Coronavirus (Covid-19) informational thread

[bradl]

Another interesting approach to the vaccines for COVID. First the mRNA approach that Pfizer and Moderna are using.. then viral vector that J&J and AstraZenica are using…

Now spike protein, which is being used by Texas Children’s/Baylor University:

New Patent-Free COVID Vaccine Developed As 'Gift To the World' - Slashdot

An anonymous reader quotes a report from New Atlas: A new COVID-19 vaccine, developed by researchers from the Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, is being offered patent-free to vaccine manufacturers across the world. Human trials have shown the vaccine to be safe and...

www.slashdot.org

More than that, this is being developed patent-free. India is already starting to use this, so it will be interesting to see if the other countries adopt this, especially for those in Africa and S. America.

BL.

 

[dannyyankou]

5 people in or close to my family have COVID now. All of them are either unvaccinated or don't have the booster.

Everyone with a booster shot hasn't gotten sick this far. Microscopic case study.

 

[Mainsail]

At this point, it is pretty clear that just about everyone (vaccinated or unvaccinated) is going to get this virus. For the most part, the vaccinated/boosted will have mild symptoms. The unvaccinated will have a tougher go of it, but probably less severe than delta.

Honestly, I am really not sure what the government can do at this point. Vaccines are readily available. Therapies are on their way. Shut downs are not going to happen. Mask mandates seem pointless now that the experts are basically saying cloth masks are useless and not everyone can get an N95. At home testing is largely ineffective. My daughter tested negative 4 times at home before getting a positive PCR result. Distributing 500 million of these testers won't do much good, and they probably won't be available until after this surge anyway.

Boy, I sound gloomy, but actually, I am kind of hopeful. I have been watching this British Dr Campbell's daily Youtube updates. He does an excellent review of the data, and he is pretty confident that overall this variant is good news in the long run. Time will tell.

 

[pshufd]

Boy, I sound gloomy, but actually, I am kind of hopeful. I have been watching this British Dr Campbell's daily Youtube updates. He does an excellent review of the data, and he is pretty confident that overall this variant is good news in the long run. Time will tell.

He's got an incredible number of subscribers, all around the world, of all stripes and opinions and he's cheerful and upbeat and factual. He's even a commentator on DW News which is also cool.

 

[poorcody]

Mask mandates seem pointless now that the experts are basically saying cloth masks are useless and not everyone can get an N95.

Anyone can get an N95 now, and they are cheap. They have been widely available for a long time. I will never understand why people make such a big deal about wearing them.

We may be on the cusp of being able to go back to mostly normal, but the big problem right now is hospital capacity based on staff getting Omicron. If Omicron sweeps through a hospital, you may suddenly lose most of your staff! (Which is why I think the CDC has been so wishy-washy on the rules: they are worried about that scenario). So flattening the curve this time again is important for slightly different reasons.

I have been watching this British Dr Campbell's daily Youtube updates. He does an excellent review of the data, and he is pretty confident that overall this variant is good news in the long run. Time will tell.

Indeed, I'm hopeful we are a month (give or take) from pandemic -> endemic. Gottleib was saying on CNBC this morning there are some signs Omicron may already be peaking in NYC.

 

[HalfFullmoon]

Masks are not useless, and you don't need N95, or KN95. I wear/wore blue surgical type mask for almost the past two years and have evaded the covid-19 so far with two vaccine shots in early 2021. I have been everywhere. I mean everywhere, the crowded of places, the smallest of places in terms of density. But I don't think regular plain cotton type provide as much protection, though.

What truly should be done is to join together and spread out vaccines to third world countries because they have abysmal vaccination rates, so we can stop or deter further variants.

 

[44267547]

Seems the ‘IHU’ [B.1.640.2] variant discovered in France in November doesn’t appear to be a concern to the WHO at this point:

Article quote:

“Concerns over the variant in France arose after researchers found that it contained 46 mutations that differed from the original version of the coronavirus. Omicron also has a high number of mutations, which researchers believe made it far more transmissible.”

A variant found in France is not a concern, the W.H.O. says.

The so-called I.H.U. variant contains numerous mutations of the coronavirus, but experts say it has shown little sign of spreading so far.

www.nytimes.com

 

[AdamNC]

My wife and I got our first rounds of the vaccine in May. We got boosted on Monday. I am just wondering if anyone on here has gotten Covid after the booster and how it was? How long, how bad was it? Our county’s numbers went from 200 cases last Thursday to 1974 today. Population is 189k. Not bad but my state NC is rocketing. I am still in shock at how many people when we do go out are not wearing a mask. The only good thing is 68% of my county is fully vaccinated. Kind rambling sorry. This has been hard on me. The 1918 Spanish flu killed both of my great grandparents on both my moms and dads side.

 

[Gregg2]

We are approaching a 40% positivity rate in our county, the highest it has been. Last July, it was just over the CDC recommended "safe" level of 5%. Our state has set new all-time high positive tests for the last three days. Our city council is debating reinstatement of a mask mandate for indoor public places. It will take another three weeks or so before a final vote. The virus won't wait for the decision.

People have COVID Fatigue, for sure. But the virus doesn't get tired. The reaction by government has always been too slow, and they have never been proactive. There are smart people who could help defeat this, but too few are listening, or ever were. It's probably too late. We will live with it now.

 

[pshufd]

We're hitting all-time highs too though not 40%.

 

[Hunter5117]

I am just wondering if anyone on here has gotten Covid after the booster and how it was? How long, how bad was it?

I got boosted on 11/18. On the Monday after Christmas (12/27) I got a sore throat late in the day, same on Tuesday. Between Tuesday night and Thursday I got feeling worse, runny nose, mild cough and joint and muscle aches which by Thursday were bad enough to keep me on the couch all day. I called everywhere looking for a test but our county had run out, including my doctor who is part of a large national health organization. Felt a bit better Friday morning and by 10am I was completely well, all symptoms gone.

Did I have Omicron, no way to know for sure but that has been my assumption.

 

[BoxerGT2.5]

We are approaching a 40% positivity rate in our county, the highest it has been. Last July, it was just over the CDC recommended "safe" level of 5%. Our state has set new all-time high positive tests for the last three days. Our city council is debating reinstatement of a mask mandate for indoor public places. It will take another three weeks or so before a final vote. The virus won't wait for the decision.

People have COVID Fatigue, for sure. But the virus doesn't get tired. The reaction by government has always been too slow, and they have never been proactive. There are smart people who could help defeat this, but too few are listening, or ever were. It's probably too late. We will live with it now.

You're not "defeating" this. Even early in the pandemic the notion was "slow the spread", not "Stop the spread". You're not stopping an airborne virus that is transmitted when someone is asymptomatic. Omicron is relatively mild as far as death and serious disease, letting it run through the population might not be the worst thing in the world.

 

[SactoGuy18]

You're not "defeating" this. Even early in the pandemic the notion was "slow the spread", not "Stop the spread". You're not stopping an airborne virus that is transmitted when someone is asymptomatic. Omicron is relatively mild as far as death and serious disease, letting it run through the population might not be the worst thing in the world.

I completely agree. Especially it appears the Omicron variant is not much more than a coronavirus-based common cold virus, according to many epidemiologists. That's the reason why I've been taking a Centrum Silver for Men multivitamin tablet daily for nearly 11 years--nary a cold for almost the same time.

 

[iOS Geek]

I have to say that I am becoming very unimpressed with how Illinois is handling this. Now granted, from a healthcare worker perspective...I wasn't too impressed with how the governor was handling it to begin with...but I'm getting even less impressed and quickly becoming irritated at this point. The word "cluster ****" comes to mind.

A major staffing issue that could be solved by a VERY easy but also VERY polarizing decision...

 

[CNebs]

Yep, it’s “mild”, deaths are only up 33% from a week before, cases are up 53% from a week before. It amazes me that as a society we are totally cool with ~1,500 deaths a day. We are ~4.25% of the world population, but have the most deaths compared to any other country. This is not a standard “cold” or “flu” that people want to label it as. It’s an airborne multi-organ inflammatory virus that crosses the blood brain barrier. These are not attributes of a cold or flu, but if you want to continue to believe that narrative by all means do so at risk. That from all indications may introduce long term disabilities from diabetes, kidney damage, lung damage, and shrinkage of grey matter. Hey the potential for dementia at a younger age sounds totally fine. If you look at the current cost of healthcare in the U.S. pre-COVID we are at a trajectory that is not sustainable. People want to scream but the economy, sure I get that, but what do we do when long term health and a higher rate of disability from this disease prevents people from working to continue to contribute to the economy? That will be more costly in the long run. Healthcare here is not preventive, it is reactionary because as a society most are lazy and would rather have a pill and last resort surgery to fix majority of preventable diseases. I do understand that some disease you can’t prevent by taking ownership of your health, but it’s cheaper for the person and country as a whole to work from a preventative standpoint then wait until you rely on our current system of healthcare.

I get we want to get back to normal, I want it more for others than I want it for myself but this attitude of f it doesn’t work. Plus the fact that certain groups want to piss and moan that we’re not back to normal when they at the same time have done nothing to get back to normal is beyond stupid.

*Oh and hospitalizations are up 29% from a week ago. So when you hear there are no beds, there are NO beds. Which translates not enough staff for the beds. So when you have a stroke, heart attack, in a car accident, your kid is hurt, need surgery, guess what it isn’t going to happen at those hospitals suffering staffing shortages and beds. People that could have been helped that did everything they could to help others will die alone or be permanently disabled in the case of a massive stoke as an example. All because of others selfishness.

 

[TechRunner]

as a society most are lazy and would rather have a pill and last resort surgery to fix majority of preventable diseases.

Nailed it. This is my in-laws, to perfection. And so many others. Healthcare in this country is broken, sure, but we have the citizens of this country to blame. Good post!

 

[CNebs]

Nailed it. This is my in-laws, to perfection. And so many others. Healthcare in this country is broken, sure, but we have the citizens of this country to blame. Good post!

Thank you, not to disparage my parents but they fall into the same camp. Drives me insane especially since my dad ran every day for close to 30 years and then once he retired his philosophy was I worked and ran for 32+ years to sit around. That’s exactly what he’s done for ~20 years now, stroke that he didn’t get treated until I made him go to the hospital, TAVR since his blockage was 93% and the kicker is he was shocked by it all.

 

[pshufd]

Thank you, not to disparage my parents but they fall into the same camp. Drives me insane especially since my dad ran every day for close to 30 years and then once he retired his philosophy was I worked and ran for 32+ years to sit around. That’s exactly what he’s done for ~20 years now, stroke that he didn’t get treated until I made him go to the hospital, TAVR since his blockage was 93% and the kicker is he was shocked by it all.

Lifelong athlete means lifelong.

There are injuries and health conditions that make it harder but there's technology to compensate.

I'm drooling over the 2022 Max Cushioning shoes coming out this year.

 

[contacos]

I love how Americans are still arguing about masks almost 2 years later. Meanwhile you cannot take public transport without proof of vaccination or without being tested here and to access stores, you need to be vaccinated. To go to the cinema or a restaurant you need to be vaccinated AND show a negative test result or be boostered. To be honest, this is still better than everything being closed from November 20 to may 21 last year

 

[Madhatter32]

I took an iHealth Covid -19 Antigen Rapid Test today and it came out negative. It's a home test that shows you the results in 15 minutes. Easy peasy.

 

[pshufd]

Son and daughter went to a convention last week with 10K people. You had to show proof of vaccination. She came back with a sore throat but her group all took rapid tests before she returned and they all tested negative. Another person there had cold symptoms, did a rapid test and then a PCR test and both were negative.

These folks did not have the typical Omicron symptoms. There may well be a mild cold out there that a lot of people are getting that isn't COVID.

The conference requires that anyone testing positive report it and the information is sent out to the participants.

 

[Richard8655]

I love how Americans are still arguing about masks almost 2 years later. Meanwhile you cannot take public transport without proof of vaccination or without being tested here and to access stores, you need to be vaccinated. To go to the cinema or a restaurant you need to be vaccinated AND show a negative test result or be boostered. To be honest, this is still better than everything being closed from November 20 to may 21 last year

To be honest, Americans are too individualistic with distrust of government and anything public or community. I like the way Australia and New Zealand have handled it, with disciplined lockdown rules that have majority popular support.

 

[pshufd]

To be honest, Americans are too individualistic with distrust of government and anything public or community. I like the way Australia and New Zealand have handled it, with disciplined lockdown rules that have majority popular support.

And kicking out celebrity foreigners that try to get around the rules.

 

[Not Sure ☠️]

To be honest, Americans are too individualistic with distrust of government and anything public or community. I like the way Australia and New Zealand have handled it, with disciplined lockdown rules that have majority popular support.

Meanwhile, the WW2 generation would have been storming the beaches of those 3rd world hell holes to liberate people.

Sadly they’d be wrong in doing so, as they do not deserve it.

 

[Not Sure ☠️]

Yep, it’s “mild”, deaths are only up 33% from a week before, cases are up 53% from a week before. It amazes me that as a society we are totally cool with ~1,500 deaths a day. We are ~4.25% of the world population, but have the most deaths compared to any other country. This is not a standard “cold” or “flu” that people want to label it as. It’s an airborne multi-organ inflammatory virus that crosses the blood brain barrier. These are not attributes of a cold or flu, but if you want to continue to believe that narrative by all means do so at risk. That from all indications may introduce long term disabilities from diabetes, kidney damage, lung damage, and shrinkage of grey matter. Hey the potential for dementia at a younger age sounds totally fine. If you look at the current cost of healthcare in the U.S. pre-COVID we are at a trajectory that is not sustainable. People want to scream but the economy, sure I get that, but what do we do when long term health and a higher rate of disability from this disease prevents people from working to continue to contribute to the economy? That will be more costly in the long run. Healthcare here is not preventive, it is reactionary because as a society most are lazy and would rather have a pill and last resort surgery to fix majority of preventable diseases. I do understand that some disease you can’t prevent by taking ownership of your health, but it’s cheaper for the person and country as a whole to work from a preventative standpoint then wait until you rely on our current system of healthcare.

I get we want to get back to normal, I want it more for others than I want it for myself but this attitude of f it doesn’t work. Plus the fact that certain groups want to piss and moan that we’re not back to normal when they at the same time have done nothing to get back to normal is beyond stupid.

*Oh and hospitalizations are up 29% from a week ago. So when you hear there are no beds, there are NO beds. Which translates not enough staff for the beds. So when you have a stroke, heart attack, in a car accident, your kid is hurt, need surgery, guess what it isn’t going to happen at those hospitals suffering staffing shortages and beds. People that could have been helped that did everything they could to help others will die alone or be permanently disabled in the case of a massive stoke as an example. All because of others selfishness.

There are beds, there aren’t staff to work those beds.

You know. Staff fired for not getting the Fauci Ouchie, while COVID positive staff are being asked to work.