Covid-19 miscellany

[Elixir]

I find the concept of a fucktard difficult to grok so I can't be sure, but her behavior seems also compatible with being intelligent and politically motivated.

How about criminal sack of shit or otherwise plague rat to describe Palin?

Without conclusive evidence, I would not describe her in that manner. But she is a bad person.

My friend who taught her how to shoot a shotgun says she is a nice person. A nice person who should not be alllowed within miles of any elected office, but a nice person nonetheless.

 

[Playball40]

Masks, ZERO evidence masks do anything to stop the spread.

I believe that you are very aware that this is a false statement.

There is a substantial segment of the population that operates on the principle that reality will conform to what enough people want it to be. Thus if you can get enough people to believe masks don't help that they will cease to work.

Note that while religious thinking increases this it's not only a problem of the right. We see the same thing with different issues from the left.

So, there is in our world a thing called "the Tinkerbell effect". It is not something well understood by a lot or even "many" people.

It is the effect wherein sometimes the geometry of an idea is such that when people believe it, it becomes true as a knock-on effect of the belief.

Regardless of whether this effect spawns actual faeries is subject to debate on what "actual faeries" are (one I'm honestly sad nobody on these forums in all it's years has asked in any of the appropriate forums), it is a case in point that the effect does exist.

The belief that masks are ineffective will make them ineffective because of herd immunity effects: a mask on each face is more effective and an infective person without a mask negates a lot of the effectiveness in any given space.

Of course it's like dieting. Dieting is an effective way to lose weight. It doesn't work when you don't do the work.

Except dieting really isn't an effective way to lose weight. At least not in the long term.

 

[Jarhyn]

Masks, ZERO evidence masks do anything to stop the spread.

I believe that you are very aware that this is a false statement.

There is a substantial segment of the population that operates on the principle that reality will conform to what enough people want it to be. Thus if you can get enough people to believe masks don't help that they will cease to work.

Note that while religious thinking increases this it's not only a problem of the right. We see the same thing with different issues from the left.

So, there is in our world a thing called "the Tinkerbell effect". It is not something well understood by a lot or even "many" people.

It is the effect wherein sometimes the geometry of an idea is such that when people believe it, it becomes true as a knock-on effect of the belief.

Regardless of whether this effect spawns actual faeries is subject to debate on what "actual faeries" are (one I'm honestly sad nobody on these forums in all it's years has asked in any of the appropriate forums), it is a case in point that the effect does exist.

The belief that masks are ineffective will make them ineffective because of herd immunity effects: a mask on each face is more effective and an infective person without a mask negates a lot of the effectiveness in any given space.

Of course it's like dieting. Dieting is an effective way to lose weight. It doesn't work when you don't do the work.

Except dieting really isn't an effective way to lose weight. At least not in the long term.

Managing input is absolutely vital to weight control. Whether you want to call what I utter "dieting" or "maintaining a diet that is commensurate with your activity level".

 

[Angra Mainyu]

I find the concept of a fucktard difficult to grok so I can't be sure, but her behavior seems also compatible with being intelligent and politically motivated.

How about criminal sack of shit or otherwise plague rat to describe Palin?

Without conclusive evidence, I would not describe her in that manner. But she is a bad person.

My friend who taught her how to shoot a shotgun says she is a nice person. A nice person who should not be alllowed within miles of any elected office, but a nice person nonetheless.

I was basing my assessment on the information about her behavior in office (including the use of her position in an improper way); I wasn't saying she wasn't nice to most people privately. But then again, on second thought I probably should have been more skeptical about reports about her. So, I change my assessment to only 'probably a bad person', and might take a closer look in the future, when I have more time.

 

[thebeave]

Neil Young Demands Spotify Remove His Music Over 'False Information About Vaccines'

“They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young,” Neil Young wrote in a letter to his manager and label. “Not both”

www.rollingstone.com

Neil Young posted a since-deleted letter to his management team and record label demanding that they remove his music from Spotify. “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” he wrote. “Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.”

“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” he continued. “They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.” Young is referencing the steady stream of misinformation about vaccines that Joe Rogan has peddled on The Joe Rogan Experience. Last month, 270 doctors, physicians, and science educators signed an open letter asking Spotify to stop spreading Rogan’s baseless claims.

In a world of Eric Claptons, be a Neil Young.

Please don't. Be neither.

Neil Young’s Long Record of Spreading Scientific Misinformation

For his stance, Young is basking in praise as a principled musician willing to sacrifice his own streaming revenue in the name of science, technological progress, and public health.

This is the same Neil Young who in 2015 released an entire album, The Monsanto Years, that’s wall-to-wall songs from an anti-biotechnology point of view.

Young’s anti-GMO rhetoric helped fuel a narrative that made it easy to spread fear and distrust about COVID vaccines, most of which used novel biotechnology methods and some of which use genetic engineering.

A collective amnesia has set in amongst progressives regarding the left’s past pandering to the anti-biotechnology movement. Reactionary luddism—especially around biotechnology—was both politically correct and convenient for progressive celebrity activists. But that was in the “before times.”

 

[lpetrich]

Opinion | Republicans like Ron DeSantis keep kowtowing to the MAGA cult — even if it threatens lives - The Washington Post

Republican politicians beholden to the MAGA base spent much of 2020 downplaying the risk of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, they turned to throwing sand in the gears of the administration’s lifesaving vaccination program, casting vaccines as an issue of “freedom.” This year, they seem to be gearing up for a campaign to prevent an early victory over the omicron variant.

Consider Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who refused to heed public health experts’ advice in the pre-vaccination era and then hobbled vaccine and mask mandates by penalizing local officials who implemented them. Now, he is sounding nearly as nutty as the defeated former president, who hawked crackpot cures for covid-19 such as “light inside the body” or injections of disinfectant.

Obstructing President Biden's efforts, then calling him a failure -- and an autocrat if he does anything.

I would not be surprised if that was a deliberate policy.

The Post reports, for example, that “Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Monday invoked the biblical call to ‘love your neighbor’ as school systems around the state struggled with strong reactions to his ban on local mask mandates, but the Republican also fanned the flames of partisan division in the face of court challenges and protests.” Seven school districts are suing Youngkin over his decision to supersede districts’ directives on masks, which they contend violates the state constitution.

This is plainly pandering to the right-wing base at the expense of students, teachers and other school employees. The Post reports: “Youngkin’s recent position on masks takes a harder line than he did shortly before and after November’s election, when he said he would leave it up to localities whether to impose mask mandates.”

Glenn Youngkin ran as a centrist, much like MD Gov Larry Hogan and MA Gov Charlie Baker, but he seems to have become a hardline MAGAt.

 

[Worldtraveller]

Masks, ZERO evidence masks do anything to stop the spread.

I believe that you are very aware that this is a false statement.

There is a substantial segment of the population that operates on the principle that reality will conform to what enough people want it to be. Thus if you can get enough people to believe masks don't help that they will cease to work.

Note that while religious thinking increases this it's not only a problem of the right. We see the same thing with different issues from the left.

Lol. I read this, and it makes me wish you were self aware.

 

[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 was 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?

That was for Trump when he got the disease in fall 2020.

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 planet.

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.

It was, several advisers said, the last chance to turn the response around. And once the opportunity passed, it was the point of no return.

What a sociopath.

 

[TSwizzle]

Disappointing news for the authoritarians;

Denmark will end virus restrictions next week and reclassify Covid-19 as a disease that no longer poses a threat to society, even as infections hit a record high. The Nordic country, one of the most vaccinated in the world, won’t extend the pandemic measures beyond Jan. 31, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday. Denmark’s decision on reclassifying the virus dramatically pushes forward an idea that’s emerged recently in Europe -- that it’s time to start thinking about Covid as endemic rather than a pandemic. The easing of curbs also echoes recent moves elsewhere -- including Ireland and the U.K. -- to scale back restrictions amid signs that omicron is less dangerous than earlier variants of the virus. There’s also a sense that restrictions just aren’t able to stop the highly transmissible omicron strain.

Bloomberg

The pandemic is over folks.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

In the US, we may be moving to a point where it's endemic and a couple of times a year, many people get vaxxed. Of course, it hasn't settled down completely across the whole country yet. And also in the world, situation in developing countries varies. You'd think there are some factors there such as longevity, obesity, vaccine availability affecting their outcomes, too, but for some countries they may have very little access to vaccinations, making a breeding ground for new variants still. So those new variants may spread again, like how we have different and new flus.

 

[repoman]

Previous, but dangerous, infection

...Weakens the body and damaged the brain forever. The previous infection did nothing special to help that the body wouldn't do otherwise (in this case the "other" of "otherwise" is vaccination)

I think that

...does nothing to help in the moment we have; such waiting just leads to lack of immunity and dangerous infections, which wealen the body and damage the brain forever. The imaginary vaccine that doesn't exist yet and isn't available does nothing at all to help that the body wouldn't do otherwise (in this case the "other" of "otherwise" is infection or vaccination)

Make the vaccine closer in form and delivery, nasal passages, to the virus to get better results. This is an area where we are not close to approaching an asymptote.

I don't think there's anything that can be done to allay the irrational fear of an instant of pinprick pain that underlies so-called "hesitancy".
It's just glorified chickenshittery.

I got vaxxed, I just want something better in the future.

Hope you felt pumped up and strong for a moment though.

 

[Jarhyn]

Previous, but dangerous, infection

...Weakens the body and damaged the brain forever. The previous infection did nothing special to help that the body wouldn't do otherwise (in this case the "other" of "otherwise" is vaccination)

I think that

...does nothing to help in the moment we have; such waiting just leads to lack of immunity and dangerous infections, which wealen the body and damage the brain forever. The imaginary vaccine that doesn't exist yet and isn't available does nothing at all to help that the body wouldn't do otherwise (in this case the "other" of "otherwise" is infection or vaccination)

Make the vaccine closer in form and delivery, nasal passages, to the virus to get better results. This is an area where we are not close to approaching an asymptote.

I don't think there's anything that can be done to allay the irrational fear of an instant of pinprick pain that underlies so-called "hesitancy".
It's just glorified chickenshittery.

I got vaxxed, I just want something better in the future.

Hope you felt pumped up and strong for a moment though.

So your problem then is you don't lead with "Get vaccinated right fucking now if you haven't been, but I'm really looking forward to a better thing than a jab".

But you don't.

You lead with untempered complaint.

 

[Elixir]

I thought I knew you said you were vaxed. (?)

Wasn’t referring to you anyhow, but now am curious as to why you thought I was.

I have a niece who refused vaccination until after she got the ‘Rona and gave it to her whole family. Why did she refuse it for so long? Didn’t want to be chipped? Afraid to have her DNA altered? Because Bill Gates? George Soros? No, she’s just deathly afraid of needles.

Asked her, and she rattled off a litany of people she knows - peers, parents, friends of parents - all of whom are unvaxed for the same reason.

 

[ZiprHead]

Disappointing news for the authoritarians;

Denmark will end virus restrictions next week and reclassify Covid-19 as a disease that no longer poses a threat to society, even as infections hit a record high. The Nordic country, one of the most vaccinated in the world, won’t extend the pandemic measures beyond Jan. 31, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday. Denmark’s decision on reclassifying the virus dramatically pushes forward an idea that’s emerged recently in Europe -- that it’s time to start thinking about Covid as endemic rather than a pandemic. The easing of curbs also echoes recent moves elsewhere -- including Ireland and the U.K. -- to scale back restrictions amid signs that omicron is less dangerous than earlier variants of the virus. There’s also a sense that restrictions just aren’t able to stop the highly transmissible omicron strain.

Bloomberg

The pandemic is over folks.

In Denmark, not here in the US.

And how do you think Denmark got to this point?

 

[TSwizzle]

And England is getting back to normal;

Shoppers and commuters snubbed calls to continue wearing masks today after a raft of Covid curbs in England including compulsory face coverings and ‘vaccine passports’ were scrapped. Supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Waitrose, and Transport for London are still insisting customers ‘do the right thing’ and cover their faces despite Covid cases, hospitalisations and deaths all tumbling in the past 24 hours. People at a Tesco superstore in Slough, Berkshire and an Asda in Kings Heath, south Birmingham chose not to wear masks today. Also from today, a legal requirement for NHS Covid passes – dubbed ‘vaccine passports’ by lockdown sceptics – for entry to nightclubs and large events in England has been scrapped. The Department for Education has also removed national guidance on the use of face coverings in communal areas of educational settings. And limits on the number of visitors to care homes in England are being scrapped from Monday. The latest rolling back of restrictions follows the axing of WFH guidance last week, and advice for face coverings in classrooms for staff and pupils being scrapped.

Daily Mail

 

[ZiprHead]

The Covid-19 pandemic in Denmark: Big lessons from a small country

Denmark, a Scandinavian country of 5.8 million people has weathered the Covid-19 crisis with a relatively low rate of infection and death. Denmark has also become one of the first European countries to partially re-open its society. We offer the perspective ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Denmark is a developed, industrialised country where the state and other public authorities exercise considerable regulatory control in the social sphere, providing comprehensive services and benefits to all citizens. By international standards, Denmark has one of the highest standards of living, and the differences between rich and poor are historically smaller than in many of the countries with which it is traditionally compared.

As mentioned earlier, the Danish government was among the first countries in Europe to act and act firmly against the virus by declaring a national lockdown and closing its borders. The country’s approach was more drastic and differed greatly from its neighbour and” old enemy” – Sweden, where relatively few measures, except ‘social distancing’ were imposed on public life. Denmark banned large public gatherings, closed down all unnecessary venues across its cities, heavily discouraged the use of public transportion and all manner of travel unless absolutely essential. Daycares, schools and universities were very quickly shut down and air travel was severely restricted – and while these restrictions have become the ‘new normal’ across the continent, Denmark was among the first countries to impose such restrictions.

Moreover, the Danish health care system is very equitable and free for everyone, independent of health insurance, and with a tradition of a large public sector of high quality hospitals and clinics, with relatively few private clinics. This aspect was also a contributing factor to the impressive pace and flexibility with which the entire health care system was able to prioritize and reorganize medical departments, isolation wards, and hospital beds, as well as doctors and nurses, to be optimally prepared to isolate and treat admitted patients.

On Wednesday, March 11, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, announced the closure of all schools and universities across the country from Monday, March 16 due to the Covid-19 outbreak. She reinforced the need to respect social distancing and follow strictly all guidelines provided by the government to limit the spread of the virus. Although the action was to come into effect beginning March 16th, Prime Minister Frederiksen asked citizens to start as soon as possible to respect the recommended guidelines of the government. Interestingly, the Danish Queen also made a public appearance, and likewise gently but firmly encouraged the Danes to be rational and patient, and recommended that citizens follow these instructions for the common good. It was striking, as a father of two children of 9 and 4, to see that daycares and schools were emptied the morning after the announcement; four days before the preventive measures went into effect, Danish citizens were already applying them.

Finally, the last element that partially contributed to the Danish success with the coronavirus crisis relates to “hygge”. This Danish concept cannot be translated into one single word – it encompasses a feeling of cozy contentment and well-being through the enjoyment of the simple things in life; it is such an important part of being Danish that it is considered "a defining feature of our cultural identity and an integral part of the national DNA," according to Meik Wiking, the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. In his book, Wiking states: “What freedom is to Americans….hygge is to Danes”. This last statement illustrates how much Danes enjoy staying at home with their family and benefitting from all the “hyggelige moments” – the simple moments that life has to offer. The downside of this attitude, critics would say, may be a reluctance of the Danes to relinquish this idea of Denmark as a “fairy tale country”, an idea that derives directly from the well-known fairy tales of the famous Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. This aspect may also contribute to a difficulty in entering the global world scene. Nevertheless, the strong sense of responsibility for their small country may have benefitted the Danes during the current coronavirus pandemic. The opposite is not necessarily true for southern European countries where life is spent outside home, mostly with friends, but not necessarily at home with the family. As a consequence, the lockdown for a Dane is a natural continuity of daily life, as opposed to a lockdown for a French or Italian, that may be perceived as a prison sentence!

Overall, it is probably not a single factor, but the sum of different factors, that together have contributed to the effective management of the coronavirus crisis, and also explains why Denmark is the first European country to slowly and gradually re-open its society, at a time when the surrounding countries are still under severe lockdown.

These are all thing Tswizzle would find offensive yet he touts them as successful.

 

[Elixir]

From Oregon Health & Science University.
Probably just an anomaly, eh?

 

[TSwizzle]

Sweden has decided against recommending COVID vaccines for kids aged 5-11, the Health Agency said on Thursday, arguing that the benefits did not outweigh the risks. "With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we don't see any clear benefit with vaccinating them," Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm told a news conference. She added that the decision could be revisited if the research changed or if a new variant changed the pandemic. Kids in high-risk groups can already get the vaccine.
Sweden's government on Wednesday extended restrictions, which included limited opening hours for restaurants and an attendance cap for indoor venues, for two weeks but said it hoped to remove them on Feb. 9. read more

News

There never was a need to vaccinate children.

 

[marc]

So some of the anti-vaxx nutcases had been pushing the idea that you can just ignore the virus, and if you somehow catch it just get the monoclonal antibody treatment. Never mind that it costs a couple thousand dollars, and supplies were limited so you might not even be able to get it even if you had the money.

Well now, monoclonal antibody treatment is no longer available. Seems that it is not effective against Omicron, so the FDA revoked the emergency use authorization, with the agreement of the drug company.

Rand Paul concocts a new FDA plot to 'punish' conservatives

As Rand Paul sees it, federal officials are deliberately limiting access to Covid treatments as part of a scheme to "punish" conservatives. That's insane.

www.msnbc.com

 

[blastula]

The pandemic is over folks.

Tell that to the 3k+ Americans who died yesterday.

Tell them the pandemic has been declared over multiple times already.