Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

IDK if this has been posted already, but the Moderna vaccine is turning out to be slightly better than the Pfizer vaccine. The efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine drops off from 91% to 77% after four months, while the Moderna vaccine does not drop much in the same time frame. Pfizer is still better than the original estimates of what a vaccine could be expected to do (50-60%).

Moderna vs. Pfizer: Both Knockouts, but One Seems to Have the Edge

 

Do we really want to know how the Corona virus got out of that Wuhan lab?


Chinese defector Jingsheng claims COVID may have first spread at World Military Games in October 2019

 

There aren’t healthy kids ending up in the morgue. But if you want to Vax your kid, go for it. But it stops at mandates for kids for me.

 

So, before this goes further, I am not trying to convince anyone. It is obvious from your posts that you have already made up your mind and I respect that.

However, don't make up all of these weird demands for data that you feel should be spoon fed to you, and deny listening to world leading experts who have been studying infectious diseases and vaccine in children for 30+ years when in reality your local pediatrician validated your position so you choose to agree with her.

 

No, I've expressed, previously, that I'm open to new ideas, and I have my mind made up *for today* only based on information available to date. I also said what information I would be looking for going forward to change my views. If you find any part of what I wrote unreasonable, please let me know.

I honestly don't understand the animosity, why on Earth wouldn't you support the production of more information if it can help some people better buy into the need to vaccinate children? Or are you concerned that the data wouldn't reveal that?

I respect that you have a different way in life than I do, and I trust that your way has suited you well. You'll have to take my word for it that my way has suited me well (or not, doesn't matter to me). There's no reason for you to talk down to me, though. If that is your approach going forward, then we have no need to engage in any discussion on the subject matter going forward. For what it's worth, I've had doctors locally tell me that I am asking good questions (some support children's vaccinations, some don't), and they do not know why the data is not being made available. If your world is different, more power to you. But information is the only way, not instruction without information.

Peace.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

I love it and I'm with you, but a couple of thoughts:

(1) We are seeing people even on this thread that presumably don't identify with being DeSantis supporters reject the production of more of this data, why?

(2) These county commissioners need to reach out to the hospitals directly, Shands started reporting pediatric data in August, while they could do more, they didn't require the state to compile the data for them. It is a path that EVERY county should consider, in just working with your local hospitals. This data shared could be incredibly useful, in my view.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

Bats with Covid-like viruses found in Laos: study (msn.com)

Scientists have discovered another clue to the origins of the virus that causes Covid-19, with bats living in caves in Laos found to be carrying a similar pathogen that experts suggest could potentially infect humans directly.

Researchers from France's Pasteur Institute and the National University of Laos said their findings showed that viruses genetically close to the SARS-CoV-2 virus "exist in nature" among bat species in the limestone caves of northern Laos, which neighbours China.

Of the viruses they identified among the hundreds of bats tested in Vientiane Province, three were found to closely resemble the virus that causes Covid-19, particularly in the mechanism for latching on to human cells.
..................................
Martin Hibbert, Professor of Emerging Infectious Disease at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine -- who was not involved in the Laos research -- said the most closely related virus was found to be able to infect human cells "as easily" as SARS-CoV-2 and therefore might be capable of infecting humans.

 

Good thing asymptomatic spread doesn't happen anymore.

Florida Students Are No Longer Required To Quarantine After Being Exposed To COVID

A day after assuming his job, Florida's newly appointed surgeon general on Wednesday signed new protocols allowing parents to decide whether their children should quarantine or stay in school if they are asymptomatic after being exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

The new guidelines signed by Dr. Joseph Ladapo also tweaked the state's prohibition against school mask mandates, prompting an administrative law judge to dismiss a lawsuit against the old rule that had been filed by various school boards.

In terms of quarantine rules, Ladapo eliminated previous mandates requiring students to quarantine for at least four days off-campus if they've been exposed. Under the new guidelines, students who have been exposed can continue going to campus, "without restrictions or disparate treatment," provided they are asymptomatic. They can also quarantine, but no longer than seven days, provided they do not get sick.

"Quarantining healthy students is incredibly damaging for their educational advancement," Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday at a news conference in Kissimmee. "It's also disruptive for families. We are going to be following a symptoms-based approach."

 

For awhile, we have been following the old Sweedish “herd immunity” model in Florida. Fortunately, because of places with high vaccination rates among vulnerable populations, things Have not been worse. Numbers are coming down now.

 

They were right about football games, let's see if they're right about this.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

U.S. sends money to Florida school officials docked pay for defying mask mandate ban


WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday began compensating some Florida school board members whose pay was docked this month for defying Gov. Ron DeSantis’s ban on mask mandates, the Department of Education said.

As part of the Biden administration's "Project SAFE" grant program, an initial sum of $148,000 has been awarded to Alachua County school board members who voted this summer to mandate masks in the county's schools as Florida developed some of the worst rates of Covid infection in the nation.


U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement that the first wave of reimbursements offer a clear message to school board members nationwide: You will not be punished for overriding GOP governors and legislatures in order to make schools safer for kids.

“We should be thanking districts for using proven strategies that will keep schools open and safe,” Cardona said in his statement, adding that his agency was making sure schools and communities across the country "know that we have their backs.”

 

finally. But deaths per capita are still high and Florida is now top ten, and rising.

 

Michael Flynn Spreads Bizarre Conspiracy Theory About Vaccines In Salad Dressing

Trump world hero is bat chit cray cray.

 

I'm glad we are on the downside of things, but other states are just starting to see their delta waves hit.

Idaho's COVID Nightmare: Hospitals Set Crisis Standards Of Care

The crisis standards of care in that last paragraph, those are the death panels we were warned about if we ended up with socialized medicine.

 

They are right. DeSantis was right about opening schools last year, vaxxing the elderly first and right about natural immunity being as good as being vaccinated. Kid's should only be tested if they show symptoms. Otherwise go to school. Oh, and lose the masks, they don't work.

 

Here are the states with the largest increases in average 7-day COVID-19 hospitalizations over the past week:

VT +30.3%
ID +13.0%
WV +12.4%
OH +10.4%
ME +11.5%
NE +11.1%
MN +9.8%
ND +9.7%
PA +9.0%
MT +6.1%

Source: HHS/CDC COVID Data Tracker

 

FDA grants Pfizer EUA for a THIRD Shot, AKA 2nd Booster, AKA Booster.....for thos 65+, those who are immunocompromised and those who are high risk for severe disease and front line workers.

According to CDC statistics, those groups total approximately 165-185 million Americans.....or more than half of the nation's popultion and well more than half of the total eligible American adults.

FDA authorizes Pfizer's Covid-19 booster for people over 65 or at high risk

 

This rumor has been spreading in China since early last year, except their claim is that the US military used the games to spread it to Wuhan.

 

More kids have been shot in Chicago than died of covid this year...

Fun stat that I believe now shows an even bigger discrepancy than 2 weeks ago.