COVID-19/Coronavirus Information and Support Thread (see OP for useful links)

[Jezza819]

New York Times has a "predictor" that says how many people should be in front of you for the vaccine both in the US and in your state.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/03/opinion/covid-19-vaccine-timeline.html

 

[Touring Mars]

Republicans dancing it up in NewYork like covid never existed .



Strange behaviour in a pandemic .

Utter idiots. Let's just hope their relatives, friends and colleagues don't end up suffering because of their behaviour...

On a lighter note, if you have a problem with it, speak to your Conga-ressman.

 

[Dennisch]

One of the popular Dutch funny sites, Dumpert.nl has slowly turned into a hotbed for anti mask morons. I'm losing my hope in the Dutch people faster by the day.

And their main argument is that we are sheep, easy to control and that is shown by wearing a mask. I hope that every single one of them gets a taste of their own medicine. I'm done with those ****ers.

edit for some good news.

The chance of dying of Covid seems to have dropped by 47% here. Data from the current wave has been compared with the 1st wave and it showed a massive drop, and scientists think it has to do with dexamethason.

 

[TexRex]

Utter idiots. Let's just hope their relatives, friends and colleagues don't end up suffering because of their behaviour...

Let's be realistic, though. Their friends and colleagues are likely of a similar bent, so...mixed feelings.

I do feel sorry for those of more immediate relation to them.

The grey-haired woman who dropped herself in front is a failed New York State Senate candidate and prospective candidate for a city/county seat.

 

[UKMikey]

The grey-haired woman who dropped herself in front is a failed New York State Senate candidate and prospective candidate for a city/county seat.

At least one of her immediate relations (son Thomas) may also have it coming in my opinion if these gingerbread people represent people that Hitler actually put into ovens.

 

[Outspacer]

 

[kikie]

 

[Biggles]

The UK has so far managed around 500,000 vaccinations in 13 days... or about 40000 per day, which is quite impressive.

That said, given that everyone requires two shots, even at a rate of 50000 shots per day, it would take a staggering 7 years to complete the rollout, so in order to be effective within 6-12 months, we really need a vaccination rate closer to 7-14 times higher than present, or averaging around 500,000 vaccinations per day.

Meanwhile, no lorries or Vans can leave or enter the UK until further notice... not a bad idea given how awful Van Morrison's latest 'music' has been (and let's hope they extend that ban to Eric Clapton too.)

Here's the question though: although Covid infections are a publicized statistic, infections in themselves don't really mean much. If everyone was infected by something that had no effect on their health, nobody would worry about it. It's deaths & serious illnesses that are important. So, how long will it take to vaccinate frontline workers & the "vulnerable"? Surely that's the most pressing concern?

 

[Outspacer]

115 million Americans travelling. Words fail me.

SA has actually identified lots of variants, so must be doing pretty good sampling. They are the blue dots in the bottom-right of this chart.

Very, very worrying if that comment about the SA variant being more harmful in younger people is true. Even if walled off, such a variant could just as easily arise elsewhere independently.

Basically schools and colleges are now going to have to close again. These variants are teaching the lesson that we can't tolerate the virus even in sub-populations that aren't likely to get very sick, because that's how we get these nastier variants arising.

Here's the question though: although Covid infections are a publicized statistic, infections in themselves don't really mean much. If everyone was infected by something that had no effect on their health, nobody would worry about it. It's deaths & serious illnesses that are important. So, how long will it take to vaccinate frontline workers & the "vulnerable"? Surely that's the most pressing concern?

UK has about 12 million aged over 65, a million or more frontline NHS staff, and a lot of care home staff. No idea how many 'vulnerable' to add on. I'd guess in all it could be as much as 20% to 25% of the population, say about 17.5 million people, needing 35 million doses of vaccine to be given.

The Oxford/AZ vaccine, despite being easier to produce and transport, looks like it might be in fairly short supply, at least in the UK. This article comments on some of the issues it's had ramping up. Summary is that of the UK's 100 million dose order, about 40 million is/was expected to arrive by the end of March. I haven't looked up how many of the other vaccines we are expected to have but from what I recall it's a smaller number.

So, I dunno... end of February at the absolute earliest for us (UK)???

 

[ToyGTone]

Question, I'm not planning to do this right now but my parents are well into their 60s and they want a vaccine, which's better?

1. Sinopharm

Or

2. Pfizer

People have mixed opinions about both choices, with many thinking that both may have bad side effects. That being said, my parents are not in the best shape and they want to receive it asap.

 

[Outspacer]

View attachment 980548

Question, I'm not planning to do this right now but my parents are well into their 60s and they want a vaccine, which's better?

1. Sinopharm

Or

2. Pfizer

People have mixed opinions about both choices, with many thinking that both may have bad side effects. That being said, my parents are not in the best shape and they want to receive it asap.

pfizer - more effective, fewer side-effects

(that said, while I'm not liking what I read about sinopharm vaccine, it does sound like it works)

 

[Dennisch]

Sinterklaas visited an elderly home in the Belgian city of Mol and instead of bringing presents, he took on the role of the Corona infected Grim Reaper and so far killed 13 with another 121 infected.

Happy holidays everyone.

 

[McLaren]

I didn't know people were offered a choice between which vaccine they wanted. Way I read it, every region was taking what it could get for now.

Nevertheless ToyGTone, I would suggest your folks ask their doctor which is best for them.

 

[TexRex]

115 million Americans travelling. Words fail me.

Freedumb.

 

[kikie]

Sinterklaas visited an elderly home in the Belgian city of Mol and instead of bringing presents, he took on the role of the Corona infected Grim Reaper and so far killed 13 with another 121 infected.

Happy holidays everyone.

It's only 4km from where I live.


Mol is not a city. It's a "gemeente". I know this because I live in Mol.

 

[Outspacer]

Here's the question though: although Covid infections are a publicized statistic, infections in themselves don't really mean much. If everyone was infected by something that had no effect on their health, nobody would worry about it. It's deaths & serious illnesses that are important. So, how long will it take to vaccinate frontline workers & the "vulnerable"? Surely that's the most pressing concern?

UK has about 12 million aged over 65, a million or more frontline NHS staff, and a lot of care home staff. No idea how many 'vulnerable' to add on. I'd guess in all it could be as much as 20% to 25% of the population, say about 17.5 million people, needing 35 million doses of vaccine to be given.

The Oxford/AZ vaccine, despite being easier to produce and transport, looks like it might be in fairly short supply, at least in the UK. This article comments on some of the issues it's had ramping up. Summary is that of the UK's 100 million dose order, about 40 million is/was expected to arrive by the end of March. I haven't looked up how many of the other vaccines we are expected to have but from what I recall it's a smaller number.

So, I dunno... end of February at the absolute earliest for us (UK)???

I know it's the Fail, but they're quoting gov as saying 15 million, and guess at the same timeframe...

The Mail on Sunday says the UK could be free of tight Covid restrictions by the end of February, after ministers identified the 15 million people who would need vaccinations to end the "crippling" cycle of lockdowns. With the Oxford jab expected to be approved within days, the government hopes enough doses will soon be available to inoculate those most vulnerable within weeks, the paper says.

- BBC

 

[gnomefromnome]

https://www.nortonsoundhealth.org/press-release-nome-close-contact-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

NSHC is ahead of schedule and has opened COVID-19 vaccinations to Group 1 essential workers, including the following:

1. Daycare and K-12 teachers and support staff
2. Grocery store workers
3. Cab/Taxi drivers
4. Airline customer facing workers including Pilots, TSA, Gate/Desk Agents
5. U.S. Postal Service workers
6. Corrections workers, including adult and juvenile corrections and Seaside staff
7. Staff of homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and similar congregate living facilities
8. Office of Child Services and Adult Services Staff
9. Fisheries/Seafood industry workers

 

[JKgo]

...A quick update from South Africa: We've finally surpassed the milestone of one million total infected! Yay us!



The number of COVID-related deaths has shot up as well. The total active 'infected' as of yesterday was around 140,000 nationwide and in response, the government has closed all public parks and our beautiful beaches in order to curb the runaway spread of the new strain. Doesn't seem to be working all that well at the moment, though.

On the upside, the government also publicly stated that no further lockdown was on cards since our economy won't be able to survive another one.

 

[Biggles]

...A quick update from South Africa: We've finally surpassed the milestone of one million total infected! Yay us!



The number of COVID-related deaths has shot up as well. The total active 'infected' as of yesterday was around 140,000 nationwide and in response, the government has closed all public parks and our beautiful beaches in order to curb the runaway spread of the new strain. Doesn't seem to be working all that well at the moment, though.

On the upside, the government also publicly stated that no further lockdown was on cards since our economy won't be able to survive another one.

What is the effect of climate on Covid in South Africa? Back in the early stages of the pandemic there was an expectation that Covid would be less of problem in hot, sunny climates. I'm still not sure to what extent that this view has been borne out? Countries in South America have had very bad infection & mortality rates - but a lot of those countries have high elevations &/or very varied climates. I have the impression that infection rates & deaths have been lower in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan & North Africa than might have been anticipated given the population density & poor health care infrastructure. Anybody have any insight on this?

 

[JKgo]

What is the effect of climate on Covid in South Africa? Back in the early stages of the pandemic there was an expectation that Covid would be less of problem in hot, sunny climates. I'm still not sure to what extent that this view has been borne out? Countries in South America have had very bad infection & mortality rates - but a lot of those countries have high elevations &/or very varied climates. I have the impression that infection rates & deaths have been lower in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan & North Africa than might have been anticipated given the population density & poor health care infrastructure. Anybody have any insight on this?

...I thought any potential links between COVID and hot/cold climate have been debunked? We are in the middle of summer here and the second wave has hit us pretty hard. As a matter of fact, the winter months (around June) we still saw a pretty steady increase in the number of positive cases.

As far as varied climates and altitude changes go, South Africa also boasts them.

Hot on the heels of my previous post, the president of South Africa did a televised announcement about one hour ago, reinstating lockdown level 3. Curfew from 21:00 to 06:00, no sale of alcohol and a total ban on indoor or outdoor gatherings for the next two weeks save for funerals. And if you're caught without a mask on your face, you can even end up in jail.

 

[Blitz24]

...I thought any potential links between COVID and hot/cold climate have been debunked? We are in the middle of summer here and the second wave has hit us pretty hard. As a matter of fact, the winter months (around June) we still saw a pretty steady increase in the number of positive cases.

As far as varied climates and altitude changes go, South Africa also boasts them.

Hot on the heels of my previous post, the president of South Africa did a televised announcement about one hour ago, reinstating lockdown level 3. Curfew from 21:00 to 06:00, no sale of alcohol and a total ban on indoor or outdoor gatherings for the next two weeks save for funerals. And if you're caught without a mask on your face, you can even end up in jail.

I'm pretty sure it was the other way around, that the warmer months would cause a decrease in the spread of the virus. However, that has nothing to do with the virus being less transmissible, but more that people are outside.

 

[Biggles]

I'm pretty sure it was the other way around, that the warmer months would cause a decrease in the spread of the virus. However, that has nothing to do with the virus being less transmissible, but more that people are outside.

Yes - it's a complicated relationship. There are two distinct aspects to the question: how does the virus itself change in respond to heat & sunlight & how does the interaction of people change in different climates?

 

[Joey D]

So we found out today that a person's employment will no longer be considered for where they are in the vaccine line and instead we're going to focus on people over the age of 75, which makes absolutely zero sense to me. Someone over the age of 75 is likely to be retired and can likely stay at home, so why in the world do they get first priority and not the grocery worker who has to be there six days a week and sees hundreds, if not thousands, of people? Also, we're prioritizing prisoners as well, which really makes no sense. Sure, vaccinate those working at the prisons, but really we're going to vaccinate the person who's convicted of first-degree murder for killing their family before the person who's been considered a "front line hero"?

The only thing that does make sense is that they want to focus on minority groups first, which given the data, this is absolutely the right thing to do. The Hispanic community here has been hit about four times harder than any other race.

I also have no idea when I'm going to get vaccinated now because I went from a "helpful hospital employee" to a 33-year old white male. I was so irritated by all this that I ended up taking the rest of the day off from work. I, along with a team of hard-working people, busted our ass to get the vaccine clinic up and running to vaccinate as many people as possible only for the government to decide to play politics. I'm sure it'll pass, but as of right now I have no desire to go above and beyond just so we can vaccinate retired people who don't need to leave their home and prisoners over the person who's risking their health to support their family while dealing with anti-mask idiots.

 

[Outspacer]

...I thought any potential links between COVID and hot/cold climate have been debunked? We are in the middle of summer here and the second wave has hit us pretty hard. As a matter of fact, the winter months (around June) we still saw a pretty steady increase in the number of positive cases.

I reckon there's way too many factors to even now say whether there is or isn't, but for sure 'debunked' is a bit strong - it wasn't a conspiracy theory, it was just what most people hoped! We know UV kills the virus, and that meetings outdoors have reduced transmission risk. I think lab tests have shown it doesn't care about heat/cold much, but there's still a question mark over humidity (it doesn't survive as well when it's dry, but unsure if that affects transmission significantly). Overall, probably true to say that transmission would generally be somewhat less in summer, in the absence of other factors.

Lockdown fatigue is a factor, with more now disobeying the rules.

However, the new SA strain appears to be a much bigger factor than anything else at the moment. Same for the UK strain, which must've started when we were enjoying a fairly mild autumn in the south, and in lockdown for November (except schools).

 

[Dotini]

Here's a fun factoid to ponder - viruses are raining down upon us from the sky.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180206090650.htm

 

[Touring Mars]

The UK has recorded a new record of over 53,000 new cases today... that is a higher number of infections per capita than even the highest peak recorded in the US, which is both staggering and scary.

Given the amount, depth and length of restrictions imposed in the UK, it is quite alarming that we are now seeing such massive numbers of cases. On the one hand, it does make it clear that the virus can and does spread rapidly even with tough restrictions in place, but it also doesn't bode well for somewhere like the US that may not have had significant exposure to a more transmissible variant like those currently sweeping the UK and South Africa...

 

[TexRex]

Similar to speakeasies during prohibition, perhaps people in the UK have been holding back-room coughing parties.

 

[Joey D]

Looking more at the logistical side of the vaccine distribution, I'm even less confident in our approach. Per the CDC there are 24 million people in Phase 1a which includes hospital patient-facing employees, and long-term care residents. In 14 days, we've administered roughly two million vaccines across the country, which is about 142,000 per day. To vaccinate the remaining 22 million people in 1a, we're looking at 154 days using the current rate for just one dose of the vaccine. Since we need to double that number, that puts us roughly at next Thanksgiving just for this phase alone. If we fact in what the adoption rate might be, that still puts us around August before everyone who wants to be vaccinated gets it using the current rates.

This just isn't acceptable, especially since we're not sure just how long the antibodies last. To be hitting targets, we need to be at around 2 million doses of the vaccine per day right now.

I'm not sure where we are with other states, but we figured out numbers for Utah, and our current rate we're looking at over four years to get 70% of the state vaccinated and we only have 3 million people.

This is why I have such a problem with our approach to who will be getting the vaccine. We're going to vaccinate the 85-year-old who doesn't need to leave their house over the 27-year-old teacher who's literally around biological timebombs known as kids all day long. If that teacher were to get sick and be asymptomatic, they could potentially infect hundreds, if not thousands of people just by passing on the virus to half of their students. Also, many people over the age of 65 don't need to worry about where their money is going to come from since they're from a generation that had pensions and properly managed social security. Their healthcare is largely covered by Medicare too. The 27-year-old could lose pay if they miss work due to being sick, which could result in them losing their home, car, whatever. They also might not have adequate health insurance and end up having a ridiculous amount of medical debt.

I'm fortunate enough to have a good job that allows me to work from home, but I realize that of the millennial cohort, I'm more of an exception than the rule. Plenty of people in their 20's and 30's are still working paycheck to paycheck while struggling to pay rent and student loans. Many of the people in this group have also lost their jobs since they made up a large portion of the employees in industries that have collapsed. So let's get these people vaccinated, so they can get back to work and allow them to at least slow down the hemorrhaging of their money.

Never fear though, the US government is going to come through in the clutch and deliver 600 Tricky Trump Fun Bucks to struggling people...which won't even cover a month's rent in most populated areas (hell, even in unpopulated areas).

 

[Biggles]

Also, we're prioritizing prisoners as well, which really makes no sense. Sure, vaccinate those working at the prisons, but really we're going to vaccinate the person who's convicted of first-degree murder for killing their family before the person who's been considered a "front line hero"?

I guess the reason for vaccinating prisoners is to try & prevent large scale outbreaks in a population that has no possibility of physically distancing. And clearly the vast majority of incarcerated individuals didn't kill their families - many of them are in for drug possession offences. Get a grip Joey!

I think you've got a point about older people - most of them are retired & don't need to expose themselves to the virus on a daily basis. It does mean that there would have to be services to provide them with necessities of life though. All-in-all I can see that it's a pretty complicated situation. Do you start with the most vulnerable to dying ... or the most likely to be infected?

 

[XJ40]

The UK has recorded a new record of over 53,000 new cases today... that is a higher number of infections per capita than even the highest peak recorded in the US, which is both staggering and scary.

Given the amount, depth and length of restrictions imposed in the UK, it is quite alarming that we are now seeing such massive numbers of cases. On the one hand, it does make it clear that the virus can and does spread rapidly even with tough restrictions in place, but it also doesn't bode well for somewhere like the US that may not have had significant exposure to a more transmissible variant like those currently sweeping the UK and South Africa...

Yeah I'm :censored:ed. Apparently my workplace is Covid safe therefore I have to attend. Which includes sharing car and van space as we sit diagonally opposite to each other (driver in front(yeah obviously ) and passenger behind but off to the side)) and sharing lorries/semis with 2 max in the cab.

I had to shield last time and wish it was mandatory this time as I work with a bunch of manky b:censored:s, one of whom came in with symptoms and worked all week.

I apologise if it sounds like I'm complaining. I am. Figures like these dont help. I won't contribute to this thread again unless I have some good news