I see so many parents so joyful at getting their kids vaccinated, and it reminds me that veterans of polio research told me how, on the day the polio vaccine was announced, people rushed into stores to watch on the TVs for sale, and cried. https://t.co/5z0mFhOilG
— Maryn McKenna (@marynmck) November 4, 2021
The U.S. is steadily chipping away at vaccine hesitancy and driving down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to the point that schools, governments and corporations are lifting mask restrictions yet again. Nearly 200 million Americans are fully vaccinated. https://t.co/ogOvO8gDaA
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 5, 2021
U.S. administers 428 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccines – CDC https://t.co/Q8lJilYvgu pic.twitter.com/ofIdO4CZGl
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 6, 2021
Attorneys general in 11 states filed suit against President Biden’s administration, challenging a new vaccine requirement for workers at companies with more than 100 employees. The lawsuit argues the authority to compel vaccinations rests with the states. https://t.co/nOU6thjFe9
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 5, 2021
Republican governors lead attack on Biden vaccine mandate https://t.co/Nlkqu88eoF pic.twitter.com/kZPlEv3le5
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 5, 2021
======
? Half of the world's population has now officially received at least 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine!
Our latest global tally stands at 50.02%.
This is based on official data from governments around the world, compiled by our team at @OurWorldInData: https://t.co/jeZaePmiJd pic.twitter.com/X6OYB8mCpq
— Edouard Mathieu (@redouad) November 5, 2021
Figure: why I've come to believe that "this is it" – today's Covid situation is a version of the one we'll live with for at least next 1-2 years… perhaps moderately better or moderately worse (will vary by region), but unlikely to be massively better or worse. It's not great. pic.twitter.com/E9LqPOanJ1
— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) November 5, 2021
China gives 1.07 bln people complete COVID-19 vaccine doses by Nov 5 – official https://t.co/0byZ1NJvxH pic.twitter.com/SHnOEmZc4V
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 6, 2021
I keep seeing this claim. FWIW, Israel has fully-vaccinated only about 63% of its population—somewhat similar to the United States. It was never highly-vaccinated, let alone "universal vaccination." There are these sticky ideas that seem to take hold, and nobody checks on later. https://t.co/V7UNqoBXrY
— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) November 5, 2021
Like you want to get impressed and probe strategies? How about South Korea which was really unlucky early on, had a terrible and large outbreak, and, with great effort, managed to beat it all the way back and hold the line till vaccination (now at 75%). https://t.co/l8BJwLQ6a7
— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) November 5, 2021
New Zealand's daily coronavirus cases cross 200 for first time in pandemic https://t.co/YgPLoe7iNK pic.twitter.com/qPXBndCh8Q
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 6, 2021
As pandemic pounds Ukraine, desperate officials try to scare people into getting the jab https://t.co/zO8JTe5nJl
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 5, 2021
Austria bans the unvaccinated from restaurants as COVID-19 cases surge https://t.co/GWuPQVrlHH pic.twitter.com/tEneRi8nuw
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 6, 2021
Britain allows early booking of booster shots to speed up rollout https://t.co/IOemhNPpDe pic.twitter.com/EGmuuz1NZS
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 6, 2021
Covid vaccine to be mandatory for children in Costa Rica https://t.co/c8akYvM4bv
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 5, 2021
Cruises reported more than 1,350 covid cases since June, CDC report reveals https://t.co/CrjSDkHxQE
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 5, 2021
… According to the CDC data, cruise operators confirmed 1,359 cases between June 26 and Oct. 21, a roughly four-month period that represents a rebound for the industry. Many of those involved breakthrough infections of people who were fully vaccinated. During that time, operators reported 49 hospitalizations and 38 medical evacuations for covid-19 or covid-like illnesses. At least one person died after testing positive during a cruise.
As the government allowed cruises to resume with some restrictions, ships added vaccine requirements, testing rules, capacity limits and mask mandates. Cruise lines have acknowledged positive cases over the past few months, but the full scope was not previously known. The CDC included the numbers in its extension of a “conditional sail order” that outlines operating rules for cruise lines during the pandemic; that order will shift from mandatory to voluntary on Jan. 15…
The document provides several examples, mostly involving breakthrough cases, including one in which a symptomatic passenger who tested positive on a ship in late July was linked to 20 more confirmed cases over two sailings. In that case, 18 service workers and two passengers were infected. One ship reported 58 positive cases between July 24 and Aug. 28, and another reported 105 confirmed cases on four back-to-back trips between Aug. 19 and Sept. 7. One reported 112 cases on four voyages between Aug. 21 and Sept. 7.
In each of those cases, the ships reported between 96.4 percent to 100 percent of people aboard were vaccinated.
Aimee Treffiletti, a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service and lead for the CDC’s maritime unit, told The Washington Post in an interview last week that vaccinations should continue to be “an essential part” of cruise line health plans even after the rules expire.
“That’s one of the main reasons we haven’t seen medical systems overwhelmed on board, because we have such high vaccination rates on board,” she said…
In an email, Cruise Lines International Association spokeswoman Bari Golin-Blaugrund said the trade group estimates that about 600,000 customers sailed aboard ocean ships during the four months since the industry resumed in the United States.
“The relatively low occurrence of covid-19 during that period, particularly when compared to the rest of the country, further shows the leadership of the cruise industry and the effectiveness of the science-backed protocols that have enabled a successful return to operations around the world,” she wrote.
======
Big and very positive news today on Pfizer's anti-Covid pill –Paxlovid –that reduced hospitalization and death by 89%, taken within 3 days of diagnosis?https://t.co/vrCtG2Dx6L @JaredSHopkins
This week's @ScienceMagazine paper below on the 2nd such pill https://t.co/8GRiAb2zi6 pic.twitter.com/eLeRzbWEMK— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) November 5, 2021
The study also allowed 1,219 patients to start taking the treatment (or placebo) within 5 days after symptoms
41 patients were hospitalized or died in the placebo group
6 who received Paxlovid, an 85% reductionhttps://t.co/whWxOunD9p @matthewherper @statnews— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) November 5, 2021
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla tells us its #covid19 antiviral, now called Paxlovid, will save "millions and millions of lives."
The company plans to file with FDA by Thanksgiving & is already in discussions with 90 govts around the world for supply. https://t.co/TjhqicuViR
— Meg Tirrell (@megtirrell) November 5, 2021
Yep, already been going on for months https://t.co/00mFUn2vTu
— Ste JM ?????? (@stejormur) November 5, 2021
The AY.4.2 "super Delta" form of #SARSCoV2 has popped up in many places, including USA, but is still a British virus, based on sequenced samples.https://t.co/E9IWOm4d36 pic.twitter.com/yJmeJECilY
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) November 5, 2021
Two hyenas at the Denver Zoo have tested positive for coronavirus, the first confirmed cases among the animals worldwide. Samples from a variety of animals at the zoo were tested after several lions at the facility became ill. https://t.co/mlpCwhrC0P
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 6, 2021
======
Nice scoop by @joe_depaolo here
Newsmax is implementing a vaccine mandate and is requiring all employees to be vaxxed by Jan. 4, or undergo weekly COVID tests.
Railing against vax mandates has been a regular feature of Newsmax programming.https://t.co/OEZldjPW52
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) November 5, 2021
Aaron Rodgers on his recovery:
"I consulted a good friend of mine, Joe Rogan, and I've been doing a lot of the stuff he recommended in his podcast"
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) November 5, 2021
what am i some sort of asshole
(everyone looks at each other) https://t.co/exFr2QgrK2
— World Famous Art Thief (@CalmSporting) November 5, 2021
have we considered the possibility that Aaron rodgers is nicki minajs cousins friend https://t.co/QSTeFXXosp
— Astead (@AsteadWesley) November 5, 2021
My one Rogan listener friend went from having no idea what Ivermectin was one day, to telling me it was a miracle breakthrough (complete with linking me to some study he didn't understand) and I was being partisan for rejecting it, like a day later. All because Rogan said so.
— Centrism Fan Acct ?? (@Wilson__Valdez) November 5, 2021
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
The Monroe County website says 322 new cases yesterday; NYSDOH says 315 new cases yesterday. Ugh.
YY_Sima Qian
On 11/5 China reported 40 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic) & 14 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic confirmed case. 18 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 138 active domestic confirmed cases in the region.
At Xi’an in Shaanxi Province there currently are 12 active domestic confirmed cases in the city.
Ningxia “Autonomous” Region did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 1 active domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 40 active domestic confirmed cases in the region.
Gansu Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (1 mild & 1 moderate). There currently are 132 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.
Hebei Province reported 9 new domestic confirmed cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 74 active confirmed cases in the province.
At Hunan Province there currently are 4 active domestic confirmed (at Changsha) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Zhuzhou) cases remaining in the province.
Zunyi in Guizhou Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed cases (1 mild, 3 moderate, 2 serious & 1 critical) remaining in the city. 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
Beijing Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 40 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 1 community remains at High Risk. 2 communities are currently at Medium Risk.
Rizhao in Shandong Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 14 active domestic confirmed & 6 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 residential compound is currently at Medium Risk.
Sichuan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Chongqing Municipality did not report any new domestic confirmed cases. There currently are 5 active domestic confirmed & 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 2 residential compounds & 1 office building are currently at Medium Risk.
Changzhou in Jiangsu Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 3 residential compounds are currently at Medium Risk.
Qinghai Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 12 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.
At Tianmen in Hubei Province there currently are 2 domestic confirmed cases (1 mild & 1 moderate) in the city.
Heilongjiang Province reported 16 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 233 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Jiangxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (mild) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 8 active domestic confirmed & 18 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Zhejiang Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed (at Jiaxing) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Hangzhou) cases in the province.
Henan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (all previously asymptomatic) & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 16 active domestic confirmed & 15 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Dalian in Liaoning Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. The outbreak is centered around a cold chain logistics warehouse, 16 are workers at the facility & 5 are family members. There currently are 11 active domestic confirmed & 10 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 community & 1 village have been elevated to Medium Risk.
Dehong Prefecture in Yunnan Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases (all at Ruili, via screening of persons in restricted movement zones). There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed & 28 active domestic asymptomatic cases at the prefecture. 1 zone at Ruili is currently at Medium Risk.
Imported Cases
On 11/5, China reported 15 new imported confirmed cases (3 previously asymptomatic), 13 imported asymptomatic cases:
Overall in China, 43 confirmed cases recovered (17 imported), 14 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (14 imported) & 6 were reclassified as confirmed cases (3 imported), & 1,333 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,141 active confirmed cases in the country (371 imported), 31 in serious condition (2 imported), 433 active asymptomatic cases (344 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 46,630 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 11/5, 2,311.626M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 8.947M doses in the past 24 hrs. 1,072.454M individuals have been fully vaccinated, or 76% of the total population.
On 11/6, Hong Kong reported 7 new positive cases, all imported (from the Philippines, Nepal, Pakistan, the UK & the US).
?BillinGlendaleCA
LA County was doing pretty well(0.8% positive rate), but has seen an uptick to 0.95% with a slight increase in hospitalization.
I got my booster(House of Moderna) yesterday was feeling OK with just a bit of fatigue, but at the 12 hours post vax, I started feeling really crappy, tired but can’t sleep.
NeenerNeener
I hope they’re ramping up production right now on that anti-viral pill, because if what we’re seeing now is just Halloween cases we’re going to have the same explosion per day that we had last year over the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years period.
If we had reliable at-home tests and access to the anti-virals when we tested positive I’d be less worried about my annual car inspection/oil change appointment in December, and I’ve had 3 Moderna shots this year.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reports 4,701 new Covid-19 cases today in its media statement, tfor a cumulative reported total of 2,501,966 cases. It also reports 47 deaths as of midnight, for an adjusted cumulative total of 29,202 deaths – 1.17% of the cumulative reported total, 1.20% of resolved cases.
Based on cases reported yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt is at 0.92.
527 confirmed cases are in ICU, 212 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 5,362 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 2,407,205 patients recovered – 96.2% of the cumulative reported total.
Three new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 5,799 clusters. 335 clusters are currently active; 5,464 clusters are now inactive.
4,673 new cases today are local infections. 28 new cases today are imported.
(These numbers have not been updated from yesterday.) The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 41,391 doses of vaccine on 4th November: 2,864 first doses, 18,162 second doses, and 20,365 booster doses. As of midnight on the 4th, the cumulative total is 50,462,307 doses administered: 25,516,476 first doses, 24,625,458 second doses, and 492,054 booster doses. 78.1% of the population have received their first dose, while 75.4% are now fully vaccinated.
Baud
Aaron Rodgers is such a train wreck.
lowtechcyclist
OK then, mandate the vaccines on your own. Otherwise you’re just being Covid traitors, keeping the plague alive as an act of rebellion.
I’m starting to think we need plague rat internment camps. Not for the people who refuse to get vaccinated, but for the people in politics and both the regular media and social media who convince lots of other people to refuse to get vaxxed and wear masks.
Geo Wilcox
@Baud: Self induced train wreck. For someone who used to come across as intelligent he sure is bone headed stupid. I think he’s gotten concussed once too often.
OzarkHillbilly
@lowtechcyclist: of course misery is at the head of that lawsuit.
Barbara
@Baud: Every time he opens his mouth he undoes millions of dollars in carefully cultivated image management.
Issue with Pfizer pill will be timing of administration, so probably not quite as effective in real world condition but still great news.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
At the forefront in the fight for states’ wrongs.
//
OzarkHillbilly
@Geo Wilcox: i’ve seen it before. he is still intelligent, but intelligence does not make one immune to idiocy. something too many intelligent people never quite learn.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: that’s us.
Central Planning
My bigco is a government contractor and subject to Biden’s executive order that everyone be vaccinated or have an exemption- religious or otherwise.
We had a company-wide meeting last week and people lost their shit in that in the chat. Saying Brandon can’t do that, it violates the first amendment, it violates the Geneva convention, we are like nazis, what’s next – make my kids take it too, you’re violating my right to a job.
Its crazy how unhinged people are and how stupid they are to post things like that in a company chat.
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: But he’s a white QB who’s popular, so it’s OK. And because him and Green Bay brings eyeballs, I don’t see Rodgers getting slammed too hard by the NFL. Move on, nothing to see here. It wasn’t as though he took a knee or something traitorous like that, right?
MagdaInBlack
@Central Planning: Explain that “right to a job” part? That’s a new one.
My response is ” You can still have a job, just not this one.”
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
Antivax lives matter.
ETA: Except to antivaxxers.
Spanky
Count on it. It’s what viruses do.
Betty
Any idea what the new miracle drugs will cost? Will insurance cover it? Many people don’t have coverage for drugs in any case. I wonder how this will play out.
Amir Khalid
Aaron Rodgers isn’t vaccine “hesitant”. He’s a full-on anti-vaxxer, who’s advancing all the standard anti-vaxx talking points, bullshit arguments, and useless and dangerous alternative treatments. He’s already lied about his vaxx status, and he deserves some penalty for that. The Green Bay Packers need to protect themselves from him; they should come down on him like the Brooklyn Nets came down on Kyrie Irving: lock him out of training, playing, and access to team premises and facilities, until he can prove he’s been fully vaccinated.
New Deal democrat
Deaths rebounded to 1200/week yesterday, but that is probably noise. I still expect a decline to 1000, probably in the next week.
Nationwide cases increased to 73,000. All census regions except the South in uptrends. Every State in the South is still in a downtrend, and at 7 cases per 100,000, Florida (ugh!) is the best State in the Union (although PR is still lower). Every other downtrending State is in the West: AK, MT, WY, ID, OR, WA, and HI.
One year ago today the winter wave was well underway. There were 105,000 cases/day, having risen from 40,000 since October 1. Because of vaccination + recent Delta wave, this year’s incipient winter wave is more subdued – so far.
Professor Bigfoot
@Central Planning: out of sheer curiosity, how many of those shit-losers were white dudes?
Barbara
@Spanky: Apparently some viruses, like measles, are very stable but Corona viruses are known to mutate more. Hence the common cold.
Central Planning
@MagdaInBlack: I think their idea is that they already have a job, so their is nothing that can force them to not have it any more.
@Professor Bigfoot: Sadly, it is not just white dudes. There were women and I know at least one non-white guy was complaining.
MagdaInBlack
@Central Planning: Wow, talk about insulated from reality.
Matt McIrvin
@New Deal democrat: Still tremendously frustrating to me that NH had almost a full week of interrupted reports in the middle of what seems to have been a massive statewide outbreak. It looks as if weekly averages have been increasing all over the state but I still can’t tell if that is a statistical artifact.
I suspect it’s at least partly real, for one reason: cases are still creeping up in my neighborhood on the MA side of the border. It’s almost static but not getting better. I still get the sense that most people around here are just done with non-medical interventions and it’d take a lot to scare them enough to make them more careful–I’m not sure anything could do it at this point.
I figure child vaccinations and boosters will take at least another month, maybe two to have any visible effect on case rates, and we’re battling the effects of incipient winter in the meantime. In the worst case we might end up with as big a spike in cases as last winter, but the deaths are bound to be much less numerous. The places in New England that have had spikes of that intensity lately, though–triple digits/100K/day, or close to it–are counties that both have subpar vaccination rates and escaped the worst of all the previous waves.
I don’t begrudge the South their drop in new cases. Many people there are blameless for the regional situation and they deserve a break. So many have died already.
Mousebumples
@Amir Khalid: lol, the nets cut out Kyrie because, due to NYC policies, he can’t practice with the team in NYC and can’t play at games in NYC. The Nets didn’t want a “only play at road games” player who couldn’t practice, so their cutting him out is probably for the best, given the circumstances.
NFL games are played outside, so the indoor rules do not apply to this sport. Rodgers’ teammates seem to have been aware of his status from local (Wisconsin) reports I’ve read.
I expect there will be some fines forthcoming. But to compare the disparate situations in 2 different sports doesn’t fit here. The Packers as a whole are only around 70% vaccinated, i guess. Disappointing, to me, but making an example out of your MVP QB for no real reason other wanting to turn someone into a sacrificial lamb.
Am I pissed he was misleading about his Vax status? Yup. Am i surprised he’s not vaccinated? Considering I was surprised about his comments at the August press conference… Not really. He’s expressed skepticism in flu shots before, so this isn’t a big shock to me.
Suzanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Mr. Suzanne got his booster around 6pm on Thursday, and was feeling pretty rough yesterday afternoon and evening. I get my flooster (flu and booster) this evening.
BUT BUT BUT Spawn the Younger gets first shot on Monday!!! YAYAYAYAYA.
Matt McIrvin
@Central Planning:
An idea they’d likely dismiss as an economy-killing Communist fantasy in any other context.
Matt McIrvin
@Suzanne: My spouse got her flu shot and Pfizer booster yesterday, seems fine this morning. She got the J&J shot back in April and has been going to the office a couple times a week, so all this makes me feel quite relieved. The 6-month mark where I can get boosted is still 3 weeks off for me.
New Deal democrat
@Matt McIrvin:
I pretty much agree with all of your comments. In my neck of the woods, which previously had good compliance, masking seems to have gone out the window in the last few weeks.
On the bright side, if FL drops below 5 cases per 100,000, I may take a winter vacation there this year after all!
Scout211
@Mousebumples:
But that the teammates (and staff and front office) were apparently (quietly) aware of his status is under investigation by the league. If true, the team was in violation of COVID protocols for unvaccinated players. He doesn’t believe that he needs to wear a mask in indoor settings (team meetings, etc.) or on the sidelines, per league requirements. The fact that the teammates and team staff likely knew his status and allowed him to act as though he was vaccinated may cause the team to be fined. And hopefully, force him to follow COVID protocols. Maybe. Time will tell.
Mousebumples
@Scout211: unfortunately he’s not the only unvaccinated QB who hasn’t been following protocols. (other examples were across Twitter this week) But yes, the NFL needs to decide if they are going to enforce the rules across the board or only for non starting QBs.
Matt McIrvin
@New Deal democrat: I see no prospect of even nominally shutting down the MA-NH border like they did last time (though I don’t think that was very consistently honored anyway–it’s not as if they blocked off the roads).
I really wanted to get over to Canobie Lake Park this season but given the situation in Rockingham County, it was not to be–I missed my chance to visit safely during the lovely respite we had early in the summer, because my daughter had something different going on every weekend and didn’t want me to go without her.
I did visit Six Flags New England at the beginning of August when the Delta wave was just getting started, following through with plans made and tickets bought during more hopeful times, and that was stressful enough–I spent the whole time outdoors and masked (which almost nobody else was), but the queue for the Superman coaster was enough of a crush of teenagers that I couldn’t call it tremendously safe. I did discover that pulling 3 or 4 positive Gs is enough to pretty consistently make a mask slip down.
sab
7 year old granddaughter gets her shot today. She’s getting it at pediatrician, but our schools are also offering it next week as drive-thru option at elementary schools. They already did that a couple of weeks ago for flu shots.
Percysowner
I got 3rd COVID and flu shots yesterday. No reaction this far, so I think I’m in the clear.
Another Scott
Nature
People need to understand that the virus doesn’t care if you are tired of masking and tired of not being able to party in a mosh pit every night. It doesn’t care about your feelings. Public health measures need to be maintained until community spread is crushed. There are no shortcuts.
Cheers,
Scott.
dr. bloor
@Mousebumples:
NFL players routinely spend several hours per week inside w/one another, and the league developed a very detailed protocol regarding masking, isolation, and testing for vaccinated versus unvaccinated players. Rodgers flouted those rules, with the team’s awareness, for several months.
He’s an asshole.
Cermet
@Betty: You can bet the Gov will make a huge buy and provide it free – the cost of an ICU will guarantee that the Gov, which often picks up that bill, will instead, supply the anti-viral med.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott: It will never happen–once these measures are lifted they don’t come back except in spotty and haphazard ways. People won’t do it. The only way forward now is for everyone who isn’t vaccinated, and a significant chunk of those who are vaccinated, to get COVID.
It sounds as if the remaining unvaxxed adults in Britain are mostly the “young immortals” for whom it isn’t the worst prospect, but some will end up damaged. I’m hoping the new antivirals will improve the situation but I expect them to be in short supply before long.
Cermet
Well, finished providing the forms and proof of vaccination to my employer (the DoD.) Rather simple and straight forward – will be glad when the refusers are eliminated (job, not dead from covid!)
Cermet
@Another Scott: The UK does not use an mRNA vaccine – they use a modified virus; a very different vaccine. Apparently, not as effective against breakthrough as the mRNA vaccines.
Mousebumples
@dr. bloor: I’m not sure what was happening inside the building – and unless you’ve seen reporting I haven’t, the only known unmasked violations that have been confirmed are press conferences (unmasked versus being over zoom – or masked) and sideline (not wearing a mask).
Again, he’s not the only unvaccinated QB who’s been doing both of those things. I’ll have to check Andrew Brandt’s tweets from earlier this week but there were other unvaccinated QBs that have been seen violating those same protocols.
Fair Economist
Flu report: Positivity up a bit to 0.15; still a very low number. H3N2 was the overwhelming majority of sequences this week; possibly the flu strain for this season.
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Unfortunately the insane housing situation in LA makes us uniquely vulnerable. Since it’s overwhelmingly SFH, and there’s no way to have enough SFH for so many people, we frequently have multiple families crammed into single houses, so they transmit to each other at the high household rates. But they’re in different social groups, so the crowding provides a mechanism to get COVID from, say, one church to another.
Matt McIrvin
@Cermet: The UK does use the Pfizer vaccine in addition to the AZ vaccine (which is a bit like the J&J except that it’s a two-shot course). I doubt the vaccines they use are a significant variable here. Areas in the US with as much vaccination as the UK have had major COVID spikes.
Fair Economist
@Cermet:
Some Pfizer actually, but yeah, mostly Astrazenica. Plus their vaccinations are aging since they vaccinated fairly early; plus no approval for vaccines under 12 and limited and late approval for under 16. And then throw in the refusal to use any public health measures and the very poor UK post-vaccine outcomes are easy to explain.
sdhays
Just counting the days until they have vaccines available for under 5. I’m really hoping to hear some news about that soon. At some point, they were saying they would have data to release in November so….
Bill Arnold
@dr. bloor:
He is a homicidal asshole, who believes that he has the right to kill random people without personal consequences.
Matt McIrvin
@Bill Arnold: I’ve been comparing asserting freedom to go unvaccinated everywhere with claiming the Second Amendment means you can let loose with a rifle in a shopping mall anytime you want.
(Why don’t you just stay home, if you’re so scared? Or wear one of those bulletproof vests you love so much! If bulletproof vests really work, why am I a danger to you? Making sure you can survive when I shoot you is your personal responsibility! I don’t believe bullets can really hurt people, anyway, and that’s my opinion and you’re entitled to yours.)
Quiltingfool
People crying when they heard the news that a polio vaccine was available – I admit I cried when I watched a video of the trucks leaving the Pfizer facility with the first batches of Covid vaccine.
The generation that suffered and lost people to diseases that now are controlled by vaccines are almost gone (my grandparents, for example) and my parents, who grew up pre polio vaccine, are not as numerous. My generation (late Boomer) were vaccinated, yet we really didn’t lose many of our cohort to infectious diseases. I’m not sure what’s happened to our society as a whole, but I think it’s been infected by the “it’s all about me” disease.
VOR
A study found COVID-19 in wild deer in Iowa. Hard to imagine this would be confined to just Iowa deer but doubt anyone is testing. There is significant concern about Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD – think Mad Cow) in wild deer so there is testing for that. I wonder if hunters could be forced to test their deer for COVID.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
Intelligence is the ability to learn, not the actual learning.
He may have the ability to learn but not the ability to differentiate between reality and ignorance.
J R in WV
@Mousebumples:
SOME NFL games are played outside. Lots of them are played in giant mostly indoor arenas nowadays. Minnesota, TX, AZ, Indianapolis, etc. Some because of the cold weather, some because of the hot weather. But ALL the locker rooms are indoors!!
Re Rodgers, I have never rooted for injuries, and was a big Green Bay fan. Now I will have a hard time being disappointed when Rodgers is sacked, throws an interception, etc, etc. Fuck that grown up infant!!!
Robert Sneddon
@Fair Economist: The UK Government ordered large quantities of every vaccine under development quite early in the process. The first authorised vaccine deployed was the AstraZeneca modified chimpanzee adenovirus since the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines weren’t yet qualified.
The first cohorts of people receiving vaccinations were older folks who got AstraZeneca unless there were thought to be issues with allergic reactions to adjuvants or other reasons. The Pfizer vaccine was qualified for use early in 2021 and the Moderna vaccine some time later. The possibility of blood clots in the brain in some younger people receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine led to everyone under 50 getting the Pfizer vaccine. The government had ordered fewer doses of Moderna than Pfizer to begin with so it was the obvious alternate choice.
As far as I can tell AstraZeneca is not being used at all any more in the UK. The government made a big thing recently about donating a lot of AstraZeneca doses to the COVAX program but the reason for that was that there was no further perceived need for those doses in the UK. Booster doses are all mRNA vaccines — I received a half-dose of the Moderna vaccine as a booster shot last week after initially receiving two doses of AstraZeneca in the spring.
wkiernan
Have you ever seen anybody in an iron lung? I have, my own sister.