Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I am one and have a question for you. I got my J&J poke back in March so when boosters were released I naturally went right and got one. After doing some research, I saw that mixing the J&J with an MRNA is best (especially Moderna) and so that is what I got. Now, they say J&J should have been a two shot regimen which would meant that with the booster we should all ideally have been at three (regardless of your original shot) . However, with J&J, we only got the one and as of now have only been approved for the one booster dose which seems to leave us under protected. Any of you fellow J&Jers going out and getting a second booster and if so, how?
Sorry if this has been addressed in this long thread.
A question for the ones here in the medical field. I know we have a few nurses and some sales reps in the club. I keep hearing about ICU beds being full or hospitals are out of ICU beds. Why the low number? We are almost two years into this, why haven’t more beds been constructed? Does it not work that way? Illinois has a population of almost 13 million and total number of ICU beds is around 3500. Why not more beds?
Because that is not the answer to a pandemic. The answer to COVID-19 was to be vaccinated. The reason ICUs are being overloaded again is because people who refused to be vaccinated, refused to wear masks, chose to travel and engage in large family/friend gatherings during Thanksgiving . . . that is the reason ICUs are overwhelmed once again. And the forecast is only expected to be worse over the next two weeks. It's called I don't give a GDMF'ing thing about anyone but myself and so many suffer the consequences of ignorant, selfish people.
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,895
I am one and have a question for you. I got my J&J poke back in March so when boosters were released I naturally went right and got one. After doing some research, I saw that mixing the J&J with an MRNA is best (especially Moderna) and so that is what I got. Now, they say J&J should have been a two shot regimen which would meant that with the booster we should all ideally have been at three (regardless of your original shot) . However, with J&J, we only got the one and as of now have only been approved for the one booster dose which seems to leave us under protected. Any of you fellow J&Jers going out and getting a second booster and if so, how?
Sorry if this has been addressed in this long thread.
not sure if it has been addressed yet but @oftenreading would be my go to for this type of question.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
South African doctors see signs omicron is milder than delta
By ANDREW MELDRUM
Today
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As the omicron variant sweeps through South Africa, Dr. Unben Pillay is seeing dozens of sick patients a day. Yet he hasn’t had to send anyone to the hospital.
That’s one of the reasons why he, along with other doctors and medical experts, suspect that the omicron version really is causing milder COVID-19 than delta, even if it seems to be spreading faster.
“They are able to manage the disease at home," Pillay said of his patients. "Most have recovered within the 10 to 14-day isolation period.” said Pillay.
And that includes older patients and those with health problems that can make them more vulnerable to becoming severely ill from a coronavirus infection, he said.
In the two weeks since omicron first was reported in Southern Africa, other doctors have shared similar stories. All caution that it will take many more weeks to collect enough data to be sure, their observations and the early evidence offer some clues.
— Only about 30% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 in recent weeks have been seriously ill, less than half the rate as during the first weeks of previous pandemic waves.
— Average hospital stays for COVID-19 have been shorter this time - about 2.8 days compared to eight days.
— Just 3% of patients hospitalized recently with COVID-19 have died, versus about 20% in the country's earlier outbreaks.
“At the moment, virtually everything points toward it being milder disease,” Willem Hanekom, director of the Africa Health Research Institute, said, citing the national institute's figures and other reports. “It's early days, and we need to get the final data. Often hospitalizations and deaths happen later, and we are only two weeks into this wave.”
In the meantime, scientists around the world are watching case counts and hospitalization rates, while testing to see how well current vaccines and treatments hold up. While delta is still the dominant coronavirus strain worldwide, omicron cases are popping up in dozens of countries, with South Africa the epicenter.
Pillay practices in the country's Gauteng province, where the omicron version has taken hold. With 16 million residents, It's South Africa's most populous province and includes the largest city, Johannesburg, and the capital, Pretoria. Gauteng saw a 400% rise in new cases in the first week of December, and testing shows omicron is responsible for more than 90% of them, according to health officials.
Pillay says his COVID-19 patients during the last delta wave "had trouble breathing and lower oxygen levels. Many needed hospitalization within days,” he said. The patients he’s treating now have milder, flu-like symptoms, such as body aches and a cough, he said.
Pillay is a director of an association representing some 5,000 general practitioners across South Africa, and his colleagues have documented similar observations about omicron. Netcare, the largest private healthcare provider, is also reporting less severe cases of COVID-19.
But the number of cases is climbing. South Africa confirmed 22,400 new cases on Thursday and 19,000 on Friday, up from about 200 per day a few weeks ago. The new surge has infected 90,000 people in the past month, Minister of Health Joe Phaahla said Friday.
“Omicron has driven the resurgence,” Phaahla said, citing studies that say 70% of the new cases nationwide are from omicron.
The coronavirus reproduction rate in the current wave - indicating the number of people likely to be infected by one person — is 2.5, the highest that South Africa has recorded during the pandemic, he said.
“Because this is such a transmissible variant, we’re seeing increases like we never saw before,” said Waasila Jassat, who tracks hospital data for the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
Of the patients hospitalized in the current wave, 86% weren't vaccinated against the coronavirus, Jassat said. The COVID-patients in South Africa's hospitals now also are younger than at other periods of the pandemic: about two-thirds are under 40.
Jassat said that even though the early signs are that omicron cases are less severe, the volume of new COVID-19 cases may still overwhelm South Africa's hospitals and result in a higher number of severe symptoms and deaths.
“That is the danger always with the waves," she said.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
A question for the ones here in the medical field. I know we have a few nurses and some sales reps in the club. I keep hearing about ICU beds being full or hospitals are out of ICU beds. Why the low number? We are almost two years into this, why haven’t more beds been constructed? Does it not work that way? Illinois has a population of almost 13 million and total number of ICU beds is around 3500. Why not more beds?
Because that is not the answer to a pandemic. The answer to COVID-19 was to be vaccinated. The reason ICUs are being overloaded again is because people who refused to be vaccinated, refused to wear masks, chose to travel and engage in large family/friend gatherings during Thanksgiving . . . that is the reason ICUs are overwhelmed once again. And the forecast is only expected to be worse over the next two weeks. It's called I don't give a GDMF'ing thing about anyone but myself and so many suffer the consequences of ignorant, selfish people.
Was at Genesis at the brand new Arena at Belmont. Some lady running around concourse with Hochul Sucks sign (NYS Mask mandate announced yesterday)
I lock eyes with her, the type of very long look that is normally socially unacceptable.
I say to her really lady, we are all doing the best we can under difficult circumstances. Cant we all just enjoy genesis together?
She gives me a look like there's not too much going on behind her eyes, like a heroin addict.
The reason liberals lose is because independents lump us with the crazy right extremists, who are nothing more than dangerous drug addicts living in a cult. J6 is not something to worry about per independents..
Independents don't understand the dangers of Trumpism, and that screws America more than anything else.
Was at Genesis at the brand new Arena at Belmont. Some lady running around concourse with Hochul Sucks sign (NYS Mask mandate announced yesterday)
I lock eyes with her, the type of very long look that is normally socially unacceptable.
I say to her really lady, we are all doing the best we can under difficult circumstances. Cant we all just enjoy genesis together?
She gives me a look like there's not too much going on behind her eyes, like a heroin addict.
The reason liberals lose is because independents lump us with the crazy right extremists, who are nothing more than dangerous drug addicts living in a cult. J6 is not something to worry about per independents..
Independents don't understand the dangers of Trumpism, and that screws America more than anything else.
How was Phil? I had heard he was really feeble and could barely stand.
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,895
Was at Genesis at the brand new Arena at Belmont. Some lady running around concourse with Hochul Sucks sign (NYS Mask mandate announced yesterday)
I lock eyes with her, the type of very long look that is normally socially unacceptable.
I say to her really lady, we are all doing the best we can under difficult circumstances. Cant we all just enjoy genesis together?
She gives me a look like there's not too much going on behind her eyes, like a heroin addict.
The reason liberals lose is because independents lump us with the crazy right extremists, who are nothing more than dangerous drug addicts living in a cult. J6 is not something to worry about per independents..
Independents don't understand the dangers of Trumpism, and that screws America more than anything else.
How was Phil? I had heard he was really feeble and could barely stand.
our reviewer from wednesday show said he wss in fine voice but walked with a cane?
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Was at Genesis at the brand new Arena at Belmont. Some lady running around concourse with Hochul Sucks sign (NYS Mask mandate announced yesterday)
I lock eyes with her, the type of very long look that is normally socially unacceptable.
I say to her really lady, we are all doing the best we can under difficult circumstances. Cant we all just enjoy genesis together?
She gives me a look like there's not too much going on behind her eyes, like a heroin addict.
The reason liberals lose is because independents lump us with the crazy right extremists, who are nothing more than dangerous drug addicts living in a cult. J6 is not something to worry about per independents..
Independents don't understand the dangers of Trumpism, and that screws America more than anything else.
How was Phil? I had heard he was really feeble and could barely stand.
our reviewer from wednesday show said he wss in fine voice but walked with a cane?
^My 9 year old took it like a champ. Less whining than most of you- haha. JK. (But also true haha).
I was pleased that there was no myocarditis flags in this lower age-lower dose group.
She now has superhero Powers against covid-19.
Edit: Some data on their Pfizer dose against omicron would have been appreciated though... aren't they testing that, too? Just had to assume it was so low it wasn't worth reporting. Jeez!
I'm still skeptical on "mild" when it comes to omicron, especially as death is being reported.
I bought N95s Jan. 2020. 20 months later the government admitted to aerosol transmission. I completely understand not wanting to cause a panic as a motive to lie or save resources for medical professionals.
I wish this guy gave more evidence....
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,895
Air Force discharges 27 for refusal to get COVID vaccine
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Today
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.
The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands have either refused or sought an exemption. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Monday that these are the first airmen to be administratively discharged for reasons involving the vaccine.
She said all of them were in their first term of enlistment, so they were younger, lower-ranking personnel. And while the Air Force does not disclose what type of discharge a service member gets, legislation working its way through Congress limits the military to giving troops in vaccine refusal cases an honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions.
The Pentagon earlier this year required the vaccine for all members of the military, including active duty, National Guard and the Reserves. Each of the services set its own deadlines and procedures for the mandate, and the Air Force set the earliest deadline. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the vaccine is critical to maintaining the health of the force and its ability to respond to an national security crisis.
None of the 27 airmen sought any type of exemption, medical, administrative or religious, Stefanek said. Several officials from the other services said they believe that so far only the Air Force has gotten this far along in the process and discharged people over the vaccine refusal.
As a result, they were formally removed from service for failure to obey an order. Stefanek said it is also possible that some had other infractions on their records, but all had the vaccine refusal as one of the elements of their discharge.
It is not unusual for members of the military to be thrown out of the service for disobeying an order— discipline is a key tenet of the armed services. As a comparison, Stefanek said that in the first three quarters of 2021, about 1,800 airmen were discharged for failure to follow orders.
According to the latest Air Force data, more than 1,000 airmen have refused the shot and more than 4,700 are seeking a religious exemption. As of last week, a bit more than 97% of the active duty Air Force had gotten at least one shot.
Members of the Navy and the Marine Corps had until Nov. 28 to get the shots and their Reserve members have until Dec. 28. Army active duty soldiers have until Wednesday, and members of the Army National Guard and the Reserves have the most time to be vaccinated, with a deadline of next June 30.
Across the military, the vaccine reaction has mirrored that of society as a whole, with thousands seeking exemptions or refusing the shots. But overall the percentage of troops — particularly active duty members — who quicky got the shots exceeds the nationwide numbers.
As of Dec. 10, the Pentagon said that 96.4% of active duty personnel have gotten at least one shot. The number plummts to about 74%, however, when the Guard and Reserve are included. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 72% of the U.S. population 18 and older have gotten at least one shot.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made it clear that the Guard and Reserve are also subject to the mandate, and has warned that those who fail to comply risk their continuing members in the military. But that has proven to be contentious.
Oklahoma’s Republican governor and the state attorney general have already filed a federal lawsuit challenging the military mandate for the state's Guard. Gov. Kevin Stitt — the first state leader to publicly challenge the mandate — is arguing that Austin is overstepping his constitutional authority.
Stitt had asked Austin to suspend the mandate for the Oklahoma National Guard and directed his new adjutant general to assure members that they would not be punished for not being vaccinated.
Austin rejected the request and said unvaccinated Guard members would be barred from federally funded drills and training required to maintain their Guard status.
Oklahoma's adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, posted a letter on the state Guard's website, however, warning his troops that those who refuse the vaccine could end their military careers.
“Anyone ... deciding not to take the vaccine, must realize that the potential for career ending federal action, barring a favorable court ruling, legislative intervention, or a change in policy is present,” Mancino wrote.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I'm still skeptical on "mild" when it comes to omicron, especially as death is being reported.
I bought N95s Jan. 2020. 20 months later the government admitted to aerosol transmission. I completely understand not wanting to cause a panic as a motive to lie or save resources for medical professionals.
I wish this guy gave more evidence....
Even the Flu kills people, so in terms of death I guess it depends on the lethality and how fast it spreads.
It could have less lethal rate than other strains but if it spreads 3x as fast, then it might still have more deaths overall.
I dunno. I already read that South Africa has a younger population, a high vaccination rate, and a sizable portion that's been both vaxxed and gotten the virus, so there's a lot of immunity floating around.
Could so happen here in N.A., because a lot of the population has been somewhat vaxxed, so maybe it gives your body a heads up on how to fight it and you get less sick, but we still have a large unvaxxed population.
I am surprise at the slow speed of booster shots. I'm at 5 months, and my wife is at 7 (she works in health care so was one of the first). Even without omicron it was being reports the vaccines wane, but they shut down the bigger vaccination centres and stuff. Hopefully they can get things fired up again.
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,895
boosters not included in these studies. also doesnt state timelines since fully vaxxed either....
Data indicate omicron is milder, better at evading vaccines
By ANDREW MELDRUM
1 hour ago
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The omicron variant is offering more hints about what it may have in store as it spreads around the globe: A highly transmissible virus that may cause less severe disease, and one that can be slowed — but not stopped — by today’s vaccines.
An analysis Tuesday of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections, suggests the Pfizer vaccine offers less defense against infection from omicron and reduced, but still good, protection from hospitalization.
The findings are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed — the gold standard in scientific research — but they line up with other early data about omicron's behavior, including that it seems to be more easily spread from person to person.
Still, some experts cautioned that it's too soon to draw conclusions about the outcomes from omicron since the variant is still quite new and hospitalizations can lag weeks behind infections.
U.S. health officials estimate that a small, but growing proportion of new COVID-19 infections are due to the omicron variant, and that the rise is particularly dramatic in some places.
Two weeks ago, the omicron variant accounted for less than 0.5% of the coronaviruses that were genetically sequenced in the U.S. That rose to about 3% last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
But it varies from place to place, and is as high as 13% in the New York/New Jersey area, according to the agency.
The CDC is tracking how fast the percentage doubles, and as more cases come in, may be better able to predict whether — or when — the omicron variant becomes the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S, health officials say.
In the new South Africa findings, people who received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to have just 33% protection against infection, compared to those who were unvaccinated, during the country's current omicron-fueled surge, but 70% protection against hospitalization. The analysis was conducted by Discovery Health, South Africa’s largest private health insurer, and the South African Medical Research Council.
The study did not look at booster shots, which are not yet prevalent in South Africa but which data from elsewhere has indicated improves protection.
The Pfizer vaccine's 70% protection against hospital admission during the omicron surge compares to a 93% protection level seen in South Africa’s delta-driven wave, according to the new analysis.
That's a big drop in vaccine protection from severe illness requiring hospitalization, said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.
“What we don’t know yet is whether the booster will restore that back to greater than 90% and for how long,” Topol said.
The analysis in South Africa was based on examining more than 211,000 COVID-19 test results that date from Sept. 1 to Dec. 7 — 41% of which were for adults who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is the most commonly used one in South Africa.
The study split the samples up into two periods: those taken before Oct. 31, when omicron was likely not very prevalent in South Africa, and those from after Nov. 15 when it was gaining ground. The latter group was used as a proxy for measuring the effects of the omicron variant.
Experts now say that omicron accounts for more than 90% of all new infections in South Africa, according to Discovery Health chief executive Dr. Ryan Noach, and it is also picking up steam in other countries.
Researchers around the world are rushing to figure out what the variant will mean for the coronavirus pandemic, now well into its second year. More information came Tuesday from Pfizer, which announced that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19 — separate from it its vaccine — appears effective against omicron.
In the weeks since the variant was detected, South Africa has experienced rapid spread of the virus. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the country rose over the past two weeks from 8.07 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 29 to 34.37 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 13, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death rate hasn't increased during that same period.
Many are now looking to South Africa for clues about what the world could be in for.
“The omicron-driven fourth wave has a significantly steeper trajectory of new infections relative to prior waves. National data show an exponential increase in both new infections and test positivity rates during the first three weeks of this wave, indicating a highly transmissible variant with rapid community spread of infection,” Noach said.
Although case numbers are rising, hospital admissions for adults diagnosed with COVID-19 are 29% lower compared to the wave that South Africa experienced in mid-2020, after adjusting for vaccination status, according to the analysis.
The study indicated significant protection against hospital admission even among older age groups, with 67% for people aged 60 to 69 and 60% for people aged 70 to 79.
But some say there's still not enough data to draw broad conclusions about hospitalizations and the severity of disease caused by omicron.
“Their analyses covers just three weeks of data. Thus, it is important to avoid inferring too much right now,” Dr. Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, wrote of the study.
Although South Africa’s findings indicate that omicron may cause milder disease, reports from Denmark show the opposite, he wrote. There are many variables that can affect the findings, including any previous infection, potentially waning immunity and the age range of people infected so far.
“Is omicron milder, or more severe than delta?” asked Head. “Time will tell. The world’s finest scientists, including many in the global south such as in South Africa, will find out. For now, national-level decision-makers have to consider that discretion is the better part of valor.”
The U.K. Health Security Agency said Friday that new data from the U.K. confirm that omicron is more easily transmissible than other variants. Other studies suggest that both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are less effective in preventing symptomatic infections in people exposed to omicron, though preliminary data show that effectiveness appears to rise to between 70% and 75% after a third booster dose.
___
This story has been updated to correct the time period that the samples were from. They dated from Sept. 1 to Dec. 7, not Nov. 15 to Dec. 7. It also corrects that not all of the samples were positive, as a news release from Discovery initially said.
___
Associated Press writers Mike Corder, Mike Stobbe and Carla K. Johnson contributed.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Pfizer confirms COVID pill's results, potency versus omicron
By MATTHEW PERRONE
23 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer said Tuesday that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19 appears effective against the omicron variant.
The company also said full results of its 2,250-person study confirmed the pill's promising early results against the virus: The drug reduced combined hospitalizations and deaths by about 89% among high-risk adults when taken shortly after initial COVID-19 symptoms.
Separate laboratory testing shows the drug retains its potency against the omicron variant, the company announced, as many experts had predicted. Pfizer tested the antiviral drug against a man-made version of a key protein that omicron uses to reproduce itself.
The updates come as COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalization are all rising again and the U.S. hovers around 800,000 pandemic deaths. The latest surge, driven by the delta variant, is accelerating due to colder weather and more indoor gatherings, even as health officials brace for the impact of the emerging omicron mutant.
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon rule on whether to authorize Pfizer’s pill and a competing pill from Merck, which was submitted to regulators several weeks earlier. If granted, the pills would be the first COVID-19 treatments that Americans could pickup at a pharmacy and take at home.
President Joe Biden called Pfizer's drug “another potentially powerful tool in our fight against the virus,” in a statement Tuesday.
The U.S. government has agreed to purchase enough of Pfizer’s drug to treat 10 million people. But company executives have indicated that initial supplies will be limited, with only enough to treat tens of thousands of people before the end of the year. By March Pfizer hopes to ramp up production to provide millions of courses of treatment.
Pfizer’s data could help reassure regulators of its drug's effectiveness after Merck disclosed smaller-than-expected benefits for its drug in final testing. Late last month, Merck said that its pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by 30% in high-risk adults.
Both companies initially studied their drugs in unvaccinated adults who face the gravest risks from COVID-19, due to older age or health problems, such as asthma or obesity.
Pfizer is also studying its pill in lower-risk adults — including a subset who are vaccinated — but reported mixed data for that group on Tuesday.
In interim results, Pfizer said its drug failed to meet its main study goal: sustained relief from COVID-19 for four days during or after treatment, as reported by patients. But the drug did achieve a second goal by reducing hospitalizations by about 70% among that group, which included otherwise healthy unvaccinated adults and vaccinated adults with one or more health issues. Less than 1% of patients who got the drug were hospitalized, compared with 2.4% of patients who got a dummy pill.
An independent board of medical experts reviewed the data and recommended Pfizer continue the study to get the full results before proceeding further with regulators.
Across both of Pfizer’s studies, adults taking the company's drug had a 10-fold decrease in virus levels compared with those on placebo.
The prospect of new pills to fight COVID-19 can’t come soon enough for communities in the Northeast and Midwest, where many hospitals are once again being overloaded by incoming virus cases.
Both the Merck and Pfizer pills are expected to perform well against omicron because they don’t target the coronavirus’ spike protein, which contains most of the new variant’s mutations.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, appearing on NBC’s “Today” on Tuesday, said the best way for people to protect themselves against COVID-19 is to get vaccinated and get a booster shot. She said the Pfizer pill, if authorized by the FDA, “will be another great tool, but we need to diagnose people early.”
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,895
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/diseases-maladies/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/epidemiological-economic-research-data/update-covid-19-canada-epidemiology-modelling-20211210-en.pdf
Mickey, slide 9 has a small amount of data on vaccine effectiveness which compares over 60 and under 60s.
Weird. Vaccinations seems to work. WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN?!?!
THE SCIENTISTS?!?! LIKE DR. WILY WHO MADE THE ROBOT MASTERS:
I THINK NOT!
I am one and have a question for you. I got my J&J poke back in March so when boosters were released I naturally went right and got one. After doing some research, I saw that mixing the J&J with an MRNA is best (especially Moderna) and so that is what I got. Now, they say J&J should have been a two shot regimen which would meant that with the booster we should all ideally have been at three (regardless of your original shot) . However, with J&J, we only got the one and as of now have only been approved for the one booster dose which seems to leave us under protected. Any of you fellow J&Jers going out and getting a second booster and if so, how?
Sorry if this has been addressed in this long thread.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As the omicron variant sweeps through South Africa, Dr. Unben Pillay is seeing dozens of sick patients a day. Yet he hasn’t had to send anyone to the hospital.
That’s one of the reasons why he, along with other doctors and medical experts, suspect that the omicron version really is causing milder COVID-19 than delta, even if it seems to be spreading faster.
“They are able to manage the disease at home," Pillay said of his patients. "Most have recovered within the 10 to 14-day isolation period.” said Pillay.
And that includes older patients and those with health problems that can make them more vulnerable to becoming severely ill from a coronavirus infection, he said.
In the two weeks since omicron first was reported in Southern Africa, other doctors have shared similar stories. All caution that it will take many more weeks to collect enough data to be sure, their observations and the early evidence offer some clues.
According to South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases:
— Only about 30% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 in recent weeks have been seriously ill, less than half the rate as during the first weeks of previous pandemic waves.
CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
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Taiwan records first omicron case in traveler from Africa
— Average hospital stays for COVID-19 have been shorter this time - about 2.8 days compared to eight days.
— Just 3% of patients hospitalized recently with COVID-19 have died, versus about 20% in the country's earlier outbreaks.
“At the moment, virtually everything points toward it being milder disease,” Willem Hanekom, director of the Africa Health Research Institute, said, citing the national institute's figures and other reports. “It's early days, and we need to get the final data. Often hospitalizations and deaths happen later, and we are only two weeks into this wave.”
In the meantime, scientists around the world are watching case counts and hospitalization rates, while testing to see how well current vaccines and treatments hold up. While delta is still the dominant coronavirus strain worldwide, omicron cases are popping up in dozens of countries, with South Africa the epicenter.
Pillay practices in the country's Gauteng province, where the omicron version has taken hold. With 16 million residents, It's South Africa's most populous province and includes the largest city, Johannesburg, and the capital, Pretoria. Gauteng saw a 400% rise in new cases in the first week of December, and testing shows omicron is responsible for more than 90% of them, according to health officials.
Pillay says his COVID-19 patients during the last delta wave "had trouble breathing and lower oxygen levels. Many needed hospitalization within days,” he said. The patients he’s treating now have milder, flu-like symptoms, such as body aches and a cough, he said.
Pillay is a director of an association representing some 5,000 general practitioners across South Africa, and his colleagues have documented similar observations about omicron. Netcare, the largest private healthcare provider, is also reporting less severe cases of COVID-19.
But the number of cases is climbing. South Africa confirmed 22,400 new cases on Thursday and 19,000 on Friday, up from about 200 per day a few weeks ago. The new surge has infected 90,000 people in the past month, Minister of Health Joe Phaahla said Friday.
“Omicron has driven the resurgence,” Phaahla said, citing studies that say 70% of the new cases nationwide are from omicron.
The coronavirus reproduction rate in the current wave - indicating the number of people likely to be infected by one person — is 2.5, the highest that South Africa has recorded during the pandemic, he said.
“Because this is such a transmissible variant, we’re seeing increases like we never saw before,” said Waasila Jassat, who tracks hospital data for the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
Of the patients hospitalized in the current wave, 86% weren't vaccinated against the coronavirus, Jassat said. The COVID-patients in South Africa's hospitals now also are younger than at other periods of the pandemic: about two-thirds are under 40.
Jassat said that even though the early signs are that omicron cases are less severe, the volume of new COVID-19 cases may still overwhelm South Africa's hospitals and result in a higher number of severe symptoms and deaths.
“That is the danger always with the waves," she said.
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I lock eyes with her, the type of very long look that is normally socially unacceptable.
I say to her really lady, we are all doing the best we can under difficult circumstances. Cant we all just enjoy genesis together?
She gives me a look like there's not too much going on behind her eyes, like a heroin addict.
The reason liberals lose is because independents lump us with the crazy right extremists, who are nothing more than dangerous drug addicts living in a cult. J6 is not something to worry about per independents..
Independents don't understand the dangers of Trumpism, and that screws America more than anything else.
England has some good modelling too. They are assuming same severity of delta as it is too soon to call it.
Here's a pic which shows the different type of vaccine - booster combos.
our reviewer from wednesday show said he wss in fine voice but walked with a cane?
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With nearly 5 million children getting COVID vaccines, no safety problems have been seen, CDC director says
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/cdc-director-rochelle-walensky-concerns-myocarditis-million-children/story?id=81659883
Get your kids vaccinated and let's help end this pandemic.
I was pleased that there was no myocarditis flags in this lower age-lower dose group.
She now has superhero Powers against covid-19.
Edit: Some data on their Pfizer dose against omicron would have been appreciated though... aren't they testing that, too? Just had to assume it was so low it wasn't worth reporting. Jeez!
Edit: I wonder if she'll get her birthday party this year... 2 weeks fingers crossed.
The United States on Sunday reached 800,000 coronavirus-related deaths, according to a Reuters tally, as the nation braces for a potential surge in infections due to more time spent indoors with colder weather and the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjfn5cvct
I'm still skeptical on "mild" when it comes to omicron, especially as death is being reported.
I bought N95s Jan. 2020. 20 months later the government admitted to aerosol transmission. I completely understand not wanting to cause a panic as a motive to lie or save resources for medical professionals.
I wish this guy gave more evidence....
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.
The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands have either refused or sought an exemption. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Monday that these are the first airmen to be administratively discharged for reasons involving the vaccine.
She said all of them were in their first term of enlistment, so they were younger, lower-ranking personnel. And while the Air Force does not disclose what type of discharge a service member gets, legislation working its way through Congress limits the military to giving troops in vaccine refusal cases an honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions.
The Pentagon earlier this year required the vaccine for all members of the military, including active duty, National Guard and the Reserves. Each of the services set its own deadlines and procedures for the mandate, and the Air Force set the earliest deadline. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the vaccine is critical to maintaining the health of the force and its ability to respond to an national security crisis.
None of the 27 airmen sought any type of exemption, medical, administrative or religious, Stefanek said. Several officials from the other services said they believe that so far only the Air Force has gotten this far along in the process and discharged people over the vaccine refusal.
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As a result, they were formally removed from service for failure to obey an order. Stefanek said it is also possible that some had other infractions on their records, but all had the vaccine refusal as one of the elements of their discharge.
It is not unusual for members of the military to be thrown out of the service for disobeying an order— discipline is a key tenet of the armed services. As a comparison, Stefanek said that in the first three quarters of 2021, about 1,800 airmen were discharged for failure to follow orders.
According to the latest Air Force data, more than 1,000 airmen have refused the shot and more than 4,700 are seeking a religious exemption. As of last week, a bit more than 97% of the active duty Air Force had gotten at least one shot.
Members of the Navy and the Marine Corps had until Nov. 28 to get the shots and their Reserve members have until Dec. 28. Army active duty soldiers have until Wednesday, and members of the Army National Guard and the Reserves have the most time to be vaccinated, with a deadline of next June 30.
Across the military, the vaccine reaction has mirrored that of society as a whole, with thousands seeking exemptions or refusing the shots. But overall the percentage of troops — particularly active duty members — who quicky got the shots exceeds the nationwide numbers.
As of Dec. 10, the Pentagon said that 96.4% of active duty personnel have gotten at least one shot. The number plummts to about 74%, however, when the Guard and Reserve are included. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 72% of the U.S. population 18 and older have gotten at least one shot.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made it clear that the Guard and Reserve are also subject to the mandate, and has warned that those who fail to comply risk their continuing members in the military. But that has proven to be contentious.
Oklahoma’s Republican governor and the state attorney general have already filed a federal lawsuit challenging the military mandate for the state's Guard. Gov. Kevin Stitt — the first state leader to publicly challenge the mandate — is arguing that Austin is overstepping his constitutional authority.
Stitt had asked Austin to suspend the mandate for the Oklahoma National Guard and directed his new adjutant general to assure members that they would not be punished for not being vaccinated.
Austin rejected the request and said unvaccinated Guard members would be barred from federally funded drills and training required to maintain their Guard status.
Oklahoma's adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, posted a letter on the state Guard's website, however, warning his troops that those who refuse the vaccine could end their military careers.
“Anyone ... deciding not to take the vaccine, must realize that the potential for career ending federal action, barring a favorable court ruling, legislative intervention, or a change in policy is present,” Mancino wrote.
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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The omicron variant is offering more hints about what it may have in store as it spreads around the globe: A highly transmissible virus that may cause less severe disease, and one that can be slowed — but not stopped — by today’s vaccines.
An analysis Tuesday of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections, suggests the Pfizer vaccine offers less defense against infection from omicron and reduced, but still good, protection from hospitalization.
The findings are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed — the gold standard in scientific research — but they line up with other early data about omicron's behavior, including that it seems to be more easily spread from person to person.
Still, some experts cautioned that it's too soon to draw conclusions about the outcomes from omicron since the variant is still quite new and hospitalizations can lag weeks behind infections.
U.S. health officials estimate that a small, but growing proportion of new COVID-19 infections are due to the omicron variant, and that the rise is particularly dramatic in some places.
Two weeks ago, the omicron variant accounted for less than 0.5% of the coronaviruses that were genetically sequenced in the U.S. That rose to about 3% last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
But it varies from place to place, and is as high as 13% in the New York/New Jersey area, according to the agency.
The CDC is tracking how fast the percentage doubles, and as more cases come in, may be better able to predict whether — or when — the omicron variant becomes the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S, health officials say.
In the new South Africa findings, people who received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to have just 33% protection against infection, compared to those who were unvaccinated, during the country's current omicron-fueled surge, but 70% protection against hospitalization. The analysis was conducted by Discovery Health, South Africa’s largest private health insurer, and the South African Medical Research Council.
The study did not look at booster shots, which are not yet prevalent in South Africa but which data from elsewhere has indicated improves protection.
The Pfizer vaccine's 70% protection against hospital admission during the omicron surge compares to a 93% protection level seen in South Africa’s delta-driven wave, according to the new analysis.
That's a big drop in vaccine protection from severe illness requiring hospitalization, said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.
“What we don’t know yet is whether the booster will restore that back to greater than 90% and for how long,” Topol said.
The analysis in South Africa was based on examining more than 211,000 COVID-19 test results that date from Sept. 1 to Dec. 7 — 41% of which were for adults who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is the most commonly used one in South Africa.
The study split the samples up into two periods: those taken before Oct. 31, when omicron was likely not very prevalent in South Africa, and those from after Nov. 15 when it was gaining ground. The latter group was used as a proxy for measuring the effects of the omicron variant.
Experts now say that omicron accounts for more than 90% of all new infections in South Africa, according to Discovery Health chief executive Dr. Ryan Noach, and it is also picking up steam in other countries.
Researchers around the world are rushing to figure out what the variant will mean for the coronavirus pandemic, now well into its second year. More information came Tuesday from Pfizer, which announced that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19 — separate from it its vaccine — appears effective against omicron.
In the weeks since the variant was detected, South Africa has experienced rapid spread of the virus. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the country rose over the past two weeks from 8.07 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 29 to 34.37 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 13, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death rate hasn't increased during that same period.
Many are now looking to South Africa for clues about what the world could be in for.
“The omicron-driven fourth wave has a significantly steeper trajectory of new infections relative to prior waves. National data show an exponential increase in both new infections and test positivity rates during the first three weeks of this wave, indicating a highly transmissible variant with rapid community spread of infection,” Noach said.
Although case numbers are rising, hospital admissions for adults diagnosed with COVID-19 are 29% lower compared to the wave that South Africa experienced in mid-2020, after adjusting for vaccination status, according to the analysis.
The study indicated significant protection against hospital admission even among older age groups, with 67% for people aged 60 to 69 and 60% for people aged 70 to 79.
But some say there's still not enough data to draw broad conclusions about hospitalizations and the severity of disease caused by omicron.
“Their analyses covers just three weeks of data. Thus, it is important to avoid inferring too much right now,” Dr. Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, wrote of the study.
Although South Africa’s findings indicate that omicron may cause milder disease, reports from Denmark show the opposite, he wrote. There are many variables that can affect the findings, including any previous infection, potentially waning immunity and the age range of people infected so far.
“Is omicron milder, or more severe than delta?” asked Head. “Time will tell. The world’s finest scientists, including many in the global south such as in South Africa, will find out. For now, national-level decision-makers have to consider that discretion is the better part of valor.”
The South African analysis supports an earlier assessment by U.K. authorities.
The U.K. Health Security Agency said Friday that new data from the U.K. confirm that omicron is more easily transmissible than other variants. Other studies suggest that both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are less effective in preventing symptomatic infections in people exposed to omicron, though preliminary data show that effectiveness appears to rise to between 70% and 75% after a third booster dose.
___
This story has been updated to correct the time period that the samples were from. They dated from Sept. 1 to Dec. 7, not Nov. 15 to Dec. 7. It also corrects that not all of the samples were positive, as a news release from Discovery initially said.
___
Associated Press writers Mike Corder, Mike Stobbe and Carla K. Johnson contributed.
___
Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer said Tuesday that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19 appears effective against the omicron variant.
The company also said full results of its 2,250-person study confirmed the pill's promising early results against the virus: The drug reduced combined hospitalizations and deaths by about 89% among high-risk adults when taken shortly after initial COVID-19 symptoms.
Separate laboratory testing shows the drug retains its potency against the omicron variant, the company announced, as many experts had predicted. Pfizer tested the antiviral drug against a man-made version of a key protein that omicron uses to reproduce itself.
The updates come as COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalization are all rising again and the U.S. hovers around 800,000 pandemic deaths. The latest surge, driven by the delta variant, is accelerating due to colder weather and more indoor gatherings, even as health officials brace for the impact of the emerging omicron mutant.
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon rule on whether to authorize Pfizer’s pill and a competing pill from Merck, which was submitted to regulators several weeks earlier. If granted, the pills would be the first COVID-19 treatments that Americans could pickup at a pharmacy and take at home.
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President Joe Biden called Pfizer's drug “another potentially powerful tool in our fight against the virus,” in a statement Tuesday.
The U.S. government has agreed to purchase enough of Pfizer’s drug to treat 10 million people. But company executives have indicated that initial supplies will be limited, with only enough to treat tens of thousands of people before the end of the year. By March Pfizer hopes to ramp up production to provide millions of courses of treatment.
Pfizer’s data could help reassure regulators of its drug's effectiveness after Merck disclosed smaller-than-expected benefits for its drug in final testing. Late last month, Merck said that its pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by 30% in high-risk adults.
Both companies initially studied their drugs in unvaccinated adults who face the gravest risks from COVID-19, due to older age or health problems, such as asthma or obesity.
Pfizer is also studying its pill in lower-risk adults — including a subset who are vaccinated — but reported mixed data for that group on Tuesday.
In interim results, Pfizer said its drug failed to meet its main study goal: sustained relief from COVID-19 for four days during or after treatment, as reported by patients. But the drug did achieve a second goal by reducing hospitalizations by about 70% among that group, which included otherwise healthy unvaccinated adults and vaccinated adults with one or more health issues. Less than 1% of patients who got the drug were hospitalized, compared with 2.4% of patients who got a dummy pill.
An independent board of medical experts reviewed the data and recommended Pfizer continue the study to get the full results before proceeding further with regulators.
Across both of Pfizer’s studies, adults taking the company's drug had a 10-fold decrease in virus levels compared with those on placebo.
The prospect of new pills to fight COVID-19 can’t come soon enough for communities in the Northeast and Midwest, where many hospitals are once again being overloaded by incoming virus cases.
Both the Merck and Pfizer pills are expected to perform well against omicron because they don’t target the coronavirus’ spike protein, which contains most of the new variant’s mutations.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, appearing on NBC’s “Today” on Tuesday, said the best way for people to protect themselves against COVID-19 is to get vaccinated and get a booster shot. She said the Pfizer pill, if authorized by the FDA, “will be another great tool, but we need to diagnose people early.”
___
Follow Matthew Perrone on Twitter: @AP_FDAwriter
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14