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

[killerjimbag]

Considering he hasn't been vaccinated yet, that's not much of an accomplishment.

I can't find much besides Toyota assisting with some mobile vaccinations in May and they started mandatory testing on April 1st, so I have no idea when you may have been vaccinated.

Do you want my Vax records? I'll provide them too you !

 

[TexRex]

to*

 

[Joey D]

Yes Toyota purchased the doses themselves. It's Toyota they think ahead unlike other companies and Governments. So I guess the Canadian Government sees this going to at least 2024? My phone is messing up.

Like @TB I can't find anything about any company other than the NHL buying vaccines from the manufacturer, but I'll take your word for it since it does seem like it's legal in Canada for private companies to do that.

As for securing vaccines through 2024, yes the pandemic will likely still be going on to some degree. But it makes sense for a government to secure the doses now instead of waiting until there's a huge spike and they need the doses like yesterday. Couple this with more and more people meeting the age requirements every day and people entering the workforce where vaccinations are required, and the demand for vaccines will be there for the foreseeable future.

 

[TB]

Do you want my Vax records? I'll provide them too you !

At no point did I say I didn't believe you, only that I have no idea when you were vaccinated. Not that it makes even the slightest bit of difference, but you're the one that brought it up like being vaccinated before me is some kind of an accomplishment.

If we're looking for the earliest, I'm thinking @Joey D has us all beat except for MAYBE @Monkeywench (December 17th and January 8th).

 

[killerjimbag]

At no point did I say I didn't believe you, only that I have no idea when you were vaccinated. Not that it makes even the slightest bit of difference, but you're the one that brought it up like being vaccinated before me is some kind of an accomplishment.

If we're looking for the earliest, I'm thinking @Joey D has us all beat except for MAYBE @Monkeywench (December 17th and January 8th).

It's not a game or who won first or got the shot first.Jesus I'm not in denial of the Vax or science. Something just isn't making sense. My thoughts.

 

[McLaren]

When TB replies to himself about a fellow employee is actually a slight against you... somehow:

 

[Biggles]

It's not a game or who won first or got the shot first.Jesus I'm not in denial of the Vax or science. Something just isn't making sense. My thoughts.

I'm not sure what you're expecting. In reality, Canada has just about the lowest rates of Covid infection & mortality in the developed world. This is likely because Canada has been more vigilant about Covid restrictions than most other countries & now has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. Where Covid infections have been spiking spectacularly in many parts of Europe, the rates have stayed relatively low & fairly constant in Canada. I don't think there is any doubt, however, that infections will go up in the next few months - even before the possible effects of the Omicron variant are factored in.

Vaccinations are not 100% effective. Boosters may be required. This isn't because of a widespread conspiracy by the pharmaceutical companies - it's just the chemical/biological reality. Lockdowns have proven to be very effective where they have been diligently followed. However, they are very damaging in a variety of ways. What the correct balance of restrictions vs freedoms is, is a political question. There's no simple "correct" answer.

 

[Touring Mars]

My booster shot has been pulled forward from the beginning of next year to this Thursday. It will still be over 5 months since my second shot, so I'm happy with that. I'll probably also get my flu shot at the same time. Oh, and it will be administered at Glasgow Central Mosque, I've pretty much hit the GB News Gammon jackpot.

 

[UKMikey]

My booster shot has been pulled forward from the beginning of next year to this Thursday. It will still be over 5 months since my second shot, so I'm happy with that. I'll probably also get my flu shot at the same time. Oh, and it will be administered at Glasgow Central Mosque, I've pretty much hit the GB News Gammon jackpot.

My first two shots were in a Jain temple in Hayes. Roomy and well organised, it's a near perfect venue for dishing out jabs.

 

[Daz555]

My booster shot has been pulled forward from the beginning of next year to this Thursday. It will still be over 5 months since my second shot, so I'm happy with that. I'll probably also get my flu shot at the same time. Oh, and it will be administered at Glasgow Central Mosque, I've pretty much hit the GB News Gammon jackpot.

My first Covid jab was in a doctors surgery, second was in a football stadium, my flu jab was in Sainsburys and my up-coming Covid booster will be in a CoE Church. Quite the vaccination road-trip!

 

[Blitz24]

Two of my jabs were in a rec center (way back in late January and mid February). My 3rd was in a ho-hum CVS.

 

[TheCracker]

I had my first two shots in a methodist church and the booster, just last Sunday, in a CofE church hall. I've had the good lord watching over me for every shot. Amen.

 

[Nielsen]

Why are some countries preparing the enforcement of obligatory vaccines against Delta when the writing on the wall is it will be inefficient against the hardened Omigulli (or whatever the **** it’s called) variant?

Anyway, nice to know that some of these so-called democratic nations of the West have authoritarian properties when it suits them.

 

[Scaff]

Why are some countries preparing the enforcement of obligatory vaccines against Delta when the writing on the wall is it will be inefficient against the hardened Omigulli (or whatever the **** it’s called) variant?

Because new varients don't remove the risk from older variants.

Anyway, nice to know that some of these so-called democratic nations of the West have authoritarian properties when it suits them.

You spelled Public Health Initiatives wrong.

 

[Veinz]

Starting in early November, the company I work for made it a requirement for unvaccinated employees to get tested before every shift, on their own dime. $20 a day.

Now they are working on making it a requirement to have the vaccine to work there. So that’s possibly over 150 people out of a job. Some of them even brag about just living off welfare instead of working, that part of it pisses me off.

 

[Nielsen]

Because new varients don't remove the risk from older variants.

The pattern so has been that previously dominating variants began to fade away once stronger and more contaigious variants made their arrival globally. It’s likely happening again.

You spelled Public Health Initiatives wrong.

 

[Blitz24]

The pattern so has been that previously dominating variants began to fade away once stronger and more contaigious variants made their arrival globally. It’s likely happening again.

So that would mean that Omicron is a stronger and possibly more dangerous form of the virus but yet people still are comparing it to the flu?

 

[Nielsen]

So that would mean that Omicron is a stronger and possibly more dangerous form of the virus but yet people still are comparing it to the flu?

Season flu mutations kill people as well.

 

[TexRex]

If you're typing, you're not washing your hands!

 

[Nielsen]

If you're typing, you're not washing your hands!

And people wonder why they get sick even after three injections of Pfizer or Moderna. Soap was invented for a reason.

 

[Whitestar]

So that would mean that Omicron is a stronger and possibly more dangerous form of the virus but yet people still are comparing it to the flu?

I don't think there's enough data yet, but it was on the news that an african doctor had said it actually seemed to give less serious symptoms. To be taken with a grain of salt obviously.
But it seems to be a lot more contagious than Delta, so because of that they expect Delta to fade away and Omicron to take over.

Even if it turns out to give less serious symptoms it will still probably be more dangerous, because a lot more people will be infected and that will put even more strain on hospitals and the health personell there that are already overworked. I wish unvaccinated people would realise this.

 

[Scaff]

The pattern so has been that previously dominating variants began to fade away once stronger and more contaigious variants made their arrival globally. It’s likely happening again.

A process that takes time and if we simply stop vaccinating against strains then all we do is actually increase the rate of mutation and increase the number of new variants.

Stopping vaccination simply because it may not be as effective against one new variant makes no sense at all.

That's your rebuttal? OK.

 

[TB]

I don't think there's enough data yet, but it was on the news that an african doctor had said it actually seemed to give less serious symptoms. To be taken with a grain of salt obviously.
But it seems to be a lot more contagious than Delta, so because of that they expect Delta to fade away and Omicron to take over.

Just because it's more infectious doesn't mean the symptoms are worse or the mortality rate is higher, thankfully.

 

[Whitestar]

Just because it's more infectious doesn't mean the symptoms are worse or the mortality is higher, thankfully.

No but like I said (edited) above it will put even more strain on the hospitals.

 

[Blitz24]

I don't think there's enough data yet, but it was on the news that an african doctor had said it actually seemed to give less serious symptoms. To be taken with a grain of salt obviously.
But it seems to be a lot more contagious than Delta, so because of that they expect Delta to fade away and Omicron to take over.

Even if it turns out to give less serious symptoms it will still probably be more dangerous, because a lot more people will be infected and that will put even more strain on hospitals and the health personell there that are already overworked. I wish unvaccinated people would realise this.

Sadly, I think the ONLY way they will realize this is if there is a strain that truly becomes more fatal and only to those who haven't been vaccinated at least once (and that wouldn't be good).

 

[Touring Mars]

Just because it's more infectious doesn't mean the symptoms are worse or the mortality is higher, thankfully.

More infectivity does mean higher mortality, just not necessarily a higher mortality rate i.e. mortality rate is the number of people who die per infection, but two variants with different infectivity but the same mortality rate would generate different numbers of deaths due to the difference in numbers of infections alone...

-

There's been a fair bit of jumping the gun in terms of the supposed properties of the omicron variant, with a lot of reporting of some comments regarding symptoms being "mild".

Even if that were true (and it really isn't, or at least it is way too early to say yet), "mild" symptoms has been a property of every variant so far, and indeed very mild to non-existent symptoms are part of the reason why the virus spreads so quickly - because most people who are infectious don't even know they are.

SARS-CoV-2 and all of its variants thus far have a nasty combination of being able to infect people without producing any symptoms at all and the ability to send large numbers of people to hospital and/or kill them. Ironically, if symptoms were generally less mild, the number of infections (and therefore overall deaths) would probably be substantially lower.

 

[Famine]

The pattern so has been that previously dominating variants began to fade away once stronger and more contaigious variants made their arrival globally.

No, that's not true. There's a reason why Delta has been the main variant of interest for a year and now we're looking at Omicron, several Greek letters later. All of the intervening letters have been used (except Nu and Xi) because new variants have arisen and looked like they might do something, but haven't really gone anywhere.

Take Epsilon for example, which was a major variant of concern in California, accounting for around a quarter to a third of all cases in the state between September 2020 and 2021. It seemed more infectious, but it has actually now been outcompeted by Alpha, the first variant. Iota did the exact same thing but on the US East Coast, becoming highly prevalent pretty much everywhere in the USA before falling back behind Alpha and Delta.

The UK had a wibble about Gamma a while back, and also Eta, but both ultimately went nowhere. Delta and Delta+ are still our major variants of concern, and they've beaten everything.

 

[Whitestar]

More infectivity does mean higher mortality, just not necessarily a higher mortality rate i.e. mortality rate is the number of people who die per infection, but two variants with different infectivity but the same mortality rate would generate different numbers of deaths due to the difference in numbers of infections alone...

-

There's been a fair bit of jumping the gun in terms of the supposed properties of the omicron variant, with a lot of reporting of some comments regarding symptoms being "mild".

Even if that were true (and it really isn't, or at least it is way too early to say yet), "mild" symptoms has been a property of every variant so far, and indeed very mild to non-existent symptoms are part of the reason why the virus spreads so quickly - because most people who are infectious don't even know they are.

SARS-CoV-2 and all of its variants thus far have a nasty combination of being able to infect people without producing any symptoms at all and the ability to send large numbers of people to hospital and/or kill them. Ironically, if symptoms were generally less mild, the number of infections (and therefore overall deaths) would probably be substantially lower.

Yeah, this update more or less confirms what you say: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron
I should probably start reading that site instead of listening to the radio news. 🧐

 

[TB]

More infectivity does mean higher mortality, just not necessarily a higher mortality rate

That's what I had in my head but not what I typed. Typical.

Previous post edited.

 

[Nielsen]

Stopping vaccination simply because it may not be as effective against one new variant makes no sense at all.

Stopping? There’s a huge difference between stopping and forcing vaccines into people who didn’t accept them by choice.

That's your rebuttal? OK.

To such a provocative remark? Yes.

No, that's not true. There's a reason why Delta has been the main variant of interest for a year and now we're looking at Omicron, several Greek letters later. All of the intervening letters have been used (except Nu and Xi) because new variants have arisen and looked like they might do something, but haven't really gone anywhere.

Take Epsilon for example, which was a major variant of concern in California, accounting for around a quarter to a third of all cases in the state between September 2020 and 2021. It seemed more infectious, but it has actually now been outcompeted by Alpha, the first variant. Iota did the exact same thing but on the US East Coast, becoming highly prevalent pretty much everywhere in the USA before falling back behind Alpha and Delta.

The UK had a wibble about Gamma a while back, and also Eta, but both ultimately went nowhere. Delta and Delta+ are still our major variants of concern, and they've beaten everything.

Why do you use local examples to disprove my point, which had “global” as emphasis? At the current rate the new variant is considered a threat to replace Delta as the dominant variant globally. It might not, but eventually the current vaccines may be rendered obsolete.