International COVID-19 Megathread

[Astatine]

Why are we not getting all these thrombosis cases in the UK then?

This might sound kind of conspirational, but to me it kind of feels as if AZ is somewhat "purposely" portrayed in a negative light in the European perspective to negate UK's successes in vaccination (maybe to "counter" the argument that in the end, Brexit was a good thing since they did not rely on the EU vaccination distribution mechanism).
It just seems to me as if this pattern was consistent with the wording of the B1.1.7 mutation, which most news outlets and politicians call the "British mutation" (well, according to that logic, Covid-19 should be called the "Chinese virus").

[ilikeverin]

Why are we not getting all these thrombosis cases in the UK then?

This might sound kind of conspirational, but to me it kind of feels as if AZ is somewhat purposely "purposely" portrayed in a negative light in the European perspective to negate UK's successes in vaccination (maybe to "counter" the argument that in the end, Brexit was a good thing since they did not rely on the EU vaccination distribution mechanism).
It just seems to me as if this pattern was consistent with the wording of the B1.1.7 mutation, which most news outlets and politicians call the "British mutation" (well, according to that logic, Covid-19 should be called the "Chinese virus").

There's nothing conspiratorial about that; for an outsider without skin in the game, that's sure what it feels like to me.

[2952-0-0]

In happier news, Bhutan has administered the first dose of the Indian-made AstraZeneca vaccine to 36% of its population in just three days. That's by far the fastest pace of vaccination anywhere in the world.

[Astatine]

AstraZeneca's reputation has been ruined so much that the vaccine has just been renamed within the EU, it's now called Vaxzevria.

I suspect that the new name will be used about as much as "Talk Elections" instead of "Atlas".

[Former President tack50]

Why are we not getting all these thrombosis cases in the UK then?

From what I've seen the evidence for thrombosis being caused by the vaccine is real; it's just an exceedingly unlikely event to happen. (Somewhere in the order of 1 in 1 million)

[CumbrianLefty]

https://twitter.com/HarunMaruf/status/1376958186339569669

Well that's me convinced and no question

[LAKISYLVANIA]

I'm getting my vaccine friday. It's going to be modesta.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/belgium-all-news/162742/belgium-must-lift-all-covid-19-measures-withing-30-days-brussels-court-rules-verlinden-human-rights-league-ministerial-decree-penalty-civil-safety-act-pandemic-law-coronavirus/

https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/belgium-all-news/162807/disgrace-belgium-criticised-after-court-order-to-lift-all-covid-measures-nva-peter-de-roover-de-croo-pandemic-law-ministerial-decrees/

Belgium is ordered to lift corona measures within 30 days after court order by the human rights league.

[FrancoAgo]

it's a 200k euro fine, probably the government pay and stay with the decree,
there is no appeal to this court?

[LAKISYLVANIA]

it's a 200k euro fine, probably the government pay and stay with the decree,
there is no appeal to this court?

Interior Minister appeals against court order to lift all Covid measures

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1377332172592279556

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Well, as a total number it's actually not that many. There were 31 cases reported in Germany so far. Nine of them died. Almost exclusively women under the age of 60. However, I think it's the right decision to pause AstraZeneca for them as a precautionary step even though there is no final confirmation the thrombosis were actually caused by the vaccine (but it's likely).

You might not have noticed, but there is a pandemic of a highly infectious disease that has a relatively high mortality rate presently raging. The precautionary principle in this case is to keep on vaccinating.* And what do you base the latter on? Remarks from your public health officials who have repeatedly lied about this subject? How gullible are you?

_{*Incidentally even were this all true the risk would be substantially lower than from taking, for instance, the contraceptive pill.}

If the government lets this go and more cases occur, they would be in much bigger trouble. It's just the public communication that was every unfortunate here for a while, to put it mildly.

Well far more people have already died of covid as a result of this sort of idiocy and the delays in the vaccination programme so caused than ever could have from this cock-and-bull cowardly fantasy.

[Tender Branson]

Austria will buy 1 million Sputnik vaccines next week, all delivered in April/May/June.

Problem:

The EU will not accept it as an „official“ travel document, meaning people vaccinated with it cannot enjoy the freedoms that people with other vaccines have.

Idiotic if you ask me.

[palandio]

Well, as a total number it's actually not that many. There were 31 cases reported in Germany so far. Nine of them died. Almost exclusively women under the age of 60. However, I think it's the right decision to pause AstraZeneca for them as a precautionary step even though there is no final confirmation the thrombosis were actually caused by the vaccine (but it's likely).

You might not have noticed, but there is a pandemic of a highly infectious disease that has a relatively high mortality rate presently raging. The precautionary principle in this case is to keep on vaccinating.* And what do you base the latter on? Remarks from your public health officials who have repeatedly lied about this subject? How gullible are you?

_{*Incidentally even were this all true the risk would be substantially lower than from taking, for instance, the contraceptive pill.}

If the government lets this go and more cases occur, they would be in much bigger trouble. It's just the public communication that was every unfortunate here for a while, to put it mildly.

Well far more people have already died of covid as a result of this sort of idiocy and the delays in the vaccination programme so caused than ever could have from this cock-and-bull cowardly fantasy.

In my opinion (and as far as I know that opinion is wide-spread in medical ethics) the cure mustn't be worse than the disease, even more so when it's not a cure for the sick but a preventive measure for the healthy. And this should hold on the level of the individuum. In over one year only 21 women aged between 20 and 29 years have died from COVID-19 in Germany, some of them probably with pre-existing conditions. If (big if) the causality implied between the AstraZeneca vax and deaths from thrombosis is true and if the risk reaches the same order of magnitude as the risk from COVID-19 in a certain sub-group, then in my opinion it becomes irresponsible to recommend the vaccination to individuals of the sub-group, e.g. 20-29-year old women without pre-existing conditions that take the contraceptive pill. In other sub-groups the balance between risks might of course already be different.

After all this is a deeply philosophical question. Should people be treated even if their individual risk balance is negative but the risk balance for the whole society is very positive. Personally I don't think so despite not repudiating utilitarian thoughts generally.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Astrazeneca seems to become less "popular" in Germany than Sputnik V (because of East Germany)?

https://twitter.com/Tagesspiegel/status/1377304847372886018

Forsa-Umfrage: Deutsche vertrauen Sputnik V mehr als Astrazeneca
Einer RTL-Forsa-Umfrage zufolge würde sich eine knappe Mehrheit (51 Prozent) der Impfwilligen in Deutschland mit dem Wirkstoff von AstraZeneca impfen lassen, sobald dies möglich ist. Ablehnen würden im Moment 44 Prozent der Befragten ein Impfangebot mit Astrazeneca, skeptischer sind dabei Frauen: Während 60 Prozent der Männer sich mit Astrazeneca impfen lassen würden, sind es nur 40 Prozent der Frauen.

Den Vorschlag des bayerischen Ministerpräsidenten Markus Söder Politiker mit Astrazeneca impfen zu lassen, um das Vertrauen und die Akzeptanz in der Bevölkerung zu erhöhen, unterstützen 63 Prozent der Befragten, 28 Prozent sind dagegen,

Die Umfrage ergab ferner, dass sich 57 Prozent aller Befragten mit dem russischen Wirkstoff Sputnik V impfen lassen würden, der bislang noch nicht in der EU und in Deutschland zugelassen ist. 30 Prozent würden sich nicht damit impfen lassen. Das Vertrauen in den Impfstoff ist bei den Ostdeutschen größer als im Westen: Während sich 69 Prozent der befragten Ostdeutschen mit dem Wirkstoff impfen lassen würden, wären dazu nur 55 Prozent der westdeutschen Befragten bereit.

https://twitter.com/business/status/1377263273318432768

"as long as it is approved in the normal way by the EU’s regulator"

[Omega21]

The WHO just slammed the EU, saying Europe's vaccine rollout is 'unacceptably slow'.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56600660

Meanwhile, WHO's director Ghebreyesus has acknowledged the speedy progress Hungary is seeing with its vaccination program.

That's because Hungary is the only EU country that unilaterally approved both the Russian and Chinese vaccines, and as a result is currently #1 in the EU (when excluding Malta due to its tiny population).

For reference, Hungary's vaccination rate is about 60% better compared to Austria, Denmark, Slovakia, and almost 2x better compared to Germany.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1196071/covid-19-vaccination-rate-in-europe-by-country/

[President Johnson]

Well, as a total number it's actually not that many. There were 31 cases reported in Germany so far. Nine of them died. Almost exclusively women under the age of 60. However, I think it's the right decision to pause AstraZeneca for them as a precautionary step even though there is no final confirmation the thrombosis were actually caused by the vaccine (but it's likely).

You might not have noticed, but there is a pandemic of a highly infectious disease that has a relatively high mortality rate presently raging. The precautionary principle in this case is to keep on vaccinating.* And what do you base the latter on? Remarks from your public health officials who have repeatedly lied about this subject? How gullible are you?

_{*Incidentally even were this all true the risk would be substantially lower than from taking, for instance, the contraceptive pill.}

If the government lets this go and more cases occur, they would be in much bigger trouble. It's just the public communication that was every unfortunate here for a while, to put it mildly.

Well far more people have already died of covid as a result of this sort of idiocy and the delays in the vaccination programme so caused than ever could have from this cock-and-bull cowardly fantasy.

In my opinion (and as far as I know that opinion is wide-spread in medical ethics) the cure mustn't be worse than the disease, even more so when it's not a cure for the sick but a preventive measure for the healthy. And this should hold on the level of the individuum. In over one year only 21 women aged between 20 and 29 years have died from COVID-19 in Germany, some of them probably with pre-existing conditions. If (big if) the causality implied between the AstraZeneca vax and deaths from thrombosis is true and if the risk reaches the same order of magnitude as the risk from COVID-19 in a certain sub-group, then in my opinion it becomes irresponsible to recommend the vaccination to individuals of the sub-group, e.g. 20-29-year old women without pre-existing conditions that take the contraceptive pill. In other sub-groups the balance between risks might of course already be different.

After all this is a deeply philosophical question. Should people be treated even if their individual risk balance is negative but the risk balance for the whole society is very positive. Personally I don't think so despite not repudiating utilitarian thoughts generally.

Agreed. It's definitely a fair point to argue much more people die from Covid. However, I'm afraid it undermines public trust just to "let it go" (aside from possible legal aspects). At this point, the rather small group of <60 year olds eligible for vaccination should get BioNtech/Pfizer and Moderna. Former makes up the vast majority of vaccinations in Germany anyway. I personally would be open give AstraZeneca out to people willing to take the very small risk if other vaccines are not available within short period of time. Idealistically, the open questions get resolved quickly since it's possible the thrombosis are not directly related to the vaccine or treatment preventing death is available. Scientists from Greifswald apparently found a cure for the thrombosis.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/163046/thousands-party-in-brussels-bois-de-la-cambre-as-april-fools-joke-gets-out-of-hand-la-boum-riot-police-coronavirus-measures-facebook-event-water-cannon-fake-festival/

April fools joke festival gets out of hand!

[Tender Branson]

The 3rd „mini“-wave here seems to have peaked, as hospital and ICU levels are going down again.

[Tender Branson]

The 3rd „mini“-wave here seems to have peaked, as hospital and ICU levels are going down again.

Easter Sunday vs. last Sunday:

Yesterday (Easter Sunday): 40.000 PCR tests, 2.100 positive
Last Sunday: 39.000 PCR tests, 3.500 positive

[Tender Branson]

Today, all ski resorts in Austria are closing for the 2020/2021 winter season.

They report a revenue loss of 95-98% compared to a normal winter season.

In other words: a total loss.

[Mike88]

First day of reopening of bars and restaurant terraces in Portugal:

https://twitter.com/tvi24pt/status/1379138125151285253

Covid-19: full terraces on the first day of reopening

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1379367965745950720
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1379417650305118213

[Mike88]

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1379367965745950720
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1379417650305118213

And the saga goes on, and on, and on...

[sguberman]

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1379621738850422787
Read this thread just out what the Trump team did.