BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Sep 21 - 04:28 AM

Powerful stuff there.

I'm not a fan of forcing anyone to have jabs for this or for flu. We've allowed anti-vaxxers and other assorted nutters to throw us behind the curve. We need a massive campaign of public education about this disease with full information and persuasion to the fore. Billboards, radio, telly, ads online...Videos like this one are great - but shove them in front of people, don't hide them on YouTube. I do find it puzzling that there has been a lot of compulsion behind mask-wearing (questionable at best and quite possibly useless) but not behind vaccination (THE only way out of this). But education and persuasion, never compulsion. Compulsion engenders revolt and goes against the grain of democracy. Thin end of the wedge...?

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 09 Sep 21 - 02:32 AM

.. and... Darwin Awards news...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd8P12BXebo&t=3s&ab_channel=TheNewYorkTimes

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 06:47 PM

Good news, bad news and fake news.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 06:41 PM

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/last-pandemic-science-military-60-minutes-2021-09-05/

Both bad news and good news coexist.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Jeri
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 03:00 PM

Shhhh. Don't let anyone else know. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 01:45 PM

Jeri, I absolutely don't hate you. There are times when I don't understand you but that's par for the course in this two-dimensional world. Actually, I even think I once told you that I loved you... ;-) You're right about those two. I didn't need to react, did I. I should just have said grrr, preferably internally...

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Jeri
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 01:40 PM

Steve, while I'm pretty sure you already hate me, I'll share this anyway.
I once complained to an acquaintance that a person kept saying things on Mudcat that were stupid, and annoying, and I felt like I had to do something about that.
He told me "Don't play with trolls".
I said, "But he's so wrong and what he says shouldn't be allowed to stand unchallenged."
He said "Don't play with trolls."

While people may not BE trolls, when they provoke an emotional response in you, the messages are trolling. Don't play.

And me, I'll shut up and f*ck off in accordance with imagined reaction to this. Please carry on.

(My "troll" was Martin Gibson, if anyone remembers.)

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 01:23 PM

Donuel and Mrzzy, you are both guilty of generating misinformation and/or scaremongering in this thread, so your little sideswipes are, shall we say, not exactly appreciated.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 12:43 PM

Long-COVID is certainly a one-two punch against the brain and lungs of the sufferers.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 12:26 PM

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN-THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS
DRUGGIES USE NEEDLES
50 years of anti drug propoganda later it is stuck in some brains.

So what do antivaxxers hear; This is your brain, this is your brain on vaccines. Just say No!

People have been conditioned to not even respect the lives of drug users.

I suggest -THIS IS YOUR DEAD BRAIN ON COVID because it was not vaccinated.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 09:39 AM

The chaos of uncertainty combined with stupidity will make this Fall the most challenging time in the coming 'Multidemic' of flu combined with Covid variants and common colds spread by schools.

We found that the spit tests are not accurate and sequencing is best.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 09:34 AM

Pot, kettle.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 09:18 AM

That is why stupid people react poorly to sarcasm.
In text you can not hear the 'sarcastic inflection'.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 08:37 AM

Yes, one little lie or the propagation of misinformation can spread fake news like wildfire, true enough. Something that Mudcat posters could reflect on.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 08:28 AM

Based on my experience with 12,000 hypnosis subjects I am certain people are more than predisposed to a 'lie' than most people would expect. An evolutionary adaptation could be the weakest link in our psychology and be the fatal flaw which reverses rational thought in human beings. I have long warned that without being educated to our own likelyhood of hypnotic programing we are ever prone to its negative effects.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Sep 21 - 07:54 AM

Yes a UK doctor lied about the vaccine autism threat and it spread like wild fire.

How do crazy ideas develop? Sometimes a grain of truth like this
could be read by a screen writer and base a comedy series BRAIN DEAD https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4877736/
about a parasite causing the brains of consevatives to go insane, to one day 2 years later turning into the magic parasite killing Ivermectin to be a cure for Covid.
I am kidding about this series of events but all it takes is one little lie to capture millions.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Sep 21 - 05:50 PM

Years ago a flawed paper was written by someone who fabricated the data that had to do with childhood vaccinations that might have mercury and autism. It was rubbish, it was withdrawn, the authors censured, but it continues to live a life of its own in the hands of anti-vaxxers.

It turns out there was a similar paper to do with Ivermectin that was withdrawn for data and ethical problems, but that continues to be the source of a lot of the misinformation about Ivermectin and COVID-19.

Huge study supporting ivermectin as Covid treatment withdrawn over ethical concerns

The preprint endorsing ivermectin as a coronavirus therapy has been widely cited, but independent researchers find glaring discrepancies in the data

An excerpt from the Guardian article:

The study found that patients with Covid-19 treated in hospital who “received ivermectin early reported substantial recovery” and that there was “a substantial improvement and reduction in mortality rate in ivermectin treated groups” by 90%.

But the drug’s promise as a treatment for the virus is in serious doubt after the Elgazzar study was pulled from the Research Square website on Thursday “due to ethical concerns”. Research Square did not outline what those concerns were.

A medical student in London, Jack Lawrence, was among the first to identify serious concerns about the paper, leading to the retraction. He first became aware of the Elgazzar preprint when it was assigned to him by one of his lecturers for an assignment that formed part of his master’s degree. He found the introduction section of the paper appeared to have been almost entirely plagiarised.

It appeared that the authors had run entire paragraphs from press releases and websites about ivermectin and Covid-19 through a thesaurus to change key words. “Humorously, this led to them changing ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome’ to ‘extreme intense respiratory syndrome’ on one occasion,” Lawrence said.

The data also looked suspicious to Lawrence, with the raw data apparently contradicting the study protocol on several occasions.

“The authors claimed to have done the study only on 18-80 year olds, but at least three patients in the dataset were under 18,” Lawrence said.

“The authors claimed they conducted the study between the 8th of June and 20th of September 2020, however most of the patients who died were admitted into hospital and died before the 8th of June according to the raw data. The data was also terribly formatted, and includes one patient who left hospital on the non-existent date of 31/06/2020.”

There were other concerns.

“The main error is that at least 79 of the patient records are obvious clones of other records,” Brown told the Guardian. “It’s certainly the hardest to explain away as innocent error, especially since the clones aren’t even pure copies. There are signs that they have tried to change one or two fields to make them look more natural.”

People who don't do a close reading on papers like this end up spreading the wrong information. And a lot of people apparently didn't read very carefully.

This article was published July 15, 2021 in The Guardian

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Rain Dog
Date: 07 Sep 21 - 05:02 PM

From The Guardian.

Judge reverses order forcing hospital to treat Covid patient with ivermectin

"Judge cites lack of ‘convincing evidence’ that drug is effective, siding with hospital that refused to administer medication.

On Monday, Judge Michael Oster of Butler county issued an order that sided with West Chester Hospital, citing a lack of “convincing evidence” that the drug – used in small doses in humans against external parasites such as headlice, and in larger doses for animals including cows and horses – could significantly improve the patient’s condition."

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Sep 21 - 02:07 PM

345 children in Texas were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Saturday. Just Saturday.

Meanwhile, data from the CDC. . .

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Sep 21 - 10:48 AM

I noticed this story this morning: The W.H.O. lists Mu as a ‘variant of interest.’

Whack-a-mole indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Sep 21 - 07:40 PM

Australia - COVID vaccine certificates can be forged within 10 minutes due to 'obvious' security flaw. Near-perfect forgeries of the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine digital certificate can be made in 10 minutes using free software, a member of the public has discovered. Richard Nelson, a software engineer in Sydney, has found an "obvious" security flaw in the Express Plus Medicare app allowing him to make vaccine certificates with any name and date of birth and featuring the background animations meant to prevent forgery. (read on)

As I don't have a smart phone I printed mine out, the background is just the Oz coat of arms, now all I need is a 10x8 photo frame to carry it around! I also have in my wallet the little cardboard appointment folder the medical centre gave me after my first vaccine. It has 2 stickers signed by the nurse giving details of each injection.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Rain Dog
Date: 05 Sep 21 - 06:30 PM

From the BBC.

"Brazil and Argentina's World Cup qualifier was abandoned just minutes after kick-off on Sunday after Brazilian health officials objected to the participation of three Argentine players they believe broke quarantine rules.

The visitors walked off the pitch at the Corinthians Arena after the officials came out to stop the game.

The dramatic intervention came hours after Brazil's health authorities had said four England-based players for Argentina had to quarantine."

Brazil v Argentina abandoned after visiting players accused of Covid violation

++
Vaccine passports in nightclubs and other indoor venues in England will be required at the end of this month, the vaccines minister has confirmed.

Nadhim Zahawi said it was the right time to start the scheme for sites with large crowds as all over-18s will have been offered two jabs by then.

Asking people to show certificates with Covid vaccination proof has been criticised by venues and some MPs.

Mr Zahawi said it would ensure the economy could remain open."

Covid-19: Vaccine passports to start in England this month

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Sep 21 - 11:11 AM

Shit, I have never won at whack a mole.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 05 Sep 21 - 10:14 AM

A future of perpetual varient whack a mole...

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 21 - 09:21 AM

The Present and Future of COVID Variants
Experts stress testing, vaccination amid delta surge

In fact, variants have continued to develop and spread since the emergence of delta. The World Health Organization has designated variants Eta, Iota, Kappa, and Lambda “variants of interest” and is tracking 13 additional variants that originated in the U.S., Brazil, the Philippines, Indonesia, Colombia, and other nations.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Sep 21 - 08:50 AM

i am on a varient hunt.
The Columbian 'blue' varient seems to have some vaccine resistance but little is known yet. Not all varients gain prominence.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 04 Sep 21 - 02:57 PM

Triage - Automatically send to the bottom of the list:
anti vax toxic substance self medicaters,
who are hell bent on winning
their Darwin awards...

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 21 - 12:36 PM

That reminds me, I need to give the dogs their heartworm monthly medication this weekend. Ivermectin.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Rain Dog
Date: 04 Sep 21 - 12:15 PM

From The Guardian newspaper site.

"An Oklahoma doctor has said overdoses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which many believe without evidence can prevent or cure Covid-19, are helping cause delays and problems for rural hospitals and ambulance services struggling to cope with the resurgent pandemic."

Oklahoma hospitals deluged by ivermectin overdoses, doctor says

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Sep 21 - 07:35 AM

It is said that politics today is the new religion.

The new varient of concern is called the mu varient.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 03 Sep 21 - 06:59 PM

Raindog I scanned the crowd and identified about a half dozen women.
All the rest could have been suffering from testosterone poisoning?

Political protestors are usually religiously motivated and have decided to be bioterrorists, especially against children, in their anti vax crusade.

Forgive them for they do not know what they do.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Rain Dog
Date: 03 Sep 21 - 02:20 PM

Will things ever return to 'normal'?

From The Guardian

Anti-vaccine protesters try to storm London offices of medical regulator

"Police have prevented anti-vaccine protesters from storming the headquarters of Britain’s medical regulator during violent clashes in east London.

At least four officers were injured and arrests were made during a confrontation as hundreds of people gathered outside the offices of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in Canary Wharf.

Police drew batons and called for reinforcements as protesters attempted to force open the door of the regulator’s offices, with security guards looking on from inside.

Some of the crowd who had gathered at Canary Wharf were later involved in another confrontation outside the Science Museum vaccination centre in Kensington, west London."

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Sep 21 - 11:14 AM

You don't need hindsight to see how stupid are some of the alternative faux-remedies, yet people announce to the world what they're taking instead of the vaccine. We live in an era of willful stupidity.

Streaming podcsts personality Joe Rogan is one of those idiots.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 03 Sep 21 - 10:29 AM

The US allowed 15 million doses of Pfizer to expire
but there are reasons and excuses
just like everything else
that ends in tradgedy

Pyroclastic clouds burned villagers to a crisp
The hurricane hit our cities like a fist
Red tide poisoned fish and folks alike
A Billion viral graves are about to spike

Once in a lifetime, twice in a week

The astroid was just a sliver
the creek's now a mighty river
The smoke made noon look like midnight
The crops all died of blight

Once in a lifetime, twice in a week

Fever and fits from small ticks
It hit a 100 in the Arctic
Permafrost began to burn
marked a point of no return

Once in a lifetime twice in a week.

Extinction became redemption
from the pain to come
It wasn't bleak for everyone
It was a golden age for some.

Once in a lifetime twice in a week

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Rain Dog
Date: 03 Sep 21 - 07:53 AM

At last, sanity prevails (at least on this matter)

From the BBC

EU and AstraZeneca reach deal to end vaccine row

"The EU and UK-Swedish drug-maker AstraZeneca have settled a row over a shortfall in coronavirus vaccines that affected the European rollout earlier this year.

AstraZeneca has agreed to deliver 200 million doses of its vaccine, which had been promised under a contract, to the EU by the end of March 2022.

The deal puts an end to the EU's pending action in the Belgian courts.

The EU said this week that 70% of adults had been double vaccinated."

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Sep 21 - 10:55 AM

Australia has a small but vocal collection of nutters & anti vaxxers. A member of the ruling (rightwing) party in our federal parliament is one of the noisiest & has just left his party to join one even further to the right. This party is owned by a billionaire who spent $60 million on misinformation & outright lies last federal election & did not gain a seat, leading to the IKEA shop in his neighbourhood putting up a ginormous poster above their building saying he could have bought a seat from them for $39! Craig Kelly’s move to Palmer’s United Australia Party

Someone recently said on Sydney radio We don't have enough villages for the idiots we are producing & a local cartoonist produced a great cartoon on that theme on 31st August

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 21 - 10:15 AM

Meanwhile, in highly educated countries, this nonsense continues to happen: Sydney Covid patient in Westmead hospital after overdosing on ivermectin and other online ‘cures’
Patient, who suffered vomiting and diarrhoea, part of trend hospital is seeing of people taking unproven substances

I read yesterday that the GOP radio host Rogan was COVID positive and was taking all of the Trump-approved medications, and Ivermectin.

#ShakesHead

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Sep 21 - 06:04 AM

From the website statista.com (google "Number of administered coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine doses per 100 people in Africa as of August 28, 2021, by country")

Fifteen African nations have fewer than two people in every hundred even partially vaccinated. At the bottom of the pile is the DRC, with a population of 105 million, one in every thousand of whom have received any vaccine. Taking Africa as a whole, around seven people in every hundred have received any vaccine.

We are not safe until everyone is safe. We've hardly got started.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 21 - 07:13 PM

Another varient has emerged from South Africa.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 21 - 12:21 PM

We are not banned from EU at this time. There are only obvious
recommendations to steer clear of our unvaccinated.
The vaccinated can still be carriers and can get sicker than they may expect. Delta packs a big punch of transmissabilty.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 21 - 09:53 AM

My daughter is preparing for a trip to Italy at the end of September. Her plans for Japan were scuttled months ago, this is the substitute. Who knows if she'll get to go anywhere after four more weeks pass.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 21 - 08:40 AM

The safe travel recommendation for the US has been reversed.
EU has placed new travel restrictions on the US.

I do not know the status on the US Canadian border.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 21 - 09:46 PM

We will outlive quite a few of those antivaxxers, at this rate.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Jeri
Date: 30 Aug 21 - 09:01 PM

We'll always have Covid around. We'll find better treatments. More people will get vaccinated, and some people who refuse will die, but it will always be here. I'm just hoping the rabid anti-vaxers will go away.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Aug 21 - 09:01 PM

and stuff all anti mask madness.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Aug 21 - 08:10 PM

We got past the Holocaust, we will get past this.
What people become normalized and accustomed to is beyond belief.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Aug 21 - 07:53 PM

We will live with this virus for years, if not decades, if not forever. We will control its worst effects with vaccines, and vaccines alone. Not with social distancing, not with fear, not with lockdowns, not with outrageous and immoral diktats about not being allowed to mix with our own families and our nearest and dearest, not with masks. Definitely not with masks. We roll out vaccines to the world and we persuade everyone to take them. There is absolutely no other way of getting back to normal life as normal human beings.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Aug 21 - 04:35 PM

I did not know about storage rule changes Stilly. Thanks
Steve I had that conversation with the pharmacist and pleaded guilty.
There is slow progress on the global front.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Aug 21 - 03:59 PM

Bringing the pandemic to an end involves making vaccines available world-wide, not just in rich western countries. It also involves persuading everyone to get vaccinated. There are large parts of your country with alarming-low levels of takeup. You have preachers in the Deep South who are more or less ordering their flocks to reject the vaccine. You have a big problem. The Pfizer storage news is good, but on its own it fixes very little.

Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 21 - 11:39 AM

One of the reasons store pharmacies are able to distribute the Pfizer vaccine is because the company came back and changed the storage model. In mid-May this report was issued:

FDA In Brief: FDA Authorizes Longer Time for Refrigerator Storage of Thawed Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Prior to Dilution, Making Vaccine More Widely Available

Making COVID-19 vaccines widely available is key to getting people vaccinated and bringing the pandemic to an end. Pfizer Inc. submitted data to the FDA to support storage of undiluted, thawed vials of its COVID-19 vaccine for up to one month at refrigerator temperatures. This change should make this vaccine more widely available to the American public by facilitating the ability of vaccine providers, such as community doctors’ offices, to receive, store and administer the vaccine.

Additional Information
Based on a review of recent data submitted by Pfizer Inc. today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is authorizing undiluted, thawed Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine vials to be stored in the refrigerator at 2°C to 8°C (35°F to 46°F) for up to 1 month. Previously, thawed, undiluted vaccine vials could be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Pfizer Inc. submitted data to the FDA to demonstrate that undiluted, thawed vials of its COVID-19 vaccine are stable at refrigerator temperatures for up to 1 month.