Coronavirus

[G. Keenan]

So it came up because of the Olympics, but the vax rate in Japan:
1 dose - 26%
2 doses - 15%
How can this even be possible?

There are a few 1st world countries in that boat. Australia is in the same predicament and has had to go back into lockdowns with Delta spreading there now and only a small percentage vaxxed. I think some of the countries that did well at containing the virus in 2020 didn't feel as much urgency to procure vaccines, or got bogged down haggling over the price, and missed out on the first round of orders. So now they are trying to play catch up but Pfizer and others won't be able to deliver to them until the latter part of the year.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Drugmaker Pfizer said Thursday it is seeing waning immunity from its coronavirus vaccine and says it is picking up its efforts to develop a booster dose that will protect people from variants.

Pfizer said it would soon publish data about a third dose of vaccine and submit it to the US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency and other regulators. The company specified it would seek FDA emergency use authorization for a booster dose in August.
But in an unusual move, two top federal agencies said Americans don't need boosters yet and said it was not up to companies alone to decide when they might be needed.
Hours after Pfizer issued its statement, the FDA and Centers for Disease and Control issued a joint statement saying Americans do not need booster shots yet.
"Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time," they said.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/08/health/p ... index.html

You should probably read the article for yourselves, but from my limited understanding it boils down to....
Vax makers: Boosters will provide more protection, especially against the boogieman Delta Variant!!!1!
Govt: Not proven. And, possibly, 'more protection' not needed.

[Leroy]

I also read that the current two dose could last for years, and whether or not investors should be concerned.

Follow the money.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

I also read that the current two dose could last for years, and whether or not investors should be concerned.

Follow the money.

My thoughts exactly Leroy.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I also read that the current two dose could last for years, and whether or not investors should be concerned.

Follow the money.

I honestly would not be a bit surprised that they made a vaccine that is quite unquote too effective and may only be required once. Again, immune responses sars cov 1 and mers have been long lasting and to this day provide protection against sars cov 2.

That said, it does look like the delta variant in particular reproduces faster than the original strain so perhaps perpetual antibodies will be required to fend off the virus but that’s pure speculation at this point.

Or going back to my house dog turned guard dog turned back to house dog with guard dog capabilities analogy, where the house dog is the immune system and the guard dog is antibodies (or just the general ability to ward off covid) and covid is the intruder, it really looks like the guard dog can turn back into a house dog and still prevent intruders. But, if the intruder starts parachuting on to roof and smashing through the upstairs windows instead of driving up in a Joe Biden re-election bus and fiddling with the locked door for 5 minutes, yeah, you might need a full time guard dog (ie, antibodies at all times requiring boosters). But, again, that's just not proven.

[mikechamp]

Cases be rising.

The US recorded more than 20,000 new COVID-19 cases each of the past four days as the Delta variant spreads

The US recorded more than 20,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the past four days, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The trend comes as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads across the US and is expected to become the most dominant strain, CNN reported. The last time the US had 20,000 cases a day for several days in a row was in May.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-reco ... ads-2021-7

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Cases be rising.

The US recorded more than 20,000 new COVID-19 cases each of the past four days as the Delta variant spreads

The US recorded more than 20,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the past four days, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The trend comes as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads across the US and is expected to become the most dominant strain, CNN reported. The last time the US had 20,000 cases a day for several days in a row was in May.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-reco ... ads-2021-7

Call it Darwin's Revenge. I have no sympathy for these folks. Unless they are already vaccinated. Then allow them to sue the unvaccinated moron they got the virus from.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Cases be rising.

The US recorded more than 20,000 new COVID-19 cases each of the past four days as the Delta variant spreads

The US recorded more than 20,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the past four days, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The trend comes as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads across the US and is expected to become the most dominant strain, CNN reported. The last time the US had 20,000 cases a day for several days in a row was in May.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-reco ... ads-2021-7

Call it Darwin's Revenge. I have no sympathy for these folks. Unless they are already vaccinated. Then allow them to sue the unvaccinated moron they got the virus from.

It's easy to rage against the unvaxxed as the virus continues to spread and daily cases, especially in lower vaxxed areas, increase. But, it should be noted, there's other things at play than just the vaccine rates. Take Arkansas for example. Easily one of the least controlled states in the nation right now and one of the least vaccinated. But, even within the state, there's not a huge correlation between counties that are unvaxxed and counties where spread is the worst. Pulaski County, for example, has the highest vax rate in the state right around 50% but is also seeing one of the most severe outbreaks. Now, 50% is not a lot, obviously, but it's on par with the state of Iowa. Pulaski County has over 30 cases per day per 100K residents and Iowa has less than 3. There are similar scenarios playing out in MO as well. St Louis County has over 10 cases per day per 100K despite being the highest vaxxed county in MO.

Hopefully this is the last hoorah (and will continue to play out through the fall). As right now, at least around here, truly is a 'let er rip' approach with no masks, no distancing, and no mitigation whatsoever. Hell, I think people are out licking doorknobs for funsies best I can tell by the number of new cases. If there is long lasting protection from natural infections or from the vaccines - and it is looking increasingly likely that there will be from both - this approach of full bore reopen is going to claim some lives, unfortunately, but at least it will be muted and at least people will have had the choice to make a decision rather or not to get vaxxed.

I guess I'd also add people that have been vaxxed will die as well, and that truly is a shame even if that population is, possibly, amongst the frailest of us. It's the truly worst part of this scenario.

Still, if you look at the cdc excess death graph, it's pretty clear we're almost back within normal levels. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the fall, but I'm fairly optimistic. Also, [expletive], it's pretty apparent that 50% vaxxed + whatever amount had a natural infection isn't going to be enough to offer herd immunity, so you can take a look at states, see half of them are at or about that level, and realize we have a 'long' way to go until this surge is over. Baby steps, I guess.

[GeddyWrox]

Yeah, I suspect population density is a big factor in those counties you cite (but I am unfamiliar with Arkansas pop distribution, tbh). In a large city like STL, even if you have 50%+ fully vaxxed, that's not enough to curb the spread. And people are close enough to each other that the new, more transmissable virus, is spreading at increasing rates despite the vax effort. Now you take a less populated, rural county, with 30% vax rate, but the numbers might not be going up as fast. My bet is on pop density. So, the two things are almost certainly correlated. IMO

[GeddyWrox]

Apropos