When you wanna eeeease back into live contact with other humans…
Don’t love the art direction choice for the new “Hipster Psychos” content pack for Borderlands 3 but you take the good with the bad when you get the Season Pass, I guess https://t.co/VdUSNkKpOM
— The Mall Krampus (@cakotz) April 6, 2021
The US administered 2.9 million vaccine shots today, bringing the total to 171 million, or 51.7 doses per 100 people, covering 26.5% of the population. The 7-day moving average rose back to 3.03 million shots per day. pic.twitter.com/qTiIgMozbT
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) April 8, 2021
About 76% of Americans aged 65 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines. But the rate of new vaccinations among the group has slowed. Experts worry a similar trend could occur in the broader population.https://t.co/7Rmv6RGXrx
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 8, 2021
A highly contagious #coronavirus variant is now dominant in the US. The B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in Britain, is now the source of most new coronavirus infections nationwide, according to the CDC https://t.co/XFdrcDaThx
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 8, 2021
The US had +75,183 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total to over 31.6 million. The 7-day moving average rose back above 66,000 new cases per day. pic.twitter.com/3H0hIc0ZpY
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) April 8, 2021
The CDC said today that the B.1.1.7 Covid variant (first found in the U.K.) has now become the most common version of the virus in the U.S.
Fauci has said it's 50% to 70% more transmissible, and likely more harmful if you get it.https://t.co/MLfNOeQpm6
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) April 8, 2021
======
Around the world, it is taking extra effort and ingenuity to ensure the coronavirus vaccine gets to remote locations. That means shipping it by boat to islands, by snowmobile to Alaska villages and via complex waterways through the Amazon in Brazil. https://t.co/nBUVxcvcIY
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 7, 2021
Tokyo has asked Japan's central government for permission to implement emergency measures to curb a surge in a rapidly spreading and more contagious coronavirus variant, just over three months before the start of the Olympics. https://t.co/jj1wBqfuc3
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 8, 2021
Chinese border city's Communist Party chief dismissed over COVID-19 outbreaks https://t.co/3UlxDI4EpQ pic.twitter.com/5n6poGPGvx
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2021
India's record COVID-19 surge continues, vaccines run short https://t.co/BJx7nP5HAq pic.twitter.com/2S3SdeQbtd
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2021
South Korea reports surge in coronavirus cases, more restrictions expected https://t.co/Uh2ZdXyk0a pic.twitter.com/x1OBIeF4mx
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2021
Indonesia says arrival of 30 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses delayed to 2022 https://t.co/q3ymr3TgT7 pic.twitter.com/cA2j2pT0bu
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2021
Thailand eyes nightlife curbs to arrest third coronavirus wave https://t.co/0lh0cCgfY9 pic.twitter.com/MDipL2buA0
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2021
Not the best precedent for getting our *new* pandemic under control…
Afghanistan is inoculating millions of children against polio after pandemic lockdowns stalled the effort to eradicate the crippling disease. But the recent killing of 3 female vaccinators points to the dangers facing the campaign as turmoil grows. https://t.co/FonLDfby4K
— AP Middle East (@APMiddleEast) April 8, 2021
Russia on Thursday confirmed 8,672 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of reported infections to 4,614,834 https://t.co/uPHx5s0xeN
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) April 8, 2021
Vaccines 'break link' between Covid-19 infections and death https://t.co/xz3R86mZq9
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 8, 2021
Slovakia’s State Institute for Drug Control has told the country’s Health Ministry it has been unable to evaluate the risks and benefits of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine due to a lack of data and inconsistencies in dosageshttps://t.co/1o5ktUZ6Xj
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) April 8, 2021
The Sputnik V vaccine has met with a cool reception and muted promotion among skeptical Russians, despite international fanfare, @felix_light reportshttps://t.co/gf3LohhQ7C
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) April 8, 2021
New Zealand temporarily suspends entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, for about two weeks following a high number of positive coronavirus cases arriving from the South Asian country https://t.co/dCtlmsGA6f by @journopraveen
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2021
Can Australia blame its vaccine woes on Europe? https://t.co/EF0ThsGQ1I
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 8, 2021
UK-made AstraZeneca vaccines sent to Australia – Sydney Morning Herald https://t.co/wA8ySY0PD6 pic.twitter.com/geGtfABb14
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2021
Many countries in Eastern & Southern Africa are vaccinating against #COVID19 thanks to #COVAX. However, only 2% of the vaccine doses administered worldwide have been in Africa.
On #WorldHealthDay, we demand #VaccinEquity.
It's time to build a fairer and healthier ? for all. pic.twitter.com/728dx3pqII
— OCHA Southern & Eastern Africa (@UNOCHA_ROSEA) April 7, 2021
Brazil detects first case of South African variant as COVID-19 deaths soar https://t.co/ZY5bDAQBiO pic.twitter.com/AYyoPTGSHL
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 7, 2021
======
Reinfections don't appear to be driving the surge in #Covid19 cases in the US, @DrewQJoseph reports. They still appear to be infrequent — as best anyone can tell. Experts like @cmyeaton would like to see better data collected. (??) https://t.co/FAFamKTbNa
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) April 7, 2021
An internat'l team of scientists has identified yet another novel SARSCoV2 variant—A.VOI.V2—in South Africa. Since its emergence, SARSCoV2 has undergone ~12k mutations. The majority of these mutations are found in the viral spike protein. Preprint. https://t.co/MhaxG8ZrbM
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 7, 2021
Safety concerns about AstraZeneca Covid vaccine come amid high demand for the product in lower-income countries. It is the vaccine that has been shipped to Africa, Yemen, Palestine and beyond in a global program for resource-poor countries https://t.co/3m1c2VdKSW
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 8, 2021
Terrific thread from @kakape on EMA's press conference on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Pfizer & Moderna vaccines are also linked to a rare adverse event, anaphylaxis. Yet people are still jockeying for those vaccines.
Catching Covid is a greater risk than getting vaxed against it. https://t.co/3xKayIwdqj— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) April 7, 2021
As the California #coronavirus variant continues to spread, new research suggests that several vaccines should continue to provide an effective defense against it
The California variant is in fact a pair of closely related strains known as #B1427 & #B1429https://t.co/jnmlYzYuBx
— MicrobesInfect (@MicrobesInfect) April 8, 2021
Discarded masks and gloves worn by people to protect against the coronavirus pandemic are turning up on beaches around the world. In the past year, volunteers picking up trash on beaches have been finding discarded personal protective equipment. https://t.co/5LbRX8X5fJ
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 7, 2021
======
Likely legal, ‘vaccine passports’ have emerged as the next #coronavirus divide. Businesses & universities want fast, easy ways to see if students & customers are vaccinated, but right wing politicians have turned the passports into a cultural flash point https://t.co/O9ZSQwE7Sa
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 7, 2021
I still do not understand why there isn't a big SWAT team to vaccinate Michiganders.
Today highest number of cases in 4 months
Note the thumb region pic.twitter.com/oVh6DJZlqa— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) April 7, 2021
Talk about bad framing… MI’s Thumb is full of angry, undereducated, Cristianist White dudes busy ginning each other up about their precious FREEDUMB!!! From my perspective, a big reason Michigan has taken such a heavy hit is that there was a female Governor (Gretchn Whitmer) and a gay, female Attorney General (Dana Nessel) trying to TELL PEOPLE WHAT THEY COULD OR COULDN’T DO, Angry Sky Daddy forfend. (Unfortunately, a lot of their neighbors are isolated, older rural folk who don’t have much choice but to suffer along with them.)
please elect fewer insane people, things would probably go a little bit better. let’s give it the old college try and see if it works. https://t.co/ccrKYGrzw6
— Peloton InfoSec Analyst (Incident Response) (@CalmSporting) April 7, 2021
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY stats:
New cases = 286
Confirmed active cases = 2897
2.6% test positivity
Deaths at 1207
38.2% of Monroe County has had at least 1 vaccine dose.
24.9% are totally vaccinated.
mrmoshpotato
Time to buy popcorn futures for when foreign countries tell Russthuglicans, “No, your plague rat ass can’t come here. No, not fake news. Go suck the Kremlin’s ass, you murderous, selfish assholes.”
mrmoshpotato
*Please take this all with a (salt) mine’s-worth of “I’m an idiot!”
YY_Sima Qian
On 4/7 China reported 11 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all in Yunnan Province. There are currently 76 domestic confirmed & 25 domestic asymptomatic cases in the Province.
Imported Cases
On 4/7 China reported 13 new imported confirmed cases, 5 imported asymptomatic cases:
Overall in China, 9 confirmed cases recovered, 5 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 5 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 381 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 263 active confirmed cases in the country (186 imported), 2 in critical/serious condition (1 imported), 291 asymptomatic cases (266 imported), 1 suspect cases (all imported). 7,423 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 4/7, 149.071M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 3.679M doses in the past 24 hrs. The the last 3 days formed a Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend in China, which probably explains the reduced vaccination rate.
On 4/8, Hong Kong reported 10 new cases, 8 imported & 2 domestic (1 of whom does not hav source of infection identified).
Cermet
Here are the complete details on the development of the Covid vaccine:
How mRNA Technology Could Change the World – The Atlantic
Took 40 years to develop. So much for Warp speed – lol.
Mary G
Only 75 new cases in the OC today. The news on the CA variants is very welcome.
Work on the needle phobic housemate and the teen is going well enough for hope that all of us will have had our shots by the week of April 15th. We can have Sunday pizza in the same room again, after more than a year of the dining room table sitting lonely and unoccupied.
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G:
?
Evap
My youngest in Oregon got her J&j shot yesterday, the oldest in NY will get her first Pfizer today, my spouse gets his second Pfizer in a few days and I am fully vaccinated as if tomorrow. *happy dance*. We are planning a grand family meetup this summer
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 1,285 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 355,753 cases. He also reports four new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,308 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.38% of resolved cases.
There are currently 14,203 active and contagious cases; 180 are in ICU, 81 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 1,175 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 340,242 patients recovered – 95.63% of the cumulative reported total.
Four new clusters were reported today: Jalan Taming in Selangor, Industri Parit Raja in Johor, Perusahaan Perai Tiga in Penang, and Padang Manggis in Pahang.
Padang Manggis is a community cluster. The rest are workplace clusters.
1,268 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 371 local cases: 95 in older clusters, two in Jalan Taming cluster, 195 close-contact screenings, and 79 other screenings. Sarawak reports 210 local cases: 46 in existing clusters, 131 close-contact screenings, and 33 other screenings.
Penang reports 162 cases: 30 in older clusters, 60 in Perusahaan Perai Tiga cluster, 21 close-contact screenings, and 51 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 107 local cases: 61 close-contact screenings, and 46 other screenings. Sabah reports 106 cases: 31 in existing clusters, 48 close-contact screenings, and 27 other screenings. Johor reports 101 cases: 12 in older clusters, 38 in Industri Parit Raja cluster, 35 close-contact screenings, and 16 other screenings.
Kelantan reports 87 cases: 11 in existing clusters, 36 close-contact screenings, and 40 other screenings. Kedah reports 31 cases: 12 in existing clusters, 10 close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings. Perak reports 24 cases: three in existing clusters, nine close-contact screenings, and 12 other screenings.
Putrajaya reports 19 cases: 10 in existing clusters, five close-contact screenings, and four other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 12 cases: three in existing clusters, one close-contact screening, and eight other screenings. Pahang also reports 12 cases: three in older clusters, two in Padang Manggis cluster, four close-contact screenings, and three other screenings. Melaka reports 11 cases: six in existing clusters, four close-contact screenings, and one other screening. Terengganu also reports 11 cases: five in existing clusters, five close-contact screenings, and one other screening.
Labuan reports three cases, all in existing clusters. And Perlis reports one case, foud in other screening.
17 new cases today are imported: 13 in Kuala Lumpur, three in Selangor, and one in Sarawak.
The deaths reported today are an 83-year-old woman in Sarawak with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, osteoarthritis and spondylosis; a 67-year-old man in Selangor with hypertension, stroke, and myeloproliferative disease; a 70-year-old man in Sabah with hypertension and tuberculosis; and a 60-year-old man in Selangr with chronic kidney disease and tuberculosis.
Martin
Um, universities requiring to see student vaccination is nothing new. We require a shit-ton of vaccines from students. Always have, and the only difference with Covid is that there’s a legal risk of requiring it because of its emergency approval. But you cannot be a student without proof of about 20+ vaccinations. We added meningitis to the list just a few years ago when we were seeing coming back from Asia with it.
Requiring it for guests is a different matter and still being discussed. Lots of categories of guests they’re working through.
Martin
@Mary G: Same with my needle-phobic son. He thinks he’s motivated enough to get it that with some help (xanax) he’ll be able to J&J. That’s progress.
Central Planning
Republican from Alabama outed for cheating on his wife. The only plot twist is that he was outed by a right-wing group. Maybe he wasn’t sufficiently deferent to TFFG. From the WaPo:
Bluegirlfromwyo
@mrmoshpotato: Of all the rwnj rhetoric around COVID, the they just want control one is the one that gets to me. You mean to tell me that I’m going to lock myself down for months just to get control of you for some unnamed reason. Really? And then they wonder why normal people think they’re assholes.
Betty Cracker
The New Yorker has an interesting article about Sweden’s experience with the pandemic. As you may recall, Sweden largely stayed open (bars, restaurants, etc., did not close), though people who could work at home did, and schools were online.
The country’s top epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, led the controversial response, which remains in hot dispute there and elsewhere. Tegnell was an early mask skeptic, and though he’s softened on that, he still doesn’t think masks are a no-brainer like Dr. Fauci and most scientists here and elsewhere do.
TL;DR version: Sweden fared far worse than its Nordic neighbors that took more precautions, but it’s COVID stats are better than many EU countries’ outcomes. There are a lot of variables in play, so not one knows exactly why.
That was my key takeaway from the article: there’s still so much we just don’t know.
NotMax
Morocco on the cusp of becoming the 38th country to report a cumulative reported total of cases exceeding half a million.
Betty Cracker
@Mary G: & @Martin: I am super needle phobic too due to a traumatic childhood experience. I hadn’t had a shot in 15 years or so before my COVID vax on 3/30. I drove myself to the drive-up vax station and was so absurdly keyed up about it!
While the nurse was prepping the shot, I looked the other way with my face all squoonched up and my foot nervously tapping the floor of the car, fighting the impulse to throw open the car door and run screaming through the parking lot!
Well, I felt like a complete idiot when the nurse swabbed my shoulder with alcohol and I realized she’d already done the injection! Different needle gauges make a difference, I think, and this was a tiny needle. Didn’t hurt a bit (until the next day).
Geminid
The AP story about the polio vaccination effort in Afghanistan is worth reading, to see the viciousness of the unidentified assassins who murdered three polio vaccinators, and the courage of the Afghanis who are still vaccinating children at the risk of their own lives.
mrmoshpotato
@Bluegirlfromwyo: Yup. So let me see if I understand this, you nutter, three things that prevent the spread of the virus don’t actually, and I deprived myself of visiting family and friends for a year just so I could go “Booga booga booga! Control! Mwhahaha!” at your stupid, selfish ass? Sure thing, Jan.
Matt McIrvin
Spouse who got J&J shot on Tuesday had to lie down for a while yesterday afternoon, seems pretty much fine now. It’s another week and a day before I’m far enough past my shingles shot that I’m clear to get the COVID vaccination, a few days after that that I’m officially eligible per state.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Greece: 3445 new cases yesterday, a bit down from the April 6 number of 4293 (source: Worldometers), and 75 deaths. Vaccinations just passed 2 million shots delivered, but the number of booster shots is 690,740. Vaccines are still only being given to healthcare workers, people with critical diseases, and people 60 years and over.
On a personal note: I had one hell of a missed connection. My folks just returned to New York from Athens this past Sunday, and my dad got his first shot Monday; I’m due to join them Saturday, specifically to get vaccinated and to have other deferred medical tests performed. They asked my dad’s physician if there were any openings for a 50-year-old, and one was found … but it was for Friday afternoon, too soon for me, because even if I could have moved up my airplane ticket, I’d never have been allowed on a plane without the PCR test needed to enter the US.
I don’t know whether to feel disappointed, stupid, or guilty that I’ve even got the opportunity to do this thanks to a gigantic heap of privilege.
Matt McIrvin
@Bluegirlfromwyo: That’s the grand unified right-wing theory of liberals, though: that liberals don’t actually care about anything except controlling other people for its own sake, and every problem or threat we talk about (environmental dangers, structural racism, workplace safety…) is a hoax we made up to that end. We will go to any length whatsoever to get that interfering-busybody hit.
Then if you look at Christian evangelicals or the way right-wingers insist on treating the poor, the extent to which this is probably projection becomes clear.
Matt McIrvin
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: I had to turn down my dose from that overflow supply that got my wife her shot, because I’m less than two weeks out from a shingles vaccination. In my defense, the clock was ticking on that one and if I hadn’t gotten it then I’d have had to start the sequence over–I reasoned that I probably wouldn’t be able to get the COVID shot until the 19th anyway.
Mary G
@Betty Cracker: Brava for doing it despite your fears. I used to freak out in the old CT and MRI scan machines that were so tight I felt like a cork going into a bottle.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Betty Cracker: I had that experience one year when I got a flu shot on the Army base where I was working. The guy told me they used a super small gauge needle for the soldiers and that I wouldn’t feel it and he was right.
I don’t have a phobia exactly in that I’m not afraid to get shots, but I can’t watch the needle going in. Not in me, not in anyone else, not in a fake special effect on a TV screen.
Sloane Ranger
Wednesday in the UK we had 2763 new cases. This is a reduction of 36.6% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,
England – 2304 (up 367)
Northern Ireland – 88 (up 31)
Scotland – 289 (up 30)
Wales – 82 (down 44).
At least some of the increases may be due to reporting delays caused by the Easter Weekend and the reduction in Wales to the fact that they had reported 48 hours of data the previous day.
Deaths – There were 45 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is a decrease of 35.5% in the rolling 7-day average. New deaths by nation, England – 40, Scotland – 5 and none for Northern Ireland and Wales.
Testing – On 6 April a total of 631,846 tests were conducted. This is a decrease in the rolling 7-day average of 29.3%.
Hospitalisations – There were 3536 people in hospital on 1 April and 469 people on ventilators on 4 April. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions is down 25.3%.
Vaccinations – As of 6 April, a total of 31,707,594 had received the 1st shot of a vaccine and 5,683,509 had received both shots. This means that 60.2% of adults in the UK had received 1 shot and 10.8% had had both.
Matt McIrvin
@Mary G: MRIs are still disturbing–not only are you stuck into a tube and forbidden to move, they’re LOUD. Got one once and I’m not sure I want to repeat the experience.
(That ultimately resulted in my getting a bunch of metal in my leg and I’m actually not sure if I can get another MRI after that–probably I can but I should probably ask my orthopedist on Monday.)
marklar
@mrmoshpotato: I guess life is so simple for those whose brain is so smooth.
Matt McIrvin
I watched a news report through YouTube about the outbreak in Michigan–hospitals crammed with dying patients, the whole nine yards–and was depressed at how dominated the comments were by “I’m in Michigan and we’re all fine, everyone I know got it and it’s just a cold”, or “they’re saying people like my uncle died from COVID when it was lung cancer”, followed by “thank you for getting the truth out past the fake media!!!” etc.
mrmoshpotato
@Matt McIrvin: Ugh. Some YouTube channels just need to decide – comments? Nope!
Skepticat
I see the prospect of a friendship fraying if not evaporating very shortly. A good friend from California is coming in Friday to his house here in The Bahamas, and he’s already ranting and raving about needing to wear a mask when he travels. He insists the entire thing is made up and overblown and we all need psychological help to get over our fear of dying. I’ll be declaring the tiny island a zone free of discussion of this issue, but it’s so discouraging when someone you thought was intelligent and sensible insists on proving he isn’t. A Bahamian friend won’t be vaccinated because of the chip. Same for him. Sigh.
Cameron
A disturbing trend I’ve noticed over the last couple weeks: an increasing number of people going maskless at the supermarket, despite the yooge sign at the door requesting people to mask up. Fewer clueless and more looking for trouble, too – staring contests with masked customers, etc. I’m not going to waste my time with them; I just get what I need and keep moving.
Scout211
I am reading on our local news site that one of the disturbing effects of more doses delivered and more vaccination sites available here in California is more wasted doses. People are making multiple appointments and then not canceling the extra appointments after they get a vaccination. What?! This is not right. What is wrong with these people?
unique uid
hi Mary, could you give me a quick overview of what “lockdown/etc” steps OC was using the last month? I’m still comparing Michigan (3X the population as OC) to your county. Trying to figure out what went wrong.
Others: I also look with curiosity at comparisons to Sweden and Israel, both countries with similar populations to Michigan.
Matt McIrvin
I do think the “vaccine passport” idea is probably overkill–the real point of mass vaccination is to get enough collective immunity in the general population that the virus can’t propagate, and at that point, discriminating between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in some particular social situation becomes moot. The period when vaccine passports can do some good is probably brief and will be over by the time any formal system is up and running.
It reminds me a bit of all the intricate systems of vaccination priority sub-tiers that state authorities invented when the vaccines first appeared, that often probably did more harm than good just by creating organizational overhead and confusion when getting the vaccines out, and became moot rapidly as supplies increased.
mrmoshpotato
@Skepticat:
A made up thing is overblown? Shit! Everyone! Everyone! We overdid it on the hoax!
And for the fear of dying? Ummm….
But I really wanted to track this most-fascinating stranger! Do they happen to carry their phone everywhere? Also, they ever seen a picture of the needles used to chip dogs and cats?
Mart
Hey idiot Rep Biggs, “Lockdowns, mask mandates, and proposed vaccine passports have never been about containing the virus.” Try going to parts of South America without a yellow fever shot.
Skepticat
@mrmoshpotato: I made precisely the same points to my Bahamian friend, who happened to have his phone in his hand at the moment. And my favorite questions to people who whine about the government overreach of asking people to wear masks is whether they have a driver’s license, stop at stop signs, and pay taxes. Sheesh.
fancycwabs
The “active cases” numbers have been going down pretty steadily since February, until today.
I’m hoping it’s a fluke.