Covid-19 Updates & Info

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Suliso Latvia
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#961

Post by Suliso »

Have you all been paying attention to the fact that covid lab leak theory MIGHT be true after all? That would be monumental...

Also a lot of credit to a particularly sceptical colleague of mine (a scientist, but not inefctologist) who was laughing a year ago and saying "of course it's a lab leak".
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#962

Post by mmmm8 »

Suliso wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:37 pm Have you all been paying attention to the fact that covid lab leak theory MIGHT be true after all? That would be monumental...

Also a lot of credit to a particularly sceptical colleague of mine (a scientist, but not inefctologist) who was laughing a year ago and saying "of course it's a lab leak".

Always seemed like the most plausible theory (but an accidental leak, what I didn't buy is that it was malicious)
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#963

Post by Suliso »

I don't think malicious is claimed, albeit telling a difference between accidental and malicious by a single scientist would be impossible.

Lesson for all - don't dismiss information because you don't like the messenger.
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#964

Post by skatingfan »

Suliso wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:48 pm I don't think malicious is claimed, albeit telling a difference between accidental and malicious by a single scientist would be impossible.

Lesson for all - don't dismiss information because you don't like the messenger.
The problem was that a year ago there was no information just a theory that was used to attack Asian-Americans, and the messenger had the authority to investigate the theory but whether it was true or not has never been important to that particular individual.
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#965

Post by Suliso »

skatingfan wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:57 pm
Suliso wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:48 pm I don't think malicious is claimed, albeit telling a difference between accidental and malicious by a single scientist would be impossible.

Lesson for all - don't dismiss information because you don't like the messenger.
The problem was that a year ago there was no information just a theory that was used to attack Asian-Americans, and the messenger had the authority to investigate the theory but whether it was true or not has never been important to that particular individual.
I know, but we shouldn't have dismissed it merely because you know who was pedling it. Actually I also never fully dismissed it because that would involve trusting Chinese (the state not private citizens).

Sometimes even horrible people are right.
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#966

Post by ponchi101 »

Remember that what we were being mostly skeptical about was that it was a Lab virus, but that it was designed and released on purpose.
Which, we were saying, would make no sense because if the Chinese Govt would release a virus to hurt the rest of the world, releasing it inside its borders would be really dumb.
Other than that, as you say, this news would be monumental.
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#967

Post by Drop-shot »

Suliso wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:37 pm Have you all been paying attention to the fact that covid lab leak theory MIGHT be true after all? That would be monumental...

Also a lot of credit to a particularly sceptical colleague of mine (a scientist, but not inefctologist) who was laughing a year ago and saying "of course it's a lab leak".
Have you read my last posts in this thread? Hellooooo :D
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#968

Post by Suliso »

Sorry, drop-shot. Forgot that you already mentioned it. Maybe doubly convincing now ;)
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#969

Post by Suliso »

Peru has updated their covid fatality rate to 1/200 people, the worst in the world. Peru's growth rate is ca 1.1% per year so the disease has almost halved it.
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#970

Post by ponchi101 »

Colombia has increased its rate of vaccination during the last week considerably. A friend, younger than I, got vaccinated yesterday with Pfizer.
So basically, I just wasted a considerable chunk of money to fly here and get vaccinated. So far, the story of my year: try to do the sensible thing, have it blow up in my face.
I frequently wonder how come I am not an alcoholic.
(Good for Colombia, one must admit)
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#971

Post by Suliso »

Don't be too sad ponchi. You got an vacation out of it and a reason to visit relatives. :)
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#972

Post by ponchi101 »

I know. I am really trying to look at it that way. That is a plus.
But I really spent some money that right now I have not a lot of. I already cut down the gym and the tennis back home and, unless some works comes my way soon, those activities are out of any planning anytime soon :cry:
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#973

Post by JazzNU »

ponchi101 wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 1:19 pm Colombia has increased its rate of vaccination during the last week considerably. A friend, younger than I, got vaccinated yesterday with Pfizer.
So basically, I just wasted a considerable chunk of money to fly here and get vaccinated. So far, the story of my year: try to do the sensible thing, have it blow up in my face.
I frequently wonder how come I am not an alcoholic.
(Good for Colombia, one must admit)
Well you said you might have had to get Sinovac if you went to where you would get the vaccine at home, that you couldn't guarantee the one you'd get, that they wouldn't let you choose, so probably still the better plan to ensure you got the one you're most confident in.

Another plus - Much less likely to catch covid here before you're fully vaccinated. When I read about the Copa America plan that is just begging to be a super spreader event for the continent I thought really good you're not there right now, you can get fully vaccinated before returning to that well thought out plan they've got.
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#974

Post by Suliso »

Just a reminder that not every vaccine is the same and it does matter which one you take.

Early adopters of Chinese vaccines see case surges; China plows ahead anyway
China is now giving 20 million doses a day despite low efficacy.

Despite a sluggish start, China is now vaccinating its people against COVID-19 at an impressive clip, currently averaging nearly 20 million doses administered per day. As of Friday, the country had given more than 720 million vaccinations since mid-December, with nearly 400 million of those were given in May alone.

The dramatic ramp up comes at an awkward time, however. Early adopters of China’s vaccines have seen dramatic surges in COVID-19 cases—despite high vaccination rates—and are now backing away from the country’s offerings.

In Bahrain, for instance, officials are now offering high-risk people who have already received two doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine a third vaccine dose—but one made by Pfizer-BioNTech. The apparent vote of no confidence by officials is striking: Bahrain was one of the first countries to back and rollout Sinopharm’s vaccine, and it has had a highly successful vaccination campaign. Nearly 58 percent of the Persian Gulf country has received at least one dose of a vaccine, and most of the vaccines given in Bahrain are from Sinopharm. But the country is now seeing its worst wave of COVID-19 yet and the government has recently issued a two-week lockdown to try to get transmission under control.

The Seychelles went through a similar struggle. The archipelago saw a dramatic spike in cases in mid-May, despite having around 70 percent of its population vaccinated with at least one dose. Like Bahrain, the Seychelles had largely relied on the Sinopharm vaccine.

Dubai, which has also relied on Sinopharm’s vaccine, is now quietly offering residents who have been fully vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine the opportunity to get re-vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Efficacy "not high"

In a study published on May 26 in JAMA, Sinopharm researchers reported results suggesting that their inactivated virus vaccine was up to 78 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 cases. But the study was done mainly in young, healthy men, and the results were not conclusive regarding whether the vaccine was effective against severe disease or asymptomatic cases.

Unpublished data out of Serbia suggested that some people given the vaccine may not produce antibodies to fight off the pandemic coronavirus three months after vaccination, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. “The Sinopharm vaccine is not immunogenic enough, and it appears that its impact is especially low on elderly recipients,” said Olgica Djurkovic-Djakovic, of the University of Belgrade, who led the unpublished study and shared the findings with the Journal.

In April, the head of China’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, George Gao, seemed to acknowledge this potential problem. “The efficacy of the existing vaccines is not high,” he said at a conference, discussing the country’s vaccines. Last month, Beijing reportedly began planning to offer third doses of the country’s vaccines to try to boost protection.

Still, last month the World Health Organization granted an emergency use listing (EUL) for Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine, paving its way for global use. Just on Tuesday, the WHO granted an EUL to China’s Sinovac vaccine. Like Sinopharm’s vaccine, Sinovac's vaccine is an inactivated virus vaccine, and the two appear to have similar track records. Both Chile and Uruguay rolled Sinovac’s vaccine into their mass vaccination campaigns and have seen subsequent spikes in cases.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06 ... -vaccines/
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Re: Covid-19 Updates & Info

#975

Post by dryrunguy »

Dolphins got the J&J vaccine yesterday. He drove himself back home, was a little wobbly, but he got along just fine and maintained his usual activities though the afternoon and evening.

And then this morning happened. He had a pounding headache all morning and it is just now starting to go away. But the thing is that he routinely has headaches, since his body is so mucked up, so I can't certainly attribute it to the vaccine--even though this one, from my standpoint as an observer, looked and "felt" worse than usual.

I'm planning to get my dose Tuesday afternoon. I'm glad we stuck to the plan to get vaccines at different times.
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