Getting vaccinated

[Bicycle Bill]

What do you call a woman who is an avowed anti-vaxxer?
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Mrs. Doubtpfizer.

-"BB"-

[Sue U]

Wife and I had soreness after the second shot. The wife’s was worse than mine.

She got more microchips, obvs.

[Gob]

Aus has screwed up royally.

More than two-thirds of Australians have been placed under new lockdown rules as cases of the Indian variant have flared up across the country after escaping from quarantine hotels.



With just 5 per cent of the population fully vaccinated and the more infectious strain on the loose, Australia's vaunted 'zero Covid' strategy - which allowed its economy to get back up and running last year - is on precarious ground.

Around 18 million Australians, 70 per cent of the population, are now under some form of lockdown restrictions after cases of the Indian variant exploded out of quarantine hotels in Brisbane, Darwin, Perth and Sydney.


The largest outbreak is in Sydney, where 130 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since a limousine driver for an international flight crew was diagnosed with the Indian variant on June 16. The city's residents are now under a draconian stay-at-home order for two weeks.

Scott Morrison, who is under fire for the glacial vaccine roll-out, constant 'circuit breakers' and brutal border restrictions, chaired a national security committee on Monday before announcing that all care home workers must have a vaccine. The PM also ordered mandatory jabs for anyone working, either directly or indirectly, in quarantine hotels - including airport private hire drivers.

Mr Morrison made another policy shift as he invited anyone under 40 to get an AstraZeneca jab if they want to, despite earlier advice that younger people should get another vaccine.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... tions.html

Hen has had her first jab, Hatch gets her first on Friday

[ex-khobar Andy]

Overhear at Trader Joe's today. Two employees talking as they sorted the smoked trout:

"If I identify as vaccinated, do I still have to wear a mask?"

Ok they were laughing, but it was such a TJ's moment . . .

[Scooter]

Just heard from a friend, fully vaccinated, who is ill enough from COVID that he is being treated with monoclonal antibodies. That's pretty fucking scary.

[liberty]

Americans are such disciplined people more than willing to sacrifice for the common good. We need not fear a weak tiny nation like Russia. Bullshit, if our little conservative army can’t pull off a quick victory, we are screwed. If you can’t see after Vietnam, Iraq, and Covid 19 we are not a nation, you are as bad as Shit Head. Of course, Shit Head doesn’t care damn what happens to this country’ Hell, the bitch even hates provinces in Canada.

We are not a nation but just a collection of tribes. We could still do well as tribes if the left weren’t so hate-filled and biased against the other tribes.

Why is it that American nationalism is an evil thing? But other nations protecting their interests is not especially third-world nations.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Americans are such disciplined people more than willing to sacrifice for the common good.

Anyone else want that one or shall I do it?

[Big RR]

All yours andy; and take on the American nationalism assertion as well (leave the "liberal" one alone; he has his mind made up, don't confuse him with facts).

[liberty]

All yours andy; and take on the American nationalism assertion as well (leave the "liberal" one alone; he has his mind made up, don't confuse him with facts).

Big, I respect you for your honesty and integrity, but even an honest man can be wrong. You believe we are a nation; is it all for one and one for all? Are we a family? Recently a black athlete turned her back on the flag and national anthem in the Olympics’ qualifications award ceremony. She was saying it is not my nation, and she is correct; it is not her nation because there is no nation. And by the way, she was praised by liberals.

[Big RR]

Turning your back on a flag is not turning your back on a nation; it is saying that one does not agree with some of what the nation is doing. Are we a family? In a way, I think so; and just as in a family, we are not at all times in line with what is being done by the family. Key to a democracy is being able to express our individual views; and, like it or not, turning one's back to the flag when the national anthem is being played (or kneeling during the anthem for that matter) is a dramatic way of doing just that. Face it, I've seen the US flag defaced by more conservative groups (making it black and white and putting a blue stripe on it--the so-called police or law enforcement flag) and find it offensive, but I still think they have a right to do that. And if we are ever under a serious threat from the outside, I imagine those who hoist that flag and those who kneel during the anthem would join with me and other Americans in defending or country, even though we have serious concerns about some of what our government is doing or not doing.

Face it, I was very active in the anti Vietnam protests (and met a lot of Vietnam vets and even active military at them), and still served in the army. We are not of one mind, never have been, and never will be, and I'm happy for that. The future America, I have not doubt, will be better because of our differences and how we resolve them. Getting trite, one can light a candle or curse the darkness. For me, even a dim candle is preferable to cursing the darkness, and a lot of candles are being lit.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Americans are such disciplined people more than willing to sacrifice for the common good.

The measure of willingness to sacrifice for the common good, for almost all of us, is the payment of taxes for roads, schools, healthcare for the indigent, keeping air and water clean, defense against foreign and domestic enemies and so on. That is a trait not common among the rich, especially those 'business leaders' who do not understand that other people's generosity in building infrastructure and education is why they are rich.

Mercedes patented many of the systems we now take for granted which enhance driver safety. Famously, they have never enforced the patents. My first boss was a man called Anthony Trafford James, who invented the technique known as gas chromatography. Nowadays he'd be a billionaire. In those days Dr James declined to patent the invention on the grounds that it would improve public health. (And it has, in ways he probably never envisaged.)

I've been reading a book about CRISPR, the gene editing technique. ('The Code Breaker' by Walter Isaacson.) An excellent book and pretty good on the science. But what amazed me was the number of companies set up by the universities and the principal scientists to commercialize the procedure. Mostly American (the Nobel was awarded jointly to American Jennifer Doudna and France's Emanuelle Charpentier) but some European and Chinese companies joined in. But in general the people willing to sacrifice for the common good are not typified by your average Republican. Maybe those Norwegians Trump wanted to import more of.

But I do share Big RR's point: that come some common emergency, Americans will unite despite their differences. Exception and Exhibit A for the prosecution: Trump and the response to COVID. The most horrifying thing to me is that in the face of a common enemy, Trump did not hesitate to divide people.

[Big RR]

But I do share Big RR's point: that come some common emergency, Americans will unite despite their differences. Exception and Exhibit A for the prosecution: Trump and the response to COVID. The most horrifying thing to me is that in the face of a common enemy, Trump did not hesitate to divide people.

True, but then. most wiilingly made the sacrifices and did the "right thing". True, there were some loud mouths egegd on by Trump, but most people, like it or not, socially distanced, stayed home, worked remotely, wore masks, and were became vaccinated when it was offered--a pretty stellar record given the asinine behavior of Trump seeking to divide us. I'm more encouraged rather than discouraged.

[Gob]

[TPFKA@W]

One of the nurses I worked with at my former job in the hospital with a somewhat disturbing case of something similar or related to Guillain-Barré. She was having issues like falling down, facial paralysis, pseudo-seizures. I am absolutely certain it is because of the vaccine, I would bet any amount on it. Getting any vaccine has risks and you roll the dice and hope for a positive outcome. I, personally, have not been able to walk without a stagger and sway happening periodically. I have lost 22 lbs to combat it. It is quite disconcerting.

Here is a related article on the issue. https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectious ... cine/93227 It is regarding the AstraZeneca adenovirus vector COVID-19 vaccine. She, as I, got the Moderna stab.

[Scooter]

Stupid people who are going to fuel the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants:

Delta variant sparks COVID outbreak in Oklahoma gymnastics gym — 85% were unvaccinated

A COVID-19 outbreak in an Oklahoma gymnastics gym infected 47 people in just over two weeks, including gymnasts, staff members and household contacts — 40 of them unvaccinated, federal health officials report.

Only 21 of the COVID-19 cases were sequenced to determine what version of the coronavirus caused them, but all of those samples were identified as the highly contagious delta variant, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Friday.

The outbreak, which occurred between April 15 and May 3, adds to existing evidence that suggests the delta variant has higher attack rates than other variants of concern, meaning it can infect more people after exposure.

The attack rate among infected gymnasts and staff members was 20% and 53% among their household contacts.

Forty of the infected people were unvaccinated, three were partially vaccinated with one dose completed and four were fully vaccinated. Those who were infected ranged from 5 to 58 years old, though the median age was 14. (Fully half of those infected in this outbreak were under 14. So much for the "children are not at risk" fairytale.)

Two unvaccinated adults required hospitalization and one required intensive care.

The Oklahoma outbreak joins two others reported this week.

In Texas, more than 125 campers and adults who attended a church camp tested positive for COVID-19, with hundreds more people likely exposed either at the camp or at home. A country music festival in Colorado has also led to a coronavirus outbreak that infected four staff members and 13 attendees.

The CDC emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19, “especially those engaging in strenuous sports with limited ability to maintain physical distancing.” Data shows all available versions of the vaccine offer adequate protection against the delta variant and other variants of concern spreading in the U.S.

New national data released this week predicted the variant will make up about 52% of analyzed coronavirus cases in the country by the end of the two-week period ending July 3, officially overtaking the previously dominant alpha variant first found in the U.K. About a month ago, delta made up about 6%.

Because of reporting delays and multiple interfering variants, federal health officials say the latest estimates mirror case and hospitalization trends in different regions, particularly those with low vaccination rates.

About 99.5% of coronavirus deaths over the last six months have occurred in unvaccinated people, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last week during a White House COVID-19 briefing. She called the current “suffering and loss ... entirely avoidable.”

An Associated Press review of government data from May also found that breakthrough infections, or those that occur in fully vaccinated people two or more weeks after receiving all their shots, made up less than 1,200 of the more than 107,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations — about 1.1%.

And of the more than 18,000 coronavirus deaths in May, only about 150 were fully vaccinated people, or about 0.8%.

[ex-khobar Andy]

AFAIK the local guidance is still that you follow CDC - if you are fully vaccinated you don't have to wear a mask in stores etc.

Well.

I was at CVS this afternoon and of about 14 people in the store I was the only one wearing a mask. And that is including 4 CVS staff of whom 2 were in the pharmacy. According to CDC 62% of over 18s are vaccinated in this county.

Call it 2/3 vaccinated just to make the maths easier. I make the possibility of 10 randomly selected adults as all being vaccinated at 1.7% or about 1 in 60. (I'm ignoring the CVS employees because they are not randomly selected.)

As it happens one unmasked person was standing in line for her shot. So she was flagrantly disregarding CDC guidance and KY requirements.

And some people wonder why I still wear my mask!

[Scooter]

[Long Run]

I was at CVS this afternoon and of about 14 people in the store I was the only one wearing a mask.

The primary reason for wearing masks was to protect other people, by enhancing social distance. When there was widespread adherence to this practice, the spread of COVID was greatly reduced and we all benefited. The wearer of a typical mask, as we were told, receives little protection from airborne COVID. So, unless someone wears an N-95 mask, there is not much reason to wear a mask. I continue to stay away from other people as a reasonable distancing approach. But as more data comes out, the vaccines have been very effective in limiting the spread and/or impact of COVID -- really a triumph of modern medicine. It becomes more and more mind-boggling why people don't take advantage of the vaccine.

[Crackpot]

I still wear a mask because you may still be able to transmit the virus and children 12 and under aren’t vaccine approved.

[Joe Guy]

Although I'm vaccinated, I've decided to wear a mask in all stores where the people who work there are wearing them. Up to now that is every store I've been in.