In Alabama, emptiness claims a chair at a nurses station. It fills a teenager’s bedroom in Arizona, and floats over a wooded path in North Carolina. These are some of the spaces left behind in the U.S., where almost 1 million people have died of COVID-19. https://t.co/0Aee3enqYm
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 16, 2022
Some long, thoughtful reads today, because it’s the weekend and you might have more time to read them…
In the US alone, 1m people died in just over 2 years. No matter your pandemic politics, it should be incontestable that they are gone, that they mattered, and that the millions more who loved them should get the grace and space to grieve and mourn. 15/ https://t.co/ClunSvf4C6
— Ed Yong (@edyong209) April 13, 2022
Grandparents are stepping up to fill the roles of moms & dads to young children as families grieve the loss of parents lost to Covid. An estimated 200,000 children in the U.S. have lost a parent in the pandemic https://t.co/qZs07G14rm
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 17, 2022
======
Not as if India is alone in this:
An ambitious effort by the World Health Organization to calculate the global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has found that vastly more people died than previously believed — a total of about 15 million by the end of 2021, more than double the official total of six million reported by countries individually.
But the release of the staggering estimate — the result of more than a year of research and analysis by experts around the world and the most comprehensive look at the lethality of the pandemic to date — has been delayed for months because of objections from India, which disputes the calculation of how many of its citizens died and has tried to keep it from becoming public.
More than a third of the additional nine million deaths are estimated to have occurred in India, where the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stood by its own count of about 520,000. The W.H.O. will show the country’s toll is at least four million, according to people familiar with the numbers who were not authorized to disclose them, which would give India the highest tally in the world, they said. The Times was unable to learn the estimates for other countries.
The W.H.O. calculation combined national data on reported deaths with new information from localities and household surveys, and with statistical models that aim to account for deaths that were missed. Most of the difference in the new global estimate represents previously uncounted deaths, the bulk of which were directly from Covid; the new number also includes indirect deaths, like those of people unable to access care for other ailments because of the pandemic.
The delay in releasing the figures is significant because the global data is essential for understanding how the pandemic has played out and what steps could mitigate a similar crisis in the future. It has created turmoil in the normally staid world of health statistics — a feud cloaked in anodyne language is playing out at the United Nations Statistical Commission, the world body that gathers health data, spurred by India’s refusal to cooperate…
Dr. Asma noted that many countries have struggled to accurately calculate the pandemic’s impact. Even in the most advanced countries, she said, “I think when you look under the hood, it is challenging.” At the start of the pandemic there were significant disparities in how quickly different U.S. states were reporting deaths, she said, and some were still collecting the data via fax.
India brought a large team to review the W.H.O. data analysis, she said, and the agency was glad to have them do it, because it wanted the model to be as transparent as possible…
Dr. Asma of the W.H.O. noted that nine out of 10 deaths in Africa, and six out of 10 globally, are not registered, and more than half the countries in the world do not collect accurate causes of death. That means that even the starting point for this kind of analysis is a “guesstimate,” she said. “We have to be humble about it, and say we don’t know what we don’t know.”…
Besides India, there are other large countries where the data is also uncertain.
Russia’s ministry of health had reported 300,000 Covid deaths by the end of 2021, and that was the number the government gave the W.H.O. But the Russian national statistics agency that is fairly independent of the government found excess mortality of more than one million people — a figure that is reportedly close to the one in the W.H.O. draft. Russia has objected to that number, but it has made no effort to stall the release of the data, members of the group said.
China, where the pandemic began, does not publicly release mortality data, and some experts have raised questions about underreporting of deaths, especially at the beginning of the outbreak. China has officially reported fewer than 5,000 deaths from the virus…
Again, not quite as dire as the headline (although I wouldn’t want it happening in my neighborhood, either):
… Around 19 per cent residents of Delhi-NCR responding to a survey revealed they have one or more individuals in their close network who has had COVID in the last 15 days.
The ‘COVID network prevalence’ marks an over 500 per cent increase in the last 15 days, said LocalCircles, the firm that conducted the survey.
The survey received inputs from 11,743 residents located in all districts of Delhi and NCR, the firm said.
It asked the respondents: “How many individuals (including children) do you have in your close social network (family, friends, neighbours, colleagues) in Delhi-NCR that have had COVID in the last 15 days?” In response, the majority of the respondents, 70 per cent, said: “No one in the last 15 days”. An 11 per cent said “1 or 2”, eight per cent said “3-5”, and another 11 per cent “couldn’t say”.
The similar question the firm asked on April 2 had found that only three per cent residents had someone in their close social network who were infected with COVID in the last 15 days.
The survey results come as Delhi witnesses a sudden surge in the COVID cases.
Delhi on Saturday recorded 461 fresh COVID-19 cases — 5.33 per cent of all who were tested — and two deaths, according to the data shared by the city health department…
Shanghai targets lockdown turning point by Wednesday – sources https://t.co/iuMBmjqSmc pic.twitter.com/QiA99VHiYR
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 17, 2022
Long thread — click over for the rest of it:
Overheard in Shanghai: "People including my parents are increasingly aware that the virus is not as hazardous as it used to be…Most of the people I know believe that the zero-Covid policy will be maintained for a while. They feel sad and hopeless."https://t.co/YP0VFJT44W
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) April 16, 2022
STORY: Dozens of elderly patients at a Shanghai hospital died after testing positive for #Covid_19 but official #china figs say #Omicron outbreak death toll in the city is zero. @BBCNews spoke to relatives and had access to official documents https://t.co/4FLAncYGwb
— Robin Brant 白洛宾 (@robindbrant) April 16, 2022
Another long-ish thread…
Residents said they worry that even after the citywide restrictions are lifted, the Omicron variant’s transmissibility means sudden lockdowns and tough tactics could return at any time, casting a cloud of uncertainty that could last for years.https://t.co/rl7uYFPq9L
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) April 17, 2022
Whatever happened to the Novavax Covid vaccine? https://t.co/OI0RhO1qKW
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 17, 2022
======
Dr Peter Hotez interview: Long covid will haunt us https://t.co/OIISB0GF7R
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) April 16, 2022
Brain scans now show that even a mild case of COVID-19 can shrink part of the brain, causing physical changes equivalent to a decade of aging
(Subscriber Exclusive) https://t.co/OQIBmEGALu
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) April 15, 2022
… Of the roughly 80 million Americans who’ve gotten COVID-19 so far, about one of every four survivors suffers from impaired cognition, commonly described as brain fog. While this isn’t a formal medical term, says Edward Shorter, a professor of psychiatry at University of Toronto, it has become an umbrella term for describing an array of symptoms such as confusion, word-finding difficulties, short-term memory loss, dizziness, or inability to concentrate.
Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are almost three times more likely than those not hospitalized to have impaired cognition. But brain scans now show that even a mild case of COVID-19 can shrink part of the brain, causing physical changes equivalent to a decade of aging.
“There is evidence of neurologic injury [after COVID-19] that is persistent,” says Ayush Batra, a neurologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “We are seeing biological and biochemical evidence of it, we are seeing radiographic evidence of it, and most importantly, the patients are complaining of their symptoms. It is affecting their quality of life and day-to-day functioning.” Batra together with his colleagues, has shown chemical indicators of injured brain neurons among long COVID patients with neurologic symptoms…
Overall, studies consistently show that COVID-19 patients score significantly lower in tests of attention, memory, and executive function compared to healthy people. Jacques Hugon, a neurologist at University of Paris Lariboisiere Hospital, says it isn’t clear if the brain will mend itself or whether patients will ever recover, even with cognitive rehabilitation.
“We don’t know exactly what’s going on in the brain,” says Hugon. Perhaps the damage COVID-19 causes in the brain will evolve into various neurodegenerative disorders. “We don’t know that for sure at the moment, but it is a risk, and we need to follow [the patients] very carefully for the years to come.”…
Experts also worry that between the wide availability of vaccines and the rise of the relatively milder Omicron variants, people are letting their guard down too soon because they’re not concerned about the possible cognitive damage from getting sick. Although COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in protecting against serious illness, they do not protect against “long COVID” in people who become infected despite vaccination.
“We need to move away from quantifying the impact of the disease only in terms of deaths and severe cases,” says the University of Oxford’s Douaud, “as evidence from studies on long COVID, and our study, show that even mild infection can be damaging.”
======
mrmoshpotato
Mein Gott. ???
Baud
Is that new? I thought the vaccine helped with long covid. Not 100% obviously.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
NYSDOH: 337 new cases yesterday. These have to be just PCR tests. The huge numbers from the Monroe County site are combined PCR and home tests.
rikyrah
I will never get over my belief that 90% of the last 500,000 deaths didn’t have to happen. Will never get over the absolute belief that they didn’t have to die.?
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 9,705 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 4,382,402 cases. It also reported 12 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 35,409 deaths – 0.81% of the cumulative reported total, 0.83% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 0.85.
72 confirmed cases and 62 suspected cases are in ICU; of these patients, 44 confirmed cases and 37 suspected cases are on ventilators. Meanwhile, 14,346 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,238,471 patients recovered – 96.7% of the cumulative reported total.
10 new clusters were reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,984 clusters. 116 clusters are currently active; 6,868 clusters are now inactive.
9,675 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 30 new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 79,398 doses of vaccine on 16th April: 15,124 first doses, 59,818 second doses, and 4,456 booster doses. The cumulative total is 69,570,045 doses administered: 27,614,217 first doses, 26,198,298 second doses, and 15,970,302 booster doses. 84.5% of the population have received their first dose, 80.2% their second dose, and 48.9% their booster dose.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Sounds about right.
rikyrah
Millions are disabled because of LONG COVID??
YY_Sima Qian
On 4/16 Mainland China reported 3,504 new domestic confirmed (1,224 previously asymptomatic), 22,512 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 domestic suspect cases.
Guangdong Province reported 29 new domestic confirmed (4 previously asymptomatic) & 11 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 6 domestic confirmed & 13 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 227 active domestic confirmed & 202 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 17 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Fangchenggang) cases, 1 person in “closed loops”, 14 traced close contact under centralized quarantine, & 2 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure. 13 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 8 active domestic confirmed (4 at Baise, 2 at Qinzhou, & 1 each at Guilin & Yulin) & 550 active domestic asymptomatic cases (459 at Fangchenggang, 42 at Baise, 15 at Chongzuo, 32 at Qinzhou, & 2 at Guilin) in the province.
Hunan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild, at Loudi), a traffic police officer manning an expressway check point. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 13 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 1 each at Hohhot & Hinggan League, a traced close contact under centralized quarantine & a truck driver arriving from elsewhere. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed (2 each at Hinggan League, Bayan Nur & Chifeng, & 1 at Tongliao) & 11 active domestic asymptomatic (8 at Hinggan League & 1 each at Hohhot, Tongliao & Wuhai) cases in the province. 1 residential compound at Chifeng is currently at Medium Risk.
At Tianjin Municipality 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. All areas of the city are now at Low Risk.
Shandong Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 21 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 21 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 79 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 127 active domestic confirmed cases & 856 active asymptomatic cases in the province. As not all of the administrative divisions in the province provide data on recoveries, I cannot track the count of active cases in all of the administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Shanxi Province reported 9 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, 8 at Taiyuan & 1 at Shuozhou) & 36 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Taiyuan) cases, most are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine, & the rest from community screening at the county where the center is located. All cases are connected to the logistics center outbreak. 4 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 54 active domestic confirmed (43 at Taiyuan, 6 at ShuozhouI, 2 each at Jinzhong & Yuncheng, & 1 at Xinzhou) & 119 active domestic asymptomatic (114 at Taiyuan, 2 at Yangquan, 1 each at Shuozhou, Changzhi & Jinzhong) cases remaining. 1 site at Taiyuan is currently at Medium Risk.
Hebei Province reported 5 domestic asymptomatic cases. 3 domestic confirmed & 23 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 28 active domestic confirmed & 875 active asymptomatic case in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Liaoning Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 domestic confirmed & 62 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 20 active domestic confirmed & 367 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Heilongjiang Province reported 32 new domestic confirmed & 28 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 5 domestic confirmed & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 109 active domestic confirmed & 104 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Jilin Province reported 168 new domestic confirmed (36 previously asymptomatic, 158 mild & 8 moderate & 1 serious) & 525 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1,114 domestic confirmed & 1,428 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. As the province does not consistently break down recoveries by confirmed & asymptomatic cases or by jurisdictions, I can no longer track the count of active case counts in the different jurisdictions.
Beijing Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. As the city does not break down recoveries by imported versus domestic cases, I cannot track the count of active domestic cases there. 1 site is currently at High Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 3,238 new domestic confirmed (1,177 previously asymptomatic) & 21,582 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 22,921 of the new domestic positive cases were already under quarantine, & 722 screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (effectively meaning from the community). 373 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 10,337 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 18,170 active domestic confirmed (16 serious, none vaccinated) & 236,007 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 13 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shaanxi Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (all mild, 2 at Xi’an & 1 at Weinan) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic (1 each at Xi’an & Weinan) cases, all traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. 7 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 33 active domestic confirmed & 11 active asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks. 3 sites at Xi’an are currently at Medium Risk.
Hubei Province reported 12 new domestic asymptomatic (7 at Wuhan, 4 at Ezhou, & 1 at Huanggang) cases. 4 of the cases at Wuhan are traced close contact under centralized quarantine, 2 construction workers returning from building temporary hospitals in Shanghai & under centralized quarantine upon arrival, & a person coming from area w/ active outbreak & under centralized quarantine since arrival. The cases at Ezhou are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine or via screening of residents under lockdown. The case at Huanggang is a traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. 8 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed (3 mild & 1 moderate, 1 each at Enshi Prefecture, Huanggang, Wuhan, & Yichang) & 303 active domestic asymptomatic (34 at Suizhou, 123 at Wuhan, 77 at Ezhou, 6 at Huangshi, 5 at Enshi Prefecture, 51 at Huanggang, 3 at Shiyan, 2 at Jingmen, & 1 each at Xiaogan & Yichang) cases in the province.
Jiangsu Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 85 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 5 domestic confirmed & 25 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The currently are 85 active domestic confirmed & 790 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in each administrative division, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Anhui Province reported 58 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed & 36 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 13 active confirmed & 619 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Zhejiang Province reported 10 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 20 new domestic asymptomatic case. As the province does not break down recoveries by imported versus domestic cases, I cannot track the count of active domestic cases there.
At Gansu Province 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 16 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province no longer breaks down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in the administrative divisions.
Fujian Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 21 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 23 domestic confirmed case recovered & 68 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 132 active domestic confirmed & 358 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region did not report any new domestic positive cases. 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 16 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Hainan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks
At Guizhou Province 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed (at Xingyi in Qianxinan Prefecture) & 3 active domestic asymptomatic (2 at Xingyi in Qianxinan Prefecture & 1 at Tongren) cases.
Jiangxi Province reported 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 5 domestic confirmed & 27 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 87 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Henan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, 1 each at Anyang, Luohe & Zhengzhou) & 19 new domestic asymptomatic (2 at Luohe, 4 at Zhengzhou, & 13 at Anyang) cases. 2 of the cases at Zhengzhou are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine, 2 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure, & 3 are construction workers returning from building temporary hospitals in Shanghai & under centralized quarantine since arrival. 1 of the cases at Anyang was previously asymptomatic, & the rest are construction workers returning from building temporary hospitals in Shanghai & under centralized quarantine since arrival. The cases at Luohe are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. 5 domestic confirmed & 29 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 18 active domestic confirmed & 229 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks. 2 sites at Zhoukou, as well as 1 at Luohe & 2 at Shangqiu, are currently at Medium Risk.
At Chongqing Municipality 1 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered . There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
Qinghai Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all at Xining, 6 of the new positive cases were found via community screening & 4 traced close contact under centralized quarantine. 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 23 active domestic confirmed & 40 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Yunnan Province reported 51 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed case & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 19 active domestic confirmed & 198 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Imported Cases
On 4/16, Mainland China reported 25 new imported confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic, 0 in Guangdong), 114 imported asymptomatic cases, 0 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 1,572 confirmed cases recovered (28 imported), 12,263 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (94 imported) & 1,225 were reclassified as confirmed cases (1 imported), & 30,170 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 27,885 active confirmed cases in the country (256 imported), 78 in serious condition (all domestic), 283,814 active asymptomatic cases (790 imported), 12 suspect cases (all imported). 435,226 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 4/16, 3,313.338M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 2.093M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 4/17, Hong Kong reported 747 new positive cases, 11 imported & 736 domestic (435 via RT-PCR & 301 from rapid antigen tests), 24 deaths (3 fully vaccinated) + 5 backlogged deaths.
On 4/17, Taiwan reported 1,303 new positive cases, 93 imported & 1,210 domestic (663 asymptomatic). Symptom onset for the domestic cases date from 4/6 to 4/17, so there has likely been substantial cryptic Omicron BA.2 community transmission for a couple of weeks. There has been 2 deaths from this wave so far, & 3 cases are currently serious condition (including a child < 5 y.o.).
Suzanne
We would really like to start Spawn the Youngest in preschool this year. Not doing that without a vaccine. This is making me insane.
lowtechcyclist
I am totally with you here. By May of last year, there was no shortage of vaccines, so any adult who wanted to be vaccinated, could have been fully vaxxed by the end of June. Ditto for their kids down to age 12.
If every non-immunocompromised person in the U.S. had gotten vaxxed back then, way fewer Americans would have even gotten exposed to the Delta and Omicron variants, let alone died of them.
But even back in 2020, before the vaccines, so many people rebelled against masks and social distancing. A big shout-out here to the folks on the Christianist right with their “I walk in faith, not in fear” bullshit. (So do I, but that doesn’t mean I go play in traffic.)
We could have controlled this thing so much better even back then, but of course the nutcases on the right had to politicize even this, and hundreds of thousands have died as a result.
New Deal democrat
Caught this via a search for updates on the new sub-subvariant:
”New York officials announced that so far this month, two new omicron subvariants, dubbed BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1, have accounted for 90 percent of new cases in the central part of the state.”
Wow. Just wow. Completely blowing away even original BA.2.
Soapdish
Has anyone seen any data on getting Novavax as a booster after mRNA primary? The science-y part of my brain is intrigued by having a different/secondary approach to fighting the virus, sort of like an amped up version of mixing and matching Pfizer and Moderna.
YY_Sima Qian
@New Deal democrat: Any idea where the stains came from?
Chris T.
@Baud:
This is all self-consistent either way. To put it mathematically, sort of: if you’re unvaccinated, you have, say, a 90% chance of catching Covid, and then some risk of getting Long Covid from that. If you’re vaccinated, you have, say, a 10% chance of catching Covid, and the same or lower risk of getting Long Covid from that. So just by reducing your risk of getting Covid in the first place, you’re automatically reducing your risk of getting Long Covid by that same factor. Whether or not you’re reducing it by some additional factor is another question.
(In particular the claim says “vaccines don’t protect against” Long Covid, which can be taken to mean “don’t prevent”. They may reduce the risk, or not. That earlier qualifier of “highly effective” means whoever wrote it is being imprecise.)
smith
@Chris T.: There are some studies that suggest vaccines have a protective effect above and beyond reducing the likelihood of infection (see here and here), but others don’t show it. The studies cited in those reviews collected data pre-omicron, so even the glimmer of evidence they give may not tell us what will happen with higher-infectiousness-lower-severity variants.
The one consistent finding is that long covid is a common result of a covid infection, and that the effects look a lot like premature aging: heart and lung disease, type II diabetes, and mild dementia. Why so many people seem ready to disregard this genuine risk is a mystery to me.
New Deal democrat
@YY_Sima Qian: This is all I can find for now:
https://deadline.com/2022/04/new-omicron-covid-subvariants-ba-2-12-ba-2-12-1-new-york-1235002183/
“BA.2.12 is said to have North American and European lineage, while BA.2.12.2 is said to derive its lineage from the USA and Canada, with some speculating the first case was identified in Canada.”
lowtechcyclist
@smith:
Damned if I know. Long Covid scares the shit out of me, much more than the possibility of dying, really. It’s why I’ll still be wearing my mask and avoiding indoor restaurants until we’ve gotten a much better handle on this pandemic than we have so far.
YY_Sima Qian
@New Deal democrat: Thank you!
COVID-19 continues to surprise. There was some thought (desperate hope?) that Omicron would be the penultimate variant. Then we have BA.2, BA.2.12 & BA.2.12.2. (I know they are all sub-variants of Omicron, but their abilities to outcompete the older Omicrons so quickly are breathtaking).
kalakal
@Soapdish: I’d like to see some research on that. And, selfishly, the other way round, I had Novavax followed by Pfiser. I’m pretty fed up with Novavax (the company), once the trials were complete they pretty much left people in limbo. I’ve never recieved any advice about boosting etc. In the end I went and got a course of Pfiser, no idea how effective that combo is
frosty
@Baud: What I remember is that when the vaccine came out, long COVID sufferers who got a shot found that it cleared their symptoms. I haven’t read anything like that in a year or so.
Jay
@frosty:
Some of their symptoms, in some cases,
Pre-vax, I was at about 40% of ability, despite 12 months of various programs of treatment and therapy,
Post vaxxed, in about two months, I managed to claw my way back to about 80%, on a good day, ( I have good days, and bad days),
but I think in my case, that’s as good as it’s gonna get,
I get poked and prodded every month as part of a UBC Study on “Long Covid”,
Dopey-o
If Hillary had been President, she would have been impeached in late 2020 over the 20,000 ‘needless’ Covid deaths on her watch.
VOR
The leading Republican candidate for Governor of Minnesota is running on a pro-life and pro-COVID platform: http://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/scott-jensen-covid-death-data-skewed-by-people-who-would-have-died-soon-anyway/
Dr. Jensen went on Laura Ingraham’s show early in 2020 to spread the idea that health care providers were paid more for COVID cases and therefore were inflating the numbers.
YY_Sima Qian
@VOR: I am sure John Doe’s children would love to have had their father for another 2 – 3 years. & if Donald Trump catches COVID again, perhaps he should receive no treatment & medicine. After all, he is 75, & w/ his physique I am not sure any actuarial tables would give him too many years, either.