Coronavirus (Covid-19) informational thread

[pshufd]

I am going to be that guy: you shouldn’t wear a mask at the gym. It’s bad for you and, in addition, it’s quite useless.
Anyone that goes at the gym should expect to walk into a DNA database full of viruses, germs, bacteria, sweat, saliva, skin, hair, and other disgusting stuff. I’ll add that no unvaccinated person should go to the gym for their own sake.

Our vaccination rate is 54% and 58% for first dose. Our active case count is going up exponentially as expected. I am merely following CDC recommendations. My approach is to go first thing in the morning after the place has been cleaned, use it and then leave. This gym has only had one COVID case and that was in the infant daycare. A baby had COVID but apparently got it elsewhere and didn't spread it to anyone in the gym. Delta certainly is different though.

My other alternative is to go during senior hours but the camp kids are there at that time. That will end in a week or two. The nice thing about senior hours is that everyone is vaccinated. That was the biggest topic of discussion from February to May there.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Our vaccination rate is 54% and 58% for first dose. Our active case count is going up exponentially as expected. I am merely following CDC recommendations. My approach is to go first thing in the morning after the place has been cleaned, use it and then leave. This gym has only had one COVID case and that was in the infant daycare. A baby had COVID but apparently got it elsewhere and didn't spread it to anyone in the gym. Delta certainly is different though.

My other alternative is to go during senior hours but the camp kids are there at that time. That will end in a week or two. The nice thing about senior hours is that everyone is vaccinated. That was the biggest topic of discussion from February to May there.

Going at low usage hours is the best strategy. I am going at 5am when the place is almost a complete desert. Question, 58% of adults or total population? It it’s 58% of total population the number is quite good!

 

[pshufd]

Going at low usage hours is the best strategy. I am going at 5am when the place is almost a complete desert. Question, 58% of adults or total population? It it’s 58% of total population the number is quite good!

58% of total population. We're over 70% of adults only. I'd say that the number is good, but not great. Our overall state rate is 65.6% while it is 73.5% in neighboring MA and 76.2% in neighboring VT. I'm in the populated area of the state so our numbers are higher than average. My gyms aren't open 24 hours a day - if they were, I'd probably go at 4 AM. I'm working out in the home gym now.

 

[pshufd]

I ran into a page with percentages by state by age and I thought it amusing that a number of states are at 99.9% vaccinated 65 and above years:

California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington. The lowest percentage for seniors is West Virginia at 81.4%. The whole country would be doing a lot better if we were at 80% for all adults.

There is only one state over 80% for those Age 18 - 64 years and that is Massachusetts at 82%.

For Children, the leader is Vermont at 25.3% and then Massachusetts at 25.2%.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

 

[Mainsail]

In my county, we have indoor mask mandates for everyone, including vaccinated. So, everyone has to wear a mask in the gym while working out. Of course, this is driving away customers, since no one wants to workout with a mask. I think the county should have given gym owners and other business the option of checking vaccination status in lieu of masks for the vaccinated. Gyms are particularly well suited for this because members need to check in at the front desk anyway. A more discriminating policy would provide incentive for unvaccinated to get vaccinated.

I belong to a private club that has Wednesday afternoon lunches. When I walk into the club I have to wear a mask. When I sit down for lunch at a table with 10 other guys, I can take the mask off. The whole thing feels completely ridiculous. Everyone at the table is vaccinated. If the county would allow it, the club would simply implement a no admittance unless vaccinated policy and then dispense with the masks.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I ran into a page with percentages by state by age and I thought it amusing that a number of states are at 99.9% vaccinated 65 and above years:

California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington. The lowest percentage for seniors is West Virginia at 81.4%. The whole country would be doing a lot better if we were at 80% for all adults.

There is only one state over 80% for those Age 18 - 64 years and that is Massachusetts at 82%.

For Children, the leader is Vermont at 25.3% and then Massachusetts at 25.2%.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

It's probably easier for smaller states with not so many rural areas that are of difficult reach (although NM could be an exception). I think that entire state of Massachusetts is smaller than Houston...

 

[pshufd]

It's probably easier for smaller states with not so many rural areas that are of difficult reach (although NM could be an exception). I think that entire state of Massachusetts is smaller than Houston...

The population of Houston is 2.3 million. Massachusetts is 6.8 million.

Rural areas have higher levels of vaccine hesitancy.

Massachusetts is a highly educated state and works harder than any other state on their healthcare system. They also have a quite a few world-class hospitals in Boston. It may be that the high levels of education mean low levels of people that believe in vaccine conspiracy theories.

 

[yaxomoxay]

The population of Houston is 2.3 million. Massachusetts is 6.8 million.

Rural areas have higher levels of vaccine hesitancy.

What I mean is that a state-to-state comparison is hard. MA might have 7M people, but it's tiny. There are areas here that are probably bigger than MA and just a few hundred people living in there. The logistics to bring the messaging and the vaccine there is quite hard.

 

[Mainsail]

I ran into a page with percentages by state by age and I thought it amusing that a number of states are at 99.9% vaccinated 65 and above years:

California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington. The lowest percentage for seniors is West Virginia at 81.4%. The whole country would be doing a lot better if we were at 80% for all adults.

There is only one state over 80% for those Age 18 - 64 years and that is Massachusetts at 82%.

For Children, the leader is Vermont at 25.3% and then Massachusetts at 25.2%.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

For a large state, California is doing a pretty good job with vaccinations. I am happy to hear such a large percentage of older folks have been vaccinated. Also, it looks like vaccinating the over 65 crowd has really helped keep the deaths down in California.

 

[pshufd]

What I mean is that a state-to-state comparison is hard. MA might have 7M people, but it's tiny. There are areas here that are probably bigger than MA and just a few hundred people living in there. The logistics to bring the messaging and the vaccine there is quite hard.

In my state, the problem is that the rural folks just don't want the vaccine. The state will send people out to vaccinate people if they can't get to a vaccine site. There are groups that will do this as well.

 

[Mainsail]

BTW - Here is the same chart for Louisiana.

 

[pshufd]

I think that CA has done a very good job with a lot of additional significant challenges (water, fire). The state data is quite interesting as the variances from state to state can be so big.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I think that CA has done a very good job with a lot of additional significant challenges (water, fire). The state data is quite interesting as the variances from state to state can be so big.

Well, it does help that there are plentiful places to get vaccinated and the State of California has aggressively promoted vaccinations in both English and Spanish.

 

[pshufd]

Well, it does help that there are plentiful places to get vaccinated and the State of California has aggressively promoted vaccinations in both English and Spanish.

At the end of the day, you have execution and demand for vaccinations. Demand isn't that much of a problem for seniors. But demand varies widely. But, even if you do have the demand, you have to execute and we'd expect that states can execute but performance obviously varies quite a bit from state to state.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Some demographics vaccination data. % is percentage of people vaccinated within each group.

Race/Ethnicity

Sex

Age

 

[pshufd]

Went to the grocery store and everyone in the parking lot was masked. Store was about 40%. That's good progress.

We went to CVS afterwards and there were signs on the doors with the CDC recommendation on masks.

So we're moving in the right direction.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Went to the grocery store and everyone in the parking lot was masked. Store was about 40%. That's good progress.

We went to CVS afterwards and there were signs on the doors with the CDC recommendation on masks.

So we're moving in the right direction.

[Grinch mode on]
Going back to masks is not going in the right direction. The right direction is vaccines, vaccines, vaccines and herd immunity so that we do NOT need masks (that is, deaths are very low).
[/Grinch mode off]

US Data
131 deaths reported today, and 379 daily average so - despite the tragedy - we're relatively far from the worst case scenarios.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I (personal opinion!) would also recommend everyone who can do it start taking a daily standard daily multivitamin with 100% RDA of Vitamin B6, C, D3, E, K and supplemental zinc starting right now. Reason: there have been several reports that seriously ill COVID patients from early spring 2020 were all lacking in Vitamin D and likely the other nutrients I mentioned.

(NO, you don't need vitamin pills with 300% or higher of daily RDA.)

 

[iluvmacs99]

I would say that wearing masks is still a good direction to take for several reasons due to the latest findings from MedRxiv.

Latest clinical studies from MedRxiv which had not been peer reviewed yet has found several interesting points in regards to the Delta variant and the mRNA vaccines.

It has found that the Pfizer mRNA vaccine dropped its efficacy rate to 42%, but the Moderna vaccine only dropped to 76%. So if you have the Moderna vaccine, then you have a lower rate of being infected with the Delta variant as opposed to having the Pfizer vaccine.

Quote below from the MedRxiv report.. Moderna is mRNA-1273; Pfizer is BNT162b2 for those who don't know.

"Comparing rates of infection between matched individuals fully vaccinated with mRNA-1273 versus BNT162b2 across Mayo Clinic Health System sites in multiple states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, and Iowa), mRNA-1273 conferred a two-fold risk reduction against breakthrough infection compared to BNT162b2 (IRR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.39-0.64). In Florida, which is currently experiencing its largest COVID-19 surge to date, the risk of infection in July after full vaccination with mRNA-1273 was about 60% lower than after full vaccination with BNT162b2 (IRR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.24-0.62)."

So wear a mask if you have had only the Pfizer vaccine, which is the predominant vaccine given in many nations and was considered the "Bourgeois" of vaccines. It's quite ironic that "Moderna" which was considered the "Middle Class" vaccine and people actually cancelled appointments in Canada to get the Pfizer or stocking privately with Pfizer instead might be regretting that decision in light of this report with Moderna. The Delta variant is truly a game changer; changing the dynamics that once Pfizer once held dominance in efficacy.

Glad I had 2 shots of the Moderna and am glad that my extensive research on the Moderna vaccine had paid of well!

 

[SactoGuy18]

It's actually easier to get the Moderna vaccine here in the USA nowadays because you don't need to expensive -70° C. special refrigerators for long-term storage of the vaccine. I expect Moderna to really up production in light of these studies. This explains why Novavax is holding off getting the FDA EUA until October, because they want to make sure the Novavax vaccine is very effective against Delta, Delta Plus and Epsilon variants.

 

[iluvmacs99]

It's actually easier to get the Moderna vaccine here in the USA nowadays because you don't need to expensive -70° C. special refrigerators for long-term storage of the vaccine. I expect Moderna to really up production in light of these studies. This explains why Novavax is holding off getting the FDA EUA until October, because they want to make sure the Novavax vaccine is very effective against Delta, Delta Plus and Epsilon variants.

That's why Canada just signed an agreement with Moderna to produce the vaccines in Canada to fulfill Canada's domestic and foreign demands. And it's true that Novavax needs to make absolutely sure that its vaccine needs to be as effective against the nasty variants as Moderna.

What I like about these studies is Florida, because we know of a certain governor who are anti-virus mitigation in schools and in the public. For the Moderna vaccine to perform so well in Florida is even beyond my expectations and providing me some great insights, even knowing what's going on in Florida!

 

[SactoGuy18]

That's why I'm still wondering WHY Canada and Australia didn't make a big order for the Moderna vaccine when they had the chance in early 2021. 😒

 

[iluvmacs99]

That's why I'm still wondering WHY Canada and Australia didn't make a big order for the Moderna vaccine when they had the chance in early 2021. 😒

That's part of it, but another part of the reason Canada didn't make a big order for the Moderna vaccine was because Canada already invested in its own Novavax equivalent, which is currently in Phase 2/3 trials from a Quebec firm Medicago. What's unique about Medicago's vaccine is that it is plant based, rather than the traditional egg based. We thought that by the time the boosters are needed, Canada can rely on Medicago for the longer term solution. However, the Delta variant changes everything and so now, Canada is in a good position to offer Moderna to produce its vaccines in Canada. The beauty of the mRNA vaccine is that you can develop a new vaccine based on newer variants quicker than the protein based vaccines, so Canada allowing both Moderna and Medicago work side by side makes a lot of sense! And not to mention exporting capacity and potential economic growth to the Canadian economy.

 

[44267547]

I'm going to place an order for masks today. Any recommendations? I found 3M N95s but I'd have to order 80 of them to get sold by/shipped by Amazon. I plan to order some surgical masks as well. It's nice that these are available again though that might change.

If you recall, I mentioned to you at least a month ago that I would stock up on N95’s if you can find them, because they’re going to be in short change given Delta. So now you’re going to pay a premium and/or be forced to purchase a bundle package that includes way more masks than you would need.

The ones that I purchased are sold out on Amazon, but I purchased the N95 NIOSH (Birds beak style). They’re comfortable, but most importantly, you can breathe really well with these masks for an extended periods of time, but if you know anything about N95’s, they become very uncomfortable within about 30 minutes of use with breathing, especially if you’re asthmatic or has other posing conditions.

I’ve worn these extensively, and probably the best N95. And what’s nice is, these can actually be decontaminated through a UV germicidal irradiation process that my wife uses at the hospital, but she has her own slew of ‘work’ N95’s being a cardiologist.

[Purchased in a pack of ~30 for ~$30.00]

Edit:

Actually these are in stock after double checking, but they more than _doubled_ in price for less quantity from what I paid for back in June.

 

[SactoGuy18]

That's part of it, but another part of the reason Canada didn't make a big order for the Moderna vaccine was because Canada already invested in its own Novavax equivalent, which is currently in Phase 2/3 trials from a Quebec firm Medicago. What's unique about Medicago's vaccine is that it is plant based, rather than the traditional egg based. We thought that by the time the boosters are needed, Canada can rely on Medicago for the longer term solution. However, the Delta variant changes everything and so now, Canada is in a good position to offer Moderna to produce its vaccines in Canada. The beauty of the mRNA vaccine is that you can develop a new vaccine based on newer variants quicker than the protein based vaccines, so Canada allowing both Moderna and Medicago work side by side makes a lot of sense! And not to mention exporting capacity and potential economic growth to the Canadian economy.

Novavax said that they are applying for an EUA for USA use so it can be distributed in October 2021. I believe they are specifically testing to see how well it works against the Delta, Delta+ and Episilon variants. By the way, I believe Moderna is working on a second vaccine (mRNA-1283) that could be ready by the end of 2021.