Covid-19

[Noeller]

Officially shutting things down out of South Africa. Anyone who's travelled there in there and back in the past 14 days has to remain in quarantine following test results. Thankfully they're taking it seriously, hopefully it's not too late. 

[JCon]

Unicron is coming. 

 

No, wait, I'm hearing it's Omicron. Carryon. 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

Manitoba announced 153 new cases of #COVID19 and one more death on Friday, Nov. 26, 2021.
 Active cases: 1,516
 Total caseload: 67,420
 Recovered: 64,599
 Deaths: 1,305

The seven-day average daily #COVID19 case count in Manitoba declines by 7 to 153.

Manitoba #COVID19 patients in hospital: 134 (down 2)
 In ICU: 24 (no change)
 Total patients in ICU (COVID and non-COVID): 92 (down 6)

[Noeller]

thought this was kind of interesting...

 

[Tracker]

Pfizer Vaccine Already Being Tested Against Mega-Mutated Omicron Variant

Testing has already begun to determine whether the Pfizer vaccine protects against a mutant strain of COVID-19 that first appeared in Africa and has already made its way to East Asia and Europe, the Financial Times reported Friday.

German firm BioNTech, which developed the jab in concert with the American pharma giant, told the paper that it would know in two weeks whether the inoculation shields against the latest variant, which has prompted multiple nations to shut their borders to travelers from southern Africa. Authorities have already detected the super-mutated virus—now called Omicron—in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, and Belgium.

A spokesman for BioNTech noted that this line of the pandemic pathogen “differs significantly” from its predecessors due to the changes in its spike protein, which the virus uses to hack into human cells—and which the vaccines help neutralize. The company added that it could take six weeks to modify the vaccine if necessary, and 100 days to ship the updated shots.

Read it at Financial Times

[Tracker]

150-odd new cases per day is no longer a trivial matter. It was a major step backwards when they stopped doing the contact tracing a few weeks ago and critics said that they were flirting with disaster. Now we are teetering at the edge of another lockdown. And the Omicron variant in en route.

U.K. Counts 2 Cases Of Omicron Variant, Health Secretary Says.  The health secretary said the two cases are “linked” and “there is a connection with travel to southern Africa.”

Two cases of the new omicron coronavirus variant have been detected in the United Kingdom, the country’s health secretary, Sajid Javid, announced Saturday.

Not much is known about omicron, except that it was first detected in South Africa and has triggered a wave of travel bans restricting flights from the southern part of Africa.

Javid noted that the two cases are “linked” and “there is a connection with travel to southern Africa.”

The two individuals are self-isolating in their homes ― in the Nottingham and Chelmsford areas of England, respectively ― while officials conduct additional testing and contact tracing.

Their two hometowns are undergoing extra testing as a precaution, Javid said.

“This is a fast-moving situation and we are taking decisive steps to protect public health,” he added.

U.K. Counts 2 Cases Of Omicron Variant, Health Secretary Says | HuffPost Latest News

[Tracker]

Fauci Says Omicron Variant Is Likely Already Here, NY Declares State of Emergency

Parts of the U.S. have begun an all-out assault against the new, highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 as Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that the variant is likely already circulating in the country.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday, limiting hospital capacity to emergency needs as of Dec. 3 and arranging for the purchase of medical supplies. The emergency state, which temporarily bans elective surgeries, will remain in effect until at least Jan. 15.

“We continue to see warning signs of spikes this upcoming winter, and while the new Omicron variant has yet to be detected in New York State, it’s coming,” Hochul said.

The Omicron variant, formally known as B.1.1.529, was classified as a “variant of concern” and given its Greek name by the World Health Organization on Friday. The designation, prompted by a cluster of cases originating out of southern Africa, led to the U.S. imposing travel restrictions on South Africa and seven other African countries.

The CDC said late Friday that it hasn’t detected any cases of it so far, though Fauci told Weekend TODAY that it wouldn’t surprise him if the variant was already here.

“We have not detected it yet,” he said, “but when you have a virus that is showing this degree of transmissibility and you’re already having travel-related cases that they’ve noted in Israel and Belgium and other places, when you have a virus like this, it almost invariably is ultimately going to go essentially all over.”

The CDC said in its statement that it would be able to detect the variant quickly once it emerges. The agency also thanked the South African government for expeditiously reporting the new and highly transmissible variant.

“We are grateful to the South African government and its scientists who have openly communicated with the global scientific community and continue to share information about this variant with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and CDC,” it said.

The Omicron variant is of particular concern because it has more than 30 mutations to the spike protein that allows the virus to bind to human cells.

It had quickly spread from African nations to Europe. Dutch authorities revealed Saturday that 61 people arriving on two KLM flights from South Africa have tested positive but it’s not known whether they were infected with Omicron.

The United Kingdom said Saturday that two Omicron cases had been detected in the country, both linked and with a connection to travel to southern Africa.

Dr. Fauci Says Omicron COVID Variant Likely Already in U.S., NY Declares State of Emergency (thedailybeast.com)

[Noeller]

Just a matter of time until it's found here. Hope we're doing everything we can to mitigate the damage. Wouldn't surprise me at all if we went right back to the beginning of the pandemic, in order to prevent total catastrophe....

[Tracker]

How one discredited 1998 study paved the way for today's anti-vaxxers

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic and the concomitant vaccine, the anti-vaccination movement was mainly identified with one very specific myth: the idea that vaccines cause autism. 

Aside from being patently offensive to neurodiverse and autistic people (including this writer), version 1.0 of the anti-vax movement was also dangerous because its adherents made it easier for infectious diseases to spread. This wasn't just a theoretical fear: local measles outbreaks in places like Disneyland that occurred with greater frequency throughout the 2010s were tied to the increasing number of anti-vaxxers, who had collectively lowered the herd immunity numbers for diseases like measles which were once nearly eradicated in the United States. 

Now that COVID-19 has changed the world, it is worth reexamining the legacy of that autism-related controversy, which may have proven to be the "original sin" that led us to this dismal moment in which anti-COVID-vaccination misinformation is rife. That means turning our eye to the inglorious career of a man named Andrew Wakefield.

Once a British doctor, Wakefield is infamous for being the lead author of a 1998 case series that studied links between autism and digestive conditions — and, he claimed, documented changes in behavior in children who were given the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR vaccine). Over time, this mutated into a claim that MMR vaccines could cause autism, prompting an international panic. 

Because Wakefield's study had been published in a distinguished medical journal (The Lancet), his claims quickly circulated and influenced millions of parents to not let their children get vaccinated at an age when, they believed erroneously, they could be at risk of developing autism. This trend persisted despite the fine print within the study: notably, it included no data about the MMR vaccine, its conclusions were speculative, it had been poorly designed, and the researchers had only studied a small sample of patients. Other critics observed that, because autism is usually diagnosed at the same young age when MMR vaccines are supposed to be administered, the study could dupe impressionable parents into thinking the timing of their child's autism diagnosis was linked to the inoculation. These fears proved founded; measles outbreaks surged as more and more people followed Wakefield's uninformed advice. By 2019, the United States was experiencing its worst measles outbreak since 1994.

Soon, the people who merely suspected something fishy in Wakefield's study were given more than mere clues. Other scientists were unable to reproduce Wakefield's findings, which is crucial for scientific studies to be considered valid. Then, in 2004, Wakefield was hit with a double whammy: An investigation by Sunday Times reporter Brian Deer demonstrated that Wakefield had financial conflicts of interest he had not disclosed when publishing his report. It was revealed that Wakefield had established several autism-related medical businesses, but their success was predicated on establishing links between MMR vaccines and a likely-fabricated disease called "autistic entercolitis." On top of that, 10 of the 12 scientists who co-authored the paper retracted it on the grounds that "no causal link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient."

By 2010 The Lancet fully retracted the paper, admitting that it was riddled with scientific errors and that the authors had behaved unethically, in no small part by studying children without the required clearances. Wakefield was ultimately stripped of his ability to practice medicine, although he continues to stand by his findings and insists he was mistreated.

A direct line can be drawn between Wakefield's assertions about MMR vaccines and the rhetoric about COVID-19 vaccines (an issue where Wakefield is also anti-science, but has not emerged as a prominent voice). Studies have repeatedly found that general vaccine skepticism increased as a direct result of Wakefield's study; just last August, researchers writing for the scientific journal PLOS One again confirmed that vaccine hesitancy went up after Wakefield's paper came out.

"The Wakefield et al paper arrived at an interesting time in history," epidemiologist Dr. René Najera told Salon in June. "The internet was growing. The 24-hour news cycle was growing. People like Jenny McCarthy and others were becoming 'influencers.' His paper only brought to the forefront fears that many parents had: that vaccines caused developmental delays. Before 1998, you didn't have the internet as a bullhorn, or time to interview or showcase celebrities."

While hesitation about vaccines existed before Wakefield, the British doctor made it possible for misinformation to do something that had previously only occurred in the world of epidemics: achieving virality. Even after Wakefield himself sank into obscurity, other anti-vaccine activists emerged to take his place. By normalizing the practice of questioning vaccines without regard to reliable medical knowledge, they laid the foundations for the denial of the COVID-19 vaccines that is so prevalent today.

Wakefield may not be one of the so-called "disinformation dozen" — social media voices today who create two-thirds of all anti-vaxxer content online — but he is their forefather. Without Wakefield, it is hard to imagine that the anti-vaccination movement would have been so loud before the pandemic that it would metastasize during it, to the extent that millions of Americans now view opposing vaccines as a crucial part of their identity.

Despite the claims made by Wakefield and others, there is no evidence that vaccines are in any way linked to autism. There is also no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines are either unsafe or ineffective — or, as some kooks claim, have microchips in them. Autism refers to a broad range of neurological conditions that many doctors argue should not even be considered "unhealthy," and which certainly are not induced by vaccinations. Vaccines work by training your immune system to protect the body against pathogens (microorganisms that cause disease) by either introducing a weakened or dead part or whole of that pathogen into the body, or by teaching the cells to make proteins associated with a specific pathogen so that the invader can be identified and eliminated.

[17to85]

On 2021-11-26 at 12:47 PM, JCon said:

Unicron is coming. 

 

No, wait, I'm hearing it's Omicron. Carryon. 

[iHeart]

https://deadline.com/2021/11/omicron-variant-not-deadly-south-african-medical-chair-claims-1234881101/

 

Quote

A South African doctor said Sunday that symptoms of the Omicron variant apppear to be mild and can be treated at home.

Dr. Angelique Coetzee, a private practitioner and chair of the South African Medical Association, was one of the first to notice the new variant. She treated patients at her clinic who had symptoms different from the Delta variant, she said. Omicron ws announced by the South African National Institute of Communicable Diseases on Nov. 25, based on samples taken earlier in the month. 

Worldwide panic over the new Omicron variant has seen many nations close their borders and restrict flights from other nations. The UK is requiring quarantine, and the US is expected to impose flight restrictions as of Monday.

Coetzee said the symptoms were “mild” in the patients she observed. They mostly consisted of fatigue, body aches and headaches.

“Symptoms at that stage was very much related to normal viral infection. And because we haven’t seen COVID-19 for the past eight to 10 weeks, we decided to test,” she told Reuters.

 

[blue_gold_84]

19 hours ago, Tracker said:

How one discredited 1998 study paved the way for today's anti-vaxxers

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic and the concomitant vaccine, the anti-vaccination movement was mainly identified with one very specific myth: the idea that vaccines cause autism. 

Aside from being patently offensive to neurodiverse and autistic people (including this writer), version 1.0 of the anti-vax movement was also dangerous because its adherents made it easier for infectious diseases to spread. This wasn't just a theoretical fear: local measles outbreaks in places like Disneyland that occurred with greater frequency throughout the 2010s were tied to the increasing number of anti-vaxxers, who had collectively lowered the herd immunity numbers for diseases like measles which were once nearly eradicated in the United States. 

Now that COVID-19 has changed the world, it is worth reexamining the legacy of that autism-related controversy, which may have proven to be the "original sin" that led us to this dismal moment in which anti-COVID-vaccination misinformation is rife. That means turning our eye to the inglorious career of a man named Andrew Wakefield.

Once a British doctor, Wakefield is infamous for being the lead author of a 1998 case series that studied links between autism and digestive conditions — and, he claimed, documented changes in behavior in children who were given the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR vaccine). Over time, this mutated into a claim that MMR vaccines could cause autism, prompting an international panic. 

Because Wakefield's study had been published in a distinguished medical journal (The Lancet), his claims quickly circulated and influenced millions of parents to not let their children get vaccinated at an age when, they believed erroneously, they could be at risk of developing autism. This trend persisted despite the fine print within the study: notably, it included no data about the MMR vaccine, its conclusions were speculative, it had been poorly designed, and the researchers had only studied a small sample of patients. Other critics observed that, because autism is usually diagnosed at the same young age when MMR vaccines are supposed to be administered, the study could dupe impressionable parents into thinking the timing of their child's autism diagnosis was linked to the inoculation. These fears proved founded; measles outbreaks surged as more and more people followed Wakefield's uninformed advice. By 2019, the United States was experiencing its worst measles outbreak since 1994.

Soon, the people who merely suspected something fishy in Wakefield's study were given more than mere clues. Other scientists were unable to reproduce Wakefield's findings, which is crucial for scientific studies to be considered valid. Then, in 2004, Wakefield was hit with a double whammy: An investigation by Sunday Times reporter Brian Deer demonstrated that Wakefield had financial conflicts of interest he had not disclosed when publishing his report. It was revealed that Wakefield had established several autism-related medical businesses, but their success was predicated on establishing links between MMR vaccines and a likely-fabricated disease called "autistic entercolitis." On top of that, 10 of the 12 scientists who co-authored the paper retracted it on the grounds that "no causal link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient."

By 2010 The Lancet fully retracted the paper, admitting that it was riddled with scientific errors and that the authors had behaved unethically, in no small part by studying children without the required clearances. Wakefield was ultimately stripped of his ability to practice medicine, although he continues to stand by his findings and insists he was mistreated.

A direct line can be drawn between Wakefield's assertions about MMR vaccines and the rhetoric about COVID-19 vaccines (an issue where Wakefield is also anti-science, but has not emerged as a prominent voice). Studies have repeatedly found that general vaccine skepticism increased as a direct result of Wakefield's study; just last August, researchers writing for the scientific journal PLOS One again confirmed that vaccine hesitancy went up after Wakefield's paper came out.

"The Wakefield et al paper arrived at an interesting time in history," epidemiologist Dr. René Najera told Salon in June. "The internet was growing. The 24-hour news cycle was growing. People like Jenny McCarthy and others were becoming 'influencers.' His paper only brought to the forefront fears that many parents had: that vaccines caused developmental delays. Before 1998, you didn't have the internet as a bullhorn, or time to interview or showcase celebrities."

While hesitation about vaccines existed before Wakefield, the British doctor made it possible for misinformation to do something that had previously only occurred in the world of epidemics: achieving virality. Even after Wakefield himself sank into obscurity, other anti-vaccine activists emerged to take his place. By normalizing the practice of questioning vaccines without regard to reliable medical knowledge, they laid the foundations for the denial of the COVID-19 vaccines that is so prevalent today.

Wakefield may not be one of the so-called "disinformation dozen" — social media voices today who create two-thirds of all anti-vaxxer content online — but he is their forefather. Without Wakefield, it is hard to imagine that the anti-vaccination movement would have been so loud before the pandemic that it would metastasize during it, to the extent that millions of Americans now view opposing vaccines as a crucial part of their identity.

Despite the claims made by Wakefield and others, there is no evidence that vaccines are in any way linked to autism. There is also no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines are either unsafe or ineffective — or, as some kooks claim, have microchips in them. Autism refers to a broad range of neurological conditions that many doctors argue should not even be considered "unhealthy," and which certainly are not induced by vaccinations. Vaccines work by training your immune system to protect the body against pathogens (microorganisms that cause disease) by either introducing a weakened or dead part or whole of that pathogen into the body, or by teaching the cells to make proteins associated with a specific pathogen so that the invader can be identified and eliminated.

Wakefield is such a piece of **** and he continues to peddle anti-vax nonsense despite no real data or scientific evidence. He's caused immeasurable harm. 

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Wakefield is such a piece of **** and he continues to peddle anti-vax nonsense despite no real data or scientific evidence. He's caused immeasurable harm. 

Oh, its measurable, all right, only in deaths.  

[Goalie]

2 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Wakefield is such a piece of **** and he continues to peddle anti-vax nonsense despite no real data or scientific evidence. He's caused immeasurable harm. 

Quack. Quack. 

[Noeller]

 

 

[the watcher]

That didn't take long.

I posted an article last Wednesday and they were talking about a few cases in South Africa.

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, the watcher said:

That didn't take long.

I posted an article last Wednesday and they were talking about a few cases in South Africa.

This is what happens when you can be on the other side of the world in 10 hours.

[Mark H.]

I have had a positive covid test. Being double-vaxxed I had just mild symptoms, but they fit the description, so I got tested. It started on Friday & I am 80% better already. It literally felt like I couldn't get enough air, on Saturday night.  If that had gotten worse or persisted, it would have been a miserable experience. Now I'm just going to go crazy, sitting at home until next Monday. 

If there are any fence - sitters here...get VAXXED.  

[Goalie]

We need the Decepticon variant but it's more of a transformer so it's strange. Omicron autobot.. Dr Claw even..I'll get you next time 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Goalie

[Noeller]

34 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

I have had a positive covid test. Being double-vaxxed I had just mild symptoms, but they fit the description, so I got tested. It started on Friday & I am 80% better already. It literally felt like I couldn't get enough air, on Saturday night.  If that had gotten worse or persisted, it would have been a miserable experience. Now I'm just going to go crazy, sitting at home until next Monday. 

If there are any fence - sitters here...get VAXXED.  

So sorry to hear this, Mark... hope you're back to 100 by Sunday!! 

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

So sorry to hear this, Mark... hope you're back to 100 by Sunday!! 

I am already going stir crazy - will be uber ready for a Bomber game on Sunday! 

[iHeart]

really? just 86 new cases today? that's an improvement (billeck is taking his time and Bartley has time off) but ouch 11 new deaths reported today

124 cases on Saturday, Nov. 27; and 132 cases on Sunday, Nov 28;

 

Southern Health being stupid as usual (the second column represents number of cases the third not fully vaccinated)

 

Interlake-Eastern health region	five	zero
Northern health region	10	three
Prairie Mountain Health region	11	seven
Southern Health-Santé Sud health region	30	21
Winnipeg health region	30	9

Edited November 29, 2021 by iHeart

[FrostyWinnipeg]

1 minute ago, iHeart said:

really? just 86 new cases today? that's an improvement (billeck is taking his time and Bartley has time off)

Not surprised...people have more important things to do then get tested. Like Black Friday/Saturday/Sunday shopping

 

[Mark H.]

3 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Not surprised...people have more important things to do then get tested. Like Black Friday/Saturday/Sunday shopping

 

The availability of rapid tests is also a factor. 

[JCon]