Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

From what I’ve seen the longer term protection against severe disease is better than flu shot, but I get your point, the shots mainly protect against severe disease and protection is limited against infection.

As compared to other vaccines, the difference is really in the disease not the vaccine. Covid omicron incubates in 3 days. Delta 4 days. Longer term T cell and memory cells usually take 4-5 days to activate, so their ability to protect against Covid infection (same with flu) is limited. Those other diseases take 10-14 days to incubate so T cells and memory cells kick in and actually prevent infection. The “vaccines are leaky” narrative is just wrong, it’s not likely any vaccine will protect against Covid or flu infection long term, as antibodies always wane and longer term defenses take a few days to kick in.

 

man I tried on my desktop and phone. Link is not working.

Also, Australia like many other countries is very undercounted for test. They have a really bad issues with availability and staff to work testing sites.

Just like everywhere else, they have way more positive cases than we will ever know.

 

Complete tunnel vision.

Medicine is Art and Science. The best are great at each. It can be dangerous if you are bad at one…

 

agree. Anti vaxxers don’t believe science or the medical community but watch nutty videos.

 

I take this as you think people are antivaxxers because they question the new Covid mRNA drugs. Most of these people support and use vaccines. Questioning new things is part of Medicine and the (Art/Science).

We have botched this big time. But we are where we are. It will be an uphill battle to recover for sure. And it will take time to regain trust.

 

so you are ok with the J&J vax?

 

I know - I read the document. Your assertion, however, is an absolute and the guidance is not so. You make it sound like they want to cancel the baseball season, but that's not the case. At any rate, I agree in theory about continuing these activities and we're doing so at my institution at the moment. That has to be balanced, though, with knowledge and mitigation. We know, for example, that singing and playing certain wind instruments are high aerosol-producing activities.

 

Ultimately the CDC is greatly influenced by the general political environment and the ways the winds are blowing. A Michael Lewis book is critical of the CDC, but from the opposite direction, saying we should have acted sooner and deliberately ignored the signs that others clearly saw. Ultimately the CDC is risk averse and bureaucratic and doesn't want to be "out there".




He recalls and instance in the 60s or 70s when the CDC called for preventive shutdowns, but as it turned out the anticipated flu outbreak was not as bad as anticipated, and the CDC was roundly criticized for it.

The CDC is really known for processing and compiling research. That aren't terribly good at putting out policy recommendations.

 

For those that want it…

 

Just some random info. Our testing site did 1700 or so tests with a 19% positivity rate yesterday. Our site is 4 lanes. Camping world stadium has 8 lanes. There are also several testing sites obviously but just giving an idea of how many are processed at one amd the hit rate.

 

A doctor on TV today was giving instructions on how to properly wear an N95 mask.

What I want to know is, when are we going to get our handy-dandy tips on where to get the best deal on hazmat suits.

 

Australia is an interesting test case for Omicron. 92.6% of people 16 and older in Australia have had at least 2 doses of the vaccine. That's close to what is considered to be the herd immunity rate of 90% of the total population, but still not quite there, especially since kids under 12 in Australia aren't eligible yet to receive a vaccine. And kids 12-15 don't have as high a vaccination rate, meaning the total population isn't at the 90% vaccination rate. NI would figure into the calculation, but Australia has done everything up to this point to keep case count low, including not allowing anyone unvaccinated into the country (see Novak Jokovich). But with high vaccination rate, and Omicron likely too contagious, Australia is not attempting to mitigate the spread of the virus.

The current results are cases are rising, along with hospitalizations. Australia also had its deadliest COVID day with a record high 77 deaths recorded. No ages released, but a very low percentage of deaths had received a booster, though most were double vaxxed. As for hospitalizations, officials haven't released ages and variant, but a significant number in the hospitals are younger and unvaccinated.

From what is happening in Australia, Omicron doesn't appear to be less dangerous, in general. Especially if you are unvaccinated. The rise in younger, unvaccinated hospitalizations is likely due to a huge spike in cases, which is something Australia hasn't really experienced before. But the vaccine is keeping almost all Aussies safe, and those with a third booster are faring the best of all.

 

Here is data from the UK on pediatric hospitalizations. When the fear mongers say covid hospitalizations are very high, just know they are full of crap.

 

I knew authoritarianism with the libs was strong but holy crap!

– Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters would oppose a proposal for federal or state governments to fine Americans who choose not to get a COVID-19 vaccine. However, 55% of Democratic voters would support such a proposal, compared to just 19% of Republicans and 25% of unaffiliated voters.

– Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Democratic voters would favor a government policy requiring that citizens remain confined to their homes at all times, except for emergencies, if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Such a proposal is opposed by 61% of all likely voters, including 79% of Republicans and 71% of unaffiliated voters.

– Nearly half (48%) of Democratic voters think federal and state governments should be able to fine or imprison individuals who publicly question the efficacy of the existing COVID-19 vaccines on social media, television, radio, or in online or digital publications. Only 27% of all voters – including just 14% of Republicans and 18% of unaffiliated voters – favor criminal punishment of vaccine critics.

COVID-19: Democratic Voters Support Harsh Measures Against Unvaccinated

 

You can read a graph, correct? Notice pediatric COVID hospitalizations are at a peak, and are currently rising? Also, current COVID pediatric hospitalizations are higher then any pneumonia peak, and approaching the highest RSV peak. And if trend continues, will surpass all but the bronchitis peaks by the end of the month? And this is supposed to be a good thing?

 

Lot's of if's in those statements. Not even close to the a normal year of bronchitis peak. I get it, this blows out your children are in grave danger routine.

 

No if in the statement COVID pediatric hospitalizations are at historic highs in the UK. That's a fact. No if in the statement current pediatric COVID hospitalizations in the UK have outpaced pneumonia hospitalizations. That's a fact too. Neither point to the graph being a bastion of positive news.

What else is a fact. At current pace, COVID pediatric hospitalizations in the UK will beat the RSV peak by the end of the month. The if is will the UK continue to see the same pediatric COVID hospitalization rate? Omicron cases seemed to have peaked in the UK last week, but hospitalizations generally lag the case trend by a week or two.

 

I'll take spinning the data for $1,000 Alex. I get it, seeing covid hospitalizations way below normal hospitalizations for bronchitis must really be a kick in the balls. Oh well. And we aren't even discussing the 50% of covid hospitalizations that aren't even covid related. Tough look for the fear mongers.

 

And rising pediatric COVID hospitalizations, which the graph obviously shows, is a good thing because?....

I'll answer. It's not. Any pediatric hospitalization isn't a good thing. And if it can be avoided while keeping the kids safe, it should be.

 

Fear mongers gonna fear monger. You have a reputation to uphold and you are doing a bang up job.