thedestroyerofworlds

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00877-4 After the WHO report: what’s next in the search for COVID’s origins A World Health Organization report makes a reasonable start, scientists say, but there are many questions yet to be answered.

Starting to get some numbers on the people who survived Covid, but experienced symptoms beyond 4 weeks. For our anti-vaxxer crowd, tell us how not taking the vaccine is better. For the Covidiot crowd, tell us again how this is no big deal. EDIT: There have been roughly 4.35 million cases of COVID in the UK (population 66 million). That means 1 in 4 cases of COVID. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/long-covid-symptoms-uk-ons-b1825434.html?utm_source=reddit.com Long Covid: More than a million experiencing symptoms in UK, official data shows Latest official estimates reveal the scale of the longer-term health problems caused by coronavirus

There was a study that analyzed over 180,000 Welsh residents from up to January who received the AstraZenica vaccine and found no increase in clotting. https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-wales-56578562?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D#aoh=16171673836456&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s

Man, I wish we had taken Covid more seriously. This was the MSG this week for the Round 2 match between Collignwood and Carlton of the AFL. The Melbourne Cricket Ground can hold 100,000. Our eggs are in the vaccination basket and hopefully crowds will be a thing late this year/early next.

https://deadline.com/2021/03/jessica-walter-dead-actress-arrested-development-1234721873/ Jessica Walter Dies: Emmy-Winning ‘Arrested Development’, ‘Archer’ Actress Was 80 Jessica Walter, the award-winning actress whose career spanned five decades, passed away in her sleep at home in New York City on Wednesday, March 24. She was 80. Walter’s career included everything from a standout turn in Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut, Play Misty for Me, to The Flamingo Kid and her Emmy-nominated turns on Trapper John M..D. and Streets of San Francisco. For her performance as Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development, Walter earned yet another Emmy nomination (Outstanding Supporting Actress) and two SAG nominations. Walter won an Emmy starring in Amy Prentiss, an Ironside spinoff in the mid-1970s about a young San Francisco police detective. She also voiced Malory Archer on FXX’s animated series Archer. Speaking of SAG, Walter served as 2nd National Vice President of the Screen Actors Guild, and was an elected member of the SAG Board of Directors for over a decade. Walter began her career in her hometown of New York City where she appeared in numerous Broadway productions including Advise and Consent, Neil Simon’s Rumors, A Severed Head, Nightlife and Photo Finish, for which she earned the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Also on stage, Walter worked at New York’s Playwright’s Horizons and the Los Angeles Theater Center, where she starred in Tartuffe opposite the late Ron Leibman, her Emmy- and Tony-winning husband. She also starred in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, which picked up several Tony Awards. Walter is survived by daughter Brooke Bowman, who is SVP Drama Programming at Fox Entertainment, and grandson Micah Heymann. Bowman said in a statement: “It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom Jessica. A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off. While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class and overall joie de vivre.” In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

You could change that to "First Professional Wrestling Referee Vaccinated", and it would be just as funny. Any little bump, and that pro-ref from WWE or AEW acts like they were shot.

Number 2 might well be polio, if Pakistan can get their crap, by crap I mean their version of anti-vaxxers, together. Thing is, the advent of mRNA vaccines and AI analysis may very well result in a number of other viruses being added to the list. mRNA is also being targeted to treat various diseases. And, let us not forget that there is promising research into a universal flu vaccine. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/innovative-universal-flu-vaccine-shows-promises-it-first-clinical-test Innovative universal flu vaccine shows promise in first clinical test https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/messenger-rna-gave-us-covid-19-vaccine-will-it-treat-diseases-too Messenger RNA gave us a COVID-19 vaccine. Will it treat diseases, too?

I think the "wrong" is how low they priced their vaccine. Undercutting the price for Pfizer and Moderna by a lot. MMMmmmmm

These are reasons why I will not put my X next to a CONservative candidate.

Researchers figure the clotting issue may be due to a rare autoimmune response and there is a possible way to treat them. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/astrazeneca-blood-clot-risk-canada-1.5957462 Canada hesitates to update guidance on AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine amid potential link to blood clots Reported connection between COVID-19 vaccine, rare blood clots could affect rollout

In the no $h!t file, but there are still people who consider Covid to be no big deal. The researchers compared the impact of two months of Covid hospitalizations from last year to the previous 5 years of influenza hospitalizations at the same medical centre. The team demonstrated that COVID-19 cases resulted in significantly more weekly hospitalizations, more use of mechanical ventilation and higher mortality rates than influenza. Yes, treatment for Covid has improved, but that comes down to a better understanding of what drugs to include in the cocktail of drugs given to Covid patients. https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/news/2021/03/covid-19-higher-burden-compared-to-flu New research shows substantially higher burden of COVID-19 compared to flu

Kinda telling that the Chinese government, who for years was promoting the wildlife farms, suddenly does an about face and shuts them down just as the Wuhan outbreak was dying down and the virus was spreading worldwide.

It's on the people who actually have these issues as well. Maybe they need to think that maybe having "papers" might make it "easier" for then to interact with the public when they absolutely need to. That last bit is the important one. These people obviously should be limiting their exposure since they obviously have issues that make them more vulnerable. Going around in public like nothing is going on is a problem. Also, far too many people are using disability as a crutch to excuse themselves from criticism that they are moron Covidiots. The people that really are disabled are having a difficult time made even more difficult because some Covid Karen doesn't want to wear a mask and suddenly has a disability.

If it isn't Facebook, it will be something else. The pandoras box that is social media has been opened and there is no going back.

If you do any kind of digging into the origins of a lot of tinfoil hat posts, you'll find a similar pattern. Most of their misinformation comes from a few. https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-identifies-111-accounts-behind-most-anti-vaxx-posts-2021-3?r=US&IR=T Facebook found that a vast amount of its anti-vaxx content comes from a hard core of only 111 accounts Facebook in a report obtained by The Washington Post identified key vaccine skepticism influencers. 111 accounts were behind half of all material doubting vaccines shared by vaccine hesitant users, it found. Facebook is under pressure to counter the spread of vaccine misinformation.

What angers me is all these people who suddenly claim to be unable to wear a mask because of some disability. I know people who have actual lifelong disabilities and some of them can actually wear a mask. Some of them actually make an effort to wear a mask. These people use the disability as a crutch. Plain and simple.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56397592 Covid-19: Evidence does not suggest AstraZeneca jab linked to clots, MHRA says

Here, I'll help with a simple search and the top two results. You can use these two to help start a trip down the rabbit hole. There has been, as of current information, no variant that the current batch of vaccines has ZERO effectiveness on. And any vaccine for any new COVID variant can easily be produced with mRNA vaccines (companies are already working on boosters). Moderna was able to design the prototype of their vaccine within two weeks (of receiving the sequence of the spike protein) and a they had a vaccine candidate for trail in 63 days. So, in less than 3 months. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6534/1116.1 Vaccine efficacy probable against COVID-19 variants https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00370-6/fulltext SARS-CoV-2 variants and ending the COVID-19 pandemic

I/we would L O V E to see your sources for this. Somehow, I feel a YouTube video forthcoming.

I'm all for that sentiment. I think this is more a case of when it is a person's time to get vaccinated, and they refuse. For example, most doctors and nurses. Going forward, there should be no excuse.

For all those who CHOOSE to not get vaccinated, this should be the normal for them going forward. Regular, if not weekly COVID tests. And make them pay for it. Then you'll see vaccination numbers go way up. Also, want to travel or attend Canucks games. People who are not medically exempt need to quarantine and have negative tests before and after. That, or you just cannot go. We should also have an official way of demonstrating medical exemption so these anti-vaxxers don't have an easy out. When my grandfather was denied entry into the army in WW2 (he had bad feet), he kept his denial letter in his wallet for the rest of his life. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-emirates-airline-int-idUSKBN2B30B8?utm_source=reddit.com Emirates tells staff to get vaccinated or pay for regular COVID-19 tests

Thing is these new vaccines can do a better job at handling different strains. It is a lot quicker to produce a new version that can target the newer strains. Been posting about how vaccine research has advanced big time. This is about where we are regarding a universal flu vaccine. There have been others who have used AI to better target parts of the virus. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/innovative-universal-flu-vaccine-shows-promises-it-first-clinical-test Innovative universal flu vaccine shows promise in first clinical test

It appears that the Oxford vaccine improves with 12 week spacing (about 3 months). So the Canadian plan to space the vaccines 4 months may not be as disastrous. Maybe this plan should have data to back it up. 12 weeks now has. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00528-6/fulltext Single-dose Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine followed by a 12-week booster Vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection are crucial for an effective global pandemic response. In The Lancet, Merryn Voysey and colleagues report the updated primary efficacy results for the Oxford–AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine from three single-blind, randomised controlled trials in the UK and Brazil and one double-blind study in South Africa. The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine was granted emergency use authorisation in adults by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in December, 2020. A subsequent report, based on an interim analysis of four randomised controlled trials done in Brazil, South Africa, and the UK, suggested an overall vaccine efficacy of 70·4% (95·8% CI 54·8–80·6), with a higher efficacy of 90% (95% CI 67·4–97·0) in those who received a low dose (2·2 × 1010 viral particles per dose) followed by a standard dose (5 × 1010 viral particles per dose), and a vaccine efficacy of 62·1% (95% CI 41·0–75·7) in those who received two standard doses (4 weeks apart). As a result of these interim data, and to achieve the greatest health benefit rapidly, the UK Government decided on a policy of administering as many first doses as possible and delaying the second dose of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine until 12 weeks after the first dose. Although this policy was criticised, the latest results reported by Voysey and colleagues provide a necessary evidence-based justification for the decision. • View related content for this article The study is based on an updated analysis of 17 178 participants (9696 [56·4%] were women, 12 975 [75·5%] were white, and 14 413 [83·9%] were aged 18–55 years, 1792 [10·4%] aged 56–69 years, and 973 [5·7%] aged 70 years or older) from the four trials. The pooled results from these trials (including participants who received two standard doses and those who received a low dose followed by a standard dose) showed an overall vaccine efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 more than 14 days after the second dose of 66·7% (95% CI 57·4–74·0). Vaccine efficacy was 63·1% (51·8–71·7) in those who received two standard doses and 80·7% (62·1–90·2) in those who received the low dose plus standard dose. Notably, in exploratory analyses, vaccine efficacy after a single standard dose was 76·0% (59·3–85·9) from day 22 to day 90, and antibody levels were maintained during this period with minimal waning. Supporting a longer-interval immunisation strategy, vaccine efficacy was significantly higher at 81·3% (60·3–91·2) after two standard doses given at an interval of 12 weeks or longer, compared with 55·1% (33·0–69·9) when given less than 6 weeks apart. These findings were supported by immunogenicity studies done in participants who were younger than 55 years, showing anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG antibody responses more than two-fold higher in those who had a dose interval of at least 12 weeks than in those who had an interval of less than 6 weeks (geometric mean ratio 2·32 [95% CI 2·01–2·68]). Modelling analyses showed an increase in vaccine efficacy after two standard doses from 55·1% (95% CI 33·0 to 69·9) with an interval of less than 6 weeks to 81·3% (60·3 to 91·2) with an interval of at least 12 weeks. A single standard dose had an efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 in the first 90 days of 76·0% (59·3 to 85·9), yet provided no protection against asymptomatic infection (vaccine efficacy −17·2% [–248·6 to 60·6]). Notably, efficacy against any nucleic acid amplification test-positive cases, including symptomatic and asymptomatic or unknown cases, was 63·9% (46·0 to 75·9) after a single standard dose, suggesting the possibility of reducing viral transmission. Important study limitations include the fact that these studies were not prospectively designed to establish whether vaccine efficacy would differ by dose interval; therefore, these post-hoc exploratory findings could be biased. Other limitations are that participants were not randomised to dosing interval, only one of the four trials was double-blind, and the single-dose recipients were self-selected. Furthermore, baseline characteristics between the single-dose and two-dose cohorts were substantially different, with an older median age, higher proportion of men and non-white participants, and a smaller proportion of health or social care workers in the two-dose cohort than in the single-dose cohort. Also, worth considering is whether these results would hold up with widespread circulation of more transmissible and lethal viral variants. Overall, the value of this study is in providing evidence that a single dose of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine is highly efficacious in the 90 days after vaccination, that a longer prime-boost interval results in higher vaccine efficacy, and that protection against symptomatic COVID-19 is maintained despite a longer dosing interval. It offers much-needed evidence for the UK policy of extending the dosing interval to 12 weeks and for rapid mass-immunisation campaigns worldwide. Further studies are warranted to assess whether a longer-interval strategy would also offer higher vaccine efficacy against the new variants and could be applicable to other types of COVID-19 vaccines.