Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Everybody saw this coming.

I personally stopped the public option…

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

False Scribes! False Scribes!

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Where tasty lettuce and good mustard aren’t elitist.

Naturally gregarious and alpha

I’m going back to the respite thread.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Shock troops for the Unitarian Jihad.

Women: they get shit done

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Four legs? good! two legs? we’re not so sure…

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

This is a big f—–g deal.

Saul Alinsky is my co-pilot.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Something seems odd about that, but i have been drinking.

I swear, each month of 2020 will have its own history degree.

… makes me wish i had hoarded more linguine

I’m only here for the duck photos.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday/Tuesday, Nov. 30 – Dec.

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday/Tuesday, Nov. 30 – Dec.

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One less rat aboard the SS Trumptanic…


CNN:

… A source close to the task force told CNN on Monday that Atlas’ departure comes as welcome news, as his discredited theories will no longer have a seat at the table. A separate official said the task force remains intact following Atlas’ departure.

Atlas’ months-long stint in the White House was marked by controversy as he became a close adviser to Trump on the pandemic, adopting public stances on the virus much closer to the President’s — including decrying the idea that schools cannot reopen this fall as “hysteria” and pushing for the resumption of college sports…

…[E]arlier this month, he criticized coronavirus restrictions in Michigan, urging residents in the state to “rise up” against the measures. The comments came weeks after officials thwarted an alleged domestic terrorism kidnapping plot against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who herself has been the subject of harsh criticism from the President and other Republicans amid the pandemic.

Following those remarks, Stanford University distanced itself from Atlas, who is a senior fellow at the school’s Hoover Institution. A group of faculty members at the university celebrated his resignation from the Trump administration on Monday, saying in a statement that it’s “long overdue and underscores the triumph of science and truth over falsehoods and misinformation.”

Atlas was not on a call Vice President Mike Pence held on Monday with state leaders, according to a list of participants. During the call, Pence and members of the task force focused on vaccine safety and distribution as Covid-19 cases skyrocket across the country, according to his office.

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To be fair, Staten Island has always considered itself an autonomous zone, in relation to the rest of NYC…

Reader Interactions

78Comments

  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yesterday, China reported 4 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic, the last one from traced close contact) cases and 1 new asymptomatic case. All of the cases are reported by Manzhouli of Inner Mongolia “Autonomous”Region. Currently there are 18 confirmed cases, 2 asymptomatic cases and 2 suspect cases. 1,045 Tiers 1 & 2 close contacts are under currently quarantine.
    With respect to the asymptomatic case exported to South Korea, Chongqing Municipality has completed mass screening of all employees at the SK Hynix flash memory, as well as all staff and guests at the hotel where the case stayed at, all results are negative. All environmental samples from both places are negative, as well. South Korean authorities also reported that the case tested negative the next day, upon retesting. Therefore, it is likely that the 1st test was a false positive.
    Yesterday, China reported 8 new imported confirmed cases and 4 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the US and the UK
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese students returning from Russia
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 2 confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic), a Nepali national coming from Nepal and an Iraqi national coming from Iraq (via Cairo)
    • Beijing Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Greece
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Russia
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Canada and Bangladesh
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Zambia
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released

    Yesterday, Hong Kong reported 82 new cases, 10 imported and 72 local (23 of whom without clear sources of infection).

  2. 2.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY yesterday:

    541 new cases, 11 more people have died in the last 2 weeks for a total of 328. 404 people in the hospital, 69 of them in the ICU. This is no bueno.

  3. 3.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 1,472 new cases today at his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 67,169 cases. One cluster n Selangor — Teratai, the location of Top Glove’s worker dormitories — accounts for nearly 53% of this number. The enhanced movement control order imposed on the area has already been extended two weeks to the 14th, and the Health Ministry is doing extensive targeted screenings there. Dr Noor Hisham also reports three new deaths for a total of 363 deaths — 0.54% of the cumulative reported total, 0.64% of resolved cases.

    10,495 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 120 are in ICU, 44 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 1,552 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 56,311 patients recovered — 83.8% of the cumulative reported total.

    Two new clusters were reported today: View Kolombong and Talang-Talang, both in Sabah.

    1,467 new cases today are local infections.Selangor has by far the most cases, 889: 795 in existing clusters including 778 from Teratai cluster alone, 39 close-contact screenings, and 55 other screenings. Sabah has 267 cases: 22 in older clusters, 33 in View Kolombong and Talang-Talang clusters, 118 close-contact screenings, and 94 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan has 146 cases: 144 in existing clusters, and two other screenings.

    Johor has 68 cases: 41 in existing clusters, 16 close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings. Penang has 29 cases: 28 in existing clusters, and one other screening. KL has 23 cases: six in existing clusters, five close-contact screenings, and 12 other screenings. Kedah has 21 cases: 20 in existing clusters, and one close-contact screening. Perak has 13 cases: nine in existing clusters, three close-contact screenings, and one other screening. Kelantan has 10 cases: eight in existing clusters, one close-contact screening, and one other screening. And Sarawak has one case, found in other screening.

    Labuan, Pahang, Melaka, Terengganu, Putrajaya, and Perlis reported no new cases today.

    Five new cases are imported. Two were reported in Selangor, three in KL.

    The three deaths today, all reported in Sabah, are a 64-year-old woman with diabetes, hypertension, and intestinal cancer; a 51-year-old man with with diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease; and a 24-year-old non-Malaysian man.

  4. 4.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    My sister and her husband flew to visit there son in southern CA before Thanksgiving. Started feeling bad and got tested. COVID-19.  Rented a car and drove back across the country.  Got home in one piece.  I am sorry they are sick but I can not believe the selfishness. Cap it all off with her daughter is a teacher…and a cancer survivor.  I hope she stays the hell away until they are truly over it. Unfuckingbelievable. Why yes her husband is a rapid Trumper.

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    California is in very bad shape. Hospitalizations have tripled since Nov. 1, and ICU occupancy has tripled since Oct. 14. Governor Newsom is threatening to re-impose very strict lockdowns.

    LA Times:

    “It’s brutal. It’s astoundingly bad. … They’re seriously, seriously bad numbers,” said Dr. George Rutherford, epidemiologist and infectious-diseases control expert at UC San Francisco. “We don’t have any place to decompress patients, because stuff that’s just as bad is going on in Oregon and Nevada and Arizona.

    “We are here on our own, and this is a natural disaster. And we need to be able to avoid the worst parts of this as much as possible. And if there were ever a time for prevention and heeding advice, this is it,” Rutherford said.

    So far, the stricter approach California has taken — to err on the side of saving lives — has kept the death toll from exploding as much as it has in other states on a per capita basis.

    But the current figures largely don’t include the recent deluge of infections — as COVID-19 hospitalizations reflect cases that were identified two to three weeks earlier, according to Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s health and human services secretary.

    Orange County’s numbers have been all over the place because of the holiday, but none of them have been good. Hospitalizations increased 17% in three days.

    My housemate continues to quarantine in the garage and is grumpy about it. Oh well.

  7. 7.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Mary G:

    My housemate continues to quarantine in the garage and is grumpy about it. Oh well.

    It’s 27 degrees in Chicago. How many days in is he?

  8. 8.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Wonder how that Staten Island bar owner patriot thinks this is going to play out in the end?

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    @mrmoshpotato: Three down 11 days to go. It’s 54 here right now, supposed to go to a low of 45 on Thursday. He’s been in Guatemala, though, where the low/high was 72/82.

  11. 11.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @raven: you are not wrong. It’s just he is also of the opinion it’s no worse than a cold. And they are in their sixties.

  12. 12.

    WereBear

    The Adirondack Park is probably the safest place in NY, and perhaps the nation, right now. Partly because we are so lightly populated. Nonetheless, I haven’t slackened my vigilance, because that’s a way to throw away any advantage.

  13. 13.

    rikyrah

    I am going to be blunt.

    I will not be in the first group, second group or maybe even the third group to get the vaccine.

     

    Not because I am anti-vaxx, but because anything associated with this Administration is tainted in my eyes. Let the MAGA folks step up and get it, and we will see how it turns out for them. 😒

     

    I would be first in line for a vaccine from a country that took COVID seriously.

  16. 16.

    Mary G

    Gov. Gav and the CA state legislature are doing what the Rs won’t:

    THREAD: As we continue the fight against #COVID19, today we announced a Small Business Emergency Relief Package that will provide immediate relief for businesses impacted by the virus.
    — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 30, 2020

    CA will now provide billions in sales tax deferrals including an automatic 3-month extension for taxpayers with less than $1M in sales tax.

    This includes hair salons, bars, restaurants, and other businesses heavily impacted by #COVID19.
    — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 30, 2020

    CA is making available $500,000,000 in reserve funds for grants to small businesses, nonprofits, and cultural institutions.

    Businesses can apply for grants up to $25,000.

    Learn more at https://t.co/xtXFwVeWc2
    — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 30, 2020

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    By this time tomorrow Poland will become the 13th country to report cumulative case numbers over 1,000,000.

  22. 22.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @WereBear:

    Yup. My recollection of the codes every time I’ve had to opportunity to get involved in liquor license issues is that violations are treated super seriously, penalties are automatic and draconian, and that recalcitrance leads to jail really quickly.

  26. 26.

    debbie

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone:

    Had my end-of-year appointment with my GP yesterday. She said a fair number of her patients had died from COVID-19. The ages ranged from 18 days to 90 years. The newborn was infected by its father, who was working.

  29. 29.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Other liquor license oddities that this brain trust seems to have missed (I assume the bar was inherited, because had the owners bought it, they’d know what a pain in the ass getting a license is and would treat it more respectfully):

    1. Liquor license violations aren’t corporate only – the owners are jointly and severally personally liable for the fines and penalties.

    2. Liquor license violations can be tied to particular locations, making it impossible for any buyer of the premises to obtain a similar license in the future.

  30. 30.

    raven

    In July, Pfizer got a $1.95 billion deal with the government’s Operation Warp Speed, the multiagency effort to rush a vaccine to market, to deliver 100 million doses of the vaccine. The arrangement is an advance-purchase agreement, meaning that the company won’t get paid until they deliver the vaccines. Pfizer did not accept federal funding to help develop or manufacture the vaccine, unlike front-runners Moderna and AstraZeneca.

  33. 33.

    JMG

    A covid dilemma. My son and his fiancee live in Brooklyn, but since both remote work, they spent the summer (really from mid-June to early October) with us on Cape Cod. Now they expressed the desire to come for Christmas and stay through January. They are careful about the virus, and quarantined before they came last time, but the situation is much worse than it was in June and of course, you can’t spend much time outdoors anywhere in New England in January. They have many friends in the Boston area and wish to see some of them. This does not fill me with joy, although the friends I do know are young marrieds and are also very virus careful for reasons ranging from pregnancy to one of the couple being a cancer survivor. I don’t want to tell them not to come, but how do I tactfully explain the limits of what we’re comfortable with, especially the most important, that they leave shortly after New Year’s rather than stay the month in isolation with us?

  34. 34.

    mrmoshpotato

    @JMG:

    from pregnancy to one of the couple being a cancer survivor

    These are friends of your son that he wants to visit during a raging pandemic?

    Am I understanding this correctly?

  35. 35.

    debbie

    @JMG:

    They may be COVID-free, but the friends they visit may not. Who knows what they’ll bring back to your home? Maybe offer to contribute to the cost of staying in a hotel or B&B?

  37. 37.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    @rikyrah: I’m with you 100%. There’s no way I’m going to be a MAGA guinea pig, even once Mango Mussolini’s gone. No way, no how.

    ETA: I’ll need a Biden-Harris task force sign off but I might hold back even then. Luckily I’m in a position where I can.

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JMG: how do I tactfully explain the limits of what we’re comfortable with, especially the most important, that they leave shortly after New Year’s rather than stay the month in isolation with us?

    By being truthful. My youngest is traveling up from NOLA next week for a visit with family they haven’t seen in a year. I told him it’s not a good idea, that they should postpone it. He reasons that they have been ultra careful since the very beginning and that on the way up they will not enter any gas stations or restaurants etc, so they will be OK. I tell him that he can’t know that for certain.

    Long story short, he is my son, stubborn as a mule and coming up regardless of what I say. And I am his father and will not turn him away.

    Everybody has to make their own decisions.

  41. 41.

    Raven

    It’s selfish to travel, selfish to not mask up but it’s really smart not to get a vaccination that will help limit the spread. Got it.

  42. 42.

    ET

    This is short notice but this may be of interest. It is a webinar at the Library of Congress. It is limited to 1000 but it will be recorded and put online at YouTube once it has been closed captioned.

    https://www.loc.gov/item/event-400330/influenza-&-covid19-what-to-expect-this-winter/2020-12-03/
    Influenza & Covid19: What to Expect This Winter
    Thursday, December 3, 2020
    10:00 am – 11:00 am EST
    The COVID-19 pandemic has required us to adjust rapidly to significant changes in our work and home lives. Just as many of us have found a somewhat new experience of normalcy in the midst of pandemic, we are now confronted by the intersection of COVID-19 and seasonal changes that bring increasing experiences of common colds, allergies and influenza, complicating our ability to diagnose COVID-19 and requiring us to again redefine our experience of normalcy.

    Three experts on infectious disease will share the latest research, emerging technologies, and new knowledge that is informing the response to COVID-19.

    • Benjamin Cowling is a World Health Organization expert on infectious disease epidemiology and control and is based at the University of Hong Kong.
    • Sarah Cobey from the University of Chicago will share her expertise on infectious disease modeling.
    • Daniel Lucey is an internationally known epidemiologist who has worked to manage outbreaks of SARS, Influenza H1N1, and many other outbreaks and brings a deep understanding of COVID-19 and coronaviruses.

    This webinar, scheduled requires advance registration, which is limited to 1,000 participants: https://bit.ly/33fVrZR

    You can submit questions in advance for the panelists using the Ask A Librarian service at https://ask.loc.gov/science/. When submitting questions, please indicate that it is for the December 3 webinar.

  43. 43.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WereBear: A checkered data report on the Oxford vaccine is a symptom of the larger, looming, right-wing Fascist attitude infesting the world?

    Huh?

  44. 44.

    WereBear

    @mrmoshpotato: A checkered data report on the Oxford vaccine is a symptom of the larger, looming, right-wing Fascist attitude infesting the world?

     
    Rampant corporatism has been a factor in fascist rule, always. So it’s not a conspiracy theory to regard “profits over people” operative throughout the world right now.

    It’s the motto of the Republican party right now. You wouldn’t bat an eye about Trump lying about the virus, and so does Boris Johnson.

    It’s their playbook. So I don’t trust UK procedures for the same reasons.

  45. 45.

    debbie

    @Raven:

    This might cheer you up: My doctor said the trials were going so well, the people who found out they were on placebos are now all demanding to un-enroll in the studies so they can get the real thing.

  46. 46.

    Anne Laurie

    @rikyrah: I will not be in the first group, second group or maybe even the third group to get the vaccine.

    I’ll be honest:  I have had, so far, the incredible luxury of not having to leave my house/yard more than a double handful of times since mid-March.  (Spousal Unit works from home, and does any necessary pickups / dropoffs; we can afford to shop online, and have some meals delivered).  While I have a bunch of risk factors (related to being old & fat & lazy), I also have a history of immune-system ‘overreactions’.

    So… one of those rare outings, along with getting a permanent crown affixed to replace the temporary one I’d been nursing along since March, was to get a flu shot, even though I knew I’d be subpar for the next week.  At the local Walgreens, because my usually helpful health center is currently grossly understaffed, so we could get the shots a lot quicker & with less exposure at the back of the drugstore.

    Like you, I don’t plan to be in the first wave of coronavirus vaccine-demanders.  As things are going, I don’t need to be, and letting an essential worker or someone who doesn’t have my support system go ahead of me seems both virtuous… and convenient!

    (But everyone should get their flu shots, if you haven’t already. There’s indications it helps mitigate the effects of coronavirus, and not getting a serious case of influenza keeps a hospital bed free for someone who’s lost the Covid-19 lottery.)

  48. 48.

    satby

    Well, I’m totally getting whichever vaccine makes it through the gate first as soon as I’m able to. Neither the of the two most likely to be released first are funded or influenced by the Trump admin, and both have been tested in other countries too. The FDA pushed back on Trump’s B.S. about releasing it, and that agency is still populated mostly by medical professionals (except for the political heads). Now that the end of the Trump admin is in sight, I have little doubt that an unsafe vaccine will be released for administration.

    I wouldn’t take either the Russian developed one or the Chinese one but I doubt either would be offered in this country anyway.

  49. 49.

    JMG

    @mrmoshpotato: He wants to see them. He did this summer, when they could go to the beach and be 10-15 feet apart. I assume that since he’s not an idiot nor are his friends, they are working on this problem. Maybe they’ll decide they can’t do it. He’s already postponed his wedding until August from April because many of his friends said they weren’t willing to travel to NYC at that time.

  50. 50.

    Pete Mack

    We traveled to visit my sister. Total party size was 7. All households had one or more tests prior to travel. All live in counties with relatively  low counts. We packed lunch and used credit card for gas. Did not go out for more than walks or runs.  Yeah, staying home would be safer, but I suspect going out for dinner is higher risk.

  52. 52.

    Cermet

    Science denial no matter the logic is being fooless. The vaccines work and work very well. As for side affects, with 30 K people these are going to be very well understood. When it comes to many 100 K’s, yes, a few will have bad issues for any vaccine (I know, I am one.) But that in no way means a vaccine isn’t the correct thing to do. Getting as many people as possible to vaccinate is cricial to stop this mass killer – both in this country and the world. Besides saving your life or a loved one’s life, it can save many others everywhere. With all the large dangers in our world that we face daily any vaccine – including this one – is trivial.

  53. 53.

    Zzyzx

    There will be a few million people vaccinated (front line workers) before I have a chance to do so. We’ll know by the time it’s my turn if there are issues.

  54. 54.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @WereBear: They caught the data issues with the Oxford vaccine, because that is how science works.  If there are issues with the others, that will get caught too. These vaccines will have an unprecedented amount of scrutiny, not just from the manufacturers, but from academic centers and other scientific bodies.  Major issues with these will be noticed well before a reasonably healthy person has an opportunity to even get vaccinated.

  56. 56.

    Rusty

    @NeenerNeener: The test positive rate has moved up from less than 1% a few months ago, to 3% (yellow), 4% (orange) and now over 5%.  Once the 7 day rolling average stays over 5% it will be red zone and lots will be closed down.

  58. 58.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby: Same here. I won’t take the Russian or Chinese vaccines — which, as you say, are unlikely to be offered here anyway — but I’ll take one of the approved vaccines when they’re available to hoi polloi like me.

    ETA: Got my flu shot last month; no side effects this time around.

  60. 60.

    mrmoshpotato

    @JMG:

    I assume that since he’s not an idiot nor are his friends, they are working on this problem. 

    I hope so.  Hopefully everything works out safely.

  61. 61.

    Ohio Mom

    All three of us in Ohio Family will be lining up as soon as we can to be inoculated. We’ve already had our flu shots.

    Ohio Dad has the most pre-existing conditions and might get to have his way ahead of me and Son.

    That would be fine with me though even so, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s way into 2021. I suspect it will be an excruciating long wait.

  62. 62.

    Amir Khalid

    @Bluegirlfromwyo:

    I’m not aware that the Trump administration has compromised the FDA’s vaccine approval process. The Malaysian Ministry of Health, like equivalent agencies around the world, does rely in part on FDA approval of American drugs and vaccines. I have no trust issues with my country’s government on health-related matters, and I will get vaccinated as soon as one approved by the Ministry of Health is available to me.

  63. 63.

    JAFD

    As one of those boomers who got the polio vaccine in ’55 (?) and can remember coming home thinking ‘That hurt, but Mommy and Daddy seem a lot less tense…’ (OK, wouldn’t have phrased it that way then ;-) )…

    I’ve regular appointments with my PCP and cardiologist, and will ask if they’ve gotten vaccinated, and which vaccinev  And then say “Stick it to me, baby!”

  64. 64.

    Robert Sneddon

    @O. Felix Culpa: I won’t take the Russian or Chinese vaccines — which, as you say, are unlikely to be offered here anyway — but I’ll take one of the approved vaccines when they’re available to hoi polloi like me.

    The Russian “vaccine” for COVID-19 is actually a combination of two existing and well-tested vaccines, inoculated sequentially in two doses like most of the other coronavirus vaccines targeted at COVID-19 that are being being developed. As such it’s pretty safe as a treatment. Its effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 infection, reducing the spread of infection and moderating the effects of illness if it is caught are another matter.

     

    A significant number of people have already been inoculated with the Russian vaccine, way more than the 30,000 volunteers in each of the Phase 3 trials groups for each of the three novel vaccines that are approaching the release-to-consumers point at this point in time. The Russian vaccinations haven’t been done as a double-blind trial and I doubt that the followups the Phase 3 trials carry out on all volunteers are being done either.

     

    The novel Sinovax Chinese vaccine has already gone through all stages of testing including, I understand, double-blind protocols and follow-ups but the results have not been as transparent as the Western-developed vaccines or at least reported on in any depth by the Western press. Again the Sinovax vaccine has already been deployed in inoculation campaigns in greater numbers than the Phase 3 trial candidate numbers.

  65. 65.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    If I can get vaccinated I will, I have been working in the office since this started, spousal unit is working at home again, which is best considering his comordities.  If I can potentially protect him by getting vaxxed so much the better.  I know it takes several weeks to develop antibodies and I know nothing is 100% without risks or possible side effects.  I also know that vaxxed does not mean I get to go without my mask…

  66. 66.

    Lacuna Synechdoche

    Jon Levine via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    A Staten Island pub located in a coronavirus hot spot is stealing a page from Seattle’s anarchist cookbook, declaring itself an “autonomous zone,” free from the public-safety restrictions its owners say they will refuse to abide by …

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Wonder how that Staten Island bar owner patriot thinks this is going to play out in the end?

    Dear Gov. Cuomo,

    Can we please, please, please, PLEASE, sell Staten Island to New Jersey? I mean, seriously: Now that Fresh Kills Landfill is closed, we really don’t need Staten Island anymore. And they clearly DO NOT want to be part of NYC either.

    Plus, they’re only like 5.7% of the city – less than one out of seventeen. No one would miss them.

    So can’t we just please SELL IT?

    Very Sincerely,

    Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens

  67. 67.

    Sloane Ranger

    I intend to get vaccinated as soon as I can with whatever version(s) is/are approved.

    On to yesterday’s figures from the UK. Yesterday we had 12,330 new cases, up @200 from Sunday. As I’ve said before this isn’t unexpected as there are always reporting delays over weekends and the rolling 7-day average still shows a healthy reduction in case incidence of 24.4%. Cases by home nation,

    England – 10,869 (up @800)

    Northern Ireland – 290 (down @60)

    Scotland – 369 (down @400)

    Wales – 802 (down @200).

    Deaths – There were 205 deaths yesterday, 189 in England, 10 in Northern Ireland, 3 in Scotland and 3 in Wales.

    Testing – 219,899 tests were processed on Sunday, 29th November out of a capacity of 541,159. The rolling 7-day average shows a decrease in test processing of 8.1% but this may be due to the reducing case incidence and fewer people becoming symptomatic.

    Hospitalisations – As of Thursday, 26th November, 15,712 people were in hospital and 1417 were on ventilators on Friday, 27th. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions is down 11.7%.

    General – The vote on the new Tier system is being debated as I write. The Opposition has said it will abstain. We wait to see how big the Tory revolt is. Pfizer have asked for emergency use authority from the European regulators.

  68. 68.

    VOR

    @mrmoshpotato: The bar owner isn’t creative enough. A bar owner in the UK claims to be converting his bar to a church in order to bypass COVID-19 restrictions. Per the article, they need a critical mass of people signing up to endorse the religion.

    “With places of worship allowed to open in all tiers we thought f–k it let’s start a religion!” he explained on Facebook to his new congregation, who would otherwise be barred under the UK’s strict lockdown rules, which would only allow him to serve takeout if he sold food.

    He admits that even if his house-of-worship application gets approved, he would likely not be allowed to serve booze.

    https://nypost.com/2020/11/30/tequila-bar-applies-to-become-church-amid-covid-19-lockdown-rules/

  69. 69.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @rikyrah: I will not be in the first group, second group or maybe even the third group to get the vaccine. Not because I am anti-vaxx, but because anything associated with this Administration is tainted in my eyes. Let the MAGA folks step up and get it, and we will see how it turns out for them.

    My guess is that your healthy[1] skepticism won’t be far out of step with the vaccination program. Front-line care workers & first responders (cops[2], firemen, EMTs) will probably start getting their first doses in the last half of this month, with the second dose a month later. Presumably all of them will be tested for antibodies, adverse effects, and the continuing presence of Miz Rona in the nasal cavity[3], after each dose.

    Note the timeline: At that point Uncle Joe will be in charge very soon, if not already, and any doctoring[4] of the numbers by the prior maladministration’s political hacks will be swiftly exposed.

    We should all keep close tabs on the Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System (VAERS) and on seroconversion percentages. By early February we should be able to trust that the numbers haven’t been doctored[5]. If nothing has gone seriously wrong (cross fingers), the second wave (early-adopting high-riskers) will have gotten both doses by middle March, & the rest of us nervous Nellies can line up for the jabs around April Fools and be largely protected before Memorial Day.

    I would be first in line for a vaccine from a country that took COVID seriously.

    You might want to back off on that a bit – even the most serious and responsible medicos can miss important factors resulting in tragedy. One word: Thalidomide.

    ____

    Anecdotal observation:

    A group of my friends from swing dancing – all >70, several with significant comorbidities, some paleo-Catholics and gummint despisers, all Trumpistas to greater or lesser degree – agree with you to some extent.

    These folks are all taking Miz Rona very, very seriously – not only masking up & distancing, but berating people in public who do not & walking out of establishments that aren’t enforcing proper mask discipline.

    IIUC, despite all of us earnestly wanting to return to whatever the “new normal” is as soon as possible, tney will not be “early adopters” – they’re going to wait until the first & maybe the second wave of vaccinations has shown high efficacy and minimal side effects. And I concur.

    Notes:

    [1] Pun unintended; I accept the award/blame on behalf of my subconscious.

    [2] Let Blue Lives Matter in a way that “protects and serves” the citizenry without murdering melanin-rich folks they claim to be skeeered of.

    [3] IMO this is critically important. There is evidence the virus sets up in nasal epithelial cells where exposure to the bloodstream is minimal; even if it never infects the body as a whole it remains available to be exhaled and infect others. We should establish that those who show antibodies don’t continue to harbor the stuff for export.

    [4]. [5] See note 1.

     

     

  70. 70.

    Zinsky

    Things are not good, COVID-wise, here in the Twin Cities.  Just in this past week, my wife and a close friend, as well as two other adults on our street have tested positive.  All are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms at this point in time.  I am negative and so is my adult son who moved home after losing his job in March.  But, our upper floor is now a COVID unit and we are relegated to the first floor and basement only.  Luckily, we have a big house, so there is a lot of room but we are all in quarantine and it gets rather cramped.  We are praying we make it to a vaccine before anyone gets deadly ill.  Be extremely cautious!  THIS VIRUS IS INCREDIBLY INFECTIOUS – SO, WEAR A MASK!!

  71. 71.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio

    I am quietly confident that Governor Bill Lee will do his best to ignore any and all advice from medical professionals, the CDC and FDA, and the Blessed Dolly Parton and go over the heads of the Tennessee Department of Health to fuck up distribution of any available vaccines. We have a track record here…

    This morning, the Tennessee Department of Health’s website reports 7,975 new cases—I do hope that’s catch-up figures from the holiday weekend. It is a 14.87% infection rate.

    What we do have, in Tennessee:

    1,665 available hospital beds, from a total of 11,528 (serving a population just under 7 million).
    186 available ICU beds, from a total 2,048.
    2,555 available ventilators, from a total of 3,603.
    Around 20 counties without hospitals of their own.
    A strong tourism lobby.
    No Medicaid expansion.
    No statewide mask mandate. (The mayor of Lincoln County, down on the Alabama border, is waiting for guidance from the Holy Spirit…)

    We may not be the Dakotas, but we’re pretty fucked.

  72. 72.

    jonas

    The Biden-Harris administration will ensure that a safe and effective vaccine will be free for all.

    Sigh. Of course Trump spent months saying the virus would just mysteriously “go away” and the press just shrugged. The second one guy somewhere in Wisconsin has to pony up a copay or something for a Covid vaccine, the press is going to apeshit and it will be “you can keep your doctor” all over again.

    Dems never seem to internalize that the media will ALWAYS grade them on a completely different curve than Republicans, who are allowed unlimited amounts of lies, hypocrisy, and bad faith.

  73. 73.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Robert Sneddon:

    The novel Sinovax Chinese vaccine has already gone through all stages of testing including, I understand, double-blind protocols and follow-ups but the results have not been as transparent as the Western-developed vaccines or at least reported on in any depth by the Western press. Again the Sinovax vaccine has already been deployed in inoculation campaigns in greater numbers than the Phase 3 trial candidate numbers.

    There are 5 Chinese vaccines candidates in Phase III trials around the world: 2 inactivated virus candidates from SinoPharm, 1 inactivated virus candidate from Sinovac, an Ad-5 based non-replicating viral vector candidate from CanSino, and a protein based candidate from ZFSW/CAMS. I think the Sinovac and SinoPharm ones have almost reached the requisite numbers of infections to preliminarily determine efficacy. Brazil in particular is expected to present preliminary results of the Phase III trial of the Sinovac vaccine candidate by mid-Dec., with the UAE likely to quickly follow for one of the SinoPharm candidates. CanSino is behind because originally Phase III trial was to take place in Canada, but relatively low prevalence of COVID-19 in the country over the summer, as well as poor Sino-Canadian relations in general, seem to have scuttled that effort, which forced CanSino to scramble to find other countries to run Phase III trials. The ZFSW one only entered Phase III trial in Nov.

    The 3 Chinese inactivated virus vaccine candidates actually started Phase III trials at the same time, or slightly before, the candidates getting all the attention in North America and Europe (Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech/Fosun, and Astra Zeneca/Oxford). However, the Chinese candidates were not able to run trials in the country with a large population and the greatest sustained spread of COVID-19, which is the US. Brazil was as bad (or worse) over their winter, but has since fallen off as they entered summer. Phase III trials are not conducted in China due to the very low prevalence of COVID-19 here.

    I believe the Chinese vaccine developers have been as transparent with trial data as others, indeed Sinovac and CanSino published peer reviewed results of Phases I & II trial results before Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech.  There are no Phase III results because the trials are not yet completed. Then again, we only have press releases from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech so far, not yet peer reviewed results. Although I assume Dr. Fauci probably has already seen the data, and he is very encouraged.

    China has been aggressive in deploying these first 4 vaccine candidates for emergency use, with CanSino one approved for use with the Chinese military since Jul. (particularly at the border flash-points with India?), and the Sinovac and SinoPharm ones a month or two later. Other than those at high risk occupations (but not approved for those with high risk of developing severe symptoms), they have also been offered to regular Chinese who are traveling overseas (for work, trade or study). In all, I would not be surprised if 2 – 3M people have been vaccinated under the EUA program, one of my wife’s relatives among them. At the same time, the UAE has approved the Sinovac candidate for emergency use among medical personnel, with several top government officials taking the shots to demonstrate confidence. The Sao Paolo state government in Brazil has also claimed that the Sinovac vaccine has been shown as the safest (but no comment on efficacy, yet) among the 5 being trials there (the others being J&J, Astra Zeneca/Oxford, Pfizer/BioNTech/Fosun, Sputnik V).

    If any Chinese vaccine candidate completes Phase III trial and is approved by any competent government due to demonstrated safety and efficacy, there is no reason to be fearful of them. The results will be published jointly with the nations and organizations that are running the trials, reviewed by independent boards, and published in peer reviewed scientific journals. The vaccine shots will probably be manufactured locally (or at least regionally), anyway, rather than imported from China. Given how critical a successful vaccination effort is for the CCP regime’s legitimacy within China, and soft power around the world, all entities involved will be highly motivated to make sure nothing goes wrong. Finally, inactivated virus vaccines are the most mature and well understood type there is.

    As I will still be in China next year, I am sure I will be getting one of the Chinese vaccines when it becomes available to the general population.

  74. 74.

    lowtechcyclist

    Once all of the medical professionals and others in high-risk occupations have been vaccinated, I’ll cheerfully be in the next group.

    OTOH, I’m skipping the flu vaccine this year.  My wife and son and I are all working/doing school from our desks at home and we have no social events in meatspace anymore, so our exposure to others is limited to doctors’ appointments and running errands, and we and everyone we encounter in those circumstances are wearing masks.  I figure our risk of exposure to the flu is <1/100 what it would be in a normal year, so why bother?

  75. 75.

    Bill Arnold

    Surprised to see so many anti-vaxers here. (if you’re anti-vaccine, you’re an anti-vaxer.)
    The US government had very little to do with the development of the US vaccines. As soon as it was clear that we were in a potential pandemic and the virus had been isolated/sequenced, developers were out of the starting gate around the world. It was a combination of a golden ticket (wealth) and a chance to save hundreds of thousands (or millions) of human lives. The US formalized the competition by overlaying a sort of Manhattan Project[1] on top to fund those who wanted funding (not e.g. Pfizer) and working to accelerate the regulatory process without unacceptable shortcuts, but otherwise has been AFAIK staying out of it. (The regulatory processes had been tuned for regular drugs, not pandemics.)
    If one wants to be concerned, the mRNA vaccines are new-biotech, so watch the safety data for all vaccines but especially those. Uncle Cosmo’s post is very on point. The 30K+ person clinical trials generated a lot of safety data, and the early phases of distribution will generate vastly more. (Be suspicious if the datasets are not available, though, and that includes the non-US vaccines.)

    [1] E.g. the Manhattan Project funded multiple independent paths for enriching Uranium.[2]
    [2] Someday we’ll find out who was responsible for the goofy vaccine program name, and mock them mercilessly for the rest of their life.

  76. 76.

    Ked

    Just STOP with the anti-vax nonsense here. It’s fair to worry about safety, but by spring we’re going to have very large sample data on that, and if you don’t get vaccinated when it’s free, then you’re effectively making yourself part of the problem.

    I don’t care if you hate Big Corporate Science – there’s a lot to dislike. But if you want a vaccine that can be distributed to billions of people, that’s who is going to be doing it. And despite Trump trying to rub himself all over the effort, he hasn’t really interfered on that level.

  77. 77.

    Jay

    @raven:

    if distribution is done wisely, the first round of vaccinations in Feb/March will be front line workers,

    the second round in Apr/May will be essential workers,

    by the time that wide availability of the vaccines exists, there will be 4 to 6 months of wide spread data available.

    I plan to get vaccinated as soon as I can, just have to get tested for immune response first. I don’t trust that having had Covid, confers any “guaranteed” immunity, because Covid is a sneaky bastard taking advantage of every human weakness.

  78. 78.

    JaneE

    There are a lot of groups who should IMO be ahead of me in the vaccination rollout. If there are any real problems with any of the approved vaccines, I would expect some evidence to show up before I could be vaccinated. I expect that I will get the shots as soon as my health plan starts giving them, but the categories of who goes to the head of the line is not my decision.

    There are lots of reasons to be cautious about any new medications. The narcolepsy associated with the flu vaccine in Sweden has made an entire country suspicious with good reason. Having one of the medications you took pulled off the market because of risk does not engender respect for the judgement of the FDA in approvals, even without pressure from the white house.

    I will still be surprised if we get to the level of immunization needed for “herd immunity” before this time next year, and I expect that going overseas will require immunizations like they did 50 years ago. I am just glad that competent people will be handling this.

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