The Coronavirus Thread

[Hermit]

I keep seeing that some 60% of healthcare workers are declining the vaccine. --must be bs right?

Up to 60%. This explainer makes sense to me.

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 29% of healthcare workers were hesitant to receive the vaccine, citing concerns related to potential side effects and a lack of faith in the government to ensure the vaccines were safe. Frontline workers in the United States are disproportionately Black and Hispanic. The pandemic has taken an "outsized toll" on this segment of the population, which has reportedly accounted for roughly 65% of fatalities in cases in which there are race and ethnicity data. A study published by the journal The Lancet over the summer found "healthcare workers of color were more than twice as likely as their white counterparts" to test positive for the coronavirus. According to a Pew Research Center poll published in December, vaccine skepticism is highest among Black Americans, as less than 43% said they would definitely/probably get a Covid-19 vaccine. Dr. Juvvadi told NPR that "there's no transparency between pharmaceutical companies or research companies — or the government sometimes — on how many people from" Black and Latino communities were involved in the research of the vaccine. Dr. Varon said that "the fact that [President] Trump is in charge of accelerating the process bothers" those individuals who refuse to be immunized, adding "they all think it's meant to harm specific sectors of the population." In an op-ed published in the New York Times earlier this week, emergency physicians Benjamin Thomas and Monique Smith wrote that "vaccine reluctance is a direct consequence of the medical system's mistreatment of Black people" and past atrocities, such as the unethical surgeries performed by J. Marion Sims and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, best exemplifies "the culture of medical exploitation, abuse and neglect of Black Americans."

[NineBerry]

Right wing parliamentarian who caused ruckus in parliament for wearing a mask with holes is in hospital now with Covid-19.

[Brian Peacock]

Oh dear. What a terrible shame.

[Sean Hayden]

The owner of the local candy shop has died of Covid. He was in his 80s or 90s. He was well liked. When the pandemic threatened his business the neighborhood lined up around the block for days to visit his store.

--sick world eh?

[JimC]

An interesting potential use of technology:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-04/ ... e/13029358

As scientists learn more about the role played by ventilation in the spread of COVID-19, some are starting to focus on how improving air quality can provide better protection.

Airborne transmission of small particles has increasingly been recognised as a source of coronavirus spread, prompting experts to call for a rethink of indoor ventilation.

Now, a South Australian clinical trial of ultraviolet (UV) air treatment to destroy the virus mid-air has secured $1.3 million in federal funding.

She said she had some "reservations", including around whether the technology would create "radicals" — unstable atoms that could damage cells.

Not to mention singlet oxygen.

I'm sure there could be some sort of passive filter (activated carbon?) that would absorb free radicals when placed downstream from the UV chamber. However, they key to this of course is lots of testing, not only whether the virus is destroyed but careful assays for anything toxic.

[NineBerry]

Europe is lost.

[Cunt]

Heying raised an interesting question...not whether someone is resistant to the vaccine, but a more illuminating question might be: why should we not favour the tried & true, late-to-the-party normal vaccine (coming soon) over the mRNA newfangled never-been-tried-before vaccine.

I think the UV light treatment is new enough in air cleaning systems, to warrant a bit of caution and testing. Where it isn't necessary, it might be safer to wait.

With vaccines, her point was that the one about to be released, is based on well-understood, and tested tech, while the mRNA is possibly better, certainly exciting in its mechanism, but just a bit unknown.

She also pointed out that the 'same-old' kind would be easier to distribute in remote areas, small towns and anywhere deep-freezing is a problem.

[JimC]

Heying raised an interesting question...not whether someone is resistant to the vaccine, but a more illuminating question might be: why should we not favour the tried & true, late-to-the-party normal vaccine (coming soon) over the mRNA newfangled never-been-tried-before vaccine.

I think the UV light treatment is new enough in air cleaning systems, to warrant a bit of caution and testing. Where it isn't necessary, it might be safer to wait.

With vaccines, her point was that the one about to be released, is based on well-understood, and tested tech, while the mRNA is possibly better, certainly exciting in its mechanism, but just a bit unknown.

She also pointed out that the 'same-old' kind would be easier to distribute in remote areas, small towns and anywhere deep-freezing is a problem.

The Oxford vaccine only requires refrigeration, not ultra-low temperatures, so it would be useful for remote areas...

[Cunt]

Heying raised an interesting question...not whether someone is resistant to the vaccine, but a more illuminating question might be: why should we not favour the tried & true, late-to-the-party normal vaccine (coming soon) over the mRNA newfangled never-been-tried-before vaccine.

I think the UV light treatment is new enough in air cleaning systems, to warrant a bit of caution and testing. Where it isn't necessary, it might be safer to wait.

With vaccines, her point was that the one about to be released, is based on well-understood, and tested tech, while the mRNA is possibly better, certainly exciting in its mechanism, but just a bit unknown.

She also pointed out that the 'same-old' kind would be easier to distribute in remote areas, small towns and anywhere deep-freezing is a problem.

The Oxford vaccine only requires refrigeration, not ultra-low temperatures, so it would be useful for remote areas...

The main point remains, though. mRNA ones, while new and exciting, have the disadvantage (from a risk assessment perspective) of being new and exciting.

The one about to arrive, is more proven technology. (traditional production, tuning etc.)

I doubt I'll make the 'needs vaccine' list for quite some time, but I will probably have to decide.

----

[Brian Peacock]

By the time you get called there'll have been enough people before you to know if the new and exciting vaccine gives you hairy palms and an uncontrollable urge to howl at the moon, or whatever.

[NineBerry]

There's no traditional vaccine coming soon. They'll all take much longer

[Cunt]

By the time you get called there'll have been enough people before you to know if the new and exciting vaccine gives you hairy palms and an uncontrollable urge to howl at the moon, or whatever.

I know there are already adverse effects. Pretty photogenic ones, in some cases. It's interesting how media portrays that stuff.

I already know that the difference in incidences of adverse effects, between the three vaccines, is a problem for someone else to work out. Someone good at that research.

The reason they offered for 'favouring' one, was simple, reasonable and clear. The media (and governments so far) seem to be 'favouring' the others, which doesn't exactly mean it makes scientific sense (except maybe economics)

Me, I would (for the moment) favour the plain-jane one, while hoping that a lot of brave pioneers do the testing on that 'mRNA' method, since it promises to be an upgrade.

Nineberry might want to check out the latest 'Dark Horse' podcast, and find out how they described it. They aren't likely wrong, but my understanding might be.

[JimC]

Oz will not be administering any vaccine to anyone until well into March, so our vaccine certification will be the full, standard one, not the emergency use certification of countries with dire pandemic numbers. We can afford to wait because our covid-19 case numbers, even with the current minor outbreaks, are only a few per day.

[NineBerry]

There's no "plain Jane" one coming soon. They all run very late.

[Sean Hayden]

I guess I just got lucky being in a third world shithole then.