Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #96

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Lilibet said:
Much as I love the Foo Fighters and I’m glad everyone in the audience showed proof of vaccination, I hope all this opening up of NYC doesn’t backfire.
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All of this going back to pre-pandemic normal makes me anxious: The Delta variant is out there---and not enough people are vaccinated to provide herd immunity---
 
I've been reading an article about an mRNA vaccine that Australia is developing for our own use .. considering that we are spending a fortune on overseas mRNA vaccines and will likely need these vaccines well into the future as boosters.

In the article it says that the Beta variant is the variant that is better (than the other variants) at evading immune responses. And there is suspicion that once the other variants die down, the Beta variant is the one that will rear its head.


The researchers began modelling the vaccine off the original strain of the virus, first discovered in Wuhan. But they’ve since adjusted their sequence to model the shot off the Beta variant, first discovered in South Africa. This adjustment was made partly because the neutralising antibodies from patients infected with the Wuhan strain are least effective against the Beta variant.

Our current crop of approved COVID vaccines protect well against the Alpha variant, first found in the United Kingdom, and the Delta variant, first discovered in India. But because the Beta variant is good at evading immunity from vaccines, it’s more likely than most other variants to surge when vaccine protection begins to wane.

For these reasons, there’s a stronger clinical need for Beta variant vaccines.

What's Australia's first local Pfizer-style COVID vaccine? And when might it be in our arms? An mRNA expert explains
 
ilovewings said:
All of this going back to pre-pandemic normal makes me anxious: The Delta variant is out there---and not enough people are vaccinated to provide herd immunity---
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What I have been wondering is how the Delta variant is translating into sickness and death.

We know that it is highly contagious and case numbers are escalating due to it. Are the extreme sickness and death rates returning? Presumably we are handling the cases better also.

I guess what I am watching for is for the virus to become endemic (and able to be handled) as opposed to a pandemic and out of control. At least in the western nations, China, and other better-vaccinated places, at this point.
I know that the less fortunate nations are still suffering terribly.
 
SouthAussie said:
What I have been wondering is how the Delta variant is translating into sickness and death.

We know that it is highly contagious and case numbers are escalating due to it. Are the extreme sickness and death rates returning? Presumably we are handling the cases better also.

I guess what I am watching for is for the virus to become endemic (and able to be handled) as opposed to a pandemic and out of control. At least in the western nations, China, and other better-vaccinated places, at this point.
I know that the less fortunate nations are still suffering terribly.
Click to expand...

Nearly all our cases (UK) are delta now, and while cases have shot up recently, hospitalisations have only increased a smidge, and deaths are still levelled out at around 10 per day average.

I know it can still go either way here, but the news is encouraging. It appears the vaccines are doing their job.

Off the top of my head we have 82% of adults vaccinated with one dose, and around 60% with two.
 
CoverMeCagney said:
Nearly all our cases (UK) are delta now, and while cases have shot up recently, hospitalisations have only increased a smidge, and deaths are still levelled out at around 10 per day average.

I know it can still go either way here, but the news is encouraging. It appears the vaccines are doing their job.

Off the top of my head we have 82% of adults vaccinated with one dose, and around 60% with two.
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That is encouraging news
 
BetteDavisEyes said:
As much as I will enjoy watching Olympic coverage, I tend to agree with you about moving forward with the summer games. Better safe than sorry...
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We are still in the midst of a pandemic- though it is being contained with vaccinations (thank goodness), in several countries ( but not all countries): I think it is somewhat reckless to go ahead with the olympics in the middle of a pandemic that is still not completely under control.
 
Fauci Warns Dangerous Delta Variant Is The Greatest Threat To U.S. COVID Efforts

The dangerous Delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading so quickly in the United States that it's likely the mutant strain will become predominant in the nation within weeks, according to federal health officials and a new analysis.
....

"The Delta variant is currently the greatest threat in the U.S. to our attempt to eliminate COVID-19," Fauci said.

The variant, first identified in India, is the most contagious yet and, among those not yet vaccinated, may trigger serious illness in more people than other variants do, he said.
....
 
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
(Red color by me)
SARS-CoV-2 Variant Classifications and Definitions
Updated June 22, 2021

Key Points
  • Genetic variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been emerging and circulating around the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Viral mutations and variants in the United States are routinely monitored through sequence-based surveillance, laboratory studies, and epidemiological investigations.
  • A US government interagency group developed a Variant Classification scheme that defines three classes of SARS-CoV-2 variants:
  • The B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), P.1 (Gamma), B.1.427 (Epsilon), B.1.429 (Epsilon), and B.1.617.2 (Delta) variants circulating in the United States are classified as variants of concern.
  • To date, no variants of high consequence have been identified in the United States.
  • Laboratory studies suggest specific monoclonal antibody treatments may be less effective for treating cases of COVID-19 caused by variants with certain substitutions or combinations of substitutions in the spike protein.
    • L452R is present in B.1.526.1, B.1.427 (Epsilon), and B.1.429 (Epsilon) lineages, as well as the B.1.617 (Kappa, Delta) lineages and sub-lineages.
    • E484K is present in B.1.525 (Eta), P.2 (Zeta), P.1 (Gamma), and B.1.351 (Beta), but only some strains of B.1.526 (Iota) and B.1.1.7 (Alpha).
    • The combination of K417N, E484K, and N501Y substitutions is present in B.1.351 (Beta).
    • The combination of K417T, E484K, and N501Y substitutions is present in P.1 (Gamma).
Viruses constantly change through mutation. A variant has one or more mutations that differentiate it from other variants in circulation. As expected, multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been documented in the United States and globally throughout this pandemic. To inform local outbreak investigations and understand national trends, scientists compare genetic differences between viruses to identify variants and how they are related to each other.

(More at link.)
 
SouthAussie said:
What I have been wondering is how the Delta variant is translating into sickness and death.

We know that it is highly contagious and case numbers are escalating due to it. Are the extreme sickness and death rates returning? Presumably we are handling the cases better also.

I guess what I am watching for is for the virus to become endemic (and able to be handled) as opposed to a pandemic and out of control. At least in the western nations, China, and other better-vaccinated places, at this point.
I know that the less fortunate nations are still suffering terribly.
Click to expand...

I don't have any pre-publications on this topic, but I've kept my eye on UK, where the Delta variant is the one running rampant, pushing daily case numbers up to over 10,000. However, even after two weeks of this steady rise in cases, the deaths in UK have remained fairly low. This is clearly in part because, as has been reported in the Guardian, the demographics are much younger (including children who have gone back to school and while they've tested positive, they've been largely asymptomatic, so both hospitalizations and deaths are down with this variant and this degree of opening up in Britain).

And yes, presumably, hospital staff know more about treating this illness. I've noticed a greater focus on COVID after-effects and long COVID in the UK medical literature. There are still people hospitalized from several months ago. They no longer have active COVID and are counted among the "recovered" but in fact they are left with serious, sometimes catastrophic, after-effects (needing lung transplants, brain shrinkage, new diagnoses of hypertension, I'm sure everyone here has heard about that).

Still, for the UK to have almost 12,000 new cases yesterday is very concerning. Some of the newly ill have had just one vaccine dose (and that seems to be protective against death and critical illness), but they're still sick and they are getting COVID.
 
All three major hospital systems where I live are now requiring employees to get vaccinated. This includes all hospital employees, not just clinical. The rehab centers, pharmacies, long term care and all ancillary locations are requiring vaccination as well.
 
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