Coronavirus

[jingle.boy]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/vaccines-working-latest-surge-covid-203300862.html

This article seems to sum up the way I've been feeling lately.  Vaccines seem to be working, the rise in cases are of young people who aren't yet vaccinated and also aren't stressing the hospital systems at all.

Lucky you (US).  Up here, the ICU counts are the highest they've been ever.  Most provinces have had upwards of 100% growth in case counts over the last month, and are trying to go into stricter restrictions to contain this while they cluster fuck their way thru vaccine distribution.  They're still ONLY doing it by age, and only just this week got to the 65yrs old grouping - and that's only because the older population isn't taking up all the booking slots for some reason.

Also saw that a human error at JnJ yesterday spoiled 15M doses.    Canada was supposed to get shipments of that one this month... guess that's gonna be delayed.

[eric42434224]

Also saw that a human error at JnJ yesterday spoiled 15M doses.    Canada was supposed to get shipments of that one this month... guess that's gonna be delayed.

Those Hosers.

[Chino]

Scheduled me an appointment for the 9th to be inoculated. I don't have a clue which one I'm getting though. My employer sent us through an online portal I hadn't heard of before (don't think the general public can use it) with a unique code to one of three mass vaccination sites. I'm getting the shot at a music venue I've seen DT at like seven times 

[faizoff]

Also saw that a human error at JnJ yesterday spoiled 15M doses.    Canada was supposed to get shipments of that one this month... guess that's gonna be delayed.

Those Hosers.

Crying shame. That's a lot of doses.

[Lonk]

Also saw that a human error at JnJ yesterday spoiled 15M doses.    Canada was supposed to get shipments of that one this month... guess that's gonna be delayed.

Those Hosers.

Crying shame. That's a lot of doses.

saw that as well  J&J still expects to be able to ship 24 million doses though, but 15 million is a big blow.

[Hyperplex]

The plant (of course, here in Baltimore), was not yet authorized to be in production phase of J&J vaccines, so the company is sending officials there to investigate. Reports I've read say these will not affect current worldwide shipments as those were produced in the Netherlands, and these are not expected to hamper the goal to have enough vaccines for every US adult by May. Makes me wonder why they were even working on it if they didn't have authorization.

My source: https://www.axios.com/emergent-biosolutions-johnson-and-johnson-vaccine-dfd781a8-d007-4354-910a-e30d5007839b.html

[cramx3]

The J&J news is terrible.  That's a 15 million people who could have been vaccinated.  Huge blow.  I don't think it changes the big picture, but those single shots are super critical to the speed of getting vaccinated.

[eric42434224]

Just got my 2nd dose (Pfizer). 

[Stadler]

Received word last night that both of my son-in-law's parents have it. Both in their late 60s with multiple other health issues. Gonna be tough going for them.

This beast is relentless.

Thoughts are with you and your family, emtee.  Here's to them pulling through unscathed or relatively so.

[Hyperplex]

So sorry to hear your family has contracted it. Really hoping they com through it okay.

[Grappler]

I'm frustrated with vaccine availability/rollout in Illinois.  My county is still doing age 65+ and an expanded list of essential employees.  Sadly, not financial employees.  I was essential enough to be "essential" a year ago, but not essential enough for an early shot at a vaccine.  The state will open availability to anyone age 16+ in two weeks and it will likely be mayhem as there will be so many more people trying to get a shot.

I've tried getting appointments at pharmacies by fudging that I have some co-morbidity, but there are NONE.  It's like playing the lotto.  It's so disheartening to see so many people I know that are older, have some condition, or are in certain industries celebrating their vaccinations and here I am, Mr. Healthy, and I feel completely left out. 


On another note, my sister-in-law has COVID.  I've known a few people through the neighborhood or Facebook that have admitted they had it, but this is the first family member that I know of that has come down with it.  She's an idiot though - her and her boyfriend went to the Wisconsin Dells and likely did not wear masks or stay distanced (she's a big bar-fly).  Almost everyone in the family is tired of her antics, so I don't think anyone feels too sorry for her.  I definitely don't.

[gmillerdrake]

On another note, my sister-in-law has COVID.  I've known a few people through the neighborhood or Facebook that have admitted they had it, but this is the first family member that I know of that has come down with it.  She's an idiot though - her and her boyfriend went to the Wisconsin Dells and likely did not wear masks or stay distanced (she's a big bar-fly).  Almost everyone in the family is tired of her antics, so I don't think anyone feels too sorry for her.  I definitely don't.

Does she wear a mask when she goes out....or does she pretend it doesn't exist? I only ask because for me it hearkens back to the original reason for the lockdown. Not to overwhelm the hospitals. I know Chad has mentioned that Canada is still reeling and is at capacity in areas.....but for the most part between improved treatments, vaccinations and people already having it and being in the early parts of herd immunity.....if  you're a 'healthy' person who practices good hygiene and wears a mask.....go out and live your life.

At this point unless you've truly stayed locked in your house and aren't leaving for anything.....it's a bit hypocritical to bash and slam others when they catch it. Unless they're refusing to wear a mask and are ignoring all the guidelines and suggestions and just being an idiot and they catch it then sure.....criticism is warranted. But if you're obeying the guidelines and doing your part and catch it then I don't see why someone should be criticized. The LARGE majority of us who've caught this or will catch it will pass it naturally....and again, the lockdown wasn't to assure us that none of us would get it or to keep us all from getting it.

[Hyperplex]

My wife's family has been ridiculously reckless with regard to COVID, especially considering their grandmother died of it. That said, almost all are vaccinated now, my wife is vaxxed, and my second shot is next Wednesday, so we can be sure all caution that might have still been in play will be tossed very shortly.

[Grappler]

On another note, my sister-in-law has COVID.  I've known a few people through the neighborhood or Facebook that have admitted they had it, but this is the first family member that I know of that has come down with it.  She's an idiot though - her and her boyfriend went to the Wisconsin Dells and likely did not wear masks or stay distanced (she's a big bar-fly).  Almost everyone in the family is tired of her antics, so I don't think anyone feels too sorry for her.  I definitely don't.

Does she wear a mask when she goes out....or does she pretend it doesn't exist? I only ask because for me it hearkens back to the original reason for the lockdown. Not to overwhelm the hospitals. I know Chad has mentioned that Canada is still reeling and is at capacity in areas.....but for the most part between improved treatments, vaccinations and people already having it and being in the early parts of herd immunity.....if  you're a 'healthy' person who practices good hygiene and wears a mask.....go out and live your life.

At this point unless you've truly stayed locked in your house and aren't leaving for anything.....it's a bit hypocritical to bash and slam others when they catch it. Unless they're refusing to wear a mask and are ignoring all the guidelines and suggestions and just being an idiot and they catch it then sure.....criticism is warranted. But if you're obeying the guidelines and doing your part and catch it then I don't see why someone should be criticized. The LARGE majority of us who've caught this or will catch it will pass it naturally....and again, the lockdown wasn't to assure us that none of us would get it or to keep us all from getting it.

I honestly don't know if she wears a mask or not.  I see her once a year.  She teaches for a living, so I know she wears one at work.  But when it comes to her social life, I doubt she wears a mask, especially if she's out drinking.  I'm a bit harsh here because of my issues with her unrelated to COVID.  (undiagnosed bi-polar and narcissist).  Ultimately, she behaves in a certain manner solely for attention seeking purposes, so her coming down with COVID is a reason for her to contact everyone she knows in order to obtain sympathy.  She's 38 years old and the instant something goes wrong in her life, she runs to her dad.  Her dad then spends time with her, and then he comes over and spends time with my kids (his grandkids).

He knows that the rest of the family doesn't really like her anymore, so he doesn't always tell people when he sees her.  So there's the issue - SIL comes down with COVID.  Her dad might meet up for lunch with her prior to her positive test, but doesn't tell the rest of the family so he doesn't anger his wife, then he goes home to his wife and spends time with my family and kids.   There's a bit more to the situation than me just beating her up over being reckless.

[gmillerdrake]

My wife's family has been ridiculously reckless with regard to COVID, especially considering their grandmother died of it. That said, almost all are vaccinated now, my wife is vaxxed, and my second shot is next Wednesday, so we can be sure all caution that might have still been in play will be tossed very shortly.

Most people I know wear the masks, wash hands frequently.....and that's about it. The social distancing part has pretty much disappeared. My wife and I are fully vaccinated but our kids obviously aren't. They did have Covid in December so who knows how long those antibodies are actually useful.

We will continue to wear the masks and be diligent about hygiene.....but are most definitely not in lock down mode.

[Hyperplex]

To me, there is a difference between not being in lockdown and still being cautious. What you mentioned is perfectly reasonable. I would add that I believe unnecessary travel, especially to areas that are still hotspots, and especially with vulnerable members, should still be kept in check. Her family has repeatedly traveled to Florida, despite at the time not being fully vaccinated, with members of the family that are still vulnerable, and repeatedly ignore most masking. We have avoided them for those specific reasons.

And I will continue to be nervous until vaccines are safely available for kids in my childrens' age range, 6-10.

[jingle.boy]

Given the way the variants are raging out of control up here, and our vax game looks like the Sabres (last night's game notwithstanding), I suspect I'll be wearing a mask in public through until Spring '22.  Until Covid is not the dominant headline every single day, and until case counts are virtually meaningless, better safe than sorry.  My best guess is Canada won't get to anything close to 'herd immunity' until September / October, and then we're into the cold/indoor season.

My biggest fear is that Canada develops a new "variant" that is vax-resistant.

[Ben_Jamin]

Until Covid is not the dominant headline every single day, and until case counts are virtually meaningless, better safe than sorry. 

You know this makes me wonder. Just how much the media dominating their headlines with this information played into people's reactions to this disease? and that makes me wonder, what if we never had gotten that kind of information at all? Would it have been taken as just a rougher flu, like some people I know were told when they got these covid-like symptoms back when Covid wasn't even named that yet, in late November and early December of 2019?

This seems important to me because all these play into the fear of the disease and fear of death. And how we can ease these fears.

If it's about overwhelming the hospitals, and easing their overload, so that when the people do end up getting these bad Covid symptoms, they can be admitted and easily able to be treated and looked at, isn't that where we are at now? or some places at least...

Vaccines help ease that burden, because they ease the severity of the symptoms. You may still catch it and pass it on, but you won't get as sick as you would if you don't have a vaccine. Thus, easing the burden on the hospitals, and letting those that do get these severe symptoms can be admitted at the hospital, without worry of being denied emergency care. Isn't that why they weren't allowing the other various types of diseases that kill people, like Cancer screenings? So, then what if you are that cancer patient who is now denied your regular care, because they are prioritizing those people rather than you, what are you going to do about that?

I am not arguing with these questions either. I just want to really, really understand if this is THE REASON for Locking Down and Shutting Down the world.

[gmillerdrake]

the media dominating their headlines with this information played into people's reactions to this disease?

I have zero doubt that the way this virus was reported has affected the 'fear' felt towards it. I'm not downplaying the severity of the virus and the dangers it carries.....but, mindset and mental approach are just as important as practical measures and the reportage of this disease has literally been nothing but doom and gloom....in large part IMO because it happened under trumps administration where the media was already largely 'against' him.....so you won't be able to convince me otherwise that the way this disease was reported had just as much political agenda behind it...maybe more....as it had just reporting about the disease itself.

Even to this day there's nothing more than the media wants desperately than these small variants to blow up into 4th and 5th and 6th waves......that's even if there was ever really a 2nd and 3rd wave?

[Stadler]

So I've taken to taping the news now, for this very reason.  Some of you know I'm not shy about participating in the P/R threads, but I've long ago now foresaken cable news entirely (Fox, CNN AND MSNBC; I see zero difference).    I've mainly stuck to local news because it's relevant and, well, weather.   

I had occasion to watch the ten and eleven o'clock news last night.  And easily half of it was COVID.  Nothing new, frankly, but it's just INCESSANT.   Positivity rates, hospital occupancy, percent vaccinated.  None of the indicators are critical; ICU occupancy is 55% or so (that means we can handle a COVID rush); our positivity rate is about 3.8% (that means we have adequate testing); our infection rate is about 1.15 (which isn't great, but it is what it is).  Chad said he's waiting for this to be ho-hum, but honestly, we should be closer to that than the media is indicating.

[XeRocks81]

the media dominating their headlines with this information played into people's reactions to this disease?

I have zero doubt that the way this virus was reported has affected the 'fear' felt towards it. I'm not downplaying the severity of the virus and the dangers it carries.....but, mindset and mental approach are just as important as practical measures and the reportage of this disease has literally been nothing but doom and gloom....in large part IMO because it happened under trumps administration where the media was already largely 'against' him.....so you won't be able to convince me otherwise that the way this disease was reported had just as much political agenda behind it...maybe more....as it had just reporting about the disease itself.

Even to this day there's nothing more than the media wants desperately than these small variants to blow up into 4th and 5th and 6th waves......that's even if there was ever really a 2nd and 3rd wave?

I guess I think you’re overstating things a little bit.  At least up here like jingle said the situation isn’t great and it’s not just because of the news or that we’re scared of nothing. 

[gmillerdrake]

I guess I think you’re overstating things a little bit.  At least up here like jingle said the situation isn’t great and it’s not just because of the news or that we’re scared of nothing.

Like I said....I'm not dismissing the seriousness of the virus. The wrong people catch it and it can kill as we've seen. But it'd be a waste of time for someone to try and convince me that the American Media didn't have a political agenda sewn into their coverage of the covid outbreak. And a key cog in that coverage was fear mongering.

[Stadler]

I guess I think you’re overstating things a little bit.  At least up here like jingle said the situation isn’t great and it’s not just because of the news or that we’re scared of nothing.

Like I said....I'm not dismissing the seriousness of the virus. The wrong people catch it and it can kill as we've seen. But it'd be a waste of time for someone to try and convince me that the American Media didn't have a political agenda sewn into their coverage of the covid outbreak. And a key cog in that coverage was fear mongering.

It's been proven; didn't someone here post the link to the study done about American media COVID coverage? 

[hunnus2000]

I guess I think you’re overstating things a little bit.  At least up here like jingle said the situation isn’t great and it’s not just because of the news or that we’re scared of nothing.

Like I said....I'm not dismissing the seriousness of the virus. The wrong people catch it and it can kill as we've seen. But it'd be a waste of time for someone to try and convince me that the American Media didn't have a political agenda sewn into their coverage of the covid outbreak. And a key cog in that coverage was fear mongering.

I am going to call bullshit on this comment. Please give examples.

What we can say for sure is that some media outlets along with politicians tried to downplay the severity of the virus. Starting with the then prez.....

[King Postwhore]

I guess I think you’re overstating things a little bit.  At least up here like jingle said the situation isn’t great and it’s not just because of the news or that we’re scared of nothing.

Like I said....I'm not dismissing the seriousness of the virus. The wrong people catch it and it can kill as we've seen. But it'd be a waste of time for someone to try and convince me that the American Media didn't have a political agenda sewn into their coverage of the covid outbreak. And a key cog in that coverage was fear mongering.

I am going to call bullshit on this comment. Please give examples.

What we can say for sure is that some media outlets along with politicians tried to downplay the severity of the virus. Starting with the then prez.....

The Trump camp for sure but the media?  Only once station downplayed that.  All others started with horrific pictures and graphs.  I'm more upset with the states that fudge the counts. We needed real numbers and politicians like Cuomo were being politicians.

[Stadler]

I guess I think you’re overstating things a little bit.  At least up here like jingle said the situation isn’t great and it’s not just because of the news or that we’re scared of nothing.

Like I said....I'm not dismissing the seriousness of the virus. The wrong people catch it and it can kill as we've seen. But it'd be a waste of time for someone to try and convince me that the American Media didn't have a political agenda sewn into their coverage of the covid outbreak. And a key cog in that coverage was fear mongering.

I am going to call bullshit on this comment. Please give examples.

What we can say for sure is that some media outlets along with politicians tried to downplay the severity of the virus. Starting with the then prez.....

Look, if that's the partisan take you want to adopt, that's fine. IT'S HERE, though it has already been referenced in this thread (or the Political one).  There was a study done on American media.   They fear mongered the crap out of this.  If you want to call Fox News perhaps not playing along as "downplaying the severity" have at it; the article says otherwise:  "An interesting finding is the negativity wasn’t correlated with partisanship — Fox News, for example, was as negative in tone as CNN."   I'm going to wager that no statistics, facts or studies in the word is going to disavow you of that notion.

[Stadler]

I guess I think you’re overstating things a little bit.  At least up here like jingle said the situation isn’t great and it’s not just because of the news or that we’re scared of nothing.

Like I said....I'm not dismissing the seriousness of the virus. The wrong people catch it and it can kill as we've seen. But it'd be a waste of time for someone to try and convince me that the American Media didn't have a political agenda sewn into their coverage of the covid outbreak. And a key cog in that coverage was fear mongering.

I am going to call bullshit on this comment. Please give examples.

What we can say for sure is that some media outlets along with politicians tried to downplay the severity of the virus. Starting with the then prez.....

The Trump camp for sure but the media?  Only once station downplayed that.  All others started with horrific pictures and graphs.  I'm more upset with the states that fudge the counts. We needed real numbers and politicians like Cuomo were being politicians.

And I would argue that "one station downplaying it" begs the question that the other stations had it right.  I don't agree with that.  I think the media DID overplay it, which would at least introduce into the equation that maybe, like a broken clock is right twice a day, that Fox had it right.

[gmillerdrake]

I guess I think you’re overstating things a little bit.  At least up here like jingle said the situation isn’t great and it’s not just because of the news or that we’re scared of nothing.

Like I said....I'm not dismissing the seriousness of the virus. The wrong people catch it and it can kill as we've seen. But it'd be a waste of time for someone to try and convince me that the American Media didn't have a political agenda sewn into their coverage of the covid outbreak. And a key cog in that coverage was fear mongering.

I am going to call bullshit on this comment. Please give examples.

What we can say for sure is that some media outlets along with politicians tried to downplay the severity of the virus. Starting with the then prez.....

What I'm not going to do is get in a debate over something neither of us are going to change each others minds on. I saw it how I saw it and you did likewise. Calling 'bullshit' on a comment doesn't make you right nor does me making the comment engrave it as cannon. It's interpretation.....and I interpret the coverage of the American media concerning covid as mostly garbage fear tactics littered with a political agenda with a bit of truth sprinkled in to try and camouflage the piles of crap they were selling.

This debate/argument is a waste of time at this point.....so respectfully I'm sorry....but I'm not going to partake in it.

[cramx3]

Today's latest numbers:

2.7M shots yesterday so total up to 150.27M with the 7 day rolling average at 2.83M. 76.8% of shots administered is the national average, 29.4% of population with 1+ dose (note this is percent of population that has been given 1 or 2 doses, so total percent that have been pricked by a needle), 16.4% fully vaccinated.
So far, 97.6 million Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine. At least 54.6 million people have completed a vaccination regimen.

Doses delivered is 195.66M compared to yesterday 188.47M. So 87.19M doses delivered yesterday, 16.0M doses delivered for the week. Previous week totals for doses delivered is 23.8, 21.1M, 20.0M, 19.7M,21.2M, 5.1M, 9.96M and , 9.4M.

68,756 positives reported yesterday compared to 67,115 week over week. 7-day rolling average is at 65,308

Fatality was 1115 compared to 873 yesterday and 1432 week over week, 7-day rolling fatality at 932.

So the big news is that some amount of J&J vaccine was rejected for quality issues. These vaccines are not in circulation but the article mentioned it could be nearly 15M doses that will be rejected and then not be available to ship at a later date. Appears human error was the issue.

So looking at the data, appears Oklahoma is now reporting fatalies only one day per week, hence the big fatality reporting always on Wednesday.

Good to see week over week fatality number down today and the 7 day rolling starting to go down again. As was talked, last week's reporting on fatalities was off and hopefully this week it gets back to the downward trajectory it was on.

MIchigan right now going crazy. 7 day average daily positive on March 1 was 1340 it is 5685 now, it is a pretty insane upward swing. Looking at the charts, MIchigan is almost solely responsible for the current upward swing in the daily positive. The other big states like NY, NJ, FL have all leveled off the last week.

Highlighted what I find to be the most interesting. 

[lonestar]

I can hear them blaming the spike on Whitmer already lol

[Adami]

Got my first shot today. Woo!

[King Postwhore]

Got my first shot today. Woo!

I said, what what, in the arm

[Adami]

Got my first shot today. Woo!

I said, what what, in the arm

You wanna put it in my arm, in my arm?

[King Postwhore]

 

[lonestar]

Nice...I would've thought you were on the first wave, but I wasn't sure exactly how your practice works. I gather you're not in a hospital setting. No matter, congrats, welcome to the club.