26251 replies to this topic

[spanky123]

The University of Oxford is resuming trials of an experimental vaccine with AstraZeneca Plc after a halt due to a participant who fell ill.

 

Announcement comes the day after Sinopharm claimed that more than 300,000 people have been vaccinated. Coincidence?

[Victoria Watcher]

An article in the student newspaper, The Martlet, reported that Saanich police broke up two gatherings of more than 100 people Friday night.

Students started trickling out of their residences around 9 p.m. and began gathering in front of the McPherson library to drink, smoke and socialize, said the online article.

Police dispersed the gathering but another large party took place on the grounds of Frank Hobbs Elementary School, The Martlet reported. Some people climbed up on the roof of the school. Others smoked weed and shot hoops. Saanich police arrived around 10:50 p.m. and the crowd dispersed. Then the students began holding roaming dance parties throughout the neighbourhood, followed by three police officers, The Martlet said.



https://www.timescol...ules-1.24202465


why not just “Netflix and chill”? COVID is the perfect excuse for that.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 September 2020 - 06:54 PM.

[spanky123]

^ I am sure Horgan and Dr. BH will be all over that tomorrow and implement new restrictions just like they did for restaurants and bars ... not.

[Victoria Watcher]

it's almost impossible to find a graph of daily deaths for any province.  i simply canlt find one for bc.  but i found a weekly one for ontario.  this goes up to september 5, 2020:

 

 

and canada up to just a couple days ago:

 

 

so i think it's worth watching case numbers, a more important figure is deaths.  and we are doing 100x better than the peak of the crisis and height of the lockdowns.

 

so no province should be considering another round of lockdowns yet.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 September 2020 - 02:59 AM.

[amor de cosmos]

Projected effects of nonpharmaceutical public health interventions to prevent resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Canada

RESULTS: Without any interventions, 64.6% (95% credible interval [CrI] 63.9%–65.0%) of Canadians will be infected with SARS-CoV-2 (total attack rate) and 3.6% (95% CrI 2.4%–3.8%) of those infected and symptomatic will die. If case detection and contact tracing continued at baseline levels without maintained physical distancing and reimplementation of restrictive measures, this combination brought the total attack rate to 56.1% (95% CrI 0.05%–57.1%), but it dropped to 0.4% (95% CrI 0.03%–23.5%) with enhanced case detection and contact tracing. Combining the latter scenario with maintained physical distancing reduced the total attack rate to 0.2% (95% CrI 0.03%–1.7%) and was the only scenario that consistently kept hospital and intensive care unit bed use under capacity, prevented nearly all deaths and eliminated the epidemic. Extending school closures had minimal effects but did reduce transmission in schools; however, extending closures of workplaces and mixed-age venues markedly reduced attack rates and usually or always eliminated the epidemic under any scenario.

https://www.cmaj.ca/...nt/192/37/E1053
 

During the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II, Jewish residents in Warsaw were forcibly confined to a district known as the Warsaw Ghetto. The crowded, unsanitary conditions and meager food rations predictably led to a deadly outbreak of typhus fever in 1941. But the outbreak mysteriously halted before winter arrived, rather than becoming more virulent with the colder weather. According to a recent paper in the journal Science Advances, it was measures put into place by the ghetto doctors and Jewish council members that curbed the spread of typhus: specifically, social distancing, self-isolation, public lectures, and the establishment of an underground university to train medical students.
 
Typhus (aka "jail fever" or "gaol fever") has been around for centuries. These days, outbreaks are relatively rare, limited to regions with bad sanitary conditions and densely packed populations—prisons and ghettos, for instance—since the epidemic variety is spread by body lice. (Technically, typhus is a group of related infectious diseases.) But they do occur: there was an outbreak among the Los Angeles homeless population in 2018-2019.

*snip*

That said, according to Stone, there were many experienced doctors housed in the Warsaw Ghetto, some of whom survived the war, and they documented the various measures taken to battle the typhus outbreak. He visited libraries all over the world, scouring their archives for relevant documents that might provide more details about the kinds of strategies deployed.

"We know that in other towns of the region, typhus continued on through the winter unabated," said Stone, citing historical records. "So it was odd that just in the Warsaw Ghetto, the disease should die out before winter when it was expected to accelerate. Thus, we are fairly confident that the intervention succeeded." He admitted being surprised by that finding and initially assumed it was the result of a corrupted data set. But the diary of Polish historian and Warsaw Ghetto resident Emanuel Ringelbaum provided corroborating evidence. Ringelbaum documented the day-to-day happenings in the ghetto and reported a 40-percent drop in the epidemic rate at that time, calling it "irrational."

The ghetto doctors and council members encouraged (and even enforced, when necessary) general good hygiene and cleanliness, despite the terrible conditions. They encouraged social distancing, and those sickened were quarantined. The community even managed to open up soup kitchens, smuggling in extra food to augment their rations. There were public lectures to educate the residents about the importance of such measures and even a rudimentary underground university to train new doctors. Stone et al. estimate that these measures likely prevented as many as 100,000 people from contracting typhus and tens of thousands from dying of the disease.

https://arstechnica....g-world-war-ii/
 

Now, an international team of researchers led by neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School has identified the olfactory cell types in the upper nasal cavity most vulnerable to infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Surprisingly, sensory neurons that detect and transmit the sense of smell to the brain are not among the vulnerable cell types.
 
Reporting in Science Advances on July 24, the research team found that olfactory sensory neurons do not express the gene that encodes the ACE2 receptor protein, which SARS-CoV-2 uses to enter human cells. Instead, ACE2 is expressed in cells that provide metabolic and structural support to olfactory sensory neurons, as well as certain populations of stem cells and blood vessel cells.
 
The findings suggest that infection of nonneuronal cell types may be responsible for anosmia in COVID-19 patients and help inform efforts to better understand the progression of the disease.
 
“Our findings indicate that the novel coronavirus changes the sense of smell in patients not by directly infecting neurons but by affecting the function of supporting cells,” said senior study author Sandeep Robert Datta, associate professor of neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS.

https://hms.harvard....uses-loss-smell
https://www.scienced...00724141027.htm
 

Hong Kong's first air-inflated laboratories at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre are believed to have set a world record for testing 100,000 single-tube samples each day, former Hospital Authority chairman Anthony Wu Ting-yuk said on Sunday.

"No other place in the world could have done that," Wu, who is also the chairman of BGI's genetic laboratory in Hong Kong, said. He described the citywide testing program as a "seamless cooperation" between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong's public and private sectors.

The program not only involves assistance from the central government and planning of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's government, but Hong Kong's private sector is also responsible for conducting the virus testing, which is indeed a chance in a lifetime, Wu said.

The facility, also called the Huo-Yan Laboratory, has been operated by BGI since the Universal Community Testing Programme launched on Sept 1, in an effort to unearth hidden chains of transmission in the city. Since August, about 600 medical experts have come to the city to help with the testing, to combat the third wave of the pandemic at the HKSAR government's request.

http://www.ecns.cn/n...iy4584450.shtml
 

Europe must prepare for a rise in daily COVID-19 deaths in October and November, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

"It's going to get tougher. In October, November, we are going to see more mortality," Hans Kluge, Director of WHO's European office, said.

Many countries in Europe have recently toughened up measures to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — following weeks of rising infections although the number of deaths has remained stable.

https://www.euronews...november-warns-

Italy's Berlusconi leaves hospital after 'dangerous' COVID-19 battle
https://www.channeln...vid-19-13109196

Israel announces 3-week nationwide coronavirus lockdown
https://english.alar...avirus-lockdown

מנהל המרכז הרפואי לגליל בנהריה: "הוריתי להפסיק את קליטתם של חולי קורונה נוספים
director of galilee medical centre in nahariya has stopped admitting coronavirus patients due to lack of space, currently there are 85 in 3 wards, of which 30 are in critical condition
https://www.maariv.c.../Article-789932
 

The number of Palestinian homes demolished by Israel in the West Bank has increased sharply in recent months and further exposed displaced residents to the coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations said on Friday. 
 
From March to August, 389 Palestinian-owned structures were razed, in what the the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said was the highest average destruction rate in four years. During that period, 442 Palestinians were made homeless, the agency said. In just the month of August, 205 people lost their homes, the highest displacement figure since January 2017.  
 
The UN and human rights organizations say the policy amounts to collective punishment. According to OCHA, building permits are nearly impossible for Palestinains to obtain from Israel, describing the processing as “restrictive and discriminatory.” 

Haaretz reported that between 2016 and 2018 the Israel government approved just 21 percent of 1,485 construction permit applications in Area C, the part of the West Bank under total Israeli control. The Civil Administration told the newspaper that most of the applications were for retroactive approval of buildings that were already under consideration for demolition.

https://www.al-monit...oronavirus.html

Egypt to test Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines on 6,000 unpaid volunteers
https://english.alar...-000-volunteers
 

The family of Saul Sanchez, the first JBS Foods employee to die of Covid-19, is voicing outrage in response to the Trump Labor Department’s decision to fine the ultra-profitable meat company just $15,615 for failing to adequately protect its workers from the coronavirus.
 
“It’s a huge slap in the face. They bring in over $50 billion a year, and they get slapped with $15,000? That’s what enables these companies to not care for their employees,” Beatriz Rangel, Sanchez’s daughter, told a Denver CBS affiliate Sunday after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the penalty against JBS Foods in Greeley, Colorado, where eight of the company’s meatpacking workers have died of Covid-19.

“At first I was excited to see that they were actually doing something about it,” said Rangel. “Then, when I saw the dollar amount I thought, ‘How sad.’ It’s not fair. It’s not right.”

OSHA—which has been accused of abandoning its duty to protect workers during the pandemic—quietly announced the penalty against JBS Foods Friday night, a day after the agency fined another meat processing giant, Smithfield Foods, just $13,494 for “failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus.” More than 1,294 Smithfield workers in Sioux Falls, South Dakota have tested positive for Covid-19 and four have died.

https://www.rawstory...t-meat-company/

[spanky123]

Pfizer states that there is a 60% chance that they will know the efficacy of their vaccine BEFORE the US elections and should have it ready for use by YEAR END.

 

https://nationalpost...-end-pfizer-ceo

 

Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said it’s “likely” the U.S. will deploy a Covid-19 vaccine to the public before year-end and that the company is prepared for that scenario, pushing back against more tepid expectations shared by health authorities

 

When Trump made that claim a month ago he was ridiculed.

 

Also worth noting that Pfizer is not the furthest ahead in vaccine development either. The Chinese have already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people.

[North Shore]

 The Chinese have already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people.

 

 

Never get the 'A' model of anything.

I wonder if they are using melamine as an adjuvant?

 

cynical conspiracy theorists would posit that since China genetically engineered the virus, they have a magic bullet up their sleeves, and it's all in the pursuit of making lots of money...

[Victoria Watcher]

A vaccine won't be available for everyone before the end of 2024, says CEO of world's biggest producer

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, says that not enough COVID-19 vaccines will be available to inoculate the global population until at least the end of 2024. According to Poonawalla, pharmaceutical companies are not increasing production capacity quickly enough to vaccinate everyone faster.

[spanky123]

^ No doubt it will take a long time to produce 10B doses of anything.  I wonder if the SJWs will wait until the end before they get vaccinated themselves. Anyone want to place a bet?

[spanky123]

Never get the 'A' model of anything.

I wonder if they are using melamine as an adjuvant?

 

cynical conspiracy theorists would posit that since China genetically engineered the virus, they have a magic bullet up their sleeves, and it's all in the pursuit of making lots of money...

 

Lets recall:

 

1. China was lying about its infection and death rates as bodies were piling up in streets (turned out to be a lie)

2. China was lying about its economic recovery (China GDP was +3.2% in Q2 compared to -28% in North America)

3. China was lying about having a vaccine so quickly (have already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people)

 

Seems to me the only people who are lying are the MSM.

[Greg]

^ No doubt it will take a long time to produce 10B doses of anything.  I wonder if the SJWs will wait until the end before they get vaccinated themselves. Anyone want to place a bet?

 

If the roll-out is intelligent, then the impact of even getting started with a vaccine will be significant. Having a vaccine available to healthcare workers and school employees for example could really reduce the risk of some of the potential hazards of opening things up more.

 

On the other hand, if the first doses all go to professional athletes and movie stars and other multi-millionaires, it may make less of an impact (other than providing better stay-at-home entertainment). 

 

It's worth noting that Pfizer has a 60% chance of getting a definitive result in October, but that result could still be negative. They enrolled 30,000 patients very quickly however, and the same seems to be happening with the other major COVID-19 trials, so I think the chances of someone getting a positive result in the near future is not outrageous.

[dasmo]

Um, mutagenic effects, Cancer causing, fertility impairment And other LONG TERM effects can’t be warped sped over... How about less fear, stress, more sunlight, good eating and exercise? These are long proven to actually improve health and your natural immune system.

Edited by dasmo, 14 September 2020 - 12:12 PM.

[Greg]

Clinical research in vaccines can be seen as extending an existing platform, as opposed to completely de novo research. I think most people believe that reduces the safety risk somewhat. 

[dasmo]

Clinical research in vaccines can be seen as extending an existing platform, as opposed to completely de novo research. I think most people believe that reduces the safety risk somewhat. 

RNA vaccines are a new platform. Also Vaccines in general are not tested for mutagenic effects, Cancer causing abilities or fertility impairment as it stands. It's written write in the product literature. They don't have to follow pharmaceutical rules because they are not considered pharmaceuticals. They are categorized as biologics which have a different review and approval processes. 

[dasmo]

As they say, history repeats. 

“With President Ford’s reelection campaign looming on the horizon, the campaign increasingly appeared politically motivated,” Kreston writes. In the end, one journalist at The New York Times went so far as to call the whole thing a “fiasco.” Epidemiology takes time, politics is often about looking like you’re doing something and logistics between branches of government are extremely complicated. These factors all contributed to the pandemic that never was.

The real victims of this pandemic were likely the 450-odd people who came down with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, after getting the 1976 flu shot.”

 

https://www.smithson...asco-180961994/

[spanky123]

^ If you are 70+ then your concern is dying of the virus in 30 days rather than of cancer in 20 years.

[dasmo]

^ If you are 70+ then your concern is dying of the virus in 30 days rather than of cancer in 20 years.

So stay out of long term care homes.... 

[spanky123]

So stay out of long term care homes.... 

 

I would think that most people would if they had a choice.

[Greg]

RNA vaccines are a new platform. Also Vaccines in general are not tested for mutagenic effects, Cancer causing abilities or fertility impairment as it stands. It's written write in the product literature. They don't have to follow pharmaceutical rules because they are not considered pharmaceuticals. They are categorized as biologics which have a different review and approval processes. 

 

The whole point of mRNA vaccines is that it is a non-infectious, non-integrating platform, with no potential risk of insertional mutagenesis. And if you think the CBER pathway at the FDA is inherently easier than the CDER pathway, you probably haven't been to very many FDA meetings.

[dasmo]

The whole point of mRNA vaccines is that it is a non-infectious, non-integrating platform, with no potential risk of insertional mutagenesis. And if you think the CBER pathway at the FDA is inherently easier than the CDER pathway, you probably haven't been to very many FDA meetings.

I haven't attended one. No MRNA vaccine has ever been approved so every point you make about it is hypothetical. You obviously haven't read a product monogram either. Everything I said is not hypothetical.