Promising New Coronavirus Vaccine

[Robert Roaldi]

Here's a sad story about the unvaccinated who are getting sick and dying in far higher numbers than the vaccinated, https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/07/us/maryland-unvaccinated-covid-deaths/index.html.

[chez]

Here's a sad story about the unvaccinated who are getting sick and dying in far higher numbers than the vaccinated, https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/07/us/maryland-unvaccinated-covid-deaths/index.html.

Sad, but predicted. Everyone makes their own choices and must live with the consequences. I find it much more sad when a person dies from an action they had zero control over. That damn drunk driver running a red light and killing the innocent pedestrian coming home with a quart of milk from the corner store...that is sad.

[Chris Kern]

Pfizer reportedly will submit a request next month to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization to permit the administration of a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine:

On Thursday, Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten told The Associated Press that early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five- to 10-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier.

In August, Pfizer plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization of a third dose, he said.

Why might that matter for fighting the delta variant? Dolsten pointed to data from Britain and Israel showing the Pfizer vaccine “neutralizes the delta variant very well.” The assumption, he said, is that when antibodies drop low enough, the delta virus eventually could cause a mild infection before the immune system kicks back in.

I suspect manufacturers of other coronavirus vaccines won't be too far behind in making similar requests.

[petermfiore]

I suspect manufacturers of other coronavirus vaccines won't be too far behind in making similar requests.

I would think that's a YES!

Peter

[Robert Roaldi]

I hope this is just a hiccup, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/562628-covid-19-case-count-spikes-hit-almost-every-state.

[Robert Roaldi]

It's very difficult to accept that this is happening, https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/14/politics/politics-needless-covid-deaths/index.html. Must be a little like what witch trials were like centuries ago.

[Robert Roaldi]

More reports of stalled US vaccinations, this time compared to Canada, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/07/canada-is-beating-the-united-states-at-vaccination/.

[LesPalenik]

Canada has been consistently beating USA also in number of new infections and deaths.
July 19:
USA - 24,266 infections, 121 deaths
Canada - 701 infections, 5 deaths

July 18:
USA - 24,342 infections, 87 deaths
Canada - 259 infections, 7 deaths

USA population = 328 million, Canada - 37.6 million
USA total deaths / 1 million pop = 1,876
Canada total deaths / 1 million pop = 696
That's about 3 times worse for USA in relative terms (despite USA earlier vaccinations)

[Robert Roaldi]

Interesting piece of data analysis regarding mask-wearing in Texas, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/texas-mask-mandate-no-effect/618942/. The author wondered why there wasn't a surge in infections when mask-wearing was relaxed in Texas early this year and discusses some explanations.

[Chris Kern]

Here in the U.S. state of Merryland, facemasks have become a fashion accessory.  (Below, a cellphone snap from a quick trip yesterday to a local shopping mall with my wife—both of us "fully vaccinated," but still masked-up.)

[Robert Roaldi]

Two interesting things. One is an article about vacationers in Missouri who refuse to take any Covid precautions, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/27/ozarks-lake-covid-unvaccinated-500784. One especially interesting interview is with a lady with cancer who wore a mask in Walmart and was heckled by others to remove her mask. (Always beware the mob.)

The second is a Sam Harris podcast about Covid vaccines, their (outstanding) effectiveness and the mis- and dis-information that's being peddled against them, https://samharris.org/podcasts/256-contagion-bad-ideas/. Some really interesting discussion about actual data by an interviewee who knows and understands it all intimately. The podcast is about 90 min long and is presented in its entirely, not behind the normal paywall.

(As an aside, I don't follow everything that American politicians say these days about the vaccines, there's just too much info out there. But I wonder if there is someone out there in media land who is tracking all the people with public profile, such as sitting politicians, who preach against vaccines but who have themselves been inoculated. It seems as if that would be an interesting thing to make public.)

[Robert Roaldi]

Some stories are just too sad for words, https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/29/health/vaccines-in-secret-missouri/index.html. Some folks in Missouri feel the need to hide the fact that they're getting inoculated.

[Robert Roaldi]

Interesting podcast from Trending BBC about a thwarted Covid vaccine disinformation campaign, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct1xzq. It's about 20 min long.

From the episode's blurb, "A mystery sponsor secretly offered to pay social media stars to spread lies about the risks from a Covid vaccine. The plot failed spectacularly but who and what was behind it all?".

[Chris Kern]

Some stories are just too sad for words. . . .  Some folks in Missouri feel the need to hide the fact that they're getting inoculated.

Apropos of pathos, the U.S. Treasury Department today apparently concluded it was necessary to authorize the individual states to divert federal economic relief funds in order to pay $100 each to recalcitrant residents in order to encourage them to get vaccinated.

My wife has una amiga in southern México who stood in line for an entire day last month with her extended family under the hot summer sun to get doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, only to be informed when they arrived near the head of the queue that the clinic had exhausted its supply.  A few weeks ago, they queued up again for the better part of the day, and had better luck: the entire family got vaccinated.  They were so happy, and relieved finally to be immunized, that they threw a party for their neighborhood.

I've long suspected that the average mexicano is smarter than the average estadounidense, so I wasn't surprised to receive this confirmation.

[Chris Kern]

I'm usually leery of "man-in-the-street" reporting, but the New York Times has published an interesting collection of interviews, supplemented by statistical data from sample surveys, with U.S. residents who either are reluctant or adamantly refuse to get the coronavirus vaccine.

Figuring out exactly who is not vaccinated is more complicated; federal authorities have mainly tracked the people getting shots — not those who have not gotten them. But several surveys of adults — from the Kaiser Family Foundation, AP-NORC, Morning Consult, Civis Analytics, the Ad Council and the Census Bureau — together present a sense of the range of who the unvaccinated are, an essential set of data as health officials seek to convince reluctant Americans. . . .

Some of those who expressed reluctance to be vaccinated in their conversations with the Times reporters appeared to be wavering because of the rapid spread of the highly-contagious "Delta variant" in this country.  Others in that group were waiting for unconditional federal approval of the vaccines—which are now being administered under an emergency use authorization—or their next appointment with their family doctor.  They seem to be persuadable, at least.

The refuseniks are another story.

I don't know whether the Times reporters or their editors intentionally screened out the real nutcases—the conspiracy theorists who believe the program to administer the vaccines is part of a nefarious plot by bad actors—but even the interview subjects who said they wouldn't be vaccinated under any circumstances seemed fairly reasonable.  These people may be misinformed about the facts, or their thought processes may be confused, but they don't sound crazy.  Whether anything can shake their current determination not to be inoculated is an open question.

[Robert Roaldi]

Sadly, Worldometer reported US daily deaths above 1000 yesterday. The 7-day moving average is trending in a bad direction.

I thought this item was bizarre news, if it's accurate, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/19/red-state-govs-push-pricey-covid-treatments-while-fighting-masks-506166. So vaccines are new and risky but these various emergency use drugs are ok? What? There was no reason to expect the hysteria to die down, stupid of me to hope.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I'm happy to report that I got my third Pfizer shot yesterday.   

[Chris Kern]

I'm happy to report that I got my third Pfizer shot yesterday.   

I'm sure that's a relief.  From what I've read, all organ transplant patients who received one of the mRNA vaccines should be administered a second booster (third dose) as soon as possible.  Any significant side-effects?

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I have never had any reaction to any vaccination, not even a sore spot where the needle went in.

I guess I got a lot of practice with needles when I was younger, donating something like a few gallons of blood.

[LesPalenik]

How about a few predictions? What will the Covid virus death total be in the US when we finally fully open, possibly next summer or fall. (Or, if you're not from the US, give us the current tool and your country, and what you think it will be at full opening.)

I'm thinking somewhere between 575,000 and 600,000 in the US.

UPDATE: By Friday morning, August 20, 2021, the Covid death total in US stood at 642,185.
According to worldometer stats, Thursday's total was 1089, Wednesday's 967.

At this rate, the total US death count by end of August will be around 650,000 and by year end over 700,000.