COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[GP270watch]

 We need to really have better government response to vaccinize people immediately with whatever is available. This response has been such a failure by the Trump administration.

[GP270watch]

This dude basically spent a year of his presidential term at the golf course, what a clown show.

[GP270watch]

My mother (healthcare worker) got her first dose and feels fine. I am hoping to get one of the straggler doses at the close of day that they have leftover.

 They also started giving shots at Publix, so you can go get a chicken tender sub and save humanity while you're at it. But go plant based and skip the chicken sub altogether to save the planet.

[GP270watch]

Oklahoma trying to return its $2m stockpile of hydroxychloroquine

[GP270watch]

The Mystery Of India's Plummeting COVID-19 Cases

[GP270watch]

I hope the Biden admin keeps turning the tide against Covid-19 and its variants.

[GP270watch]

https://twitter.com/TimFullerton/status/1361031758091849731

[GP270watch]

Really glad to hear that since Jan 1, daily case numbers in the USA have dropped from 300,000 per day to 50,000.

Hopefully this vaccine knocks it on its head and my US friends are safe for good.

I cannot imagine what you guys have been through, but I am happy that you are now seeing the end of this pandemic.

Stay safe

 The news is encouraging but not time to let our guard down.

[GP270watch]

Israel says that Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine effectively stops the spread of Covid-19 according to their vaccine data which is extensive.

Pfizer-BioNTech Shot Stops Covid’s Spread, Israeli Study Shows

[GP270watch]

If wearing masks in public didn't work why is this one of the least potent flu seasons ever?

Then why are there so many COVID-19 cases?

 The vast majority of people are not wearing n95 masks but simple cloth masks or whatever they can get their hands on. Looking at countries that adopted and even distributed masks along with promoting hand washing and contact tracing as part of their public health campaign the evidence is clearly on the side of that working.

[GP270watch]

 There is a really impressive FEMA vaccination site in Tampa, Florida. They're vaccinating 135 people an hour.

[GP270watch]

A new strain of the coronavirus, known as B.1.526, is proliferating vigorously across New York City, after having originated in February in a part of upper Manhattan known as Washington Heights.

This is one of the areas of New York where people tested had the highest percentage of antibodies after the first wave of Covid-19. So if a new strain is developing and spreading in this area I don't think that's a good sign.

[GP270watch]

CDC study finds mask mandates, dining out influence virus spread

B. 1.1.7 is now skyrocketing as a percentage of cases. If we're not lucky we have one more wave to go before mass vaccination really kicks in.

 The lack of good quarantine protocol and contact tracing has been shameful in The United States.

[GP270watch]

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1375530494461308931

 Biden admin is also spearheading an increased push to get people who contract Covid-19 and are in at risk groups to get pre-emptive treatment with antibodies. These antibodies are widely available, effective at reducing hospitalizations and deaths and haven't been widely distributed because of logistics and public ignorance about them.

[GP270watch]

 Apparently 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are being scrapped because there was an ingredients mix-up and they didn't pass a quality check. J&J says they still plan to deliver 100 million doses by June.

Johnson & Johnson Halts Shipment of COVID Vaccine after Factory Mistake Ruins 15 Million Doses

Bummer

[GP270watch]

 Went to the supermarkets today(Walmart and Publix) and it was the first time I saw roughly half of people without a mask even though the front-door sign still suggests people please wear masks and also provides free masks.

 In the Latino Supermarket most people still had masks.

[GP270watch]

 Brasil is the proof that Trumpism would have never worked to stop Covid because misinformation, ignorant bravado, hokum cures, and the idea that you can just let it run through the population has lead to disaster that might even threaten Covid-19 success stories in the rest of the world.

[GP270watch]

 Biden has done a fantastic job with the vaccine rollout. No self created drama, holding people accountable when they mess-up, and giving the credit to the many partners and the American people. What more could you ask for from a President?

[GP270watch]

He thinks 16 year olds are small children?

Apparently, unless Matt Gaetz is paying them for sex.

[GP270watch]

Is there a point where the cases are going to absolutely drop off in the US? I’m talking like 5000 to 900 new cases and 100+ deaths per day.

Yes probably in the summer, Israel had a day with no Covid-19 deaths after meeting vaccination targets.

Covid-19: Israel records no daily deaths for the first time in 10 months

[GP270watch]

https://twitter.com/Tylerjoelb/status/1402285299888181249
https://twitter.com/Tylerjoelb/status/1402288748575002632

Man I wish my vaccine turned me into Magneto.

 That lady is insane. I feel you about wishing the vaccine turned me into physics bending mutant.

[GP270watch]

"Don't we have an island that we own? What about Guantánamo?" Trump reportedly asked officials assembled in the Situation Room, who were shocked at the idea and dismissed it.

Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History," by Washington Post reporters Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta.

[GP270watch]

 The Delta variant has to be taken seriously. It's not just the UK, in Israel which leads the world in vaccinations they are seeing clusters around schools developing among the unvaccinated and it is in turn infecting people who have been fully vaccinated. All countries should step up their vaccine efforts and continue tracking/monitoring and lockdowns in breakout areas.

[GP270watch]

We HAVE a vaccine that neutralizes any variants — the mRNA vaccines are still wildly effective against them. And our case numbers are going down already, at a rapid pace.

I understand that you’re concerned about the Delta variant and the virus in general. But try to relax: the data we have continues to show that vaccinated people are almost totally safe.

Yep. A vaccine going from 99% effective to 90% effective, which seems like a rough estimate of what we're seeing in other countries, isn't great but is certainly enough to mostly neutralize a public health emergency.

 Yes we need to get more people vaccinated because that will limit the number of people who get any version of Covid-19 and stop it from spreading and developing new variants. One of the problems with this pandemic is the terrible contact tracing and lockdowns most countries have done. The public does not have the tolerance for full lockdowns and their limited patience for them shouldn't be squandered for an area that doesn't need it. Lockdowns should be for hotspots and clusters and limited based on data.

 There was a case in Florida where an entire IT department and some staff that worked with them got Covid-19, 2 people died and number of others were really sick and hospitalized. The lone uninfected employee from this cluster who had interacted with all the infected was a 23 year old who was fully vaccinated and never contracted Covid-19. Delta and other variants might continue to be harmful if we leave a significant portion of the population unvaccinated.

 

[GP270watch]

85 teens, staffers get coronavirus at summer camp that didn't require masks or check vaccine status