Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

All hail the time of the bunny!

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Petty moves from a petty man.

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

“They all knew.”

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

So very ready.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday / Wednesday, Aug. 3-4

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday / Wednesday, Aug. 3-4

by | 109 Comments

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… The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is just starting to track data about unauthorized booster shots, Director Rochelle Walensky said Monday. She said the government can discern the difference between second and third shots, and is encouraging people to report safety outcomes if they receive boosters, though they are not recommended.

“We have the capacity and are looking at those data right now,” Walensky said. The data are not yet public.

Many vaccination sites, including those at Walgreens and CVS, have explicit policies not to give additional shots to people who have been fully vaccinated. But they may not always be checking to ensure that that’s the case…

The American Medical Association on Friday unveiled a billing code for a Pfizer booster shot that could help insurers track them, but the code will not be active unless the FDA authorizes the third shot…

Associations of specialty physicians who serve immunocompromised patients are also working on guidance, as their patients may be good candidates for boosters in the future. Ted Okon, the executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance, said the group’s leadership is tracking the issue and working to develop guidance. The American Society of Transplantation advised members that there isn’t enough evidence to recommend booster shots, or guidance on when they should be given…

If only Tyson hadn’t already burned through all its social capital, and more than a few of its unfortunate workers…

… The mandate will extend to employees in its offices and in the field. The poultry supplier is requiring its leadership team to be vaccinated by Sept. 24 and the rest of its office workers by Oct. 1. Frontline employees have until Nov. 1 to be fully inoculated, extra time the company is providing because there are “significantly more frontline team members than office workers who still need to be vaccinated,” a Tyson spokesman said.

Tyson is offering $200 to frontline workers who verify that they are fully vaccinated. The company already offered employees up to four hours of pay if they are vaccinated outside of their normal shift…

Getting union leaders to sign off might be difficult. Marc Perrone, the president of United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents 24,000 Tyson employees in plants across the country, said in a statement Tuesday that while the union supports and encourages workers to get vaccinated, “it is concerning that Tyson is implementing this mandate before the FDA has fully approved the vaccine.”

“UFCW will be meeting with Tyson in the coming weeks to discuss this vaccine mandate and to ensure that the rights of these workers are protected, and this policy is fairly implemented,” he said…

The meatpacking industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus, given the close working conditions the job requires. And Tyson has come under fire for its lapses in safety standards, including allegations it failed to provide adequate safety equipment and refusing the requests of local officials to close a plant…

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This will have (is already having, to some degree) an impact globally:

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Missouri: Hold my beer!…

Reader Interactions

109Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    48 new cases on 8/3, 2.6% test positivity.

    The CDC COVID tracker:
    covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view

    says Monroe County has gone from Moderate risk of infection last week to Substantial risk this week. It’s delivery or curbside pickup for me until the risk level drops again. Glad I ordered more KN95s last week.

  2. 2.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 8/3 China reported 71 new domestic confirmed & 15 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Yunnan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases (both mild, all Chinese national), all at Ruili in Dehong Prefecture. 3 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 57 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases there. Given that sporadic cases continue to show up, Ruili will conduct another 3 rounds of mass screening from 8/4. 1 community at Ruili remains at High Risk. 1 village at Ruili & 1 village at Longchuan County remain at Medium Risk.

    Jiangsu Province

    • Nanjing reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases (1 mild & 2 moderate), all found among persons already under centralized quarantine. 5 mild cases worsened to moderation condition, & 4 serious cases improved to moderate. There currently are 223 domestic confirmed (78 mild, 143 moderate & 2 serious) cases in the city. Of the 223 infected persons, 191 are at Jiangning District, 12 at Lishui District, 4 each at Jianye, Qinhuai, Gulou & Yuhuatai Districts, 2 at Gaochun District, & 1 each at Xuanwu & Qixia Districts. The Lukou Sub-District remains at High Risk. 2 areas, 15 residential compounds, 6 buildings & 8 villages remain at Medium Risk.
    • Yangzhou reported 32 new domestic confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic, 16 mild & 16 moderate). There currently are 126 domestic confirmed (43 mild, 79 moderate, 2 serious & 2 critical) cases in the city. 1 area remains High Risk. 2 areas, 2 villages, 3 residential compounds & 2 buildings have been elevated to Medium Risk. 3 areas, 1 community, 18 residential compounds, 7 village, 8 building & 1 dormitory are currently at Medium Risk.
    • At Huai’an, there currently are 10 confirmed & 2 asymptomatic cases in the city, all members of the group that had gone to Zhangjiajie. 4 residential buildings, 4 residential compounds & 2 villages remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Suqian, there currently are 3 domestic confirmed cases (all moderate) there, 2 of whom are traced to the outbreak in Nanjing. A dormitory & a residential compound remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Wuxi, there currently is 1 domestic asymptomatic case in the city, a person involved in processing incoming visitors/returnees from overseas & not connected to the Delta Variant outbreak from Nanjing.

     

    Anhui Province did not reported at new domestic positive cases. There currently are 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province, both traced to the outbreak in Nanjing.

    Liaoning Province did not reported at new domestic positive cases. There currently are 5 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province, all traced to the outbreak in Nanjing.

    Guangdong Province did not reported at new domestic positive cases. There currently are 1 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province, both traced to the outbreak in Nanjing.

    Hunan Province

    • At Changde, there currently are 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all had ridden on the super-spreading boat cruise.
    • Xiangtan reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, who had ridden on the boat cruise at Changde on 7/24, already under centralized quarantine since 7/29. There currently are 2 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all having been on the super-spreading boat cruise at Changde on 7/24. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.
    • At Changsha, there currently are 2 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, 2 had ridden on the super-spreading boat cruise at Changde on 7/24 & 3 from transmission chains related to 2 of the domestic confirmed cases reported by Beijing. 2 residential compounds & a residential building remain at Medium Risk.
    • Yiyang reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both are relatives of the cases reported by Beijing, having attended family gathering w/ them on 7/23. There currently are 1 domestic confirmed & 6 domestic asymptomatic case in the city, all traced close contact of domestic confirmed cases reported by Beijing. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.
    • Zhuzhou reported 12 new domestic confirmed (11 previously asymptomatic) cases. The new positive case is a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine since 7/30. There currently are 17 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, 7 had gone on the super spreading cruise & 11 are their close contacts. 2 residential compounds & 1 residential building have been elevated to Medium Risk. 6 residential compounds & 1 residential building are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Zhangjiajie reported 3 new domestic confirmed (all mild) cases, 2 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine since 8/1, & 1 was identified at fever clinic on 8/2 after developing symptoms (though had tested negative on 7/29 & 7/31 during may screening). There currently are 16 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all but 1 of them at Yongding District. 11 sub-districts remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Xiangxi Prefecture, there currently are 2 domestic confirmed cases in the city, both close contacts of the party from Huai’an. 1 village & 1 residential compound remain at Medium Risk.

     

    Sichuan Province did not reported at new domestic positive cases. There currently are 8 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province, all traced to the outbreaks in Nanjing & Zhangjiajie.

    Henan Province

    • Zhengzhou reported 2 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases. The currently are 15 domestic confirmed & 69 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. the vast majority of whom are staff, patients & caretakers at the #6 Hospital, & their close contacts. 1 sub-district remains at High Risk. 1 sub-district, 2 communities, 2 residential compounds & 1 village remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Shangqiu, there currently are 2 domestic confirmed cases in the city, both connected to the nosocomial outbreak at Zhengzhou. 1 residential compound has been elevated to Medium Risk. 2 residential compounds, 1 community & a shopping mall remain Medium Risk.
    • Zhumadian reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case. There currently are 2 domestic asymptomatic case in the city, a case connected to the nosocomial outbreak at Zhengzhou. 1 residential compound has been elevated to Medium Risk.
    • Kaifeng reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a person who had cared for family under in-patient care at the #6 Hospital in Zhengzhou, until 7/28.

     

    Hubei Province

    • At Huanggang, there currently are 1 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all at Hong’an County & connected to the group from Huai’an in Jiangsu Province on company outing. 1 township remains at Medium Risk.
    • At Jingzhou, there currently are 2 domestic confirmed cases in the city, both connected to the group on company outing from Huai’an in Jiangsu Province. 1 area & 1 sub-district have been elevated to Medium Risk.
    • Wuhan reported 9 new domestic confirmed (2 mild & 1 moderate) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all workers at the same construction site as the index case of the cluster. There currently are 12 domestic confirmed & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all traceable to transmission chain parked by the case that was at Jingzhou high speed rail station as the party from Huai’an. 1 sub-district remains at Medium Risk. 49 residential compounds have been put under lock down, including 9 outside of the Medium Risk sub-district, residential compound next to the one we live in among them.

     

    At Chongqing Municipality, there are currently 2 domestic confirmed cases in the city, both had traveled to Xi’an in Shaanxi Province from 7/21 – 7/24.

    At Beijing Municipality, here currently are 5 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all w/ travel history to Zhangjiajie in late Jul.

    Yantai in Shandong Province reported 6 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), all are employees of a beautician training company. While the company had organized outing to Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province in mid-Jul., they were there before the index case of the Yangzhou outbreak had arrived from Nanjing. On the other hand, 1 of the infected employees had transit through Nanjing Airport on 7/19, it is more likely that she was infected there, & then went on to infect her co-workers, but phylogenetic analysis will likely confirm. There currently are 8 domestic confirmed cases in the city, all likely traced to the outbreak in Nanjing. 1 area & 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk. Given the 14 days from potential exposure to discovery of the beautician training school cluster, the municipal government has commenced mass screening of the urban area of the city from 8/4.

    At Yinchuan in Ningxia “Autonomous” Region, there currently is 1 domestic confirmed case in the city, a person who had traveled from Changde in Hunan Province on 7/28, & a traced close contact w/ the boat cruise super-spreading event there.

    At Haikou in Hainan Province, there currently is 1 domestic confirmed case in the city, a person who had crossed paths w/ the party from Huai’an in Jiangsu Province on company outing at Jingzhou high speed rail station. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.

    Xiamen in Fujian Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic, moderate, already under isolation). There currently are 4 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all of whom are close contacts of the imported confirmed case (cargo flight crew) reported on 7/30. 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.

    At Shanghai Municipality, there currently is 1 domestic asymptomatic case, an airport ground staff & unlikely to be connected to other domestic outbreaks. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.

    Imported Cases

    On 8/3, China reported 25 new imported confirmed cases, 12 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:

    • Yunnan Province (locations not specified) – 7 confirmed cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar; 2 asymptomatic cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Laos; all via land border crossings
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 3 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from the Philippines & 1 from Taiwan; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the Philippines
    • Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Japan 
    • Jiangsu Province (location not specified) – 3 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 2 confirmed (both previously asymptomatic) & 1 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Spain
    • Shanghai Municipality – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Thailand; 2 suspect cases, no information released
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Malaysia & Bangladesh; 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Vietnam & Sri Lanka
    • Zhongshan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Malaysia, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Serbia (via Paris CdG)
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Cambodia
    • Mianyang in Sichuan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the Ukraine (via Frankfurt); the case had arrived at Shanghai on 7/15, passed through the 14 days of centralized quarantine & had tested negative multiple times, upon release from quarantine on 7/30 the case flew to Mianyang & re-entered centralized quarantine
    • Shenyang in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), no information released
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), no information released
    • Taiyuan in Shanxi Province – 1 confirmed case, no information released
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a foreign national coming from Sweden, off a flight diverted from Beijing
    • Wuhan in Hubei Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Indonesia
    • Beijing Municipality – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released

     

    Overall in China, 13 confirmed cases recovered, 22 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 20 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 1,244 individuals were released  from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,240 active confirmed cases in the country (713 imported), 21 in serious condition (12 imported), 485 asymptomatic cases (367 imported), 2 suspect case (both imported). 35,486 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 8/3, 1,708.356M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 19.673M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 8/3, Macau reported 4 new domestic positive cases, 2 Macanese residents that tested positive at neighboring Zhuhai in Guangdong Province on 8/2, before returning to Macau. 2 close contacts (immediately family members) have also tested positive, all are infected w/ the Delta Variant. No member of the cluster has travel history to places w/ ongoing outbreaks. However, one of the close contacts had flown from Zhuhai to Xi’an on 7/19, returning on 7/25. The same physical aircraft had brought 2 infected cases from Nanjing to Zhuhai on the same day, then immediately turned around & flew to Xi’an. Macanese health authorities believe the index case was infected on that flight (fomite transmission?), then infecting the family upon return. 

    On 8/4, Hong Kong reported 2 new positive cases, both imported.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    Erick probably wonders why GA numbers are rising so quickly also.   A right wing asshole is leaning on Kemp to call a special session so they can pass a law banning mask mandates for schools.   Let em die must be their new motto.

  5. 5.

    Robert Sneddon

    The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is being pressed by the medical officers of the four home countries to approve vaccination for 16 and 17-year olds and there may be an announcement soon, perhaps even today. The JCVI stated last month that it was still looking at the medical evidence on this move.

  6. 6.

    Ken

    There can be side effects from inappropriate antibiotics.

    Is this a polite way of saying “idiots crushing horse-worming pills and snorting the powder because of something they saw on Facebook”?

  7. 7.

    Wvng

    Anne, for over a year now your covid post has been the first thing I read every day. Thank you so much for your dedication in this effort. It matters.

  8. 8.

    Cermet

    Well, relative to approval for non-emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine, all I’ll add is – FDA, meet “It’s about fucking time; need any more pointless deaths to allow for any more check marks simply to pointlessly fill in  bureaucratic check that piece of paper?”

  9. 9.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Remember Critical Race Theory? That thing Republicans wouldn't stop talking about until two weeks ago when someone pointed out their voters are committing mass suicide?—

    Esoteric Geoff (@agraybee) August 2, 2021

  10. 10.

    Technocrat

    China’s worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic a year and a half ago has escalated with dozens more cases around the country. One city is being sealed off and local officials blamed for lax pandemic measures will be punished.

    Can we loan Florida to the Chinese for a few months? With full take-backsies, of course.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    @Cermet:

    I don’t see how we defeat conservative anti-government views if we indulge in the same rhetoric whenever we are impatient with the process.

  13. 13.

    debbie

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    My first thought reading your tweet was to think that CRT would be picked up again in short order, then I remembered hearing DeSantis still refusing to mandate masks, so maybe we’ll never hear about it again. These assholes just do not stop their assholery.

  14. 14.

    mrmoshpotato

    I might have posted this before, if I did, sorry.

    Crowd who demanded end to mask mandate now predictably all exposed to covid. We are living on just and intensely stupid timeline. t.co/vpwFY99Y0u— Jacob Montgomery (@Jacob_Montg) August 1, 2021

  15. 15.

    NotMax

    Greece becomes country #48 to report more than 500k cumulative cases.

    Worldwide has exceeded 200,00,000 reported cases. If that was all in a single nation it would rank as the 8th most populous on the planet.

  16. 16.

    Robert Sneddon

    Some rather delightful news on the COVID-19 front — meet Vaccinologist Barbie. Barbie maker Mattel has created a doll of the scientist who designed the Oxford coronavirus vaccine, Prof Dame Sarah Gilbert.

  17. 17.

    Patricia Kayden

    The umpteenth similar story.

    An unvaccinated Virginia man who’s been hospitalized with Covid-19 is using social media to urge others to go out and get the shot: "We thought we were invincible." t.co/AZjBnhoKsA— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 4, 2021

  18. 18.

    Ken

    @Technocrat: You remind me there was a time when Newt Gingrich approved highly of the Chinese government.  As someone pointed out, had Gingrich been a Chinese government official caught doing the things that forced him to resign as Speaker, there’s a good chance his family would have been sent a bill for one bullet.

  19. 19.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Ken:

    Is this a polite way of saying “idiots crushing horse-worming pills and snorting the powder because of something they saw on Facebook”?

    I’d say so.  Also, “inappropriate antibiotics” could serve as a catch-all for “and future garbage you read on Zuckface.”

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Cermet: Thank you FDA for following the bureaucratic processes that were set up to insure politics does not interfere with reason.

  21. 21.

    Ken

    @Patricia Kayden: “We went to this Ohio diner in a county that voted 80% for Trump, but found the place empty. A sign on the door said all the staff and regular customers were in the ICU. So we repurposed our safari and produced this report….”

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports a record 19,819 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 1,183,110 cases. He also reports a record 257 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 9,855 deaths — 0.83% of the cumulative reported total, 1.01% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 210,522 active and contagious cases; 1,069 are in ICU, 553 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 12,704 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 962,763 patients recovered – 81.37% of the cumulative reported total.

    35 new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 3,796 clusters. 1,161 clusters are currently active; 2,635 clusters are now inactive.
    19,796 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 8,375 local cases: 414 in clusters, 4,874 close-contact screenings, and 3,087 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 2,449 local cases: 262 in clusters, 859 close-contact screenings, and 1,328 other screenings.

    Kedah reports 1,371 cases: 130 in clusters, 842 close-contact screenings, and 399 other screenings. Johor reports 1,161 local cases: 162 in clusters, 762 close-contact screenings, and 237 other screenings. Kelantan reports 1,003 cases: 349 in clusters, 468 close-contact screenings, and 186 other screenings.

    Sabah reports 949 cases: 73 in clusters, 571 close-contact screenings, and 305 other screenings.

    Penang reports 867 cases: 103 in clusters, 389 close-contact screenings, and 375 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 800 cases: 93 in clusters, 433 close-contact screenings, and 274 other screenings.

    Perak reports 662 cases: 175 in clusters, 257 close-contact screenings, and 230 other screenings.

    Pahang reports 558 cases: 67 in clusters, 409 close-contact screenings, and 82 other screenings. Sarawak reports 552 cases: 117 in clusters, 305 close-contact screenings, and 130 other screenings. Melaka reports 508 cases: 100 in clusters, 263 close-contact screenings, and 145 other screenings.

    Terengganu reports 481 cases: 34 in clusters, 341 close-contact screenings, and 106 other screenings.

    Putrajaya reports 45 local cases: 29 close-contact screenings and 16 other screenings. Perlis reports 11 cases: six close-contact screenings and five other screenings. Labuan reports four local cases: two close-contact screenings and two other screenings.

    23 new cases today are imported: 18 in Kuala Lumpur, two in Selangor, one in Labuan, one in Putrajaya, and one in Johor.

    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 483,368 doses of vaccine on 3rd August: 240,394 first doses and 242,974 second doses. As of midnight yesterday, the cumulative total is 22,152,367 doses administered: 14,4711,532 first doses and 7,440,835 second doses. 22.8% of the population are now fully vaccinated.

  24. 24.

    MomSense

    I am so grateful for these COVID posts, AL.

    Not happy about Delta plus or Lambda news.

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    Since State of Florida is not publicly publishing daily COVID data, Florida Hospital Association is.

    Even when they were, the reports were of only state residents. Tourists and visitors apparently don’t count for diddly-squat.

  28. 28.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Ken:

    You remind me there was a time when Newt Gingrich approved highly of the Chinese government.

    All the eye rolls.

  29. 29.

    Ken

    @OzarkHillbilly: There’s an alternate timeline out there where the FDA didn’t follow guidelines, and the US is now relying on government-approved hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.  And both are exclusively sold through a subsidiary of the Trump Organization.

  30. 30.

    Kay

    @Patricia Kayden:

    His mea culpa is better than most though because he specifically mentions being “over” the conspiracy theories and he has made his children sick, which he admits.

    I’m sick of this though:

    “If you have to take time off work, if you have to miss out on something, you need to go get the vaccine, because we didn’t, and look where we are now,” she said.

    In this rural county, where it can be difficult for people to access healthcare, the vaccine is everywhere. You can’t swing a cat in this county without hitting someone begging you to get the shots. The distribution and availablity of the vaccine is a real success. Not getting it is 100% on the people who haven’t. It’s much, much easier to get this shot than it is to VOTE.

  31. 31.

    MomSense

    @debbie:

    Assholes gotta asshole.  The whole world is suffering the consequences of Delta because asshole Modi had to have his political rallies and had to let people from all over his country travel to the same places for religious pilgrimage WHILE COVID a was already in heavy circulation.  Then he tried to blame it on the Biden administration not sharing vaccines when his country is already a major producer of motherfucking vaccines.  I don’t hear boo about that asshole in the media.
    How many fucking years were we subjected to the mindless repetition of fighting there so we don’t have to fight here about terrorism but no discussion of how what happens there in a pandemic will affect us everywhere?

    We are victims of our lethal combination of hubris and ignorance.

  32. 32.

    MomSense

    @Ken:

    Meanwhile the all natural anti-vaccine crowd in my world are fighting it with this one weird trick – a combination of sarah wrap, castor oil, and a hot water bottle.  Yup.  That should do it.

  33. 33.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @MomSense: ​
     

    I don’t hear boo about that asshole in the media.

    That because there’s no roadside diners in India

  34. 34.

    debbie

    @MomSense:

    Toss Bolsonaro onto that rubbish heap while you’re at it. I think he’s one of the worst offenders in disregarding the safety of fellow Brazilians. Also, the Amazon.

  36. 36.

    Amir Khalid

    @Cermet:

    The process isn’t merely bureaucratic. It is about getting the science right. It involves getting every last little thing right, and being as damn near certain as humanly possible that you did get it right. When lives are in the balance, as they are here, shortcuts are tempting but very dangerous.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    150 per day bonus at factories here now, at 18.50 an hour.

    I have never seen anything like this in my life. Just smoking. My 18 year old is making 20 an hour this summer and I can see him looking around for a better offer.

    It just gives you an idea of how low wages were, and how much room there was to raise them and still make a profit. We can have nice things :)

  42. 42.

    ryk

    I’m hopeful but doubtful that the unvaccinated numbers will ever get below the 27% crazification factor in this country.

  45. 45.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Meanwhile, the soon-to-be ex-singer in my band who lied to me about getting vaccinated and who probably has Covid, is pissed off at me because I’m quitting. “Thanks for making this all about you”, she texted me. Never mind that I explained to her months ago that they are people in my household with ongoing medical issues besides Yours Truly being a cancer survivor. Then again, why am I surprised that a lead singer of a band is a narcissist? I should know better.

  47. 47.

    YY_Sima Qian

    I just got swabbed (oropharyngeal) at my residential compound this evening. There were 3 nurses, 2 of whom were on dinner break when I was there. Property management workers had set up tents to shield those waiting in line from harsh sun & the periodic showers. They also set up a couple of industrial fans to help cool those waiting, as well as promote air flow; they even had a stand will chilled orange juice for those just done w/ the swab. They also placed several huge blocks of ice next to the nurses to cool them down in the oppressive heat, especially in their full Tyvek suits/masks/face shield/gloves/shoe covers. Several residents are serving as volunteers, primarily to keep those waiting in line in order & maintain 1.5 m spacing. The property management company that runs the residential compound has a stellar reputation for high level of service. Certainly well deserved! A lot of people in the rest of the city are not so luck, especially those who live in old neighborhoods.

    I was glad to see the fans. There has already been a case at Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province that became infected while waiting in line for swabbing, having pulled down the mask to converse w/ an infected neighbor also waiting in line. Having crowded lines of people waiting, even outdoors, even w/ masks on, did not cause problems w/ other variants. Not so w/ Delta.

    I do feel for the medical personnel executing these mass screening campaigns. Aug. is a time when it is hot & muggy just about everywhere in China (except in the mountains). Stories abound in media & social media of nurses collapsing from heat exhausting across the country. The mass screening in Wuhan last year took 10 days. It was, of course, unprecedented at the time. The SOP now is 1 round every 2 – 3 days, or the authorities can never catch up to Delta.

  49. 49.

    MomSense

    @rikyrah:

    This is what’s behind their incessant sloganeering about children are our future and family values while every policy they push harms children and families.  Now there are no more slogans to hide behind and the evil is there for all to see.

  53. 53.

    Technocrat

    @Amir Khalid:

    When lives are in the balance, as they are here, shortcuts are tempting but very dangerous

    What complicates this situation is that 70% of the country has already had the shots. The “safety” ship has kind of sailed.

    I’m trying to imagine a scenario where the FDA says “After careful study we cannot recommend these vaccines”, and I’m coming up short.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    One of the biggest districts in Arizona is putting in a mask mandate. It’s a majority/minority district and there’s been a split nationally, where majority/minority districts parents are demanding covid interventions and majority white districts are not. They’ll probably have to bus in some anti-mask Trumpsters to scream at school board meetings like they did with CRT because the polling on masks in school is pro-mask. Schools are local and they have to bring kids back in. They need to do what they have to do to get families back in the door.

  57. 57.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Cones now the next shifted goalpost of “dagnabbit, I still ain’t getting’ no poison shot. Them goldurn librul govmint scientist byoorocrats done gave that there approval to make Sleepy Joe look good…”

  58. 58.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I’m thrilled. It’s better for all of us. How much SLACK was there in wages for this to happen like this? My God, they have been underpaying the lowest level people for years.

    I feel like there needs to be some kind of explanation from economists. Five years ago they were all telling us low wages were like tides or phases of the moon and all of a sudden we found a huge heap of “extra” money for payroll. What? I was assured all these companies would go out of business if they went to 15 and no one needed workers because robots and they seem to be fucking booming at 18.50 with the same workforce. I feel I was misled.

  59. 59.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Technocrat: I’m trying to imagine a scenario where the FDA says “After careful study we cannot recommend these vaccines”, and I’m coming up short.

    The FDA HAVE said this about hydroxylquinine and Invermectin and several other supposed prophylactics and cures. A number of candidate vaccines never made it out of trials into Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) status since the makers knew that they would be rejected immediately for being less than 50% effective. Merck had two such candidate vaccines (V590 and V591), both of them were never submitted for EUA for that reason and I’m sure there have been a lot more.

     

    Much of the full authorisation process the FDA has been going through is looking years and even decades into the future — how will this vaccine be produced ten years from now, are the documentation and record-keeping processes robust if a product recall has to be issued at zero notice, are the storage and transportation chains trustworthy and provably safe etc. Having the first few million doses escorted by police cruisers from the factory under EUA is great but these vaccines and their successors are going to be getting injected into people’s arm for decades to come, billions of doses, tens of billions even.

  60. 60.

    Amir Khalid

    @Technocrat:

    I’m no medical scientist and neither are you. We don’t know the details of the CDC’s approval process for non-emergency use of the Covid vaccines, but there most certainly is one. The due diligence needs to be completed, and I wouldn’t be happy to see the CDC taking a shortcut on it because of public pressure.

  61. 61.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: ​
      I liken it to trench warfare — the vaccination efforts charge the defenders of the “it’s only emergency use, it’s experimental and it was rushed” trench and clear them out with bayonets and grenades, forcing them to retreat to the next trenchline which is full of “I don’t trust Big Pharma” people. Step and repeat down though the Himalayan Salt and Bill Gates/5G wireless chips trenches and eventually the pro-vaccination forces find themselves charging the “I want to wait five years just in case” trench again.

  62. 62.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Cermet: Pretty much where I am with the FDA. WTF are they waiting on?

    Sadly, FDA was hollowed out decades ago and it’s never recovered. (Hell, so was CDC. If it weren’t for 9/11, they’d still be working out of a 1960s era oversized high school gymnasium).  Still, even the FDA guys left standing should’ve been able to get this done by now, especially for the J&J, which was created by bog-standard approaches.

  64. 64.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: 150 per day bonus at factories here now, at 18.50 an hour.

    It’s the same way here. In the area where I live if you don’t have a job it’s really true that you don’t want one. Companies at all ‘price points’ are desperate for employees. We’re under what I learned in business school was full employment – right now the unemployment rate here is 3.7%. The only time I can think of as somewhat comparable was the late ’90’s, when unemployment got below 3% here.

  66. 66.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: Our local public school announced a mask mandate for everyone in school last week. So far, I haven’t heard any screaming about it, which kind of surprises me. Of course, Delta has been here since early July, so people know how bad it can get.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    I’m glad for them, I really am. As you know, 120 a week is a much more profound bump for someone who makes 25k than it is for someone who makes 125k. It’s daily- life – changing.

    Now if they’d just put up some fucking housing we’d be all set, but maybe they’re having trouble finding workers to put it up :)

    They brought in people from Brownsville, Texas to the factory where my youngest is working. They’re not migrants- they’re Texas Latinos. He says they say this is the most they have ever made in their lives. I hope some of them stay. This town is aging. We could use some younger families. I have no idea where they’re staying. Ohio doesn’t have a large Latino population, as a percentage.

  68. 68.

    Ken

    @Robert Sneddon: I liken it to trench warfare

    I’m hoping full authorization corresponds to the invention of the tank in your analogy.  More precisely, full authorization followed quickly by employers (and their insurance companies) insisting on vaccination.

  69. 69.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Robert Sneddon: Update — The BBC is reporting there will be a live press conference from Downing Street at 15:30 BST, headed up by the chair of the JCVI as well as a few other top-ranking medical establishment people. This is probably going to be the expected JCVI announcement of COVID-19 vaccinations being made available for 16 and 17-year olds in the UK.

  70. 70.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Kay: I don’t think you’re owed an explanation from economists, excepting those that are political hacks. It wasn’t economists making those claims that a $15 minimum wage would bring business to a halt. It was the owners of those businesses and the investor class that was saying that – those folks may think they are experts in economics but…they are  not actual economists. Those folks are not making arguments based on data or careful analysis – they’re making arguments that are of short term convenience and geared towards keeping their labor costs as low as possible.

  71. 71.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    This is a very Trumpy county but they were solid on the masks. Our school superintendent is good. She’s strong -a confident person- and she bears up well under criticism. She puts in rules and enforces them. I feel like the “parental input” on public schools has gone too far. The principals need the capacity to run the school. I get that everyone is an individual but this is a public project and people can be accomodated but there are baseline rules. It was never intended to be handcrafted, individual service and it can’t be. The loudest faction can’t be running things.

  72. 72.

    Sloane Ranger

    Here in the UK we had 21,691 new cases on Tuesday. This is a slight reduction on the day before of 261 new cases. The rolling 7-day average is down by 20.5%. New cases by nation,

    England – 19012 (down 163)

    Northern Ireland – 1082 (up 210)

    Scotland – 1016 (up 217)

    Wales – 581 (down 525).

    Deaths – There were 138 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is an increase of 12.9% in the rolling 7-day average. 123 deaths were in England, 6 in Northern Ireland and 9 in Scotland. There were no deaths in Wales.

    Testing – On Monday, 2 August, 724,299 tests were conducted. The rolling 7-day average was down by 11.7%. The PCR testing capacity reported by labs on that date was 703,525.

    Hospitalisations – On Monday 2 August there were 6099 people in hospital and 895 people on ventilators. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions, as of 30 July was, however, down slightly, by 0.4%. If this continues we should start seeing fewer deaths.

    Vaccinations – As of Monday, 2 August, 46,898,525 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 38,590,332 had had both. This means that 88.7% of all adults in the UK have had 1 shot and 73% were fully vaccinated.

    Observations – No-one can really offer any explanation as to why case numbers are reducing. Suggestions are

    1 – We had one of the worst outbreaks in Europe and herd immunity has kicked in.

    2 – Schools have broken up and kids are now in family and friends bubbles rather than mixing willy-nilly in schools.

    3 – Testing has gone down so we aren’t picking up on asymptomatic and mild cases.

    4 – Linked to 3, case numbers are, in fact, exploding, but high levels of vaccination means that more cases are asymptomatic or mild. People either don’t feel ill or, at most, put their symptoms down to allergies or just feeling a bit off-colour.

  75. 75.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    Does anyone know the status of the Novavax vaccine? Clinical trials ended like two months ago but I’m not sure yet that it has even received emergency approval from the FDA despite showing a 90% effectiveness rate against symptomatic Covid in US clinical trials at a time when many variants were circulating here. It might actually be the most effective vaccine against the new variants. Also it is based on older, proven tech and hence is easier to manufacture at scale than the mRNA vaccines AND does not require the super-cold storage. At this point I’d guess that a booster of that vaccine on top of the ones we all got would be more protective against delta, maybe. Who knows but it’s weird that it is taking so long to get full approval.

  76. 76.

    Rusty

    @rikyrah: The added bonus for the right wing is that banning masks helps undermine public schools even more.   I expect more of this, efforts to disallow public schools from doing what private schools can (for example, allow guns in public schools) to drive parents to abandon their public schools.

  77. 77.

    MomSense

    @Rusty:

    CRT seems to have run its course so they are going back to their faithful bashing of teachers unions.  Setting up for a big showdown!

  78. 78.

    frosty

    @NeenerNeener: Thanks for the link. My county in South PA had the same transition to Substantial. I picked up 3 boxes of 3M Aura N95s (NIOSH and FDA approved) at Home Depot over the weekend. I’m hoping they’ll last until Delta finishes ripping through the unvaxxed and cases go down in the Fall.

  79. 79.

    Technocrat

    @Amir Khalid:

    No, I’m not a medical scientist. But I don’t see how that’s germane to recognizing the very real harm further delays incur. As one obvious example, we have 1.4 million service members who won’t be mandated to take the vaxx until approval.

    Eric Topol, who is a medical scientist, has criticized the process:

    Eric Topol, the director and founder of Scripps Research Translational Institute, who has been among those critical of the agency’s perceived slowness in finishing the review, said he was “thrilled” about plans to expedite it. But he also said the FDA should have accelerated the process much earlier.

    “We knew about Delta months ago ..and that’s when we should have pulled out all the stops,” he added.

    I don’t see why this view is treated as some sort of apostasy.

    Given the number of people who have already been vaccinated – well into the hundreds of millions – it’s perfectly reasonable to question the marginal benefits of additional scrutiny (although I acknowledge Robert Sneddon’s point). Anyone who has worked in government knows how much bureaucracy plays a role, and it seems unlikely the FDA is exempt from that.

    According to current reporting, approval could come as early as next month, so it seems the FDA itself decided it needed to speed things up. Whether this was a result of public/political pressure, or a significant reprioritization, only they know.

  80. 80.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — 1,271 new cases of COVID-19 reported with 13 new reported deaths of someone who had tested positive. Test positivity rate is 4.7%. Hospitalisations and ICU bed occupancy numbers are now dropping noticeably.

    Just over 20,000 vaccinations were administered in Scotland yesterday (Tuesday) with about 10% of those vaccinations being first doses. 73% of the adult population are now fully vaccinated with another 16.8% having received their first dose of vaccine. We should hear in the next day or two about vaccination access for 16 and 17-year olds in Scotland.

  81. 81.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Technocrat: ​
      The history of medical treatments, including vaccination, is rife with fuckups that sickened and killed people. A lot of those fuckups were down to rushing things, not double-checking things, not ticking the boxes and ignoring bureaucratic rules or thinking safety was getting in the way of getting things done.

    Worst case, there’s a fuckup like that faulty batch of J&J COVID-19 vaccine that doesn’t get caught before it gets out the door and into people’s arms because the paperwork was rushed and the requirement to tick the boxes wasn’t in place. If that happens, good luck convincing the skeptics that any vaccine is safe, including vaccines against measles, whooping cough and all the other kiddy-killer diseases of the past.

  82. 82.

    Technocrat

    @Robert Sneddon:

    Worst case, there’s a fuckup like that faulty batch of J&J COVID-19 vaccine that doesn’t get caught before it gets out the door and into people’s arms because the paperwork was rushed and the requirement to tick the boxes wasn’t in place

    No, I get that. I do. But I think there’s a space between “rush it” and “speed it up”, right?

  83. 83.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @MomSense: the translation to Kotch snark is “India is not in New York City so it doesn’t matter to the News Media”

  85. 85.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Technocrat: The FDA has indeed sped things up massively if they’re actually intending to give at least one COVID-19 vaccine full approval soon. As someone else pointed out a new drug coming to market can take five years or so from FDA submission to approval. The drug makers don’t mind, they’re going to be selling that drug for thirty years or more and they’re content to wait until they get the FDA’s hanko chop that says they’re doing all the right things and have all the right procedures in place to safely ship product to litigious customers for the next thirty years of PROFIT!

     

    Of course there will be ongoing audits of the processes, testing, quality control, administration etc. for that drug even after it gets approval but the processes have to be verified as being robust before they get signed off initially.

  86. 86.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Nicole: ​
      The drummer has Guillan-Barre syndrome and for him getting vaccinated is problematic. It’s not a “I don’t like needles” thing or because he reads Facebook too much.

  87. 87.

    Technocrat

    @Robert Sneddon:

    The FDA has indeed sped things up massively if they’re actually intending to give at least one COVID-19 vaccine full approval soon.

    Yeah, they really have. I think it’s great news.

    hanko chop

    Had to look this up. Now I will be using it incessantly.

  88. 88.

    Jackie

    Question: Are there any reports of which Covid vaccination was taken by those who get break-through Covid?

  89. 89.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @JPL: no better way to punish the white georgia republicans & conservatives who helped put a black communist & jewish teenager over the top in the senate runoff.

  91. 91.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @Chief Oshkosh: thank you, dick cheney, doug feith, & scooter libby, for sending anthrax thru the mail to stoke panic.

    sorry about the dead nurses & postal workers, though.

  92. 92.

    Nicole

    @Robert Sneddon: Well, maybe she can add this flutist to her band instead:

    rawstory.com/baltimore-symphony-orchestra-flutist-fired/?utm_source=push_notifications

    That said, there isn’t any firm evidence that people who have Guillain-Barré  will have a flare up due to a vaccine; current guidance is that people with it can still get vaccinated against Covid. Their ex-drummer is more likely to have a bad flare-up of Guillain-Barré from getting Covid than he will from the vaccine.  And with Delta being what it is, he’s probably going to get to find out.

  93. 93.

    Cermet

    OK, maybe wrong but its that they have more safety data on the mRNA vaccines – by a few orders of magnitude! – and that makes all other vaccine approvals look silly due to lack of data compared to this; appears almost that they were simply allowing a fixed passage of time (because arbitrary rule) rather then real need for more safety data. Add to it that many business and schools won’t require the vaccine till the FDA gives full approval and that makes me think it is only for checking the box for time elapse rather then real requirements. But it is true that they are under manned and funded and this is a new approach so, ok, maybe the delay is for good reasons.

  94. 94.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Nicole: The Offspring drummer is in the UK and, I think, a UK citizen. AFAIK there’s no guidance about COVID-19 vaccinations for people with this disease issued by the UK’s health services. I presume you mean some or all major US health agencies have been advising that G-B sufferers can safely be vaccinated but that advice doesn’t apply outside the US’s borders.

    I don’t know the guy’s medical history, it’s possible he’s had bad reactions to previous vaccinations or other medical interventions like drugs. From what I’ve read it doesn’t sound like he’s objecting to being vaccinated because of fears of being implanted with 5G chips or other conspiracy theories, instead he’s got a rare but medically diagnosed medical condition which makes him wary of being vaccinated.

    Until recently the UK’s medical establishment was not recommending pregnant women get vaccinated for COVID-19, instead the official advice was to ask them to speak to their doctors and medical practitioners before making a decision individually. The advice has now been updated and COVID-19 vaccinations are now being recommended for pregnant women. The same advice may well apply to G-B sufferers in the future but the small number of G-B cases in the population (less than a thousand in the UK AIUI) means there isn’t a decent track record of good outcomes vs. bad for COVID-19 vaccinations to make that decision easily.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    @MomSense:

    The whole world is suffering the consequences of Delta because asshole Modi had to have his political rallies and had to let people from all over his country travel to the same places for religious pilgrimage WHILE COVID a was already in heavy circulation.

    Kinda like Trump rallies.

    Then he tried to blame it on the Biden administration not sharing vaccines when his country is already a major producer of motherfucking vaccines.  I don’t hear boo about that asshole in the media.

    Americans don’t read international news, except for Fox News China bashing. But there has been a good deal reported about India and its political leadership.

  96. 96.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Cermet: ​
      It’s not the safety of the vaccines themselves, it’s the process that makes the vaccines, packages it, ships it, tracks it, delivers it and administers it that requires validation at all stages before full approval can be given. If the safety of the vaccine was at all in doubt it would never have received Emergency Use Authorisation to begin with. The full approval process is intended and required for this vaccine and it’s successors to be produced and dispensed for the next decade or two.

    The “This vaccine is not safe because it’s not fully approved” crowd are using it as an excuse to not take the vaccine or to prevent employers with reason (health care, elder care, customer-facing situations, schools, food prep etc.) to require their employees to get vaccinated.

  97. 97.

    Robert Sneddon

    The expected Downing Street announcement on vaccinating younger people in the UK has recommended that 16 and 17-year olds receive an initial single dose of the Pfizer vaccine with a second dose later once the effects of the first dose in preventing serious illness and hospitalisation are determined. Effectively this is sounding like a large-scale trial rather than a real release-for-treatment announcement. There are still no plans to vaccinate 12 to 15 year olds or younger, excepting the existing recommendations to vaccinate children at elevated risk due to chronic illnesses and other factors.

    The hesitancy in taking this step seems to have been based on balancing risks of infection in younger people which has not historically caused much severe disease versus some of the known problematic effects of the vaccine. The spread of the Delta variant and some reported increases in severity of illness in younger people may be overriding that initial caution.

    The JCVI says it has looked at “the very latest safety data from the UK and other countries as we know that some serious side effects have been reported in this younger age group.”

    Side effects include myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the membrane around the heart).

    “These are extremely rare and usually occur within a few days of the second dose, typically more in young men,” the JCVI says.

    “Data from the USA suggests that, in males aged 12 to 17 years, 9.8 cases of myocarditis were reported per million first doses given. This rises to 67 per million after the second dose. Most people recovered quickly.”

  99. 99.

    Fair Economist

    @Sloane Ranger: IMO the UK is a combination of 1 and 2. Almost all adults now have some degree of immunity, mostly by Vax although many by infection. So they don’t support rapid spread. Children do, but they are out of school. Things may pick up again in the fall, depending on Vax approval for kids and on how many are infected anyway over the summer.

  100. 100.

    Nicole

    @Robert Sneddon: I can’t find any info to indicate the NHS doesn’t recommend the Covid vaccine for people  who have had GBS; just a page saying there is no known causal connection between vaccines and the syndrome.

    Well, it’ll likely be a purely academic question by the end of the year as he’s probably going to catch Covid; the variants are too contagious; we’re all now in a get-vaccinated-or-get-Covid world.  Which will put him at a higher risk of a case of GBS than the vaccine would have.

  101. 101.

    Fair Economist

    @Cermet: I think the FDA is doing it right. Final approval has statutory requirements and they are following them. Emergency use is precisely for situations when emergencies require bending the rules, and that’s already been done. Approval rules shouldn’t be changed to fight disinformation – especially since if they do get bent, THAT will become a centerpiece of future disinformation indefinitely.

  102. 102.

    Soprano2

    So I guess the people in Macon County think if you don’t put Covid on the death certificate, then they didn’t have Covid.  ???

  103. 103.

    J R in WV

    Anyone who thinks that FDA approval of a vaccine is needed or necessary for the military to vaccinate their troops/sailors/airmen, etc is sadly mistaken. The military has used vaccines with low efficacy and a high amount of hazards for strange diseases for years.  I don’t even know what I was vaccinated for in boot camp, but I went through long shot lines and received multiple vaccinations on several occasions. Like a couple of dozen…! Then back to running the obstacle course, etc.

    IIRC they used anthrax vaccinations prior to the first Gulf war during GHW Bush’s little war, which were mysterious in every way, and totally not reviewed by the FDA — and never approved for civilian use.

  104. 104.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: We agree about running schools. I think the amount of parental demands and interference has gotten unreasonable. My father was a superintendent with a long history in schools; he would be appalled at some of what goes on today.

  107. 107.

    lowtechcyclist

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:

    Does anyone know the status of the Novavax vaccine? Clinical trials ended like two months ago but I’m not sure yet that it has even received emergency approval from the FDA despite showing a 90% effectiveness rate against symptomatic Covid in US clinical trials at a time when many variants were circulating here. It might actually be the most effective vaccine against the new variants. Also it is based on older, proven tech and hence is easier to manufacture at scale than the mRNA vaccines AND does not require the super-cold storage.

    I’ve been wondering that too.  If we want to get the whole world vaccinated in a fairly short time frame, ISTM that Novavax is the way to go.

    Like you say, (a) it’s demonstrated >90% effectiveness, (b) production can be ramped up much faster given its use of mature vax technology, and (c) in the field, it can be stored in conventional refrigerators.

    I’m good with the FDA doing the job right; I’d just like to have some idea of where they are in its EUA process.

  108. 108.

    Another Scott

    @lowtechcyclist:

    On my phone – sorry for any formatting issues.

    fiercepharma.com/pharma/novavax-covid-19-vaccine-delays-will-impact-u-s-uptake-but-big-global-market…

    Previously, the company set out to gain an FDA nod by the end of the second quarter of 2021. But last month Novavax announced it would not seek approval until late September.

    Meanwhile, the vaccine has been posting clinical trial wins. In a phase 3 trial called Prevent-19, the shot showed 90.4% efficacy overall and 100% success in preventing moderate or severe disease, to go along with a strong safety profile. Still, the trial didn’t test the vaccine in areas with high levels of the Delta variant, which has been growing in prevalence in many countries worldwide.

    One of the first signs of trouble for Novavax came in October of last year when it had to delay the Prevent-19 trial to December because of production problems.

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  109. 109.

    Gvg

    @lowtechcyclist: I don’t expect any other vaccines to even apply for approval in the US. We have enough, we aren’t profitable enough. Any new successes will apply to countries where there is a shortage.

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