Looks like the bottom left pumpkin did their own “research” pic.twitter.com/CrjFCyblpR
— March For Science (@MarchForScience) October 15, 2021
Mix 'n match: Just before a panel of experts voted to recommend a J&J booster shot, top FDA official, Dr. Peter Marks, said the agency might consider allowing J&J vax recipients to receive boosters of Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines https://t.co/8I6HW0nc21
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) October 15, 2021
#VRBPAC voted unanimously that people who get the J&J vaccine should be boosted after 2 months.
There will be a catchup for people who were vaccinated longer ago.
This vaccine is en route to being a 2 dose vaccine in the US, it appears. https://t.co/219lfjoDQe— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) October 15, 2021
.@Reuters: "Vaccination rates against COVID-19 in the United States have risen by more than 20 percentage points after multiple institutions adopted vaccine requirements" https://t.co/EpoO1STBuY
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) October 14, 2021
The US had +89,680 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total to 45.6 million. The 7-day moving average declined to 86,428 new cases per day. pic.twitter.com/jBpZAkwwWx
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) October 15, 2021
The US reported +1,654 new coronavirus deaths yesterday, bringing the total to 741,893. The 7-day moving average declined to 1,369 deaths per day. pic.twitter.com/ATz3zJslVC
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) October 15, 2021
This latest map from https://t.co/6kWMww3KUq shows where COVID-19 continues to spread most rapidly across the US, over the past week. pic.twitter.com/wRbilTmD2p
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) October 15, 2021
2. FDA has only approved/authorized Pfizer, Moderna & J&J. But the WHO has given emergency authorizations to a number of vaccines, including the AstraZeneca vaccine, which many Canadians received.
Believe this goes into effect Nov. 8, when the land border opens. pic.twitter.com/njo02Enc2q— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) October 15, 2021
======
Horse race marks Sydney's emergence from long COVID-19 lockdown https://t.co/soqM1kNg83 pic.twitter.com/fK5GwPDLBK
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 16, 2021
New Zealand health care workers have administered a record number of vaccine jabs as the nation holds a festival aimed at getting more people inoculated against the coronavirus. By @nickgbperry. https://t.co/hYPCDE195Y
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 16, 2021
The record for daily coronavirus deaths in Russia has been broken repeatedly over the past few weeks. The latest single-day number, another record, is 999 fatalities as infections surge and the government refuses to order a nationwide lockdown. https://t.co/9Fou72ZZSV
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) October 15, 2021
Protests erupted in Italy as one of the most stringent anti-coronavirus measures in Europe went into effect, requiring all workers, from magistrates to maids, to show a health pass to get into their place of employment. https://t.co/y6R8GrKFAG
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 15, 2021
How to deliver Covid vaccines in a country with few roads https://t.co/ABkjoWkRRW
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 15, 2021
Brazil pandemic probe to recommend Bolsonaro face 11 criminal charges, senator says https://t.co/eCsHxgNIWX pic.twitter.com/V9z8c3c9iI
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 16, 2021
Millions in developing nations from Latin America to the Middle East have been left anxiously waiting for more doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine as Russia struggles to meet global orders. https://t.co/1GeyCg2BWi
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 15, 2021
======
Conclusions from @NIH comparing three #COVID19#vaccines with boosters.
They all work.
No serious side effects seen with any of them.
Moderna mRNA vax gives the strongest responses both with and without boosting.
Presented @US_FDA pic.twitter.com/Dg1FvvcBHD— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 15, 2021
Overall, regardless of the variant strain of #SARSCoV2 individuals are exposed to, boosted #COVID19 vaccines give immune responses & antibody levels at high levels, with @moderna_tx best, followed by @pfizer & then @JanssenGlobal (J&J). Results from @NIH presented to @US_FDA now.
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 15, 2021
People who have previously recovered from #COVID19 have a stronger immune response after being vaccinated than those who have never been infected.
Scientists are trying to find out why.https://t.co/xE3EO7fVNz pic.twitter.com/7Zl4qQIHbf
— MicrobesInfect (@MicrobesInfect) October 15, 2021
Unvaccinated 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated: CDC data https://t.co/mWVZehIyOl pic.twitter.com/q3tiUilfUf
— The Hill (@thehill) October 15, 2021
Commenting about #COVID19 science is dangerous. 15% of surveyed scientists who have, say they've received death threats.
“If you’re a woman, or a person of color…abuse will probably include abuse of your personal characteristics.”https://t.co/xh9b91Shig pic.twitter.com/xSkGTJP8IL— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 14, 2021
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Willingness to use Ivermectin by primary news source.
•Newsmax, OAN, Gateway Pundit: 75%
•Fox News, Mark Levin, or Breitbart: 70%
•Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter: 46%
•Major non-cable networks and press: 35%I’m surprised social media isn’t worsehttps://t.co/KDVTIs5ZLx
— **Sarcasio del Fantasma** (@SarcasmoDeMiami) October 14, 2021
62 percent of police deaths last year were COVID-19-related: analysis https://t.co/GwkdNECqw4 pic.twitter.com/GTYtPR7hmT
— The Hill (@thehill) October 15, 2021
Police departments around the U.S. that are requiring officers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are facing pockets of resistance that some fear could leave law enforcement shorthanded. Police unions and officers are filing lawsuits to block the mandates. https://t.co/tv7nL0AjwF
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 15, 2021
Perspective: Parents love their kids. That doesn’t make them experts on masks and vaccines. https://t.co/Wbz6p64NSM
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 13, 2021
GOP lawmaker, banned from flying Alaska Airlines over mask mandate, tests positive for covid-19 https://t.co/dkAUOnaqhg
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 14, 2021
It’s not *that* strange if you take into account that we are living through a pandemic where more than 700k people have died pic.twitter.com/bwXn3u777Q
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) October 13, 2021
That viral tweet about every restaurant worker in a Denver airport terminal walking out due to a vaccine mandate was bullshit. bonus: the person who tweeted it threatened a reporter who fact checked it with a libel suit https://t.co/8v0jYJpE1a
— Anna Merlan (@annamerlan) October 15, 2021
… The claim originated with a social media post on Thursday by Pam Long, a vaccine critic and writer for The Defender, a publication of the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense.
Long was previously the president of Colorado Health Choices Alliance, which opposes vaccine requirements.
“Denver Airport. The owner of 5 restaurants in C terminal made a Nov. 1st mandate or get fired,” Long posted on Twitter. “None of the cooks, dishwashers, bussers and hosts showed up to work. So there were no restaurants open in C Terminal. He immediately sent an email reversing mandate.”
Long’s claim quickly gained traction among vaccine critics, amassing 7,983 retweets and 28,300 likes…
[DIA’s] Rentaria said there was no unexpected closure of restaurants outside regular hours, let alone a mass closure of every restaurant in Concourse C due to an employee strike over a vaccine mandate…Reached by phone, Long said she had heard about an employee revolt against a vaccine mandate at DIA and did not attempt to determine if it was true before sharing it on social media.
“I’m not a reporter,” Long said. “That’s your job.”
Long warned 9NEWS against airing a fact-check of her claim.
“I would not run this story if you consider libel a threat,” Long said.
Minutes later, her social media post was deleted.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
What an asshole!
NotMax
The more testing, the more options, the better.
Also, locally –
Baud
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
That could refer to a lot of people mentioned in the OP.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
The Monroe County web site says 241 new cases yesterday, NYSDOH says 266 new cases.
mrmoshpotato
“No vaccine, no job here” apparently works.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Baud: To be clear, I was referring to Long. The reaction was visceral and I just responded accordingly.
The Dark Avenger
Anti-Vaxxer: This is true.
Reporter: How do you know that?
Anti-Vaxxer: I’m not a reporter, that’s your job.
Reporter: (Doing their job of fact-checking)
Anti-Vaxxer: Don’t do that or I’ll sue for libel!
Anti-Vaxxer: (Deletes social media post)
WereBear
@mrmoshpotato: It’s all fun and games until its YOUR bootstraps being sawn through.
mrmoshpotato
Well, if you listen to (read) the Stupidest Man on the Internet (GP)…
Robert Sneddon
Britain is already vaccinating higher-risk people with booster doses, timed for six months after their second regular vaccination. About half of the original vaccinations in the late winter and early spring were doses of AstraZeneca adenovirus vaccine but the boosters are all Pfizer mRNA. As far as I can tell from the information online these are full-strength doses. Personally I’m expecting to receive my own booster vaccine in a week or two (my second AstraZeneca vaccination was at the end of April).
Here in Scotland the authorities are giving a flu vaccination at the same time as the COVID-19 booster vaccination since the epidemiologists are predicting that this year’s influenza season will be a bad one and they don’t want the health services overrun with a second respiratory disease at the same time they’re trying to cope with the expected winter surge of COVID-19 cases.
mrmoshpotato
We should celebrate Halloween this year with cannons. Particularly, shooting this asshat out of a cannon and into the lake.
mrmoshpotato
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
Way to comment on most of today’s post in three words! Bravo!
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reports 7,509 new Covid-19 cases today in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 2,384,542 cases. It also reports 89 deaths as of midnight, for an adjusted cumulative total of 27,777 deaths – 1.16% of the cumulative reported total, 1.21 % of resolved cases.
Based on cases reported yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt is at 0.87.
630 confirmed cases are in ICU, 281 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 9,531 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 2,261,289 patients recovered – 94.7% of the cumulative reported total.
Nine new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 5,663 clusters. 702 clusters are currently active; 4,961 clusters are now inactive.
7,493 new cases today are local infections. 16 new cases today are imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 174,732 doses of vaccine on 15th October: 35,198 first doses, 129,359 second doses, and 10,175 booster doses. As of midnight yesterday, the cumulative total is 46,633,404 doses administered: 24,699,864 first doses, 22,036,881 second doses, and 15,585 booster doses. 75.7% of the population have received their first dose, while 67.5% are now fully vaccinated.
YY_Sima Qian
On 10/15 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
At Fujian Province 17 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 44 active domestic confirmed cases.
At Heilongjiang Province 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 8 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Erenhot in Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region did not report any new positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, a worker at a logistics park
Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case. There currently are 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Ruili in Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both traced close contacts at centralized quarantine facilities. There currently are 6 domestic asymptomatic cases remaining t, all at Ruili in Dehong Prefecture.
At Henan Province there currently are 5 active domestic confirmed cases remaining, all at Shangqiu.
Imported Cases
On 10/15, China reported 14 new imported confirmed cases (5 previously asymptomatic), 15 imported asymptomatic cases:
Overall in China, 49 confirmed cases recovered (28 imported), 17 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (all imported) & 5 were reclassified as confirmed cases (all imported), & 2,094 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 521 active confirmed cases in the country (462 imported), 1 in serious condition (imported), 372 active asymptomatic cases (359 imported), 2 suspect cases (both imported). 20,223 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 10/14, 2,229.212M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 1.878M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 10/15 Hong Kong reported 6 new positive cases, all imported (from Russia, the UK, Indonesia & the Philippines; all had been fully vaccinated).
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@mrmoshpotato: (bows graciously)
Also, got my booster yesterday (House Pfizer).
Chetan Murthy
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): I got mine (same brand) on Thu! Woke up Fri AM with a little dry eye, runny nose, a little soreness at the injection site, and randomly-distributed little aches in muscles.
Which is more than I got from the first two shots combined! Like, the weeniest flu I ever had, basically.
I’m no idiot, so I trust the scientists and the nurses and the dosing protocols. But boy howdy, I’m a little jealous of you folks who have real reactions to the shot. At least you know your body’s defenses are up and bristling! [ok, ok, ok, I’m half-kidding]
Chris T.
I think we should call the covidiots “pro-polio”.
It may not be totally accurate, but it has Colbert Truthiness! Plus, it’s alliterative and trips off the tongue!
Lora Reinbold: Pro-Polio!
Buckeye
@Chetan Murthy:
First Pfizer was a nothing burger. 2nd shot knocked me out for nearly 3 days. Better than being on our covid wards, but it was the worst I’ve felt in decades.
mrmoshpotato
@Chris T.:
“Pro-plague” is more encompassing.
Betsy
Aw, gee, police departments may lose their craziest, most conspiracy-minded, disease-carrying, anti-social tendency-having officers.
Nicole
My cousin’s wife had a single dose of Moderna several months ago; she has a history of trouble with vaccines, and sure enough, passed out 45 minutes later (fortunately, she got the shot at a hospital so help was right there). Her immunologist said she shouldn’t get the second shot, but also said if she were to catch Covid, it would likely be very bad. The time since has been an exhausting time of trying to minimize her risk of exposure in daily life- my cousin has been doing all the shopping, her ex-husband has had to take on full-time parenting as she hasn’t seen her (adult and teenage) kids in person, although they’ve facetimed and constantly texted because this has been so emotionally hard on her. This week, as she put it, the stars aligned and her lab work showed no infections so her doctors gave her the go-ahead to get the J&J shot. She had the (normal for her) reaction- headache, ringing in the ears and fever. And she’s so relieved (as are we all). I’m very hopeful that the preliminary data on mixing shots (and mixing natural infection with a follow-up vaccine) means she’ll end up with better overall immunity than if she’d been able to do both shots of one vaccine.
And she lives in Oklahoma, so all the precautions they had to take were necessary because too many people don’t have enough of a sense of civic duty to do the right thing for immunocompromised neighbors.
Chetan Murthy
@Nicole: A famous woman said “It takes a village”. Your cousin’s wife’s tale is heartening; thank you for sharing it. It’s especially so, because the people around her pitched-in to keep her safe, something that …. is commendable, even if it shouldn’t have to be.
Thank you for this.
Chris T.
@mrmoshpotato: Yes, but “pro-plague” doesn’t dance as well as “pro-polio” (the latter doesn’t just alliterate, it also internally rhymes “pro” several time, as in “pro poh lee oh”, all on the right stressed syllabobbles).
topclimber
@Chris T.:Pro-Pandemic has been used by the perspicacious TopClimber many times.
Peale
@Chris T.: child cripplers
Amir Khalid
I’m always annoyed when I come across the “personal choice” argument against getting vaxxed. When we get in our cars to drive, we comply with various safety mandates: a licence mandate, a sobriety mandate, a seat-belt mandate. We understand why these mandates are in place. We don’t quibble about our right to personal choice.
Well, a Covid-19 vaccine mandate is the same. It’s in place to protect us and those around us. No matter what specious arguments are raised against them by misguided personal-choice advocates, the vaccines work, better in fact than we dared hope. The personal-choice argument is bullshit.
Dog Mom
@Chris T.: Virus villains, kid killers, Corona Coughers
NorthLeft12
Kudos to the reporter doing their job and exposing the story for what it was…..a complete fabrication.
That is how you do journalism.
New Deal democrat
While only CO, NH, and VT are in clear uptrends, in many States, and the West and Northeast as a whole, the downtrend seems to have ended, most at very elevated levels. I suspect we are not going to make much more progress before a winter wave begins. Deaths also anomalously have increased, but I suspect this is just noise.
New Deal democrat
Many of my neighbors are GOPers. Had a conversation with two of them a couple of days ago. They are vaccinated, but said if their children were still of school age, they would not vaccinate them because the vaccines are “experimental.” I pointed out that the polio vaccine was just as “experimental” when we got it as kids, and asked if authorities should have waited decades before approving it for general use as well. Their response was twofold. One said that the polio vaccine “cured” polio, while mRNA vaccines do not. The other did not believe that the polio vaccine was mandatory. I said the first was untrue, and that there were also breakthrough cases of polio; and as to the latter, that the polio vaccine was mandatory for school enrollment in all 50 States.
I didn’t convince them on the spot, but I am pretty sure they will do some googling and find out that what I told them was true.
I think pointing out how polio vaccine was just as new when we got it is a very good line of argument.
debbie
@Chetan Murthy:
Be careful what you wish for.
debbie
The CDC’s stat about the unvaxed being 11 times more likely to die is scary.
Kalakal
For anyone like myself left in limbo re booster shots by Novavax here is some good news from the UK.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/uk-offer-vaccine-shots-novavax-trial-volunteers-80475143
They’ve basically decided that if you were on the Novavax trial you can now have the full course of Pfizer. Intrestingly the main driver appears to be the lack of vaccinated status given to people who’ve had Novavax rather than vulnerability to covid ( the Novavax effectiveness is up there with Pfizer) so they’re offering the full course rather than a booster
They obviously think it’s safe and as they started last monday and I’ve yet to hear of any horror stories of people keeling over I think I’m going to forget about waiting for Novavax to do the right thing and say hello to Pfizer
And of course at that point I’ll have a real/regular CDC card as opposed to the trial one which could be useful
Robert Sneddon
Scotland — 2,581 new COVID-19 cases reported today. The test positivity rate is 9.5%. There were 21 new deaths reported. ICU bed occupancy numbers are 47, up two from yesterday while hospitalisations are 841, down 10.
There were approximately 5,400 vaccinations carried out in Scotland yesterday (Friday) with about 65% of these being first vaccinations. 91.8% of 16+ adults are now vaccinated with their first dose and 85.2% are fully vaccinated. 73.8% of 16 and 17-year-olds have now received their first vaccination, up 0.2% from yesterday. 45.2% of 12-15 year olds have now received their first vaccination, up 0.9% from yesterday.
There were about 20,000 booster vaccinations carried out yesterday. This seems to be the standard daily rate of booster shots being carried out in Scotland at the moment.
Nicole
@New Deal democrat: You did good with your neighbors. And you’re right about what you said, PLUS- the first polio vaccine didn’t fully stop transmission, either. It stopped (most) kids from getting very ill, and reduced transmission, of course, but some kids could still transmit it, as it was an injectable vaccine, and thus not immunizing at the site of infection (hmm… there’s some other vaccine out right now that’s first generation injectable, too…). It wasn’t until the oral vaccine was developed that modern medicine had a way to really stop transmission. Much like how studies are being done right now on a nasal version of the (currently first-generation) vaccine… what virus is it for, again?
I think the polio vaccine comparison is very apt. Again, you did good.
Sloane Ranger
Back from my five days in the frozen tundra’s of Northumberland. I wanted to visit Hadrian’s Wall and I did see bits of it through the window, but torrential rain and gale force winds deterred me from actually getting out and physically visiting any of the main sites. Still, maybe next year?
Anyway, back to my normal scheduled UK report, where, yesterday (Friday), we had 44,932 new cases. This is an increase of 11.5% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,
England – 37,691 (down 797)
Northern Ireland – 1349 (up 45)
Scotland – 2762 (up 123) See also Robert Sneddon’s update above.
Wales – 3130 (up 495).
Deaths – There were 145 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is an increase of 5.1% in the rolling 7-day average. 94 deaths were in England, 4 in Northern Ireland, 32 in Scotland and 15 in Wales.
Testing – 980,883 tests took place on Thursday, 14 October. This is a reduction of 0.6% in the rolling 7-day average. The PCR testing capacity reported by labs on that date was 907,923.
Hospitalisations – As of Thursday, 14 October there were 7086 people in hospital and 783 on ventilators. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions was up by 6.4% as of 11 October.
Vaccinations – As of Thursday, 14 October, 49,335,154 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 45,297,231 had had 2. In percentage terms this means that 85.8% of all UK residents aged 12 and over have had 1 shot and 78.8% have had 2.
Ohio Mom
I’m wondering how boosters for the J&J is going to work. A good number of the original shots were given in very causal settings like subway stops and block parties, and to homeless people.
I’m not sure that the bar patron who got a J&J because “Hey, sure, why not, I’ll get a free beer” is the type of person who is closely following the science news and is now saying, “Wow, better locate a booster ASAP.”
On the topic of polio vaccines, to oversimplify, the Sabin is a so-called live virus (defanged obviously) and the Salk contains a killed virus.
There have been occasional cases of Sabin/live virus recipients coming down with polio and/or spreading the virus to others, which is why in this country, we use the Salk/dead vaccines. But the other vaccine is easier to keep and distribute in less developed countries, so it is used there.
Ohio Family Trivia: When Ohio Dad was a lad, he lived in the same neighborhood as the Sabins, and knew them slightly.
Suzanne
@New Deal democrat: Allegheny County has been essentially level for a month. At a high plateau.
Another Scott
I have a distinct recollection from early on that the J&J was one shot because it worked differently – the body would attack the vector of the 2nd shot before it could get where it needed to be in the cells to start working.
Am I misremembering? What changed?
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kristine
@Kalakal:
Different study example–I’m in the Ensemble 2 clinical study for J&J 2-shot regimen, and last I heard the clinical site was working with Illinois to get our vax records added to the state registry. Waiting to hear where that stands. They gave us CDC vax record cards, so that part’s covered. And it took a bit, but I was able to find a plastic sleeve that I could slide the card into without needing to trim it.
Kalakal
@Kristine: Glad to hear that for you, that takes care of both the card and the booster
I’m in Florida, I’m pretty sure we’re not on the state registry. I got a CDC card as well, it’s got a different blurb at the top about it being for a trial. The problem is at present Novavax isn’t approved anywhere so a lot of countries/places don’t recognise it. My personal thing is that due to a combination of age and work environment I’m pretty sure I could do with a booster
debbie
@Nicole:
Also, parents were not at all hesitant to get in line and get the vaccine into their kids. Polio was that scary.
COVID should be just as scary (one recovering woman said that before she was ventilated, she was coughing up what to her looked like plexiglass). I’ve read and seen reports about deniers later getting COVID and turning into evangelists for masks and shots.
Scout211
@Another Scott:
The studies that show the effectiveness in the real world do not live up to the effectiveness in the trials.
Link
Bill Arnold
Re influenza in the US 2021/2022 season (northern hemisphere), looking quite low in the USA relative to the same week in 2019, even with more testing. 2020 had less testing with a similar low positivity rate:
Just edit the CDC[1] URL for years, and week number in year:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2021-2022/data/whoAllregt_cl40.html
Influenza Positive Tests Reported to CDC by U.S. Clinical Laboratories
2019-2020 Season Week/Total A/Total B/Percent Positive A/Percent Positive B/Total/# Tested/% Positive
201940 127 320 0.89 2.24 14227 3.14
2020-2021 Season Week/Total A/Total B/Percent Positive A/Percent Positive B/Total/# Tested/% Positive
202040 9 8 0.11 0.1 7923 0.21
2021-2021 Season Week/Total A/Total B/Percent Positive A/Percent Positive B/Total/# Tested/% Positive
202140 24 18 0.08 0.06 28951 0.14
Influenza has a fairly low R relative to SARS-CoV-2 and especially relative to the Delta variant, in part because of existing immunity from vaccines and actual infections, but even without vaccines/prior exposure (fully new strain), estimates are around 1.6-1.8 IIRC (will find the cite). This means that masks especially on infected people and other NPIs may drive R below 1, when combined with a vaccination push. One can hope.
[1] Full CDC page: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm
Bill Arnold
@Amir Khalid:
In the US, it’s akin to arguing that they, as a gun-toting Americans, have the right to wander through a residential neighborhood and put rifle bullets through random houses. With the added twist that the bullets that just wounded people (most of the few that hit people) sometimes caused those people to pick up a rifle and start randomly putting rifle bullets through houses in residential neighborhoods. Sort of a zombie plague but with infection-by-rifle. (And also by persuasion, for an additional ingredient in the metaphor mix.)
That laws against such activity in residential neighborhoods (very common in the US) are invalid because they infringe on the right to kill random people.
NYCMT
Aunt Carmen update:
Carmen was ill enough this morning to head to Cleveland Heights hospital, where she was assessed, and where her attending physician prescribed a monoclonal antibody infusion. The hospital wasn’t able to find and perfuse a vein, so she has been transferred to Cleveland City hospital downtown for competent venipuncture.
jonas
@Betsy:
Exactly my sentiment as well. Those plague rats with badges can fuck right off.
Ohio Mom
@NYCMT: I missed the first Aunt Carmen entry — hope they found a vein and she’s on the mend.