Covid-19

[17to85]

11 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Free $100 Debit Card for Getting Vaccinated (Albertans, 18+)

https://www.alberta.ca/covid19-vaccine.aspx

Who's eligible: Albertans 18 or older who got their first or second dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine between September 3 and October 14, 2021.

How to register: After vaccination, register online or by phone with your proof of vaccination, starting on September 13. Detailed instructions will be posted at that time.

How to claim: $100 debit cards will be delivered to you. Everyone who is registered and has a valid vaccination will receive a debit card.

Jason Kenney rewarding the idiots who helped create the largest 4th wave in the country. I am livid that my tax dollars are going towards this  we have a civic election and a federal election this fall but the only election  I want is a provincial one so we can boot this lunatic out on his ass so he stops ******* up everything in this province. Bumbles is just the worst. Go back on vacation if this is the best you have.

[FrostyWinnipeg]

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/manitoba-human-rights-commission-warns-of-fraudulent-pamphlets-spreading-vaccine-misinformation-1.5573015

[Tracker]

 

 

                                    

[Tracker]

Angry Men With Zip-Ties Ambush School Principal After COVID Masking Request

Police arrested a 40-year-old Arizona dad after he stormed into an elementary school principal’s office with a friend wielding plastic handcuffs, insisting the administration broke the law by asking his child and six others to wear a mask and quarantine after being in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

“I can tell you the end result of that incident was we did make one arrest for trespassing,” Sgt. Richard Gradillas of the Tucson, Arizona, Police Department told The Daily Beast, identifying the dad arrested as Rishi Rambaran.

Two men accompanied Rambaran on Thursday as he ambushed Principal Diane Vargo while she sat with another educator at the Mesquite Elementary School in Tucson. One of the men, Kelly Walker, livestreamed the incident on Instagram, explaining that Rambaran, who is also known as “Reese,” had called him and asked him to be there in case he needed backup. The third man, who has not been identified, stood in the doorway of Vargo’s office with a fistful of “law enforcement-grade” zip ties at the ready—as the trio was prepared to make a citizen’s arrest, Walker said.

“When this kind of coercion and bullying is perpetrated by school administrators, breaking the law, a citizens’ arrest is an option worth looking into,” Walker wrote on Facebook. Gradillas told the Beast that in his 14 years on the force, he’s “never seen a citizens’ arrest.”

The Vail School District’s COVID policy follows public health guidance issued by Pima County, which requires students to quarantine at home for at least a week after exposure. The school in fact was abiding by Pima’s rules, and had not violated any laws by asking the students to mask up or quarantine.

Arizona Dad Rishi Rambaran Arrested After Angry Trio Threatens to Zip-Tie Principal Over COVID Rules (thedailybeast.com)

[iHeart]

well that didn't take long it's already in California

https://deadline.com/2021/09/mu-variant-los-angeles-first-cases-new-covid-1234827340/

[Goalie]

Just now, iHeart said:

well that didn't take long it's already in California

https://deadline.com/2021/09/mu-variant-los-angeles-first-cases-new-covid-1234827340/

I'm shocked said nobody ever. You don't hear of mb variants or sask variants or Idaho or name somewhere with more land than population places. No surprise these variants are coming from highly populated areas 

[WildPath]

Hearing of the protests at the hospitals, the craziness of taking dewormer instead of a vaccine, pushing against any effort to control to virus does have me dangerously close to being happy when I hear of the death of a vocal anti-vaxxer. I don't like that.

As a teacher, I try to look at the causes of what is going on and how we can improve as a society in the future. Its a dire situation, but I really think we need to do a better job of explicitly teaching critical thinking at all levels of our educational system. It is already woven into other curricula, but it might require its own course. Perhaps even being elevated to the level of math/literacy.

The world is changing faster than ever before and the rate of change keeps picking up. We need a population that is able to use critical thinking fluidly in a wide variety of situations otherwise we're left with hospitals being overwhelmed with people using dewormer because they read how unsafe a vaccine is.

[Tracker]

8 minutes ago, WildPath said:

Hearing of the protests at the hospitals, the craziness of taking dewormer instead of a vaccine, pushing against any effort to control to virus does have me dangerously close to being happy when I hear of the death of a vocal anti-vaxxer. I don't like that.

As a teacher, I try to look at the causes of what is going on and how we can improve as a society in the future. Its a dire situation, but I really think we need to do a better job of explicitly teaching critical thinking at all levels of our educational system. It is already woven into other curricula, but it might require its own course. Perhaps even being elevated to the level of math/literacy.

The world is changing faster than ever before and the rate of change keeps picking up. We need a population that is able to use critical thinking fluidly in a wide variety of situations otherwise we're left with hospitals being overwhelmed with people using dewormer because they read how unsafe a vaccine is.

I agree. We're scrooged.

[bustamente]

Vaccine = Unsafe, De wormer = Liberating

[JCon]

14 minutes ago, bustamente said:

Vaccine = Unsafe, De wormer = Liberating

Just ban anyone from taking the Pfizer vaccine. Tell them it's not safe and they'll line up for it. It's a collective of the stupidest right wing mouth breathers. They'll figtt to inject it. 

[Tracker]

Everything we know about the mu variant, the latest coronavirus mutation

A study published last month established that Americans, after years of being pounded with creationist propaganda, had decisively rejected pseudoscience and accepted evolution. While the shift in public opinion had been years in the making, there was a certain poetry to the timing of that study's release. We have watched with bated breath as SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that brought the world to its knees by causing the COVID-19 pandemic — has evolved over and over again into something more effective at spreading through the human population. We have had the delta variant and the lambda variant and the hybrid B.1.429, to name only a few. Whenever a new strain pops up, public health officials try to strike a note between caution and reassurance.

Now we come to the mu variant, also known as B.1.621.

On Monday the World Health Organization (WHO) officially labeled the mu variant as a "variant of interest," a designation that indicates a need for further study about possible dangers while falling short of the more serious classification, "variant of concern." Variants of concern are regarded as a top priority because they are more immunity-resistant, contagious or deadly than other strains. Currently the WHO considers four strains to meet those criteria: alpha, beta, gamma and delta (the variant most prevalent in the United States).

The WHO reports that the earliest documented samples of the mu variant came from Colombia in January; the strain now makes up 39 percent of all the cases there. It has also been detected in dozens of other countries, most commonly popping up in the United States, Mexico, Spain and Ecuador. A British risk assessment released last month suggests that the mu variant could be at least as resistant to vaccine-based immunity as the beta strain, although more research needs to be done. The mu variant contains several mutations that have been associated with resistance to immunity, such as E484K and K417N, as well a mutation known as P681H that has been linked to accelerated transmission.

"This variant has a constellation of mutations that suggests that it would evade certain antibodies, not only monoclonal antibodies, but vaccine- and convalescent serum-induced antibodies," President Joe Biden's COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters on Thursday. "But there isn't a lot of clinical data to suggest that. It is mostly laboratory in-vitro data."

Everything we know about the mu variant, the latest coronavirus mutation | Salon.com

[Mark F]

 

[iHeart]

23 hours ago, Goalie said:

I'm shocked said nobody ever. You don't hear of mb variants or sask variants or Idaho or name somewhere with more land than population places. No surprise these variants are coming from highly populated areas 

well I guess it's comforting to know that there will never be a COVID variant coming out of here

[Tracker]

Three Schools Forced Into Lockdown After Anti-Masker Proud Boys Try to Infiltrate

-Getty
Three schools in Vancouver, Washington went into lockdown Friday after a group of anti-mask protesters that included the Proud Boys attempted to gain entry and disrupt the school day.

Skyview High School, Alki Middle School, and Chinook Elementary were on high alert after local members of the Proud Boys extremist gang, frustrated parents of students, and other anti-maskers rallied against the requirement that students, staff, and teachers wear face coverings.

The incident is just the latest example of the Proud Boys teaming up with anti-maskers to threaten school boards, from Florida to New Hampshire, over COVID mandates.

On Friday, the Proud Boys attempted to escort a freshman student seeking a medical exemption from the mask mandate into the Vancouver school, according to witnesses cited by Oregon Public Broadcasting. The attempted incursion prompted the call for lockdown.

The freshman’s mom, Megan Gabriel, had claimed that the mask could trigger panic attacks in her daughter. The school had declined the request.

Patriot Prayer, a local far-right group, rallied supporters by saying that students would be arrested if they refused to comply with the mask mandate, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. The claim was untrue.

Carrying signs that read “Masking kids=abuse” and “Medical choice: Your body, your choice,” demonstrators rallied in front of the schools and on the sidewalks near buses. Some protesters shouted slurs at female students, security guards told OPB.

[Tracker]

15 Miami-Dade Public School Staff Members Die Of COVID In Just 10 Days

A 30-year teaching veteran was one of 15 Miami-Dade County public school staff members who died of COVID-19 in just 10 days as Florida continues to reel amid the continuing, overwhelming toll of an unfettered pandemic.

“It’s a tremendous loss,” said a school official, referring to the death of longtime teacher Abe Coleman, 55, earlier this week.

“The number of lives that he impacted are countless. So many young men had the benefit of him intervening in their lives and pointing them in the right direction,” Marcus Bright, who works with a local education program 5000 Role Models of Excellence, told NBC-6 TV.

Coleman taught at Holmes Elementary School in Miami’s Liberty City area, which is a primarily Black neighborhood with 42% of the population living below the poverty line.

Local education officials haven’t released the identities of the other teachers or staff members.

“The loss of any of our employees is one that is always profoundly felt as every member of this organization is considered a part of Miami-Dade County Public Schools family,” the district said in a statement. “We extend our hearts and prayers to the loved ones of those whose lives have recently been lost.”

15 Miami-Dade Public School Staff Members Die Of COVID In Just 10 Days | HuffPost

DeSantis 'triples down' on fight to protect virus, $5,000 fines for schools that require vaccination
   
For decades, Florida schools have required vaccinations. The Florida Department of Health currently lists vaccinations against at least seven different diseases that are required for both public schools, private schools, and even daycare facilities. Both students and teachers are required to be vaccinated against everything from polio and pertussis to chickenpox and hepatitis B.

But Gov. Ron DeSantis has informed these same schools—along with every government agency and private business in the state—that they will be fined $5,000 it they ask for proof of vaccination against COVID-19. As WJXT in Jacksonville explains, DeSantis says he doesn't want a "biomedical security state" in which people are forced to produce proof of vaccination. To underscore this desire, Florida's Republican-dominated legislature passed, and DeSantis signed, a bill saying that no business, school, or agency can "require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination."

The maximum fine that bill allows is $5,000. Letters sent this week have made it clear that DeSantis intends to begin fining people the maximum amount immediately. Meanwhile, as WFLA reports, two children died in Florida from COVID-19 on Thursday—including a newborn who was just two weeks old. The director of a pediatric intensive care unit confirmed that children "do get severe conditions and we are seeing more and more of them in the ICU."

DeSantis 'triples down' on fight to protect virus, $5,000 fines for schools that require vaccination - Alternet.org

[the watcher]

5 hours ago, Tracker said:

15 Miami-Dade Public School Staff Members Die Of COVID In Just 10 Days

A 30-year teaching veteran was one of 15 Miami-Dade County public school staff members who died of COVID-19 in just 10 days as Florida continues to reel amid the continuing, overwhelming toll of an unfettered pandemic.

“It’s a tremendous loss,” said a school official, referring to the death of longtime teacher Abe Coleman, 55, earlier this week.

“The number of lives that he impacted are countless. So many young men had the benefit of him intervening in their lives and pointing them in the right direction,” Marcus Bright, who works with a local education program 5000 Role Models of Excellence, told NBC-6 TV.

Coleman taught at Holmes Elementary School in Miami’s Liberty City area, which is a primarily Black neighborhood with 42% of the population living below the poverty line.

Local education officials haven’t released the identities of the other teachers or staff members.

“The loss of any of our employees is one that is always profoundly felt as every member of this organization is considered a part of Miami-Dade County Public Schools family,” the district said in a statement. “We extend our hearts and prayers to the loved ones of those whose lives have recently been lost.”

15 Miami-Dade Public School Staff Members Die Of COVID In Just 10 Days | HuffPost

DeSantis 'triples down' on fight to protect virus, $5,000 fines for schools that require vaccination
   
For decades, Florida schools have required vaccinations. The Florida Department of Health currently lists vaccinations against at least seven different diseases that are required for both public schools, private schools, and even daycare facilities. Both students and teachers are required to be vaccinated against everything from polio and pertussis to chickenpox and hepatitis B.

But Gov. Ron DeSantis has informed these same schools—along with every government agency and private business in the state—that they will be fined $5,000 it they ask for proof of vaccination against COVID-19. As WJXT in Jacksonville explains, DeSantis says he doesn't want a "biomedical security state" in which people are forced to produce proof of vaccination. To underscore this desire, Florida's Republican-dominated legislature passed, and DeSantis signed, a bill saying that no business, school, or agency can "require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination."

The maximum fine that bill allows is $5,000. Letters sent this week have made it clear that DeSantis intends to begin fining people the maximum amount immediately. Meanwhile, as WFLA reports, two children died in Florida from COVID-19 on Thursday—including a newborn who was just two weeks old. The director of a pediatric intensive care unit confirmed that children "do get severe conditions and we are seeing more and more of them in the ICU."

DeSantis 'triples down' on fight to protect virus, $5,000 fines for schools that require vaccination - Alternet.org

This is becoming like some sci-fi movie.  I simply can't understand how a portion of the population, leaders and media continue to fight and balk at solutions to a pandemic that is killing so many. It's gone beyond bizarre. 

[Tracker]

Florida Faces Deadliest Phase Of COVID-19 Yet.  As of mid-August, the state was averaging 244 deaths per day, up from just 23 a day in late June and eclipsing the previous peak of 227 during the summer of 2020.

 

 Funeral director Wayne Bright has seen grief piled upon grief during the latest COVID-19 surge.  A woman died of the virus, and as her family was planning the funeral, her mother was also struck down. An aunt took over arrangements for the double funeral, only to die of COVID-19 herself two weeks afterward.

“That was one of the most devastating things ever,” said Bright, who also arranged the funeral last week of one of his closest friends.
Wayne Bright, funeral director at Wilson Funeral Home, has seen grief piled upon grief during the latest COVID-19 surge. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Florida is in the grip of its deadliest wave of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, a disaster driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

While Florida’s vaccination rate is slightly higher than the national average, the Sunshine State has an outsize population of elderly people, who are especially vulnerable to the virus; a vibrant party scene; and a Republican governor who has taken a hard line against mask requirements, vaccine passports and business shutdowns.

As of mid-August, the state was averaging 244 deaths per day, up from just 23 a day in late June and eclipsing the previous peak of 227 during the summer of 2020. (Because of both the way deaths are logged in Florida and lags in reporting, more recent figures on fatalities per day are incomplete.)

Hospitals have had to rent refrigerated trucks to store more bodies. Funeral homes have been overwhelmed.

MIAMI (AP)

Edited September 5, 2021 by Tracker

[Tracker]

Arkansas Inmates Say They Were Given Ivermectin For COVID-19 Without Their Consent

People incarcerated in an Arkansas jail say the facility’s physician prescribed them ivermectin to treat COVID-19 and that they weren’t aware they were taking the drug.

The anti-parasite drug, typically used to deworm horses and cattle, has developed an unlikely ― and baseless ― reputation as a COVID treatment in humans, despite stern warnings from the Food and Drug Administration.

Washington County jail physician Dr. Rob Karas acknowledged in an interview with CBS affiliate KFSM that he prescribed ivermectin to incarcerated people with COVID symptoms, but said they were “not forced” to take the drug.

But accounts given by people in the facility call that claim into question.

“I asked what are they, and they’d just tell me vitamins,” one inmate, Edrick Floreal-Wooten, told the Associated Press. “With me being sick and all of us being sick, we thought that they were there to help us. I never thought they would do something shady.”

“They were pretty much testing us in here is all they were doing, seeing if it would work,” said William Evans, another inmate who said he was given the drug for two weeks after he tested positive for COVID.

Arkansas Inmates Say They Were Given Ivermectin For COVID-19 Without Their Consent | HuffPost

[SpeedFlex27]

17 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Arkansas Inmates Say They Were Given Ivermectin For COVID-19 Without Their Consent

People incarcerated in an Arkansas jail say the facility’s physician prescribed them ivermectin to treat COVID-19 and that they weren’t aware they were taking the drug.

The anti-parasite drug, typically used to deworm horses and cattle, has developed an unlikely ― and baseless ― reputation as a COVID treatment in humans, despite stern warnings from the Food and Drug Administration.

Washington County jail physician Dr. Rob Karas acknowledged in an interview with CBS affiliate KFSM that he prescribed ivermectin to incarcerated people with COVID symptoms, but said they were “not forced” to take the drug.

But accounts given by people in the facility call that claim into question.

“I asked what are they, and they’d just tell me vitamins,” one inmate, Edrick Floreal-Wooten, told the Associated Press. “With me being sick and all of us being sick, we thought that they were there to help us. I never thought they would do something shady.”

“They were pretty much testing us in here is all they were doing, seeing if it would work,” said William Evans, another inmate who said he was given the drug for two weeks after he tested positive for COVID.

Arkansas Inmates Say They Were Given Ivermectin For COVID-19 Without Their Consent | HuffPost

The Governors in those southern Red states barely care about their own law abiding citizens. Why would they care about their inmates? 

[Tracker]

1 minute ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

The Governors in those southern Red states barely care about their own law abiding citizens. Why would they care about their inmates? 

There is a prior incident: in Alabama from 1932-1972 male inmates were deliberately infected with Syphilis and were given deliberately ineffective "treatments" so that the disease would progress while they were monitored.. Many died horribly but no one was ever prosecuted and none of the medical doctors were censured.

[HardCoreBlue]

On 2021-09-03 at 8:33 PM, JCon said:

Just ban anyone from taking the Pfizer vaccine. Tell them it's not safe and they'll line up for it. It's a collective of the stupidest right wing mouth breathers. They'll figtt to inject it. 

Reverse psychology, I like it.

[iHeart]

well Today I'm back at work in a place with children as young as 10 (middle school, and I said as young as ten because I was ten when I started 6th grade)

 

[the watcher]

15 hours ago, Tracker said:

Arkansas Inmates Say They Were Given Ivermectin For COVID-19 Without Their Consent

People incarcerated in an Arkansas jail say the facility’s physician prescribed them ivermectin to treat COVID-19 and that they weren’t aware they were taking the drug.

The anti-parasite drug, typically used to deworm horses and cattle, has developed an unlikely ― and baseless ― reputation as a COVID treatment in humans, despite stern warnings from the Food and Drug Administration.

Washington County jail physician Dr. Rob Karas acknowledged in an interview with CBS affiliate KFSM that he prescribed ivermectin to incarcerated people with COVID symptoms, but said they were “not forced” to take the drug.

But accounts given by people in the facility call that claim into question.

“I asked what are they, and they’d just tell me vitamins,” one inmate, Edrick Floreal-Wooten, told the Associated Press. “With me being sick and all of us being sick, we thought that they were there to help us. I never thought they would do something shady.”

“They were pretty much testing us in here is all they were doing, seeing if it would work,” said William Evans, another inmate who said he was given the drug for two weeks after he tested positive for COVID.

Arkansas Inmates Say They Were Given Ivermectin For COVID-19 Without Their Consent | HuffPost

If that doesn't echo the Nazi experiments in WW2 I don't know what does. 

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-vaccine-lottery-1.6166369

Quote

Doctors say vaccine incentives like Alberta's "Open for Summer" lottery and the recently announced $100 gift cards for people who get their first and second doses aren't enough to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates in the province.

As of Monday, Alberta has the lowest percentage of eligible people with a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the country, according to CBC's vaccine tracker. 

[Tracker]

23 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-vaccine-lottery-1.6166369

As expected.