CR: COVID-19 --Political Talk

[Longhorn_Fan68 33,869]

12 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Naturally derived immunity contributes to some extent to herd immunity. This is not controversial. 

sure, but the data seem to point to it being very short-term, much shorter than the vaccine. So people counting on it are only delaying the inevitable.

[mchookem 16,328]

5 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Last night CBS News had a piece on the Covid outbreak in Louisiana. They had a segment shot in Lafayette that showed ambulances lined up at the hospital and they said they often had to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours to unload their patients because there weren’t any beds. The EMT’s were saying to just take them and put them somewhere because they had other calls. Then they interviewed one female EMT who still refuses to get vaccinated. When asked why, she said, “Me and my family pray a lot.” She’s trusting God to protect her. She should be fired. Trust in God to find her a new job. 

i have an old friend who lives in Virginia, works for UVA. his son got admitted to LSU's engineering program, kid really liked the program and campus last year when they visited. 

family drove down last weekend to move him in. they'd received multiple formal communications from LSU on covid protocols - all students must be tested or vaccinated before arriving on campus, mask usage all indoors, no large gatherings, etc.

they got there and it was a total shitshow. nobody asked them for any proof of test, vaccine... he said probably barely 10% mask usage, kids packed indoors in all kinds of places, the RA telling everybody he wasn't going to be enforcing any rules... the first night there was a giant street party ON CAMPUS.

my friend wrote the president (as a fellow higher ed admin) and basically said 'dude wtf??' no response.

did i mention son is immunocompromised? they let him decide...he withdrew on Monday and they got the fuck out of there. 

they still have time to enroll in UVA or VT.

 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33,869]

ffs: 

 

 

[DDD Dad 14,335]

20 minutes ago, mchookem said:

i have an old friend who lives in Virginia, works for UVA. his son got admitted to LSU's engineering program, kid really liked the program and campus last year when they visited. 

family drove down last weekend to move him in. they'd received multiple formal communications from LSU on covid protocols - all students must be tested or vaccinated before arriving on campus, mask usage all indoors, no large gatherings, etc.

they got there and it was a total shitshow. nobody asked them for any proof of test, vaccine... he said probably barely 10% mask usage, kids packed indoors in all kinds of places, the RA telling everybody he wasn't going to be enforcing any rules... the first night there was a giant street party ON CAMPUS.

my friend wrote the president (as a fellow higher ed admin) and basically said 'dude wtf??' no response.

did i mention son is immunocompromised? they let him decide...he withdrew on Monday and they got the fuck out of there. 

they still have time to enroll in UVA or VT.

 

Why anyone would choose LSU over UVA is mind-bottling.

[jimmyjazz 45,903]

19 minutes ago, mchookem said:

i have an old friend who lives in Virginia, works for UVA. his son got admitted to LSU's engineering program, kid really liked the program and campus last year when they visited. 

<snip>

they still have time to enroll in UVA or VT (

 

If he can get into UVA or VT's engineering programs, it will be a blessing in disguise.  Major step up from LSU, especially so for VT.

[HenryJames 66,045]

 

[JimmyJames 12,271]

8 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

Why anyone would choose LSU over UVA is mind-bottling.

Maybe a scholarship so it was much cheaper? Only explanation I can come up with. Know a kid who chose SMU over UT but that’s because SMU was free for him due to a scholarship and they paid for his dorm too. 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33,869]

4 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

so if we can get a few more to quarantine for a couple weeks what can the Dems ram through while these shitheels sit on their hands?

Edited August 19, 2021 by Longhorn_Fan68

[Gap03 3,304]

13 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

[jimmyjazz 45,903]

10 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

Maybe a scholarship so it was much cheaper? Only explanation I can come up with. Know a kid who chose SMU over UT but that’s because SMU was free for him due to a scholarship and they paid for his dorm too. 

Well, in state tuition and fees at VT are ~ $13.8K, whereas out of state at LSU they're more than 2X as high at $28.6K, so it would have to be a pretty hefty scholarship, but I suppose it's possible.  

[Longhorn_Fan68 33,869]

No more Hattori Hanzō swords

 

[Hagbard Celine 10,854]

bbc:

Covid vaccines still effective against Delta variant

By Laura Foster

Senior health, science and environment reporter

Published

17 hours ago

image captionPeople who have had Covid-19 gain even more antibodies when fully vaccinated

Having two doses of Covid vaccine remains the best way to protect against the Delta variant, first identified in India and now dominant in the UK.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, though initially less effective, offers the same high protection as the Pfizer-BioNTech after four to five months, the largest study of its kind suggests.

But neither is as effective as it is against the Alpha variant, responsible for most UK infections last winter.

There is insufficient data for Moderna.

But researchers believe it "almost certainly at least as good as the others".

They analysed two and a half million tests results from 743,526 participants in the UK's Covid-19 household-infection survey - led by Oxford University and the Office for National Statistics.

'Very high'

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had 93% effectiveness against symptomatic infection two weeks after the second dose, compared with Oxford-AstraZeneca's 71%.

Over time, however, the Pfizer-BioNTech's effectiveness dropped while the Oxford-AstraZeneca's remained largely the same.

But there was no cause for alarm, Prof Sarah Walker, at the University of Oxford, said because "when you start very very high, you've got a long way to go".

"The World Health Organization set the bar at 50% and we're way above that," she said.

"Both of these vaccines are still doing very well against Delta."

Other key points from the research include:

• People who have had Covid-19 gain even more antibodies when fully vaccinated
• The time between first and second doses does not affect the vaccines' effectiveness
• Younger people gain more protection from vaccination than older

The study also echoes previous research showing fully vaccinated people who do become infected with the Delta variant have similar levels of the virus to those unvaccinated.

With the Alpha variant, in contrast, their viral loads were much lower.

''We don't yet know how much transmission can happen from people who get Covid-19 after being vaccinated," Prof Walker said.

"For example, they may have high levels of virus for shorter periods of time.

"They definitely have the potential to transmit as much.

"But the fact that they can have high levels of virus suggests that people who aren't yet vaccinated may not be as protected from the Delta variant as we hoped.

"This means it is essential for as many people as possible to get vaccinated - both in the UK and worldwide."

[Longhorn_Fan68 33,869]

siap

 

[Macanudo 12,976]

12 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Well, in state tuition and fees at VT are ~ $13.8K, whereas out of state at LSU they're more than 2X as high at $28.6K, so it would have to be a pretty hefty scholarship, but I suppose it's possible.  

A friend of mine who went to UT has a son who went to Colorado State.  Tuition for out of state is insane in Colorado.   But his son wanted to get out of the state and not do the UT thing.   

[Don Johnson 4,753]

42 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

 

28 minutes ago, Gap03 said:

 

[HenryJames 66,045]

Their governor is a fat fucking retard.

[Gap03 3,304]

6 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

 

If he was, in fact, vaccinated, my bad.  Odds are generally in your favor assuming that a politician from Mississippi would not be vaxx'd, but I probably should have done some checking.  

[OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2,073]

2 hours ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

He's dead, Jim.

kind of pathetic (in the way all things maga are pathetic) that in this dude's celebration of his life, the picture of him with his hero is featured and not his family or something.

 

kin of pathetic (in the way all things maga are pathetic) that people can literally be led to the grave by a guy and still treasure their one photo with him.

[jimmyjazz 45,903]

14 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

A friend of mine who went to UT has a son who went to Colorado State.  Tuition for out of state is insane in Colorado.   But his son wanted to get out of the state and not do the UT thing.   

Yeah, I've made it clear to my kids that full out of state tuition is not happening at most schools.  My daughter is entering her sophomore year at UT -- tuition is like $11K annual.  Why should I put the stress on our family to pay $50K at some lesser school?  I don't care what you "want", I want you to get a degree from the best school possible and when that school is in our backyard, that's what I'll commit to paying.  (OK, I'm paying for her west campus apartment, too, I'm not a complete asshole.)

[jimmyjazz 45,903]

3 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

Their governor is a fat fucking retard.

[JimmyJames 12,271]

2 minutes ago, OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys said:

kind of pathetic (in the way all things maga are pathetic) that in this dude's celebration of his life, the picture of him with his hero is featured and not his family or something.

 

kin of pathetic (in the way all things maga are pathetic) that people can literally be led to the grave by a guy and still treasure their one photo with him.

Yeah I noticed that to. Don’t put up a picture of your wife and kids. Put a picture up of the conman who helped you die. 

[4th&Five 41,525]

10 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Yeah, I've made it clear to my kids that full out of state tuition is not happening at most schools.  My daughter is entering her sophomore year at UT -- tuition is like $11K annual.  Why should I put the stress on our family to pay $50K at some lesser school?  I don't care what you "want", I want you to get a degree from the best school possible and when that school is in our backyard, that's what I'll commit to paying.  (OK, I'm paying for her west campus apartment, too, I'm not a complete asshole.)

That's my strategy...if they can get into UT.  

[Sawbonz 27,547]

 

2 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

sure, but the data seem to point to it being very short-term, much shorter than the vaccine. So people counting on it are only delaying the inevitable.

This isn’t accurate. Antibodies from infection + recovery wane in some people within a few months, but in others they are still present at 8+ months. Also, there is T cell mediated immunity conferred from infection and this is more difficult to account for with testing. The only way to know if one is better is to track reinfection rates versus breakthrough infections. To my knowledge only one study to date has done that, and it did not list the infection rates for each group, only the relative risk between the two, which is  meaningless if you don’t know the absolute infection rates

Edited August 19, 2021 by Sawbonz

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,100]

37 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

 

So, he encouraged vaccinations.  But is still in a party that has members of it that deny COVID and rail against vaccine mandates and mask mandates.  Still a case of FAAFO.

[DDD Dad 14,335]

Yeah, I've made it clear to my kids that full out of state tuition is not happening at most schools.  My daughter is entering her sophomore year at UT -- tuition is like $11K annual.  Why should I put the stress on our family to pay $50K at some lesser school?  I don't care what you "want", I want you to get a degree from the best school possible and when that school is in our backyard, that's what I'll commit to paying.  (OK, I'm paying for her west campus apartment, too, I'm not a complete asshole.)

Pics aren’t coming through

[mchookem 16,328]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

If he can get into UVA or VT's engineering programs, it will be a blessing in disguise.  Major step up from LSU, especially so for VT.

there were some other dynamics there...i.e. LSU offered a lot of $$, dad works at UVA, twin bro going to VT, trying to 'break away' i think...

anyway...i tried to make light and teased his dad (UT alum and also UT prof) a bit with an "SEC!SEC!SEC! what did you expect??" comment...he was, uh, not in the mood lol. 

[lmao 178]

Siap but this is nuts:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/11/nurse-in-germany-suspected-of-replacing-covid-vaccines-with-saline-solution

Authorities in northern Germany have appealed to thousands of people to get another shot of Covid vaccine after a police investigation found that a Red Cross nurse may have injected them with a saline solution.

The nurse is suspected of injecting salt solution into people’s arms instead of genuine doses at a vaccination centre in Friesland – a rural district near the North Sea coast – in the early spring.

I am totally shocked by this episode,” Sven Ambrosy, a local councillor, said on Facebook as local authorities issued the call on Tuesday to about 8,600 residents who may have been affected.

While saline solution is harmless, most people who got vaccinated in Germany in March and April when the suspected switch took place are elderly and at high risk of catching Covid.

Police investigator Peter Beer, speaking earlier at a news conference covered by German media, said that based on witness statements there was “a reasonable suspicion of danger”.

The motive of the nurse, who was not named, was not clear but she had aired sceptical views about vaccines in social media posts, police investigators said.

[Anastasis 23,469]

Me, waiting for my employer to announce mandatory vaccination so I can go read the yammer threads. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,100]

Stupid knows no borders..

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-medical-couple-resist-covid-19-jab-despite-threat-jobs-2021-08-18/

[jimmyjazz 45,903]

40 minutes ago, mchookem said:

there were some other dynamics there...i.e. LSU offered a lot of $$, dad works at UVA,

I did my undergrad at the same school where my Dad taught, although in a different department, but still within engineering.  Honestly, I thought it was gonna suck, but it turned out to be great.  We met up for coffee a lot, sometimes breakfast or lunch, and he was right there to help with problems for not only myself but some of my friends, as what he taught crossed over a lot of departments.  It doesn't *have* to be bad.  Anyway, not my battle.

[jimmyjazz 45,903]

1 hour ago, DDD Dad said:

Pics aren’t coming through

Really?  I messaged a ton of surlies with her onlyfans link, I thought you were on the list.  Oh, well, too late now.

[DDD Dad 14,335]

Just now, jimmyjazz said:

Really?  I messaged a ton of surlies with her onlyfans link, I thought you were on the list.  Oh, well, too late now.

[Longhorn_Fan68 33,869]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I zoomed past this image and came back to it because I thought what I saw was a blurry tit ala satellite tv back in the day. boy was I disappoint - in both cases

Edited August 19, 2021 by Longhorn_Fan68

[RDCanecutter 26,413]

1 hour ago, lmao said:

Siap but this is nuts:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/11/nurse-in-germany-suspected-of-replacing-covid-vaccines-with-saline-solution

Authorities in northern Germany have appealed to thousands of people to get another shot of Covid vaccine after a police investigation found that a Red Cross nurse may have injected them with a saline solution.

The nurse is suspected of injecting salt solution into people’s arms instead of genuine doses at a vaccination centre in Friesland – a rural district near the North Sea coast – in the early spring.

I am totally shocked by this episode,” Sven Ambrosy, a local councillor, said on Facebook as local authorities issued the call on Tuesday to about 8,600 residents who may have been affected.

While saline solution is harmless, most people who got vaccinated in Germany in March and April when the suspected switch took place are elderly and at high risk of catching Covid.

Police investigator Peter Beer, speaking earlier at a news conference covered by German media, said that based on witness statements there was “a reasonable suspicion of danger”.

The motive of the nurse, who was not named, was not clear but she had aired sceptical views about vaccines in social media posts, police investigators said.

By German Medical People Gone Bad standards, this nurse is pretty mild.

[HenryJames 66,045]

[Pods 7,552]

1 hour ago, Sawbonz said:

 

This isn’t accurate. Antibodies from infection + recovery wane in some people within a few months, but in others they are still present at 8+ months. Also, there is T cell mediated immunity conferred from infection and this is more difficult to account for with testing. The only way to know if one is better is to track reinfection rates versus breakthrough infections. To my knowledge only one study to date has done that, and it did not list the infection rates for each group, only the relative risk between the two, which is  meaningless if you don’t know the absolute infection rates

 

Oxford pre-print just came out with that data for the UK comparing Alpha and Delta. The data runs through August 1. 

2-dose Pfizer provides superior protection to a recovered natural infection for either Alpha, or Delta. 

Quote

There was no evidence that the effectiveness of two ChAdOx1 vaccinations ≥ 14 days previously in preventing new PCR-positives differed from the protection afforded by previous natural infection without vaccination (heterogeneity p=0.33), whereas two BNT162b2 vaccinations afforded greater protection (p=0.04).

 

https://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk/files/coronavirus/covid-19-infection-survey/finalfinalcombinedve20210816.pdf

 

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,233]

3 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

Good time to announce the "Vaccinated Hospital Fast Pass" program. You're vaccinated and need an ICU bed you jump to the front of the unvaccinated line.

[Mrs Whiggins 13,050]

4 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

I hope @Bama Chick is holding the line and hanging in there. I remember her telling about that guy in the convenience store chastising about her wearing a mask and I wonder if he's even alive. Just crushing to see that every day.

[Longhorn_Fan68 33,869]

7 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Good time to announce the "Vaccinated Hospital Fast Pass" program. You're vaccinated and need an ICU bed you jump to the front of the unvaccinated line.

yeah, it's well past time for higher order triage here. I get not turning away covid patients because hippocratic oath and all that, but to turn away sick/hurt vaccinated people bc the beds are full of anti-vax morons is no way to run a society. sorry, if at this point you aren't vaxed and have to be hospitalized, your ass sits in the hallway until a room opens up for you, not the other way around

[Homercles 10,205]

23 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

[RDCanecutter 26,413]

First day at Alabama Juco remarkably undramatic. 9/10s of students appear to know how to wear masks properly, remainder responded with no fuss to my dazzling Napoleonic personal charisma, and covered their noses.

Cop on security getting everybody to stop in front of temperature checks was unmasked. I asked him why. "Police officers do not require masks." I let that slide. I imagine he could still voluntarily wear one and show some damn leadership-by-example, but on the other hand he was awake unlike one poor diabetic guy they used to have.

Office staff appear to have established a Magical Zone through warding spells where they sit unmasked in their cubicles and can come to no harm. However, when they venture into the hall, they religiously mask up. I have no reason to go into the office area, but maybe I should hide in there since it is plague-proof.

The Have-Class-Outside-with-Social-Distance-and-Masks-Optional plan proved popular today, with the understanding that we mask up like mummy bandidos whenever we have to be inside.

So far, about 5% of my students are in quarantine. I still think it will blow up at some point within a month and we'll be back on Zoom, but I'd be happy to be surprised.

[4th&Five 41,525]

 

[Homercles 10,205]

2 hours ago, Sawbonz said:

 

This isn’t accurate. Antibodies from infection + recovery wane in some people within a few months, but in others they are still present at 8+ months. Also, there is T cell mediated immunity conferred from infection and this is more difficult to account for with testing. The only way to know if one is better is to track reinfection rates versus breakthrough infections. To my knowledge only one study to date has done that, and it did not list the infection rates for each group, only the relative risk between the two, which is  meaningless if you don’t know the absolute infection rates

The problem isn’t what fozz was hammering on in regards to acquired antibodies.  The problem is the fuck fuck clown has built up a chronic reputation for disingenuous fuck fuck bullshit here and therefore is bestowed ‘just asking fuck fuck questions’ status, and thus intrinsically implied his inquiries are without genuine merit.  
 

Of course prior illness is contributory towards herd immunity, but fuck fuck status means there’s an understanding it’s really about avoiding vaccination. It’s what fuck fucks do. 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Homercles
Fuck fuck autocorrect

[cactusflinthead 27,598]

 

[DDD Dad 14,335]

1 minute ago, cactusflinthead said:

 

Where ever would he have gotten that idea I wonder?

[cactusflinthead 27,598]

Well, how about that?

 

[RDCanecutter 26,413]

1 minute ago, cactusflinthead said:

Well, how about that?

 

The only way to ensure that a person of Scots-Irish culture will do something, is to order him not to do it.

[SydneyCarton 48,081]

5 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Catch me up on the booster protocol . . . will anyone be eligible in September, or will it be limited to "immune compromised" individuals?  Will proof of prior vaccine be required, and if so, will they force an 8 month wait from shot #2 until a booster is administered?  I'm early April, and I'm not interested in waiting until December for #3.

Or you can just make an appointment or walk into a place, say you haven't been vaccinated, request Phizer or Moderna, and get a shot. 

By all accounts of doctors I spoke with the "booster" would be the same dosage you received in the first two shots. 

[OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2,073]

7 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Well, how about that?

 

TEA said it was always the plan for TEA to not go after anyone.  You’ll face mean tweets from the governor or whatever but unless Paxton or whoever takes interest in you personally it was just going to be a lot of tut tutting.  

[Brisketexan 105,097]

Also, it seems that the unvaxxed are going to start paying monetarily as well: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/08/19/the-cost-of-being-unvaccinated-just-went-up---most-insurers-are-passing-costs-back-to-patients-as-covid-hospitalizations-soar/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie&fbclid=IwAR0YMM6h_mMF4mFGIhtUWWD8zi7Y7r43BdoP-xpSOeSy4uBYYiOPMqX3WpU&sh=600d8fefbd9a

Summary: 

Quote

With highly effective coronavirus vaccines available and hospital admissions soaring, many Covid-19 patients are facing bigger bills as most insurance companies have ended waivers on out-of-pocket costs that they introduced earlier in the pandemic, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a cost that will be primarily borne by the unvaccinated people more likely to require hospital treatment. 

Earlier in the pandemic, the vast majority of private health insurers voluntarily waived out-of-pocket costs for Covid-19 treatment, meaning some 88% of people with insurance coverage would have paid nothing if hospitalized.  

With no federal mandate requiring insurers to waive these costs, few regulations requiring them to do so at the state level and the wide availability of effective vaccines, the majority have now passed these costs back to patients, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation.     

........

Almost half of the insurers studied had terminated waivers by April, roughly the time all adults in the country became eligible for a vaccine, and the majority of those still eating the costs—nearly a quarter of the the insurers studied—intend to stop by the end of the year. 

Of the remainder, two plans (around 2% of the total) have waivers set to expire by March 2022 and just five (around 5%) do not specify when waivers will expire. 

So, the TLDR version: 1) it was the case for a good while that insurers waived your out-of-pocket costs for COVID treatment (copays, etc.); 2) once the option of effective vaccines became available, they started phasing out those waivers; and 3) being that unvaxxed are almost the entirety of the group needing hospitalization and critical care, they are paying an extra cost (the formerly waived charges) for their idiocy.

I'm good with that.