Covid-19 Updates & Info

[Suliso]

Argentina has now overtaken Brazil as the worst affected country in South America (per population).

[ponchi101]

Argentina has now overtaken Brazil as the worst affected country in South America (per population).

They have a good percentage of vaccination with Sputnik V vaccines, so they can be taken as a model for that one.
It is simple: the economic collapse of the country is accelerating quickly. Inflation is at 50%, people need to go out to work and make a living. It is spiraling again into 1980's economic failure. I wish Drop would be around a but more often so he could tell us.
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WaPo photos: I did not even need to go to the essay to know that the main shot of the two people crossing the river was between Colombia and Venezuela.
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India. Now they are dealing with something called "black fungus". True bad luck.
And guess who is being proposed for a job in India, which he will take in a second as his other option right now is a 9-5, rat-race, sit-in-your-cubicle position for 20% of his usual salary?

[ti-amie]

This is worrying.

Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing
Epidemiologist & Health Economist. Health Policy & Social Justice. Senior Fellow, FAS. Former 16 yrs
@Harvard. @JohnsHopkins& @HarvardEPI alum.

After 15 million doses of J&J vaccines earlier ruined by Emergent’s factory, it’s further revealed >100 mil doses are on hold as FDA checks for possible contamination. Emergent has long troubling record—but Trump WH awarded big contract anyway.#COVID19

2) In more than three hours of testimony before a House subcommittee, the chief executive, Robert G. Kramer, calmly acknowledged unsanitary conditions, including mold and peeling paint, at the Baltimore plant.

3) He conceded that Johnson & Johnson — not Emergent — had discovered contaminated doses, and he fended off aggressive questions about his stock sales and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses for top company executives.

4) Emergent’s Baltimore plant was forced to halt operations a month ago after contamination spoiled the equivalent of 15 million doses. He said he took “very seriously” a report by federal regulators that revealed manufacturing deficiencies & accepted “full responsibility.”

5) Mr. Kramer’s appearance before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, offered the public its first glimpse of the men who run Emergent, a politically connected federal contractor that dominates a niche market in biodefense preparedness.

6) Testifying virtually, Mr. Kramer was joined by the firm’s founder and executive chairman, Fuad El-Hibri, who over the past two decades has expanded Emergent from a small biotech outfit into a company with $1.5 billion in annual revenues.

7) Executive compensation documents made public show that the company’s board praised Mr. El-Hibri, who cashed in stock shares and options worth more than $42 million last year, for “leveraging his critical relationships with key customers, Congress and other stakeholders.”

8) Among those members of Congress is Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican. Federal campaign records show that since 2018, Mr. El-Hibri and his wife have donated more than $150,000 to groups affiliated with Mr. Scalise.

9) Mr. Kramer’s estimate of 100 million doses on hold added 30 million to the number of Johnson & Johnson doses that are effectively quarantined because of regulatory concerns about contamination.

10) Federal officials had previously estimated that the equivalent of about 70 million doses — most of that destined for domestic use — could not be released, pending tests for purity.

11) House Democrats began their inquiry into Emergent after The New York Times documented months of problems at the Baltimore plant, including failure to properly disinfect equipment and to protect against viral and bacterial contamination.

12) Hours before the hearing, committee released confidential audits that cited repeated violations of manufacturing standards. A top federal manufacturing expert echoed those concerns in a June 2020 report, warning that Emergent lacked trained staff and adequate quality control.

13) Mr. Kramer initially testified that contamination of the Johnson & Johnson doses “was identified through our quality control procedures and checks and balances.” But under questioning, he acknowledged that a Johnson & Johnson lab in the Netherlands had picked up the problem.

14) Johnson & Johnson hired Emergent to produce its vaccine and, at the insistence of the Biden administration, is now asserting greater control over the plant.

15) The government awarded Emergent a $628 mil contract last year. Among other things, lawmakers are looking into whether @emergentbiosolu leveraged its contacts with a top Trump official, Dr. Robert Kadlec, to win that contract and whether officials ignored known deficiencies.

16) Emergent is skilled at working Washington. Its board is stocked with former government officials, and Senate lobbying disclosures show that the company has spent an average of $3 million a year on lobbying over the past decade.

17) Democrats pressed Kramer & El-Hibri about contacts with Dr. Kadlec, who had consulted for Emergent. Emergent agreed to pay him $120,000 annually 2012-2015, and that he recommended that Emergent be given a “priority rating” so that the contract could be approved speedily.

18) The government has so far paid Emergent $271 million, even though American regulators have yet to clear a single dose of vaccine produced at the Baltimore plan

19) A Times investigation found that Emergent has exercised outsize influence over the Strategic National Stockpile, the nation’s emergency medical reserve; in some years, Emergent’s anthrax vaccine has accounted for as much as half the stockpile’s budget.

20) The investigation found that some federal officials felt the company was gouging taxpayers — an issue that also came up at Wednesday’s hearing when @RepMaloney, demanded to know how much it cost to make the vaccine and what it sold for. Mr. El-Hibri promised info later.
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https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1395 ... 49728.html

[mmmm8]

India. Now they are dealing with something called "black fungus". True bad luck.
And guess who is being proposed for a job in India, which he will take in a second as his other option right now is a 9-5, rat-race, sit-in-your-cubicle position for 20% of his usual salary?

If you get vaccinated (with Pfizer/Moderna), you should be ok in India. I've been talking to colleagues there pretty much daily (about COVID) and while it's really bad - about 15% of our team there have been sick at any one time over the past weeks and many with milder symptoms are working from home while ill - if you have money and aren't needing to be hospitalized, the situation is tenable, the larger businesses there have been adapting. This isn't to minimize the depth of the crisis there for the wider population, just a comment on your potential health and safety.

[Suliso]

Your colleagues have been "lucky". My company also has a site in India and currently almost 30% of employees are off work. Either sick themselves or as close contacts to someone. True about vaccines - according to the latest news mRNA vaccines are 80%+ effective against all known variants so far.

[ponchi101]

Going to GA on Tuesday (red eye flight). Should be in Macon by 3PM. Undecided between PF/Bio, MOD or J&J: And after that post by Dry, even more. J&J allows me to be ready to go to work ASAP. PF/Bion seems safer.
So, I will be vaccinated. And I have really made it clear to the possible contractor that I will do anything to get that India job, but there might be no job at all. The situation there is dire.

[ptmcmahon]

Pfizer shot one for me today.

[Suliso]

So, I will be vaccinated. And I have really made it clear to the possible contractor that I will do anything to get that India job, but there might be no job at all. The situation there is dire.

Good luck with the job! I wasn't aware there is any oil or gas in India...

[mmmm8]

Going to GA on Tuesday (red eye flight). Should be in Macon by 3PM. Undecided between PF/Bio, MOD or J&J: And after that post by Dry, even more. J&J allows me to be ready to go to work ASAP. PF/Bion seems safer.
So, I will be vaccinated. And I have really made it clear to the possible contractor that I will do anything to get that India job, but there might be no job at all. The situation there is dire.

So, to me, the choice is simple. Just with one shot of Pfizer/Moderna, you get somewhere between 52 and 89% protection, likely 70-80%. With J&J you get nearly the same protection but no second shot to get even more protection. Take Pfizer/Moderna and then get the second shot when you can. As we discusse, UK/Canada are allowing 3-4 months between the two shots.

https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-v ... ose-2021-3

[ponchi101]

So, I will be vaccinated. And I have really made it clear to the possible contractor that I will do anything to get that India job, but there might be no job at all. The situation there is dire.

Good luck with the job! I wasn't aware there is any oil or gas in India...

There is oil and gas everywhere in the world. In 2019, if you remember, I was in Albania, not totally famous for its oil production. Yet they pump a bit over 100,000 barrels a day, which are very useful for internal consumption.
Heck, I am in a very long list for a possible job in Switzerland. The whole point of oil is that, if the economics work out, the technology to pump it out is by now very well known. And, as we have discussing, even in countries that are moving to alternative energies, there are still cars to fill up.

[MJ2004]

Got Pfizer shot 2 yesterday, just a bit of arm soreness. Otherwise feel fine.

At this point in the U.S., any adult who doesn't have the shot is because they don't want it. I have an otherwise very rational co-worker who isn't getting the shot because she fears miscarriage. Mind you, she is NOT pregnant. Those anti-vax rumors are killer. Quite literally. I heard a response on NPR to that particular rumor, the doctor being interviewed saying "there is no biological pathway by which that could happen", i.e. that future miscarriages could occur due to the vaccine. Sigh...

[Suliso]

Covid prevalence is much reduced in USA, but hardly completely gone. Still about 30k new infections per day and 500-700 deaths. In absolute numbers that's still good for #3-4 on the global list.

[ptmcmahon]

Got Pfizer shot 2 yesterday, just a bit of arm soreness. Otherwise feel fine.

At this point in the U.S., any adult who doesn't have the shot is because they don't want it. I have an otherwise very rational co-worker who isn't getting the shot because she fears miscarriage. Mind you, she is NOT pregnant. Those anti-vax rumors are killer. Quite literally. I heard a response on NPR to that particular rumor, the doctor being interviewed saying "there is no biological pathway by which that could happen", i.e. that future miscarriages could occur due to the vaccine. Sigh...

Likewise, shot 1 just gave me a little arm soreness, no more than any other shot. Still feel fine today otherwise.

In our province they opened 25-29 yesterday for booking..so getting close to "all" adults able to book soon.

[ponchi101]

I was able to book my shots for Tuesday 25th. And of course, I did not do it sooner because I am not there. At a Kroger, basically no questions asked (other than regular forms items like "Am I feeling well?"). In theory, I will get Pfizer.

[ptmcmahon]

Got Pfizer shot 2 yesterday, just a bit of arm soreness. Otherwise feel fine.

At this point in the U.S., any adult who doesn't have the shot is because they don't want it. I have an otherwise very rational co-worker who isn't getting the shot because she fears miscarriage. Mind you, she is NOT pregnant. Those anti-vax rumors are killer. Quite literally. I heard a response on NPR to that particular rumor, the doctor being interviewed saying "there is no biological pathway by which that could happen", i.e. that future miscarriages could occur due to the vaccine. Sigh...

Further to that point... after being "behind" for a long tine...

https://globalnews.ca/news/7871681/covi ... tification

Canada now has a higher % of people with first dose than US now.