Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[madwullie]

2 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

The only thing that needs to be "solved" is hospital capacity being able to manage any severe cases that slip through the net.

So aye, they absolutely can solve this.

Not my words, the dude looking at the study. I just didn't put inverted commas because I was kinda paraphrasing 

Edited January 29, 2021 by madwullie

[Bairnardo]

1 minute ago, madwullie said:

Not my words, the dude looking at the study. I just didn't put inverted commas because I was kinda paraphrasing 

There are different interpretations of what needs to be solved, with those thinking the existence of covid is some sort of affront to humanity needing to be told sooner rather than later to shut the f**k up. 

[madwullie]

1 minute ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Except vaccines alone can solve this and a lot of these tweets are about attention seeking more than anything else. The vaccines can be adjusted to fit new variants as they emerge and booster shots can be provided on that basis.

So why are all the experts not acting like it is actually a big deal. 

Honestly, hyper optimism is just as dangerous as hyper pessimism. 

We can't just wave everything negative away - experts are saying it's a real issue. People didn't have natural immunity to the new variant, and vaccine immunity was lowered. 

It'd be great to just say we'll that's fine we can tweak vaccines, make boosters - well yes, we can, but what happens with restrictions in the meantime? This sort of thing is why the clamour for targets to lift restrictions are falling on deaf ears. We don't have all the data, and the data isn't always going to be what we project it will be. 

The received wisdom on here is that talk of new variants being a concern is just fear porn - but when studies come back with this kind of data, it's just brushed aside as incidental. Maybe we need a bit of a reality check? I don't like it, but that's obviously what these experts are thinking. 

[welshbairn]

24 minutes ago, SlipperyP said:

Anything like that happening to the special residents of the UK ?

The standard practice here until recently was to encourage them to go on holiday and cancel their residency permits so they couldn't get back in.

[LongTimeLurker]

28 minutes ago, madwullie said:

So why are all the experts not acting like it is actually a big deal... 

It's a bit like global warming. The most extreme politicised doomster predictions about imminent melting ice caps attract the attention of the tabloids/activists, while more nuanced opinions and research findings get completely sidelined by all the attention seeking fear porn. As long as it is variants that are involved the vaccines are more likely to still work than not and can be easily adjusted because the virus has only modified slightly. If they start using the words new strain instead of new variant, there is more cause for concern.

Edited January 29, 2021 by LongTimeLurker

[Melanius Mullarkey]

1 hour ago, virginton said:

'Mah intellectual property rights' while treating a global public health crisis is guillotine talk. 

Aye, drug companies are notorious for their altruism.  

[vikingTON]

4 minutes ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

Aye, drug companies are notorious for their altruism.  

If only their CEOs could develop a cure for having their head lopped off then.

[Michael W]

If variants are such a concern, entirely bar international travel to countries where they are causing problems or it's known the vaccine won't work. In the meantime, tweak the vaccine so that the countries struggling can vaccinate their population and resolve the matter. 

It is not acceptable to continue enforcing restrictions in the UK because a new variant has been discovered elsewhere. Stop it coming in and go from there. 

[superbigal]

The less publicised good news about the Novavax offering is the amount of active ingredients in each jab is miniscule.
This means when they start manufacturing that stocks will be much higher much quicker.
Unlikely to be approved for a few weeks yet though.

[Left Back]

1 minute ago, virginton said:

If only their CEOs could develop a cure for having their head lopped off then.

Escalating the truncheon policy to go full blown Irvine Welsh?

[G51]

1 hour ago, virginton said:

'Mah intellectual property rights' while treating a global public health crisis is guillotine talk. 

100%.

The solution to the world shortage of vaccines is obvious - remove all patents on coronavirus vaccines. Prioritise people over capital.

[Left Back]

Just now, G51 said:

100%.

The solution to the world shortage of vaccines is obvious - remove all patents on coronavirus vaccines. Prioritise people over capital.

In principle I get it but that’s only half the solution.  Producers have to actually make the stuff.  Look at Sanofi.  They were developing their own vaccine and presumably they had facilities to manufacture it at scale.  Now it’s in the bin they’ve offered to manufacture a paltry amount of biontech.  Strikes me as a PR exercise rather than an all out willingness to help alleviate the pandemic.

[welshbairn]

6 minutes ago, G51 said:

100%.

The solution to the world shortage of vaccines is obvious - remove all patents on coronavirus vaccines. Prioritise people over capital.

There's more to it than that, look at the trouble AZ are having with low yield in their Italian factory, there aren't that many firms with the expertise and equipment to make vaccines safely and they're probably all at it full time already. I agree that patents shouldn't be blocking production though.

[Elixir]

A fantastic thread and read, as ever:

 

[Elixir]

1 hour ago, madwullie said:

So why are all the experts not acting like it is actually a big deal. 

Honestly, hyper optimism is just as dangerous as hyper pessimism. 

We can't just wave everything negative away - experts are saying it's a real issue. People didn't have natural immunity to the new variant, and vaccine immunity was lowered. 

It'd be great to just say we'll that's fine we can tweak vaccines, make boosters - well yes, we can, but what happens with restrictions in the meantime? This sort of thing is why the clamour for targets to lift restrictions are falling on deaf ears. We don't have all the data, and the data isn't always going to be what we project it will be. 

The received wisdom on here is that talk of new variants being a concern is just fear porn - but when studies come back with this kind of data, it's just brushed aside as incidental. Maybe we need a bit of a reality check? I don't like it, but that's obviously what these experts are thinking. 

To the point that they may become re-infected, but the immune system at this point isn't going to treat it as a completely novel virus as per first exposure. Subsequent re-infections were expected over time - it has been a year now after all - but these are invariably going to be more mild and or asymptomatic in nature.

Healthcare services will not be overwhelmed because of re-infections. Well, at least in the context of those individuals. If they pass it on to someone with no prior exposure, then obviously that could lead to greater illness for that host. But over time as exposure and immunity builds, 'variants' will not prolong the pandemic. Remember immunity is a 'spectrum', it doesn't just mean you either can or can't catch something.

[MONKMAN]

Covid denier dies of.......... covid

https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/28/covid-kills-covid-denier-who-refused-to-wear-mask-or-socially-distance-13980467/

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Devi Sridhar tweets really bring out some of the most ever so ever so c***s in the planet. The crossover with Janey Godley twitter gives clear indication that nothing uttered there should ever been considered anything other than parody. 

[welshbairn]

Good and bad news from Israel, the vaccines work on the UK strain, only 2% of those hospitalised have been vaccinated and they're in the high risk older population. Bad news is hospitalisation in the general population remains high, so it could be a while before restrictions are lifted.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-29/world-s-most-vaccinated-nation-struggles-with-new-virus-variants

[Elixir]

1 minute ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

Devi Sridhar tweets really bring out some of the most ever so ever so c***s in the planet. The crossover with Janey Godley twitter gives clear indication that nothing uttered there should ever been considered anything other than parody. 

I had to block her, I just can't deal with it.

The very worst and most nauseating sanctimony.

'Get out and see some otters guys and fucking be happy about it!'

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

Covid denier dies of.......... covid

https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/28/covid-kills-covid-denier-who-refused-to-wear-mask-or-socially-distance-13980467/

What a numpty. The Venn diagram of Covid deniers and climate change deniers is a perfect circle.