Overheard at the grocery store:
“Excuse me, everyone is required to wear a mask”
“How does it feel to live in communist America?”
“Feels pretty good! I mean, we’re standing in a fully stocked grocery store”
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) November 12, 2021
58.5%: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
70.3%: The share of all Americans 18-years and older who are fully vaccinated. @NBCNews
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 11, 2021
Likely never get vaccine via Monmouth polls:
March: 24%
June: 21%
July: 17%
Sept: 15%
Now: 13%— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) November 11, 2021
Some of that drop may be the never-vaxxers taking themselves out of the response pool…
After weeks of declines, U.S. Covid cases have stalled at a high level, ranging between 70k and 75k new cases a day for nearly three weeks: 'The ERs are packed' https://t.co/yOilrDPjbs
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 11, 2021
======
Northeastern Chinese port city battles growing COVID-19 cluster https://t.co/JzdEFL5aak pic.twitter.com/W5QgtHSVr5
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 12, 2021
A growing COVID-19 cluster in China’s Dalian has spurred the northeastern port city to limit outbound travel, cut offline school classes and close a few cultural venues after being told by national authorities to contain the outbreak more quickly.
Dalian reported 52 locally transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms on Thursday, a daily count higher than any other Chinese city affected in an ongoing nationwide outbreak since mid-October, and more than doubling from 21 cases a day earlier, official data showed on Friday.
A total of 1,149 local cases were found in China between Oct. 17 and Nov 11. While the number is tiny compared with many outbreaks outside the country, local authorities have exerted resources to put out the flare-up with Beijing not expected to change its zero-tolerance policy any time soon…
The number of people travelling out of Dalian has dropped by 96.5% to 918 per day on average, a local transportation official said late on Thursday, after the city of 7.5 million people imposed curbs on public transport and warned residents against leaving Dalian for unnecessary reasons…
Dalian, a leading port for seafood shipments as well as fruit and some meats, has also ordered all businesses handling imported chilled and frozen foods to suspend operations, according to the state-backed newspaper Global Times.
As of Nov. 11, mainland China had reported 98,099 confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 patients, including both local cases and those arriving from abroad. The total death number remained at 4,636.
Japan’s preparations for the next coronavirus surge include adding thousands more hospital beds to avoid a situation like last summer when COVID-19 patients were forced to stay home, even when they needed supplemental oxygen. https://t.co/lv0tLmcwO4
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 12, 2021
A database of Russians who purchased fake coronavirus vaccine certificates has leaked online, the Kommersant business daily reported Friday, with experts warning that the buyers are now at risk of both blackmail and jail timehttps://t.co/bZ32uKBcoD
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) November 12, 2021
Europe had over half of the world's Covid deaths early this month, according to the World Health Organization. Continent-wide deaths rose 10% during the 1st week of November & made up >half the 48k coronavirus deaths reported globally in that time https://t.co/VVAtCS9OvO
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 12, 2021
Nearly two years into a global health crisis, infections are again sweeping across parts of Western Europe. That's in a region with relatively high vaccination rates and good health care systems but where lockdown measures are largely a thing of the past. https://t.co/Ovvd1k5bR8
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 12, 2021
Eastern Europe is the epicenter of the pandemic right now. Many parts of Europe now also surging past US, Germany at its highest point of cases ever pic.twitter.com/EsCduDwSiG
— Mark Witzke (@mkwitzke) November 11, 2021
Germany debates imposing tighter pandemic rules as infections surge. Health officials are scrambling to craft new Covid rules. A top virologist has warned that the country's Covid death toll could double unless measures are taken now https://t.co/DRtGqk283P
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 11, 2021
Unvaccinated should reflect on their duty to society, Merkel says https://t.co/fEJUKZesBg pic.twitter.com/CDzQWr1fvi
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 12, 2021
Austria may order a lockdown for *unvaccinated people,* its chancellor says. The country's case rate has more than doubled since October https://t.co/AEucIbl6QU
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 12, 2021
Dutch face three-week, partial lockdown as COVID-19 cases soar https://t.co/yt3ctGqPR1 pic.twitter.com/zdOashP6w8
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 12, 2021
======
Some people prone to acute immune system reactions or other health issues have been reluctant to get #COVID19 vaccines, fearing rare but potentially serious side effects. They may soon have a new option: vaccines made from purified proteins. https://t.co/J5KG85oYNs
— Global Health NOW (@ghn_news) November 11, 2021
Too much technical detail to excerpt here, so read the whole thing:
… Unlike the relatively new technologies that the mRNA and viral-vector COVID-19 shots are based on, protein vaccines have been used for decades to protect people from hepatitis, shingles and other viral infections. To elicit a protective immune response, these shots deliver proteins, along with immunity-stimulating adjuvants, directly to a person’s cells, rather than a fragment of genetic code that the cells must read to synthesize the proteins themselves.
Although protein vaccines are not yet in widespread use for COVID-19, late-stage clinical-trial data so far look promising, demonstrating strong protection with fewer side effects than other COVID-19 shots typically cause…
… After months of quality-control setbacks and manufacturing delays, executives at biotechnology firm Novavax in Gaithersburg, Maryland, say they are poised to submit the company’s long-awaited application for their protein-based vaccine to US drug regulators before the end of the year. (On 1 November, Indonesia granted the company’s vaccine its first emergency authorization, and regulatory filings have already been made with government agencies in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union and elsewhere.) Meanwhile, two vaccine makers in Asia — Clover Biopharmaceuticals, based in Chengdu, China, and Biological E in Hyderabad, India — are similarly on track to file with various national authorities in the coming weeks and months…
Covid antiviral capsules: scientists still have questions about the Merck & Pfizer drugs, which have different mechanisms of action.
Molnupiravir and Paxlovid could change the course of the pandemic — if clinical trial results hold up in the real world https://t.co/WtiRnBNOQY— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 12, 2021
A new molecular study reveals how mutations in delta and kappa variants of the pandemic coronavirus help the variants avoid recognition by antibodies https://t.co/RSdtvZCQ4C pic.twitter.com/HiOrtwn2zg
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 12, 2021
Americans react to seeing UK rapid Covid testing https://t.co/Kxj3Cf3kvy
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 11, 2021
Covid vaccination not recommended for pets, according to a veterinarian. Only a small number of pets have been infected w/SARSCoV2, usually from humans. Most dogs & cats are exposed as infants to other coronaviruses & may have cross-protective immunity https://t.co/8uTJ1F2rRl
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 11, 2021
======
Puerto Rico has an underfunded health care system, high levels of poverty and its infrastructure remains devastated by a major 2017 hurricane — so how is the US territory leading the rest of the country in #COVID19 vaccinations?
✍️ @Ge1604 & Laura Perezhttps://t.co/lbDDBfz672— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 11, 2021
… Experts credit the surprising success to two major factors: a sense of solidarity forged from past brushes with disasters, and a public health response untainted by political polarization seen on the mainland.
No fewer than 74 percent of the island’s 3.2 million people are now fully vaccinated — well above the US total of 58 percent — but also ahead of wealthy and liberal northeastern states such as Massachusetts and Vermont…
Experts credit the surprising success to two major factors: a sense of solidarity forged from past brushes with disasters, and a public health response untainted by political polarization seen on the mainland.
No fewer than 74 percent of the island’s 3.2 million people are now fully vaccinated — well above the US total of 58 percent — but also ahead of wealthy and liberal northeastern states such as Massachusetts and Vermont…
“I couldn’t sleep, I kept thinking the pandemic would be handled as badly as the responses to Hurricane Irma and Maria,” Monica Feliu Mojer, spokesperson for the nonprofit Ciencia Puerto Rico organization that advocates for science in Puerto Rico, told AFP.
Instead, though, the memory of these disasters has made “people do their part,” creating a critical wave of unity to respond to the challenge.
The Puerto Rican government began vaccinating in December 2020, like the rest of the United States.
And in just a few weeks, professional groups, hospitals, universities, private corporations and non-profit organizations joined the effort, collaborations key to the later Covid vaccination campaign…
On the island, “the main parties are not organized around conservative or progressive ideologies, but status preferences” over the future of the island’s political relationship with the United States, she explains.
That unity allowed the government to take tougher preventative measures over the summer, at the height of the global wave driven by the Delta variant.
The government reimposed restrictions like masking and ordered vaccination or weekly negative PCR test for public employees, as well as for workers and customers of certain businesses like restaurants and gyms. Public response was largely favorable…
The delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling outbreaks in the North. It's a worrisome sign of what could be ahead this winter in the U.S. Trends are improving in Florida, Texas and other Southern states. https://t.co/N2Rr9aDWin
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 11, 2021
Two major Albuquerque hospital systems have announced they are activating crisis standards of care, my colleague @rboetel reports. Move comes amid surge of COVID-19 patients and nursing shortage that has worsened during pandemic: https://t.co/5qXtV3yB6s via @ABQJournal #nmpol
— Dan Boyd (@DanBoydNM) November 11, 2021
No shit?https://t.co/Dmwyb5ploh
— Jeff Timmer (@jefftimmer) November 11, 2021
Brilliant suggestion from wise commentor Ruckus, in an earlier post:
… If ONE percent of the world dies of Covid, that’s 78 MILLION people. We have fucking billionaires building rockets for a day trip into fucking space and people dying because we are too fucking greedy and too fucking stupid to take amazing vaccines that you don’t even have to pay for. We should come out with a new one, made by a new company, Conservative Deluxe, The New All Purpose Vaccine that protects you from Democrats. $50/shot. Assholes would be lining up, maskless to take that. End the pandemic and make a profit, hot damn!
NotMax
Tidbits from hither and yon.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
The Monroe County website says 550 new cases; the NYSDOH says 473 new cases.
This is actually worse than last year at this time.
Baud
@NotMax:
Shackling the invisible hand.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reports 6,517 new Covid-19 cases today in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 2,535,338 cases. It also reports 49 deaths as of midnight, for an adjusted cumulative total of 29,535 deaths – 1.17% of the cumulative reported total, 1.20% of resolved cases.
Based on cases reported yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt is at 1.00.
485 confirmed cases are in ICU, 194 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 6,026 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 2,441,485 patients recovered – 96.3% of the cumulative reported total.
Nine new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 5,837 clusters. 286 clusters are currently active; 5,551 clusters are now inactive.
6,501 new cases today are local infections. 16 new cases today are imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 143,662 doses of vaccine on 11th November: 8,449 first doses, 42,888 second doses, and 92,325 booster doses. As of midnight, the cumulative total is 50,946,620 doses administered: 25,573,758 first doses, 24,730,649 second doses, and 825,497 booster doses. 78.3% of the population have received their first dose, while 75.7% are now fully vaccinated.
Ken
Regarding that first tweet, the problem is that “mask” doesn’t begin with an “S” or “SH”. Otherwise it could be euphoniously folded into that long-standing communist doctrine, “No shoes, no shirt, no service.” Can anyone think of a word? “Shield” works but isn’t quite right.
Baud
@Ken:
That’s what I tell businesses that insist on pants.
New Deal democrat
Glitch with the Johns Hopkins data, so I haven’t checked individual US States’ trends. Nationally cases are only up about 3.5% from their bottom two weeks ago. Deaths are just slightly above their recent low as well.
I do have a comment about Europe. Eric Topol had a few tweets yesterday about how bad the winter wave is there, even in countries with higher vaccination rates than the US, so he was warning that our winter wave will be awful.
On closer exam, though, with one exception (Belgium), there was a strong correlation between how big a summer Delta wave the country had, and how big it’s winter wave so far. The worse the country’s Delta wave, the lower its increase in infections now. This suggests that areas in the US that got hammered by Delta will continue to experience a respite, while those that escaped big Delta outbreaks before will get one now or very soon.
MJS
I just came back from a trip to Puerto Rico. Lots of mask requirements, and a lot places require proof of vaccine for entry. I was there for almost 2 weeks, and heard zero bitching about it, not even from fellow tourists. It’s what we could have had in the states but for MAGA.
OzarkHillbilly
‘They tell you what you want to hear’: people buying fake vaccine cards get scammed themselves
A sucker born every minute. And speaking of suckers…
Looking for somebody who will legitimately help her in her scam. Honey? There is no honor among thieves.
Maybe I am supposed to feel sympathy for such people being taken for hundreds because of their desperate need to be plague rats, but I feel only the urge to point and laugh.
rikyrah
The vaccine is FREE, but getting a FAKE VACCINE CARD, BECAUSE????
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
Not just want to be part of the lying unvaccinated, but the criminal lying unvaccinated, and we are supposed to feel sympathy for them? I think the phuck not???
YY_Sima Qian
On 11/11 China reported 79 new domestic confirmed (16 previously asymptomatic) & 12 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 14 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 32 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
At Xi’an in Shaanxi Province there currently are 10 active domestic confirmed cases in the city.
Ningxia “Autonomous” Region did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 34 active domestic confirmed cases in the region.
Gansu Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 103 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Hebei Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 120 active confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic 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.
At Zunyi in Guizhou Province there currently are 3 active domestic confirmed cases (2 moderate & 1 serious) remaining in the city. 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
Jilin City in Jilin Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a parent of the domestic confirmed case reported on 11/10. There currently are 1 active domestic & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining.
Beijing Municipality reported 6 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all traced close contacts. The new cluster is centered around a corporate conference held in the city in early Nov. It was only discovered because an attendee of the conference from Jilin City in Jilin had to get tested before reporting back to the office, as a person w/ recent travel history to Beijing. Phylogenetic analysis shows the new cluster is part of the transmission chain from the earlier clusters in the city, ultimately originating from Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia. 1 residential compound was elevated to Medium Risk. 2 communities & 1 residential compound are currently at Medium Risk.
At Rizhao in Shandong Province 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 did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 25 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.
At Chongqing Municipality there currently are 6 active domestic confirmed & 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining. 2 residential compounds & 1 office building are currently at Medium Risk.
At Changzhou in Jiangsu Province there currently are 3 active domestic confirmed cases remaining. 3 residential compounds are currently at Medium Risk.
At Xining in Qinghai Province there currently is 11 active domestic confirmed case remaining.
Heilongjiang Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed cases. 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 258 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Shangrao in Jiangxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (moderate) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 1 a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine & the other from mass screening. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 13 active domestic confirmed & 31 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 township & 2 residential compounds are currently Medium Risk.
At Zhejiang Province there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed (at Jiaxing) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Hangzhou) cases remaining.
Henan Province reported 12 new domestic confirmed (11 previously asymptomatic) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 70 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Dalian in Liaoning Province reported 52 new domestic confirmed (5 previously asymptomatic, 43 mild & 9 moderate) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 33 of the new domestic confirmed cases are university students confined to campus since 11/6 & 19 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine since 11/6-9. There currently are 135 active domestic confirmed & 80 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 community, 3 villages, 4 residential buildings & 3 residential compounds were elevated to Medium Risk. 2 community, 7 residential compounds, 8 residential buildings & 7 villages are currently at Medium Risk.
Dehong Prefecture in Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Ruili via screening of border villagers under movement restrictions) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic (at Yingjiang County from persons already under centralized quarantine). 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 23 active domestic confirmed & 34 active domestic asymptomatic cases at the prefecture. 1 zone & 1 village at Ruili were elevated to Medium Risk. 2 zones & 2 villages at Ruili are currently at Medium Risk.
Imported Cases
On 11/11, China reported 19 new imported confirmed cases (none previously asymptomatic), 23 imported asymptomatic cases:
Overall in China, 64 confirmed cases recovered (34 imported), 24 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (23 imported) & 16 were reclassified as confirmed cases (all domestic), & 2,564 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,280 active confirmed cases in the country (377 imported), 20 in serious condition (3 imported), 533 active asymptomatic cases (357 imported), 2 suspect case (both imported). 50,507 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 11/11, 2,364.032M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 8.501M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 11/12, Hong Kong reported 1 new positive case, imported (from the UK, already fully vaccinated in Hong Kong w/ BioNTech by end of April & took booster BioNTech on 11/5).
Ken
It’s annoying when people don’t listen to one another, but it’s infuriating when they don’t listen to what’s coming out of their own mouths.
Betty
Regarding Puerto Rico, I am not convinced about the explanation given. Like Puerto Rico, Dominica was devastated by Hurricane Maria and all of our politicians have supported vaccination yet we continue to have a strong anti-vax movement. It’s a combination of conspiracy theorists and believers in natural immunity from healthy living. Maybe Puerto Rico isn’t as susceptible to Fox News and Facebook. It’s a mystery.
NotMax
@Baud
Following up.
Possibly the most egregious part of the bill is that it attempts to forbid public funds be used to institute or enforce mask/vaccine mandates (a virus’ wet dream), unless proof presented it hits in the wallet.
Scout211
At Mr. Scout’s appointment yesterday, his GI doctor was asking us if we were still making an effort to stay safe from COVID. He then told us that he is at the local hospital every day and there is currently “a lot” of patients in the hospital who are very sick with COVID. And then he paused, raised his voice slightly and said, “And 100% of them are unvaccinated!” He seemed very disheartened.
It has to be really hard to be a physician in these times when Fox News personalities and “my cousins’s friend’s brother on Facebook” has more influence over their patients’ healthcare decisions than they do as their doctor. Sigh.
Nothing new in this story, just an up-close personal example of healthcare workers today and what they have to deal with. Sigh.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Paid using the
AmericanNigerian Prince Express card?WaterGirl
Go Austria! You don’t want to get the vaccine? Lockdown for you, freedom for everybody else.
Brachiator
This is the same thing a cafe owner said about the city of Los Angeles requirement that you have to show ID and proof of vaccination at various businesses.
Compliance is spotty at various places I have visited recently. Most people I see are at least pretty good about wearing masks.
Cermet
@OzarkHillbilly: Now this I can laugh at and not feel guilty at all. Talk about stupid is as stupid does!
Ken
I’m struggling with a small moral issue. I want the booster, but when I fill in the appointment form for Walgreens (where I got the original), it says that I don’t meet CDC eligibility requirements. So I’m thinking of fudging slightly on the “are you required to interact with the public” question. Opinions?
Geo Wilcox
A French pharma company called Valneva is working on a nasal vaccine that just might be a major game changer. The article about is is on the Aljazeera site but I can’t paste the link.
It works like the nasal flu and polio vaccines by introducing the whole virus to the immune system. This could mean it will protect from all the variations of Covid because the spike proteins that the other vaccines used to start an immune response change with the variations but the whole virus does not.
Tony Gerace
“Communist America”. I certainly hope that that guy was wearing a shirt that says “I am a moron who uses words without knowing what they mean.”.
RSA
I can’t get used to calling everyone “comrade.” It’s cool to own the means of production, though.
Kalakal
@OzarkHillbilly:
What has the world come to when you can’t find an accredited supplier of forged documentation?
That’s basically the job description of people who sell fraudulent goods
Tony Gerace
@NotMax: “Tennessee pastors”. Is there a stupider group of morons on the planet? Just curous.
Brachiator
@WaterGirl:
The militant unvaccinated make things harder for themselves and for the larger society, but they may just be part of the problem. This virus is a tricky bug.
Countries with high vaccination rates are also seeing surges, as are cities, states and countries which experience significant surges when they come out of lockdowns.
There is something about transmission of the virus and also about potential mitigation that we have not yet figured out.
Chris T.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Speaking of which, something I don’t understand… I get a lot of spam email claiming I have free money available if I will just click on some link. OK, obvious scam. But the part I don’t get: the scam email claims to be from my own email address! This is such a blatant lie. “Oh look, I’m offering myself money!” W. T. F ?!?
Tony Gerace
@Kalakal: It’s another supply-chain problem. Thanks Biden!
WaterGirl
@Brachiator: I would guess that at least part of the reason is that people decide it’s over and they stop wearing masks. I think the key is vaccination + masks in public. Just one person’s opinion.
topclimber
@NotMax: Isn’t Tennessee at at-will employment state? IANAL but that means they can fire anyone, anytime for any reason, no explanation required. Of course there are limits due to racial or other discrimination.
Employers who want to enforce mandates will find a way. Maybe daily tests for those not vaccinated, at their expense. Not to force vaccination, mind you, but to make sure the work place is not infected by their presence.
Oops, I forgot this is Tennessee, where stupid is a protected class.
Kalakal
@Ken: Go with it. Once the vaccine shots are in Walgreens it’s use ’em or lose ’em. Unless there is a shortage of shots in your area they’ll go to waste if not used. They didn’t even ask at our Walgreens
Brachiator
@Ken:
There seems to be a plentiful supply of booster shots, so you may not be preventing someone from getting their extra dose.
But I am also hearing that getting the booster is not an urgent matter if you are not age 65 or older and do not have underlying conditions.
Matt McIrvin
@Chris T.: Probably an attempt to get past automated spam filters.
Another Scott
@Geo Wilcox:
AlJazeera
As I read it, the Valneva vaccine is a shot of dead virus, but the story also mentions nasal sprays.
Thanks for the pointer.
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
My corner of Massachusetts is clearly heading into a new outbreak, following New Hampshire up the street. I might have to go back to hunkering down and doing all my shopping by delivery and curbside pickup. Can’t get a booster for another week-plus.
We’re planning to go down to NYC next weekend–will be interesting to be in a place where there are actually vaccine mandates for most public places. It looks like they’re having a modest rise in cases there too, but it’s from a base rate we haven’t seen here since August.
topclimber
@RSA: All these commies and all these billionaires in one country. Talk about bipartisanship! Amerika RoKs!
Kalakal
Ok 2nd shot of Pfizer yesterday.
Thanks to zero info from Novavax re boosters etc I decided to get a booster ( Novavax shots were in March), I’m under 65 but have a fair amount of public interactiin through work
Couldn’t actually get a booster without flat out lying as hadn’t officially been vaccinated. However not having been officially vaccinated meant I was eligible for be officially vaccinated. So I am now officially and unofficially vaxed.
so far sore arm and a bit fuzzy
Wvng
I often share information from Anne’s marvelous global covid review. This morning, in response to a FB post by the Hardy County (WV) Health Dept describing how hot things are here, I commented: “I am reading a series of articles on what is happening in the European Union on covid right now. Cases and deaths are surging. A number of countries have the same problem we have here in Hardy and WV generally … too many people refusing to get vaccinated. Austria is considering mandatory lock downs for all unvaccinated individuals, Germany has a large number of resisters driving the pandemic, and Eastern Europe, including Russia, is a total nightmare. ”
In response a bubba wrote “Heil Hitler.” That is what we are dealing with here.
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator: If you look at the breakdown of statistics in these outbreaks it’s never that surprising. Vaccinated people can get infected and transmit, but they’re not the ones filling up the hospitals. But the thing spreads so fast and the unvaccinated are so virulent even a small fraction of unvaccinated can be a big problem. And in most of these places, young children aren’t vaccinated yet; in some they haven’t even extended it to teenagers.
Even if we were 100% vaccinated, I think we’d still have COVID outbreaks on the level of common-cold waves, but it wouldn’t be a huge social problem. But no place is 100% vaccinated.
Robert Sneddon
The SARS-nCoV-2 virus spreads easily in public spaces, especially the Delta variant. Vaccination doesn’t stop that spread happening, what it does is make any opportune infection less virulent to the vaccinated person. The more people vaccinated, the less viral “soup” present in the air in public spaces as a result of mildly and strongly infected people being present.
The UK is recording more cases of COVID-19 per capita than the US even though we have a much higher vaccinated population. However we are testing at twice the rate as the US and a lot of the cases being detected are mild enough to not require hospital treatment. The bad news is that the holdouts against vaccination are younger people, the ones who go to big music events, pubs and clubs etc. There are no more lockdowns and mask wearing is spotty even in places that require it like public transport so the reported case numbers continue at a high level.
Many of the “new” cases reported are now of people who have already had COVID-19 previously and there are anecdotal reports of third-timers. This is a sign the disease is moving into the endemic phase of its life-cycle when everybody will be exposed to it over time. The vaccines make such exposures less likely to be serious, just like influenza or other endemic diseases we experience year on year. That’s a big win.
topclimber
@Ken: I nominate “No shot, no service.” Ok to use mask if unvaccinated.
Geminid
@NeenerNeener: Those numbers are pretty shocking. They make me want to check out central Virginia’s. Our past trends seem to have tracked with the numbers you report from upstate New York.
barbequebob
@Ken: What Kalakai said
Matt McIrvin
@Robert Sneddon: I think that in the urban Northeast US we’re going to end up with fairly high levels of vaccination of children, but the “young immortals” are a tougher nut to crack. They’ve been told from the beginning of the pandemic that COVID is not a problem for them.
Matt McIrvin
@Geminid: Central VA is still coming down off the Southern late-summer wave, but things seem to be getting worse in the southwestern corner near Kentucky.
lowtechcyclist
It’s a long time ago now (1990s), but my wife and I both used to teach in northeast Tennessee.
Thank God we got the hell out of there.
Patrianakos
@Tony Gerace: “When I use a word, it means exactly what I want it to mean.”
lowtechcyclist
@Matt McIrvin:
And it’s right next to Tennessee, which is now officially anti-vax, anti-mask.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Greece: they’re looking at intensifying restrictions on the unvaccinated, including barring them from entry to supermarkets and other food stores without a negative COVID test. (Those are currently exempt from the general vax/test for entry requirements, along with pharmacies and churches.)
ICUs are at 89% capacity, and the number of patients on ventilators is rising. New cases are down, if you can call it that, to 6,771 reported yesterday evening from the previous day’s 7,089 and Tuesday’s record of 8,613. That’s out of a population of just over ten million, so Greece would be pretty high on that Eastern Europe chart.
My actual booster that’s officially my first Greek vaccination is scheduled for next Wednesday. I know they’re now saying that you should get a booster two months after the J&J one-shot, but I wonder if that also applies for people who got the double mRNA shot beforehand? And more specifically, would it do more good or harm? Because I suspect that around mid-January, the Greek system will be nagging me for a booster because they don’t know about the shots on my CDC card.
JMG
Had my covid test in Bordeaux today prior to flying back to the States on Monday (assuming test is negative, of course). Proof of vaccination required for bars, restaurants, museums, etc. Masks in stores and public transit. Universal compliance as far as I can see. Cases up here, but not by as much as in other European countries or in Paris, which as a center of world travel would figure to have more cases per capita.
I read the Massachusetts statistics every day and it seems as if it is either stable or rising very slowly in a range of 1100-1400 cases a day, less than 10 cases a day, and around 510-530 hospitalizations.
VOR
People think it’s over. I’m getting my car serviced and only 2 other people out of the 20 or so in the waiting area are wearing masks.
Suzanne
@OzarkHillbilly: That story deserves the gif of Michael Jackson eating popcorn.
Suzanne
@Matt McIrvin:
Supposedly we’re going to see Pfizer submit vaccine data for the 2-4 set this month. Many crossed fingers.
Wag
@Ken: Absolutely. Do it.
Matt McIrvin
@Suzanne: I do know parents of 5-12yo kids who eagerly got vaccinated themselves but are still hesitant about vaccinating the kids, thanks to all the FUD. So there’s some resistance even here among people who are not tremendously antivax-inclined.
Matt McIrvin
@JMG: The winter wave is definitely coming in Massachusetts. It’s spotty–the outbreaks are mainly in western and northeastern MA now.
The clumpiness of infection has meant that in northern New England, there is no guarantee that a drop in cases means you’re coming off the peak of the wave. Lots of counties in ME, VT and NH have been on a roller-coaster ride up and down.
Suzanne
@Matt McIrvin: I really like my neighbor cohort. Lots of vaccine pictures on FB this week. Life in a “a Democratic stronghold” is better.
Aaron Rodgers's Mustache Casket
@Baud: you & me both brother.
Another Scott
@Matt McIrvin: CovidActNow.org has 18 counties in Virginia at or above R = 1.0. The highest R’s are in tiny localities in NoVA. Numbers are definitely creeping up, as expected. There are too many unvaccinated and unmasked people out there, and the virus will find them. We’ve known this for months, but too many people refuse to accept the math…
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
Scout211
@Ken:
I’m not sure what state you live in, but I just read on a local television news site from Sacramento that our state health director is in favor of everyone getting a booster shot before the holidays. He recommends everyone who is 6 months past their second shot and who feel that they would benefit from the booster shot at this time should get the booster.
Fair Economist
@JMG: I think the French approach will stick and will work. Ridiculous that there is so much resistance to easy measures. Eventually every place will have to be like France; it’s just a matter of how much suffering is needed to get there.
Wag
In Colorado, Gov Polis this morning issued an executive order allowing anyone previously vaccinated to be eligible for a booster shot.
Well done, Governor
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/12/covid-delta-variant-live-updates/
geg6
@Kalakal:
Same at CVS. No one asked.
Sloane Ranger
Yesterday in the UK we had 42,408 new cases. The rolling 7-day average is down by 12%. New cases by nation,
England – 35,472 (up 3931)
Northern Ireland – 1462 (down 303)
Scotland – 3340 (down 512)
Wales – 2134 (down 37).
Deaths – There were 195 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is down by 4.4%. 151 deaths were in England, 6 in Northern Ireland, 26 in Scotland and 12 in Wales.
Testing – 1,024,023 tests took place on Wednesday, 10 November. The rolling 7-day average was down by 1.4%. The PCR testing capacity reported by labs on the 10th was 826,670.
Hospitalisations – There were 8767 people in hospital and 1008 on ventilators on 10th November. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions was down by 10.8% as at 7 November.
Vaccinations – As of 10th November, 50,455,318 people had had 1 shot of a vaccine, 45,942,003 had had 2 and 11,452,654 had had a 3rd shot/booster. This means that 87.7% of UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot by that date, 79.9% had had 2 and 19.9% had had 3 shots/booster.
J R in WV
@Wvng:
Actually, Bubba is correct, here in Amerika, it is mostly the Nazis who refuse the vaccine and propagate lies about it’s non-existent side effects.
And I so wanted to grow a small prehensile tail, too!! ;~)
J R in WV
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Bruce, It can’t do any harm unless you have a violent allergic reaction. Since you have already had a couple of shots, you know you aren’t violently allergic, so for you any real significant harm appears to be nearly impossible, and the extra immunity a real plus for you regarding the Sars2-CoronaVirus-19. So the sooner the better.
Wife and I got into a nearby county’s Health Department when they decided to do a vaccination clinic, no questions asked, to use up their about to expire vaccine supplies. And they did actually ask questions, not to limit clients from receiving their shot, just to be able to enter the vaccinations into the state database. So our “booster” was actually a full third dose of the Moderna. Sore arm was the only noticeable side effect.
Ksmiami
@Ken: just get vaxxed- it’s overall better for you and society
Origuy
@Tony Gerace: This particular group of pastors is opposed to the anti-masking, anti-mandate bill, so yes, there is a stupider group.
Scout211
@geg6:
I guess CVS pharmacies are not all alike in how they sign people up for the vaccines. We signed up online and they did ask all the questions. When we got our booster last month at CVS, that store was also taking walk-ins. The walk-ins were required to fill out an intake form with all of the questions.
However, no one at the pharmacy or the online form asked for any kind of proof that your job kept you in contact with the public. That question is up to you to answer any way you feel like answering it.
As I posted earlier, the state of California public health director and per Wag, the Governor of Colorado are both saying you can now get the booster shot if you are 6 months past the second dose. Anyone who thinks they could use one.
It’s only my opinion, but I am expecting the CDC and White House to follow that recommendation very soon. The holidays are coming quickly and there are not many families that want to stay away from each other this year.
Matt McIrvin
The other thing about COVID stories right now is that the news headlines always seem to sort of imply an angle of “the vaccines stopped working!” even when reading the actual story reveals this not to be the case. This strikes me as dangerous.
Matt McIrvin
@Scout211: Yeah, our CVS schedules shots through the website and they’re basically just trusting what you say. The people giving the shots won’t ask for proof.
I intend to tell them I’m eligible because I have an eligible health condition, but that’s actually true if faintly absurd (I’m “overweight”: BMI > 25)
I didn’t do this to get vaccinated earlier in the spring because I felt supplies were limited and I didn’t want to skip the line. But that’s not the situation in the US now.
wvng
@J R in WV: Sadly my lovely prehensile tail was not a long last side effect. I had just started to get the hang of the thing when it receded, and the booster didn’t restore it. Sad.
JustRuss
We should amend HIPAA to make it legal to publicize the name of any unvaxxed moron who ends up in the hospital. Scroll the names at the end of each local news broadcast.
Bill Arnold
@Betty:
That is fascinating, Thank you. (I hope at least one academic focuses some attention on this.)
(St. Martin – St. Maarten! – I wonder about that Island too. Much smaller total population, though.)
H-Bob
@Tony Gerace: Apparently the legislators who passed the bill that the pastors call disastrous!
RaflW
Late to this thread, so I may repost this tomorrow if I’m at it earlier in the day (or has this been discussed in a thread on a previous day?). News from the midwest about Covid and deer is not good.
Uncle Cosmo
I note that the Johns Hopkins graph for Eastern Europe didn’t include the Czech Republic (Czechia), so let me pass along this c&p from an e-mail I received on Veterans’ Day from Milan, my friend and frequent host in the northeast suburbs of Prague:
Having enjoyed Czech brews and observed Czech imbibers in their native habitats over many years, I can certify that if anything is going to prod them into getting jabbed, it’s conditioning the availability of Pilsener on it. I just hope they’re open for alcotourists come spring.
Original Lee
@Ken: I fudged on my Walgreen’s application because I needed to get the booster two weeks early, due to attending a family member’s funeral. CVS flat out wouldn’t let me make an appointment, ditto RiteAid, because it wasn’t time yet.
NB: I could theoretically have watched the livestream of the service, but as one of only three family members this person had left, I felt it was important to be there. The church had a cap of 30 attendees, so if I couldn’t have gotten the booster, I probably would have stood in a back corner or something.
Uncle Cosmo
NB After not one but two phone noodges from the MD State Health Dept {“Our records show you qualify for a booster, call this number to schedule an appointment”), I shewjeweled my m[ode]RNA boohooster & got it (in the other arm from the seasonal-flu shor the week before) last Chewsday. Both arms are now sore (I conjecture I lost some muscle mass for dispersing the glop during the months of CHIP [Cowering Helplessly In Place]), but as the grammarians say, this too shall parse, and hurrah for public-health pestering!
StringOnAStick
@Ken: Unless you are a hermit then you are interacting with the public by things like grocery shopping, etc.
My husband and I got our first shots because he has CLL, and I as his “caretaker” (meaning I live here with him) qualified. We got our boosters Monday and they signed him up for a 4th because of the CLL even though he’s at Stage 0. When they asked me what my reason was, I told them I’m an RDH. I did not mention that I retired when Covid started and am not practicing currently nor do I intend to ever again, but I did not lie that I’m an RDH. This place is swimming in vaccine availability and also in the number of eastern OR wingnuts who refuse to get vaccinated, so for me it was worth a white lie to protect myself from these assholes.
Or you can ask yourself this question: how would you feel if you had been struggling with making this decision and in the meantime came down with Covid? If the CO Governor is letting everyone get a booster, I’d say you can too.
Kayla Rudbek
@Ken: I like “Mask it or casket” myself
Bill Arnold
@geg6:
CVS did a no-fuss, quick walk-in Pfizer booster today for me.
I talked with the nurse(?); she said it was about 90 percent boosters, with most of the remainder satisfying a work-requirement, that kids are getting it through their pediatricians. And that the store was doing about 100 per day.
ETA said (truthfully) I was taking a blood pressure medication. (low dose beta blocker). But contact with the public would have worked (though it would be a lie for me; hermitting until long-COVID is better understood.)