The Coronavirus Thread

[Scot Dutchy]

Typical; can't provide any answers so he buggers off.

Dear archbishop, now is not the time to take a sabbatical

As the pandemic rages, Justin Welby says he’s going to take time off. How did religion become so self-centred?

The archbishop of Canterbury has announced that he will shortly be taking a sabbatical for three months to enjoy a period of “spiritual renewal”.

Though his two predecessors took a break of similar length while they were in office, neither was during a time of acute national crisis. So in choosing summer 2021 for his absence, Justin Welby seems to be saying that his personal wellbeing is paramount and that the anxiety, suffering, fear and grief of a country in the grip of a deadly pandemic and an economic crisis is, at best, a secondary concern.

Perhaps it is not surprising that faith is in decline in the UK – only about 8% of the population attend a Christian service regularly – because this attitude strikes at the heart of the religious dynamic.

Religion is extremely demanding, but in the west it has sometimes become indulgent and self-centred. Hindu sages, for example, originally crafted the exacting disciplines of yoga to extirpate egotism, but in the west yoga has become little more than an aerobic exercise, designed to induce calm.

[Brian Peacock]

Meh. Must be a slow news day.

[Tero]

Astra Zeneca promoting hand picked results:

The Oxford-AstraZeneca story is very different, though. Presumably, neither of the two trials from which they combined data could have provided a clear answer on the vaccine’s efficacy on its own. To make things worse, Oxford-AstraZeneca reported only the results for certain subgroups of people within each one. (For perspective on this: The two subgroups chosen leave out perhaps half the people in the Brazilian trial.) Meanwhile, one of their key claims is that giving half a dose of the vaccine on the first injection, followed by a standard dose on the second one, led to better outcomes—but neither of these trials had been designed to test this hypothesis. In fact, it’s since emerged that the half-dose/full-dose option started out as a mistake, and one that was only caught when some people in the study didn’t have the usual high rate of adverse effects.

There were other dosing issues, too, that haven’t been explained even though dosing is the centerpiece of the press release. There are many different regimens in these trials—the UK study has more than two dozen arms, meaning the volunteers were divided into that many groups according to age and how much of the vaccine would be administered and
when. The doses are measured by the number of altered viral particles they contain, and the developers decided that the standard dose would be 5 x 1010 viral particles. But for many of those arms in the UK trial—as well as everyone who got the vaccine in the Brazilian trial—publicly available trial information shows that the standard dose could be between 3.5 and 6.5 × 1010 viral particles. The lower end of that range isn’t far off from a half-dose.

So here we are at the end of November. BNT-Pfizer and Moderna have offered up a masterclass in how to do major vaccine trials quickly in a pandemic, while Oxford-AstraZeneca has, for the moment, only an assortment of smaller ones ready to look at.
(See article for more oddities)
https://www.wired.com/story/the-astraze ... -snuff/amp

[Tero]

Long term efficacy (immunity) of mRNA vaccines unknown:
https://m.jpost.com/health-science/coul ... erm-649253

[NineBerry]

Germany is going light on the pandemic. Half-hearted "lockdown light". Schools remain open. Restrictions are paused over the Christmas holidays.

Merry Corona.

m-|

[rainbow]

The doses are measured by the number of altered viral particles they contain, and the developers decided that the standard dose would be 5 x 1010 viral particles. But for many of those arms in the UK trial—as well as everyone who got the vaccine in the Brazilian trial—publicly available trial information shows that the standard dose could be between 3.5 and 6.5 × 1010 viral particles.

1010?

Please explain this to a simple African?

[Hermit]

The doses are measured by the number of altered viral particles they contain, and the developers decided that the standard dose would be 5 x 1010 viral particles. But for many of those arms in the UK trial—as well as everyone who got the vaccine in the Brazilian trial—publicly available trial information shows that the standard dose could be between 3.5 and 6.5 × 1010 viral particles.

1010?

Please explain this to a simple African?

Probably 1010

[rainbow]

The doses are measured by the number of altered viral particles they contain, and the developers decided that the standard dose would be 5 x 1010 viral particles. But for many of those arms in the UK trial—as well as everyone who got the vaccine in the Brazilian trial—publicly available trial information shows that the standard dose could be between 3.5 and 6.5 × 1010 viral particles.

1010?

Please explain this to a simple African?

Probably 1010

10 billionty, OK

[NineBerry]

Dead mink are rising from their graves in Denmark after a rushed cull over fears of a coronavirus mutation led to thousands being slaughtered and buried in shallow pits – from which some are now emerging.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... oronavirus


They deliberately want to give people heart attacks by writing it like that

[pErvinalia]

Zombie apocalypse?

[NineBerry]

I have watched more zombie movies this year than in any previous years. Just on Monday I watched "Train to Busan" which is really well made. The second well made zombie movie from South Korea I watched this year after watching "Alive" in early summer. I am surprised South Korea produces such films in such a good quality.

[pErvinalia]

Yeah Train to Busan was great.

[pErvinalia]

Have you seen Parasite? It was good too.

[NineBerry]

It's on my watchlist. But it has no zombies.

[rainbow]

Dutch country that wears masks.