[Aptorian]

Azath Vitr (D, on 30 December 2020 - 03:28 AM, said:

amphibian, on 30 December 2020 - 03:17 AM, said:

Briar King, on 28 December 2020 - 08:42 PM, said:

Just got the word I lost my aunt. She was out the hospital before Christmas and Christmas morning ten minutes after my cuz had just talked to her she went back and found her unresponsive in bedroom and she remained that way. Idk if they will determine it was corona or pneumonia due to corona.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Luke Letlow, a Representative elect from Louisiana who was going to be sworn in during January, just died from covid-19.

He was only 41... didn't look too obese. No mention of preexisting conditions.

He was a Republican. Just out of morbid curiosity - Was he one of the Corona deniers?

[amphibian]

I don't know if he was a denier. His Twitter and official campaign positions seem to just not ever deal with that topic. It's "God, business, farm support" in the last few months that I could find in about twenty minutes of looking.

I don't get the impression he was someone who didn't believe in Covid-19, but I did get the impression that he probably wasn't someone who was diligent about proper protocols. I base that on him essentially never wearing a mask in his public speaking appearances over the last several months.

Anyways, he basically didn't have a chance once he went into the ICU. The usage of remdesivir and steroids is an extremely bad Hail Mary tactic and it didn't work here.

[Malankazooie]

For the eggheads here, how much does bioethics come into your job as it relates to the pandemic? Asking, because I was listening to a discussion on ethics and the pandemic, and while it seems obvious, for example, who should get the vaccine first, things start getting into the neighborhood of more thoughtful consideration once the obvious candidates are taken care of. Also, do you guys see the potential for another stratification or class dynamic developing from this? Like an ID card that says you have been vaccinated and so have entry to certain parts of society that the un-vaccinated do not? I dunno, I'm not doing a great job of getting the discussion on this going... just spitballin' some thoughts that got the gears turning after listening to that discussion.

[Cyphon]

It also depends whether the vaccine prevents being a carrier/spreader too.

Ultimately it will come down to whats considered valuable and risk appetite once you get past people with obvious health concerns. So I imagine the UK tory risk appetite will be high and focused on getting the economy going again - and that will determine who gets it.

So teachers might be an interesting case study. Not frontline but will enable economic activity but the kids are probably the engines for covid spread... so will teachers be nearer the top of the list.

[Mezla PigDog]

I can see some vaccine nationalism coming in with people who have had a specific vaccine being allowed to travel into certain countries. China is big on vaccine diplomacy right now. As above though, it depends on what scientific facts get out about each one. I wouldn't rule anything out right now until we know more about the impact on transmission. The vaccines being approved is amazing news and they obviously confer some protection or they wouldn't be approved but there is a long way to go yet in terms of large scale evidence of anything. Key is getting them out there to hopefully reduce the statistical likelihood of these ridiculous variants.

Those in the UK may have noticed that the government are being very quiet on the subject of roll out and my guess is that it is because they have been advised by social scientists to stay out of it right now - the more politicians push for it the more people will shy away. Once public confidence increases they will shout it from the roof tops but for now they have been told to keep quiet other than generic lines about approval and logistics.

[Traveller]

Got vaccine booked for 11am today.

Hospital got a load in, but hadn't thought to organise a list or prioritise staff groups, and need the slots filled to get things moving. I'm at work today so if I'm not busy, which I might be, I'll go and get one this morning.

I'm kind of thinking that over the year, constant small incremental exposure has done the same job as a vaccine, but I'd hate to be wrong and end up like some of my colleagues.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 01 January 2021 - 08:23 AM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Despite the Covid-19 death count in the United States rapidly accelerating, a startlingly high percentage of health care professionals and frontline workers throughout the country—who have been prioritized as early receipts of the coronavirus vaccine—are reportedly hesitant or outright refusing to take it[...]

[In] Ohio [...] approximately 60% of nursing home staff declined the shot.

[...] chief of critical care at Houston's United Memorial Medical Center[...] more than half of the nurses in his unit informed him they would not get the vaccine.

[...] Roughly 55 percent of surveyed New York Fire Department firefighters said they would not get the coronavirus vaccine[...]

[...] Riverside, Calif., [...] forced to figure out how best to allocate unused doses after an estimated 50% of frontline workers in the county refused the vaccine.

Fewer than half of the hospital workers at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County, Calif., were willing to be vaccinated, and around 20% to 40% of L.A. County's frontline workers have reportedly declined an opportunity to take the vaccine.

[...] chief clinical officer at Chicago's Loretto Hospital[...] 40% of the hospital staff said they would not get vaccinated.

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 29% of healthcare workers were hesitant to receive the vaccine, citing concerns related to potential side effects and a lack of faith in the government to ensure the vaccines were safe. Frontline workers in the United States are disproportionately Black and Hispanic. The pandemic has taken an "outsized toll" on this segment of the population, which has reportedly accounted for roughly 65% of fatalities in cases in which there are race and ethnicity data. A study published by the journal The Lancet over the summer found "healthcare workers of color were more than twice as likely as their white counterparts" to test positive for the coronavirus. According to a Pew Research Center poll published in December, vaccine skepticism is highest among Black Americans, as less than 43% said they would definitely/probably get a Covid-19 vaccine.

[...] "the fact that [President] Trump is in charge of accelerating the process bothers" those individuals who refuse to be immunized, adding "they all think it's meant to harm specific sectors of the population." [Obviously "all" is almost certainly hyperbole.] [...] the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, best exemplifies "the culture of medical exploitation, abuse and neglect of Black Americans."

"I've heard Tuskegee more times than I can count in the past month — and, you know, it's a valid, valid concern," [...]

government officials said they planned to have 40 million doses available by the end of 2020, which would be enough to fully vaccinate 20 million Americans. However, [...] less than 3 million Americans have received the first dose of the vaccine, with 14 million doses [...] distributed.'

https://www.forbes.c...sh=1e4c58673c96

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 03 January 2021 - 05:29 PM

[Macros]

A few family members (cousins, aunt) have tested positive. Minor symptoms, my main concern is my cousin who had the accident that paralysed him a few years ago is one of them, and he's in the hella high risk category.

[Mezla PigDog]

Macros, on 03 January 2021 - 06:56 PM, said:

A few family members (cousins, aunt) have tested positive. Minor symptoms, my main concern is my cousin who had the accident that paralysed him a few years ago is one of them, and he's in the hella high risk category.

Sorry to hear that. And your Aunt, BK. My neighbours had it recently. It shamed me as I didn't notice they didn't come out of their house for 2 weeks. Anyway they are all quite seriously overweight so they are up the risk categories but they were all fine. Quite rough for a couple of days but they bounced right back. There is a lot of bad luck involved for the people who end up in hospital. But then that's why we try to keep the numbers down so less people have to risk the bad luck.

[Mezla PigDog]

Traveller, on 01 January 2021 - 08:22 AM, said:

Got vaccine booked for 11am today.

Hospital got a load in, but hadn't thought to organise a list or prioritise staff groups, and need the slots filled to get things moving. I'm at work today so if I'm not busy, which I might be, I'll go and get one this morning.

I'm kind of thinking that over the year, constant small incremental exposure has done the same job as a vaccine, but I'd hate to be wrong and end up like some of my colleagues.

Did you have the jab? Are you a zombie yet?

Also well done for still showing up for work.

[Traveller]

Yep got the jab. Sore arm a few hours later but nothing else. Kinda disappointed that I havent developed any latent superpowers or mutations yet. But hey, I survived last year and got a vaccine.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 04 January 2021 - 01:27 PM

[Macros]

Is Bill or Jeff your overlord now?

[Traveller]

I havent actually had a single sick day all year, which makes me think I built up immunity, or had it without symptoms. Either way, predictably, the people at work who are now whining that they feel ill after their jab are the ones that are always off sick with something.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 04 January 2021 - 01:30 PM

[QuickTidal]

Traveller, on 04 January 2021 - 01:30 PM, said:

I havent actually had a single sick day all year, which makes me think I built up immunity, or had it without symptoms. Either way, predictably, the people at work who are now whining that they feel ill after their jab are the ones that are always off sick with something.

I now know 3 people who have had the jab, one LTCH worker friend (his second jab is tomorrow), and two frontline hospital staff, one a respiratory therapist. All have reported the sore arm for about 24hrs, and the LTCH worker friend told me he felt like he had a wicked hangover the day after jab 1, but was fine later that day and since.

[Gorefest]

Is this the Pfizer jab? Other than possibly the adjuvant, there is nothing in that to get sick from. The arm pain is just your body's immune system reacting to the jab, so that is actually a good thing. Same logic as a fever not being caused directly by a disease, but by your immune system's reaction to that disease.

On top of the Oxford vaccine we have now also started supporting a Johnsson&Johnsson / Covance vaccine. Seems a tad late now though, because how are you going to find volunteers and distinguish between sick and healthy individuals when everyone has the vaccine? Oh well, their money. Annoying though that for this one we also have to process the symtomatic samples, so full CL3/MSC setup. So bloody time consuming.

[Cause]

My cousin had got the vaccine, had the biggest bruise and pain in her arm but I’m pretty sure bruising is from a bad injection not the vaccine itself. Still I’d gladly suffer a sore arm and a headache to get this over with.

I have just learnt that South Africa , made no effort to procure any vaccines. It along with the poorest countries in the world (which SA is not really apart of, top 40 by gdp) are relying on COVAX. I’d say it’s inexcusable

This post has been edited by Cause: 04 January 2021 - 04:30 PM

[QuickTidal]

Gorefest, on 04 January 2021 - 04:18 PM, said:

Is this the Pfizer jab? Other than possibly the adjuvant, there is nothing in that to get sick from. The arm pain is just your body's immune system reacting to the jab, so that is actually a good thing. Same logic as a fever not being caused directly by a disease, but by your immune system's reaction to that disease.

Yep, the Pfizer one, and yeah even the headache my one friend got is typical of a vaccine response from his immune system kicking in. They are all fine, and happy to have received the jab.

[Macros]

Who or what is COVAX? (Beyond a good name for a spectre like organisation)

[Cause]

It’s the body formed by the WHO and EU and whatever else to create a body to find the funding for 2 billion doses of covid vaccines and to give them to particularly poor countries. Countries which would otherwise lack the money or population size to enter into agreements with Pfizer for example. It’s a very necessary thing but that South Africa didn’t even bother to try and arrange a purchase of vaccines for hospital workers even is just incompetent. SA they say won’t get a vaccine does till at least April.

[Malankazooie]

Malankazooie, on 30 December 2020 - 07:34 PM, said:

For the eggheads here, how much does bioethics come into your job as it relates to the pandemic? Asking, because I was listening to a discussion on ethics and the pandemic, and while it seems obvious, for example, who should get the vaccine first, things start getting into the neighborhood of more thoughtful consideration once the obvious candidates are taken care of. Also, do you guys see the potential for another stratification or class dynamic developing from this? Like an ID card that says you have been vaccinated and so have entry to certain parts of society that the un-vaccinated do not? I dunno, I'm not doing a great job of getting the discussion on this going... just spitballin' some thoughts that got the gears turning after listening to that discussion.

On this topic of ethics, was reading an article about jails and prisons and where the incarcerated should be in the order of vaccination priority. I tend to agree they should be right at the top of the list.