Other 25% are still conducting research https://t.co/ldTuBv6Rz6 pic.twitter.com/97rBnt6y6P
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 24, 2021
very awkward situation on The View as Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro appear to have tested positive for COVID pic.twitter.com/gyBF3CFRwX
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 24, 2021
The Way We Live Now, per NYMag:
… On Friday’s show, hosts Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, and guest host Ana Navarro were set to interview Vice-President Kamala Harris. That is until a producer asked Hostin and Navarro to “step off for a second” in the middle of the show…
… When they returned, Behar said, “Okay, since this is going to be a major news story any minute now, what happened is, Sunny and Ana both apparently tested positive for COVID.” She added that both hosts are “vaccinated up the wazoo” and “probably have a breakthrough case.” …
To make matters more uncomfortable, Harris was backstage while all of this was happening. According to a tweet from NBC White House correspondent Monica Alba, Harris “had no contact with hosts prior to the show,” and they planned to conduct the interview with the vice-president in a different part of ABC studios. With about ten minutes left in the show, Harris appeared remotely, per USA Today. “Sunny and Ana are strong women, and I know they’re fine, but it really does also speak to the fact that they’re vaccinated,” Harris said, “and vaccines really make all the difference, because otherwise we would be concerned about hospitalization and worse.”…
The US had +131,006 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total to over 43.5 million. The 7-day moving average fell to 126,124 new cases per day. pic.twitter.com/gJPU1eiQ8z
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) September 24, 2021
The US reported +2,017 new coronavirus deaths yesterday, bringing the total to 703,021. The 7-day moving average stands at 1,706 deaths per day. pic.twitter.com/TXPvJd1VsR
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) September 24, 2021
The majority of Americans who were fully vaccinated with Pfizer can receive a booster shot at least 6 months after their second shot. This includes people over 65, those with underlying medical conditions, and those in frontline jobs.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 24, 2021
Boosters for Moderna & J&J haven't come up for discussion by federal health agencies, but experts say plans are on the agenda to consider a 3rd shot for Moderna recipients & a 2nd for those who received a J&J shot https://t.co/P5xrQDBS3o pic.twitter.com/jxo1FJafI4
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 24, 2021
======
India reports 29,616 new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours https://t.co/G9dWgPqwEe pic.twitter.com/7Rp5ueYU6J
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 25, 2021
S.Korea daily COVID-19 cases top 3,000 for first time after holiday https://t.co/z8QQsFaHQU pic.twitter.com/ORn84zMczl
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 25, 2021
Australia's Victoria state logs record infections ahead of key sporting event https://t.co/9YMYwCJ5Vd pic.twitter.com/LnDG2BszRZ
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 25, 2021
Australian rules:
… Authorities expect case numbers in the state to keep rising until mid November as it races to raise vaccination rates above the 70% double dose threshold, up from around 46% currently.
With the Australian rules football grand final, a major national sporting event, due to take place on Saturday evening, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned fans to stay home to avoid putting “you, your friends and your households at risk.”
The match, between two Melbourne teams, would usually be played in the city but has been moved to coronavirus-free Western Australia. However, authorities are still worried fans in Melbourne could gather in households to watch the broadcast game, breaching lockdown rules.
Anti-vaccination protests that hit state capital Melbourne this week spilled into the suburbs on Friday, with police arresting more than 30 people in the city’s inner north…
Elsewhere, New South Wales state logged 11 deaths and 1,007 new daily acquired coronavirus cases, government data showed.
Sixty people have died from the virus in the state this week, the highest weekly number since the pandemic began and more than the 58 deaths last week. New infections however show signs of stabilising at around 1,000 a day amid a state wide vaccination drive.
Around 85% of people over 16 years of age have had a first vaccination dose, while 58% of the population have had a double dose. Lockdown restrictions are set to ease when 70% and 80% of the adult population are fully vaccinated.
A doctor in Tahiti was arrested for attacking law enforcement officials, not for treating COVID-19 patients with ivermectin. Here are the facts. https://t.co/1Drsa5s446
— AP Fact Check (@APFactCheck) September 24, 2021
Israel is moving forward with its campaign to offer coronavirus boosters to almost anyone over age 12, even as some experts say more people in poorer countries should get their two doses first. By @IlanBenZion. https://t.co/rILsiRv3a1
— AP Middle East (@APMiddleEast) September 25, 2021
Russia posted an all-time record of 828 deaths from Covid-19 on Friday as hospitalizations shot up in Moscow and several regions began reimposing restrictions after nationwide elections last weekend https://t.co/bgKIGPBe2j
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) September 24, 2021
Covid vaccine booster programme to start in Republic of Ireland https://t.co/pbF6cFIp7v
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 24, 2021
UK's refusal to accept Covid vaccine certificates from Africa could increase hesitancy, says head of Africa's health agency https://t.co/qUvXyT0IMJ
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 23, 2021
El Salvador to begin giving third dose of COVID-19 vaccine https://t.co/5aQBLBlhx3 pic.twitter.com/r0ej89M2Hu
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 25, 2021
======
The CDC says studies bolster its recommendation for masks in schools and in-person classes. One study found coronavirus cases in children and teens increased more in U.S. counties where public schools had no mask mandates than schools with a requirement. https://t.co/SX0HNihGFR
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 24, 2021
Every region of the world, except South America, is now showing >94% #DeltaVariant in new #COVID19 cases. Even in SoAmer, it's more than 86% Delta. This virus is the super-spreader, out-competing all other forms of #SARSCoV2 .https://t.co/BWsAWwMCmw
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) September 24, 2021
Nasal spray: Llama & camel antibodies can be used in a nasal spray to treat coronavirus infection. New peer-reviewed research builds on previous studies that confirm nanobodies—antibody fragments—from llamas,camels & alpacas show promise against SARS2 https://t.co/A6a7wnG6SJ
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 24, 2021
A WHO panel has endorsed treating high-risk Covid patients w/ monoclonal antibodies. The panel cited 3 studies showing the therapy lowers hospitalization risk in patients likely to worsen. It also has captured attn as an alternative among anti-vaxxers https://t.co/t0CvrU9x28
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 24, 2021
No, vaccinated people are not ‘just as likely’ to spread the #coronavirus as unvaccinated people. This has become a common refrain among the cautious—and it’s wrong https://t.co/5NomK1oRH8
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 24, 2021
======
When people tell me California is overreacting to the COVID-19 pandemic, I look at this data & think, "Maybe we're doing relatively well *because* of how we're reacting." https://t.co/tPoJ3noI6l pic.twitter.com/eh8OtIFRcj
— Dr. Janet D. Stemwedel, PhD ?️? (@docfreeride) September 24, 2021
New York races to avoid hospital staff shortages ahead of vaccine mandate deadline https://t.co/dJT3tTeax8
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 24, 2021
U.S. court upholds hospital employee COVID-19 vaccine rule in test case https://t.co/RqGHz87YcK pic.twitter.com/KCNxbgcG6L
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 25, 2021
… A federal judge on Friday ruled that a Cincinnati, Ohio-area healthcare provider could require its employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their job, in what appears to be the first ruling of its kind for a private employer in the United States.
The employees of St. Elizabeth Healthcare failed to establish that their individual liberties were being violated by the vaccine requirement of the hospital operator, which has the right to set employment terms, said U.S. District Judge David Bunning in Covington, Kentucky.
St. Elizabeth employees must get vaccinated by Oct. 1…
Bunning’s ruling is the first involving a request for an injunction against a private employer’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, said Mark Guilfoyle, a lawyer who represented St. Elizabeth…
The class action on behalf of St. Elizabeth employees was based in part on concerns about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines, among other claims.
Those suspicions cannot override the law, said Bunning.
“If an employee believes his or her individual liberties are more important than legally permissible conditions on his or her employment, that employee can and should choose to exercise another individual liberty, no less significant – the right to seek other employment,” wrote Bunning.
Even here in the deep-blue Peoples’ Republic…
Horse-paste eaters live among us, like out in MetroWest https://t.co/I6Ycy1BUlM
— Adam Gaffin (@universalhub) September 22, 2021
Vaccine mandates are normal and good. A judge just slapped down a ludicrous effort by the State Police to delay their vax mandate. https://t.co/E0xku3pERp
— #AbolishICE #PassThePROAct (@joelpatt) September 25, 2021
Warriors' Wiggins denied religious exemption for COVID-19 vaccine https://t.co/MDHd26Xfjp pic.twitter.com/FoEJcLfXG4
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 25, 2021
Sharing is caring! –
If you're claiming a religious exemption, what the chapter and verse? #p2 #tcot #prolife #Christian #Catholic pic.twitter.com/oTCIogZA5E
— Terrell D. Lewis (@TerrellDLewis) September 23, 2021
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
Monroe County web site: 296 new cases, 3.9% test positivity
NYSDOH says 262 new cases.
I have to have blood work done today, and I’m having a tv delivered tomorrow and my furnace cleaned on Monday. All in all, the wrong time to be coming out of isolation. Ugh…
NotMax
@NeenerNeener
So long as the people entering your home (and you, of course) are properly masked I wouldn’t be goosebump-raising level concerned, more studiously cautious. No requirement for you to spend the entire time in the same room with them. And probably still mild enough weather to open up the windows for some extra ventilation while they are there.
But that’s just me; feel free to ignore.
YY_Sima Qian
On 9/24 China reported 10 new domestic confirmed cases & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Fujian Province reporter 2 new domestic confirmed cases. 6 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 441 active domestic confirmed cases & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases.
Harbin in Heilongjiang Province reported 8 new domestic confirmed cases (4 mild & 4 moderate; all at Bayan County), 6 traced close contacts & 2 found from mass screening. There currently are 34 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 1,300 F1 & 2,39 F2 close contacts have been traced & placed under quarantine. 1 sub-district has been elevated to High Risk. 2 residential compounds, 3 residential buildings & an office have been elevated to Medium Risk. 1 residential compound is currently at Medium Risk.
Yunnan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province, all at Ruili in Dehong Prefecture.
At Hunan Province 6 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed cases remaining, all at Zhangjiajie
At Henan Province there currently are 8 active domestic confirmed cases remaining, all at Shangqiu.
At Shanghai Municipality there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case remaining.
Imported Cases
On 9/23, China reported 28 new imported confirmed cases, 14 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:
Overall in China, 27 confirmed cases recovered (15 imported), 14 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (all imported) & none were reclassified as confirmed cases, & 560 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,020 active confirmed cases in the country (523 imported), 12 in serious condition (4 imported), 348 active asymptomatic cases (340 imported), 4 suspect cases (all imported). 19,052 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 9/23, 2,194.467M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 3.675M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 9/24, Hong Kong reported 9 new positive cases, all imported (2 each from the UK & Nepal & 1 each from Indonesia, Singapore, Pakistan, Kazakhstan & Serbia, 8 had been partially to fully vaccinated).
On 9/24, Macau reported 1 new positive case, imported.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reports 13,889 new Covid-19 cases today in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 2,185,131 cases. It also reports 250 new deaths as of midnight, for a cumulative total of 24,931 deaths – 1.14% of the cumulative reported total, 1.25% of resolved cases.
Based on cases reported yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt is at 0.90.
847 confirmed cases are in ICU, 357 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 18,074 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 1,968,541 patients recovered – 90.1% of the cumulative reported total.
12 new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 5,401 clusters. 1,214 clusters are currently active; 4,187 clusters are now inactive.
13,893 new cases today are local infections. Sarawak reports 2,712 cases: 139 in clusters, 935 close-contact screenings, and 1,638 other screenings. Selangor reports 2,337 local cases: 135 in clusters, 1,183 close-contact screenings, and 1,019 other screenings.
Johor reports 1,377 cases: 172 in clusters, 705 close-contact screenings, and 500 other screenings. Kelantan reports 1,170 cases: 20 in clusters, 761 close-contact screenings, and 389 other screenings. Perak reports 1,127 local cases: 72 in clusters, 607 close-contact screenings, and 448 other screenings. Penang reports 1,060 cases: 73 in clusters, 339 close-contact screenings, and 648 other screenings.
Sabah reports 962 cases: six in clusters, 492 close-contact screenings, and 464 other screenings.
Pahang reports 779 cases: 152 in clusters, 419 close-contact screenings, and 208 other screenings. Terengganu reports 760 cases: one in a cluster, 586 close-contact screenings, and 173 other screenings. Kedah reports 708 cases: 32 in clusters, 409 close-contact screenings, and 267 other screenings.
Melaka reports 339 cases: 58 in clusters, 144 close-contact screenings, and 137 other screenings.
Kuala Lumpur reports 309 local cases: 13 in clusters, 141 close-contact screenings, and 155 other screenings.
Negeri Sembilan reports 194 cases: 110 close-contact screenings and 84 other screenings.
Putrajaya reports 37 cases: 27 close-contact screenings and 10 other screenings. Perlis reports 17 cases: 11 close-contact screenings and six other screenings. Labuan reports five cases: three in clusters and two other screenings.
Six new cases today are imported: four in Selangor, one in Kuala Lumpur, and one in Perak.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 273,373 doses of vaccine on 24th September: 116,881 first doses and 156,492 second doses. As of midnight yesterday, the cumulative total is 41,847,256 doses administered: 22,599,346 first doses and 19,336,889 second doses. 69.2% of the population have received their first dose, while 59.2% are now fully vaccinated.
Nicole
Reading the article about the 1 in 5000 being not necessarily accurate, I’m reminded of how this pandemic really has played out exactly as the science said it would. First wave, break, second wave which was a lot worse (third wave if people didn’t vaccinate), vaccine preventing serious infection and death in the vast majority of cases. The reason people are so bummed about breakthrough cases is because this first generation vaccine is actually working a lot better than anticipated, but instead of us being happy about that, we’re mad that it’s not a silver bullet.
Compared to where we’d be if people had just really been willing to listen and mask up consistently (after recognizing that science is an ongoing process and it took time to realize it was a respiratory virus). I think science must be like our parents, telling us they went through exactly the same thing years ago, and a lot of the country are teenagers, yelling, “You’re old; you don’t understand!”
NorthLeft12
Nicely done Pastor Keith.
Even though I am now a practicing atheist, I have a great deal of respect for people who truly live their lives to the kind and generous teachings of their religion.
NorthLeft12
I am really disappointed at the direction many western countries are taking regarding booster shots. We have a duty to help the poorer nations peoples to get even one vaccination, not hog the supply for minimal advantage.
I seem to recall that Maya Angelou had a well known quote about a person’s (or society’s) true character.
Baud
@Nicole:
Agree with all of that, especially this.
New Deal democrat
No big change from yesterday. New COVID cases in US now down *more than* 25% from peak. Only 4 States in clear w/w uptrends: AK, IA, MT, and WI. Five others in slight or equivocal uptrends: MI, MN, PA, RI, and VT.
Cases in the Northeast as a whole continue to trend down slightly w/w. This is a very good sign that school openings have not seeded a new outbreak.
Special shoutouts to PR, CA, CT, and MD, the 4 jurisdictions that have done particularly well against Delta, and have fewer than 20 new cases per 100,000.
On the other hand, w/w deaths just increased slightly to a new high just under 2100. These should peak within the next week or so.
So far the Delta wave continues to roll out as quickly as it rolled in. Next target is to be under 80,000 cases/day in about 2 weeks.
No useful data for the next several days, as too many States have suspended reporting over the weekends.
Inspectrix
If each booster dose could be given to an unvaccinated individual instead, it would give so much more individual protection and public health benefit. If all the costs of coordinating boosters could be shifted to giving first doses, we would all be better off. I also also wonder if they should have waited on boosters for the general public until the kids could get vaccinated. I’m fine with 3rd doses for the immune compromised group though.
Ken
I’m trying to decide where this falls on the Well Duh Scale. Not quite at “water is wet”, but damn close.
Matt McIrvin
@Inspectrix: I am not too fussed about boosters as the US has planned to distribute them. We’re doing a lot to distribute doses internationally, and the immunocompromised and people over 65 seem to genuinely need a third shot down the line.
Boosters for everyone as Israel is doing, with plans for fourth doses even, would be ridiculous and wasteful.
debbie
Not sure why it has to be either/or. Speed up the process of sharing manufacturing so other companies can have better access and distribution.
I qualify for a booster, but am feeling hesitant to actually get it yet. If six months is good, why isn’t nine months better?
Matt McIrvin
@New Deal democrat: There’s been a giant spike of thousands of cases in southern Rhode Island that is sudden enough that it makes me think it’s some kind of reporting backlog getting cleared.
Sloane Ranger
Sorry about not updating from the UK yesterday. My computer hard drive died on me Thursday morning and I only got my repaired device back late yesterday. I then spent most of the evening putting stuff back on it.
Anyway, here are Friday’s figures from the UK, where we had 35,623 new cases. This means the 7-day rolling average is up by 13.5%. New cases by nation,
England – 28,199 (down 846)
Northern Ireland – 1030 (down 135)
Scotland – 3667 (down 357)
Wales – 2727 (up 251).
Deaths – There were 180 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is an increase of 0.5% in the rolling 7-day average. 120 deaths were in England, 8 in Northern Ireland, 50 in Scotland and 2 in Wales.
Testing – 1,063,394 tests took place on Thursday, 23 September. This is a decrease of 4.1% in the rolling 7-day average. The PCR testing capacity reported by labs on that date was 872,942.
Hospitalisations – There were 7124 people in hospital and 916 people on ventilators on Thursday, 23 September. As of 20 September, the rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions was down by 15.9%.
Vaccinations – As of Thursday, 23 September, 48,705,771 people had had 1 shot of a vaccine and 44,644,887 had had both. This means that, as of that date, 89.6% of all UK residents aged 16+ had had 1 shot and 82.1% were fully vaccinated.
Joey Maloney
Per the map in Dr. Stemwedel’s tweet, it looks like the only place doing as well as California in terms of case counts is Puerto Rico. I find that surprising, as much of a beating as the place has taken in the past few years. Is there any information on why PR is doing relatively well in containing the virus?
New Deal democrat
@Matt McIrvin: I agree about RI, which is why I included it as equivocal. Thanks for the info.
Barbara
@Inspectrix: FDA and CDC have to go with the medical evidence as to whether boosters are needed or not. Whether CDC or state health departments prioritize outreach to unvaccinated or those eligible for a booster shot is a different issue, no doubt affected by perceptions of the willingness of the vaccine resistant to change their minds.
Barbara
@Ken: Well, the anti-masker communities also tend to have low Vax rates so it might not necessarily be a function of mask usage, or not entirely, unless they also controlled for Vax rate. Maybe they did. I confess to not following the link.
New Deal democrat
@Joey Maloney: There’s a good article about Puerto Rico here:
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article253754878.html
There’s been no big anti-vaxx movement, the vaccination rate is very high (spurred on by a few activist doctors visiting lots of small towns iirc), and the government has had a pretty free hand imposing public health restrictions.
Hmmm … interesting question: I wonder if the local cable company broadcasts Fox News or not?
New Deal democrat
@New Deal democrat: just did a quick search. Apparently Fox News is not carried on cable in Puerto Rico. So probably an important driver of their good record re COVID.
Zzyzx
Breakthrough Covid day 6(?):
Yesterday I moved from worst flu of my life to awful cold. Today it seems to be morphing to pretty bad cold. I’ve had some time this morning where I can breathe normally again through my nose as the gunk is leaving.
I would just like the fever to stay broken. Back up over 101 this morning which is very abnormal for me.
Platonicspoof
@debbie:
The optimistic view would be that the total risk will decline over time, therefore we are at higher risk six months after vaccination if there was no decline in effectiveness, which is not the case.
We would have to figure out local risk numbers at six months and nine months (unknowable until it’s too late to get it at six months) and then factor in the average decline of 6% every two months for Pfizer, which is too complicated for me, anyway.
Since I have age, disease, etc., risk factors, I will get my Pfizer booster at six months (October). And if I wait nine months, I’d have to also add the risk factors of Thanksgiving and Xmas.
Cermet
My fiancé’s cousin (age 19) is being buried today – she died Wednesday from complications from Covid. She decided not to bother getting vaccinated, though she had no issues with vaccines! Makes no sense and such a tragic waste – not taking this seriously is certainly fox media’s biggest and most vile lie about covid.
Fair Economist
What I want to see with boosters is to have the vaccines updated to target Delta. We know that the vaccines are substantially less effective at raising antibodies vs. Delta than the original strain, and that that could be fixed with a Delta-targeted vaccine. Why, when essentially all the infections in the world are Delta, are we still using a vaccine against a meaningfully different strain?
Cermet
@NorthLeft12: LOL; finding such people reminds me of the story of the Greek philosopher looking for an honest man in a market at three in the morning (2000 years ago – lighting and all night 7-11’s weren’t exactly available.) Not easy to ever find such a person you describe.
Cermet
@Zzyzx: Wow, fever is certainly a sign of covid – generally not colds but flus, though. Which you have only a test can tell. Keep an eye on your oxygen saturation levels! If they drop significantly or you have trouble breathing – ER for sure.
Robert Sneddon
Scotland — 3,261 new cases reported today. The test positivity rate is 8.8%. There were 18 new deaths reported overnight. ICU bed occupancy numbers are 79, the same as yesterday while hospitalisations are 1,005, down six.
There were over 8,000 vaccinations carried out in Scotland yesterday (Friday) with over 55% of these being first vaccinations. 91.3% of 16+ adults are now vaccinated with their first dose and 84.1% are fully vaccinated. 70.4% of 16 and 17-year-olds have now received their first vaccination, up 0.3% from yesterday.
dr. bloor
@Fair Economist:
Because it exists and has been shown to save lives, even with Delta? As it turns out, developing alternative formulations is rather more complicated than putting a quarter in the science machine and pressing a button that will dispense the desired choice.
Platonicspoof
@Fair Economist:
I seem to remember you have some background in virology (correct me if I’m wrong), so maybe you (or anyone!) know the updating process better than me. I can only pass along things like this quote from a virologist in a Bloomberg article:
.
Robert Sneddon
@Fair Economist:
A new vaccine is a new vaccine, requiring development, testing and trials for efficacy and safety before it can be made in quantity ten billion and distributed for use universally. We (meaning the world) achieved all that in about nine months last year for the original variant of COVID-19. That was a scientific and logistical miracle and moreover we got several really good vaccine candidates out of that process as well as some useful if less effective ones (depending on how you torture the trials data).
Just making a few tiny alterations in, say, the mRNA payload of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines might make it less effective overall rather than more effective and possibly cause increased side-effects in some parts of the population. A modified vaccine that seriously affected many people with sickle-cell anemia for example is not going to fly, ethically speaking and it would probably destroy any faith in the vaccination process generally.
The existing vaccines work against Delta, not as well as if they had been designed from the start to match Delta’s exact spike protein configuration but when all this kicked off Delta wasn’t around. If the vaccines HAD been originally developed using a time machine or precognition to target the Delta variant they wouldn’t have been as effective on the original variant and the Alpha variant that followed soon after.
soapdish
@Fair Economist: Was thinking the same thing, but this article seems to have decent explanations.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/08/27/covid-vaccine-delta-variant
debbie
@Platonicspoof:
Thanks!
Bill Arnold
@Fair Economist:
Looking at recent work (some still not peer reviewed), ithe main issue with Delta is that it is a lot more contagious. Out of my lane, but probably because the amount of virus shed by infected individuals and shared with others through shared unfiltered exhalations is higher, i.e. a higher level of inoculum(propagules), which overwhelm the antibodies in the nasal passages. You may recall the .mil fan chatter (and actual truth) about Hamas plotting (in the most recent mixed-up-with-Israeli-election-motivated conflict) to overwhelm Israel’s Iron Dome through coordinated massed missile attacks. Similar concept, but evolved through natural selection. (Probably in India, simply due to sheer numbers of virus instances.)
Bill Arnold
Re that The Atlantic piece linked by delthia ricks, the author missed some research suggesting that less viable virus is shed by vaccinated individuals. (There is a similar paper in The Lancet for unvaccinated but previously infected individuals). Here’s one, recent (not yet peer reviewed).
The authors warn that this is a small study done pre-Delta, but it is interesting. Bold mine. The phrase to look for is “virus culture negative”.
Longitudinal analysis of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine breakthrough infections reveal limited infectious virus shedding and restricted tissue distribution (September 02, 2021, medRxiv (preprint))
Some of the references for that paper have interesting titles. (I have not look at most of them.)
Bill Arnold
@NeenerNeener:
Do be sure to not let them inside unless they are wearing a mask, if you have the option. Community spread of Delta do-not-fuck-around circumstances.
randal m sexton
@dr. bloor: Somebody should actually make that science machine!! I would use it all the time, and would totally be ok with having to put 2 quarters in instead of one.
Zzyzx
@Cermet: I tested positive on Wednesday. It’s been a very very long week.
O2 on my Apple Watch has been sane. I check a lot.
smith
@NeenerNeener: I had my furnace and AC serviced about two weeks ago. I asked beforehand if the workman would be masked, and was assured that he would. While he was here, both he and I remained masked. We spent probably no more than 2 minutes total in the same room, and never closer than about 8 feet apart. He spent most of the time he was here in the basement, and I simply didn’t go down there for the rest of the day. At the time, the infection rate here was about 20/100K, and positivity about the same as yours is now.
YMMV, of course, but I felt comfortable with these arrangements, and I am someone who has pretty much stayed in my cave for the duration of the pandemic.
Bill Arnold
@soapdish:
Ah, good. The understanding that hyper-infectiousness is driving the delta wave, including breakthrough infections, is becoming mainstream.
(The non-linear relationship between dose and becoming infected, coupled with very high viral shedding from Delta-infected people (though probably less in the vaccinated). Which, TL;DR means wear a mask even if vaccinated,, and get other people to wear masks too.)
Bill Arnold
@randal m sexton:
I’ve watched a few presentations on full-loop lab automation/discovery in materials science (e.g. electrolyte chemistry for rechargeable batteries). Could easily become mainstream in 5 years. Experimental biology (some of it), similar. And computational biology is increasingly viable. (E.g. Regeneron.)
Clinical trials are a rate limiter, including for vaccines. Necessary, though.
Another Scott
There’s a pink sign in a yard in a neighboring subdivision: “Follow the Science! Unmask the kids!”
The things that some humans get all het-up about.
:-/
Fortunately, it’s only one sign. The far neighbor with the car with bumper stickers screaming about fluoridation and the truth on InfoWars has fortunately moved. (sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Barbara: Not only that, but it seems to me to make sense to do everything possible to knock down community transmission in large countries where it is worst. And that’s the USA, India, UK, Turkey, Philippines (raw numbers – cases per M gives a different sorting (and is dominated by small countries)) by weekly averages at the moment.
We need to do both and, not either or, but we need to do both at much higher levels.
Cheers,
Scott.
bluefoot
@Another Scott:
A guy in Trader Joes the oher day had a bandana covering his mouth, bad guy in an old western-style. He was insisting that having kids wear masks was child abuse.
It’s amazing to me. How is a mask but not an active shooter drill child abuse? how is the security theater at airports post-underwear bomber less abusive than preventing disease during a global pandemic? Can we even reach these people?
Another Scott
@bluefoot: I don’t know if we can reach the noisy ones or not, but we need to recognize they exist and have ways to counter them or work around them.
It’s mostly political team-signaling. Most parents will get in line and do it once their noisy performative antics are rejected by the school boards and the courts. It’s easy to put a sign up – it’s a lot harder to pay to go to court or to lose a job or …
It’s so counter-productive that we have to fight them over things that were settled long ago (no, vaccines do not violate your rights; your rights are not the only metric and never have been), but that’s the world we live in and we have to work through it.
Cheers,
Scott.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@NorthLeft12: Exactly my feelings!
J R in WV
@Fair Economist:
This is not only not known, it is incorrect. The lessening of effectiveness against Delta Variant is comparatively tiny, to the point where altering the manufacture of Pfizer/Moderna etc would be not only pointless, but far more harmful!
The whole testing process would have to start over from scratch, so months of development, months of testing, weeks at least of analysis, FDA / CDC consideration of new data, perhaps approval if no check boxes were missed.
No, just be happy these vaccines still work just fine. And stop promulgating incorrect information!!