All About Vaccines

[CaptainEurope]

A very possibly positive development. Omicron is spreading like wildfire but thankfully still bringing on mild symptoms.

... except for those people who died from it.

[CaptainEurope]

I wouldn't have believed this if a friend didn't send me a clip of Dr. Wen saying on CNN, "Cloth masks are not appropriate for this pandemic. It's not appropriate for omicron, it was not appropriate for delta, alpha, or any of the previous variants either because we're dealing with something that's airborne."

Why Health Experts Recommend Retiring Cloth Masks in the Fight Against Omicron
https://people.com/health/why-health...ainst-omicron/

We did that in Germany about a year ago. It's only medical masks on public transport, shops, cultural and work spaces.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I wouldn't have believed this if a friend didn't send me a clip of Dr. Wen saying on CNN, "Cloth masks are not appropriate for this pandemic. It's not appropriate for omicron, it was not appropriate for delta, alpha, or any of the previous variants either because we're dealing with something that's airborne."

Why Health Experts Recommend Retiring Cloth Masks in the Fight Against Omicron
https://people.com/health/why-health...ainst-omicron/

Well, that's certainly news to me, and I've been using cloth masks for months. Guess I'll have to dump them in favor of the 3-ply variety.

[CaptainEurope]

Well, that's certainly news to me, and I've been using cloth masks for months. Guess I'll have to dump them in favor of the 3-ply variety.

I am really stunned here that this is only NOW happening in the US. I don't even remember when the last time was I wore a cloth mask.

The good news is that there recently was a study that showed just how effective our FFP2 standard masks are (very similar to your KN 95 masks). Properly worn, they reduce the risk of the infection (with pre-Omicron) SARS-Cov-2 to almost zero. A fresh surgical mask (which many people prefer because it is easier to breathe for them and they are cheaper) still reduces the risk by about 90% compared to no mask, but FFP2 was like 99.5%.
The same study also showed that being in a room with an infected person for 20 minutes without a mask means infection in almost 100% of unvaccinated people who have not previously had Covid. And that was pre-Omicron.

[CaptainEurope]

I actually think if we cranked up production of KN 95/ FFP2 masks globally and got a supply of 10 masks every month to every person and made them mandatory wherever strangers get together, that could have a bigger effect than any lockdown measure.

[Catlady in training]

I also wear only single-use FFP2 masks. But the guidelines keep changing here whether those are required or cloth masks are enough, so I often see other people wearing only cloth masks. (And usually no masks outside, since they are only required inside. I personally prefer to be masked all the time when I'm outside of home.)

[Tami]

Johnson & Johnson's booster offers strong protection against hospitalization, South African study shows

Johnson & Johnson's booster shot provides high levels of protection against the omicron variant of Covid-19, according to data from a trial of healthcare workers in South Africa released Thursday.

Preliminary results from the Sisonke study, which have not been peer-reviewed, found that for people who had received one vaccine dose, the booster improved protection against hospitalization to 85 percent from 63 percent.

[CaptainEurope]

Johnson & Johnson's booster offers strong protection against hospitalization, South African study shows

Basically what we seem to see is: To be safe from infection, one needs an active antibody response (either to a vaccination or from a recent infection). The t-cell immunity that remains when the antibodies disappear is slower to respond, so you can still infect people and develop symptoms, but it will be enough in most people to keep the infection milder so you will not have to be hospitalized.
That might, unfortunately, mean more booster shots in the future to get the pandemic ended.

[Tami]

Basically what we seem to see is: To be safe from infection, one needs an active antibody response (either to a vaccination or from a recent infection). The t-cell immunity that remains when the antibodies disappear is slower to respond, so you can still infect people and develop symptoms, but it will be enough in most people to keep the infection milder so you will not have to be hospitalized.
That might, unfortunately, mean more booster shots in the future to get the pandemic ended.

Which, to anyone who gets a yearly flu shot, is nothing new.

[JB]

CDC says people should ‘avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status’
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/30/us-c...on-status.html

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday advised people against going on cruises regardless of their vaccination status after a recent surge in positive Covid cases onboard ships as the omicron variant sweeps the world.

The CDC increased its travel warning for cruises to the highest level as the agency is investigating or observing dozens of ships that have had Covid outbreaks.

Cruise ships operating in U.S. waters have reported about 5,000 Covid cases to the CDC between Dec. 15 - 29, a major spike compared to the first two weeks of the month when 162 cases were reported.

You couldn't pay me to go on a cruise right now but noted.

U.S. reports 484,000 new COVID-19 cases, setting world record
https://bnonews.com/index.php/2021/1...-world-record/

[CaptainEurope]

And much smaller France had over 200.000! I talked to a friend in France yesterday who is freaking out. She is fully vaxxed and boostered, but her ex husband is now dating a "holistic healer" and believes in "natural immunity" and is already on his second covid infection.

Look at the rate of growth in France. It looks like that in many European countries currently, thanks to Omicron.

https://www.corona-in-zahlen.de/weltweit/frankreich/

[Tami]

Republicans losing faith in their doctors makes the Covid pandemic worse

For the first time since 2002, a Gallup poll finds that more Democrats than Republicans express confidence in their doctor’s medical advice. According to that poll, conducted during the first two weeks of November, more Republican respondents say they "usually feel it is necessary to check for second opinions or do [their] own research on the subject." While consulting another physician may be wise, people who are doing their “own research” are often just playing Dr. Google and searching the internet.

And, unfortunately, given the amount of misinformation online, what they call research can put them in danger. For example, over the summer, poison control centers saw a 245 percent increase in calls related to people taking ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19. The drug, which is used to treat parasitic infections, has wrongly been promoted as a Covid cure on the internet, but deemed “dangerous” and unproven for such use by major medical societies and the Food and Drug Administration.

[Tami]

A new coronavirus vaccine heading to India was developed by a small team in Texas. It expects nothing in return.

For some vaccine developers, the coronavirus pandemic has had a silver lining in billions of dollars in profits. But a new vaccine rolling out soon in India is taking the opposite approach: Its developers are getting zilch.

“We’re not trying to make money,” said Peter Hotez of the Texas Children’s Hospital’s Center for Vaccine Development. “We just want to see people get vaccinated.”

On Tuesday, the Indian government granted emergency approval to a vaccine manufactured by the Hyderabad-based company Biological E. This “second generation” coronavirus vaccine was developed by Hotez and his longtime collaborator Maria Elena Bottazzi. It was then licensed to Biological E. through a commercialization team at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where both developers also work.

Biological E. has ambitious plans to produce more than 1 billion doses of the vaccine in 2022. Hotez and Bottazzi won’t personally get a penny from it, but their employer Baylor College will get a fee.

Unlike the vaccines of big-name manufacturers such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the Texas Children’s Hospital vaccine, which is called Corbevax, is being shared patent-free. The Texas Children’s Hospital team is also working with manufacturers like Biological E. to ensure they have the know-how to make doses.

The ambition is to create a low-cost, open-source alternative to expensive and limited-supply mRNA vaccines for developing and under-vaccinated countries. And it won’t stop at India: Hotez and Bottazzi are talking to other manufacturers around the world and have consulted with the World Health Organization to see how they can share the vaccine globally.

If everything goes to plan, manufacturers all around the world could produce their own versions of the Texas Children’s Hospital vaccine, which uses older recombinant protein technology that many manufacturers already have experience with, rather than newer and potentially more complicated technology. Some advocates hope it could be a model for how vaccines should be developed and shared globally during a pandemic.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Republicans losing faith in their doctors makes the Covid pandemic worse

Most of the misinformation that’s causing Republicans to lose faith in doctors has come from the talking head assholes on Faux News, all of whom, by the way, are fully vaccinated, making them the absolute worst sort of hypocrites.

[Phoenixx9]

Happy New Year 2022 everyone! Let us hope, pray and love for a better year!