COVID-19 - READ THE RULES BEFORE REPLYING

[lewdicrous]

4 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Here vaccines aren't being made mandatory but starting next week you'll have to have your covid cert

Yeah, this started on Sep 1st where I live. Kinda like a soft mandate; you won't get into legal trouble if you don't get it, but you also won't get into any government building, large shopping areas (malls, super/hypermarkets, etc.), schools, etc.

For us though, you need at least 1 dose for now, they might bump that up and require 2 doses in the near future.

[tikker]

I don't know what our government is doing anymore. They let go of so many measures, and now that an important milestone decision date is coming closer headlines are just "stability of infections may be calm before the storm", "non-increase of infections doesn't give assurance". What do you want!? I understand you want to play it cautiously, but you honestly should have thought of that before releasing basically every measure except physical distancing.

 

I'd really like not to see a 4th (I think? lost count) wave rise at the end of the year. Another lockdown scenario won't go down well. Let's just hope the vaccinated fraction will grow more.

[Andreas Lilja]

Gosh the number of "laugh reacts" on Covid stories in Québec, on Facebook.

[lewdicrous]

Our university decided to take a mixed approach; some courses are in-person, but will limited capacity, while others are online.

It's kinda hard to social distance during labs because the practicals are meant for groups.

 

They're still open to the possibility that we might go back to full distance learning, so it appears that some braincells are still chugging along, perhaps working overtime.

[lewdicrous]

 

[lewdicrous]

If you wanted to read more about the mRNA vaccine and its history:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02483-w

 

[Donut417]

Just wanted to do a bit of an update. 

 

So last weekend I was at Walmart in Belleville Michigan and they have the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines available. I only mention this because the President stated that vaccines should become available at all pharmacies. 

 

I also recently had to talk to my doctor about non covid health concerns. I asked her about the 3rd shot that we are suppose to be getting at some point. I guess???? Thus far the 3rd shot seems to be mostly limited to people of like 65 years and older and healthcare workers. I think people of exceptionally high risk as well were included. She flat out told me that even though I have high blood pressure and obesity (Lost 15 pounds since I seen her for my last physical in January) that I was not eligible to get it yet. 

 

Part of the reason I asked was because the President kinda made a statement that we were getting a 3rd shot. It seems he might have miss spoke. I guess the FDA approved the shot for those selected individuals I stated previously. Funny enough the CDC was not on board at first. What cant government agencies get on the same page? All they are doing is confusing the ever living shit out of all of us. 

[Quackers101]

3rd shot, and about updated vaccines for the types that had a lesser effective vaccine or due to mutation.

else the shots are needed in other sides of the world, still many unvaccinated like many african countries state and hit on, then again hard to vaccinate some people too. some due to war or mistrust in the system or other reasons.

 

but yes, some might need an 3rd shot anyways. better than nothing.

[Jeskspie]

covid is barely over

[Quackers101]

On 10/2/2021 at 4:59 PM, Arch User said:

covid is barely over

as for the death wave in the US, maybe not. Certain countries have started to clear a bit up and some due to vaccination.

Although still a big issue around poorer countries getting the help/vaccines they need, and also so that are NO NEW mutated virus in those areas as well.

 

MERCK... MUCK? an antiviral (soon to be the first to be in use of many others) that could help but has to be used in early stages of being infected by the virus (emergancy use).

 

[Sarra]

I got my booster yesterday. Today, I felt like butt. Probably didn't help that I ate bad chili on Saturday, that kept me up most of the night.

[Delicieuxz]

Pfizer vaccine: Covid Protection Wanes Months After Second Shot, Studies Show

Quote

The Israel findings were bolstered by a second real-world study from Qatar, published in the same journal, that found the efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot faded over a similar time period. Protection fell from 77.5% during the first month after the second dose to 20% in months five to seven after the second dose.

 

WHO Says Process of Sputnik V's Approval About to Be Sorted Out

Quote

"The Sputnik V vaccine started the process earlier this year but the process was put on hold because of the lack of some legal procedures and I am happy to say that in negotiations with the Russian Government this problem is about to be sorted - as soon as the legal procedures are finished we will be able to restart the process," Simao told a virtual press conference.

 

Effectiveness of the first component of Gam-COVID-Vac (Sputnik V) on reduction of SARS-CoV-2 confirmed infections, hospitalisations and mortality in patients aged 60-79: a retrospective cohort study in Argentina

Quote

Findings

During the study period 415995 registered subjects received the first component of Gam-COVID-Vac; 40387 belonged to the 60-79 age group, and were compared to 38978 unvaccinated. Vaccine effectiveness for preventing laboratory-confirmed infections was 78.6% [CI95% 74.8 - 81.7]; and for reducing hospitalizations and deaths was, respectively, 87.6% [CI95% 80.3 - 92.2] and 84.8% [CI95% 75.0 - 90.7]. Effectiveness was high across all subgroups.

 

[WkdPaul]

15 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

Pfizer vaccine: Covid Protection Wanes Months After Second Shot, Studies Show

So, chances that we're stuck with endemic COVID and yearly shots are getting more and more real???

[tikker]

48 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

Pfizer vaccine: Covid Protection Wanes Months After Second Shot, Studies Show

Quote

The Israel findings were bolstered by a second real-world study from Qatar, published in the same journal, that found the efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot faded over a similar time period. Protection fell from 77.5% during the first month after the second dose to 20% in months five to seven after the second dose.

 

Damn all those stupid paywalls for this crap. Anyway, I think it's worth mentioning what they mean with "protection" here. They refer to the drop in antibodies. This will increase your chances at infection, but the goal of the studies is also to determine what the minimum level of antibodies required to prevent sever effects is.

 

Israel study: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2114583?query=featured_home

Qatar study: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2114114?query=featured_home

Quote

Results

Estimated BNT162b2 effectiveness against any SARS-CoV-2 infection was negligible in the first 2 weeks after the first dose. It increased to 36.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 33.2 to 40.2) in the third week after the first dose and reached its peak at 77.5% (95% CI, 76.4 to 78.6) in the first month after the second dose. Effectiveness declined gradually thereafter, with the decline accelerating after the fourth month to reach approximately 20% in months 5 through 7 after the second dose. Effectiveness against symptomatic infection was higher than effectiveness against asymptomatic infection but waned similarly. Variant-specific effectiveness waned in the same pattern. Effectiveness against any severe, critical, or fatal case of Covid-19 increased rapidly to 66.1% (95% CI, 56.8 to 73.5) by the third week after the first dose and reached 96% or higher in the first 2 months after the second dose; effectiveness persisted at approximately this level for 6 months.

Emphasis mine, but as you can see the Qatar study found that despite the significant drop in antibodies the protection against severe effects remained high. Protection can thus be a little bit misleading in the sense that it still protects very well against complications, but not so well against infection anymore.

32 minutes ago, PmpkinPaul said:

So, chances that we're stuck with endemic COVID and yearly shots are getting more and more real???

31 minutes ago, Benji said:

Well, does that actually surprise you?

Hopefully the above indication is that it's "merely" turning into a flu-like thing (for real this time). You'll still be able to get an infection, but fingers crossed that 96% protection against severe consequences remains high far beyond those 6 months.

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, PmpkinPaul said:

So, chances that we're stuck with endemic COVID and yearly shots are getting more and more real???

The only way this was not going to happen is if we got to herd immunity. The issue is the more people resist the more this bug mutates. Which is the reason why you need a flu shot yearly because there are a plethora of flu mutations they have to vaccinate for. From what I have read Heath Authorities do their best to predict which strains will be out in the wild and the vaccine for that year is made to protect from those strains. Some times they get it wrong however. 

 

The big question is are we going to have to get two shots yearly or will they come up with a single shot solution? 

[tikker]

20 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

The only way this was not going to happen is if we got to herd immunity. The issue is the more people resist the more this bug mutates. Which is the reason why you need a flu shot yearly because there are a plethora of flu mutations they have to vaccinate for. From what I have read Heath Authorities do their best to predict which strains will be out in the wild and the vaccine for that year is made to protect from those strains. Some times they get it wrong however. 

 

The big question is are we going to have to get two shots yearly or will they come up with a single shot solution? 

Coincidentally, and not completely unexpected, cases of the flu dropped significantly. Certain strains even seem to may have disappeared: https://www.businessinsider.com/two-flu-varieties-disappeared-lockdown-extinct-2021-6

[WkdPaul]

Just heard on the news, Northwest territories (Canadian territory) went from 0 daily cases to almost 100 new cases daily. Their case per 100k is twice that of the worst province despite them having a very high number of fully vaccinated citizens.

 

Public health experts are pointing out that they followed the 4-6 weeks recommendations for the second doses, meaning they're 8 to 12 weeks "in advance" since elsewhere in Canada we went with 12+ weeks between shots. And so this lines up with the current studies pointing out the lower immunity over time and the need for booster shots.

Edited October 8, 2021 by PmpkinPaul

[Donut417]

15 minutes ago, PmpkinPaul said:

12+ weeks between shots.

Interesting. We only went 3 weeks here in Michigan. 

[tikker]

Same here, 3-4 weeks between shots and at maximum 6 weeks if you really had to go longer.

[Delicieuxz]

16 hours ago, Donut417 said:

The only way this was not going to happen is if we got to herd immunity. The issue is the more people resist the more this bug mutates. Which is the reason why you need a flu shot yearly because there are a plethora of flu mutations they have to vaccinate for. From what I have read Heath Authorities do their best to predict which strains will be out in the wild and the vaccine for that year is made to protect from those strains. Some times they get it wrong however. 

 

The big question is are we going to have to get two shots yearly or will they come up with a single shot solution? 

Second-generation Covid vaccines could be longer-lasting and safer. Also, various companies are working on an oral Covid vaccine.

[Mister Woof]

At this point what my understanding is about the vaccine and the future of COVID:

 

1. mRNA vaccines' ability to completely prevent infection wanes over time, and not specifically because of Delta/variants, but because of reduced antibodies.

2. However, memory B cells and other components of your immune system do not forget how to fight SARS-COV2 and its variants, so even 6+ months later, the vaccine induced immunity still effectively protects against severe illness and death. Although natural infection alone produces higher antibody levels compared to vaccinated only individuals, they are more specific and do not provide as potent of protection against variants as vaccinated individuals, and they will benefit even greater from being vaccinated as well.

3. It's been shown that the greater gap between shots improves overall immunity; those nations hardest hit by waning immunity followed the 21 day gap between 1st and 2nd shots, while those who followed longer gaps had better results. Therefore, a 3nd shot administered at 6+ months may result in even greater protection.

4. If (when?) 3-shot-vaccinated individuals get infected, they will likely generally result in less severe cases and shorter illness duration, meaning lower viral load over time, and thus less infectious overall than a non-vaccinated person.

5. Subsequently, due to vaccine induced immunity in conjunction with now infection induced immunity, future infections of SARS-COV2 will likely be less and less severe among the same vaccinated populations.

6. Boosters might be helpful later on to target specific variants, but it seems like 3x shot + naturally gained immunity via mild infection may provide the immune system all it needs to turn SARS-COV2 (and maybe even other SARS viruses, if I remember correctly, the mRNA vaccines given to people who recovered from SARS 20 years ago produced insane levels of antibodies compared against both viruses and many variants compared to people who did not have SARS1) into the normal human cold.

 

I am not a doctor or anything, I just read a lot of internet.

 

That said, my whole fam got boosted except for our kids, who aren't old enough to get shots yet.

[WkdPaul]

New paper suggest a new long COVID issue ; diabetes.

Apparently COVID messes up with insulin producing cells.

 

Article ;

https://www.businessinsider.com/diabetes-covid-19-coronavirus-pancreas-insulin-cells-2021-9

 

Paper ;

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413121002321

[Quackers101]

On 8/30/2021 at 3:03 AM, IkeaGnome said:

It seems like all this started because the FDA does have it approved for some treatments and seem to be looking at it as a therapeutic medicine for COVID, but no where near those doses and it hasn't been tested that much to confirm or deny. 

Seems like it's similar to toilet paper. One person heard a rumor that it might work and thanks to social media we now have people taking 10x what is prescribed for horses by weight and many many times what is actually prescribed for treatment of two types of worms we can get.

 

Spoiler

 

Got no idea how such an "real time" meta analysis works with the sites like "ivmmeta".

But hearing that one of the "creators?" in japan didn't want to deal with ivermectin for covid research?

also any positive behaviour that is likely no better than any other option, and no, not for horses.

Although seemingly one test was done very concentrated sample, and it could be used in certain samples but still nothing better than just taking the vaccine.

also how the drug can be adjusted for it's use case? so no horses, only bats

Youtube rant ivermectin vs BBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy7c_FHiEac

going a bit more in on it, molnupiravir vs ivermectin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKa3EZqofNo

 

molnupiravir and ivermectin produced by MERCK? while they said no on ivermectin they want to test molnupiravir, which is much more costly and could be worse in positive change than "good" ivermectin tests? but any side effect or harm and what they actually recommend for anything. em. and if this helps at all for a pandemic? take your shot, and know the shot is legit. but molnupiravir can be way more "complex" and lesser issue with becoming toxic on the dosage?

 

not sure about any of it. but eeh. but yeah, talking about these drugs that aren't anything over vaccines for or against this pandemic.

 

[Laborant]

As I understand the plan for Switzerland (we have the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines in here - both are mRNA):

- Vaccinate as many people as possible with motivational goodies, like being able to go clubbing without having to test.

- Not overcrowd hospitals (about 90% of the Covid patients in Switzerland are not Vaccinated - according to our officials)

- Let the virus circulate.

The mRNA vaccine does not immunize entirely against Covid, but it significantly reduces the risk of dying or having long-term damages. By letting the virus circulate, every random re-infection of a vaccinated person acts as a booster. And it's not just a "standardized booster shot" but the current mutation. 

 

I guess, covid will become something like the common flu - a constantly mutating virus to which most people have a basic "immunity plan" (through the vaccine or a former infection) but not a direct immunity (like against Measles).

[WkdPaul]

There was an outbreak at my daughter's school. A coach decided to lie about it's vaccination status. Being a coach, he's of course in contact with lots of kids, and of course, many tested positive for COVID (5 kids in 3 classes covering 2 grades).

 

Provincial public health dept. even intervened ... the principal sent an email earlier today to share the result of the investigation by the Public Health dept. (what I shared about the coach), we often say it's hard to convey emotions through writing, well that email made it clear she was pissed !