The coronavirus

mace1229

Got my first short this morning. About 8 hours later arm is sore like a tetanus shot. Nothing else yet. I mean other than the fact I almost hyperventilated at the sight of a needle again. 

Meltdown99

Some good news...

oftenreading

Some initial, not yet peer reviewed, data that suggests that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduces viral load and as such may well reduce transmissibility of the virus if an infection occurs at least 12 days after the first shot. If true, this is very good news. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-vaccine-transmission-pfizer-1.5907459

Real-world findings are starting to back expectations for the level of protection provided by several leading coronavirus vaccines, but there's still a burning question among scientists: Could the shots actually reduce virus transmission as well?

New research out of Israel offers early clues that at least one vaccine — the mRNA-based option from Pfizer-BioNTech, which is also being used here in Canada — may lead to lower viral loads, suggesting it might be harder for someone to spread the virus if they get infected post-vaccination.

In a study released publicly on Monday as an unpublished, non-peer-reviewed preprint, a team of researchers from the Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University and Maccabi Healthcare Services found the viral load was reduced four-fold for infections that occur 12 to 28 days after a first dose of the vaccine.

"These reduced viral loads hint to lower infectiousness, further contributing to vaccine impact on virus spread," the researchers wrote.

Virologist Jason Kindrachuk, an assistant professor in the department of medical microbiology at the University of Manitoba, said it's been a waiting game to figure out whether the protection from illness offered by mRNA vaccines might also curb transmission — a key tool for winding down the pandemic.

"So the data from this, I think, is important," he said. "It doesn't answer all the questions, but it starts to tell us that there actually might be some added benefit to these vaccines beyond just reducing severe disease."

Toronto-based infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch, a member of Ontario's vaccine task force, agreed these early findings — which still require peer-review — aren't a scientific "home run," but do offer hope in the fight against COVID-19.

"This would point in the direction that people who have been vaccinated, who are still infected, may be less likely to transmit starting at about 12 days after their vaccine," he said.

'Significantly reduced' viral loads

Israel is among the world leaders for COVID-19 vaccination rates, with Maccabi Healthcare Services vaccinating more than 650,000 people by Jan. 25, the paper noted, giving the researchers a large pool of data compared to what exists so far in many other countries. 

The team analyzed COVID-19 test results from roughly 2,900 people between the ages of 16 and 89, comparing the cycle threshold values of post-vaccination infections after a first dose with those of positive tests from unvaccinated patients.

So, what are cycle threshold values, and how does that potentially tie to viral loads and virus transmission?

Standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19 identify the viral infection by amplifying the virus's RNA until it hits a level where it can be detected by the test. Multiple rounds of amplification may be required — and the cycle threshold value refers to the number of rounds needed to spot the virus.

"If you can detect the virus with very few cycles, there's probably a lot of virus there," Bogoch explained. "If you need to keep looking and looking and looking and looking for it, it might be there — it's just a lot harder to find evidence of the virus genetic material."

A higher cycle threshold, then, usually means there's less virus genetic material present, which usually translates to people being less contagious, he said.

Based on an analysis comparing post-vaccination test results up to Day 11 to the unvaccinated control group, the Israeli researchers found "no significant difference" in the distribution of cycle threshold values for several viral genes.

That changed by 12 days after vaccination, with the team finding a "significant" increase in cycle thresholds up to 28 days later.

The result suggests infections occurring 12 days or longer following just one vaccine dose have "significantly reduced viral loads, potentially affecting viral shedding and contagiousness as well as severity of the disease," the team concluded.

It's a finding that appears to mimic the efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in its clinical trials, which offered some early protection starting 12 days after the first dose and fully kicks in a week after the second shot, with a reported efficacy of around 95 per cent.

More research needed, experts say

The observational study was not a randomized controlled trial — meaning researchers couldn't conclude a direct cause-and-effect relationship — and has not yet been published in a scientific journal. The research also has notable limitations, its authors acknowledged. 

For one, the group of vaccinated individuals may differ in key ways from the demographically matched control group, such as their general health. The study also didn't account for variants of the virus that may be associated with different viral loads, the team wrote.

Indeed, those variants are already proving to be roadblocks in the fight against COVID-19, with concerns ranging from higher transmissibility to reduced vaccine efficacy, including concern in South Africa and beyond after a small and yet-to-be-published study suggested the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine offered minimal protection against mild infection from the country's now-dominant B1351 variant.

With those concerns in mind, experts who spoke with CBC News about the Israeli study stressed that more research is needed to back up the results on a broader scale, and among diverse populations, before being used to fuel policy changes or current approaches to vaccination efforts.

"The data needs to be reviewed by experts and confirmed that it stands up to the quality that we would want to make a conclusion," said vaccinologist Alyson Kelvin, an assistant professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax who works with Canadian vaccine developer VIDO-InterVac in Saskatoon.

Early research shows Pfizer vaccine could prevent COVID-19 transmission

Even so, Kelvin said the data appeared to be treated with the necessary caution, and offers "promising evidence," while Kindrachuk remains optimistic as well that the findings could prove a useful starting point.

"While we still have to have people using masks, and while we still have to have people distanced, the vaccines may actually also be able to reduce transmission," he said. 

"So, those trends that we're hoping to see, in regards to trying to curb community transmission for SARS-CoV-2, may be accelerated with a vaccine — and that will hopefully help us get out of this a little bit sooner."

rgambs

I don't know where to land on the issue of the mental health of our kids...half of me wants to be modern and compassionate and understanding and half of me wants to be an old curmudgeon and say everybody's gone soft and need to toughen up.  
There's no doubt that mental health was not taken seriously enough in the past and it led to terrible levels of suffering, and I don't want to return to those days.
On the other hand, human brains haven't changed enough to justify the astronomical rates of mental illness that modern society is claiming.  I don't ever want to be insensitive to those who struggle, but a certain amount of struggle is just natural to being alive, and I'm not sure that the labels we are putting on everyone, especially our youth, are helpful at all. 
Being a teenager isn't easy, telling a teenager that their worst feelings are justified isn't always the best course, even if it's true or somewhat true.  
To a certain point, bootstraps need to be pulled.  Of course, that certain point is hard to define.
"Our grandparents marched to war as teens so kids now will be fine" is definitely setting the bar low, and it's going a bit far, but isn't there a point to be made there?  All generations have endured stresses, same old or unique, and they have always found ways to cope.  Not getting to see their friends at school for a year or two really doesn't rank very high of the list of things human youth have had to overcome.  Of course we always have to strive to do and be better, but our society is so quick to judge everything from perspectives that have existed for less than the blink of an eye in human history.
An example that is out of left field, but was recently an issue in my life and in a book I was reading...
American parents are heaped with shame, ridicule, and scorn if they let their kids sleep in the bed with them beyond early toddler-hood or breastfeed beyond 2 years..."oh the psychological damage that will be done, oh the horror!" Seriously, people act like you will be ruining your child's mental health forever... Really?  Because last I checked, everyone sleeping in their own bed and weening before first memories became widespread less than a century ago in our own society, and still hasn't come to pass in more than half the world...I think the kids will be ok.
Sorry for the word salad.

rgambs

We can't neglect mental health.  That's a truth.
Hyper focus on mental health can be detrimental to mental health.  That's another truth. 🤷‍♂️

Life is hard. 


I'm really glad I got my vaccine, and I'm looking forward to a week and a half from now when I've reached peak immunity, such as it is, so I can eat some Taco Bell for the first time in 12 months.
Now THAT'S what setting the bar low looks like!

oftenreading

rgambs said:

I don't know where to land on the issue of the mental health of our kids...half of me wants to be modern and compassionate and understanding and half of me wants to be an old curmudgeon and say everybody's gone soft and need to toughen up.  
There's no doubt that mental health was not taken seriously enough in the past and it led to terrible levels of suffering, and I don't want to return to those days.
On the other hand, human brains haven't changed enough to justify the astronomical rates of mental illness that modern society is claiming.  I don't ever want to be insensitive to those who struggle, but a certain amount of struggle is just natural to being alive, and I'm not sure that the labels we are putting on everyone, especially our youth, are helpful at all. 
Being a teenager isn't easy, telling a teenager that their worst feelings are justified isn't always the best course, even if it's true or somewhat true.  
To a certain point, bootstraps need to be pulled.  Of course, that certain point is hard to define.
"Our grandparents marched to war as teens so kids now will be fine" is definitely setting the bar low, and it's going a bit far, but isn't there a point to be made there?  All generations have endured stresses, same old or unique, and they have always found ways to cope.  Not getting to see their friends at school for a year or two really doesn't rank very high of the list of things human youth have had to overcome.  Of course we always have to strive to do and be better, but our society is so quick to judge everything from perspectives that have existed for less than the blink of an eye in human history.
An example that is out of left field, but was recently an issue in my life and in a book I was reading...
American parents are heaped with shame, ridicule, and scorn if they let their kids sleep in the bed with them beyond early toddler-hood or breastfeed beyond 2 years..."oh the psychological damage that will be done, oh the horror!" Seriously, people act like you will be ruining your child's mental health forever... Really?  Because last I checked, everyone sleeping in their own bed and weening before first memories became widespread less than a century ago in our own society, and still hasn't come to pass in more than half the world...I think the kids will be ok.
Sorry for the word salad.

I agree with at least some of what you’ve written here. Hard to know quite how much, since neither your post nor my thoughts are exact  I do agree that in some cases the pendulum has swung too far and normative experiences are being viewed as pathological and in need of treatment, but what percentage that covers is hard to know. 

“Humans have endured much worse” can almost always be said. We have underestimated this toll for most of history, but when it is impossible to do better then not much point in focusing on it. We may have the opportunity to do better. 

FiveBelow

rgambs said:

I don't know where to land on the issue of the mental health of our kids...half of me wants to be modern and compassionate and understanding and half of me wants to be an old curmudgeon and say everybody's gone soft and need to toughen up.  
There's no doubt that mental health was not taken seriously enough in the past and it led to terrible levels of suffering, and I don't want to return to those days.
On the other hand, human brains haven't changed enough to justify the astronomical rates of mental illness that modern society is claiming.  I don't ever want to be insensitive to those who struggle, but a certain amount of struggle is just natural to being alive, and I'm not sure that the labels we are putting on everyone, especially our youth, are helpful at all. 
Being a teenager isn't easy, telling a teenager that their worst feelings are justified isn't always the best course, even if it's true or somewhat true.  
To a certain point, bootstraps need to be pulled.  Of course, that certain point is hard to define.
"Our grandparents marched to war as teens so kids now will be fine" is definitely setting the bar low, and it's going a bit far, but isn't there a point to be made there?  All generations have endured stresses, same old or unique, and they have always found ways to cope.  Not getting to see their friends at school for a year or two really doesn't rank very high of the list of things human youth have had to overcome.  Of course we always have to strive to do and be better, but our society is so quick to judge everything from perspectives that have existed for less than the blink of an eye in human history.
An example that is out of left field, but was recently an issue in my life and in a book I was reading...
American parents are heaped with shame, ridicule, and scorn if they let their kids sleep in the bed with them beyond early toddler-hood or breastfeed beyond 2 years..."oh the psychological damage that will be done, oh the horror!" Seriously, people act like you will be ruining your child's mental health forever... Really?  Because last I checked, everyone sleeping in their own bed and weening before first memories became widespread less than a century ago in our own society, and still hasn't come to pass in more than half the world...I think the kids will be ok.
Sorry for the word salad.

It is a fine line. With the rise in mental health issues we have also experienced an even sharper rise in social judgement. Between social media, reality tv and much of the mainstream media, where does the drama end? I feel there has to be some correlation between mental health and growing up in a world that places so much importance on all of this bullshit. I try everyday to help my children build confidence in themselves, it is a completely different world with all of the advancements in technology and they are going to be subjected to many more opinions.

23scidoo

Pfizer story..
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32657347
https://www.beasleyallen.com/matter/prempro/
https://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20080201/suicide-warning-antismoking-drug-chantix

HughFreakingDillon

rgambs said:

I don't know where to land on the issue of the mental health of our kids...half of me wants to be modern and compassionate and understanding and half of me wants to be an old curmudgeon and say everybody's gone soft and need to toughen up.  
There's no doubt that mental health was not taken seriously enough in the past and it led to terrible levels of suffering, and I don't want to return to those days.
On the other hand, human brains haven't changed enough to justify the astronomical rates of mental illness that modern society is claiming.  I don't ever want to be insensitive to those who struggle, but a certain amount of struggle is just natural to being alive, and I'm not sure that the labels we are putting on everyone, especially our youth, are helpful at all. 
Being a teenager isn't easy, telling a teenager that their worst feelings are justified isn't always the best course, even if it's true or somewhat true.  
To a certain point, bootstraps need to be pulled.  Of course, that certain point is hard to define.
"Our grandparents marched to war as teens so kids now will be fine" is definitely setting the bar low, and it's going a bit far, but isn't there a point to be made there?  All generations have endured stresses, same old or unique, and they have always found ways to cope.  Not getting to see their friends at school for a year or two really doesn't rank very high of the list of things human youth have had to overcome.  Of course we always have to strive to do and be better, but our society is so quick to judge everything from perspectives that have existed for less than the blink of an eye in human history.
An example that is out of left field, but was recently an issue in my life and in a book I was reading...
American parents are heaped with shame, ridicule, and scorn if they let their kids sleep in the bed with them beyond early toddler-hood or breastfeed beyond 2 years..."oh the psychological damage that will be done, oh the horror!" Seriously, people act like you will be ruining your child's mental health forever... Really?  Because last I checked, everyone sleeping in their own bed and weening before first memories became widespread less than a century ago in our own society, and still hasn't come to pass in more than half the world...I think the kids will be ok.
Sorry for the word salad.

we as a society are just now beginning to understand the ramifications of mental health. we simply cannot compare today to the early 1900's. sure, that generation thinks we're weak. because, honestly, in that context, we are. every generation gets weaker with the more creature comforts we invent to do the work for us and the better technology gets. every generation coddles their kids a little more than the last. I know I fight that with every fiber of my being. But I'm sure there's examples where I let my kids off where my parents would not have. 

I'm sure, however, if our kids were all of a sudden sent off to war, they'd literally have no choice. I know war movies don't show it, but I'm sure a lot of those "tough SOB's from the 1900's" probably were crying in their mother's arms and shitting their pants when they got that letter. war toughened them up. they weren't that way to begin with. 

I'm sure someone living in the 1800's would call someone in the 1900's weak as well. it's all relative. "you guys don't even have the plague; shut your mouths". 

but you can't put that genie back in the bottle. you can't have the ability to facetime your friends half a world away and expect them to till the fields for 10 hours in 40 degree heat. those two things can not coexist in the same culture. 

people in the 1900's might also scoff at going to school for 30 years of your life. studying until the wee hours of the morning. being bullied through a magical thing in the "cloud". 

humans can handle the lot they are given. our kids were not given a hard life to begin with, so it's unrealistic to suggest they would have the tools to be able to just shrug off social problems. because, in the "old days", there wasn't time for that. school and their social cliques are their version of "tilling the fields". life today is way more mentally and emotionally difficult than physical, and we can't discount that just because it wasn't like that for us. 

what dreams

This pandemic year I've been part of a cohort of teachers studying a book on resilience (Onward, by Elena Aguilar). Each chapter focuses on a different trait that research has shown to be found in resilient people. The author encourages teachers to focus on one trait a month, starting in June, which we did. The August trait -- "Tell Empowering Stories" -- is meant to coincide with the start of school. This year, I made a very deliberate choice to tell an empowering story every day, to encourage my students to create their own empowering story about how this pandemic is working for them.

September: Build Community.
October: Be Here Now.
November: Take Care of Yourself.

December was "Focus on the Bright Spots"  and today we just had our belated discussion on the January chapter, "Cultivate Compassion."

These are the things resilient people do, with more chapters to come. These are the things everyone needs to be teaching our children. In education, at home, everywhere.

I have been 100% online since last March. The spring was a disaster for learning, no doubt about it, and really not anybody's fault, nor was it the end of the world. It just happened. But my school district learned from the experience, made the choice to invest heavily in summer training for teachers, invested in technology, and they have consistently provided community supports for families with meals, social services, counseling, you name it. I could tell you story after story about the challenges my students face. It is not by any means a privileged school community. By all accounts in the media, my students should be lying in the gutters drooling. They are not. They are succeeding every single day, sometimes in small ways, sometimes huge, sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other. I have a consistent attendance rate hovering between 90-95%. I just finished comparing my mid-year assessment data with last year's and there is no statistical difference in their learning compared to last year's students in January before we were sent home. One-third of my students surpassed their stretch goal in the middle of this pandemic, and it's only mid-year. Just last week, a student with a pretty substantial rap sheet following her from 6th grade told me she wants to write books, that she wants the whole world to know her story so they can learn from her -- something a standardized test will never, ever measure. This child is succeeding in school for the first time in her entire life, online, by herself in her one sparse room, and I have no idea where her adults are.

I wish everyone everywhere would realize that it's time to throw out the old playbook. This constant cry for a "return to normal" horrifies me, because quite honestly, "normal" before this pandemic was pretty crappy for a lot of students. I never want to return to normal again.

23scidoo

If you break the lockdown rules..
Belgum 200e
France 135e
Spain 100e
Holland 95e..
the rich Greece..300e

mace1229

Our superintendent announced yesterday he plans to return full time in person for 4th quarter (about a month from now) because teachers will have had the opportunity to get vaccinated by then. We’ve changed our schedule every quarter so far, and we’ve done a hybrid mode most of the year. Seems kind of pointless to switch for the last 8 weeks, especially when almost none of the community will be vaccinated. 

Full in person also means full class sizes and no social distancing.

PJPOWER

mace1229 said:

Our superintendent announced yesterday he plans to return full time in person for 4th quarter (about a month from now) because teachers will have had the opportunity to get vaccinated by then. We’ve changed our schedule every quarter so far, and we’ve done a hybrid mode most of the year. Seems kind of pointless to switch for the last 8 weeks, especially when almost none of the community will be vaccinated. 

Full in person also means full class sizes and no social distancing.

If it helps any, we have been full classes for a while now and our numbers are continuing to steadily drop...Hopefully, if a lot of people are getting vaccinated, yours will too.

Meltdown99

oftenreading

https://apple.news/AibJFCHS1TBq3bZ0RUP3YeQ

Oxford is starting a trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine in children ages 6-17

23scidoo

My father has a date for the first dose of vaccine next Tuesday..Pfizer or Moderna..

GlowGirl

23scidoo said:

My father has a date for the first dose of vaccine next Tuesday..Pfizer or Moderna..

That is awesome, A. I think I heard that Pfizer had few side effects. My parents are getting their second shot of Moderna on Friday. I am very relieved about that.

pjhawks

what dreams said:

This pandemic year I've been part of a cohort of teachers studying a book on resilience (Onward, by Elena Aguilar). Each chapter focuses on a different trait that research has shown to be found in resilient people. The author encourages teachers to focus on one trait a month, starting in June, which we did. The August trait -- "Tell Empowering Stories" -- is meant to coincide with the start of school. This year, I made a very deliberate choice to tell an empowering story every day, to encourage my students to create their own empowering story about how this pandemic is working for them.

September: Build Community.
October: Be Here Now.
November: Take Care of Yourself.

December was "Focus on the Bright Spots"  and today we just had our belated discussion on the January chapter, "Cultivate Compassion."

These are the things resilient people do, with more chapters to come. These are the things everyone needs to be teaching our children. In education, at home, everywhere.

I have been 100% online since last March. The spring was a disaster for learning, no doubt about it, and really not anybody's fault, nor was it the end of the world. It just happened. But my school district learned from the experience, made the choice to invest heavily in summer training for teachers, invested in technology, and they have consistently provided community supports for families with meals, social services, counseling, you name it. I could tell you story after story about the challenges my students face. It is not by any means a privileged school community. By all accounts in the media, my students should be lying in the gutters drooling. They are not. They are succeeding every single day, sometimes in small ways, sometimes huge, sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other. I have a consistent attendance rate hovering between 90-95%. I just finished comparing my mid-year assessment data with last year's and there is no statistical difference in their learning compared to last year's students in January before we were sent home. One-third of my students surpassed their stretch goal in the middle of this pandemic, and it's only mid-year. Just last week, a student with a pretty substantial rap sheet following her from 6th grade told me she wants to write books, that she wants the whole world to know her story so they can learn from her -- something a standardized test will never, ever measure. This child is succeeding in school for the first time in her entire life, online, by herself in her one sparse room, and I have no idea where her adults are.

I wish everyone everywhere would realize that it's time to throw out the old playbook. This constant cry for a "return to normal" horrifies me, because quite honestly, "normal" before this pandemic was pretty crappy for a lot of students. I never want to return to normal again.

I have to think that some students would just be better learning away from others.  I think the social pressures can be a huge hinderance to learning.  Especially during the middle school years. I know there were times I wanted no parts of being in class during those years. Those years were very often just awkward and at times made learning the last thing on my mind during a class.  I agree with you about throwing out the old way and coming up with new normals.  

23scidoo

GlowGirl said:

23scidoo said:

My father has a date for the first dose of vaccine next Tuesday..Pfizer or Moderna..

That is awesome, A. I think I heard that Pfizer had few side effects. My parents are getting their second shot of Moderna on Friday. I am very relieved about that.

I'm a little bit worrie to be honest.. are yours ok??
How many days between two doses??

PJPOWER

23scidoo said:

GlowGirl said:

23scidoo said:

My father has a date for the first dose of vaccine next Tuesday..Pfizer or Moderna..

That is awesome, A. I think I heard that Pfizer had few side effects. My parents are getting their second shot of Moderna on Friday. I am very relieved about that.

I'm a little bit worrie to be honest.. are yours ok??
How many days between two doses??

Both of my parents have had both of their Moderna shots and suffered minimal side effects (arm soreness and fatigue was about all).  It seems to be younger people with stronger immune systems that are taking it harder.  I felt flu-like for a couple days after each shot, but feel invincible now, lol