Coronavirus 6: The Plague of Delta

[Coconut Flan]

Continued from here:

Do we need to continue masking?  Is Delta going to get out of hand? Will we get boosters before everyone is vaccinated from round one?  

What's next from the mutations?

[Black Aliss]

51 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

Continued from here:

What's next from the mutations?

This one is scary. I've read there's a variant on the rise in Peru, called the lambda varient (apparently they skipped over a few Greek letters, or variants epsilon through kappa were unremarkable) and it makes delta look like a case of the sniffles, both in severity and vaccine-resistance.

I'm going to scuttle back to the memes thread before I start freaking out.

[adidas]

I was/am concerned about delta, but I am very worried about lambda, I saw in the news that it has been detected here.

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/global/covid19-uk-strain-more-transmissible-than-delta-hits-uk/news-story/4680c0a91a079cc00143cfdddddb20ba

[Smee]

Sydney lockdown extended for a week and nobody is surprised. If the whole city is meant to be locked down and contact tracing is supposedly first-rate, WHY out of today’s 24 cases were only 7 in isolation for all their infectious period? Further lockdowns aren’t going to stop the spread if people don’t isolate when they’re supposed to.

Also, the chaser are on the money again with this:

An expensive boys private school in Sydney arranged with NSW health to take 160 year 12 students to get vaccinated with Pfizer, while the strollout and lack of supply means that many others at higher risk aren’t able to get their vax yet. The spin is that some of the boys were eligible due to being First Nations and because they are boarders at the school the risk of spread is higher. But a quick check of the demographics of the school shows just 4% of students are Indigenous, and it’s not exactly easy to social distance in under-resourced public schools either. Teachers, meanwhile, are no higher up the list than car salespeople in terms of vaccination priority, and in every lockdown schools are open for the children of essential workers.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Smee

[47of74]

Yeah it's time to start mandating vaccines and for those not liking it to pound sand.

Quote

It is time to impose vaccine mandates and passports. The Covid-19 vaccines continue to perform extraordinarily well, but the rate of infection is worsening in unvaccinated populations. The Delta variant is offering a sobering reminder that the pandemic has faded in much of the country but certainly not ended.

Both political parties have made the mistake of framing vaccines within the tradition of individualism. Even President Joe Biden, who has demonstrated his comfort with a muscular role for government, keeps appealing to individuals to make the right and patriotic choice when it comes to receiving their jabs.

It's not enough. Easy, accessible and attractive are important; nobody should face barriers toward receiving vaccines. But citizens must also not see this as an optional inoculation.

Biden and other political leaders need to start thinking about the good of the collective and not just the rights of the individual. Doing so is not some sort of move toward socialism, as conservative critics inevitably argue. Thinking of the common good is as American as apple pie.

I don't want to hear about people's bullshit excuses either about how they don't feel comfortable taking it, it's experimental, and so on.  Unless one has a real medical reason for not taking it get the fucking jab already so we can put this all behind us.  Jesus Fucking Christ, polio would still be a thing here in the US if not for the vaccine and the people taking the goddamn thing.

[NotQuiteMotY]

On 7/6/2021 at 3:10 PM, Black Aliss said:

This one is scary. I've read there's a variant on the rise in Peru, called the lambda varient (apparently they skipped over a few Greek letters, or variants epsilon through kappa were unremarkable) and it makes delta look like a case of the sniffles, both in severity and vaccine-resistance.

I'm going to scuttle back to the memes thread before I start freaking out.

That is... extremely frightening. Especially because, while I'm vaccinated, I've got little kids who can't be, and there's a chance my immune system may be not up to snuff the next several months.

[clueliss]

 

[Black Aliss]

2 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Yeah it's time to start mandating vaccines and for those not liking it to pound sand.

I don't want to hear about people's bullshit excuses either about how they don't feel comfortable taking it, it's experimental, and so on.  Unless one has a real medical reason for not taking it get the fucking jab already so we can put this all behind us.  Jesus Fucking Christ, polio would still be a thing here in the US if not for the vaccine and the people taking the goddamn thing.

Preach. Yahoo news ran a story about the Houston nurses suing to get their jobs back and the gist of it was they had the right to make their own health decisions. Yes, yes, they do and that is exactly what they can do now that they're no longer employed and risking the lives of their patients. Because other people also have the right to make their own health decisions. You'd think an educated person would finally be aware that mRNA vaccines have been in research for decades. This was not something that was rushed out. Researchers had the vaccines within days of knowing the genetic footprint. All this time was spent in clinical trials to prove the vaccines are safe.

[clueliss]

Meanwhile in Missouri:

 

[church_of_dog]

From last thread, @Black Aliss quoting Sharon Astyk:

I was on a couple of discussion boards with Sharon back in the day.  I consider her trustworthy because she understands statistics and citing sources, and is highly ethical.  

I also happen to trust her perspectives on likely futures, even if she is a bit of a doomer (personally I'd rather overprepare, to a reasonable extent, than be unpleasantly surprised).

Can you link me to where you found her writing?  I thought she dropped off the internet when she began taking in foster children in large sibling groups.

Thanks!

[adidas]

Rant ahead.

Despite lockdown, Sydney’s daily numbers are increasing. It’s an absolute mess. Gladys (NSW Premier) waited too long to issue ‘stay at home orders’ (she has criticised other states for their lockdowns and wanted to save face, so she avoided using the word ‘lockdown’ until the last minute). Then the lockdown was way too lax. It’s a very, VERY soft lockdown. For every day Gladys delays a hard lockdown, estimates are that Sydney will be locked up for an extra week. 

It was meant to end today but has been officially extended for another week. Some very questionable (imo racist) things are happening. As of this morning, extra police are going to the area where numbers are surging. This has never happened in the white, affluent areas like Avalon or Bondi (coincidentally - where people are more likely to vote for Gladys). But as soon as numbers increase in a multicultural, lower socioeconomic area (where Gladys is not the top political choice) … the police are sent to enforce the rules ?

Add to this, Dr Kerry Chant (Chief Health Officer) declared that this outbreak is a ‘wake up call’ for young people. Yikes. She is talking about the same young people who are desperately begging for the vaccine but can’t get it because they are not eligible due to their age. They can’t do a thing about it - they are powerless. And statistically, in Australia more younger people are pro-vax, it’s the older population who demographically are vaccine hesitant. They are waiting for Pfizer or Moderna to be accessible to them instead of Astra Zeneca.

Ugh it’s all just a huge mess. 

[adidas]

ScoMo has announced that by July 19, we will be having 1 million Pfizer doses delivered per week. He admitted that things have been slow (understatement) but it will change now. Colour me surprised and very happy. 

[adidas]

Another increase in numbers today in Sydney, so tighter regulations from 5pm tonight. This is what should have been brought in two weeks ago! 

 

[Black Aliss]

3 hours ago, church_of_dog said:

From last thread, @Black Aliss quoting Sharon Astyk:

I was on a couple of discussion boards with Sharon back in the day.  I consider her trustworthy because she understands statistics and citing sources, and is highly ethical.  

I also happen to trust her perspectives on likely futures, even if she is a bit of a doomer (personally I'd rather overprepare, to a reasonable extent, than be unpleasantly surprised).

Can you link me to where you found her writing?  I thought she dropped off the internet when she began taking in foster children in large sibling groups.

Thanks!

It's on her Facebook page. She's very busy there. https://www.facebook.com/sharon.astyk

[Ozlsn]

5 hours ago, adidas said:

Some very questionable (imo racist) things are happening. As of this morning, extra police are going to the area where numbers are surging. This has never happened in the white, affluent areas like Avalon or Bondi (coincidentally - where people are more likely to vote for Gladys). But as soon as numbers increase in a multicultural, lower socioeconomic area (where Gladys is not the top political choice) … the police are sent to enforce the rules

There is a real issue with very poor communication - there has been no official definition of what essential reasons to leave the house are, so if the police disagree with your reason you're screwed. We had similar things here in terms of overpolicing of low SES areas compared to mid- high- SES areas to enforce regulations, and I also suspect that racism was one of the driving factors, particularly in certain individuals. 

There have also been a lot of inconsistencies e.g. you can only travel within 10km for exercise but can go further for shopping. The hard lockdown here was a pain to get through but I will say the messaging was very clear and consistent.

3 hours ago, adidas said:

ScoMo has announced that by July 19, we will be having 1 million Pfizer doses delivered per week. He admitted that things have been slow (understatement) but it will change now. Colour me surprised and very happy. 

He lives! Did he happen to mention where he's been the last fortnight? And also do we have any evidence that this will actually happen, because given the track record... I'm possibly over-cynical. But at least we can finish vaccinating the private school students if it's true. Or, you know, their teachers, the aged care workers, the cashiers, the small business owners etc. /cynic

5 hours ago, adidas said:

For every day Gladys delays a hard lockdown, estimates are that Sydney will be locked up for an extra week. 

I really hope the circuit breaks soon.

[Ozlsn]

Hm. Pfizer have released a statement saying that the number of vaccines they are contracted to deliver to Australia has not changed. Nothing I can see anywhere about the timing of delivery having changed, although that is possible.

[adidas]

Oh my gosh, you would think that he would know he’d be found out if he is spinning tales! It will be so interesting to see how this goes down. 

[Smee]

I am unsurprised. By any of it. Cases rising, restrictions FINALLY tightening, Gladys and Scotty passing the buck to each other, Scummo lying about vaccines, the completely racist and classist approach to who has to follow the rules and who doesn’t. We have seen for years with climate change that the powerful few are happy to look after their mates and let the disadvantaged die, why would covid be any different? The love of money is a root to all kinds of evil, indeed.

[Ozlsn]

2 hours ago, Smee said:

I am unsurprised. By any of it. Cases rising, restrictions FINALLY tightening, Gladys and Scotty passing the buck to each other, Scummo lying about vaccines, the completely racist and classist approach to who has to follow the rules and who doesn’t. We have seen for years with climate change that the powerful few are happy to look after their mates and let the disadvantaged die, why would covid be any different? The love of money is a root to all kinds of evil, indeed.

I have to say that Biden's election has at least highlighted how utterly mediocre our Federal govt is. ScoMo looked good compared to Trump - but let's face it, anyone would. I am going to be interested to find out who else has been vaccinated ahead of the vulnerable groups - besides the private school students, the Olympic team, almost certainly certain politicians, business leaders etc. etc.

As to the sudden enthusiasm for law enforcement - if they'd done that in the Eastern suburbs three weeks ago they might have slowed spread and it would have been a much better revenue raiser.  From a Victorian perspective it has been frustrating as he'll watching the exact same mistakes being made one year later "because we have better vaccines and public health measures now". Yes,and a virus strain that's four times more infectious, and a lot more complacency. Sigh.

[bea]

I have done an illegal thing and lied to the state and I’m not even sorry.
Younger is 11 and T1 diabetic, like her 14yo sister. She turns 12 at at the end of August.
However, I told the state of Illinois that she turned 12 at the end of June and got her vaccinated.
Her physiology isn’t going to change significantly in eight weeks. The Delta variant scares me, and she needs to be vaccinated before school starts.

[Smee]

Far out. Of Sydney’s current outbreak, almost half those in hospital are under 55, with 15% under 35. Our under 35s can’t get vaccinated yet. 

[Ozlsn]

Just got second vaccine dose, much quicker and straightforward than first dose. Also managed to get a booking (slightly) closer to home, so am waiting for 15 minutes and looking at these lovely architectural things.

Spoiler

 Last time I was here was for a craft market, and I have missed this building!

@Smee I saw the figures this morning, and I hope this prompts some better roll out across age groups. It is noticeably quieter here today - I have no idea how much of that is supply, how much is people having gotten one and waiting for their second appt or what. I hope it's not people staying away, sigh. It would be good if they started actively getting it to 18+ as soon as possible.

Hoping that any side effects are mild (or if not that I can bail on work early and sleep all day). 

[adidas]

Hoping all goes smoothly @Ozlsn 

I’m devastated about today’s numbers in Sydney. My family are finding it tough and I don’t think it’s going to end any time soon. 

[adidas]

On 7/9/2021 at 10:18 PM, bea said:

I have done an illegal thing and lied to the state and I’m not even sorry.
Younger is 11 and T1 diabetic, like her 14yo sister. She turns 12 at at the end of August.
However, I told the state of Illinois that she turned 12 at the end of June and got her vaccinated.
Her physiology isn’t going to change significantly in eight weeks. The Delta variant scares me, and she needs to be vaccinated before school starts.

This article in our news goes through what is happening here in Australia re  queue jumping. I have no problem with it:

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/australia/covid-vaccine-queue-jumpers-doing-australia-a-favour-says-health-expert/news-story/449a5e54315663a3fa55af1ce4d2084e

I know people who are showing up to my local vaccine hub around an hour before closing time and asking if there are any spare vaccines. They can’t be refrozen, and if they’re not used they will be thrown in the bin. I would much rather see someone be vaccinated than see a dose be wasted. So if they have spare doses, exceeding the number of people booked in during the next hour, the nurses are happily vaccinating ineligible people. 

This is what health ethics expert at the Sydney School of Public Health, Diego S. Silva, wrote in a piece for The Conversation:

“Unless people who are eligible and want to receive the Pfizer vaccine are being denied access — and I haven’t heard this is happening, at least not because of queue jumping — then the default should be to vaccinate as many Australians as possible, as quickly as possible.

“We know individuals won’t be as safe as they could be until a large proportion of the population is vaccinated. We also know our vaccine rollout is well behind schedule.

“So if anything, we should be thanking younger Australians for doing their part to accelerate the Covid-19 vaccination rates in this country.”

https://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/confessions-of-a-covid-vaccination-queue-jumper-who-wont-say-sorry/news-story/fa34d23ef0497cad8aa5efb358965b29

 

[Coconut Flan]

It was a thing in the US, too.  Most places here vaccinated the "waiters" in age order.  It's much better than letting doses go to waste.