Coronavirus 6: The Plague of Delta

[Smash!]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:26 PM, Cartmann99 said:

Where the hell does he think his treatment came from? Keebler elves? Doomsday preppers?

 

Maybe he has shares/stocks of one of the monoclonal antibody producing company?

[Smee]

13 hours ago, Someone Out There said:

Personally If I want to go to NSW before December I will need to figure how to get my 'MyGov' account to link to Medicare stuff, and then whatever needs to happen after that (last time I tried it denied me).  I presume a phone call would be required (or a visit to a Centrelink office somewhere).  Mind you, I also saw a news article stating that the Victorian one could easily be faked (I didn't actually read the article though so no idea on how easy it is).  If I haven't been more than about 1km out of the ACT since March last year, I think I can wait another month and a half...

You should be able to “add” Medicare from the myGov homepage. But if you can get into it any other way and just download the PDF and email it to yourself, that will suffice. You don’t have to show that you’re in the app.

Unsurprisingly, the technology side of things is affecting a lot of older people who are vaccinated but don’t have smartphones or know how to prove it on  them. A friend is a pharmacist and has been accessing the national vaccination register to print off details for her elderly customers so they can go to places as needed.

On 10/12/2021 at 10:32 PM, Someone Out There said:

If it helps you, you can potentially avoid most of them most of the time, mind you I probably wouldn't recognise most of them anyway.  Think of it this way, they are a few hundred out of 420k in population, most of whom aren't here full time anyway.

The stats are probably helped by the fact that we are essentially a city state, so it is relatively easy for most to get to the centralised vaccination hubs that were set up (and the booking system for that was relatively painless barring some hiccups around getting the account set up which required a phone call, or the slowness of the system on the  morning/day of a new batch of people being allowed to book their vaccine).  Local-ish NSW people have also been coming to the ACT for their bookings (e.g. when the ACT went into lockdown we needed to send off some of our allocation of Pfizer vaccines went to places like Goulburn as there were a number of people who had been booked here from there).   All bar one of the deaths at this point have also been from a palliative care facility (they are marked in the stats as dying from COVID as they wouldn't have died that day if not for COVID).

Oh yeah I know you wouldn’t actually run into pollies often if ever. I used to live in Yass, which is part of the reason I’m keeping one eye on Canberra - got a lot of friends out that way. Sadly I can’t move back, doing shared care with the kids’ father and he’s not moving any time soon.

Still - hooray ACT! 98.8% first dose today, and on track to become the most vaccinated city in the world.  https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/13/canberra-set-to-become-the-most-covid-vaccinated-city-in-the-world

[Someone Out There]

14 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Hm, pretty sure I did all the linking online when the NDIS started but can't remember how. Once you're in Medicare there's a "covid vaccination certificate" button on the front page, that will take you straight there and you can download as a PDF or link to the Vic app (finally did it!) or screen shot or whatever is easiest.

I am trying not to hope I will be able to see my family in ACT over the summer break. But I would really like to.

I know how, the last time I attempted it it told me there was insufficient information to link it.  I'll cross that bridge when I need/want to.

If you were in NSW I would pretty much guarantee you would be able to (Our Chief Minister has basically indicated to us to feel free to book your NSW holidays for after Dec 1), Victoria I would say you are likely to be able to travel here.  I expect by Late December/January there will be fairly free travel between NSW, VIC and ACT.  The rest of Australia however may still be blocking us out.

[Ozlsn]

Needs to be on high rotation advertising.

 

[Cartmann99]

Anti-Mask Alaska State Senator Gets COVID-19, Touts Unproven Treatments

Quote

The lawmaker then detailed a cocktail of vitamins and supplements she was taking, as well as aspirin and ivermectin, a drug often used for deworming livestock that has not been shown to work as a COVID-19 treatment and may have dangerous side effects. Inappropriate use of the drug has become a problem after it was touted by right-wing media personalities.

“I am blessed to have gotten Ivirmectin the “de -covider.” My Vicks steamer has been a God send! My naturopath gave me tips too- that I am sure will work! I will update you in a few days. I plan to keep my promise to stay OUT of the hospital- some of them seem like scary places these days,” Reinbold wrote in her post.

Reinbold has been a vocal opponent to COVID-19 safety measures. She was slammed by Alaska’s Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy in February for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and the state’s virus response.

She was barred from flying with Alaska Airlines in April after she refused to comply with its mask policy. She had previously complained about the airline on Facebook, saying it was “part of mask tyranny.”

Last month, she asked to be excused from legislative sessions until next year, saying she can’t travel to the state capital because she was banned from flying on the only airline with service from her district.

I did some internet sleuthing and found out that Reinbold has a BS from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. I remember back in 1987 when Oral warned his supporters that if he didn't raise $8 million in three months, God was  gonna  "call him home." His fans responded to the blackmail demand by coughing up over $9 million dollars, thus sparing Oral to go forth and grift some more.

[smittykins]

And his hospital(which the $9M was for)ended up,closing anyway.

Edited October 14, 2021 by smittykins

[Someone Out There]

@Ozlsn It looks like you will likely be able to come to the ACT after 1 November.  So a summer visit is likely to be possible.

[Smee]

I just can’t get over that 1st dose figure. I didn’t think anywhere would get that high!

Meanwhile #AustraliaHasFallen was trending on Twitter because the far right think we’re some sort of police state forcibly pinning people to the ground and jabbing them with experimental vaccines or something 🙄🙄

[Someone Out There]

18 hours ago, Smee said:

I just can’t get over that 1st dose figure. I didn’t think anywhere would get that high!

Meanwhile #AustraliaHasFallen was trending on Twitter because the far right think we’re some sort of police state forcibly pinning people to the ground and jabbing them with experimental vaccines or something 🙄🙄

ACT Health didn't think it would get that high either, they expected around 90-95% and were happy when it surpassed that.  Someone put the cynical view of they stopped showing it so they don't need to show when it surpasses 100% 😅.  When it showed over 100% for the 70+ year olds a month or two back they started going over the data a bit more with the Federal Government, they think that it is representative to a couple of thousand people (From memory the federal goverment is/was using 2016 census data for the amounts).

Interestingly the ACT vaccine rates got there without any mandates except the federal government ones (i.e. aged care), and they added one for teachers last week to hopefully catch the last few dozen teachers in the ACT that haven't been vaccinated yet.  So no forcibly pinning people down here, just saying we can't go out much until vaccination rates are at x% (with an ideally + 2 weeks for the immune system to have done its thing).

I am curious as to how many Canberrans have/will go to Bunnings in Goulburn this weekend/next before the ACT allows people to walk in from the 29th.  Mind you it's an hourish drive each way so maybe not that many?

[Ozlsn]

Plenty of forcible pinning down here if you read the right media sources - so much woe is me, I was totally going to get vaccinated when Moderna came out, but now I have to get Pfizer to keep my job... and I'm like seriously, no one is forcing you, go fruit picking and get the Moderna in Dec if you're so desperate to wait for one you think is somehow better than the ones currently available. Or, you know, cut the crap and just get vaccinated already.

And announcements today that we're opening up from Thursday.  I have mixed emotions to be honest - the schools had very limited numbers of students back from two weeks ago and cases jumped, including at my child's school. The vaccination first dose rates are mostly good but there are still 20 LGAs with under 60% second dose, and this is for age 16+, not general population. So I fully expect case numbers to spike again, and more hospitalizations.  I still can't see my parents in regional Victoria but can get to the (metro) beach. Still WFH, still click and collect. At least I finally managed to get my apps to talk to each other and my certificate uploaded to the check in app which will make some things more straightforward (and possibly stop me accidentally showing cat photos to random strangers).

Edited October 17, 2021 by Ozlsn

[Coconut Flan]

I don't expect this to hold through tomorrow (lack of weekend reporting), but it's nice to see and will hopefully stick soon.  At least we're heading the right way.  

For anyone who has possibly missed it, I'm in California and when we go yellow steadily I'll start wearing surgical masks again instead of consistently N95 or KN95 masks.  

[Cartmann99]

ESPN reporter Allison Williams leaving network over Covid vaccine mandate

Quote

Williams said in a statement last month that she had "decided not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at this time while my husband and I try for a second child."

Doctors have been repeating for months that the Covid-19 vaccines are safe for pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding and women who would like to have babies.

"I am also so morally and ethically not aligned with this, and I've had to really dig deep and analyze my values and my morals, and ultimately I have to put them first," Williams said in her Instagram video.

[...]

She also addressed people who told her it was her "moral obligation" to receive the vaccination.

"I weighed that and I thought about implications," Williams said. "We all want to be good neighbors. We all want to end this pandemic. But ultimately, an injection that does not stop transmission and spread, for me, did not weigh in morally."

[...]

Williams said that in April, Disney told employees it would be their decision to get the vaccination, but it was encouraged.

"Their values were clearly changed," Williams said. "I had hoped that they would respect that mine did not."

She added that she does not know what it's like to run a multibillion-dollar company swayed by "societal and political pressures."

Mike Lindell will be calling soon with an offer to come work at the pillow factory.

[Coconut Flan]

Ignorance still has no limits.

[Ozlsn]

41 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

ESPN reporter Allison Williams leaving network over Covid vaccine mandate

Mike Lindell will be calling soon with an offer to come work at the pillow factory.

I hope like hell she decides to get it if she conceives. But if she's that swayed by misinformation now the odds are she won't.

[Cartmann99]

 

[Ozlsn]

3 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

 

Mission accomplished? Now let's see if he survives it...

[Someone Out There]

10 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

ESPN reporter Allison Williams leaving network over Covid vaccine mandate

She has made an interesting choice given the increased risk of death, miscarriage, and stillbirth if she has COVID-19 while pregnant.  I would expect those risks would be reduced (along with the risk of actually getting the virus) by being vaccinated.

Here is an article on the outbreak about pregnancy and their second wave in India that I was reading earlier today.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-19/india-covid-endemic-pregnant-women-at-risk/100515144

[NotQuiteMotY]

15 hours ago, Someone Out There said:

She has made an interesting choice given the increased risk of death, miscarriage, and stillbirth if she has COVID-19 while pregnant.  I would expect those risks would be reduced (along with the risk of actually getting the virus) by being vaccinated.

Here is an article on the outbreak about pregnancy and their second wave in India that I was reading earlier today.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-19/india-covid-endemic-pregnant-women-at-risk/100515144

They are reduced. The CDC has come out as saying that pregnant women should get it and OB's offices are encouraging all their patients to unless they medically can't for just that reason. 

[Cartmann99]

Abbott’s vaccine mandate bill, Trump’s election audit die in Texas Legislature

Quote

Another late addition to the special session agenda was Abbott’s proposal to ban all entities, including private businesses, from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employees or customers.

Though that policy is currently in effect under Abbott’s executive order, the governor was hoping the legislature would enshrine it into law.

But the proposal was heavily criticized by business groups that said that the law would encroach on private business rights and further engulf businesses in a conflict between state and federal mandates.

As governor, Abbott has the authority to call another special session that would force lawmakers to reconsider the proposals.

 

[Dandruff]

I had an encounter with a covidiot today.  I was among a group of people waiting for a slow elevator.  Fortunately, everyone was masked.  Someone brought up Colin Powell and said he died of Covid despite being vaccinated, therefore the vaccine wasn't protective.  Another woman and I passed a look then we both, tag-team, straightened this guy out.  We told him Powell died of Covid because he had CANCER, was immunosuppressed, and because someone wasn't careful enough to not infect him.  It was NOT because the vaccines don't work, because there's a ton of evidence that they do work.  The guy started to disagree, we repeated what we said, then added that it's really sad that some people are using Powell's death for an excuse to not get vaccinated so that they can endanger others.  He stfu.

[Cartmann99]

 

[Ozlsn]

Interesting article in The Conversation about Vaccine hesitancy being linked to fear of death.

Sounds paradoxical but meshes well with the fundamentalist groups:

Hundreds of studies in social psychology laboratories have shown that subtle reminders of death (known as “death primes”) lead participants to vigorously defend their religious and cultural beliefs, and their freedoms.

When reminded of death, participants even show aggression towards those with different political or religious ideologies. We cling to our “rightness” and “specialness”, to help assuage our terror of death.

In the process, we may defy the warnings of modern medicine, convinced of our own superiority. Researchers at the University of Chicago Divinity School reported half of their participants, all of whom indicated some religious affiliation, agreed with the statement “God will protect me from being infected”. To cope with our dread of death, we delude ourselves into thinking we are invincible: death might happen to other people, but not to me.

This effect will be magnified even further if the social groups to which we belong also endorse similar views.

[Coconut Flan]

Quote

The study determined that natural immunity is somewhat short, and in a model where everyone has either been infected with COVID-19 or vaccinated against it, those who are unvaccinated can expect to be reinfected with the coronavirus roughly every 16-17 months.

“Our results are based on average times of waning immunity across multiple infected individuals,” Hassler said. “Any one of those individuals may experience longer or shorter durations of immunity depending on immune status, cross-immunity, age, and multiple other factors.”

 

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/577541-unvaccinated-people-should-expect-to-catch-covid

[Cartmann99]

 

[CTRLZero]

Well, great, there's a super-spreader event this weekend in Nashville (I'm spending a few days here).  Fortunately, it's across town from me.  I've been somewhat impressed by the number of people here who still take some precautions and are masking up, but then there are these folks:

Anti-vax crowd heads to Opryland - NPR

Excerpt from linked article below.  The organizers seem like experienced hucksters.  I'll be interested to see how many show up at this conference, and plan to stay far away from Opryland.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to claim thousands of lives a week — mostly people who aren't vaccinated. But that's not stopping a major gathering of anti-vaccine advocates and conspiracy theorists in Nashville, Tenn., this weekend.

 

The event is being orchestrated by Tennessee couple Ty and Charlene Bollinger. They have been labeled as some of the nation's biggest vaccine misinformation superspreaders.

"If we're superspreaders, we're superspreaders of the truth," Charlene Bollinger says. "We have countless testimonies of people that are alive today because of our work, and this is straight from heaven. God has put us on this Earth for such a time as this."