Mega-Thread: Coronavirus Pandemic

[Edge-]

https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...19/7928701002/

The Tennessee Department of Health will halt all adolescent vaccine outreach – not just for coronavirus, but all diseases – amid pressure from Republican state lawmakers, according to an internal report and agency emails obtained by the Tennessean. If the health department must issue any information about vaccines, staff are instructed to strip the agency logo off the documents.

The health department will also stop all COVID-19 vaccine events on school property, despite holding at least one such event this month. The decisions to end vaccine outreach and school events come directly from Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey, the internal report states.

Additionally, the health department will take steps to ensure it no longer sends postcards or other notices reminding teenagers to get their second dose of the coronavirus vaccines. Postcards will still be sent to adults, but teens will be excluded from the mailing list so the postcards are not “potentially interpreted as solicitation to minors,” the report states.

...

After the health department's internal COVID-19 report was circulated on Friday, the rollback of vaccine outreach was further detailed in a Monday email from agency Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tim Jones.

Jones told staff they should conduct "no proactive outreach regarding routine vaccines" and "no outreach whatsoever regarding the HPV vaccine."

Staff were also told not to do any "pre-planning" for flu shots events at schools. Any information released about back-to-school vaccinations should come from the Tennessee Department of Education, not the Tennessee Department of Health, Jones wrote.

"Any kinds of informational sheets or other materials that we make available for dissemination should have the TDH logo removed," Jones wrote.

The Death Cult in Tennessee isn't just rolling back teenage vaccine efforts for covid...but for all vaccines. The Death Cult is gonna get people pointlessly killed because of their absolute braindead stupidity, and not just due to covid. I'm trying not to make this too political, but it's genuinely difficult to express my anger at these people literally dragging public health backwards because they're a bunch of absolutely retarded, overly sensitive snowflakes that have decided to politicize routine vaccinations that have been responsible for wiping out diseases like polio so that kids don't have to worry about living their lives in an iron lung.

[Elegiac]

https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...19/7928701002/

The Death Cult in Tennessee isn't just rolling back teenage vaccine efforts for covid...but for all vaccines. The Death Cult is gonna get people pointlessly killed because of their absolute braindead stupidity, and not just due to covid. I'm trying not to make this too political, but it's genuinely difficult to express my anger at these people literally dragging public health backwards because they're a bunch of absolutely retarded, overly sensitive snowflakes that have decided to politicize routine vaccinations that have been responsible for wiping out diseases like polio so that kids don't have to worry about living their lives in an iron lung.

Novel thought: An anti-vax tax.

Refusal to get the vaccine without a legitimate medical reason should result in a tax penalty to help defray the public health costs of that decision.

[Forogil]

We have Delta plus now. Just as virulent as Delta with better camouflage mechanism.

Children with covid do get long haul covid. Just at a lower percentage of adults. There have been multiple clinical studies confirming that. The current research efforts are trying to find out if there are any long term detrimental effects that won't show up until the teen years or adulthood like HPV.

COVID-19 alters human genes, explaining mystery behind coronavirus ‘long haulers’

At first I was curious - as it seemed odd and then I looked at the comments at that page and realized that it seemed populated by absolute nutters.

As for the research: if it is that ground-breaking then it seems odd that a master's student is listed as the main contributor and it was presented in April and we haven't heard more about it.

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You do realise the pill is prescribed and used for reasons other than contraception, yes?

Yes, but is that the case in 90% or more of the cases? Otherwise the pregnancy-risk reduction is still a main factor.

If you try to consider other uses and other contraceptives the counter-argument is that there are also other vaccines than AZ that seem significantly safer (especially for younger women).

[Elegiac]

Yes, but is that the case in 90% or more of the cases?

In some groups - yes, actually.

Well, here's another twist in the debate over whether birth control is an essential health benefit. More than 1.5 million American women use birth control pills for reasons other than preventing pregnancy, a new analysis finds.

The nonprofit Guttmacher Institute, using federal survey data from the National Survey of Family Growth, found that 14 percent of pill users said they were taking the medication for a purpose other than contraception.

The pill users include an estimated 762,000 women who've never had sex. Ninety-five percent of them cited reasons other than birth control for their use of the pill.

In any case,

If you try to consider other uses and other contraceptives the counter-argument is that there are also other vaccines than AZ that seem significantly safer (especially for younger women).

I already acknowledged this when I said that bitching about AZ is silly if there is no alternative available.

[Rasulis]

At first I was curious - as it seemed odd and then I looked at the comments at that page and realized that it seemed populated by absolute nutters.

As for the research: if it is that ground-breaking then it seems odd that a master's student is listed as the main contributor and it was presented in April and we haven't heard more about it.

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Yes, but is that the case in 90% or more of the cases? Otherwise the pregnancy-risk reduction is still a main factor.

If you try to consider other uses and other contraceptives the counter-argument is that there are also other vaccines than AZ that seem significantly safer (especially for younger women).

It is a Texas Tech research project. They did present it at the symposium in April. Link to abstract below.

https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/EB2...Target=1640424

It does not appear that it has been published yet. Not even in preprinted format.

[Forogil]

Yes, actually.

That is a specific sub-group, overall the figure is 14% which is considerably less than 90%. And 42% use it exclusively for contraception, which is also less than 90%.

BTW: since the figure is for the US you should compare it with 99% - as pregnancy is deadlier in the US; and even if a teenager says they use it for non-contraceptive reasons and says they have never had sex it still prevents pregnancy.

The main point is still that people are bad at estimating risks, and in terms of deaths people don't have accurate estimates of the relative risks of various things.

[Elegiac]

That is a specific sub-group

Which does not change the fact that despite the risks it is still widely seen and medically regulated as having legitimate use for conditions besides pregnancy. I already acknowledged other vaccines should be used before AZ, so stop being a pedant. Christ and Allah.

[Rasulis]

On a more light hearted side of the news.

Gangnam Style out, BTS in as South Korea bans fast gym music to fight Covid surge

New guidelines starting Monday include a requirement that gyms not play music with more than 120 beats per minute (bpm) during group exercise classes to prevent fast breathing and splashing sweat on other people.

Coming in at 132 bpm, "Gangnam Style" by South Korea's Psy is ruled out. But gym-goers can still work out to "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, Kanye West’s "Love Lockdown" or "Dynamite," by BTS.

Also, if you are in San Francisco, the cable cars are back on normal schedule, and they are free to ride until September 1.

Rather interesting. Despite the blow out 4th of July in San Francisco, new covid cases in SF averaged 0.8 new cases per day per 100,000 residents during the past week. Down from the 1.4 from the previous week. Death toll has been zero for three weeks in a row. Although, most of the attendees probably came from outside of San Francisco. One of the family that used our driveway came from Contra Costa.

[Elegiac]

On a more light hearted side of the news.

Gangnam Style out, BTS in as South Korea bans fast gym music to fight Covid surge

I feel like if they're splitting hairs to the point you're regulating how many BPM the mood music can have, they should probably just close the fucking gyms for the duration of the surge. Lol.

[Granyala]

On a more light hearted side of the news.

Gangnam Style out, BTS in as South Korea bans fast gym music to fight Covid surge

That gave me a good chuckle, lol.
What a load of nonsense, as if people needed music in a gym to get their body to exhaustion. Oo

Either close the joint or open it. This screams "we have taken measures" just for the sake of being able to say "we have taken measures" with 0 scientific connection to it.

[Forogil]

That gave me a good chuckle, lol.
What a load of nonsense, as if people needed music in a gym to get their body to exhaustion. Oo

They also limit the speed on treadmills to 6km/h. To me that sounds like a quick-paced walk, not running.

Doesn't sound as though you get sweaty, right? Good, since they closed the showers at the gym as well!

(They also limit the number of persons, which makes sense.)
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210712000804

[Rasulis]

https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...19/7928701002/



The Death Cult in Tennessee isn't just rolling back teenage vaccine efforts for covid...but for all vaccines. The Death Cult is gonna get people pointlessly killed because of their absolute braindead stupidity, and not just due to covid. I'm trying not to make this too political, but it's genuinely difficult to express my anger at these people literally dragging public health backwards because they're a bunch of absolutely retarded, overly sensitive snowflakes that have decided to politicize routine vaccinations that have been responsible for wiping out diseases like polio so that kids don't have to worry about living their lives in an iron lung.

That's related to this.

Tennessee vaccine official's story reveals an ugly truth about GOP and children's rights

Fiscus, the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, said Monday that she was fired after writing a memo about Covid-19 vaccinations for young people, and including the legal standard for parental consent to health care in Tennessee. As Fiscus put it in a statement, "according to Tennessee Supreme Court case law, minors ages 14-17 years are able to receive medical care in Tennessee without parental consent."

That is a simple statement of fact, one that is repeated on the Tennessee Department of Health's own website. This "mature minor doctrine" (Tennessee is one of five states in the US to have one) essentially says that minors 14 and over are presumed competent to make basic health care decisions. That would include vaccination. But, according to Fiscus' statement, "Within days, legislators were contacting TDH (Tennessee Department of Health) asking questions about the memo with some interpreting it as an attempt to undermine parental authority." It wasn't -- but even if the Department of Health did encourage young adults to get vaccinated, that would be squarely within the purview of a state health department.

Fiscus wrote that "it was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against Covid-19. I have now been terminated for doing exactly that..." The department told CNN in an email it could not comment on personnel matters.

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And it get stranger. We are in twilight zone now.

Tennessee Health Official Ordered Not to Acknowledge National Immunization Awareness Month

A Tennesee health department official was told in an email last week that there should be no public acknowledgement that August is National Immunization Awareness Month in the United States.

You can read the rest on your own. It does not get any better.

[Specialka]

Novel thought: An anti-vax tax.

Refusal to get the vaccine without a legitimate medical reason should result in a tax penalty to help defray the public health costs of that decision.

Why not apply that to smoking ? Or drinking ?

[Elegiac]

Why not apply that to smoking ? Or drinking ?

Because it already is.

Why the fuck do you think people buy duty-free booze and smokes at airports? Lol.

[Specialka]

Because it already is.

Why the fuck do you think people buy duty-free booze and smokes at airports? Lol.

Those taxes are not everywhere, and are only for the US and are far from paying for the costs of issues or illness from smoking or drinking.

[Elegiac]

Those taxes are not everywhere, and are only for the US

Doesn't really matter because the fact these taxes exist means you failed in your attempts to fish for a double standard regarding financial penalties for the purpose of public health.

[PhaelixWW]

Dear anti-vaxxers: Think of the children!

CNN: Young children will pay the price if enough US adults don't get vaccinated against Covid-19, expert says

Children will likely pay the price for adults in the US not getting vaccinated at high enough rates to slow or stop the spread of Covid-19, which has been surging in most states, a vaccine expert said.

If vaccination rates among adults and kids 12 and older keep lagging amid increased spread of the Delta variant, the youngest members of the population will be most affected, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccinologist and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

"Transmission will continue to accelerate ... and the ones who will also pay the price, in addition to the unvaccinated adolescents, are the little kids who depend on the adults and adolescents to get vaccinated in order to slow or halt transmission," he said.

In 46 states, the rates of new cases this past week are at least 10% higher than the rates of new cases the previous week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

In Los Angeles County, the country's most populous, there has been a 500% increase in cases over the past month, according to the county's latest health data.

As cases increase, only 48.1% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And though many may brush off the risk of low vaccination rates to children, citing their low Covid-19 mortality rates, Hotez said they are still at risk for serious complications.

In Mississippi, seven children are in intensive care with Covid-19, and two are on ventilators, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted Tuesday evening.

Many more adolescents could become hospitalized, Hotez said, adding up to 30% of children infected will develop long-haul covid.

Scientists are now learning about neurological consequences to long-haul covid, Hotez added. Some studies have shown impacts on the brain of people who have been infected with the virus. One study in April found 34% of Covid-19 survivors received a diagnosis for a neurological or psychological condition within six months of their infection.

"What you're doing is your condemning a whole generation of adolescents to neurologic injury totally unnecessarily," Hotez said. "It's just absolutely heartbreaking and beyond frustrating for vaccine scientists like myself to see this happen."

[Specialka]

Doesn't really matter because the fact these taxes exist means you failed in your attempts to fish for a double standard regarding financial penalties for the purpose of public health.

"Exist in the US". And are different from taxes that would be penalties. But I am not surprised you can't comprehend that.

[Elegiac]

"Exist in the US". And are different from taxes that would be penalties.

Semantics, but also still technically incorrect since a penalty for failing to adhere to a given mandate is still considered a tax under common law.

Woof. Talk about missing the point.

[Specialka]

Semantics, but also still technically incorrect since a penalty for failing to adhere to a given mandate is still considered a tax under common law.

Woof. Talk about missing the point.

Again, in the US. And who was missing the point ? And I know you do not like that but words have meaning and weight.

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taxes on it are 1.60 sek / cigarette + 1% of the price in sweden...

also for alcohol...

We are talking here about penalties, not taxes when buying smokes or alcohol.