OT Coronavirus: America in chaos, News and Updates. One million Americans dead and counting (3 Viewers)

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There's a major article in the Oregonian today about just how badly the Governor's plan to reopen schools is screwed up. It's behind their paywall, unfortunately, but I'm pissed off enough about this issue that I paid for a one month subscription.

Originally, State health advisors were saying it would be about 100K teachers and support staff who would get pushed to the head of the line. Turns out that it's more than 150K. They originally said it could be done in 2 weeks, but it's going to be much longer and will push back the vaccinations of other groups who start to become eligible. At current vaccination rates, they are saying that it will likely be May before seniors over 65 are actually able to get shots even thought they are "eligible" starting Feb. 28th. And, here's the real kicker to the whole mess, it's beginning to look increasingly unlikely that schools will be able to open on the Governor's crazy-optimistic timeline of mid-February. It will be March or later for most and even then, probably only for grades K-3. High schools won't be able to meet the many state policies on reopening, such as active infection rates in their county and things such as being able to limit contacts between students to mandated rates. But, are they limiting vaccinations to only teachers of K-3rd grades? Nope. Are they limiting vaccinations to teachers who agree to come back and actually teach in the classroom despite the very real possibility that, if they do so, they may well be able to bring the virus home to their unvaccinated families? Nope. Are they even checking carefully to make sure that they are actually vaccinating people employed by a school district? Not according to the article.

For all of her quixotic wish to reopen schools through vaccination, done on the backs of the most vulnerable of the state's population, it appears that there will be very little in the way of positive results. It also seems, from everything I'm reading, that the new variants will become dominant very soon and that will result in greater community spread...with an increasing cost of suffering and lives among the elderly.
 
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e_blazer said:
There's a major article in the Oregonian today about just how badly screwed up the Governor's plan to reopen schools is screwed up. It's behind their paywall, unfortunately, but I'm pissed off enough about this issue that I paid for a one month subscription.

Originally, State health advisors were saying it would be about 100K teachers and support staff who would get pushed to the head of the line. Turns out that it's more than 150K. They originally said it could be done in 2 weeks, but it's going to be much longer and will push back the vaccinations of other groups who start to become eligible. At current vaccination rates, they are saying that it will likely be May before seniors over 65 are actually able to get shots even thought they are "eligible" starting Feb. 28th. And, here's the real kicker to the whole mess, it's beginning to look increasingly unlikely that schools will be able to open on the Governor's crazy-optimistic timeline of mid-February. It will be March or later for most and even then, probably only for grades K-3. High schools won't be able to meet the many state policies on reopening, such as active infection rates in their county and things such as being able to limit contacts between students to mandated rates. But, are they limiting vaccinations to only teachers of K-3rd grades? Nope. Are they limiting vaccinations to teachers who agree to come back and actually teach in the classroom despite the very real possibility that, if they do so, they may well be able to bring the virus home to their unvaccinated families? Nope. Are they even checking carefully to make sure that they are actually vaccinating people employed by a school district? Not according to the article.

For all of her quixotic wish to reopen schools through vaccination, done on the backs of the most vulnerable of the state's population, it appears that there will be very little in the way of positive results. It also seems, from everything I'm reading, that the new variants will become dominant very soon and that will result in greater community spread...with an increasing cost of suffering and lives among the elderly.
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yeah, I saw that. I don't have a subscription, but the headline about May being the timeline for seniors was really fucking irritating.

I don't really understand it either. If kids have a slower year or two in their education, they can make it up with a little extra work once we all have vaccine immunity. But a senior can't make up suffering permanent damage to their lungs or losing their life because a 30 year old teacher jumped the line
 
wizenheimer said:
yeah, I saw that. I don't have a subscription, but the headline about May being the timeline for seniors was really fucking irritating.

I don't really understand it either. If kids have a slower year or two in their education, they can make it up with a little extra work once we all have vaccine immunity. But a senior can't make up suffering permanent damage to their lungs or losing their life because a 30 year old teacher jumped the line
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I know that there's a ton of pressure to get schools open because of the childcare service they provide to parents who have to work out of the home, but that's a limited subset of the population and it's largely younger kids who need to be watched. I wouldn't have objected to a program to reopen K-3 grades in a limited fashion to serve parents in that situation, but I would have required teachers who volunteered to teach in that situation to get a vaccination upon the condition of signing an agreement that they would actually teach live classes once they were fully immune.
 
Wow! This is quite a different tone.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/02/03...fely-reopen-without-vaccinating-teachers.html

CDC director says schools can safely reopen without vaccinating teachers

KEY POINTS
  • Teachers do not need to get vaccinated against Covid-19 before schools can safely reopen, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
  • School systems across the U.S. have been under pressure to reopen after shifting to remote learning last year due to the pandemic.
  • Teachers and other faculty have expressed concerns about returning to school, potentially putting their health at risk
 
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World faces around 4,000 COVID-19 variants as Britain explores mixed vaccine shots

* World faces around 4,000 variants of novel coronavirus

* UK trials combining Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines

* UK says vaccines likely to work on different variants

* All drugmakers looking to improve vaccines for new variants (Adds quotes from researcher, background on trial)


LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, prompting a race to improve vaccines, Britain said on Thursday, as researchers began to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots in a world first.

Thousands of variants have been documented as the virus mutates, including the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants which appear to spread more swiftly than others.

British Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was very unlikely that the current vaccines would not work against the new variants.

"Its very unlikely that the current vaccine won't be effective on the variants whether in Kent or other variants especially when it comes to severe illness and hospitalisation," Zahawi told Sky News.

"All manufacturers, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and others, are looking at how they can improve their vaccine to make sure that we are ready for any variant - there are about 4,000 variants around the world of COVID now."

While thousands of variants have arisen as the virus mutates on replication, only a very small minority are likely to be important and to change the virus in an appreciable way, according to the British Medical Journal.

The so called British variant, known as VUI-202012/01, has mutations including a change in the spike protein that viruses use to bind to the human ACE2 receptor - meaning that it is probably easier to catch.

"We have the largest genome sequencing industry - we have about 50% of the world's genome sequencing industry - and we are keeping a library of all the variants so that we are ready to respond - whether in the autumn or beyond - to any challenge that the virus may present and produce the next vaccine," Zahawi said.

VACCINE RACE

The novel coronavirus - known as SARS-CoV-2 - has killed 2.268 million people worldwide since it emerged in China in late 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

Israel is currently far ahead of the rest of the world on vaccinations per head of population, followed by the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, the United States and then Spain, Italy and Germany.

Britain on Thursday launched a trial to assess the immune responses generated if doses of the vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca are combined in a two-shot schedule. Initial data on immune responses is expected to be generated around June.

The trial will examine the immune responses of an initial dose of Pfizer vaccine followed by a booster of AstraZeneca's, as well as vice versa, with intervals of four and 12 weeks.

The trial will be the first of its kind to combine a mRNA shot - the one developed by Pfizer and BioNtech - and a adenovirus viral vector vaccine of the type developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's shot is separately being trialled in combination with another viral vector vaccine, Russia's Sputnik V.

The British researchers behind the trial said data on vaccinating people with the two different types of vaccines could help understanding of whether shots can be rolled out with greater flexibility around the world, and might even increase immune responses.

Matthew Snape, an Oxford vaccinologist who is leading the trial, said mixing different shots had proven effective in Ebola vaccine schedules, and though the new trial mixed vaccine technologies, it could also work.

"Ultimately, it all comes down to the same target - cells making the spike protein - just using different platforms," he told reporters.

"For that reason we do anticipate that we'll generate a good immune response with these combinations."

Public Health England's head of immunisation Mary Ramsay said there was a lot of precedent for such work, as vaccines against Hepatitis A and B were interchangeable from two different manufacturers, and similar work has been undertaken for human papillomavirus (HPV).

https://news.trust.org/item/20210204102538-eo787
 
Senate Passes Budget Plan To Advance Biden’s $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Aid Package

President Joe Biden’s drive to enact a $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill gained momentum on Friday as the U.S. Senate narrowly approved a budget blueprint allowing Democrats to push the legislation through Congress in coming weeks with or without Republican support.

At the end of about 15 hours of debate and back-to-back votes on dozens of amendments, the Senate found itself in a 50-50 partisan deadlock over passage of the budget plan. That deadlock was broken by Vice President Kamala Harris, whose “yes” vote provided the win for Democrats.

This was a “giant first step” toward passing the kind of comprehensive coronavirus aid bill that Biden has put at the top of his legislative agenda, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

Shortly before the final vote, Democrats flexed their muscle by offering an amendment reversing three earlier votes that Republicans won.

Those had used the coronavirus aid battle to voice support for the Canada-to-United States Keystone XL pipeline that Biden has blocked and support for hydraulic fracking to extract underground oil and natural gas.

Also overturned was a Republican amendment barring coronavirus aid to immigrants living in the United States illegally.

With Democrat Harris presiding, she broke a 50-50 tie to overturn those Republican victories.

It marked the first time Harris, in her role as president of the Senate, cast a tie-breaking vote after being sworn in as Biden’s vice president on Jan. 20.

Before finishing its work, the Senate approved a series of amendments to the budget outline, which had already passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday. As a result, the House must now vote again to accept the Senate’s changes, which could occur as early as Friday.

For example, the Senate added a measure calling for increased funding for rural hospitals whose resources are strained by the pandemic.

But as the hours wore on and dozens of amendments were offered, exhausted senators mainly spent the night disposing of Republican ideas, such as ending all U.S. foreign aid and prohibiting Congress from expanding the U.S. Supreme Court beyond its current nine justices.
​

Good thing Democrats won the Georgia Senate seats, otherwise very little of this, or potentially none of it, would be happening.
 
A Republican state senator in Missouri was hit with a 20 count federal indictment. Last spring she claimed to have discovered a cure for COVID-19. She published in the peer reviewed journal, Facebook, offering the cure for a fee. She claimed it was based on stem cells. Also that it would cure a slew of other conditions including COPD and erectile disfunction. She collected a few hundred thousand dollars for what was basically water. She does not intend to resign her seat in legislature.

Also, a fine was levied against a man who received $34.5 million in taxpayer money from the Trump administration to supply medical masks. He had no experience in medical production or supply chain. But he claimed to be a decorated Marine veteran, although he never served in the Marines. He was however a Trump supporter. He never supplied a single mask
 
crandc said:
A Republican state senator in Missouri was hit with a 20 count federal indictment. Last spring she claimed to have discovered a cure for COVID-19. She published in the peer reviewed journal, Facebook, offering the cure for a fee. She claimed it was based on stem cells. Also that it would cure a slew of other conditions including COPD and erectile disfunction. She collected a few hundred thousand dollars for what was basically water. She does not intend to resign her seat in legislature.

Also, a fine was levied against a man who received $34.5 million in taxpayer money from the Trump administration to supply medical masks. He had no experience in medical production or supply chain. But he claimed to be a decorated Marine veteran, although he never served in the Marines. He was however a Trump supporter. He never supplied a single mask
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Wow, what a piece of crap. That could have killed people.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...ling-fake-stem-cell-treatments-covid-n1256551
 
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