Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Not all heroes wear capes.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

“woke” is the new caravan.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

I really should read my own blog.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, March 17-18

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, March 17-18

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It was assumed, you vaccinate a lot of older people, some percentage of them are due for blood-clot problems regardless. Unfortunately, it’s worse than that:

… Scientists don’t know whether the vaccine causes the syndrome, and if so, what the mechanism is. But vaccine safety officials say they did not take the decision lightly, and that symptoms seen in at least 13 patients, all between ages 20 and 50 and previously healthy, in at least five countries are more frequent than would be expected by chance. The patients, at least seven of whom have died, suffer from widespread blood clots, low platelet counts, and internal bleeding—not typical strokes or blood clots. “It’s a very special picture” of symptoms, says Steinar Madsen, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency. “Our leading hematologist said he had never seen anything quite like it.”

A somewhat similar blood disorder, called immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), has been seen in at least 36 people in the United States who had received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against COVID-19, The New York Times recently reported. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was investigating these cases, but also said the syndrome did not appear to be more common in vaccinated people, and immunizations in the United States have continued. But Madsen says the cases seen in Europe in recent weeks are distinct from ITP, which lacks the widespread blood clots seen in the European patients.

The United Kingdom, which has administered the AstraZeneca vaccine to more than 10 million people, has so far not reported similar clusters of unusual clotting or bleeding disorders…

Study from Denmark:

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Reader Interactions

37Comments

  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 3/17 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Imported Cases

    On 3/17 China reported 6 new imported confirmed cases, 6 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:

    • Tianjin Municipality – 3 confirmed cases, no information released, yet; 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 is a Chinese national returning from the US, no information released yet for the other
    • Shanghai Municipality – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the UAE & Georgia (via Amsterdam Schiphol); 2 suspect cases, no information released
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Saudi Arabia; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the US
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from India, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Wuhan in Hubei Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Pakistan
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Cambodia; the case and a companion entered China via land border with Vietnam in Guangxi “Automomous” Region on 2/26 without passing through border control, traveled to Zhengzhiu by private car on 3/6, both persons were apprehended on 3/11 due to connection with criminal activities and placed into a hotel, one person tested positive for IgM & IgG antibodies on 3/15 but negative for RT-PCR, and tested positive for RT-PCR on 3/17, the companion has tested negative so far
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Indonesia 

     

    Overall in China, 13 confirmed cases recovered, 15 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & none were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 232 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 169 active confirmed cases in the country (168 imported), none in critical/serious condition, 261 asymptomatic cases (all imported), 6 suspect cases (all imported). 4,130 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    On 3/18 Hong Kong reported 10 new cases, 4 imported & 6 domestic (3 of whom does not yet have source of infection identified).

  2. 2.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY stats:

    New cases = 138
    Deaths at 1188 now, up from 1183

    1.5% positivity

    26.7% vaccinated with at least 1 shot
    99,998 people fully vaccinated
    198,355 people with at least 1 shot

    My arm feels much better this morning.

  3. 3.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    Greece appears to be deteriorating: 3465 new cases yesterday, the worst day for that since the crisis began, 56 dead, and 630 people on ventilators. ICUs are filling up, wastewater analysis is looking grim.

  4. 4.

    mrmoshpotato

    A Washington DC public health campaign. Go get your shots, after which time you still won’t be able to do anything at all.

    Vaccinated or not, you could always catapult yourself into the nearest ocean.

  5. 5.

    mrmoshpotato

    A year ago Mexico’s health leader @HLGatell said twice in a press conference that diseases like #COVID19 “disappear” under pressure from human immunity

    “Health leader”

  6. 6.

    Cermet

    While extremely happy to have my first shot I am worried that those absoulte loons (i.e.anti-vaxxer’s) will cause a new and even deadly covid to evolve! Certainly once the US has enough vaccine, we absoultly must share with other countries (of course Canada and Mexico but all American countries, too; and as soon as possble. Europe and China need to aid Africa.) This is just self interest because covid evolving is really a dangerous development.

  7. 7.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers continue their positive downward trend. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 1,213 new cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 328,466 cases. He also reports three new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,223 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.39% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 14,782 active and contagious cases; 155 are in ICU, 54 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 1,503 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 312,461 patients recovered – 95.13% of the cumulative reported total.

    Nine new clusters were reported today: Persiaran Setia building site and Persiaran Sunsuria building site in Selangor; Jalan Wawasan Sembilan in Johor; Melamam and Kampung Padang Tembak in Sabah; Jalan Asuhan in Perak; Sungai Atap and Semuja immigration depot in Sarawak; and Bunga Tanjung Bendahara in Kedah.

    Sungai Atap, Kampung Padang Tembak, and Bunga Tanjung Bendahara are community clusters. Semuja immigration depot is a prison cluster. The rest are workplace clusters.

    1,207 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 351 local cases: 79 in older clusters, four in Persiaran Setia building site and Persiaran Sunsuria building site clusters, 189 close-contact screenings, and 79 other screenings. Sarawak reports 303 cases: 15 in older clusters, 108 in Sungai Atap and Semuja immigration depot clusters, 153 close-contact screenings, and 27 other screenings.

    Johor reports 142 cases: 17 in older clusters, 47 in Jalan Wawasan Sembilan cluster, 48 close-contact screenings, and 30 other screenings. Penang reports 104 cases: four in existing clusters, 21 close-contact screenings, and 79 other screenings.

    Kuala Lumpur reports 75 local cases: three in existing clusters, 46 close-contact screenings, and 26 other screenings. Sabah reports 73 cases: 13 in older clusters, 12 in Melamam and Kampung Padang Tembak clusters, 18 close-contact screenings, and 30 other screenings. Perlis reports 39 cases: 28 in older clusters, three in Jalan Asuhan cluster, five close-contact screenings, and three other screenings. Kedah reports 38 cases: six in older clusters, three in Bunga Tanjung Bendahara cluster, 13 close-contact screenings, and 16 other screenings.

    Negeri Sembilan reports 23 cases: seven in existing clusters, 14 close-contact screenings, and two other screenings. Kelantan reports 20 cases: seven in existing clusters, nine close-contact screenings, and four other screenings. Terengganu reports 15 cases: 14 in existing clusters, and one other screening. Pahang reports 14 cases: 12 in existing clusters, and two close-contact screenings.

    Melaka reports eight cases: six in existing clusters, one close-contact screening, and one other screening. And Labuan reports two cases, found in other screening.

    Perlis and Putrajaya report no new cases today.

    Six new cases today are imported: four in Kuala Lumpur, and two in Selangor.

    The deaths reported today are a 59-year-old woman in Sarawak with no co-morbidities listed; an 82-year-old man in Sabah with hypertension, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease; and a 60-year-old man in Kelantan with hypertension, heart disease, and gout.

  8. 8.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    Sam Sokol via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    I was promised 5G in my vaccine but I’m still only trying 4G speeds! Random conspiracy theorists on the internet lied to me!

    I was promised a Bill Gates chip in my vaccine, and all I got was this lousy Celeron™.

  12. 12.

    WereBear

    @mrmoshpotato: Oh, that’s the core, always. The question is not “this person was radicalized into wingnuttia” but “why did this person find the ideas behind wingnuttia attractive?”

  13. 13.

    Soprano2

    *sigh* I wish more people understood that the public health campaign around the vaccine needs to be better than “get vaccinated, but absolutely nothing in your life can change”. (I’m also impatient with the “just a little while longer” message – exactly how long are you talking about? Set goals, dammit!!!) That guy isn’t completely wrong. I’m with Lena Wen, they are being too timid about what fully vaccinated people can do safely. My position is that once it’s as easy to get vaccinated as going to your local CVS, all the restrictions need to come off. If airlines and theaters and other places like that want to require proof of vaccination to get a ticket, that’s OK too – it will motivate more people to get vaccinated. We live in a world with COVID-19 now – there will never be a zero chance of encountering it. We can’t allow Republican anti-vaxxers to hold everyone else’s lives hostage.  And yes, I understand that there are new variants that might become a problem, but again we can’t allow that to hold everyone hostage. For one thing, society won’t tolerate that. We’re lucky most people have tolerated it for this long, and for the most part have gone along with it in the places where there are restrictions. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by my city’s reaction to restrictions, because for the most part people have gone along with them with relatively few complaints. There are 4 anti-maskers running for City Council in April, and I fully expect they’ll all be defeated. That said, people won’t put up with it forever.

  14. 14.

    Soprano2

    @WereBear: The Right Wing has elevated “not getting it” into an absolute performance art form.

    Just wait until they can’t get on a plane or buy a ticket to a concert or go on a cruise (they just love cruises!) or get into a casino without being vaccinated. I suspect a lot of them will get it.

  15. 15.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    Based on the CDC guidelines, fully vaccinated people can have indoor gatherings, mask-free. Wait until the anti-vaxxers are the only ones not invited to the parties.

  16. 16.

    Another Scott

    @Soprano2: I’m of 2 minds on this: 1) yes, once 2 weeks after one’s last shot have passed, one is well protected and can interact more normally; 2) there’s still going to be a lot of community spread in the US for months to come and as long as that’s the case it’s important to wear a mask and do the other things to reduce the spread and reduce the opportunity for mutation and to infect the unvaccinated.

    So, I’m looking forward to my eventual vaccines, but will still be planning on wearing a mask and watching the numbers for months to come.

    Plus, masks protect against other stuff – there has been almost no flu in the US for months.

    YMMV.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  17. 17.

    Zzyzx

    Remember how I spent all last week saying that we haven’t plateaued?

    Now it looks like we’ve plateaued at least in the short term. In the last week, the average has only fallen 1500 cases/day. I was hoping we had reached enough vaccination where we’d see a huge drop but not yet.

  18. 18.

    Another Scott

    @Zzyzx: What’s worrying to me is that (so far) each post-peak plateau has been higher than the previous, and the next peak has been worse.  That will eventually change as more of the population gets vaccinated, but the US isn’t an island.  There are billions of people who need to be vaccinated to crush the curve.  We need to vaccinate everyone ASAP or we all remain at risk (from variants, economic damage, etc.).

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  19. 19.

    Sloane Ranger

    yesterday in the UK, we had 5758 new cases. This is an increase of about 450 from Tuesday but a decrease of 1.2% in the rolling 7-day average. Over the last few days cases numbers have been drifting slowly upwards. Of course this could be as a result of the increased testing due to the return of in-person education and the individuals are not showing symptoms, we’ll see. New cases, by nation,

    England – 4827 (up @430)

    Northern Ireland – 161 (down 3)

    Scotland – 625 (up 28)

    Wales – 145 (up 3).

    Deaths – There were 141 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is a decrease of 29.9% in the rolling 7-day average. Deaths by nation, England – 121, Northern Ireland – 0, Scotland – 12 and Wales – 8.

    Testing – Not updated due to delays in some nation’s submitting their data.

    Hospitalisations – As of Monday, 15 March, 7218 people were in hospital. 968 people were on ventilators on Tuesday, 16th. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions has fallen by 25.1%.

    Vaccinations – As of 16 March, a total of 25,273,226 people have received the 1st shot of a vaccine and 1,759,445 have received both shots. As reported, there is expected to be a significant slowdown in vaccine deliveries during April and the plan is to prioritise those needing 2nd shots. We have been assured there will be enough available to ensure that everyone who needs a 2nd shot will get it within the government mandated 12 week window. Hopefully, this is correct. The Government insists they will make their target of having all adults vaccinated by the end of July. Again, we’ll see.

  20. 20.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Another Scott: The historic pattern in pandemics is three peaks, with the second peak being worst.  Worth noting that some regions (like Floriduh…) are only starting to come down from their peak.

  21. 21.

    Soprano2

    @Another Scott: Well, they aren’t messaging your first point much at all, while they’re messaging the hell out of the second one, which is the problem. I keep seeing citations that proof is building that vaccination also cuts way down on transmission. If that is true, then they need to tell people that, instead of continuing to say “Well, we just don’t know”. Cite information, and then let people make informed choices about the amount of risk they’re willing to take. I guess I could sum up my objections as “Please quit treating us as if we’re small children, and treat us like adults when you talk about COIVD”.

  22. 22.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Zzyzx: . I was hoping we had reached enough vaccination where we’d see a huge drop but not yet.

    Yes well, as I have been pointing out,  most of the vaccinations have gone to the elderly who can isolate themselves. That still leaves the whole population of Expendable Workers who have to go to work because their jobs, unlike their lives, are essential at risk of infection.

  23. 23.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Soprano2: ​
    The problem with letting people make “informed decisions” whether to go out and spread an easily-transmissible respirtatory virus to kith and kin is that to be properly informed they really need several years of post-graduate studies in epidemiology and viral transmission plus spending several hours a day going through the preprint scientific papers and attending Zoom meetings with others working in the field. Me, I listen to the folks that actually do this day in day out and take what they say to heart — get vaccinated, stay isolated, wear a mask, don’t go to bars or restaurants, don’t go hug Grandpa in the elder care home, don’t book vacations where you’re going to be sharing air with random strangers.

    I keep seeing citations that proof is building that vaccination also cuts way down on transmission. If that is true, then they need to tell people that, instead of continuing to say “Well, we just don’t know”.

    Both things can be true at the same time, it’s not a one-or-the-other situation. Some quote I read a long time back, before this particular disease appeared over the horizon, was “Epidemics are statistics.” Vaccination reduces infection rates but doesn’t eliminate the spread of the disease. It reduces the severity of disease if symptoms appear but not completely in all cases. The one factor that stops this disease spreading, more than anything, is social isolation. You may not want to hear that but it’s true.

  25. 25.

    Another Scott

    @Zzyzx: I recently saw a graph of infections at my workplace.  A jump 1-2 weeks after Halloween, 1-2 weeks after Thanksgiving, 1-2 weeks after Christmas,…  If we don’t see big jumps after Spring Break, after Memorial Day, etc., then we might be over the hump.  But we have to stay vigilant if we want to be as successful as China and Australia and really get back close to normal.

    Fingers crossed.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  26. 26.

    BC in Illinois

    A visual indictment of the state of Missouri:

    Go to the CDC COVID Data Tracker.

    Under “Map Data,” set the control for “cases,” then “reported cases per 100,000.”

    Unbelievable. But this is what we live with.

    [Note: BC in Illinois actually lives in St Louis County, and is awaiting the second Pfizer vaccine dose next Friday.]

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    @Another Scott:

     

    So, I’m looking forward to my eventual vaccines, but will still be planning on wearing a mask and watching the numbers for months to come.

     

    I will be double masked until September at the earliest.

  30. 30.

    Just Chuck

    @WereBear: Because “not getting it” annoys the libs.  Being a stupid braying asshole annoys the libs too, and boy howdy have they been practicing.  Cleek’s Law is as reliable as gravity.

  31. 31.

    VOR

    @Robert Sneddon: It’s pretty simple: COVID is a new disease, treatments for it are new, and the vaccines for it are new. We just don’t have years of experience. Therefore we are constantly learning new things and guidance changes as we learn those new things. This is how science works.

    Some people have real trouble with things which are not black and white, cut and dried. Change is hard for some people.

  33. 33.

    Another Scott

    @yellowdog:  Careful.

    CDC.gov:

    Vaccine performance against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant strains

    SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (B.1.1.7 [first described in the United Kingdom]; B.1.351 [first described in South Africa]; P.1 [first described in Brazil]) have emerged with mutations that alter the receptor binding domain of the spike protein (notably the N501Y mutation occurring in all three variants, as well as E484K and E417T/N mutations in B.1.351 and P.1) 20-23. These mutations appear to confer greater resistance to neutralization by sera from persons vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines, raising concerns that these vaccines may have reduced effectiveness against COVID-19 illness, particularly against the B.1.351 variant. Therefore, vaccine performance against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants is an important consideration when evaluating the need for continued prevention measures in vaccinated persons, and will require continued monitoring.

    Immunogenicity

    Sera from mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) recipients have generally demonstrated modest reductions in antibody neutralization activity against a variety of mutations; one study demonstrated poor neutralization activity for B.1.351 24-48. Across studies, the greatest reductions were observed for B.1.351, followed by P.1 and P.2 (another variant first described in Brazil); reductions for B.1.1.7 were minimal. The E484K mutation alone or in combination with other mutations in the receptor binding domain has been shown to account for the majority of reduction in vaccine-induced neutralizing antibody activity for the B.1351, P.1, and P.2 variants 26, 29, 31, 42, 43. For the Janssen viral vector COVID-19 vaccine, spike protein-specific antibody levels and seroresponse rates were similar between U.S. clinical trial participants and participants from Brazil and South Africa, where the viral variants were circulating 8. In the absence of a biological correlate of protection, it is difficult to predict how reduced immunogenicity may affect COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. However, across studies, antibody neutralizing activity of sera from vaccinated persons was still generally higher than that observed for convalescent sera from persons who have recovered from COVID-19 26, 27, 30-32, 36-39, 41-43, 48.

    Efficacy and effectiveness

    As described above, preliminary results from the United Kingdom demonstrate that vaccination with two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was highly effective (85–86%) against SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptomatic COVID-19 during a period when B.1.1.7 was the predominant circulating strain 15, 16. Similarly, high Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine effectiveness (92%) against infection was observed in Israel in the context of multiple circulating strains, with the proportion of cases due to the B.1.1.7 variant increasing to 80% towards the end of the evaluation period 17. Preliminary data suggest that the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine may have reduced overall efficacy against the B.1.351 variant 8. In the United States, efficacy was 74% and in Brazil (where ~69% of infections were due to P.2) efficacy was 66%, but in South Africa (~where 95% of infections were due to B.1.351) efficacy was 52% 8, 11. However, Janssen vaccine efficacy against severe or critical disease was high and similar across sites (73–82%) 8.

    Emphasis added.

    tl;dr – Get whatever shot you’re offered. Don’t wait.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  36. 36.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Betty: Vaccines available in China? There is no anti-vaxx movement to speak of in China, but I hear a number of people feeling there is no urgency to take the vaccines, since COVID-19 is effectively eradicated in the country, so they prefer to hold off to see if there is any risks with the vaccines. I see this sentiment even in Wuhan!

    I personally do not understand that sentiment. China cannot re-open to the world unless there is domestic herd immunity via vaccination. Yes, the inactivated virus vaccines made by SinoPharm and Sinovac appear to have lower efficacies against symptomatic disease, and likely lower sterilization efficacies against infection, compared to the mRNA vaccines. This is not unexpected, and their efficacies remain broadly similar to the viral vector vaccines. There is some thought that inactivated whole virus vaccines may be less vulnerable to the new variants than the mRNA and viral vectors that that target specific spikes, but this is just speculation at this point.

    I expect the Chinese government to wage a mass mobilization and propaganda/education campaign at some point to strongly encourage vaccination. Hermetically sealing the country from the outside world is not sustainable indefinitely. As of this moment the regime appears to be prioritizing export for soft power influence and geopolitical gain. Mass roll out just started in Wuhan this week.

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