News Worldwide impact of the novel coronavirus (covid-19)

[ms spock]

It seems that we won't really be in a position to argue about which vaccine to get for some time as the promised orders of vaccines have not occurred.

Dr Zoë Hyde is another Epidemiologist commenting on the efficacy of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine (defined as preventing symptomatic, test-confirmed COVID-19) is 62.1% and won't provide Australia with herd immunity.

JHer article is called "Australia needs herd immunity The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine won’t deliver it".

Good news though that there are more that 60 vaccines in clinical development and 172 in pre-clinical trial. You can see this from 13:19.

Another epidemologist saying at 20:38 AstraZeneca has 62% efficacy and this will mean Australia won't get herd immunity unless there is 100% vaccination, which is unlikely to happen. 27:17 Vaccination issues - who will give them? UK B117 30:16 RO may increase by 50% at that point a higher efficacy vaccine is crucial as well as a higher uptake of vaccinations generally. Australia by delaying the vaccinations start until March may lose us the opportunity for herd immunity if the mutant strains become dominant.

Link Removed


The Long Covid is the thing to continue watching.

Almost 30% of Covid patients in England readmitted to hospital after discharge – study

Readmission rate for Covid patients 3.5 times greater, and death rate seven times higher, than for other hospital patients

www.theguardian.com

Moderna and Pfizer may be able to be altered in a 6 week turn around for the VOCs. It would be then production, transportation and then vaccination but it's doable.

NZ doing it's thing.

COVID-19

About the Ministry of Health’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and our long-term management strategy.

www.health.govt.nz

The border between Norway and Sweden is closed for the first time since 1954. Will the pandemic ruin their special friendship?

The Nordics were supposed to be the most integrated region in the world. But along came the coronavirus.

sciencenorway.no

It seems that China has the VOCs as well. I stopped watching "China in Focus" though. They are doing extraordinary building of facilities. 28 million locked down here and 10 million locked there. Egads.

China begins building massive quarantine site as COVID cases surge

As a COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow in China's north-eastern Hebei province, workers begin building an isolation centre expected to house 3,000 wards and have room for several thousand people.

www.abc.net.au

So if they acted federally we could have prevented the elderly deaths in Victoria.

Morrison government to blame for aged care failures during pandemic – Senate report

The Labor-chaired committee found there was a failure to anticipate crippling staff shortages and high demand for protective equipment

www.theguardian.com

Watching this with hope and so sad that production won't be as promised.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/

Watching this and feeling grateful to be in Australia.

COVID-19 Map - Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

coronavirus.jhu.edu

 

[DharmaGirl]

they just sent checks in the mail to people they though might need the money

I thought the stimulus checks were to stimulate the economy. We were supposed to spend them to increase sales. I didn't think it had anything to do with who was needy. I know that folks on food stamps are getting the maximum for the amount of people in their home, so that is a need based.

 

[mamachick]

This covid has really gotten to me. I guess 10 months is my breaking point. Oh Im sure I will muster up what I need to turn this mood around, but right now feeling kind of hopeless. My sister has cancer that has spread. She went to a week of chemo. The next week she was taken to the hospital. She has sepsis and I think went into Addisons crisis. Anyway, Im not sure if she will make it home. Through all her testing and 2 surgeries, I haven't been able to see her because of covid. I have not been any help to her. We are playing it very safe so haven't seen any family through this....somedays it feels like I will die of boredom, then I snap out of that self pity quickly. This weekend has felt very heavy. Im feeling the doom and gloom. Anybody have to pull themselves out of this space?

 

[Deanna]

Anybody have to pull themselves out of this space?

Yes. I've been in and out of this funk for over a year. The only thing I do is to imagine the opposite repercussions of having Covid myself. I'd probably get it and then struggle for a year with it, even after it cleared up. Not able to work at all.

I see my psyche doc tomorrow because my depression is worsening to where I'm almost immobile other than work.

 

[mamachick]

Deanna Im sorry you are struggling with this too. "immobile" is a good word for what I was trying to describe. Do you think the worsening of funk is the accumulation of time? Im kind of thinking that. I haven't been able to do anything this weekend. The funk is just too deep.

 

[Deanna]

Deanna Im sorry you are struggling with this too. "immobile" is a good word for what I was trying to describe. Do you think the worsening of funk is the accumulation of time? Im kind of thinking that. I haven't been able to do anything this weekend. The funk is just too deep.

Possibly. Time would be a good factor and I think it really accounts for a lot. I'm sorry to hear about your sis.

 

[ms spock]

This covid has really gotten to me. I guess 10 months is my breaking point.

A lot of folks are really struggling now. I don't know if it helps but you are not alone. I go through cycles of acceptance, angst, frustration, etc.

One of my friends in Germany is not going well at all and their lock down is going to be extended again and they have been told prepare for extended lock downs. She was almost started crying when she told us that. She lives alone and hasn't seen anyone for so many months now.

Oh Im sure I will muster up what I need to turn this mood around, but right now feeling kind of hopeless.

It's hard to feel hopeless.

My sister has cancer that has spread.

That's really scary and a lot. That's a big one without the pandemic.

She went to a week of chemo. The next week she was taken to the hospital. She has sepsis and I think went into Addisons crisis.

I am sending my best wishes.

Anyway, Im not sure if she will make it home.

Sending you big hugs.

Through all her testing and 2 surgeries, I haven't been able to see her because of covid.

That's really hard. Not seeing folks is really hard. Especially when you want to be with them so much.

I have not been any help to her.

You haven't been able to see her, but I am presuming you have been talking to her, texting her or emailing her?

We are playing it very safe so haven't seen any family through this...

We haven't seen anyone very much at all, and it's hard.

.somedays it feels like I will die of boredom, then I snap out of that self pity quickly. This weekend has felt very heavy. Im feeling the doom and gloom. Anybody have to pull themselves out of this space?

Yes and I have had to talk some folks through this.

Yes. I've been in and out of this funk for over a year. The only thing I do is to imagine the opposite repercussions of having Covid myself. I'd probably get it and then struggle for a year with it, even after it cleared up. Not able to work at all.

It's a good one to think through the consequences.

We have been holding on to that we aren't getting it and we aren't spreading it.

I see my psyche doc tomorrow because my depression is worsening to where I'm almost immobile other than work.

Lots of folks are going through this, depression and anxiety is growing in a lot of people, it is comforting to know I am not alone.

Deanna Im sorry you are struggling with this too. "immobile" is a good word for what I was trying to describe. Do you think the worsening of funk is the accumulation of time?

There does seem many people hitting a wall at this time. I think it's sinking how long term it's going to be.

Last year Dr Fauci said in April 2020 that we may never shake hands again. The whole fabric of our lives are changing/have changed. And there's so much that we don't know about the virus and the long term impacts of it as well.

Im kind of thinking that. I haven't been able to do anything this weekend. The funk is just too deep.

If you ever want to hang out and disco dance in chat, let me know, I used to do that a bit. It might be time to start that one up again.

Possibly. Time would be a good factor and I think it really accounts for a lot.

It does seem a lot of folks are really going through it at the moment. It's hitting home to in so many ways. We have about 40,000 Australians waiting to come home, back to Australia. I was emailing one woman who I know and she's been waiting since March 2020. And they book flights and they can't get back. They have no idea if or when they could come home.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I thought the stimulus checks were to stimulate the economy. We were supposed to spend them to increase sales. I didn't think it had anything to do with who was needy. I know that folks on food stamps are getting the maximum for the amount of people in their home, so that is a need based.

Not everyone got the same amount of money.....it was based on income. If you are short on cash, you won't be buying fancy clothing.....you'll be buying food and using the $ to

I thought the stimulus checks were to stimulate the economy. We were supposed to spend them to increase sales. I didn't think it had anything to do with who was needy. I know that folks on food stamps are getting the maximum for the amount of people in their home, so that is a need based.

I thought the stimulus checks were to stimulate the economy. We were supposed to spend them to increase sales. I didn't think it had anything to do with who was needy. I know that folks on food stamps are getting the maximum for the amount of people in their home, so that is a need based.

When a nation sends out stimulus checks for two reasons, it is to help the people who are suffering from some kind of catastrophe and help stabilize the economy. When the economy is in a downward spiral......we don't usually see a check......right? Trump made a big speech saying "He was sending the people a check to help them make it through this hard time. He referred to the homeless, the failing businesses, those who were short on their mortgage and those who didn't have prescriptions/food. Regardless of what you do with the money at any point in time, it is considered stimulus when you spend (e.g. natural gas to heat the house, the bank-who holds the mortgage, the food store whom you need to stay alive, the small buisiness who can't pay their employees, etc.) the money was "emergency money" for citizens in need and when the country stopped because of Covid.....a stopgap measure to help with the economy.

Not everyone "needed" a stimulus check.....and there were many checks sent out needlessly. Most prudent middle class folks, who had a mortgage and a job, and a savings account, could make ends meet....unless of course they lost their job due to Covid. The lower quartile, people with less money had less resources to fall back on. Then there are those who live via a credit card.....finding themselves in serious debt they couldn't get out of.....because they lost their business.....or their job. Many didn't have the quarters to get unemployment........many lost their homes, housing, and their medical care. Many were /are hungry. Some became homeless as a result of Covid....and in the cases where Covid had severe reprocussions, $1200 one time check wasn't going to be any more than a stop-gap measure.

As a teacher, I had kids on food stamps and families had to qualify for food stamps based on income. The kids ate two meals at school, and the food stamp allotment were to take care of weekends and dinners. My kids were hungry, growing kids in middle school......and they were hungry on the weekend. When another kid didn't want something like their juice, I had students who'd come back to class with food that had been given to others, so they'd have snacks for when they got home. Now, without school lunches, lower income kids often aren't getting 3 meals a day during this covid lockdown, families are going hungrier because many virtual school programs aren't currently helping to feed their families........and there is more to survival than just food stamps...... as I understand it, there was recently an increase in food stamp allotment.

So yes, they call it a stimulus check.....to keep people working, to feed hungry people or pay their rent......but it isn't every day that trillions of dollars go out ......it only happens when there is a national crisis and people are suffering. JMO

 

[DharmaGirl]

When a nation sends out stimulus checks for two reasons, it is to help the people who are suffering from some kind of catastrophe and help stabilize the economy.

Stimulus Checks Explained: Definition, Benefits, and Key Criticisms

Discover what stimulus checks are, how they impact the economy, who qualifies, and why some criticize them. Understand their role in financial relief efforts.

www.investopedia.com

 

[joeylittle]

@DharmaGirl - did you mean to include a comment?

 

[ms spock]

Folks rang me about vaccinations yesterday, saying folks died of Pfizer in Norway and I said that is sensationalism, and yes I am unhappy with a vaccine with 62% efficiacy but taking AstraZeneca will be important - they have asthma, autoimmune diseases, Indigenous, heart condition and are elderly. When the vaccines started being developed looking for 50% seemed a stretch. AstraZeneca in not taking profit during the pandemic is the hope of the 3rd World. I am selfish I want herd immunity in Australia. I know we may never shake hands again, but I don't want the world to be so permanently changed. And I may have to radically accept this.

The next generation vaccines are on their way. There's going to be plenty to choose from. So many are already in clinical trials.

Australia got our first vaccine approval!

So hopefully we will start producing and vaccinating.

Will the next vaccine approval be harder? - ABC listen

In news that has been eagerly awaited since the pandemic began, a coronavirus vaccine has finally been approved for use in Australia. Yesterday, the Therapeutic Goods Administration gave the mRNA vaccine the thumbs up, paving the way for its rollout for key vulnerable groups. But Australia...

www.abc.net.au

This is a visual representation of Covid19 in Australia. It's beautifully done. I used to do some stuff like this, along time ago. Even if you don't want to read it, scrolling through to see how it looks is interesting.

'Absolutely a flashpoint': The critical signs we missed in our fight against COVID

This is how coronavirus tore through our workplaces, schools, hospitals and nursing homes in spite of lockdowns, testing and quarantine.

www.abc.net.au

Professor MacIntyre warns that Australia’s “stubborn refusal” to recognise the role of airborne transmission in the spread of coronavirus is “absolutely a flashpoint”.

“Australia has been one of the last countries to acknowledge airborne transmission as a major way that the virus spreads,” she says.

“Even the WHO and the US, which were denying it at the beginning, are now acknowledging that it’s important — particularly indoors.

It's pretty long but it has some interesting ways of presenting the information.

Canberra silversmith Marissa Ziesing ended up being hospitalised for seven days. She is still recovering, physically and mentally.

“The only thing I’d had before [COVID-19] was low blood pressure … Even now my chest is not the same,” she says.

I have been following Variants of Concern, (VOCS). There's a lot I really don't know but I am learning.

The VOCs are now said to be much more infectious, Johnston said it and some of the medical professionals say so as well. Dr John Chapman said the UK was on the right track but the VOC meant the whole virus just shot off again. However some professionals are sticking to human behaviours are letting them spread more. Lots of folks in London didn't wear masks and didn't socially distance before Xmas. So there is that.

"It's just too easy to lay the blame on the variant and say, 'It's the virus that did it,'" Dr Ryan said. "Well unfortunately, it's also what we didn't do that did it."

This means vaccines would need to be updated like other infections.

The UK closed its borders to South America due to the new Brazil variant. How worried should we be?

Here's what we know about the Brazilian strain and what the emergence of new coronavirus variants tells us about COVID-19 in general.

www.abc.net.au

The B1351 variant (first detected in South Africa) is now in NZ. Australia has suspended the travel bubble with NZ for 72 hours in an abundance of precaution. I hope it doesn't get moving in NZ. They are pretty good, they do hard and fast lock downs and everyone wears masks. Fortunately this person kept detailed records of everywhere they went so the contact tracers have good data

Anyone who arrived in Australia from New Zealand on or since January 14 is asked to get a COVID-19 test and self-isolate until they get a negative result.

and

She tested negative to COVID-19 twice before leaving quarantine, where she visited cafes, bars and shops in northern New Zealand while unknowingly infectious. This tracks back to the Chinese whistle blower doctors who said it can incubate for up to 28 days whilst folks are asymptomatic and testing negative. How long until all the information is collated so we can see all the details - it probably won't happen for years.

The B1351 variant has been detected in at least 13 countries and Australia has had 13 people in quarantine who have it. I am so grateful that it has not leaked out into the Australian community.

Australia-New Zealand travel bubble suspended amid new strain fears across the Tasman

The Federal Government suspends quarantine-free travel for New Zealanders arriving in Australia for 72 hours amid fears of a South African strain of COVID-19 across the Tasman.

www.abc.net.au

The B1117 (first detected Kent, UK) is in Australia in quarantine. It's whether it gets out.

Now the questions are if the VOCS have a higher mortality rate? First they said greater transmissability but not a higher fatality rate but now that seems to be questioned. I feel sad about this. I had thought that it would have a higher fatality rate as it is more transmissable it would infect more people and thus more would die but apparently it has a higher fatality rate.

Australian authorities concerned mutant coronavirus strain could be more deadly

Australian health authorities have expressed their concern that a new and more transmissible mutant coronavirus strain running rampant across Britain could be much more deadly than earlier strains.

www.smh.com.au

This is the issue with vaccines the mutations.
"Again, this hypothesis is highly speculative at this point, but separately, the fact that we've observed 3 variants of concern emerge since September suggests that there are likely more to come," he said.

The UK closed its borders to South America due to the new Brazil variant. How worried should we be?

Here's what we know about the Brazilian strain and what the emergence of new coronavirus variants tells us about COVID-19 in general.

www.abc.net.au

So there will be more VOCs and we will get good at managing them.

The good news is however with mRNA vaccines they can adjust for a VOC in perhaps a six week turn around. The issues will be manufacturing, transportation and vaccination in multiple locations, across large distances.

Understanding and Explaining mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC

Information for healthcare professionals and vaccine providers about mRNA vaccines, including tips for talking to patients about the vaccines.

www.cdc.gov

COVAX is necessary because without it there is a very real risk that the majority of people in the world will go unprotected against SARS-CoV-2, and this would allow the virus and its impact to continue unabated.

If we don't ensure every country and everyone gets access to vaccines then mutations will keep arising eventually making our vaccines null and void. It's in our best interest to make sure everyone gets access.

COVAX explained

To end this global health crisis we don’t just need COVID-19 vaccines, we also need to ensure that everyone in the world has access to them.

www.gavi.org

 

[Deanna]

I just got off of virtual chat with my regular doctor. I always get an allergy shot every 3 months but he said 'no' to my allergy shot this time. He said it would lower my defenses to covid. So... Nose drops and allergy pills for me. I found that interesting. So, if anyone is planning on getting a regular allergy shot.. Look out! It lowers your immune system to possibly catch Covid!