Coronavirus: How dangerous a threat?

[movingtarget]

Vaccines and oxygen run out as third wave of Covid hits Uganda

Vaccine thefts reported and hospitals unable to admit patients as cases leap 2,800% in a month

www.theguardian.com

 

[movingtarget]

China and the west must now cooperate to achieve global Covid vaccine coverage | Sophie Zinser

Given the G7’s underwhelming pledge, WHO approval for two Chinese jabs is a welcome boost, says Chatham House fellow Sophie Zinser

www.theguardian.com

 

[Blimpie21]

Crazy we are having the ECs now, all over Europe. Anyway, I just read:

After the positive corona tests of Sergio Busquets and Diego Llorente, the Spanish national team should be vaccinated before the start of the European Championship. The Ministry of Health confirmed this to the AFP news agency on Wednesday. According to a spokesman, Health Minister Carolina Darias will announce in the afternoon that "the Spanish national team will be vaccinated". The decision to vaccinate the Spanish Olympic team for Tokyo, but not the national team, had previously been criticized. Spain start on Monday in Seville against Sweden in the EM. Because of the corona cases in the team, the Spaniards have formed a "B-squad" with 17 players, which is in its own bubble and could be used against Sweden in the event of a team quarantine.

Mehr Zuschauer in Kopenhagen - Aufatmen im spanischen Lager

Aufregung um ein "Corona-Dinner", Yann Sommer macht Musik, und Axel Witsel hat einen Fan in Belgiens EM-Kader: Die EM-Splitter.

www.kicker.de

Maybe this belongs into the football thread. Anyway, now?? A few days before the start? Isn't that a bit nonsensical, because the effect should not be immediate, but surely some players will feel the side effects? None of my business, I was just wondering.

Yeah... they played 3 days after the jab. Seems like a real lack of forsight.

Anyway, they completely dominated Sweden... but ended with a 0-0 draw.

 

[Ultrairon]

Someone should tell that to the cruiselines that are gearing up for a restart, particularly around Athens. It is unclear what the exact requirements will be for travel to the EU from the US, but I have read that proof of vaccination will eliminate quarantine rules. It is unclear if you will still need to take an antigen test on arrival if you are vaccinated.
Maryland is joining the fun with their own vaccine lotto. Anyone who has gotten at least 1 dose will be in the drawing for $40k given daily for the next 40 days and a grand prize of $400k on the Fourth of July.

Even though the national numbers in the US continue to trend downward, we are starting to see a reversal in places like Arkansas and Mississippi. I don't think it will end up being that serious in comparison to the other US outbreaks, but the combination of few restrictions, incautious people, AC weather, and lower vaccination rates will make the sunbelt a prime area for localized covid issues. And there will be plenty of COVID left for the fall to hit those who aren't vaccinated. Virologist Christian Drosten mentioned on a recent podcast that people will ultimately either get the vaccine or the virus.

May 21st date of your post and still no reversal or significant reversal in either of the states you make the statement on.
More evidence to reveal itself on the true origins of the virus itself?

 

[djpbaltimore]

What is your definition of significant? Numbers in Arkansas are clearly going up from a 7 day average of 100 to a 7 day average of 200 since June began. And it is a reversal from when they were going down. The national numbers have plateaued again and delta is growing. The outlook isn't dire, but it could be a lot better if more people would get their jabs.

 

[Jagartrott]

In Flanders, 65% of the adult population has now received at least one dose. By Sunday, this should be over 70%, and then next week, another 650.000 doses would be administered (total population of Flanders is c. 6.5 million).

The Flemish government has now also decided to give those below 41 years old the option of taking the J&J vaccine on a voluntary basis (it had been barred from that age group a couple of weeks ago after the death of a 39-year-old woman). In about 24 hours, 45.000 people have already volunteered for it, mainly because it makes traveling easier (one shot and you're set). In general, the willingness to take vaccines is sky-high, which bodes well for the future.

 

[Keram]

I should have my second dose of AZ at 18th june and they still dont send me an appoitment message. In Slovakia vaccination is one big mess. This country is a joke

 

[djpbaltimore]

What is your definition of significant? Numbers in Arkansas are clearly going up from a 7 day average of 100 to a 7 day average of 200 since June began. And it is a reversal from when they were going down. The national numbers have plateaued again and delta is growing. The outlook isn't dire, but it could be a lot better if more people would get their jabs.

And if you don't believe in case counts, these data are also pointing in the wrong direction. Having lived in Arkansas for 5 years, I can tell you that they are now entering peak AC weather, which will facilitate unvaccinated people congregating inside exclusively for the next 3 months. Vaccination will help, but we have to expect localized outbreaks in rural areas where vaccination rates are lower.

Already at its highest level since March 20, the number of people hospitalized with covid-19 in the state rose Wednesday by 12, to 216.
A day earlier, the number rose by 29 -- the largest single-day jump since early February.
The number of the state's virus patients who were on ventilators rose Wednesday by three, to 40, its highest level since May 12.
The number of covid-19 patients in intensive care units in the state rose by six, to 93.

State covid hospitalizations start to climb

The number of people hospitalized in Arkansas with covid-19 rose Wednesday by double-digits for the second day in a row, while the state's count of cases rose by 201.

www.arkansasonline.com

 

[Unchained]

https://starexponent.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/stories-from-a-pandemic-podcast-donated-to-library-of-congress/article_3d88980a-7913-5ad4-b948-4156cb523f7f.html

 

[Unchained]

I listened to a couple of stories from doctors..and some were worse than others..I kind of expected that..but a couple of them ripped my heart out. So far everything I have read about all these medical professionals world wide leave me in awe..people willing to do anything to help others..
uplifting at the very very least

 

[movingtarget]

The Delta variant is spreading. What does it mean for the US?

Covid-19 cases have fallen far below the winter peak, but the Delta variant has roughly doubled every two weeks in the US

www.theguardian.com

 

[search]

no good news from CureVac.

CureVac’s Covid-19 Vaccine Disappoints in Clinical Trial (Published 2021)

A preliminary analysis showed that CureVac’s mRNA vaccine had an efficacy of just 47 percent. “This is pretty devastating for them,” one expert said.

www.nytimes.com

 

[BlueRoads]

Yaey, I have my appointment dates... first one in two weeks, but at least they didn't forget me.
I also feel special because I'll get Moderna, of which we don't have much, as far as I know.

 

[dusty red roads]

Doggy COVID sniffers to be trialled at Adelaide Airport - cool!

Dogs deployed to sniff out coronavirus cases among airport arrivals

A team of labradors is helping to bolster coronavirus detection efforts at Adelaide Airport as part of a trial to see if the dogs can sniff out COVID-19 cases among incoming travellers.

www.abc.net.au

 

[dusty red roads]

Yaey, I have my appointment dates... first one in two weeks, but at least they didn't forget me.
I also feel special because I'll get Moderna, of which we don't have much, as far as I know.

Japan seems to be gradually improving their vax rates, to my surprise I'm now allowed to book, so I'm in for next week with Moderna as well! 2nd dose won't be till after the Olympic RR, but better late than never!

 

[BlueRoads]

Japan seems to be gradually improving their vax rates, to my surprise I'm now allowed to book, so I'm in for next week with Moderna as well! 2nd dose won't be till after the Olympic RR, but better late than never!

That's great!

 

[yaco]

Japan seems to be gradually improving their vax rates, to my surprise I'm now allowed to book, so I'm in for next week with Moderna as well! 2nd dose won't be till after the Olympic RR, but better late than never!

The problem with Japan is that they wouldn't issue emergency use exemptions for vaccines - They insisted on running full clinical trials in Japan.

 

[djpbaltimore]

no good news from CureVac.

CureVac’s Covid-19 Vaccine Disappoints in Clinical Trial (Published 2021)

A preliminary analysis showed that CureVac’s mRNA vaccine had an efficacy of just 47 percent. “This is pretty devastating for them,” one expert said.

www.nytimes.com

If I am not mistaken, they did not use the conformation locked version of the Spike that Pfizer and Moderna did. EDIT. Nevermind, it does use the locked Spike. So, that is really disappointing.

We heard how well Belgium is doing with vaccination, but is there any other place with as much geographical variance as the US? This is why I have been talking about localized outbreaks. Even if you believe in herd immunity, vaccination rates have to be uniform across the population to really be successful.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1405297683963731979

View: https://twitter.com/NorahODonnell/status/1405297683963731979

 

[dusty red roads]

The problem with Japan is that they wouldn't issue emergency use exemptions for vaccines - They insisted on running full clinical trials in Japan.

Yup, that's part of the government's "Japanese people react differently to other humans" thing. Then again since they did a bit *** up with some vaccine years ago, they probably did this to also try and build more trust with the people so they'd get vaccinated. However the trials were done with very small numbers anyway, I read that deems them pretty useless.

Ironically Mr Vaccine (the guy in charge of the rollout) stated yesterday that they probably should have forgone the Japanese trials, cos this is an emergency. Duh!!!!!

 

[BlueRoads]

I only have some superficial media information, so I'm not really in the state to compare - but Germany didn't want to do any emergency exemptions (and didn't), although some people were like "but in the US... but the UK..."

Former experiences / public scandals are probably important in these cases.
We had the huge contergan-scandal around 1960, which was not about vaccines, but it was a big catastrophe and everyone, people like me who did not experience the time itself, know about it from the media, films and so on. (Don't know how big this is in other countries, it was a sleeping drug which was said to be harmless, given especially to pregnant women, and then thousands of babies were born with deformities or missing extremeties/ organs. Since then the safety of medication, the whole supervision process has been very much improved, the rules for approbation are quite strict- in part due to that scandal.)
Trust in the authorities has been gained (back), but the trust has to be kept.

I think this also played a role why until very recently pregnant women in Germany were not vaccinated, while in other countries they were priority. Here they could name two contacts who were vaccinated instead. (Although this seems to have been a bit of a mistake, since pregnant women seem to be more vulnerable to covid, but that's probably why Germany is especially careful in that area.)

 

[djpbaltimore]

Interesting speculation about CureVac.

So if it really is inferior, then why? What are the differences between this one and the other two mRNA agents? The biggest one that I can see is that the CureVac vaccine does not use any modified mRNA bases – in fact, they have pointed to this as a feature, in the hopes that this will induce a more wide-ranging immune response. Meanwhile, the other two have made extensive use of bases like N-methylpseudouridine, in an effort to improve stability. So one possibility – a pretty likely one, in my view – is that the all-natural RNA idea has turned out to be a mistake, and that the CureVac agent is getting broken down too quickly to be effective, both inside and outside cells.

Science | AAAS

blogs.sciencemag.org

 

[Koronin]

If I am not mistaken, they did not use the conformation locked version of the Spike that Pfizer and Moderna did. EDIT. Nevermind, it does use the locked Spike. So, that is really disappointing.

We heard how well Belgium is doing with vaccination, but is there any other place with as much geographical variance as the US? This is why I have been talking about localized outbreaks. Even if you believe in herd immunity, vaccination rates have to be uniform across the population to really be successful.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1405297683963731979

View: https://twitter.com/NorahODonnell/status/1405297683963731979

This is one of the reasons why I'm comfortable going to a Durham Bulls game, but not ready to back to the theaters. Hopefully by March when Doctor Strange is released I'll feel more confident about going back to the theater (or back to hockey games). This is also why I'm still wearing a mask when I'm in stores (working or shopping).

 

[Keram]

If I am not mistaken, they did not use the conformation locked version of the Spike that Pfizer and Moderna did. EDIT. Nevermind, it does use the locked Spike. So, that is really disappointing.

We heard how well Belgium is doing with vaccination, but is there any other place with as much geographical variance as the US? This is why I have been talking about localized outbreaks. Even if you believe in herd immunity, vaccination rates have to be uniform across the population to really be successful.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1405297683963731979

View: https://twitter.com/NorahODonnell/status/1405297683963731979

There are huge differences in Slovakia as well for example. Best region is Bratislava with 52% citizens first dose and 32% fully vaccinated. Worst counties here have less first doses percentage than Bratislava has fully vaccinated.


For the record. I get my appointment for second Astra. I should go tommorrow but I will go next tuesday. I hope they dont reschedule me again.

 

[dusty red roads]

I only have some superficial media information, so I'm not really in the state to compare - but Germany didn't want to do any emergency exemptions (and didn't), although some people were like "but in the US... but the UK..."

Former experiences / public scandals are probably important in these cases.
We had the huge contergan-scandal around 1960, which was not about vaccines, but it was a big catastrophe and everyone, people like me who did not experience the time itself, know about it from the media, films and so on. (Don't know how big this is in other countries, it was a sleeping drug which was said to be harmless, given especially to pregnant women, and then thousands of babies were born with deformities or missing extremeties/ organs. Since then the safety of medication, the whole supervision process has been very much improved, the rules for approbation are quite strict- in part due to that scandal.)
Trust in the authorities has been gained (back), but the trust has to be kept.

I think this also played a role why until very recently pregnant women in Germany were not vaccinated, while in other countries they were priority. Here they could name two contacts who were vaccinated instead. (Although this seems to have been a bit of a mistake, since pregnant women seem to be more vulnerable to covid, but that's probably why Germany is especially careful in that area.)

Thalidomide - terrible terrible thing. I knew someone in Oz who had been born with limb problems due to thalidomide (mother had taken it), I don't know how big it was in Oz, but I guess if one pregnant woman used it others would have as well.

 

[search]

Worst counties here have less first doses percentage than Bratislava has fully vaccinated.

It seems to vary quite a lot in general, yeah. I checked some numbers for Romania, as I'm travelling there next month, and it seems like they are stuck at ~25% (almost all fully vaccinated), and have now asked suppliers to send less doses, as there is no more interest

Romania asks suppliers to send fewer COVID-19 vaccine doses as vaccination rates slow down

The Romanian authorities asked suppliers to send only 2.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in June, 4.5 million fewer than planned, as the vaccination rates continue to slow down in the country. According to the secretary of state Andrei Baciu, there was a risk that the doses would expire due to...

www.romania-insider.com

Currently they have almost no new daily cases, but I guess in autumn at the latest, this will become a major issue for some countries - and we are talking about the EU here.

By the way, CureVac now claims that it's not quite fair to compare their numbers with those of earlier studies, facing different challenges. I guess they somewhat have a point there, and AZ at least maybe wouldn't get much better numbers now, but still, it doesn't change anything about the fact that their efficiancy is not good enough.