The Vaccine Thread

[rwsaunders]

That's just a load of BS. Might as well hire the hare-brained kids from Philly for a fresh perspective while they are at it.

Btw, what was the overall review of the work of Dr. Levine? Did she do an adequate job to deserve the appointment?

Like many administrators, played it day by day during the initial stages on the pandemic and throughout her tenure since, there is not much to praise in terms of testing or vaccinating...PA currently ranks 46/50 in percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered. Unanswered questions regarding her role in allowing a central PA car show to carry on this Summer while other outdoor shows were prohibited...a slew of no comments at a press conference. Also questioned about her decision to allow people who had been hospitalized with COVID to return to, or enter long term care facilities, while pulling her Mother from a personal care facility shortly after that mandate was given. Approximately 12,000 of PA’s 21,000 COVID deaths have involved residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

[echappist]

Like many administrators, played it day by day during the initial stages on the pandemic and throughout her tenure since, there is not much to praise in terms of testing or vaccinating...PA currently ranks 46/50 in percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered. Unanswered questions regarding her role in allowing a central PA car show to carry on this Summer while other outdoor shows were prohibited...a slew of no comments at a press conference. Also questioned about her decision to allow people who had been hospitalized with COVID to return to, or enter long term care facilities, while pulling her Mother from a personal care facility shortly after that mandate was given. Approximately 12,000 of PA’s 21,000 COVID deaths have involved residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

Yikes. And she now gets a promotion to the federal levels.

Also, re-reading my post, I should have clarified that the BS remarks was directed at the PA government. Really inconceivable that they can't dredge up someone with a public health or epidemiology background and have that person be the new lead.

[rwsaunders]

Yikes. And she now gets a promotion to the federal levels.

Also, re-reading my post, I should have clarified that the BS remarks was directed at the PA government. Really inconceivable that they can't dredge up someone with a public health or epidemiology background and have that person be the new lead.

Roger that.

[zachateseverything]

Yikes. And she now gets a promotion to the federal levels.

Also, re-reading my post, I should have clarified that the BS remarks was directed at the PA government. Really inconceivable that they can't dredge up someone with a public health or epidemiology background and have that person be the new lead.

eh, it's a bit of a misrepresentation of what the policy was. The COVID patients returning to the long term care facilities were supposed to be sequestered into other buildings or floors. A lot of people are talking like they were allowed to freely mix with the rest of the population.

[rwsaunders]

The COVID patients returning to the long term care facilities were supposed to be sequestered into other buildings or floors.

My neighbor manages a consortium of facilities with almost 7,000 residents and she noted that one needs to follow the timing of the State Health Department's mandate and the curtailment of in-person/on-site inspections...the spike in PA personal care facilities' deaths follows shortly thereafter, which in early Spring of 2020, was 70% of the COVID deaths in PA...now it's hovering around 57%. With no inspections and both a 2016 and 2019 state audit expressing concern about the low ratio of caregivers, who the hell knows what's going on and Levine is quoted expressing her concerns, that one of the key reasons for the mandate was to address the cost of hospitals caring for these folks and not having room for other patients.

On a related note, after going to a site which isn't operated by either the Feds, State or our County, we were able to schedule my Mother-in-Law for her first jab on 19 February at a Rite-Aid...it only took about 3 hours of online persistence...unreal. See link below if there is a store near you and if they have appointments.

https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/cov...nisXnlN3nQ4rHk

[htwoopup]

On a related note, after going to a site which isn't operated by either the Feds, State or our County, we were able to schedule my Mother-in-Law for her first jab on 19 February at a Rite-Aid...it only took about 3 hours of online persistence...unreal. See link below if there is a store near you and if they have appointments.

https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/cov...nisXnlN3nQ4rHk

For NYC folks, there is a site built by volunteers that polls other sites automatically. There are a few that inevitably need to be checked manually but it is then easy to click on those 3-4 instead of going through the process of clicking through 50-60. This is how I was able to find and move up from March 18 in Plattsburgh to Feb 16 in White Plains. Just check it reasonably frequently...https://nycvaccinelist.com

[j44ke]

New York.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/n...ials-quit.html

[bironi]

New York.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/n...ials-quit.html

Interesting read.
Cuomo definitely is polarizing.
Seems a bit too autocratic to my distanced eyes and ears.

[Too Tall]

Check him for hair dye.

Ooooooooo

The man is just a little tiny bit of a control freak. Yah think?

[j44ke]

Interesting read.
Cuomo definitely is polarizing.
Seems a bit too autocratic to my distanced eyes and ears.

Check him for hair dye.

Ooooooooo

The man is just a little tiny bit of a control freak. Yah think?

All your base are belong to us.

[bironi]

Can I vote twice in the survey, just like so many of us did in the election?
Please?
I'll buy a V-salon cap at any price.
Throw in a vial of Moderna and I'll pay Elon's price.

[Todd Amunrud]

75% of our household is now vaccinated (wife, daughter, me). I'm thinking(hoping) this summer we'll have an option for kids 12 and up. Then we're full on "done"(additional boosts needed, I don't know). My parents are also done. My dad through the VA and my mom through our community hospital.

[HorsCat]

Shot no. 2 (Moderna) is in the books. I received it at around 1400 this past Friday. Immediate reaction - swelling - at injection site. I felt off beginning around 2000. Slept fitfully until around 0600. Woke up tired and generally ok and figured I was well enough to get 20 in a little later in the day. By 0730 I was back in bed, extremely tired and achy. Mild chills as well. Didn’t get out of bed until around 2p. Felt fine by 1800 and 100% upon waking this am. Grateful to have received both shots.

[Too Tall]

Shot no. 2 (Moderna) is in the books. I received it at around 1400 this past Friday. Immediate reaction - swelling - at injection site. I felt off beginning around 2000. Slept fitfully until around 0600. Woke up tired and generally ok and figured I was well enough to get 20 in a little later in the day. By 0730 I was back in bed, extremely tired and achy. Mild chills as well. Didn’t get out of bed until around 2p. Felt fine by 1800 and 100% upon waking this am. Grateful to have received both shots.

Right on. Great to hear folks getting the jab.

[j44ke]

Not great news. I am thinking now that this may end up being a two vaccine year. One round in the first two quarters and then another round some time in the fall/early winter to cover variants. Especially now that South Africa is saying the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn't work well against the South African strain, and other articles are saying that the British-detected variant is already showing signs of further mutation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...fe5_story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02...zeneca-vaccine

[Too Tall]

Not great news. I am thinking now that this may end up being a two vaccine year. One round in the first two quarters and then another round some time in the fall/early winter to cover variants. Especially now that South Africa is saying the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn't work well against the South African strain, and other articles are saying that the British-detected variant is already showing signs of further mutation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...fe5_story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02...zeneca-vaccine

Put a pin in this. IIRC, please correct me, the Astra Zeneca vacc. is 100% effective preventing severe disease and death however less effective than hoped against moderate to mild onset.

[vertical_doug]

Not great news. I am thinking now that this may end up being a two vaccine year. One round in the first two quarters and then another round some time in the fall/early winter to cover variants. Especially now that South Africa is saying the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn't work well against the South African strain, and other articles are saying that the British-detected variant is already showing signs of further mutation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...fe5_story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02...zeneca-vaccine

I would not worry about this too much. The S1 Protein cannot change that much because it must maintain the ability to bind to the ACE2 receptor in the human body. To some extent, the South African variant is just a little lucky. If Moderna and Pfizer have the technology dialed the way they claim, creating a modified vaccine with the new variant RNA strand is totally doable. You will just need the booster.

More importantly, mutations are a by-product of replication. Since infection and replication is high globally, the number of mutations is highest now. As more vaccinations and natural immunity increases, you will see less mutations since less virus. That is one of the reasons the need to vaccinate like crazy now and why the WHO is saying to ignore the developing world is a mistake. The dreaded wave 2 type function gain of the spanish flu is what is most feared. Best way to prevent that, is up vaccinations now asap.


Ironically, after you vaccinate health care workers and other first responders, you should probably vaccinate backwards, youngest and most active first since they are the great incubators. You can just up medicare and SSN payments to the older citizens needing to shelter in place longer.

Globally, there are at least 10,000 different strains of Covid-19 genome. 6,000 of these differ in the ORF1ab gene which is the protein which helps transcribe and replicate the virus. This is what remisdivir and other anti-virals attack.

S1 spike is the second most common mutation.

[j44ke]

Put a pin in this. IIRC, please correct me, the Astra Zeneca vacc. is 100% effective preventing severe disease and death however less effective than hoped against moderate to mild onset.

Yes, that's right. Which suggests that there should probably be an age-division on who gets the AstraZeneca based on typical case severity, otherwise you'll have the group most likely to infect others (younger people) getting a vaccine that is least likely to reduce spread of infection.

But mostly that we are now looking at the continued logistical challenge of rolling out initial vaccines and then boosters in the latter part of this year and beyond. We're still running PPE shortages! Just seems like this unending string of "Oh we think there's a new variant but don't worry it doesn't seem to be any different oh wait a minute it is more infectious but definitely not more severe that the original version and besides the vaccines protect against it just like the original version oh actually this variant is more contagious and tends to be more severe especially since it overwhelms hospitals and oh wait no actually the vaccines don't really work as well against this variant but only in mild and medium cases so at least we are lowering death rates and these other vaccines are better at preventing mild and medium oh wait...."

Totally get the science here and how difficult this is, but I have not seen much that makes me more than merely realistic about the chances things are anything like normal for a couple years. Seems like there should be an awful lot more focus on treatment, PPE supplies and distribution. The quotidian aspects of dealing with this while waiting for the immunological science to develop. Britain confirmed they expected annual vaccination programs akin to seasonal flu vaccines with boosters later in the year - the only difference is the potentially global scale of the booster and any annual vaccine. But on the bright side, I guess we'll get good at it with all this practice?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...PMQRBDZQY7U5RY

Not a lament or a rant or whatever, just trying to think realistically.

[vertical_doug]

Look at the brightside, Trump's not president anymore....

See things do get better.

[Tom]

My sister in law (and brother) are RNA scientists and she's been tracking the news and offering her interpretations which has been kind of interesting. She says Moderna's ability to produce vaccine outstrips their ability to fill vials so they've asked to put 15 doses to a vial instead of 10. I think one of the priorities from the government side ought to be to get them and Pfizer all the tooling they need to ship volumes fast because apparently they can make the stuff apace, which makes sense because as my brother says "It's just a polymer."