All things CoronaVirus

[PizzaSnake]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/13/us/dalla ... index.html

'Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are surging and in Dallas County, Texas, there are "zero ICU beds left for children," county judge Clay Jenkins said in a news conference Friday morning.

"That means if your child's in a car wreck, if your child has a congenital heart defect or something and needs an ICU bed, or more likely if they have Covid and need an ICU bed, we don't have one. Your child will wait for another child to die," Jenkins said. "Your child will just not get on the ventilator, your child will be CareFlighted to Temple or Oklahoma City or wherever we can find them a bed, but they won't be getting one here unless one clears."'

Now, is it time to get serious about this "hoax"?

[Typical Lax Dad]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/12/us/reno- ... index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/us/schoo ... index.html

People have rights to not be vaccinated, not to wear a mask and not social distance….teacher unions are the real problem.

sounds like principal brandon bringhurst says if you're vaxxed, you're good.
is he crossing union lines?

Might be. Not sure. There is a segment of the population that usually sides with the common worker and not the out of touch higher up bosses/management. Until they need a babysitter. A vaccine and a masks isn’t asking for much. It beats staying at home.

you forgot social distancing and washing hands. i can see how you did that, though.

Yes…those two things also. If putting a mask on my kids will get them in the building, I might put two on them…. You letting someone spend the day in your house if they tell you they have covid? I am not. Even if they have a mask on.

what does putting a "mask" on have to do with letting someone spend the day in my house if they tell me they have covid?

Nothing. I was referring to the parent that sent his kid
To school sick and the principal saying the kid can come to school if he is vaccinated (I may have the sequence incorrect. It wasn’t clear).

[Typical Lax Dad]

New COVID cases in US soar 700% week-over-week since July 1, CDC says


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/new-c ... hp&pc=U531


Since July 1, there's been a 700% increase in the week-over-week average of COVID-19 infections in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


The information was presented Friday at CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting during a discussion of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for immunocompromised patients.

"There's no doubt we're seeing a surge in cases now," said Dr. William Moss, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The United States was at a low point in new cases in late June, with an average of about 10,000 a day. Today the average is closer to 125,000 a day, he said

"That’s when people in this country became really optimistic. The combination of the delta variant, susceptibility due to relatively low vaccination coverage, some relaxing of our public health measures, these all came together and we're seeing this wave," Moss said.

The delta variant is nearly twice as contagious as previous variants and there is some evidence of increased illness severity compared with previous strains in unvaccinated people, CDC epidemiologist Heather Scobie said at Friday's meeting.

Full vaccinated people infected with the delta variant can spread the virus to others but appear to be infectious for a shorter period of time than unvaccinated people infected with the variant, she said.

In the first 12 days of August, the United States reported more coronavirus cases than it did in all of July, according a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

That's 1.33 million cases. At this month's average rate, the country would report some 3.4 million cases, making it the fourth-worst month of the entire pandemic.

"There's bad news and there's less bad news," is how Andrew Noymer, a professor of population health at the University of California, Irvine, put it.

Because older people, who are at higher risk for severe disease and death, are now highly vaccinated, "100,000 cases today is less dire than 100,000 in December of 2020," he said.

That means cases are more concentrated in younger people, who are less likely to be vaccinated. Younger people are less likely to become severely ill "but this isn't a nothing burger," Noymer said. Hospitalizations are still high.

He looked up the numbers in his county a year ago and there were 722 people hospitalized for COVID-19. This week there are 497 hospitalizations in Orange County.

"We have a vaccine that works wonderfully now," he said, "so our peak shouldn't be five-sevenths as big as the previous summer."

The U.S. numbers parallel what was seen in the United Kingdom and in Israel when the extremely transmissible delta variant hit those nations, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco.

"The only small comfort is that in areas of higher vaccination in our country, hospitalizations are not following the trend of cases to the same degree as in prior surges without vaccination," she said.

Immunity moving forward
CDC staff also presented data giving insight into the evolving pandemic. The available data shows the persistence of protective antibodies eight months after an infection and six months after the second shot of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines and eight months after a single Johnson & Johnson shot.

That's not because natural infection is more protective but simply because vaccinations only began in December so there is very little data.

It appears vaccine effectiveness against infection with COVID-19 does wane over time, but how much and in whom isn't yet entirely clear.

Even so, protection against severe illness remains very high. For Pfizer, it is 97% and for Moderna it's 93%, CDC said.

There is some data emerging from Israel of more breakthrough infections among people vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine in January and February than in recent months.

There was a more than two-fold increased risk for breakthrough infections between people vaccinated in January versus those vaccinated in April, Israeli data showed.

The older the person, the more chance they would have an infection.

Scobie emphasized an infection is different from becoming severely ill or dying.

As of Aug. 2, among more than 164 million fully vaccinated people in the United States, there were 7,101 hospitalizations and 1,507 deaths.

Such severe or deadly breakthrough infections in vaccinated people were much more likely to occur in older people. CDC reported that 74% of those cases were in people over 65.

It's not clear if that's because people over 65 were first in line to be vaccinated and therefore their immunity might be waning over time, or if because of their age their immune systems are less robust.

Among people 18 and over, approximately 32% of all vaccinated breakthrough cases were in immunocompromised individuals, compared with approximately 11% of unvaccinated cases.

The CDC's advisory committee will meet again Aug. 24 to discuss incoming data about the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, enduring immunity and the possible need for booster doses.

The pandemic, said Noymer, appears far from over.

"We should say we’re in the throes of a pandemic, not that we’re in the middle of it," he said. "The middle of something implies that we’re halfway there, and I don’t know that that’s true."





Because of right wing stupidity and myth making the covid menace will not go away. Thousands more die or become debilitated and society suffers even greater loss of productivity.


Went shopping today and noticed that many food shelves were empty. Many aisles looked like they did last year when the covid crisis started to accelerate. At the pharmacy part of the store, you could not find rubbing alcohol or witch hazel as well as other important ointments. The confidence that we had about ending the crisis just a few months ago is over. People are scared, once again. All this thanks to those Republicans who don't give a shttt about anyone other than their selfish selves.

Like I was afraid of, we may have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

what should have been done differently?

I thought we relaxed too quickly but I am conservative. Don’t know if it would have made much of a difference but not giving the “all clear” is probably better than “all clear”. Honor system doesn’t seem to work too good either.

[old salt]

"Intl visitors" from where?

Reports were that Colombians flooded into FL in May to get free vax shots courtesy of the US government.

If the FL natives weren't going to take the shots, it is probably a good thing that someone showed up to take them. Also probably good for the home country that those people got vaxed.

On April 30, Florida ended its requirement that people prove state residence in order to get vaccinated. Suddenly in May, nearly 170,000 Colombians traveled to the U.S. — a 75% increase over the previous month. Mejía recalls nurses joking about it at Markham Park in Sunrise, where she got her Pfizer shots.

“Oof, the people who would vaccinate us would laugh and say, ‘Oh, some more Colombians are coming!" Mejía said. "They'd say, 'We just vaccinated I don’t know how many Colombians.'”

Why are we not using our military & NGO's to gather up all the unused vaccine before it expires & do fly-in vax clinics at airports throughout Latin America ? I could transport a vax team & a lot of doses in a King Air, military or civilian version, in & out of airports with 4000 ft runways. Our embassies could co-ordinate. Frustrating.

[jhu72]

Wife says they are starting to see many more sub 12 year olds with COVID at her clinic northeast of Baltimore. Had 3 new pediatric cases yesterday (0 year to 18), all under 12, unusual. In the past teenagers have generally been their biggest COVID concern.

[jhu72]

"Intl visitors" from where?

Reports were that Colombians flooded into FL in May to get free vax shots courtesy of the US government.

If the FL natives weren't going to take the shots, it is probably a good thing that someone showed up to take them. Also probably good for the home country that those people got vaxed.

On April 30, Florida ended its requirement that people prove state residence in order to get vaccinated. Suddenly in May, nearly 170,000 Colombians traveled to the U.S. — a 75% increase over the previous month. Mejía recalls nurses joking about it at Markham Park in Sunrise, where she got her Pfizer shots.

“Oof, the people who would vaccinate us would laugh and say, ‘Oh, some more Colombians are coming!" Mejía said. "They'd say, 'We just vaccinated I don’t know how many Colombians.'”

Why are we not using our military & NGO's to gather up all the unused vaccine before it expires & do fly-in vax clinics at airports throughout Latin America ? I could transport a vax team & a lot of doses in a King Air, military or civilian version, in & out of airports with 4000 ft runways. Our embassies could co-ordinate. Frustrating.

... agreed. we run the risk of wasting a lot of vaccine, all of it precious.

[wgdsr]

Wife says they are starting to see many more sub 12 year olds with COVID at her clinic northeast of Baltimore. Had 3 new pediatric cases yesterday (0 year to 18), all under 12, unusual. In the past teenagers have generally been their biggest COVID concern.

https://www.businessinsider.com/record- ... ads-2021-8

[Brooklyn]

Like I was afraid of, we may have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Sad, indeed.

Had my TV on the day before as I was reading some news on my PC. The interviewee (a doctor or medical professor) condemned the sudden drop in the amount of people getting vaccinated. He said that had the vaccination rate (I believe he said it was 2 or possibly 3 million a day) continued, by now the spreading of covid would have been arrested. As such, we would not see the spread of the disease today and the casualty numbers would be reduced to zero. If the vax rate would go up to the levels we saw months ago the numbers of people infected by covid could be reduced by the end of September. But that's the key - people must get vaxxed.

Will it happen?

I was in a chat just yesterday and once again a right wing troll interrupted our chat with the words "covid is a hoax". Thankfully, the moderator deleted the comment.

Let's hope everyone will come to their senses and realize covid is a menace, not a hoax. Hopefully, the critics will get vaxxed and the menace will soon be gone.

[jhu72]

... can't prove it, but I really do get the sense, the non-crazy plain vaccine hesitant are now moving to get vaccinated. We will soon be left with only the nut fringe. Better be the case, cause winter is coming.

Saw a prediction that the US will be at 750,000 total dead at the end of this late summer wave.

[wgdsr]

uk is vaxxed at a rate we could only dream of (and israel) and they are seeing surges. covid original and alpha may have been arrested if we approached those numbers, but not delta. delta's gotta a course to run.

vaxxing has followed the path of polling, 4 categories. get it right away, see what's up but get it relatively quickly if thumbs up, see what's up (intermediate or long term), and no way.

we got thru the first 2 stages relatively quickly and have stalled on stage 3 so far. the delta swing may be the thing that's needed.

best case was always getting everyone but the no way indies and rep's (~78% blended) and 75% of minorities that weren't in that basket... 30% of american adults, say 80% of them x .75.

that's 14% of total >12 pop no way indies and rep's, 6% minorities, for a total of 80% 12 and over vaxxed. or 69% of total pop. where uk is (not approved for < 18 yrs old yet).

back out 5% for wishful thinking and we can get to 75% 12 and over. that's only another 20 million taking their 1st (and 2nd) jab, and 2nd jabbers cleaning up what they started.

[Brooklyn]

... can't prove it, but I really do get the sense, the non-crazy plain vaccine hesitant are now moving to get vaccinated. We will soon be left with only the nut fringe. Better be the case, cause winter is coming.

Saw a prediction that the US will be at 750,000 total dead at the end of this late summer wave.

Yesterday I looked up the CDC site which showed that the vast majority of Americans who have been vaxxed are seniors. Interestingly, news reports indicate that the majority of those infected with this new variant are young people both kids and now young adult in their 30s:


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/new-c ... =undefined


Hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients in their 30s have hit a new record, U.S. government data show, a sign of the toll that the highly contagious Delta variant is taking among the unvaccinated.

Thirty-somethings, who are in prime ages for work and parenting, had largely avoided hospital stays for Covid-19 during earlier phases of the pandemic because of their relative good health.

Yet the age group is seeing new Covid-19 hospital admissions increase during the recent Delta-driven surge, which doctors and epidemiologists attribute to the failure of large numbers of Americans to get vaccinated and their highly active lives.

... Covid-19 patients in their 30s have also soared in Florida, where hospitalizations in the latest surge have set new pandemic records.


more ...



I believe this proves the vax works to prevent contagion.


The CDC, the news media, and people from their hospital beds have been pleading for more Americans to get vaxxed. But this has largely been in vain. You know, it would be a good idea if the CDC took maybe 5 to 10 minutes to put on a nationwide TV announcement in which it asks people to get vaxxed. It would be greatly helpful if someone like Trump would make a 30 or 60 second endorsement of this idea. I bet millions of people would immediately get vaxxed and tens of thousands of precious lives could be saved.

[Typical Lax Dad]

uk is vaxxed at a rate we could only dream of (and israel) and they are seeing surges. covid original and alpha may have been arrested if we approached those numbers, but not delta. delta's gotta a course to run.

vaxxing has followed the path of polling, 4 categories. get it right away, see what's up but get it relatively quickly if thumbs up, see what's up (intermediate or long term), and no way.

we got thru the first 2 stages relatively quickly and have stalled on stage 3 so far. the delta swing may be the thing that's needed.

best case was always getting everyone but the no way indies and rep's (~78% blended) and 75% of minorities that weren't in that basket... 30% of american adults, say 80% of them x .75.

that's 14% of total >12 pop no way indies and rep's, 6% minorities, for a total of 80% 12 and over vaxxed. or 69% of total pop. where uk is (not approved for < 18 yrs old yet).

back out 5% for wishful thinking and we can get to 75% 12 and over. that's only another 20 million taking their 1st (and 2nd) jab, and 2nd jabbers cleaning up what they started.

Hospitals may not have been overrun if the anti-vaxx and Anti-masks and anti-social distance people had gotten on board. The Delta course MAY have been less consequential, but we will never know.

[wgdsr]

uk is vaxxed at a rate we could only dream of (and israel) and they are seeing surges. covid original and alpha may have been arrested if we approached those numbers, but not delta. delta's gotta a course to run.

vaxxing has followed the path of polling, 4 categories. get it right away, see what's up but get it relatively quickly if thumbs up, see what's up (intermediate or long term), and no way.

we got thru the first 2 stages relatively quickly and have stalled on stage 3 so far. the delta swing may be the thing that's needed.

best case was always getting everyone but the no way indies and rep's (~78% blended) and 75% of minorities that weren't in that basket... 30% of american adults, say 80% of them x .75.

that's 14% of total >12 pop no way indies and rep's, 6% minorities, for a total of 80% 12 and over vaxxed. or 69% of total pop. where uk is (not approved for < 18 yrs old yet).

back out 5% for wishful thinking and we can get to 75% 12 and over. that's only another 20 million taking their 1st (and 2nd) jab, and 2nd jabbers cleaning up what they started.

Hospitals may not have been overrun if the anti-vaxx and Anti-masks and anti-social distance people had gotten on board. The Delta course MAY have been less consequential, but we will never know.

i think it's more than just probable if more had been on board to vaxx it'd be a slower burn. but i don't understand the "if the anti-vaxx" part that folks belabor. how would that work if they're anti-vaxx? u see philippines' rates?

time to get the vaxx hesitant. they are out there.

[jhu72]

uk is vaxxed at a rate we could only dream of (and israel) and they are seeing surges. covid original and alpha may have been arrested if we approached those numbers, but not delta. delta's gotta a course to run.

vaxxing has followed the path of polling, 4 categories. get it right away, see what's up but get it relatively quickly if thumbs up, see what's up (intermediate or long term), and no way.

we got thru the first 2 stages relatively quickly and have stalled on stage 3 so far. the delta swing may be the thing that's needed.

best case was always getting everyone but the no way indies and rep's (~78% blended) and 75% of minorities that weren't in that basket... 30% of american adults, say 80% of them x .75.

that's 14% of total >12 pop no way indies and rep's, 6% minorities, for a total of 80% 12 and over vaxxed. or 69% of total pop. where uk is (not approved for < 18 yrs old yet).

back out 5% for wishful thinking and we can get to 75% 12 and over. that's only another 20 million taking their 1st (and 2nd) jab, and 2nd jabbers cleaning up what they started.

Think we are lucky in Maryland. Was over 70% one shot at beginning of week, and looks like somewhere between 70-75% full vaxx in two-three weeks. They claim no more than about 7% real hardcore no way am I getting vaxxed types in MD. Still got room to run. Vaxx mandate not likely to even make sense. Its the places where your hardcore is double that or more where Vaxx mandate does make sense. Ironic how that works. The people who protest the precautionary steps most, their behavior is what drives the need for the mandate.

[Typical Lax Dad]

uk is vaxxed at a rate we could only dream of (and israel) and they are seeing surges. covid original and alpha may have been arrested if we approached those numbers, but not delta. delta's gotta a course to run.

vaxxing has followed the path of polling, 4 categories. get it right away, see what's up but get it relatively quickly if thumbs up, see what's up (intermediate or long term), and no way.

we got thru the first 2 stages relatively quickly and have stalled on stage 3 so far. the delta swing may be the thing that's needed.

best case was always getting everyone but the no way indies and rep's (~78% blended) and 75% of minorities that weren't in that basket... 30% of american adults, say 80% of them x .75.

that's 14% of total >12 pop no way indies and rep's, 6% minorities, for a total of 80% 12 and over vaxxed. or 69% of total pop. where uk is (not approved for < 18 yrs old yet).

back out 5% for wishful thinking and we can get to 75% 12 and over. that's only another 20 million taking their 1st (and 2nd) jab, and 2nd jabbers cleaning up what they started.

Hospitals may not have been overrun if the anti-vaxx and Anti-masks and anti-social distance people had gotten on board. The Delta course MAY have been less consequential, but we will never know.

i think it's more than just probable if more had been on board to vaxx it'd be a slower burn. but i don't understand the "if the anti-vaxx" part that folks belabor. how would that work if they're anti-vaxx? u see philippines' rates?

time to get the vaxx hesitant. they are out there.

I am using other population centers in America with a high uptake rate as a comp.

[wgdsr]

uk is vaxxed at a rate we could only dream of (and israel) and they are seeing surges. covid original and alpha may have been arrested if we approached those numbers, but not delta. delta's gotta a course to run.

vaxxing has followed the path of polling, 4 categories. get it right away, see what's up but get it relatively quickly if thumbs up, see what's up (intermediate or long term), and no way.

we got thru the first 2 stages relatively quickly and have stalled on stage 3 so far. the delta swing may be the thing that's needed.

best case was always getting everyone but the no way indies and rep's (~78% blended) and 75% of minorities that weren't in that basket... 30% of american adults, say 80% of them x .75.

that's 14% of total >12 pop no way indies and rep's, 6% minorities, for a total of 80% 12 and over vaxxed. or 69% of total pop. where uk is (not approved for < 18 yrs old yet).

back out 5% for wishful thinking and we can get to 75% 12 and over. that's only another 20 million taking their 1st (and 2nd) jab, and 2nd jabbers cleaning up what they started.

Hospitals may not have been overrun if the anti-vaxx and Anti-masks and anti-social distance people had gotten on board. The Delta course MAY have been less consequential, but we will never know.

i think it's more than just probable if more had been on board to vaxx it'd be a slower burn. but i don't understand the "if the anti-vaxx" part that folks belabor. how would that work if they're anti-vaxx? u see philippines' rates?

time to get the vaxx hesitant. they are out there.

I am using other population centers in America with a high uptake rate as a comp.

i thought it was seasonal? like the flu? what inning is delta in?

my point is "if the anti-vaxxers" is a colossal straw man.

[Brooklyn]

Think we are lucky in Maryland. Was over 70% one shot at beginning of week, and looks like somewhere between 70-75% full vaxx in two-three weeks.

In Minnesota we just hit 70% one vax, but remain at only 54% with full vaxx. However, this is the highest rate in the Midwest. Wish I could say we would reach 70-75% full vaxx in 2 to 3 weeks but these people just will not be convinced that preventive measures are always best. Thankfully, more people are now getting the injection though still less than what we had in late April.

Both Twin Cities have re-imposed the mask mandate. But the state legislature is not in session and won't be for months. Otherwise, concerned people like myself would lobby for emergency legislation to give the Governor the authority to impose statewide mitigation standards as he did previously and which worked so well. Schools re-open soon. Let's hope what measures we take will work to prevent the spread of further contagion.

[Typical Lax Dad]

uk is vaxxed at a rate we could only dream of (and israel) and they are seeing surges. covid original and alpha may have been arrested if we approached those numbers, but not delta. delta's gotta a course to run.

vaxxing has followed the path of polling, 4 categories. get it right away, see what's up but get it relatively quickly if thumbs up, see what's up (intermediate or long term), and no way.

we got thru the first 2 stages relatively quickly and have stalled on stage 3 so far. the delta swing may be the thing that's needed.

best case was always getting everyone but the no way indies and rep's (~78% blended) and 75% of minorities that weren't in that basket... 30% of american adults, say 80% of them x .75.

that's 14% of total >12 pop no way indies and rep's, 6% minorities, for a total of 80% 12 and over vaxxed. or 69% of total pop. where uk is (not approved for < 18 yrs old yet).

back out 5% for wishful thinking and we can get to 75% 12 and over. that's only another 20 million taking their 1st (and 2nd) jab, and 2nd jabbers cleaning up what they started.

Hospitals may not have been overrun if the anti-vaxx and Anti-masks and anti-social distance people had gotten on board. The Delta course MAY have been less consequential, but we will never know.

i think it's more than just probable if more had been on board to vaxx it'd be a slower burn. but i don't understand the "if the anti-vaxx" part that folks belabor. how would that work if they're anti-vaxx? u see philippines' rates?

time to get the vaxx hesitant. they are out there.

I am using other population centers in America with a high uptake rate as a comp.

i thought it was seasonal? like the flu? what inning is delta in?

my point is "if the anti-vaxxers" is a colossal straw man.

No. Anti-vaxxers, anti-social distancers, anti-maskers all have contributed to the problem. Not the only problem but have contributed to it.

[Brooklyn]

No. Anti-vaxxers, anti-social distancers, anti-maskers all have contributed to the problem. Not the only problem but have contributed to it.

While cynics continue to insist that covid is not a problem, victims plead with the public to get vaxxed:


https://tinyurl.com/n5c6serc


No "straw man" here. All now recognize that the problem is real. But there is a way out and that is prevention, mitigation, and vaccination.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Think we are lucky in Maryland. Was over 70% one shot at beginning of week, and looks like somewhere between 70-75% full vaxx in two-three weeks.

In Minnesota we just hit 70% one vax, but remain at only 54% with full vaxx. However, this is the highest rate in the Midwest. Wish I could say we would reach 70-75% full vaxx in 2 to 3 weeks but these people just will not be convinced that preventive measures are always best. Thankfully, more people are now getting the injection though still less than what we had in late April.

Both Twin Cities have re-imposed the mask mandate. But the state legislature is not in session and won't be for months. Otherwise, concerned people like myself would lobby for emergency legislation to give the Governor the authority to impose statewide mitigation standards as he did previously and which worked so well. Schools re-open soon. Let's hope what measures we take will work to prevent the spread of further contagion.

I am for anything that lowers the rate of transmission and helps kids kid back to school this fall.