Mega-Thread: Coronavirus Pandemic

[Corvus]

There is a resurgence of cases associated with this variant, from Nepal if i'm not mistaken, suprisingly, even Israel seems to coming up again .

In Israel's case it is up - to around 120 cases/day. Which is a long way short of the 10,000 cases/day. And a lot of those cases are in kids as well, which is why tehy are moving to vaccinate 12-16 year olds. It does show that vaccination has really made a difference.

[Granyala]

There is a resurgence of cases associated with this variant, from Nepal if i'm not mistaken, suprisingly, even Israel seems to coming up again .

If it's only cases that are going up but not hospitalizations / deaths, we do not need to give a hoot.
Too early to tell though.

[braydencook0712]

y'all heard about the delta plus variant of the virus. This virus is updating more frequently than my phone apps. and I found somewhere in a college essay that it might even show some kind of resistance to the existing vaccines that are currently on the market.

[Granyala]

y'all heard about the delta plus variant of the virus. This virus is updating more frequently than my phone apps. and I found somewhere in a college essay that it might even show some kind of resistance to the existing vaccines that are currently on the market.

To be expected. Keep in mind, you are only hearing about variants of concern. The virus mutated several thousand times already.
There are reasons why we will need booster shots, virus adapting is one of them. Lets hope our technology and logistics can adapt faster than it can.

[Tuor]

y'all heard about the delta plus variant of the virus. This virus is updating more frequently than my phone apps. and I found somewhere in a college essay that it might even show some kind of resistance to the existing vaccines that are currently on the market.

I've read somewhere that the efficiency of mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna) isn't much affected by the Delta variant, and people are putting AZ vaccine at around 70% efficiency with this new strain, which means, its still better to get the vaccine then nothing.

[PhaelixWW]

To be expected. Keep in mind, you are only hearing about variants of concern. The virus mutated several thousand times already.
There are reasons why we will need booster shots, virus adapting is one of them. Lets hope our technology and logistics can adapt faster than it can.

To be honest, this virus is thankfully less prone to mutation than many had feared (which is in-line with coronaviruses in general, as opposed to other RNA viruses, which are far more prone to mutation). Keeping in mind that the world has probably seen over 1 billion cases of COVID so far, the number and severity of the variants of concern, while bad, is easily much better than it could have been. Once the vaccinations really have the chance to tamp down on the widespread conflagration, it's entirely possible that we'll be able to escape this pandemic without the need for yearly boosters.

I mean, I'm not going to hold my breath, but it's possible.

I feel like it's more possible that we might see boosters for a small handful of years (1-5, maybe?), while we patch up more of the gaps in the not-quite-herd-immunity, and with said boosters specifically targeting any new variants.

All that said, resistance breeds competition, so we may see worse variants pop up somewhat more frequently because of the vaccination efforts, but I don't think they'll outpace the prevention efforts, merely slow it down.''

I think the best goal is for someone to develop a method for combining flu and COVID boosters in one, so we can have more pressure on people to get it all done at once each year. I'm not sure how feasible that is for the immune system, though. If people are asked to get two booster shots per year, however, they're more likely to just shrug the whole thing off and not get any.

[PACOX]

y'all heard about the delta plus variant of the virus. This virus is updating more frequently than my phone apps. and I found somewhere in a college essay that it might even show some kind of resistance to the existing vaccines that are currently on the market.

As long as the spike doesn't change much, the mRNA vaccines will work. We are SoL if the spike mutates significantly. That's one of the reasons why it is so important to vaccinate. You don't want that sweep spot where enough people spreading the virus and evolution 'figures out' (I know it's random) changing the spike will make it more infectious.

[Forogil]

I've read somewhere that the efficiency of mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna) isn't much affected by the Delta variant, and people are putting AZ vaccine at around 70% efficiency with this new strain, which means, its still better to get the vaccine then nothing.

That mRNA vaccines aren't much affected by the Delta-variant is a matter of perspective.

If we say that Pfizer/BioNTech was 92% effective against the original strain and 88% against the Delta-variant it doesn't seem like a major shift, but if we look at the ones that are symptomatically infected despite being vaccinated ("breakthrough rate") that number rose from 8% to 12% - which seems more significant (obviously that there are large uncertainties in all numbers).

For AstraZeneca the effectiveness against the original strain depends on a lot of factor - some claim it was 81% effective (with large interval etc https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2...-rate/13202050 ) - compared to 70% against Delta; or alternatively an increase in breakthrough infections from 19% to 30%.

So, in this perspective the breakthrough rates for both vaccines increased by about 50% due to Delta; it's just that the mRNA vaccines were better from the start. If the variant also increases the breakthrough rate for the Sinovac vaccine (that allegedly had about 50% efficiency at the start) it's hardly useful at all - but we don't know if that is the case.

The real problem is that Delta allegedly also have an R around 8; which means that 88% must be vaccinated with a 100% effective vaccine or 100% with an 88% effective vaccine to reach herd immunity, or in other words even the current mRNA vaccines are likely not good enough.

That makes it even more important to get the vaccine yourself.

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As long as the spike doesn't change much, the mRNA vaccines will work. We are SoL if the spike mutates significantly. That's one of the reasons why it is so important to vaccinate. You don't want that sweep spot where enough people spreading the virus and evolution 'figures out' (I know it's random) changing the spike will make it more infectious.

I don't see that everyone in India and Africa will be given mRNA vaccines, and especially not regular booster shots, and thus even if we don't want that place where the virus figures out how to change the spike protein I don't see that we can stop it.

Obviously it depends on how long the vaccine lasts, and how much the virus mutates.

[Easo]

In the meantime people in Russia are still obviously not getting it and celebrating end of school year by filling the streets for Scarlet Sails festival https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_Sails_(tradition). Foreign artists not allowed, but local ones obviously are less risky about transmitting Covid

This is happening while they have record deaths, now 600 per day (as talked here before, real number has to be at least couple times higher).

https://twitter.com/the_ins_ru/statu...39503518695428
https://twitter.com/LDanvers/status/1408498935598026758
https://www.facebook.com/imsobaka/po...97640017052603

[Zan15]

Man its going to be hard to get those last 30% in this country. Even death is not changing their minds.


https://www.businessinsider.com/fami...-report-2021-6

The daughter of an unvaccinated woman who died from the coronavirus said her family will still not be getting their shots, according to the Daily Beast.

Molly Hart, a physical therapist from Bradenton, Florida, was left devastated after her mother, Mary Knight, passed away from complications related to COVID-19 last week. However, the tragic event did not change her stance on getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

"No one in my family will be getting the vaccine," Hart confirmed to the Daily Beast.

Hart said she believes her mother, who was 58 years old, did not die from the coronavirus but that it was a "freak thing" caused by "stress."

"She was always a busy worker bee," Hart said, according to the Daily Beast. "She didn't know how to rest and gave her all to everything she did. Stress killed her, not COVID. A healthy body and immune system [do] not need the vaccine."


Knight, who was not vaccinated, died after contracting the virus in the government office building where she worked as an IT Customer service supervisor.

Three other unvaccinated employees in her office — where wearing face masks was not mandatory — also contracted the virus and fell seriously ill, but survived. Another unvaccinated member of the IT department, a 53-year-old man called Alphonso Cox, also died last week after coming down with COVID-19.

The employees in the office that had been vaccinated however were not affected by the illness at all, Manatee County Administrator Dr. Scott Hopes said in a statement.

[GreenJesus]

I'm in California and luckily covid is basically over. No more masks. Im Vaccinated so honestly couldn't care less about delta gamma mega ultra super chocolate covered variant. Back to normal. Anyone that wanted thr vaccine could have gotten it. If they get sick then that was their choice. Not my problem.

[Jtbrig7390]

I'm in California and luckily covid is basically over.

Not even close to being over...

[Forogil]

In the meantime people in Russia are still obviously not getting it and celebrating end of school year by filling the streets for Scarlet Sails festival https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_Sails_(tradition). Foreign artists not allowed, but local ones obviously are less risky about transmitting Covid

Russia is interesting - they are now said to require certification of having been vaccinated for some professions: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-...rus-cases.html

Which is a clear business opportunity! As you can get a covid vaccination certificate for just 2,000 rubles (30€)!

https://news.yahoo.com/russia-vaccin...103049278.html

Note: Some make the point to say that this isn't vaccine hesitancy, but "Sputnik V hesitancy".

[GreenJesus]

Not even close to being over...

What do you mean? Everything is open, masks aren't required anymore, and almost 70% have at least one dose of the vaccine. It might as well be over.

The flu isn't over either but we don't stop all life for it.

[Forogil]

What do you mean? Everything is open, masks aren't required anymore, and almost 70% have at least one dose of the vaccine. It might as well be over.

One dose isn't enough for the Delta-variant, and unfortunately more and more in the US skip the 2nd dose.

[Rennadrel]

Man its going to be hard to get those last 30% in this country. Even death is not changing their minds.


https://www.businessinsider.com/fami...-report-2021-6

The daughter of an unvaccinated woman who died from the coronavirus said her family will still not be getting their shots, according to the Daily Beast.

Molly Hart, a physical therapist from Bradenton, Florida, was left devastated after her mother, Mary Knight, passed away from complications related to COVID-19 last week. However, the tragic event did not change her stance on getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

"No one in my family will be getting the vaccine," Hart confirmed to the Daily Beast.

Hart said she believes her mother, who was 58 years old, did not die from the coronavirus but that it was a "freak thing" caused by "stress."

"She was always a busy worker bee," Hart said, according to the Daily Beast. "She didn't know how to rest and gave her all to everything she did. Stress killed her, not COVID. A healthy body and immune system [do] not need the vaccine."


Knight, who was not vaccinated, died after contracting the virus in the government office building where she worked as an IT Customer service supervisor.

Three other unvaccinated employees in her office — where wearing face masks was not mandatory — also contracted the virus and fell seriously ill, but survived. Another unvaccinated member of the IT department, a 53-year-old man called Alphonso Cox, also died last week after coming down with COVID-19.

The employees in the office that had been vaccinated however were not affected by the illness at all, Manatee County Administrator Dr. Scott Hopes said in a statement.

Florida is fucking wild man. They are just doing whatever the hell they want damn the results. It's really quite disturbing actually. Even my almost 60 year old parents are vaccinated, so I don't believe that this is a generational issue but like damn, how the hell can you refuse something seeing your own parent die? I just got my second shot on Thursday so I'm feel better, but the region I live in is being hit by the Delta variant. And while I do believe that people should be free to do what they want, this sort of cringe worthy resistance to getting vaccinated is ridiculous.

I've had nothing more than minor reactions to the shots, both Pfizer. My first shot I was sporadically feverish and felt sore and tired, my second was just a lethargic tiredness the following day. Being able to visit friends and family again is more important to those I care about than the paranoia that these morons keep spouting.

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Russia is interesting - they are now said to require certification of having been vaccinated for some professions: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-...rus-cases.html

Which is a clear business opportunity! As you can get a covid vaccination certificate for just 2,000 rubles (30€)!

https://news.yahoo.com/russia-vaccin...103049278.html

Note: Some make the point to say that this isn't vaccine hesitancy, but "Sputnik V hesitancy".

I wouldn't trust any vaccine made by the Russian government, or China for that matter. I'd risk the companies I know like Pfizer who actually have made medications that were proven safe to take.

[Easo]

Russia is interesting - they are now said to require certification of having been vaccinated for some professions: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-...rus-cases.html

Which is a clear business opportunity! As you can get a covid vaccination certificate for just 2,000 rubles (30€)!

https://news.yahoo.com/russia-vaccin...103049278.html

Note: Some make the point to say that this isn't vaccine hesitancy, but "Sputnik V hesitancy".

It is not like they are very trusting towards the other 2 vaccines, too. It is mentality, sadly, and some blowback from their own Western anti-vaccine propaganda, as I mentioned earlier.

I wouldn't trust any vaccine made by the Russian government, or China for that matter. I'd risk the companies I know like Pfizer who actually have made medications that were proven safe to take.

Well, it cannot be that bad. Though there are questions about Sputnik seeing that it is still not recommended by WHO or EU, but at least China's main one is accepted by WHO.

[Zan15]

I'm in California and luckily covid is basically over. No more masks. Im Vaccinated so honestly couldn't care less about delta gamma mega ultra super chocolate covered variant. Back to normal. Anyone that wanted thr vaccine could have gotten it. If they get sick then that was their choice. Not my problem.

Yah what can possibly go wrong with that many people churning up even more variants.

There were how many flu variants before we got to the Big one.

I mean it kind of worked out for the plague way back when, the 2nd variant was the worst with 85% death rate, the 3rd and 4th were only around 20-40%. of course you had to take into account there were upwards of 70% less people in a lot of places after the 1st-2nd.


it could eventually be your problem again thanks to them

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What do you mean? Everything is open, masks aren't required anymore, and almost 70% have at least one dose of the vaccine. It might as well be over.

The flu isn't over either but we don't stop all life for it.

Oh god here we go again.....

BTW W.H.O says you shouldn't be giving up your mask just yet. The US did it for economic purposes not logical reasoning.

[GreenJesus]

Yah what can possibly go wrong with that many people churning up even more variants.

There were how many flu variants before we got to the Big one.

I mean it kind of worked out for the plague way back when, the 2nd variant was the worst with 85% death rate, the 3rd and 4th were only around 20-40%. of course you had to take into account there were upwards of 70% less people in a lot of places after the 1st-2nd.


it could eventually be your problem again thanks to them

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Oh god here we go again.....

BTW W.H.O says you shouldn't be giving up your mask just yet. The US did it for economic purposes not logical reasoning.

I'm vaccinated. I don't need a mask anymore. These people just crave the attention and don't want to be irrelevant anymore. "Delta gamma variant is appearing! Better stay at home again and listen to the news and click on our stories more! We ran out of material after trump lost and don't know what to write about anymore." Media is just fear mongering again.

[Zan15]

I'm vaccinated. I don't need a mask anymore. These people just crave the attention and don't want to be irrelevant anymore. "Delta gamma variant is appearing! Better stay at home again and listen to the news and click on our stories more! We ran out of material after trump lost and don't know what to write about anymore." Media is just fear mongering again.

Yah it has nothing to do with science....just fear mongering.