Tom

 

[repoman]

Anyone have a frame of reference about the 1977 H1N1 Influenza strain?

From Wikipedia

The 1977 Russian flu was an influenza pandemic that was first reported by the Soviet Union in 1977 and lasted until 1979.The outbreak in northern China started in May 1977, slightly earlier than that in the Soviet Union. The pandemic mostly affected population younger than 25 or 26 years of age, and resulted in approximately 700,000 deaths worldwide. It was caused by an H1N1 flu strain which highly resembled a virus strain circulating worldwide from 1946 to 1957. Genetic analysis and several unusual characteristics of the 1977 Russian flu have prompted many researchers to speculate that the virus was released to the public through a laboratory accident, or resulted from a live-vaccine trial escape.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Russian_flu

 

[bilby]

Do you think that is a smart move with cases in England and the delta variant both on the rise?

I think it's reached the point that we should quit trying to protect the covidiots. Keeping things closed down is just putting off the inevitable. At this point public anti-Covid measures should be masks.

Reducing the pool of infected people from which new variants that are more deadly, more vaccine resistant, and/or more transmissible can arise isn't protecting just the covidiots; It's protecting everyone.

We are not safe until we're all safe.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I think it's reached the point that we should quit trying to protect the covidiots.

It's not just the covidiots.
It's everyone from people who cannot be vaccinated safely, to people who are prone to such illness despite vaccination, to all of us in danger of another variant, etc. etc.

People who insist that they don't need or want a vaccination resemble people who feel free to drive drunk. "I haven't killed anybody! What about my freedumb?"
Tom

The problem is waiting isn't going to improve the situation. We aren't willing to do what it takes and half measures are worse than nothing at this point.

 

[Elixir]

People who insist that they don't need or want a vaccination resemble people who feel free to drive drunk. "I haven't killed anybody! What about my freedumb?"
Tom

People who insist that they don't need or don't want a vaccine currently account for 99.2% of COVID fatalities in the US.
Other than that, yeah, it's a similar dynamic, but...
People who drive drunk are "only" responsible for a little over a third of all automobile fatalities.

Our only hope of getting rid of COVID altogether is that a new strain arises that:
* is extremely contagious
* quickly kills virtually everyone it infects, but
* cannot evade vaccines

I guess that's possible, but it does seem like a weird thing to hope for.

 

[TomC]

People who insist that they don't need or want a vaccination resemble people who feel free to drive drunk. "I haven't killed anybody! What about my freedumb?"
Tom

People who insist that they don't need or don't want a vaccine currently account for 99.2% of COVID fatalities in the US.
Other than that, yeah, it's a similar dynamic, but...
People who drive drunk are "only" responsible for a little over a third of all automobile fatalities.

Our only hope of getting rid of COVID altogether is that a new strain arises that:
* is extremely contagious
* quickly kills virtually everyone it infects, but
* cannot evade vaccines

I guess that's possible, but it does seem like a weird thing to hope for.

I was being a little more ironic than clear. So let me explain.

I'm fine with people having the right to drink alcohol. I'm fine with people having the right to remain unvaccinated.

But there are some choices that limit your freedom in other ways. Choose to drink a 12 pack and you're no longer free to operate a motor vehicle on public roads. Choose to remain vaccination free and you're no longer free to go to Walmarts or bars or churches or movie theaters or concert venues.

Having the freedom to make a choice doesn't give you the freedom to expose other people to the results of that choice.

Do whatever you want, but stay on your own property.

The problem here is people who feel free to do what they want, and then expose other people to the risks caused by their choices.
Tom

 

[Elixir]

Choose to remain vaccination free and you're no longer free to go to Walmarts or bars or churches or movie theaters or concert venues. ... Do whatever you want, but stay on your own property.

That would be nice for the rest of us, but enforcement would be prohibitively expensive if even possible. And when would it end? Would it end?

 

[Swammerdami]

"Covid-19 miscellany" — Is the following miscellaneous enough?

On June 30, 2021, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, tweeted, “The easiest way to make the Delta variant go away is to turn off CNN. And vote Republican.” Boebert deleted the tweet, but not before a journalist captured a screenshot and posted it to his own Twitter account.

 

[Swammerdami]

There are multiple pockets of population who are reluctant to be vaccinated.

A whole bunch of (white, rabid Trump supporters) people I went to high school with are among those who think that it's all a hoax or just the flu or no big deal. Absolutely, that pocket of people do exist and comprise a large percentage of the populations of some states.

But it's also the China Virus, right?

How is it both some big plot by the ChiComs and also a non-issue?

American expats are rather rare where I live; the closest is a half-hour away. That guy is obviously VERY intelligent. I called him recently to find out how vaccination is going in his district.

He laughed at the idea that he'd be so stupid as to get him or his family vaccinated, yet also seems to attribute the Wuhan virus to germ warfare by the CCP. He thinks Covid is not a threat, that Covid deaths are actually flu deaths, and that magnets respond at vaccine injection sites. To refute the statistics of "excess death" he e-mailed me a chart with data up to ... 2019.

I kept trying to change the subject, honest! And I'm sure that in many ways he really is quite intelligent!

 

[crazyfingers]

There are multiple pockets of population who are reluctant to be vaccinated.

A whole bunch of (white, rabid Trump supporters) people I went to high school with are among those who think that it's all a hoax or just the flu or no big deal. Absolutely, that pocket of people do exist and comprise a large percentage of the populations of some states.

But it's also the China Virus, right?

How is it both some big plot by the ChiComs and also a non-issue?

American expats are rather rare where I live; the closest is a half-hour away. That guy is obviously VERY intelligent. I called him recently to find out how vaccination is going in his district.

He laughed at the idea that he'd be so stupid as to get him or his family vaccinated, yet also seems to attribute the Wuhan virus to germ warfare by the CCP. He thinks Covid is not a threat, that Covid deaths are actually flu deaths, and that magnets respond at vaccine injection sites. To refute the statistics of "excess death" he e-mailed me a chart with data up to ... 2019.

I kept trying to change the subject, honest! And I'm sure that in many ways he really is quite intelligent!

Ugh

 

[Elixir]

There are multiple pockets of population who are reluctant to be vaccinated.

A whole bunch of (white, rabid Trump supporters) people I went to high school with are among those who think that it's all a hoax or just the flu or no big deal. Absolutely, that pocket of people do exist and comprise a large percentage of the populations of some states.

But it's also the China Virus, right?

How is it both some big plot by the ChiComs and also a non-issue?

American expats are rather rare where I live; the closest is a half-hour away. That guy is obviously VERY intelligent. I called him recently to find out how vaccination is going in his district.

He laughed at the idea that he'd be so stupid as to get him or his family vaccinated, yet also seems to attribute the Wuhan virus to germ warfare by the CCP. He thinks Covid is not a threat, that Covid deaths are actually flu deaths, and that magnets respond at vaccine injection sites. To refute the statistics of "excess death" he e-mailed me a chart with data up to ... 2019.

I kept trying to change the subject, honest! And I'm sure that in many ways he really is quite intelligent!

Yikes. .

 

[Loren Pechtel]

"Covid-19 miscellany" — Is the following miscellaneous enough?

On June 30, 2021, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, tweeted, “The easiest way to make the Delta variant go away is to turn off CNN. And vote Republican.” Boebert deleted the tweet, but not before a journalist captured a screenshot and posted it to his own Twitter account.

Typical Republicans--can't tell the difference between a message and reality.

 

[TSwizzle]

After 18 months of lockdown and restrictions, the Prime Minister of Britain goes ahead with "freedom day" but;

Boris Johnson tonight confirmed that the government is pulling the trigger on 'Freedom Day' by axing almost all legal restrictions from next Monday - but warned that they might need to return unless people keep wearing masks and avoid rushing back to offices. Shifting the balance from state diktats, Mr Johnson pleaded with people not to 'tear the pants' out of the loosening. New Government guidance will say individuals are 'expected and recommended' to keep wearing masks in crowded places, while any return to offices this summer should only be 'gradual'.

DailyMail

And of course, the lockdown addicts and control freaks are moaning;

But Labour branded the unlocking, which was delayed from the original date of June 21 due to the emergence of the Delta variant, 'high risk'. The Opposition pointed out that Israel - which also has a high rate of vaccination - was recently forced to row back on some of its reopening.

From the scenes that came out of London yesterday during the Euro 2020 final between England v Italy, it's a moo point anyway. Throngs of people out in the streets, in pubs and at the stadium.

 

[repoman]

Amazing article in Nature about exactly what happens with vaccine induced clotting.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03744-4_reference.pdf

Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) is a rare adverse effect of COVID-19 adenoviral vector vaccines1–3. VITT resembles heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) as it is associated with platelet-activating antibodies against platelet factor 4 (PF4)4; however, patients with VITT develop thrombocytopenia and thrombosis without heparin exposure. The objective of this study was to determine the binding site on PF4 of antibodies from patients with VITT. Using alanine scanning mutagenesis5, we determined the binding of VITT anti-PF4 antibodies (n=5) was restricted to 8 surface amino acids, all of which were located within the heparin binding site on PF4, and the binding was inhibited by heparin.

 

[ZiprHead]

Anti vax nurse dies of covid

The story about her death became viral after anti-vaccine tweets allegedly made by Guidry in 2020 were widely shared. It is unclear whether Guidry had been vaccinated, however, she tweeted the following: "This vaccine has been released using recombinant DNA faster than any vaccine in the world. It manipulates your DNA at the tiniest molecular level. Do. Not. Get. It. It's not safe."

Anti-vaxxer Colorado sheriff’s deputy, 33, dies of COVID complications

 

[Elixir]

Amazing article in Nature about exactly what happens with vaccine induced clotting.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03744-4_reference.pdf

Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) is a rare adverse effect of COVID-19 adenoviral vector vaccines1–3. VITT resembles heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) as it is associated with platelet-activating antibodies against platelet factor 4 (PF4)4; however, patients with VITT develop thrombocytopenia and thrombosis without heparin exposure. The objective of this study was to determine the binding site on PF4 of antibodies from patients with VITT. Using alanine scanning mutagenesis5, we determined the binding of VITT anti-PF4 antibodies (n=5) was restricted to 8 surface amino acids, all of which were located within the heparin binding site on PF4, and the binding was inhibited by heparin.

You should read your "amazing article", repo. And then do the math to assess the relative risk.

All VITT patients had received a single dose of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine, AstraZeneca; COVIDSHIELD, Verity Pharmaceuticals and Serum Institute of India

So don't get that vaccine if you're worried. But the article stipulates that VITT is a rare occurrence. Published estimates of the risk of VITT currently range from 1 case per 26,500 to 1 case per 127,300 first doses of AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD administered. The risk of VITT in Canada has been estimated to be approximately 1 per 55,000 first doses.
Compare the worst case scenario (1:26,500) to the risk of death from COVID: about 1.9% in the US, now down near 1% - and the wise choice becomes clear even if AstraZeneca is your only choice. Which it's not, since it's not even available in the United States. Further, there have been no confirmed cases of VITT with mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines (e.g., Pfizer and Moderna). But anti-vaxers aren't exactly rational sorts, generally speaking.

Your overall chance of having already died of COVID in the US is already around 1.8:1000* so ...
... thanks for the scaremongering, excuse-providing effort. And for doing your part to keep the new variants coming.


*W-o-M shows 1882 US deaths per million population, and that is widely considered a drastic undercount. VITT cases are treatable with nonheparin antithrombotic agents, rendering the risk of fatality even lower than the odds I provided above.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Anti vax nurse dies of covid

The story about her death became viral after anti-vaccine tweets allegedly made by Guidry in 2020 were widely shared. It is unclear whether Guidry had been vaccinated, however, she tweeted the following: "This vaccine has been released using recombinant DNA faster than any vaccine in the world. It manipulates your DNA at the tiniest molecular level. Do. Not. Get. It. It's not safe."

Anti-vaxxer Colorado sheriff’s deputy, 33, dies of COVID complications

It is a tragedy that people have to suffer the penalty of death for being ridiculously stupid. Had a wife and a child and selected arrogance over them.