All things CoronaVirus

[Farfromgeneva]

Folks who understand data analysis and econometrics understand that all studies have flaws. There’s an R squared (Rho) to any model. The idea that any study will not have a flaw (error) is insane or doesn’t understand how this stuff works. Or we can do no analysis and use our guts...

agree. a big one imao as far as gold standards go (and this might be it on one aspect for now) is how they take data, even inputs. delta dates the study at this point as well.

So what is the answer? Stop all studies and research? Do nothing until it’s all over one way or another, just ride it out and then do the analysis and research? New variables are presented in analysis all the time which doesn’t invalidate prior work. It’s iterative but each step in the process provides tremendous value.

all i said about macro was there was going to be a fraction of the research vs vaxxes. but eventually it could influence policy.

So then what?

so then the folks that want to get a bead on the real effectiveness of re-infection immunity will have to wait. if there isn't a groundswell of data coming.

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level? Do nothing and wait for conclusive answers? Lock everything down? Is there anything reasonable in the middle you would suggest if you were grand emperor?

[Typical Lax Dad]

Folks who understand data analysis and econometrics understand that all studies have flaws. There’s an R squared (Rho) to any model. The idea that any study will not have a flaw (error) is insane or doesn’t understand how this stuff works. Or we can do no analysis and use our guts...

agree. a big one imao as far as gold standards go (and this might be it on one aspect for now) is how they take data, even inputs. delta dates the study at this point as well.

So what is the answer? Stop all studies and research? Do nothing until it’s all over one way or another, just ride it out and then do the analysis and research? New variables are presented in analysis all the time which doesn’t invalidate prior work. It’s iterative but each step in the process provides tremendous value.

all i said about macro was there was going to be a fraction of the research vs vaxxes. but eventually it could influence policy.

So then what?

so then the folks that want to get a bead on the real effectiveness of re-infection immunity will have to wait. if there isn't a groundswell of data coming.

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level? Do nothing and wait for conclusive answers? Lock everything down? Is there anything reasonable in the middle you would suggest if you were grand emperor?

Sounds like the Tuskegee Experiment. Do nothing. Watch and wait to see what happens. Don’t intervene.

[old salt]

Qualifying for a covid booster shot is a lot like qualifying for refugee status + catch & release at our southern border.

Open borders = administer as many vaccine doses as possible before they expire.

FDA officials are as frustrated as CBP & ICE officials are.

They have an expression for this is Spain = prohibited but permitted.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5 ... oster-plan

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/0 ... lay-509451

Ready, fire, aim. 5 month Joe….and you jumped the gun. No credibility.

No credibility is what the Biden admin has with their mixed messaging.
If you're Pfizer, you can get your booster on 9-20.
If you're Moderna, who knows how long the FDA will diddle with numbers.
Meanwhile, early vaxxers are in their 6th month, immunity is dwindling, delta breakthroughs are rising, while Moderna doses expire.
That's why Biden & Fauci are giving the wink & nod.
Recall the crunch in getting an appt for dose #1. The vaccine eager will flood the market again when the booster is fully authorized.
Everyone who gets #3 before then is one more dose that doesn't go to waste & one less appt required.

So far the FDA and CDC disagree and have not as yet approved any booster regimen on any schedule or scale (check out why and you might be surprised). You're winging it again based upon your political biases (bogus wink & nod theory). If that's the way you want to manage your health it's a free country. Go for it.

This is the CDC recommendation which has been used to authorize hundreds of thousands of Moderna boosters already in peoples arms.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... mmuno.html

You're using the same flawed "logic" as the vaccine-deniers who wouldn't get an initial dose under the CDC's EUA before full FDA approval.
Did you wait for full FDA approval before getting vaccinated ?

I posted why Moderna won't make the 9-20 date. They want to go with the half strength booster so they only submitted the data for that. The Biden admin wants them to submit the numbers for both full & half strength boosters, so they can use excess full strength doses before they expire & can boost early Moderna vaxxers without having to wait for half strength Moderna boosters to be produced & distributed.

If there were safety issues with the full strength Moderna booster, the CDC would not have issued the recommendation now being used as authorization.

Stop trying to scare & confuse about the safety of the Moderna booster already issued to hundreds of thousands of people.

[wgdsr]

Folks who understand data analysis and econometrics understand that all studies have flaws. There’s an R squared (Rho) to any model. The idea that any study will not have a flaw (error) is insane or doesn’t understand how this stuff works. Or we can do no analysis and use our guts...

agree. a big one imao as far as gold standards go (and this might be it on one aspect for now) is how they take data, even inputs. delta dates the study at this point as well.

So what is the answer? Stop all studies and research? Do nothing until it’s all over one way or another, just ride it out and then do the analysis and research? New variables are presented in analysis all the time which doesn’t invalidate prior work. It’s iterative but each step in the process provides tremendous value.

all i said about macro was there was going to be a fraction of the research vs vaxxes. but eventually it could influence policy.

So then what?

so then the folks that want to get a bead on the real effectiveness of re-infection immunity will have to wait. if there isn't a groundswell of data coming.

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level? Do nothing and wait for conclusive answers? Lock everything down? Is there anything reasonable in the middle you would suggest if you were grand emperor?

grand emporer in the meantime i'd think grabbing (sponsoring?) as much data as possible is valuable. like you say.

until it comes in, doing things like following the eu, with an ever growing amount of information for things like preinfection+one shot = "fully vaccinated". can a needle be moved on policy based on those results? maybe, but data guys could probably investigate in advance.

[wgdsr]

Folks who understand data analysis and econometrics understand that all studies have flaws. There’s an R squared (Rho) to any model. The idea that any study will not have a flaw (error) is insane or doesn’t understand how this stuff works. Or we can do no analysis and use our guts...

agree. a big one imao as far as gold standards go (and this might be it on one aspect for now) is how they take data, even inputs. delta dates the study at this point as well.

So what is the answer? Stop all studies and research? Do nothing until it’s all over one way or another, just ride it out and then do the analysis and research? New variables are presented in analysis all the time which doesn’t invalidate prior work. It’s iterative but each step in the process provides tremendous value.

all i said about macro was there was going to be a fraction of the research vs vaxxes. but eventually it could influence policy.

So then what?

so then the folks that want to get a bead on the real effectiveness of re-infection immunity will have to wait. if there isn't a groundswell of data coming.

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level? Do nothing and wait for conclusive answers? Lock everything down? Is there anything reasonable in the middle you would suggest if you were grand emperor?

Sounds like the Tuskegee Experiment. Do nothing. Watch and wait to see what happens. Don’t intervene.

yeah, agree. don't advocate for any of that.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Folks who understand data analysis and econometrics understand that all studies have flaws. There’s an R squared (Rho) to any model. The idea that any study will not have a flaw (error) is insane or doesn’t understand how this stuff works. Or we can do no analysis and use our guts...

agree. a big one imao as far as gold standards go (and this might be it on one aspect for now) is how they take data, even inputs. delta dates the study at this point as well.

So what is the answer? Stop all studies and research? Do nothing until it’s all over one way or another, just ride it out and then do the analysis and research? New variables are presented in analysis all the time which doesn’t invalidate prior work. It’s iterative but each step in the process provides tremendous value.

all i said about macro was there was going to be a fraction of the research vs vaxxes. but eventually it could influence policy.

So then what?

so then the folks that want to get a bead on the real effectiveness of re-infection immunity will have to wait. if there isn't a groundswell of data coming.

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level? Do nothing and wait for conclusive answers? Lock everything down? Is there anything reasonable in the middle you would suggest if you were grand emperor?

Sounds like the Tuskegee Experiment. Do nothing. Watch and wait to see what happens. Don’t intervene.

yeah, agree. don't advocate for any of that.

I know. Keeping my fingers crossed for college students this year.

[wgdsr]

Folks who understand data analysis and econometrics understand that all studies have flaws. There’s an R squared (Rho) to any model. The idea that any study will not have a flaw (error) is insane or doesn’t understand how this stuff works. Or we can do no analysis and use our guts...

agree. a big one imao as far as gold standards go (and this might be it on one aspect for now) is how they take data, even inputs. delta dates the study at this point as well.

So what is the answer? Stop all studies and research? Do nothing until it’s all over one way or another, just ride it out and then do the analysis and research? New variables are presented in analysis all the time which doesn’t invalidate prior work. It’s iterative but each step in the process provides tremendous value.

all i said about macro was there was going to be a fraction of the research vs vaxxes. but eventually it could influence policy.

So then what?

so then the folks that want to get a bead on the real effectiveness of re-infection immunity will have to wait. if there isn't a groundswell of data coming.

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level? Do nothing and wait for conclusive answers? Lock everything down? Is there anything reasonable in the middle you would suggest if you were grand emperor?

Sounds like the Tuskegee Experiment. Do nothing. Watch and wait to see what happens. Don’t intervene.

yeah, agree. don't advocate for any of that.

I know. Keeping my fingers crossed for college students this year.

just banned indoor* pickup at the university.

* edit

[Farfromgeneva]

Folks who understand data analysis and econometrics understand that all studies have flaws. There’s an R squared (Rho) to any model. The idea that any study will not have a flaw (error) is insane or doesn’t understand how this stuff works. Or we can do no analysis and use our guts...

agree. a big one imao as far as gold standards go (and this might be it on one aspect for now) is how they take data, even inputs. delta dates the study at this point as well.

So what is the answer? Stop all studies and research? Do nothing until it’s all over one way or another, just ride it out and then do the analysis and research? New variables are presented in analysis all the time which doesn’t invalidate prior work. It’s iterative but each step in the process provides tremendous value.

all i said about macro was there was going to be a fraction of the research vs vaxxes. but eventually it could influence policy.

So then what?

so then the folks that want to get a bead on the real effectiveness of re-infection immunity will have to wait. if there isn't a groundswell of data coming.

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level? Do nothing and wait for conclusive answers? Lock everything down? Is there anything reasonable in the middle you would suggest if you were grand emperor?

grand emporer in the meantime i'd think grabbing (sponsoring?) as much data as possible is valuable. like you say.

until it comes in, doing things like following the eu, with an ever growing amount of information for things like preinfection+one shot = "fully vaccinated". can a needle be moved on policy based on those results? maybe, but data guys could probably investigate in advance.

Thanks. I too can get into poking holes but more interested in what people would do if they had the authority. Same for me as where do people put their money not their words.

[Farfromgeneva]

Folks who understand data analysis and econometrics understand that all studies have flaws. There’s an R squared (Rho) to any model. The idea that any study will not have a flaw (error) is insane or doesn’t understand how this stuff works. Or we can do no analysis and use our guts...

agree. a big one imao as far as gold standards go (and this might be it on one aspect for now) is how they take data, even inputs. delta dates the study at this point as well.

So what is the answer? Stop all studies and research? Do nothing until it’s all over one way or another, just ride it out and then do the analysis and research? New variables are presented in analysis all the time which doesn’t invalidate prior work. It’s iterative but each step in the process provides tremendous value.

all i said about macro was there was going to be a fraction of the research vs vaxxes. but eventually it could influence policy.

So then what?

so then the folks that want to get a bead on the real effectiveness of re-infection immunity will have to wait. if there isn't a groundswell of data coming.

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level? Do nothing and wait for conclusive answers? Lock everything down? Is there anything reasonable in the middle you would suggest if you were grand emperor?

Sounds like the Tuskegee Experiment. Do nothing. Watch and wait to see what happens. Don’t intervene.

yeah, agree. don't advocate for any of that.

I know. Keeping my fingers crossed for college students this year.

Elementary school my friend. I can’t have another year of them virtual learning and quarantined. Forget the economic impact, another year of this and whole families and perhaps an entire generation is going to be destroyed. I’m almost at a point of full blown lockdown of everything but school for my family in order to do what I can to keep that from happening. I reject that anyone cares about other people or society if they are doing sh*t like brazenly behaving however they want. I don’t trust any words they’ll ever say about caring about others or certainly any argument that cohort will ever make about “the children” it would be a lie, not hypocritical or situational, just lying.

I find it interesting that probably 90%+ of the people talking here don’t have school aged kids. It tells me the perspective is narrow by contextual relevance to many. Not an indictment of any individual but the whole collective of who is here.

[Farfromgeneva]

I should add I know a number of seemingly ok couples, with kids, in my 35-50 age range that have gotten divorced or who’s lives are wrecked and there’s no way this isn’t the overwhelming factor in it.

[Kismet]

Qualifying for a covid booster shot is a lot like qualifying for refugee status + catch & release at our southern border.

Open borders = administer as many vaccine doses as possible before they expire.

FDA officials are as frustrated as CBP & ICE officials are.

They have an expression for this is Spain = prohibited but permitted.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5 ... oster-plan

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/0 ... lay-509451

Ready, fire, aim. 5 month Joe….and you jumped the gun. No credibility.

No credibility is what the Biden admin has with their mixed messaging.
If you're Pfizer, you can get your booster on 9-20.
If you're Moderna, who knows how long the FDA will diddle with numbers.
Meanwhile, early vaxxers are in their 6th month, immunity is dwindling, delta breakthroughs are rising, while Moderna doses expire.
That's why Biden & Fauci are giving the wink & nod.
Recall the crunch in getting an appt for dose #1. The vaccine eager will flood the market again when the booster is fully authorized.
Everyone who gets #3 before then is one more dose that doesn't go to waste & one less appt required.

So far the FDA and CDC disagree and have not as yet approved any booster regimen on any schedule or scale (check out why and you might be surprised). You're winging it again based upon your political biases (bogus wink & nod theory). If that's the way you want to manage your health it's a free country. Go for it.

This is the CDC recommendation which has been used to authorize hundreds of thousands of Moderna boosters already in peoples arms.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... mmuno.html

You're using the same flawed "logic" as the vaccine-deniers who wouldn't get an initial dose under the CDC's EUA before full FDA approval.
Did you wait for full FDA approval before getting vaccinated ?

I posted why Moderna won't make the 9-20 date. They want to go with the half strength booster so they only submitted the data for that. The Biden admin wants them to submit the numbers for both full & half strength boosters, so they can use excess full strength doses before they expire & can boost early Moderna vaxxers without having to wait for half strength Moderna boosters to be produced & distributed.

If there were safety issues with the full strength Moderna booster, the CDC would not have issued the recommendation now being used as authorization.

Stop trying to scare & confuse about the safety of the Moderna booster already issued to hundreds of thousands of people.

Not trying to scare anyone
Just pointing out that you don't fit the current qualification for a third dose but you rationalized it in order to jump the line. Typical for you and no surprise.

[a fan]

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level?

Simple. Cut off all Federal funding----every cent, for any person or entity getting Federal Funding UNLESS they insist on proof of vaccination. Think about how long the list is for getting Federal money for stuff. Crop insurance. Oil and gas leases. Grazing rights. Student loans. Grants.

Then go on National TV and say :

"enough is enough. Every one of you has been vaccinated for multiple diseases. We're at a 90% vaccinated rate for polio, measels, and other horrible diseases that were snuffed out by world class medical care coupled with reasonable citizenry. You've ALL taken these vaccines. If you attended K-12 in Alabama? Guess what? Your own Alabama government FORCED you to take these vaccines way the F back in 19-seventy-f'ing-5. Here's the law:

https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/imm ... Immlaw.pdf

You ALL did this without question. You had to PROVE that you had these vaccines if you set foot in an Alabama classroom. Laws written by the most conservative m-fers America has known-----Alabamans in the 1970's. Chew on that....CONSERVATIVES agreed that it's best that our children not drop dead from freaking polio. So they FORCED children to get vaccinations. Wake up, you're acting like a bunch of idiots here in 2021.

Here's the University of Alabama's policy on forcing you to take, and provide proof of, your vaccinations: https://shc.sa.ua.edu/forms/immunization-form So don't tell me you don't believe in vaccines. Because yes, you do. Enough is enough.

Roll Tide. And G*d bless the US of A".

Apologies for the misattribution! Fixed.

[Farfromgeneva]

And in the meantime what you prescribe that people do? Or that the government choose to enact or not enact? On a local or National level?

Simple. Cut off all Federal funding----every cent, for any person or entity getting Federal Funding UNLESS they insist on proof of vaccination. Think about how long the list is for getting Federal money for stuff. Crop insurance. Oil and gas leases. Grazing rights. Student loans. Grants.

Then go on National TV and say :

"enough is enough. Every one of you has been vaccinated for multiple diseases. We're at a 90% vaccinated rate for polio, measels, and other horrible diseases that were snuffed out by world class medical care coupled with reasonable citizenry. You've ALL taken these vaccines. If you attended K-12 in Alabama? Guess what? Your own Alabama government FORCED you to take these vaccines way the F back in 19-seventy-f'ing-5. Here's the law:

https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/imm ... Immlaw.pdf

You ALL did this without question. You had to PROVE that you had these vaccines if you set foot in an Alabama classroom. Laws written by the most conservative m-fers America has known-----Alabamans in the 1970's. Chew on that....CONSERVATIVES agreed that it's best that our children not drop dead from freaking polio. So they FORCED children to get vaccinations. Wake up, you're acting like a bunch of idiots here in 2021.

Here's the University of Alabama's policy on forcing you to take, and provide proof of, your vaccinations: https://shc.sa.ua.edu/forms/immunization-form So don't tell me you don't believe in vaccines. Because yes, you do. Enough is enough.

Roll Tide. And G*d bless the US of A".

That was actually my question to WG not that I mind the answer or reply but just so it’s clear he didn’t ask that.

[a fan]

I should add I know a number of seemingly ok couples, with kids, in my 35-50 age range that have gotten divorced or who’s lives are wrecked and there’s no way this isn’t the overwhelming factor in it.

Lost two staff members over "Covid divorces". It's no joke.

I have a 7 year old. I'm counting the minutes and seconds until she can get vaccinated....while watching idiots tell me that vaccines are bad, and refusing to take them. Even though they already HAVE taken vaccines before.

I thought when push came to shove, that these bloviators would get the vaccine at a 90%+ rate, same as always.

We could be done with this mess. Totally done. I will NEVER understand why a parent that willing gave their kids five or six vaccine shots so they could attend K-12 would EVER not take a vaccine that even a tree stump knows will make their children safer. Doubly so anyone who went through "remote learning" last year.

[Farfromgeneva]

I should add I know a number of seemingly ok couples, with kids, in my 35-50 age range that have gotten divorced or who’s lives are wrecked and there’s no way this isn’t the overwhelming factor in it.

Lost two staff members over "Covid divorces". It's no joke.

I have a 7 year old. I'm counting the minutes and seconds until she can get vaccinated....while watching idiots tell me that vaccines are bad, and refusing to take them. Even though they already HAVE taken vaccines before.

I thought when push came to shove, that these bloviators would get the vaccine at a 90%+ rate, same as always.

We could be done with this mess. Totally done. I will NEVER understand why a parent that willing gave their kids five or six vaccine shots so they could attend K-12 would EVER not take a vaccine that even a tree stump knows will make their children safer. Doubly so anyone who went through "remote learning" last year.

Got one more journal piece for you on this but this one is about a child shot today

Why a Covid-19 Vaccine for Children Is Taking So Long
Researchers testing shots in children face serious challenges, starting with making the lower dose under study

By Jared S. Hopkins | Photographs by Daniel Lozada for The Wall Street Journal
Sept. 6, 2021 5:30 am ET

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SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio—The countdown started as soon as researchers removed the Covid-19 vaccine vials from the freezer at Senders Pediatrics. They had just two hours once the vials thawed to prepare the shots and give them to young children in the clinical trial.

A lot had to go right first. The containers holding the shot from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE had to travel across town to a pharmacy without letting the vaccine become too warm. Pharmacists working in a sterile room, free of contamination, needed to assemble the shots in small doses safe enough for children. Finally, the vaccines had to be driven back to Senders for injection in the children as young as six months.

A mistake could jeopardize study results, render the vaccine ineffective or delay the trial.

“We do studies in babies all of the time, and we’ve never had to do something with this many steps,” said Shelly Senders, the pediatrician whose practice 10 miles outside Cleveland serves as one of the 162 sites world-wide that parents are counting on to test Covid-19 shots in children.


Two children getting blood drawn at Senders Pediatrics as part of enrolling in the trial.

Vaccine vials to be transported to a pharmacy, where they will be assembled in safe doses and then driven back to be injected in children under a two-hour deadline.
The logistical dance required to make doses safe for children is among the challenges confronting researchers evaluating the vaccines in the youngsters.


Also complicating the trials, researchers said, federal health regulators demanded that more children be enrolled in the studies than originally planned. Enrolling children takes much longer than for adults because it requires parents’ consent, and some young volunteers don’t work out because they recoil at needles. Then to assess whether the shots help, researchers said, they must gauge whether a child falls ill, no easy task with little ones who can’t always verbalize how they are feeling.

‘We’ve never had to do something with this many steps.’
— Dr. Shelly Senders of Senders Pediatrics
The challenges are contributing to the long timelines testing the shots in children. Pfizer-BioNTech trial results for 5- to 12-year-olds could come by the end of this month, which could mean shots aren’t authorized for use until October or November, months after they were cleared for adolescents. Data for younger children could come in October.

Moderna Inc. expects to seek emergency use for 6- to 12-year-olds by the end of this year, and early next year for children 6 months to less than 6 years, a company spokeswoman said.

The timetable is frustrating some parents eager to inoculate their children as the Delta variant spreads and a new school year starts. Physicians and health experts say immunizing children protects both them and adults they come in contact with, such as grandparents and teachers.

Dr. Senders, who founded his practice in 1987, started helping drugmakers test experimental medicines in children about 20 years ago. A 16-foot slide spans the lobby of his office, where colorful murals brighten exam rooms.

Senders Pediatrics helped test Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine in adults and teens, but Pfizer initially balked at using the site to enroll the youngest children, said Tim Hudec, who runs Senders’s drug-testing efforts. Pfizer wanted researchers at their sites to weaken the doses of shots being made for adults, rather than the company making them at lower doses, Mr. Hudec said.

But Senders lacked the sterile lab room and equipment to dilute the shots for children as young as 6 months.


A Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy employee prepares to enter a sterile room, where Covid-19 shots are diluted into a dosage safe for children under 5 years old.
A Pfizer spokeswoman said all sites preparing the lowest dose had to meet additional requirements to ensure that the dose was properly assembled.


Dr. Senders considered installing the necessary equipment and even tried partnering with hospitals. He ended up enlisting a compounding pharmacy, which mixes customized versions of medicines to order, whose owner was a former patient.

For the study, Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy, in nearby Beachwood, dilutes standard adult doses with sodium chloride solution several times, until the dose is cut to 3 micrograms. Pfizer deemed the lower strength safe for children 6 months to under 5 years.

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The pharmacy doesn’t have much time to work. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is stored at ultracold temperatures. Researchers have only two hours from when a vial removed from the freezer has thawed to inject the finished dose in a young study subject, or the shot will have expired.

“The first day we were sweating a little bit,” Mr. Hudec said.

On a recent morning, around 9:45 a.m., Senders researchers removed vaccine vials from a freezer locked away from the rest of the staff and put them inside a shoebox-size metal container for transport to the pharmacy.

Emily Gorjanc, a 23-year-old clinical research assistant, carried the lockbox outside to her SUV. It was storming. Ms. Gorjanc drove 4 miles through the rain to the pharmacy. About 20 minutes later, she signed over the lockbox to a pharmacist, then waited for the pharmacy to complete its job.

It took longer than usual. During the night, the rainstorm had temporarily knocked out power to the pharmacy, delaying the cleaning it needed to complete before starting work.

At about 10:45 a.m., pharmacy staffers washed their hands, and donned gowns, face masks and gloves. One at a time, they entered the pharmacy’s sterile room to prepare the vaccines.


Dannita JacksonBey with her daughter, Ava, who got a checkup at Senders Pediatrics before being vaccinated. Ava was enrolled in the study because her mother worried she could be exposed to the coronavirus at daycare.

The team at Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy, including Amber Rockwell, right, has a time limit to dilute the Covid-19 vaccines and assemble them in syringes.
Pharmacy technician Amber Rockwell sat at a covered laboratory bench, called a hood, designed to contain any hazardous substances or contaminants. Working in the hood, Ms. Rockwell diluted the vaccines and assembled them in ready-to-use syringes.


Ms. Rockwell and a partner discarded some syringes that appeared contaminated and radioed for replacements. The switch ate up precious minutes, but it avoided a potential disaster.

After colleagues asked what was taking so long, Ms. Gorjanc made her way to the back of the pharmacy—but outside the sterile room—seeking an update on the timing.

The pharmacy team finished after about 45 minutes. Ms. Gorjanc received the syringes, and hurried back to Senders, arriving with just under 30 minutes to spare before the two-hour deadline.

Waiting in an exam room adorned with animal-themed wallpaper was Dannita JacksonBey, of Lyndhurst, Ohio, with her children, Ava, who was then 2 years old, and Coby, 8.

Ms. JacksonBey, a community college administrator, enrolled Coby in the vaccine study a few weeks earlier, worried that his asthma increased his risk of getting sick. She was now signing up Ava, out of concern her daughter could be exposed to the virus at daycare.

“They’re babies. It’s difficult to keep that mask on and try to explain the virus to them,” Ms. JacksonBey said.

Wearing pink shorts and a matching top, with a bow in her hair, Ava sat on a countertop, swinging her feet back and forth, when the syringe arrived. It contained either the vaccine or a placebo.

She screamed as a researcher inserted the needle into her arm. Tears followed.

“You’re a superhero! You did it!” her mother said.

Ava wasn’t finished just yet. She was scheduled to return three weeks later for her second shot. Meanwhile, her mother and researchers would monitor for symptoms and whether she got sick.

[Farfromgeneva]

My kids haven’t played an organized sport in basically two years now. Just me playing lacrosse/baseball/football/kickball/badminton/American ninja warrior jr training with them in our backyard and it’s just not the same

After Covid-19 Lockdowns, Children Struggle to Rekindle Close Friendships
Such friendships are crucial, experts say, in helping create a road map for successful adult relationships

Children need to share experiences such as school lunchtimes, sports practices and hanging out for close friendships to thrive. Those things went away during the pandemic.
PHOTO: CHRISTIAN ADAMS/GETTY IMAGES
By Alina Dizik
Sept. 6, 2021 12:00 pm ET

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Months into virtual school last year, Elyssa Katz witnessed her son Noah, age 9, start to lose interest in his best friend. Since the two couldn’t see each other as often, it was harder for them to keep in touch; she worried he felt lonely without his go-to friend by his side.

Once vaccinations got under way, she arranged a playdate to help reunite the two buddies who were previously “stuck at the hip.” She says it was awkward as both focused on their videogames instead of talking to each other. “They didn’t know how to play together,” says Ms. Katz, a Los Angeles consultant who matches families with tutors and caregivers. “It was pretty much two people in a room doing their own thing.”

Months later, the friends are still learning how to rekindle their friendship, she says.


Families affected by the pandemic have had to catch up on far more than math homework and spelling tests. Many parents are finding that their children have emerged from a year and half of lockdowns and start-and-stop reopenings without the much-needed benefits that come from having close friends. And as schools reopen, the adjustment back to in-person socializing could be especially difficult.

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Experts say children and young adults need to share experiences such as school lunchtimes, long drives, sports practices, sleepovers, afternoon snack runs, and hangouts in basements and bedrooms for close friendships to thrive, and those things went away during the pandemic. Even teens who were able to keep up with classmates and friends via texts and social media didn’t have opportunities to create new ties or deepen old ones.

“Intimacy takes time spent together, and that’s been really hard to manage,” says Eileen Kennedy-Moore, a psychologist and author of “Growing Friendships: A Kids’ Guide to Making and Keeping Friends.” “What I’m seeing is a lot of kids who are feeling really, really sad and just kind of disconnected.”

Two hundred hours

Jeffrey Hall, an associate professor in communication studies at the University of Kansas who researches friendship, says it takes adults more than 200 hours of time spent together to become close friends and 50 hours to evolve from being acquaintances to casual friends. Although children’s friendships are less complex, he says they require similar in-person interactions or co-playing to grow stronger.

Close friendships are important in youth, experts say, because they can help children and adolescents create a road map for successful adult relationships. Children who have a best friend in elementary school feel valued and cared for in a way that affects their daily satisfaction with life and creates a “sense of self that you are a valuable person who is worth spending time with,” says Prof. Hall. For adolescents, close friendships provide a way to practice intimacy and what they want to reveal about themselves to others.


“Close friends are people who help you individuate—growing toward adult independence,” says Andrew Ledbetter, a professor at Texas Christian University who studies the impact of communication technology on close friendships.

Even before the pandemic, an increase in structured activities such as sports meant some young people had little time to nurture one-on-one friendships. Scrolling social media and comparing themselves with others just added to feelings of loneliness, says Douglas Rait, chief of Stanford University’s Couples and Family Therapy Clinic. “The pandemic highlighted the degree of disconnection that kids and adolescents have been feeling even prior to the pandemic,” says Dr. Rait.

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How have friendships changed for your children over the past year and a half? Join the conversation below.

Some parents might be finding that the pandemic has taken a bigger toll on their children’s friendships than on their own. Younger friendships, experts say, were more vulnerable to the loss of in-person contact because they aren’t as longstanding or established as adult ones. What’s more, some parents may have felt they had to put their children’s friendships on the back burner for the sake of their family’s safety. “Parents needed to make difficult choices with the friend relationships that they were going to support and sponsor,” says Dr. Rait.

Tonia Semler in Gurnee, Ill., says she watched the relationship between her daughter, Isabella, and her best friend fizzle during the time spent apart in a virtual classroom. Getting together with her friend proved difficult throughout the pandemic. Even now that her 9-year-old is back in school, Ms. Semler hasn’t seen the friendship rebound.

So Ms. Semler encouraged her daughter to participate in soccer again to meet other friends with whom she might eventually become close. Ms. Semler feels that it’s especially critical for Isabella, an only child, to have strong bonds with her peers. Despite continuing restrictions this coming school year, she is hopeful that Isabella will be able to spend unstructured time hanging out at friends’ homes once Ms. Semler becomes more familiar with the children and parents. “I may consider a playdate with a teammate because I know them personally,” she says


Encourage social activities

Dr. Kennedy-Moore advises parents to make in-person social activities a priority for their children, much like schoolwork. They should encourage children to see friends one-on-one, and free up busy after-school schedules for casual interactions that can lead to closer connections, she says. With the spread of the Delta variant and depending on their risk tolerance, parents may want to focus these get-togethers on outdoor activities, she adds.

Experts also say that parents shouldn’t worry if a friendship from before the pandemic fizzles. In many instances, children naturally shift their close friendships as they age. Parents should also understand that the relationships children had before the pandemic may not look the same now, says Matt Lundquist, a New York-based therapist. “Think about those friendships as starting new,” he says. “Who you were 1.5 years ago might be different.”

Parents should be prepared for an adjustment period. Right now, many children are more comfortable communicating via social media than in person. So while it is critical for them to resume in-person social activities as the pandemic allows, parents need to be patient and give their children time to get relationships back on track, experts say.

For some children, the seemingly perfect friendships they see on social media may make them self-conscious about not having a best friend of their own. “I tell them, ‘You can’t compare your inside to somebody else’s outside, as you’re sitting alone in your bedroom,’” Dr. Kennedy-Moore says. It might help if parents can open up about their own challenges with keeping friendships going during the pandemic, and model the behavior they want to encourage, such as making time to socialize with friends in person, says Dr. Kennedy-Moore.

Ms. Dizik is a writer in Chicago. She can be reached at [email protected].

[old salt]

Qualifying for a covid booster shot is a lot like qualifying for refugee status + catch & release at our southern border.

Open borders = administer as many vaccine doses as possible before they expire.

FDA officials are as frustrated as CBP & ICE officials are.

They have an expression for this is Spain = prohibited but permitted.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5 ... oster-plan

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/0 ... lay-509451

Ready, fire, aim. 5 month Joe….and you jumped the gun. No credibility.

No credibility is what the Biden admin has with their mixed messaging.
If you're Pfizer, you can get your booster on 9-20.
If you're Moderna, who knows how long the FDA will diddle with numbers.
Meanwhile, early vaxxers are in their 6th month, immunity is dwindling, delta breakthroughs are rising, while Moderna doses expire.
That's why Biden & Fauci are giving the wink & nod.
Recall the crunch in getting an appt for dose #1. The vaccine eager will flood the market again when the booster is fully authorized.
Everyone who gets #3 before then is one more dose that doesn't go to waste & one less appt required.

So far the FDA and CDC disagree and have not as yet approved any booster regimen on any schedule or scale (check out why and you might be surprised). You're winging it again based upon your political biases (bogus wink & nod theory). If that's the way you want to manage your health it's a free country. Go for it.

This is the CDC recommendation which has been used to authorize hundreds of thousands of Moderna boosters already in peoples arms.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... mmuno.html

You're using the same flawed "logic" as the vaccine-deniers who wouldn't get an initial dose under the CDC's EUA before full FDA approval.
Did you wait for full FDA approval before getting vaccinated ?

I posted why Moderna won't make the 9-20 date. They want to go with the half strength booster so they only submitted the data for that. The Biden admin wants them to submit the numbers for both full & half strength boosters, so they can use excess full strength doses before they expire & can boost early Moderna vaxxers without having to wait for half strength Moderna boosters to be produced & distributed.

If there were safety issues with the full strength Moderna booster, the CDC would not have issued the recommendation now being used as authorization.

Stop trying to scare & confuse about the safety of the Moderna booster already issued to hundreds of thousands of people.

Not trying to scare anyone
Just pointing out that you don't fit the current qualification for a third dose but you rationalized it in order to jump the line. Typical for you and no surprise.

I did not jump the line. There was no line. I was not seeking a booster. I took a friend to get her first dose. I asked the pharmacist about the Moderna booster. He explained the process & offered me one, on the spot. How do you know I do not qualify ? You are AssUming again.

[Farfromgeneva]

Tech isn’t having the same issues for some reason. And tech is actually in the large, dense city while UGA is an hour away (w/o traffic like 45-50mi) in a rural area surrounding the college town Athens is. So perhaps other measures weren’t handled correctly. Kramerica should love this.

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart says Bulldogs experiencing 'highest spike' of COVID-19 despite more than 90% being vaccinated
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Georgia's defense tallies seven sacks against Clemson (2:33)
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Mark Schlabach
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With Georgia set to host its first home game against UAB at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, coach Kirby Smart said three or four of his players are sidelined with COVID-19.

Smart declined to identify the players during a teleconference with reporters on Monday. It is unknown whether they will be available to play against the Blazers on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).


"I'll be honest with you, I'm as concerned as I've ever been, because we have three or four guys out with COVID and we have a couple staff members that have been out with COVID here recently," Smart said. "For us, we're at our highest spike. And people are talking about vaccinations, well these are people that are vaccinated. We're talking about breakthroughs, and so that concerns you not only for the players on your team that are unvaccinated, that are playing and not playing, because we want everybody to be safe. But it concerns me for the players that are vaccinated that we could lose them."

Last week, Georgia's sports medicine director, Ron Courson, was diagnosed with COVID-19. He didn't travel with the team to Saturday's 10-3 victory over No. 3 Clemson.

"Ron's doing good, he's had a tough run," Smart said. "Ron's the hardest worker I've ever met in my life, and he's never not been at this building on any day. Never not been here two days in a row, including spring break and off time, and it's killing him, I think, to not be here. His health seems good and, hopefully, he'll be back."

Smart said, last month, that more than 90% of Georgia's players, coaches and other staff members had been vaccinated for COVID-19.

Georgia is not requiring fans to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend games at Sanford Stadium this season. Capacity is 92,746.

"This is the highest we've been since fall camp right now," Smart said. "I think there's this relief that you guys feel like everything's back to normal, well it's really just not for us right now."

[tech37]

Believe It: A Top Old School Journalist Stands Up for Ivermectin and Free Speech

https://rescue.substack.com/p/believe-i ... journalist

]thanks tech. the state of the discussion on therapeutics writ large continues to fascinate.

thanks tech?
There's a 45 year old editor who feels disinformation is 'free speech' and we're glad about that?

Guess what state the good editor is in???

You must have been referring to this "disinformation."

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1 ... gr%5Etweet

[Kismet]

Qualifying for a covid booster shot is a lot like qualifying for refugee status + catch & release at our southern border.

Open borders = administer as many vaccine doses as possible before they expire.

FDA officials are as frustrated as CBP & ICE officials are.

They have an expression for this is Spain = prohibited but permitted.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5 ... oster-plan

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/0 ... lay-509451

Ready, fire, aim. 5 month Joe….and you jumped the gun. No credibility.

No credibility is what the Biden admin has with their mixed messaging.
If you're Pfizer, you can get your booster on 9-20.
If you're Moderna, who knows how long the FDA will diddle with numbers.
Meanwhile, early vaxxers are in their 6th month, immunity is dwindling, delta breakthroughs are rising, while Moderna doses expire.
That's why Biden & Fauci are giving the wink & nod.
Recall the crunch in getting an appt for dose #1. The vaccine eager will flood the market again when the booster is fully authorized.
Everyone who gets #3 before then is one more dose that doesn't go to waste & one less appt required.

So far the FDA and CDC disagree and have not as yet approved any booster regimen on any schedule or scale (check out why and you might be surprised). You're winging it again based upon your political biases (bogus wink & nod theory). If that's the way you want to manage your health it's a free country. Go for it.

This is the CDC recommendation which has been used to authorize hundreds of thousands of Moderna boosters already in peoples arms.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... mmuno.html

You're using the same flawed "logic" as the vaccine-deniers who wouldn't get an initial dose under the CDC's EUA before full FDA approval.
Did you wait for full FDA approval before getting vaccinated ?

I posted why Moderna won't make the 9-20 date. They want to go with the half strength booster so they only submitted the data for that. The Biden admin wants them to submit the numbers for both full & half strength boosters, so they can use excess full strength doses before they expire & can boost early Moderna vaxxers without having to wait for half strength Moderna boosters to be produced & distributed.

If there were safety issues with the full strength Moderna booster, the CDC would not have issued the recommendation now being used as authorization.

Stop trying to scare & confuse about the safety of the Moderna booster already issued to hundreds of thousands of people.

Not trying to scare anyone
Just pointing out that you don't fit the current qualification for a third dose but you rationalized it in order to jump the line. Typical for you and no surprise.

I did not jump the line. There was no line. I was not seeking a booster. I took a friend to get her first dose. I asked the pharmacist about the Moderna booster. He explained the process & offered me one, on the spot. How do you know I do not qualify ? You are AssUming again.

Did your pharmacist qualify you by asking you for some medical history based upon the current guideline? Wishful thinking on your part...again.
Find it incredible that any pharmacist of credibility would just wing it on some customer. Might be time to find a new pharmacy.
Keep dancing. and blame it on Joe