Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #94

[ilovewings]

Very interesting article--well worth reading, IMO.

These Moms Work as Doctors and Scientists. But They've Also Taken On Another Job: Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation Online

These Moms Work as Doctors and Scientists. But They've Also Taken On Another Job: Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation Online

Last March, friends and neighbors began stopping Emily Smith in her town outside of Waco, Texas, with questions about the coronavirus. An epidemiologist at Baylor University, Smith knows all too well how viruses are transmitted. But as the wife of a pastor and as a woman of faith, she also holds a trusted position in her community, and she would speak to those who asked about why she personally thought social distancing was a moral choice.

As the weeks wore on, the questions kept coming: “What does flatten the curvemean?” “Is it safe for my child to kick a soccer ball outside with a friend?” So she started a Facebook page and called herself the Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist. She adopted “Love thy neighbor” as the page’s credo.

Smith wrote from the perspective of a scientist but also a wife and mother. ....

A year later, she has more than 76,000 followers on her Facebook page, and her blog gets 1 million to 3 million hits a week.

But as her digital footprint has grown—she now has followers all over the world, including a strong contingent among evangelical mothers living in the South—so has the amount of misinformation that pops up in the comments of her posts. That, too, she tries to approach with a “Love thy neighbor” ethos.

“They come in with this bunk science, and I still try to be neighborly instead of jumping all over them,” she says. It’s not always easy. When commenters suggest that wearing a mask “signals you don’t have faith in God” or that attending church in person is a must because “worshipping is worth dying for,” she will post studies showing how distancing and mask wearing can save lives. If they spread misinformation, like that European countries have banned the AstraZeneca vaccine, she explains that those countries have paused, not banned it. If they start making racist comments, she blocks them.

Smith, who has two children, draws fortitude from a text chain with about 30 women, mostly moms, all with M.D.s or Ph.D.s. Among them are Katelyn Jetelina, who operates a page called Your Local Epidemiologist (181,000 followers) and the all-female team of doctors and scientists who run the page Dear Pandemic (76,000 followers). She calls them her “gal pals.” They have spent the little spare time they have during the pandemic trying to provide their communities with information about a virus that, especially in the beginning, few people understood. Now with vaccines available to Americans who meet an expanding range of eligibility requirements, they are trying to both demystify the science and debunk conspiracy theories.

(much more at link)

She is an amazing woman-- trying to shatter some of the dangerous myths that are out there is no easy task.

 

[ilovewings]

Variants will happen....but they don't spread across the globe on their own. People are bringing the variants from place to place.
jmo

It seems to me what so many people are missing is how our behavior affects this virus and its spread: I can't tell you how many people have posted messages or actually said to me that the virus will do what it does- "it's a virus-nothing can change it- it does what it does" My step son said that. Many people believe that. I guess many people simply do not have critical thinking skills to grasp the concept that this virus is behavior driven. It will spread and it will kill people, but it can be controlled to a certain degree with certain behaviors. I don't know why that is so difficult to understand. Sigh.

 

[anneg]

It seems to me what so many people are missing is how our behavior affects this virus and its spread: I can't tell you how many people have posted messages or actually said to me that the virus will do what it does- "it's a virus-nothing can change it- it does what it does" My step son said that. Many people believe that. I guess many people simply do not have critical thinking skills to grasp the concept that this virus is behavior driven. It will spread and it will kill people, but it can be controlled to a certain degree with certain behaviors. I don't know why that is so difficult to understand. Sigh.

***sigh***

 

[WildOrchid]

From what I’m seeing in my area, mask/Covid fatigue are hugely impacting cases jumping. 14 months ago, some wore masks to flatten the curve. Last summer, the cases were lighter. At Christmas they jumped again as predicted. But now that there are many vaccinated and cases are still rising, I see people getting angry over restrictions and masks. One person I know said they think this whole “virus thing is bs”. It’s apparently easier to say the entire thing is stupid than to face facts that behavior and human selfishness are causing all of this. We seem to think what we WANT and what we NEED are the same. They are not.

 

[Inthedetails]

Very interesting article--well worth reading, IMO.

These Moms Work as Doctors and Scientists. But They've Also Taken On Another Job: Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation Online

These Moms Work as Doctors and Scientists. But They've Also Taken On Another Job: Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation Online

Last March, friends and neighbors began stopping Emily Smith in her town outside of Waco, Texas, with questions about the coronavirus. An epidemiologist at Baylor University, Smith knows all too well how viruses are transmitted. But as the wife of a pastor and as a woman of faith, she also holds a trusted position in her community, and she would speak to those who asked about why she personally thought social distancing was a moral choice.

As the weeks wore on, the questions kept coming: “What does flatten the curvemean?” “Is it safe for my child to kick a soccer ball outside with a friend?” So she started a Facebook page and called herself the Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist. She adopted “Love thy neighbor” as the page’s credo.

Smith wrote from the perspective of a scientist but also a wife and mother. ....

A year later, she has more than 76,000 followers on her Facebook page, and her blog gets 1 million to 3 million hits a week.

But as her digital footprint has grown—she now has followers all over the world, including a strong contingent among evangelical mothers living in the South—so has the amount of misinformation that pops up in the comments of her posts. That, too, she tries to approach with a “Love thy neighbor” ethos.

“They come in with this bunk science, and I still try to be neighborly instead of jumping all over them,” she says. It’s not always easy. When commenters suggest that wearing a mask “signals you don’t have faith in God” or that attending church in person is a must because “worshipping is worth dying for,” she will post studies showing how distancing and mask wearing can save lives. If they spread misinformation, like that European countries have banned the AstraZeneca vaccine, she explains that those countries have paused, not banned it. If they start making racist comments, she blocks them.

Smith, who has two children, draws fortitude from a text chain with about 30 women, mostly moms, all with M.D.s or Ph.D.s. Among them are Katelyn Jetelina, who operates a page called Your Local Epidemiologist (181,000 followers) and the all-female team of doctors and scientists who run the page Dear Pandemic (76,000 followers). She calls them her “gal pals.” They have spent the little spare time they have during the pandemic trying to provide their communities with information about a virus that, especially in the beginning, few people understood. Now with vaccines available to Americans who meet an expanding range of eligibility requirements, they are trying to both demystify the science and debunk conspiracy theories.

(much more at link)

Love this!

 

[anneg]

Very interesting article--well worth reading, IMO.

These Moms Work as Doctors and Scientists. But They've Also Taken On Another Job: Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation Online

Last March, friends and neighbors began stopping Emily Smith in her town outside of Waco, Texas, with questions about the coronavirus. An epidemiologist at Baylor University, Smith knows all too well how viruses are transmitted. But as the wife of a pastor and as a woman of faith, she also holds a trusted position in her community, and she would speak to those who asked about why she personally thought social distancing was a moral choice.

(much more at link)

Quote snipped. Here is Emily Smith's post about the JNJ vaccine pause:
J&J Vaccine Pause

It includes an excellent "Risk of Blood Clots" graphic, which show that the risk of having blood clots post vaccine is infinitesimal compared with other causes (birth control pills, smoking, and Covid).

 

[ParkerParky]

I got a shot of this last night

WASHINGTON — Federal health agencies on Tuesday will call for an immediate pause in use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine after six recipients in the United States developed a rare disorder involving blood clots within about two weeks of vaccination, officials briefed on the decision said.

All six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and a second woman in Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition, the officials said.


U.S. Calls for Pause on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine After Clotting Cases

I received my J&J shot 30 days ago and was sore and achy for about a day. All has been well since with no problems

 

[Alethea]

Thank you…I’m just a little worried but glad I got it at the casino.

I just got my J&J vaccine over the weekend too. I’m not looking forward to 10 more days of anxiety waiting for an awful clot. I understand they wanted to announce this because the treatment for the specific type of clot would be different than normal if it happened due to the combination low platelets but my rational brain still won’t accept or process it.

 

[Inthedetails]

I just got my J&J vaccine over the weekend too. I’m not looking forward to 10 more days of anxiety waiting for an awful clot. I understand they wanted to announce this because the treatment for the specific type of clot would be different than normal if it happened due to the combination low platelets but my rational brain still won’t accept or process it.

Maybe that was the motivation to "pause" the vaccine - to make sure hospitals/health care providers all got the info about how to treat the clots should they see cases? Once that info is distributed fully, then resume the vaccine?

Just a guess. I'm not a medical person.

jmo

 

[GRT]

I just got my J&J vaccine over the weekend too. I’m not looking forward to 10 more days of anxiety waiting for an awful clot. I understand they wanted to announce this because the treatment for the specific type of clot would be different than normal if it happened due to the combination low platelets but my rational brain still won’t accept or process it.

My sister, a Hospice nurse, told me I shouldn't really worry about the blood clot thing, but that it wouldn't hurt me to take a low-dose aspirin daily just to be on the safe side.

 

[SouthAussie]

My sister, a Hospice nurse, told me I shouldn't really worry about the blood clot thing, but that it wouldn't hurt me to take a low-dose aspirin daily just to be on the safe side.

I was concerned about taking any pain medication (understanding that the point of aspirin is to thin the blood) because I wondered if it would interfere with my body producing antibodies.

I know absolutely nothing about this BTW. It was simply my own musing. It was almost as if I wanted the vaccine to go rampant on my system so my body would produce every single antibody that it could produce.

 

[LadyL]

I got a shot of this last night

WASHINGTON — Federal health agencies on Tuesday will call for an immediate pause in use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine after six recipients in the United States developed a rare disorder involving blood clots within about two weeks of vaccination, officials briefed on the decision said.

All six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and a second woman in Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition, the officials said.


U.S. Calls for Pause on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine After Clotting Cases

frightening

 

[zecats]

frightening

Agreed. My daughter just got this vaccine last Wednesday. Rare blood clots, but still I worry. I worry about everything with my kids, no matter their ages.

 

[LadyL]

Agreed. My daughter just got this vaccine last Wednesday. Rare blood clots, but still I worry. I worry about everything with my kids, no matter their ages.

I haven't gotten one yet but the more that comes out about blood clots, the more my anxiety grows.

 

[10ofRods]

I was concerned about taking any pain medication (understanding that the point of aspirin is to thin the blood) because I wondered if it would interfere with my body producing antibodies.

I know absolutely nothing about this BTW. It was simply my own musing. It was almost as if I wanted the vaccine to go rampant on my system so my body would produce every single antibody that it could produce.

The public health nurse where I took my shot advised acetaminophen or naproxon (Advil). My cardiologist advised half dose of aspirin. Both said that this would not affect developing immunity (nor would my regular antihistamine) so I went for it. I was a bit surprised at how strong the side effects were on the second shot - but it really varies. So many people have no side effects.

At any rate, I don't know any actual virologists, but the doctors I do know say that we will develop immunity regardless, and any symptoms at all are a sign we are doing so.

I took the aspirin to thin my blood because I have been hospitalized with blood clots due to a medication interaction in the past. But I took the Tylenol for the fever and the headache (it really helped). Anyway, all the vaccination centers here in California are saying it's okay to do so, for what that's worth.

Hope your vaccination goes well! It's such a relief to get it done!

 

[musicaljoke]

There's some good news coming out of Israel. This country has done an amazing job of vaccinating their people. Their new Covid case numbers have nosedived from about 60,000 daily new cases in January, to fewer than 200 today.

Israel: WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard With Vaccination Data

 

[zecats]

Maybe that was the motivation to "pause" the vaccine - to make sure hospitals/health care providers all got the info about how to treat the clots should they see cases? Once that info is distributed fully, then resume the vaccine?

Just a guess. I'm not a medical person.

jmo

Actually, the statements I've been reading say we should be encouraged they paused J & J. If only 6 people out of millions have developed this extremely rare condition, and they still are exercising such caution, no more can be said about the reckless behavior behind "rushing" these vaccines.

March for Science FB page "It's pretty hard to claim there's a vast conspiracy to suppress secret deaths and side effects when the whole damn system literally stops because it found 6 cases of a thing out of 7 million doses."

 

[SouthAussie]

There's some good news coming out of Israel. This country has done an amazing job of vaccinating their people. Their new Covid case numbers have nosedived from about 60,000 daily new cases in January, to fewer than 200 today.

Israel: WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard With Vaccination Data

And I believe that is with vaccinating 63% or 64% of their people. With 48% fully vaccinated.

A group of Israeli researchers has found one jab of the Pfizer vaccine may reduce viral loads in a person, making it harder to transmit coronavirus if someone becomes infected after the first dose.
Israel is giving the world a glimpse into a post-vaccine future. But not everyone is happy

https://www.smh.com.au/national/covid-19-global-vaccine-tracker-and-data-centre-20210128-p56xht.html

 

[margarita25]

J&J COVID-19 vaccine halted by FDA, CDC in US: What you need to know
Your Questions Answered

—

Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine: CDC and FDA recommend US pause use of vaccine over blood clot concerns - CNN

“The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration are recommending that the United States pause the use of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine over six reported US cases of a "rare and severe" type of blood clot.”

[...]

“The six reported cases were among more than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered in the United States.“

[...]

“"CDC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Wednesday to further review these cases and assess their potential significance," the statement said. "FDA will review that analysis as it also investigates these cases. Until that process is complete, we are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution. This is important, in part, to ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events and can plan for proper recognition and management due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot."“

—

Covid-19 Live Updates: U.S. Calls for Pause on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine, Complicating Rollout

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/13/covid-19-cases-deaths-vaccinations-daily-update.html

• As U.S. Covid cases rise, the country is also administering the vaccine shots aimed at preventing the spread of the virus at a faster pace than ever.
• The U.S. is reporting a seven-day average of nearly 69,000 daily new Covid cases and about 960 deaths.
• CDC data shows an average of 3.2 million daily vaccine shots reported administered over the past week. More than 1 in 5 Americans are fully vaccinated.

 

[Gibbo214]

I haven't gotten one yet but the more that comes out about blood clots, the more my anxiety grows.

If you ever took the contraceptive pill, you were in far more danger of a thrombosis than from the vaccine.