Covid-19 Pandemic

[nitflegal]

48 minutes ago, Harold Jones said:

I don't think particularly highly of Trump, but I do believe that he doesn't get nearly enough credit for getting pushing for accelerated vaccine development and approvals. 

I hope that someday there is a good definitive account someday.  I've said it before, Operation Warp Speed and it's unbelievable success (and I cannot overstate how unprecedented it was)  is due entirely to Trump, Jared Trump, Don jr, Angela Merkle, and the core team at ModeRNA.  They broke every rule and the political types begged, bribed or brow-beat everyone into playing ball.  Those 4 politicians and the research team are why it happened and, if the 4 politicians had not been successful, the researchers never would have had the funding to pull off their miracle.  For every projected death from January of 2021 through mid next year that was averted, it was Trump and Merkle.  100%.  I've detailed before how the entrenched forces fought them every. single. step. of the way.  Those two probably saved more people than anyone else in history.

[Ivanhoe]

3 hours ago, nitflegal said:

They were also struggling because until we got the Italian samples, the samples and gene sequencing from China were falsified.  If I was feeling charitable I would say maybe they were from contaminated samples but from everything I saw, including that key gene sequences that were needed for testing and vaccine development were substituted with no drift to adjacent sections, it was falsified to make it harder to develop treatments, vaccines, and test protocols. 

I have a gut feeling that, while SARS-CoV-2 seems to have waned in morbidity/mortality, the Wuhan wet market is going to bless humanity with SARS-CoV-3 and SARS-CoV-4 in the next 10 years. And aside from DeSantis, I don't see any national-level pols who would do the Lincolnesque thing of firing generals until he found a winner.

Rather than stockpiling TP and 5.56, Americans should probably be stockpiling vitamin D3.

[MiloMorai]

How hard did Trump push for people to get vaccinated? He hid from the public for several weeks that he got vaccinated. Why?

 

[nitflegal]

3 hours ago, MiloMorai said:

How hard did Trump push for people to get vaccinated? He hid from the public for several weeks that he got vaccinated. Why?

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/21/dear-republicans-trump-wants-you-get-vaccinated-thats-not-fake-news/

[MiloMorai]

Link doesn't work

[nitflegal]

I’d like to introduce you to a Republican who checks many of the boxes when it comes to those who need the most convincing to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Engaged in conspiracy theories about the vaccine? Check. Might have believed he had enough natural immunity from a prior infection and didn’t need it? Check. Has demonstrated that he is quite worried about what his vaccine-skeptic friends might think of him? Check and check.

This Republican would like to tell those same vaccine-skeptic friends that they should get vaccinated — and has now done so repeatedly. His name is Donald Trump.

As many Republicans continue to resist the vaccine, and as ambitious and outspoken Republicans increasingly flirt with vaccine skeptics in their base — as best exemplified by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) — the leader of the Republican Party has stuck to his guns in promoting the vaccine. He has done so even when jeered at or booed for it, as has now repeatedly happened. And the totality of his commentary on the matter is worth emphasizing as we continue to confront intractable vaccine skepticism.

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Trump disclosed in an interview Sunday that he has gotten his booster. He did so despite claiming in a Fox Business Network interview in August that the boosters might be a Big Pharma money-grab. He also did so despite saying in September that he probably wouldn’t get a booster. If Trump turned the corner on that, maybe those who think he Made America Great Again might take notice?

To the extent that Trump’s allies continue to resist the vaccine and baselessly claim it’s dangerous or not worth it, they are expressly opposing their beloved former president. To the extent that they claim that the vaccine isn’t saving countless lives, they are disputing what Trump himself has said over and over again. To the extent that even the vaccinated ones are resisting boosters, they are now not following his lead. And according to Trump’s latest comments, they’re not just disregarding him; they’re also playing into their opponents’ hands.

To be clear, Trump is not saying anything that health officials haven’t said about the vaccine for a long time. Nor did he take up this cause when it arguably might have mattered most; he declined to disclose his own vaccination as president, and only pushed the vaccines more than a month later. But when he has weighed in on the vaccine since then, he’s delivered a message that it’s a wonder nobody has put in a public service announcement and run on repeat on Fox News and other conservative outlets whose audiences have been fed a steady diet of unsubstantiated vaccine skepticism.

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Here’s a recap:

February: 'Everybody, go get your shot”

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump said, “We took care of a lot of people — including, I guess, on December 21st, we took care of Joe Biden, because he got his shot, he got his vaccine. … It shows you how unpainful that vaccine shot is.”

Trump added: “So everybody, go get your shot.”

March: ‘I would recommend it to’ my vaccine-skeptic allies

In a Fox News interview, Trump said, “I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly.”

He also repudiated claims that the vaccines aren’t safe: “It’s a great vaccine, it’s a safe vaccine, and it’s something that works.”

Mid-April: Defended safety of Johnson & Johnson vaccine

After the federal government paused its authorization of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, in light of rare blood-clotting issue which vaccine skeptics seized upon, Trump excoriated the decision and pointed to the minimal adverse effects.

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“The federal pause on the J&J shot makes no sense,” Trump said, adding: “Just six people out of the nearly 7 million who’ve gotten the Johnson & Johnson vaccine reported blood clots.”

Trump even suggested that the move would feed the kind of anti-vaccine skepticism that was on the rise in his base. (Allies such as Tucker Carlson have often pointed to unverified reports in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS.)

“Indeed, this moronic move is a gift to the anti-vax movement,” Trump said. “The science bureaucrats are fueling that deranged pseudoscience.”

Late April: ‘The vaccine is a great thing, and people should take advantage of it’

Trump told the New York Post: “I’m all in favor of the vaccine. It’s one of the great achievements, a true miracle, and not only for the United States. We’re saving tens of millions of lives throughout the world. We’re saving entire countries.”

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Trump added that, “The vaccine is a great thing, and people should take advantage of it,” while adding that it shouldn’t be mandated.

July: ‘I recommend you take it’

At a rally in Arizona, Trump said, “I recommend you take it, but I also believe in your freedoms 100 percent.”

Mid-August: ‘Once you get the vaccine, you get better’

In the same interview in which Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo ultimately goaded Trump into initially questioning the boosters, Trump began by offering one of his most forceful pro-vaccine statements.

“Now one thing: When you have the vaccine, people that do [get infected] — and it’s a very small number relatively, but people that do get it — get better much quicker,” Trump said. “And it’s very important to know. They don’t get nearly as sick, and they get better. [Sen.] Lindsey Graham is an example. He said, if I didn’t have this vaccine, I would have died.”

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“So once you get the vaccine, you get better,” Trump added.

Late August: ‘Take the vaccines. … It is working.’

At a rally in Alabama shortly after the Bartiromo interview, Trump again broadly promoted vaccines — even playing off those who booed him for it.

“I recommend take the vaccines,” he said. “It’s good. I did it. Take the vaccines.”

As some in the crowd jeered, Trump took care to qualify his remarks by noting that this is about personal choice. But then he re-upped the message.

“You got — no, that’s okay. That’s all right. You got your freedoms. But I happened to take the vaccine,” Trump said, before defusing the situation with a joke: “If it doesn’t work, you’ll be the first to know.”

He added: “But it is working.”

September: ‘The vaccines do work. … It’s tremendously successful.'

“The vaccines do work,” Trump said on a conservative talk-radio show. “And they are effective. So here’s my thing: I think I saved millions and millions of lives around the world.”

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He added: “And now countries are using our vaccines, and it’s tremendous. It’s tremendously successful.”

December: Don’t let the libs win when you promote vaccine skepticism

At an event with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly in Dallas, Trump disclosed that he got a booster shot after all. He did so despite his August comments about a Big Pharma money-grab and despite having told the Wall Street Journal in September that he probably wouldn’t get it. (“I feel like I’m in good shape from that standpoint; I probably won’t. … I’m not against it, but it’s probably not for me.”)

And despite again being jeered for his vaccine promotion, Trump said that it was a small portion of the audience. He also said — as he had before — that feeding vaccine skepticism was counterproductive.

“What we’ve done is historic,” he said. “Don’t let them take away — don’t take it away from ourselves. You’re playing right into their hands when you sort of like, ‘Oh, the vaccine.’ ”

We shall see if his supporters heed his advice — or keep playing into the left’s hands.

[FALightFighter]

On 4/13/2022 at 5:52 PM, Harold Jones said:

Probably these bits.

Section 8
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

Amendment XVI
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Gross perversion of the meaning of that clause.

https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/general-welfare-clause/

[DKTanker]

2 hours ago, FALightFighter said:

Gross perversion of the meaning of that clause.

https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/general-welfare-clause/

According to Madison who said that the clause "Provide for the general welfare" meant those ends outlined in the Constitution.  For example providing for post offices and post roads.  Providing for the general defense has been less controversial...until the last half of the 20th C and exacerbated after 9/11 when congress decided to slow walk the nation into a police state.

But I digress.  Hamilton's position on General welfare comes in quite handy for modern politicians.  The words "General Welfare" meaning whatever Humpty Dumpty wants them to mean.

[JWB]

A Covid-19 breathalyzer test with the ability to provide diagnostic results in three minutes has won emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency announced Thursday. 

Breathalyzer Test for Covid-19 Wins Approval From FDA (msn.com)

[Ivanhoe]

Not a COVID thing, but an adenovirus thing;

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/rare-severe-liver-damage-reported-in-kids-in-us-and-europe/ar-AAWguEU
 

Quote

 

The World Health Organization on Friday said it was investigating 74 cases of severe acute hepatitis in children under age 10 in the United Kingdom. Three cases were also reported in Spain, the WHO said.

In the U.S., nine cases have been reported in children ages 6 and younger in Alabama. The Alabama cases were first reported by Stat News.

Dr. Wes Stubblefield, district medical officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health, said that all of the children were otherwise healthy before becoming ill, and that there is no obvious link among the children.

With the common hepatitis viruses ruled out, the current leading theory is that a different virus, called adenovirus type 41, is to blame.

 

 

[JWB]

Vaccines are no match for long Covid. Treating it is science’s next great challenge.

Vaccines are no match for long Covid. Treating it is science’s next great challenge (msn.com)

 

People with COVID-19 can now get quick and free lifesaving treatment at testing sites nationwide.

A new federal program, called “Test to Treat,” first helps people get tested for COVID-19. For those who test positive, on-site health care providers can prescribe antiviral pills and immediately fill the prescription right there.

How to Find Free COVID-19 Medication (msn.com)

COVID-Related Loss of Smell: Could This Injection Be a Cure?

COVID-Related Loss of Smell: Could This Injection Be a Cure? (msn.com)

 

[sunday]

20 minutes ago, JWB said:

Vaccines are no match for long Covid. Treating it is science’s next great challenge.

Great, now "they" just discovered that there are other ways for treating an illness apart from vaccines...

[MiloMorai]

1 hour ago, sunday said:

Great, now "they" just discovered that there are other ways for treating an illness apart from vaccines...

Prescriptions issued at the sites may be for either Pfizer’s Paxlovid or Merck’s Lagevrio.

These treatments, which currently are FDA-approved for emergency use, are pills that “can help prevent severe illness and hospitalization when taken within five days of first COVID-19 symptoms,” according to an HHS fact sheet.

[sunday]

https://thecovidblog.com/2022/04/11/thomas-senzee-longtime-lgbt-journalist-mocks-the-non-vaccinated-with-the-regurgitated-faster-download-speeds-trope-dies-unexpectedly/

[JWB]

COVID vaccines are not meant to prevent all infections, experts say. Americans need to reset their expectations.

COVID vaccines are not meant to prevent all infections, experts say. Americans need to reset their expectations. (msn.com)

Covid booster shots are effective up to a point — here’s how future vaccines will work.

Covid booster shots are effective up to a point — here’s how future vaccines will work (msn.com)

Dozens of COVID Deaths Unreported in China's Shanghai Lockdown: Report.

Dozens of COVID Deaths Unreported in China's Shanghai Lockdown: Report (msn.com)

[Ivanhoe]

46 minutes ago, JWB said:

COVID vaccines are not meant to prevent all infections, experts say. Americans need to reset their expectations.

COVID vaccines are not meant to prevent all infections, experts say. Americans need to reset their expectations. (msn.com)

I'm so old, I can remember when failure to expect Zero Covid from widespread vaccination was a sign of stupidity and possibly racism.

Quote

Americans’ high expectations of the COVID-19 vaccine stem from initial clinical trials in 2020 by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, health experts say.

First Big Lie. Americans overall weren't scouring the technical pulication terrain looking for 1st principles reports on vaxx trials. They were listening (stupidly) to the talking haircuts on the boob toob, who were quoting the public health experts and gov't experts.

Quote

Scientists expected to see changes in the vaccines’ effectiveness when they were used by millions of Americans and given to populations that weren’t included in the study, such as pregnant people and those with immunocompromising conditions.

Ah, so we are finally admitting that vaxx shots may not provoke a usable improvement in inherent immunity, in people without an immune system. Only took 2 years.

Quote

“We were letting the data drive the conversation … because we really didn’t know anything about what the variant would change,” he said. “When the vaccine efficacy went down, we may not have done as good a job of explaining why and putting the blame on the virus as opposed to putting the blame on the vaccine.”

Actually, you are putting the blame on people who believed your BS.

A wise man once said, "You fucked up, you trusted us."

 

 

[sunday]

May I felt vindicated yet?

[Ivanhoe]

It was never science, it was compliance;

https://www.city-journal.org/the-failed-covid-policy-of-mask-mandates

 

[Ivanhoe]

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-rapid-reliable-vitamin-d.html
 

Quote

 

There was a need for a cost-effective and rapid test that assesses vitamin D status from a blood sample, he says.

Britz-McKibbin and his colleagues developed a rapid method to identify vitamin D deficiency in critically ill children, who would likely benefit from vitamin D supplementation. The method is detailed in a paper published in the Journal of Lipid Research.

"The immunoassay system we were using had certain constraints related to precision and accuracy," he says.
"We've developed a faster and more reliable method that is amenable to high throughput screening, unlike traditional methods."

 

 

Kudos, Canada (or at least McMaster U).

 

[JWB]

Moderna's combination COVID booster appears more protective against variants, company study finds.

Moderna's combination COVID booster appears more protective against variants, company study finds (msn.com)

[Harold Jones]

Glad that the great transportation unmasking has finally occurred here in the states. I think absent the judge's ruling the Biden admin would have kept extending it out of fear of the blowback from the left.  This way they get to blame a Trump appointed judge for it and move on to something else.

[DKTanker]

57 minutes ago, Harold Jones said:

Glad that the great transportation unmasking has finally occurred here in the states. I think absent the judge's ruling the Biden admin would have kept extending it out of fear of the blowback from the left.  This way they get to blame a Trump appointed judge for it and move on to something else.

Don't look now, DoJ is sending out trial balloons suggesting they might appeal the ruling.

[Skywalkre]

On 4/8/2022 at 12:20 PM, nitflegal said:

We had hundreds of thousands of businesses shuttered before bail outs were discussed.  Voluntarily. 

Voluntarily?  At least around here closures carried the force of law... and several businesses were forcefully closed down/fined/licenses revoked when they failed to comply.  In what areas in the US were closures predominantly voluntary?

On 4/8/2022 at 12:20 PM, nitflegal said:

Let's look at falsehoods.  We were told not to wear non-N95 masks (which tracks with both standard pandemic response and all of the damned research (again, I worked on some of those damned viral efficacy studies on surgical and cloth masks that the CDC had used as the underpinning of their recommendations)).  Then we were told they were highly effective against viruses (they are not, demonstrably not).  Then that they protect you and the people around you (they don't protect you in any statistically significant measurable way and it is barely breaching statistical significance for the people around you).  Then that they protected the people around you (see previous).  That cloth masks worked as well as surgical masks (they do not, again, tons of actual research data going back decades).  That surgical masks work on airlines (again, actual CDC research prior to this virus).  PHS/CDC/NIH/Etc never mind politicians said the vaccines prevented transmission and infection almost completely.  Not what the actual researchers said nor what the study data showed (again, broken record time: I ran some of those studies).  That is simply put a lie.

I'll defer to you on this one because of the work you've been doing all these years... but I can't help but wonder if part of this is you were so far in the weeds you were seeing more than what actually made it to the public.  I followed those officially publicized guidelines for the first year and don't recall this much shifting in what was recommended.

On 4/8/2022 at 12:20 PM, nitflegal said:

About how the vaccines work and their efficacy.  Not shading the truth, a flat out lie that the developers argued about until they were told to STFU.

Curious what you mean by this bit.  It seems clear at this point the vaccines were more than worthwhile given the work they did against the delta surge last year (and you seem to say as much a few posts back praising all the lives saved to Turmp and Merkle).  Also curious what you mean considering we've been getting a lot of BS along the likes of what sunday keeps posting that I haven't noticed you come down on.

On 4/8/2022 at 12:20 PM, nitflegal said:

Do you think we will see the same response on the next one?

As already mentioned... no... in large part because of our continuing polarization of everything in life.  So many folks were questioning decisions from the very start (just go back and look at this very thread for examples...).  The blame here doesn't entirely lie on public health officials... not by a long shot.

[Harold Jones]

2 hours ago, DKTanker said:

Don't look now, DoJ is sending out trial balloons suggesting they might appeal the ruling.

Since I'm flying home from Florida on Saturday, my selfish hope is that if they do challenge it that they wait till next Monday. 

[Adam_S]

Another study shows that Ivermectin is useless against covid.

https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/ivermectin-does-not-prevent-severe-covid-19-study

 

Meanwhile, many Ivermectin studies were unethical, flawed or fraudulent, the BMJ finds.

https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o917