Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #109

[anneg]

Greetings from the Retirement Home or should I rename it to "Covid Central"? We have two staff out with "colds" yahhh sure...and then there are the numerous folks running around coughing and with hoarse voices. One in particular, who is early dementia is tough to keep in his room along with the other gal who has dementia.
Brought both to the attention of the director here as they have both been let off quaranitne and are still symptomatic big time! Her reply " this is independent living, what can I do?" Neither one should be living here and they are putting us all in danger. Can you tell that I am fed up? I am.
Still eating my meals in room. Still wearing a mask although I would say 50% of the residents are not....and no, the symptomatic ones are not wearing masks either.
Just ordered more KN95's...don't know how much longer I can avoid Covid.

You really are living in Covid Central. The odds of avoiding Covid in that environment don't sound good. I wish you well and hope you can continue to stay healthy!

 

[MimosaMornings]

1 in 5 U.S. Adults Who Got COVID-19 Now Have Long COVID, Data Find — TIME

More than 7% of U.S. adults have Long COVID

apple.news

 

[ilovewings]

1 in 5 U.S. Adults Who Got COVID-19 Now Have Long COVID, Data Find — TIME

More than 7% of U.S. adults have Long COVID

apple.news

That is a lot of people who continue to suffer from this evil virus

 

[ilovepierre]

1 in 5 U.S. Adults Who Got COVID-19 Now Have Long COVID, Data Find — TIME

More than 7% of U.S. adults have Long COVID

apple.news

Canada has an estimated 300 000 with Long COVID. Numbers are thought to be higher though.

 

[ilovepierre]

That is a lot of people who continue to suffer from this evil virus

Sure is

 

[MimosaMornings]

Sydney limo driver ‘couldn’t cope with the stress’ after sparking COVID outbreak, lockdown

A year after lockdown began, Michael Podgoetsky - also known as the limo driver who was patient zero - says he still thinks about the controversy every day.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Sundog]

Sydney limo driver ‘couldn’t cope with the stress’ after sparking COVID outbreak, lockdown

A year after lockdown began, Michael Podgoetsky - also known as the limo driver who was patient zero - says he still thinks about the controversy every day.

www.smh.com.au

It's unfortunate that he was treated so badly, if it hadn't been him, it would have been someone else.

Nonetheless, glad to hear that he and his wife are pretty much living their lives back to normal, without all the negativity and harassment they endured from others.

 

[weepingangel]

Army Guard troops risk dismissal as vaccine deadline looms

WASHINGTON (AP) — Up to 40,000 Army National Guard soldiers across the country — or about 13% of the force — have not yet gotten the mandated COVID-19 vaccine , and as the deadline for shots looms, at least 14,000 of them have flatly refused and could be forced out of the service.

apnews.com

 

[otto]

Tabloid reading, but it seems plausible. Covid (bat?) mixed with monkey pox and polio = zoonotic super bug? Sounds like the black plague.


"Britain has to 'strengthen' preparations for the possibility of a new pandemic labelled 'Disease X', according to experts, after a string of infectious diseases hit the UK in the past six months.

After traces of polio was found in sewage samples in parts of London for the first time in 40 years this week, an expert in diseases has said that after a series of health 'events' in the past six months, there is likely something 'on the horizon'.

The UK detected a strain of H5 bird flu was detected in a human in January this year, in the South West of England, and in February, three cases of Lassa fever - one of which died from the disease.
...

Last year, WHO warned that the next pandemic could be 'on the scale' of the Black Death' which killed approximately 75 million people between 1346 and 1353. ...

And scientists are said to believe that the next pandemic is to be caused by 'zoonotic' diseases which happens when infections come from animals on to humans.

Could 'Disease X' be just around the corner?

Britain has to 'strengthen' its preparations for the possibility of a new pandemic labelled 'Disease X', according to experts, after a string of infectious diseases hit the UK in the past six months.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[ilovepierre]

Tabloid reading, but it seems plausible. Covid (bat?) mixed with monkey pox and polio = zoonotic super bug? Sounds like the black plague.


"Britain has to 'strengthen' preparations for the possibility of a new pandemic labelled 'Disease X', according to experts, after a string of infectious diseases hit the UK in the past six months.

After traces of polio was found in sewage samples in parts of London for the first time in 40 years this week, an expert in diseases has said that after a series of health 'events' in the past six months, there is likely something 'on the horizon'.

The UK detected a strain of H5 bird flu was detected in a human in January this year, in the South West of England, and in February, three cases of Lassa fever - one of which died from the disease.
...

Last year, WHO warned that the next pandemic could be 'on the scale' of the Black Death' which killed approximately 75 million people between 1346 and 1353. ...

And scientists are said to believe that the next pandemic is to be caused by 'zoonotic' diseases which happens when infections come from animals on to humans.

View attachment 351417

Could 'Disease X' be just around the corner?

Britain has to 'strengthen' its preparations for the possibility of a new pandemic labelled 'Disease X', according to experts, after a string of infectious diseases hit the UK in the past six months.

www.dailymail.co.uk

IF this is true (considering the source is the DM), wouldn’t those with vaccines against any one of the three viruses be protected?

 

[CSIDreamer]

Fly by. Sorry if this has been posted. 3rd round of free tests.

COVID-19 Testing

Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order an additional 4 free at-⁠home tests beginning November 20. If you did not order tests this fall, you may place two orders for a total of 8 tests.

www.covid.gov

 

[Sundog]

Fly by. Sorry if this has been posted. 3rd round of free tests.

COVID-19 Testing

Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order an additional 4 free at-⁠home tests beginning November 20. If you did not order tests this fall, you may place two orders for a total of 8 tests.

www.covid.gov

So we got the first round of free tests during the freezing cold temperature for many in the U.S., and now the second round during the summer heat waves.

In any event, since the first round of tests are expiring soon, it will be good to have additonal tests on hand for the fall, assuming the expiration date of the second round of tests have a later expiry date. Hope so, but who knows.

 

[ilovewings]

Fly by. Sorry if this has been posted. 3rd round of free tests.

COVID-19 Testing

Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order an additional 4 free at-⁠home tests beginning November 20. If you did not order tests this fall, you may place two orders for a total of 8 tests.

www.covid.gov

Thanks for the info: I never got the first shipment, never ordered a 2nd, but did just order these. honestly don't expect to ever get them, but we will see!!

 

[ilovewings]

F.D.A. May Move Toward Updating Vaccines (Published 2022)

Scientists had high hopes for a new coronavirus vaccine that combines the existing formulation with one targeting Omicron, but many are not impressed by the results.

www.nytimes.com

This is a good article, behind a paywall at the New York Times. The article discusses updating existing vaccines to to target a newer version of the coronavirus in a booster shot that Americans could get in the fall. The Federal government is hoping to improve the vaccine to better boost people's
immunity before a likely resurgence of the virus this winter- BUT IN ORDER TO MOVE THAT QUICKLY, IT MAY NEED TO ABANDON THE LENGTHY HUMAN TRIALS THAT HAVE BEEN USED TO TEST CORONAVIRUS
VACCINES OVER THE PAST TWO YEAERS, IN FAVOR OF A FASTER PROCESS THAT RELIES MORE ON
LABORATORY TESTS AND ANIMAL TRIALS.

I put that information in caps because it makes me very nervous - abandoning lengthy human trials.
The most recent trials with human volunteers have taken five months, even using relatively small groups. But the virus is evolving so quickly that new vaccine formulations are out of date before
such trials are even finished.

The article is very long but leaves one wondering what type of vaccine/booster will be available this fall- will it be safe? The problem is that this virus keeps mutating so quickly.

I would like your thoughts.

 

[otto]

IF this is true (considering the source is the DM), wouldn’t those with vaccines against any one of the three viruses be protected?

I think the speculation is that, if some combination of the covid, monkeypox and polio viruses intersect in one person who is completely unvaccinated, a new virus could emerge. That new virus could be resistant to vaccines for each of the individual viruses.

 

[otto]

F.D.A. May Move Toward Updating Vaccines (Published 2022)

Scientists had high hopes for a new coronavirus vaccine that combines the existing formulation with one targeting Omicron, but many are not impressed by the results.

www.nytimes.com

This is a good article, behind a paywall at the New York Times. The article discusses updating existing vaccines to to target a newer version of the coronavirus in a booster shot that Americans could get in the fall. The Federal government is hoping to improve the vaccine to better boost people's
immunity before a likely resurgence of the virus this winter- BUT IN ORDER TO MOVE THAT QUICKLY, IT MAY NEED TO ABANDON THE LENGTHY HUMAN TRIALS THAT HAVE BEEN USED TO TEST CORONAVIRUS
VACCINES OVER THE PAST TWO YEAERS, IN FAVOR OF A FASTER PROCESS THAT RELIES MORE ON
LABORATORY TESTS AND ANIMAL TRIALS.

I put that information in caps because it makes me very nervous - abandoning lengthy human trials.
The most recent trials with human volunteers have taken five months, even using relatively small groups. But the virus is evolving so quickly that new vaccine formulations are out of date before
such trials are even finished.

The article is very long but leaves one wondering what type of vaccine/booster will be available this fall- will it be safe? The problem is that this virus keeps mutating so quickly.

I would like your thoughts.

My impression is that all covid vaccine testing has been rushed and is not completed according to pharmaceutical trial procedures that were in place pre-covid.

 

[anneg]

F.D.A. May Move Toward Updating Vaccines (Published 2022)

Scientists had high hopes for a new coronavirus vaccine that combines the existing formulation with one targeting Omicron, but many are not impressed by the results.

www.nytimes.com

This is a good article, behind a paywall at the New York Times. The article discusses updating existing vaccines to to target a newer version of the coronavirus in a booster shot that Americans could get in the fall. The Federal government is hoping to improve the vaccine to better boost people's
immunity before a likely resurgence of the virus this winter- BUT IN ORDER TO MOVE THAT QUICKLY, IT MAY NEED TO ABANDON THE LENGTHY HUMAN TRIALS THAT HAVE BEEN USED TO TEST CORONAVIRUS
VACCINES OVER THE PAST TWO YEAERS, IN FAVOR OF A FASTER PROCESS THAT RELIES MORE ON
LABORATORY TESTS AND ANIMAL TRIALS.

I put that information in caps because it makes me very nervous - abandoning lengthy human trials.
The most recent trials with human volunteers have taken five months, even using relatively small groups. But the virus is evolving so quickly that new vaccine formulations are out of date before
such trials are even finished.

The article is very long but leaves one wondering what type of vaccine/booster will be available this fall- will it be safe? The problem is that this virus keeps mutating so quickly.

I would like your thoughts.

I am discouraged by the rapid appearance of new variants and the likelihood that updated vaccines will be outdated by the time they are ready to use. It feels like we are on a slippery slope with Covid. But I will continue to get boosters as they become available, because of my (old) age.

Excerpt from the article:

The [FDA] advisory panel will likely split between those who believe a fall booster will be broadly necessary and those who would limit additional shots to high-risk individuals. Dr. Arnold Monto, a public health professor at the University of Michigan who chairs the panel, predicted that a broad swath of the population will be offered booster shots.

“We know there’s waning,” he said in an interview. “We have to boost, and it’s better to boost with something more relevant” than the existing vaccines.

On the other side is Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Hospitalizations are down. Deaths are way down because we are protected against serious illness,” he said. “That’s what matters.”

He said only people over 70 and those over 50 with serious underlying conditions will likely need a fall booster shot, because Covid infections in those groups could have serious consequences.

 

[Cruiser933]

Apologies, but I need to vent. Friends just got off a cruise. They had a known exposure 10-14 days prior to cruise. They tested negative multiple times including official pre-cruise testing prior to cruise. They flew to port city on Friday, boarded cruise on Saturday, and started feeling ill on Sunday.

They proceeded to cruise as though they only had a cold - attended shows, excursions, rode the elevators, indoor dining. Flew home on Saturday after weeklong cruise. Never bothered to test until after returning home. Positive.

This is why I won’t get on a cruise or plane right now. Selfish idiots.

 

[ilovewings]

Apologies, but I need to vent. Friends just got off a cruise. They had a known exposure 10-14 days prior to cruise. They tested negative multiple times including official pre-cruise testing prior to cruise. They flew to port city on Friday, boarded cruise on Saturday, and started feeling ill on Sunday.

They proceeded to cruise as though they only had a cold - attended shows, excursions, rode the elevators, indoor dining. Flew home on Saturday after weeklong cruise. Never bothered to test until after returning home. Positive.

This is why I won’t get on a cruise or plane right now. Selfish idiots.

Unfortunately, I think more people are acting selfishly in this manner than we would like to think. Put simply, these people just don't care about anybody but themselves.

 

[ilovewings]

My impression is that all covid vaccine testing has been rushed and is not completed according to pharmaceutical trial procedures that were in place pre-covid.

My impression is that all covid vaccine testing has been rushed and is not completed according to pharmaceutical trial procedures that were in place pre-covid.

Operation Warp Speed: Accelerated COVID-19 Vaccine Development Status and Efforts to Address Manufacturing Challenges

Operation Warp Speed was a federal effort that supported multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates to speed up development. We analyzed the program's...

www.gao.gov

I believe due to the deadly nature of Covid 19 and its ability to spread so quickly, testing was accelerated during trials- and for that reason it was considered authorized for emergency use. It seems to me the vaccine has proved to be safe- there will always be people who have adverse reactions to any kind of medication introduced into the body---and there always those rare reactions where people died due to a serious reaction to the vaccine. From my perspective, this vaccine has been a miracle- I cannot imagine what life would be like right now without the population being vaccinated ( 2/3's of the population anyway). I believe this vaccine has saved millions of lives.

Now they are talking about tweaking it and accelerating the testing process and relaying more on testing in the lab and not so much on humans. That does give me pause