COVID-19 (Wuhan Novel Coronavirus) Pandemic Master Thread

[Euclid]

https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1399436655313010697

(So many jokes)

[AsherO]

https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1399436655313010697

(So many jokes)

What about D614G? Is that a pre-alpha dev version?

[Kobe Bryant]

Nationally, nearly 150 million Americans are fully vaccinated to date, CDC data shows. That includes almost 56% of the U.S.' adult population, 77.2% of its seniors and 52.8% of all eligible residents age 12 and up.

[hvaces42]

Nationally, nearly 150 million Americans are fully vaccinated to date, CDC data shows. That includes almost 56% of the U.S.' adult population, 77.2% of its seniors and 52.8% of all eligible residents age 12 and up.

Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, dollars to donuts COVID is back in full force by Labor Day.

 

[Lurker]

Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, dollars to donuts COVID is back in full force by Labor Day.

What makes you think that? (Not disagreeing, just curious about the thought process.)

[hvaces42]

What makes you think that? (Not disagreeing, just curious about the thought process.)

In no particular order...
1. Teacher's Unions want to get paid without actually working.
2. The number of people who have been vaccinated and do not have antibodies.
3. Its so easy for Feds or even on the state level to cry "variant" and "positivity rate" to reinstitute mandates (read:control) after the summer of freedom. They will test it. Not a doubt.

[Lurker]

In no particular order...
1. Teacher's Unions want to get paid without actually working.
2. The number of people who have been vaccinated and do not have antibodies.
3. Its so easy for Feds or even on the state level to cry "variant" and "positivity rate" to reinstitute mandates (read:control) after the summer of freedom. They will test it. Not a doubt.

So when you say "Covid," you're not referring to the coronavirus; you're talking about a political phenomenon called "Covid."

Re your second point, do you have any links to any data on that?

[Euclid]

So when you say "Covid," you're not referring to the coronavirus; you're talking about a political phenomenon called "Covid."

Lol that you'd expect otherwise. He switched his tune a year ago.

[hvaces42]

So when you say "Covid," you're not referring to the coronavirus; you're talking about a political phenomenon called "Covid."

Re your second point, do you have any links to any data on that?

Yes and no. Are "positive cases" political or coronavirus? Is the "Positivity Rate" political or coronavirus?

No data other than anecdotal from diverse populations. When a Nurse in MSK gets the J&J and has zero antibodies within 60 days, that makes me wonder. Along with many other such cases that I have first hand knowledge of. When a world class hospital cant get their staff "vaccinated" what does that tell you?

[Lurker]

Yes and no. Are "positive cases" political or coronavirus? Is the "Positivity Rate" political or coronavirus?

No data other than anecdotal from diverse populations. When a Nurse in MSK gets the J&J and has zero antibodies within 60 days, that makes me wonder. Along with many other such cases that I have first hand knowledge of. When a world class hospital cant get their staff "vaccinated" what does that tell you?

Positive cases are just that: people testing positive for coronavirus. Positivity Rate is a metric which is supposed to help give us an idea of how prevalent the virus is in society. How each of those things is used and/or manipulated can be very political. If your guess is that "Covid is back in full force by Labor Day" because you think the virus will be prevalent to certain degree by that time, that's not political. If you think it will be back because politicians will be looking for opportunities to make something out of nothing, that's political.

FWIW, I don't think politicians will go too overboard with bringing "political Covid" back, because I think it loses them more political capital than they stand to gain, but nothing politicians do surprises me.

[S209]

Yes and no. Are "positive cases" political or coronavirus? Is the "Positivity Rate" political or coronavirus?

No data other than anecdotal from diverse populations. When a Nurse in MSK gets the J&J and has zero antibodies within 60 days, that makes me wonder. Along with many other such cases that I have first hand knowledge of. When a world class hospital cant get their staff "vaccinated" what does that tell you?

Positive cases and positivity rate are both facts, not political. Metrics can always be highlighted differently and potentially used for political gain but are not falsified in the US, anywhere.

I understand you are having a difficult time distinguishing fact from fiction but that doesn’t change anything. Remember your belief in “false positives”? Israel has been testing hundreds of thousands a day with less than 10 positive cases each day for weeks, where did all of those “false positives” go?

Vaccines do not produce antibodies to nucleocapsid proteins, which many current antibody tests check for.

[hvaces42]

Positive cases are just that: people testing positive for coronavirus. Positivity Rate is a metric which is supposed to help give us an idea of how prevalent the virus is in society. How each of those things is used and/or manipulated can be very political. If your guess is that "Covid is back in full force by Labor Day" because you think the virus will be prevalent to certain degree by that time, that's not political. If you think it will be back because politicians will be looking for opportunities to make something out of nothing, that's political.

FWIW, I don't think politicians will go too overboard with bringing "political Covid" back, because I think it loses them more political capital than they stand to gain, but nothing politicians do surprises me.

It will be back for real although that isnt the end of the world. Indian variant alone is enough to cause that. Will result in an overreaction by politicians.

The politicians will absolutely go overboard, especially those that have nothing to lose. In NYC we will have a lame duck mayor from tomorrow until the end of the year. He has no qualms about doing anything he wants. Our Governor has no issue doing the same.

[hvaces42]

Positive cases and positivity rate are both facts, not political. Metrics can always be highlighted differently and potentially used for political gain but are not falsified in the US, anywhere.

I understand you are having a difficult time distinguishing fact from fiction but that doesn’t change anything. Remember your belief in “false positives”? Israel has been testing hundreds of thousands a day with less than 10 positive cases each day for weeks, where did all of those “false positives” go?

Vaccines do not produce antibodies to nucleocapsid proteins, which many current antibody tests check for.

Here we go. This is why I left this place. I'm having difficulty with nothing. You have your agenda. I have none. 

What is the purpose of the vaccines? Why would a country like Israel want to see vaccines AND antibodies? I love how the goalposts just move whenever it doesnt fit an agenda.

[yelped]

You keep on jumping from issue to issue.

We all have a problem with politicians moving goalposts and making life difficult for no reason. We like to focus on the actual science here (unlike the politicians who claim they do, but don't).

[Dan]

What is the purpose of the vaccines? Why would a country like Israel want to see vaccines AND antibodies?

Because people have no qualms forging a vaccine card.

[avromie7]

I understand you are having a difficult time distinguishing fact from fiction but that doesn’t change anything. Remember your belief in “false positives”? Israel has been testing hundreds of thousands a day with less than 10 positive cases each day for weeks, where did all of those “false positives” go?

Is it possible the tests have improved over the past 18 months?

[Lurker]

It will be back for real although that isnt the end of the world. Indian variant alone is enough to cause that.

When you say it will be back, to what degree? Are we looking at 100k cases/day in the US? 1k deaths/day? Do you think the vaccines are ineffective against the Indian variant, or do you think we won't have enough people vaccinated?

The politicians will absolutely go overboard, especially those that have nothing to lose. In NYC we will have a lame duck mayor from tomorrow until the end of the year. He has no qualms about doing anything he wants. Our Governor has no issue doing the same.

I think incoming politicians have ways to manipulate lame ducks into doing their bidding. Everyone has things which can be leveraged. I understand the expectations for the worst, given the history, but I think the circumstances will be different, leading to different political plays.

What is the purpose of the vaccines? Why would a country like Israel want to see vaccines AND antibodies? I love how the goalposts just move whenever it doesnt fit an agenda.

What does Israel's political mess have to do with the purpose of vaccines?

If you want others to leave their agendas out of the discussion, you should consider how much you mix the science/facts and politics yourself...

[S209]

Is it possible the tests have improved over the past 18 months?

Gold standard PCR tests have been near perfect since April 2020 and have not improved at all AFAIK

[S209]

Here we go. This is why I left this place. I'm having difficulty with nothing. You have your agenda. I have none. 

I don’t have an agenda. Claiming I have an agenda but you don’t without any basis is sort of out of line but expected.

What is the purpose of the vaccines?

To protect against COVID-19. I don’t understand your question.

Why would a country like Israel want to see vaccines AND antibodies?

Israel is certainly being super cautious, but a possible reason would be because people are forging vaccine cards and there is no solid database to check against (because of the backlash against the US creating one). I believe people who have been vaccinated in Israel do *not* need to check for antibodies, because their information is confirmed in the database. If true, that completely undermines whatever point you are trying to make.

I love how the goalposts just move whenever it doesnt fit an agenda.

I haven’t moved any goalposts. Please point to a goalpost you feel has moved.

[Euclid]

https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1407393192773881859

more legroom I guess