Coronavirus 7: Ring in Delta Plus and then Omicron Takes Over

[PsyD2013]

The vaccine misinformation among the Q's and fuckstick's fans is pissing me off.  My boyfriend and most of my friends/family who are die hard Trump worshipers actually believe that covid vaccines cause miscarriages in more than 80 of women who get the vaccine while pregnant.  Not the case- every study I've read indicates that the miscarriage rate for vaccinated women is about the same as the general population of pregnant women.  But then Faux news and Fucker Carlson are such a better sources than JAMA or the New England Journal of Medicine.  

[NotQuiteMotY]

On 11/9/2021 at 10:25 PM, PsyD2013 said:

The vaccine misinformation among the Q's and fuckstick's fans is pissing me off.  My boyfriend and most of my friends/family who are die hard Trump worshipers actually believe that covid vaccines cause miscarriages in more than 80 of women who get the vaccine while pregnant.  Not the case- every study I've read indicates that the miscarriage rate for vaccinated women is about the same as the general population of pregnant women.  But then Faux news and Fucker Carlson are such a better sources than JAMA or the New England Journal of Medicine.  

One of my husband's relatives was putting off getting vaccinated because "it might cause infertility!" I told the person telling me this to please by all means point out in the next conversation that I got pregnant three weeks out from my first shot. *sigh*

[Ozlsn]

20 minutes ago, NotQuiteMotY said:

One of my husband's relatives was putting off getting vaccinated because "it might cause infertility!" I told the person telling me this to please by all means point out in the next conversation that I got pregnant three weeks out from my first shot. *sigh*

The infertility/miscarriage misinformation really concerns me - having covid-19 is likely to leave you a lot less healthy than having a vaccine side effect, and while the disease doesn't seem to affect pregnant women more than their age cohort if you're one of the ones who does develop severe disease then being in ICU isn't great for either mother or baby.

Also I wish people understood rates - the constant "but the vaccine group had x miscarriages!" mantra irritates the crap out of me because the next questions should be "How many in the control group, what were the rates in each group and is any difference statistically significant?" I spent far too long arguing this with someone, apparently not particularly successfully as she's now posting memes about why kids shouldn't get the covid vaccine. Sigh.

[NotQuiteMotY]

4 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Also I wish people understood rates - the constant "but the vaccine group had x miscarriages!" mantra irritates the crap out of me because the next questions should be "How many in the control group, what were the rates in each group and is any difference statistically significant?" I spent far too long arguing this with someone, apparently not particularly successfully as she's now posting memes about why kids shouldn't get the covid vaccine. Sigh.

This. I keep seeing so many people in mom's forums and groups citing "the miscarriage rate!" and "I know two people who got the shot and miscarried a few days later!" Discounting that the virus itself causes miscarriage/stillbirth above the expected rate AND that pregnancy, especially early pregnancy, is a crapshoot and a surprisingly high number of pregnancies end spontaneously in the first trimester and a non-zero percentage in the later trimesters, too, including for unknown reasons. It's the same with fertility: for an individual claiming that the shot caused infertility, they have to know that they were fertile in the first place (which is not knowable if they haven't previously conceived) and that they wouldn't have experienced secondary or later infertility, either, which is pretty much impossible to predict. 

[Smash!]

Meanwhile Cologne in Germany celebrates carnival while a big Covid wave is arriving almost everywhere in Europe 🤦🏻‍♀️ They do have 3G (probably inside) but I saw pictures of fairly big maskless crowds in the streets. This is insanity. 

[louisa05]

Two things: 1–On the miscarriage/infertility topic, a bunch of my relatives are not getting vaccinated or not vaccinating their teen and under daughters due to that particular myth. One is an RN with a BSN who really should know better.  Another, so you can laugh with us is “absolutely not getting a vaccine that will take away my fertility!”. She’s posted about this frequently. She’s a 51 year old grandmother. 
 

2– My cousin’s 80 year old mother-in-law was hospitalized yesterday with Covid and pneumonia.  She is vaccinated and had a appointment for a booster when she got sick. Here’s the disgusting part: she got it from an anti-vax adult grandchild who visited her while sick. The person was never tested because they “don’t believe in Covid”.  Additionally, her daughter, son-in-law and some grandchildren spent the morning at an anti-vaccine rally today with “Covid is not real” signs. My cousin’s son shared their photos in disgust. 

[Ozlsn]

29 minutes ago, louisa05 said:

The person was never tested because they “don’t believe in Covid”

I honestly don't understand this mindset. Do they "believe in" influenza? Norovirus? How about measles and chickenpox? Seriously can't fathom why after global lockdowns, hospitals being overwhelmed on pretty much every continent and at least 5 million deaths worldwide people appear to think it's something made up to inconvenience them personally.   

29 minutes ago, louisa05 said:

Another, so you can laugh with us is “absolutely not getting a vaccine that will take away my fertility!”. She’s posted about this frequently. She’s a 51 year old grandmother. 

Oh that is precious. I hope she realises that death would curtail her "fertility" pretty effectively.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Ozlsn
Phone took out quotation marks

[louisa05]

3 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

I honestly don't understand this mindset. Do they "believe in" influenza? Norovirus? How about measles and chickenpox? Seriously can't fathom why after global lockdowns, hospitals being overwhelmed on pretty much every continent and at least 5 million deaths worldwide people appear to think it's something made up to inconvenience them personally.   

Oh that is precious. I hope she realises that death would curtail her fertility pretty effectively.

 Being almost exactly one year younger than her, I feel like nature has already ran the clock on our fertility. 

We have known my cousin’s mother-in-law since well before they were even dating and are close to his wife. But I told my mother that if her mother doesn’t make it, we are not attending that funeral given the carelessness of the rest of her family. Fortunately, mom agrees with that. 

[Smash!]

This is interesting 

 

[47of74]

University of Iowa is suggesting eligible children get vaccinated now so they'll be ready for the holidays.

Quote

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is encouraging parents and families to get their child’s first COVID-19 vaccination shot this week so that they are fully vaccinated for the end of the year holidays.

“This holiday season, we all have one more thing to be grateful for: Kids ages 5 to 11 are now eligible to get vaccinated,” says Theresa Brennan, MD, chief medical officer at UI Health Care. “It is truly a gift that more families will now be able to safely celebrate the year-end holidays with their loved ones thanks to the protection provided by the COVID-19 vaccine.”

I suppose the anti-vax morons will be avoiding the Christmas rush and getting their stupidity out now. (H/T M*A*S*H).

[therulesofjinx]

I just scheduled my booster shot. Hurray!

[NotQuiteMotY]

3 hours ago, therulesofjinx said:

I just scheduled my booster shot. Hurray!

I've got mine next week!

[47of74]

On 11/16/2021 at 7:15 AM, Smash! said:

This is interesting 

 

I wonder if the vaccine he mentions will lead to reducing the common cold since at least some common colds are caused by coronaviruses.  Of course branch trumpvidian shits of dip will probably not want to take the vaccine either.

[ADoyle90815]

Booster shot scheduled for tomorrow sometime after I get off work. 

[thoughtful]

I got my booster today.

Also, the tree guys came the other day and took down the maple that had been leaning over my neighbor's lawn for months (they had so much to do for people who had much bigger problems that I've been waiting since July - tree triage, you might say).

I feel so much safer now!

[47of74]

Nursing organizations have crossed the international enough line about nurses spreading misinformation. 

[church_of_dog]

I got my booster last week.  I had a slight reaction (mild fever for half a day, sore spot on my arm 2 days) but overall considerably milder than my yucky-for-a-day reaction to the first two shots.

I too am glad I got it because my area, with only 40% fully vaxxed and hardly anyone still wearing masks, is having a spike in cases, although it's been spiking for two months now so it's more like a mountain than a spike.

Overall numbers are low because we are such a small community, but expressed as cases per 100k we're sadly in extreme mode.

Just tonight I heard the rumor that 13 of around 18 of our longterm care residents at the hospital have covid.  But everyone already got it last year before there were vaccines (except that some residents there are recent arrivals of course).  But how did it get in there, with all the testing etc rules for hospital employees and strict visitor limitations?  I don't know but I'm fairly certain there are hospital employees who refused to get vaccinated, and although our governor has said all state (and therefore county) employees must be vaccinated, I know that is not being enforced here.  Heck, the sheriff himself said he doesn't know the vaccination status of his deputies and staff and isn't gonna ask because "that's private", and he's the one who's supposed to be enforcing the governor's rule, but clearly isn't.

*big sigh*

[CTRLZero]

Yesterday morning, I attempted to make an appointment for my booster shot but was informed I wasn’t eligible.  By late afternoon, the database for my local pharmacy was updated and I’m set for my booster after Thanksgiving.  Hooray!  Now we can start planning another trip.  It’s strange to plan vacations around antibody levels, but I’ll take it!
Have a good weekend, everyone!  💉❤️

[CTRLZero]

16 hours ago, church_of_dog said:

Just tonight I heard the rumor that 13 of around 18 of our longterm care residents at the hospital have covid.  But everyone already got it last year before there were vaccines (except that some residents there are recent arrivals of course).  But how did it get in there, with all the testing etc rules for hospital employees and strict visitor limitations?

My neighbor’s parents are in an assisted living facility (Washington state north of Seattle).  Her parents are past due for their boosters, but unlike the first two shots, the residents are having to find and travel to get their own boosters.  It’s very difficult to transport some of these very old folks.  Now there are eight new cases of Covid in the facility, which is really scary for the residents.  
 

Meanwhile, my MIL’s facility (south of Seattle) has brought in someone to vaccinate the residents in a timely manner.  They only had one Covid case and that was an outside vendor situation.  No residents have gotten the virus.

All this to say I’m really mystified at the difference in how this virus is currently being treated.  If there is a breakout affecting eight vulnerable residents, I’d think they’d lock down the facility and ensure everyone gets their boosters.  I know staffing is a difficulty, so maybe management is looking the other way as precautions slip?  Anyway, some agency is going to notice a breakout in that facility and hopefully get things back on track.  Meanwhile, my neighbor is trying to figure out how to wrestle her dad over to get his booster.  🤷‍♀️

 

[church_of_dog]

36 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

My neighbor’s parents are in an assisted living facility (Washington state north of Seattle).  Her parents are past due for their boosters, but unlike the first two shots, the residents are having to find and travel to get their own boosters.  It’s very difficult to transport some of these very old folks.  Now there are eight new cases of Covid in the facility, which is really scary for the residents.  
 

Meanwhile, my MIL’s facility (south of Seattle) has brought in someone to vaccinate the residents in a timely manner.  They only had one Covid case and that was an outside vendor situation.  No residents have gotten the virus.

All this to say I’m really mystified at the difference in how this virus is currently being treated.  If there is a breakout affecting eight vulnerable residents, I’d think they’d lock down the facility and ensure everyone gets their boosters.  I know staffing is a difficulty, so maybe management is looking the other way as precautions slip?  Anyway, some agency is going to notice a breakout in that facility and hopefully get things back on track.  Meanwhile, my neighbor is trying to figure out how to wrestle her dad over to get his booster.  🤷‍♀️

 

That is indeed baffling.  

My mom is in a skilled nursing wing of a large retirement community in the bay area, and they have provided all the shots, including boosters to the residents (not required, I don't think, since I had to sign permissions for it, but I do assume just about all residents got it).

In the local hospital near where I live, I do think all the residents have been vaxxed, and visitation is shut down or tightly limited as far as I know.  I'm fairly sure in that case the "leak" is from unvaxxed employees or perhaps vendors.  In addition, the residential wing is not sealed off from the main hospital area, and while the hospital does require masks to enter, they don't seem to ask about vax status and obviously can't require that in the ER, so I'm sure there are regular gaps that are vulnerable.

On another note, I'm not sure how far north of Seattle is the flooding and mudslide zone, but I hope all of your family is safe from that added stress.

A friend I knew here had a situation last year where her husband's parents were in assisted living (not locally) and for whatever reason it wasn't working for them, so they decided to move somewhere where they could find a home large enough to have the in-laws live with them and be their caretakers.  I don't know if they had any prior familiarity with the area but for whatever reason they ended up moving to Blaine, WA.

When I started reading about flooding in BC I hadn't quite realized how far north Blaine is -- right on the Canadian border and in the middle of the mess!  I emailed my friend but haven't heard back yet how they're doing.

Update:  I just remembered that facebook is a thing, looked up my friend in  Blaine and saw that she has posted random stuff in the last day or two, so they are ok, she just apparently uses email the way I use facebook, which is to say 'never' ☺️

[47of74]

We're not the only ones dealing with anti-vax fuck stickery.  Take Romania, for example.

Quote

Romania has one of Europe's lowest vaccination rates.

Just under 36% of the population has been vaccinated, even though the country's vaccination campaign got off to a good start last December.

Medical workers and officials attribute this low vaccination rate to a variety of factors, including suspicion of the authorities, deeply held religious beliefs, and a flood of misinformation surging through social media.

Officials and medical personnel are exasperated that public figures have done so much to undermine their efforts.

 

[CTRLZero]

My dentist cleaned my teeth yesterday, which may not be all that surprising, but usually she has a hygienist do that.  Apparently, with all the other shortages in the market, dentists are having to take a number to hire a hygienist when a vacancy comes up.  It was actually nice having the dentist spend some chatty time with me and learn a little bit more about her, but I feel bad that her clinic has been downsized temporarily.

Anyway, I’m not positive what is causing that particular shortage, but I can imagine it was difficult to run and attend dental schools during the past year.  

[Ozlsn]

New variant of concern emerged in South Africa.

In a media briefing Prof de Oliveira said there were 50 mutations overall and more than 30 on the spike protein, which is the target of most vaccines and the key the virus uses to unlock the doorway into our body's cells.

Zooming in even further to the receptor binding domain (that's the part of the virus that makes first contact with our body's cells), it has 10 mutations compared to just two for the Delta variant that swept the world.

...

But the concern is this virus is now radically different to the original that emerged in Wuhan, China. That means vaccines, which were designed using the original strain, may not be as effective.

Some of the mutations have been seen before in other variants, which gives some insight their likely role in this variant.

For example N501Y seems to make it easier for a coronavirus to spread. There are others in there that make it harder for antibodies to recognise the virus and might make vaccines less effective, but there are others that are completely new.

So. It's early days, but the data appears to show it out-competing other strains in South Africa. The UK has just added South Africa to their red zone list, and restricted travel from there. I really hope this is a data blip.

[Smash!]

Informative thread on the new variant @Ozlsn mentioned 

 

[Smash!]

Rant: I hate hate hate my country‘s government. I can‘t express how disappointed I am. Europe is in a massive surge. Austria goes into lockdown. Germany announces more restrictions. Switzerland? They won‘t impose additional measures instead they will add more ICU beds but according to our Federal Health Minister „the situation is under control“ 🤬 The new South African variant? No travel bans, our two national airlines fly to and back from South Africa. Because the virus won‘t invade a neutral country right?

It doesn‘t help that we have to vote on the Covid bill this weekend - the opponents of the measures got enough votes to challenge it. Our government fears if they announce more restrictions now more people will vote no to the bill this weekend - Well at least I hope this is the only reason and if the bill passes (fingers crossed!) they will announce additional measures next week. But to be honest I don’t count on it.

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Smash!