Coronavirus ~ COVID-19

[GeorgiaMa'am]

Originally Posted by ~ocean

Nancy Grace , her children (twins age 13 ) husband, and her mom , all have covid. Prayers for them all ~

Once Covid gets into a house, it seems like everyone gets it. We were really careful; after the boy got it, we were masking inside the house, spraying and wiping down stuff, using separate bathrooms - and we all got it anyway.

[Bèsame*]

10 years from now
You will hear
commercials that say
"If you took the
CV 19 vaccine
between 2020-2021
you may be
entitled to
compensation"


This made me bust out laughing!

[Kätzchen]

I came across an excellent news article, over on MSNBC tonight. It talks about how American citizens must change their behaviors quickly or we will see real carnage fallout via the Covid-19 virus.

There are many salient points argued in the article, but this particular strand of written thought stood out to me as the most important item at root of the pandemic.

The outbreak has exposed a vast array of broken systems: underfunded hospitals; decaying infrastructure in rural towns and poor neighborhoods; legislative gridlock that has repeatedly stalled economic relief; a health insurance status quo that leaves far too many vulnerable people unprotected; a social fabric shredded by cultural feuds and tribalism.

An excellent short read, so here is the link to the MSNBC news story covering Covid-19 trends and outcomes:

The Darkest Hour for America Is Still To Come. What We Do Next, Is Key:
Four Months That Will Decide America's Future (MSNBC)

[Kätzchen]

Tonight, I read the latest update: More than 1 person dies every minute from Covid-19 and just today another milestone in that more than 300K+ have lost their lives. And we're only 9 months into the pandemic with losses of that number. They say that even when you receive your shot for immunity, that even then masks must be worn until maybe early next winter. I keep thinking we will keep seeing the death toll numbers rise because the virus is not yet eradicated much less under 'control'.

Will we have to keep getting booster shots periodically? I'm not sure, but to me it's like we still don't know how this monster virus evolved, do we? Has anyone read anything from the medical or science community that speaks about what is known at this time and is it, since it's a member of the corona virus family, will it keep coming back as a seasonal thing, like catching a common cold or a seasonal flu bug?

I still think the evolution of this virus seems to be a by-product of climate change, possibly.

[Bèsame*]

Its officially "Do I have a cold because its that time of the year or do I have coronavirus?" season.

[GeorgiaMa'am]

Originally Posted by Bèsame*

Its officially "Do I have a cold because its that time of the year or do I have coronavirus?" season.

The boy and I both went through that phase. It _seemed_ like just a cold, at first. Then the symptoms got worse, and his boyfriend tested positive, and then he tested positive, too. Three weeks later we're all still sick.

Then today on NPR's _Here and Now_ I heard a story about long term Covid. Apparently I'm not the only person who thought it was supposed to be over in 14 days. There are people who have been experiencing symptoms for nine months, with no end in sight.

[GeorgiaMa'am]

What Dippin Dots have in Common with the Covid-19 Vaccine

Remember Dippin Dots? Those weird little dots of ice cream that come in a cup at places like stadiums and shopping malls? Well as it turns out, Dippin Dots have to be stored at -49*F.

Although the Covid-19 Vaccines have to be stored at similarly sub-zero frigid temps, the method of moving Dippin Dots around the country is the same for the vaccines. It's done with dry ice. The dry ice has to be replaced every 5 days in the supply chain while the vaccines are stored and transported. It's dangerous to handle the dry ice, both because it can cause burns on skin and also because the evaporating carbon dioxide takes up space where air would otherwise be. Popular Science has an article about the supply chains for the Covid-19 vaccines and also Dippin Dots: https://www.popsci.com/story/health/...ots-ice-cream/.

[Orema]

Vaccine Calculator: How many people may get a COVID-19 vaccine before you?

Answer the following questions on this website to find out how many people may be vaccinated before you in your area. Your information will not be stored or saved in any way.

This is only for people living in the U.S.

Questions/Selections:

1. What state do you live in?
2. Select county or city you live in.
3. Select an industry or workplace type you work in.
4. How old are you?
5. Do you have any of the following conditions (select all that apply)?
6. Pick a residence type.

Then you’ll see your results.

Here are my results:

I’m in Phase 1B.

There are an estimated 1,920,409 people in front of you in California. That includes high risk workers in health care facilities and first responders. In total, about 5% of the state population will probably get the vaccine before you.

There are an estimated 3,760,615 people in the Phase 1B group.

https://dig.abclocal.go.com/ccg/inte...tor/index.html

[easygoingfemme]

The primary hospital in my county is now full and they are sending people about an hour north to a more rural hospital where numbers are lower.

The school district where my sister-in-law teaches and where my nephews go to school just went remote because there are so many teachers on quarantine they can't keep in-school learning. I don't know how she's going to teach high school honors classes while home schooling a kindergartener with autism and ADD/ADHD and a third grader who is just going to want to play video games and tell fart jokes. I can't even go over to help. Hopefully this is very short term- the remote learning. Their virtual school is 6.5 hours on line for all elementary school age kids. I don't know how they think that is healthy at all. At least the little one is excused from a lot due to his IEP.

[clay]

There are an estimated 3,551,230 people in front of you in Florida. That includes high risk workers in health care facilities, first responders, people with significant health problems and nursing home residents. In total, about 17% of the state population will probably get the vaccine before you.
There are an estimated 8,661,068 people in the Phase 2 group.
Locally, in Lake, Florida, There are an estimated 63,247 people in front of you to get the vaccine, and 160,738 people in your group.


I am in 1B

[GeorgiaMa'am]

I'm in Phase 1B also. However, I have Covid right now. (I finally went and had the test yesterday, it came back positive this morning.) I wonder if that means I'm immune for awhile, or if I should have the vaccine anyway? And if so, should I wait for my symptoms to be gone? I have an appointment with my health care provider's special Covid Respiratory Acute Care Center, due to my suspicion that I also have pneumonia, so I will ask them.

[~ocean]

((((( georgia ))))))) take care of yourself.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaMa'am

I'm in Phase 1B also. However, I have Covid right now. (I finally went and had the test yesterday, it came back positive this morning.) I wonder if that means I'm immune for awhile, or if I should have the vaccine anyway? And if so, should I wait for my symptoms to be gone? I have an appointment with my health care provider's special Covid Respiratory Acute Care Center, due to my suspicion that I also have pneumonia, so I will ask them.

Found this online: If someone currently has active symptoms of COVID-19, the CDC recommends they wait to get vaccinated until they've recovered and met the criteria for ending isolation.

[Stone-Butch]

National Geographic:

I was watching a program today and research is being done on bats in Turkey. Apparently they carry a virus (name eludes me but it is a 4 letter word, no joke), that has been passed to a camel. They are saying this could be a gateway to many virus being transmitted from animals to humans that have not even showed themselves except this one that they think could be even more deadly than the covid. They are collecting scat from these bats and testing them for the virus and hope they can nip it in the bud before it becomes another reality. They made the talk concerning the passing of animal diseases to humans such as swine flu, bird flu, mad cow, rabies, and largest of all aids. These people think the worst is yet to come from some hidden pathenogens that are not known as yet.

[Kätzchen]

Deaths are projected to reach 567,000 by April

More than 1 million people have received their first shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, but an influential coronavirus model projects the US death toll will climb well over a half million, topping 567,000 by April 1.

LINK: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/24/us/us...day/index.html


Medscape has a vital information covering every aspect known about Covid19, so here is the link for that page too. https://www.medscape.com/resource/coronavirus

[Orema]

What’s not being said about why African Americans need to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
By Debra Furr-Holden, Associate Dean for Public Health Integration, Michigan State University


Latrice Davis, a nurse at Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago, receives the COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 18, 2020. Scott Olson via Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci and other national health leaders have said that African Americans need to take the COVID-19 vaccine to protect their health. What Fauci and others have not stated is that if African Americans don’t take the vaccine, the nation as whole will never get to herd immunity.

The concept of herd immunity, also referred to as community immunity, is fairly simple. When a significant proportion of the population, or the herd, becomes immune from the virus, the entire population will have some acceptable degree of protection. Immunity can occur through natural immunity from personal infection and recovery, or through vaccination. Once a population reaches herd immunity, the likelihood of person-to-person spread becomes very low.

The big lie is one of omission. Yes, it is true that African Americans will benefit from the COVID vaccine, but the full truth is that the country needs African Americans and other population subgroups with lower reported COVID-19 vaccine acceptability rates to take the vaccine. Without increased vaccine acceptability, we stand little to no chance of communitywide protection.

I am an epidemiologist and health equity scholar who has been conducting research in the African American community for 20 years. Much of my work focuses on strategies to increase community engagement in research. I see a significant opportunity to improve COVID vaccine acceptance in the African American community.


If up to 60% of African Americans don’t take the vaccine, reaching herd immunity will be difficult. Noam Galai via Getty Images

Doing the coronavirus math

About 70% of people in the U.S. need to take the vaccine for the population to reach herd immunity. Whites make up about 60% of the U.S. population. So, if every white person got the vaccine, the U.S. would still fall short of herd immunity. A recent study suggested that 68% of white people would be willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. If these estimates hold up, that would get us to 42%.

African Americans make up more than 13% of the American population. But if up to 60% of African Americans refuse to take the vaccine, as a recent study suggests, it will be difficult to reach that 70% threshold likely needed to reach herd immunity.

Latinos make up just over 18% percent of the population. A study suggests that 32% percent of Latinos could reject a COVID vaccine. Add the 40% to 50% rejection rates among other population subgroups and herd immunity becomes mathematically impossible.

Further exacerbating the problem is that mass vaccination alone won’t achieve herd immunity, as the effect of COVID vaccines on preventing virus transmission remains unclear. Ongoing preventive measures will likely still be needed to stop community spread. As the resistance to facts and science continues to grow, the need for credible information dissemination and trust-building related to vaccines becomes more important.

My research offers some possible explanations for lower vaccination rates among Blacks. Historical wrongs, like the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments, which ended in 1972, have played a major role in contributing to Black mistrust of the health care system. In another case, the “immortal” cells of Henrietta Lacks were shared without her consent and have been used in medical research for more than 70 years. The most recent application includes COVID vaccine research, yet her family has received no financial benefit.

A study led by Dr. Giselle Corbie-Smith at the University of North Carolina identified distrust of the medical community as a prominent barrier to African American participation in clinical research. Another of Corbie-Smith’s peer-reviewed studies found that distrust in medical research is significantly higher among African Americans than whites.

African Americans also disproportionately experience unequal treatment in the modern-day health care system. These experiences of bias and discrimination fuel the problem of vaccine hesitancy and mistrust. Lower prioritization for hospital admissions and lifesaving care for COVID-19-related illness among African Americans was reported in Massachusetts in April 2020. Massachusetts subsequently changed its guidelines, yet across the U.S. there is a lack of data and transparent reporting on this phenomenon.

The current messaging of vaccine importance may seem tone-deaf to those in a community who wonder why their health is so important now, at the vaccine stage. Black health didn’t appear to be a priority during the pandemic’s first wave, when race disparities in COVID emerged.

Questioning the scientific process

Perhaps even Operation Warp Speed has had the unintended consequence of decreasing vaccine acceptance in the African American community. Some ask why wasn’t such speed applied to vaccine development for HIV, which still has no FDA-approved vaccine? As of 2018, AIDS-related illness has killed an estimated 35 million people globally. It continues to disproportionately affect people of color and other socially vulnerable populations.

If African Americans were honored and acknowledged in these COVID vaccine conversations and told “we need you” instead of “you need us,” perhaps more Blacks would trust the vaccine. I encourage our nation’s leaders to consider a radical shift in their approach. They must do more than pointing to the few Black scientists involved in COVID vaccine development, or making a spectacle of prominent African Americans receiving the vaccine.

These acts alone will likely be insufficient to garner the trust needed to increase vaccine acceptance. Instead, I believe our leaders should adopt the core values of equity and reconciliation. I’d argue that truth-telling will need to be at the forefront of this new narrative.

There are also multiple leverage points along the supply and distribution chains, as well as in vaccine administration, that could increase diversity, equity and inclusion. I’d recommend giving minority- and women-owned businesses fair, mandated access to contracts to get the vaccine to communities. This includes procurement and purchasing contracts for freezers needed to store the vaccine.

Minority health care workers should be equitably called back to work to support vaccine administration. These issues, not publicly discussed, could be transformative for building trust and increasing vaccine acceptance.

Without a radical shift in the conversation of true COVID equity, African Americans and many others who could benefit from the vaccine will instead get sick. Some will die. The rest will remain marginalized by a system and a society that hasn’t equally valued, protected, or prioritized their lives. I believe it’s time to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

https://theconversation.com/whats-no...vaccine-152323

[PlatinumPearl]

New Coronavirus Strain Detected In More Countries

Spain is the latest country to confirm cases of a new coronavirus strain first detected in the U.K.
that early studies suggest is far more contagious, sparking worries that it could worsen the pandemic.



Four people in Madrid who recently arrived from the U.K. were infected with the new coronavirus variation, the region’s deputy health chief Antonio
Zapatero announced Saturday, but said “there is no need for alarm,” according to Al Jazeera, adding that none of the patients are seriously ill.

To read the full article click here.

[PlatinumPearl]

Covid: Free Vitamin D Pills for 2.5 Million Vulnerable in England


Vitamin D supplements help keep bones and muscles healthy, particularly during the winter.

More than 2.5 million vulnerable people in England will be offered free Vitamin D supplements this winter.

The vitamin, which helps to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy, will be delivered to people who are clinically extremely vulnerable, and care homes.

Skin makes Vitamin D when exposed to sunlight - but the elderly and those with dark skin need topping up.

The coronavirus pandemic means many more people than normal have spent time indoors.

The groups most at risk are residents in care homes, and people with serious health conditions which mean they have spent extended periods shielding from the virus - a total of 2.7 million people.

Should I start taking Vitamin D?

Health officials say that even in a normal winter, everyone should take 10 micrograms of Vitamin D a day between October and March - and it's particularly important this year because of coronavirus.

Scottish and Welsh governments, and Northern Ireland's Public Health Agency issued similar advice during lockdown.

But there is limited evidence that vitamin D protects against or treats Covid-19, although health officials have been asked to go back over the existing research.

Millions of people have spent extended periods indoors this year because of Covid-19.

All care homes in England will receive enough supplements for their residents, the government says.

People on the clinically extremely vulnerable list will get a letter inviting them to opt in for a supply of Vitamin D tablets to be delivered to their homes.

Deliveries will start in January. They'll provide four months' worth of free supplements.

"Vitamin D is important for our bone and muscle health," says Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England.

"We advise that everyone, particularly the elderly, those who don't get outside and those with dark skin, take a Vitamin D supplement containing 10 micrograms (400IU) every day.

"This year, the advice is more important than ever with more people spending more time inside, which is why the government will be helping the clinically extremely vulnerable to get Vitamin D."

GP Sarah Jarvis told BBC Breakfast that those who cover up for religious reasons, pale-skinned people and those who are generally unwell are also at higher risk.

"All of those are either going to get less vitamin D or in the case of people of BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) origin may make less of it," she said.

People who are able to buy a Vitamin D supplement and start taking them now, ahead of a free delivery, are advised to do so.



Source: bbc.com
Website: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-5510...20in%20January.
Date: November 28, 2020

[PlatinumPearl]

CDC Issues New Guidance About Vaccinations for People with Underlying Health Conditions

[Video: Cannot Display. Click on the link below.]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday issued a new guidance stating that people with underlying health conditions can receive a coronavirus vaccine.

The guidance explains that “adults of any age with certain underlying medical conditions are at increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19.”

Thus, the CDC added that those vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration “may be administered to people with underlying medical conditions provided they have not had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients in the vaccine.”

The CDC explained that people with weakened immune systems due to other illnesses or medication may also receive a COVID-19 vaccine, but they should be aware that limited safety data is available on the effects of the vaccines on these individuals.

Additionally, while people living with HIV were included in clinical trials, safety data for this group is not yet available.

The CDC also stated in its Saturday guidance that individuals with autoimmune conditions may take the vaccine, although there is no data currently available for the safety of the vaccine in this demographic.

Those who have experienced Guillain-Barré syndrome — a condition in which the body begins to attack parts of its own nervous system — may also receive the vaccine doses. The guidance adds that following vaccination during clinical trials, there have been no instances of the syndrome.

People who have previously experienced Bell’s palsy — a condition that causes muscle weakness in one side of the face — may also receive a vaccine. Some participants during clinical trials did develop Bell's palsy following vaccination, but it did not occur at a rate above that expected in the general population.

Despite the start of distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the CDC recommends that people who get vaccinated should continue to follow current coronavirus health and safety protocols, such as wearing a mask, practicing social distancing and avoiding crowds.

According to the CDC, nearly 2 million people have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine as of Saturday. Both the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech and the one from Moderna require two doses to be administered several weeks apart.

Final trial data on both vaccines showed them to have a roughly 95 percent efficacy rate at preventing COVID-19, although Moderna’s vaccine has an 86 percent efficacy rate for those over the age of 65.

Health care workers have been prioritized in the initial distribution of the vaccine, and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted last week to advise the CDC to include those 75 and older and specific front-line essential workers, including emergency responders and teachers, in the next phase of coronavirus vaccinations.



Source: thehill.com
Website: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcar...ith-underlying
Date: December 26, 2020

[PlatinumPearl]

Spain will create registry of people who refuse COVID vaccine

Spain's Health Minister, Salvador Illa, stated on Monday that the vaccine in that country
will not be mandatory, but if you refuse it, the refusal will be recorded in a database.

Spain's Health Minister Salvador Illa stated on Monday that the COVID vaccine in will not be mandatory in Spain, but if a person refuses it, that refusal will be recorded in a database.

"What will be done is a registry, which will be shared with our European partners... of those people who have been offered it and have simply rejected it," Said Illa on Spanish television. "It is not a document which will be made public and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection," Illa continued.

This is not the first time that a country's government has called for stricter tracking of the public regarding the novel coronavirus.

According to IFL Science, the names of those people who refuse the vaccine "for whatever reason" will go into said registry, which will be made available to authorities across the European Union despite the promise of data privacy.

Spain started its vaccination campaign on Sunday amid a resurgence of the pandemic that has officials and the public alike worried. Spain currently has one of the highest rates in the world of both cases and deaths per capita, and it has been this way since March.

Ironically though, the Spanish public is not very eager for the vaccine, with an estimated 64 percent of Spaniards saying that they strongly agreed that they would get one as soon as it were made available. Most experts agree that 70 percent of the population would need to get the vaccine before lockdown restrictions could be eased.

"The way to defeat the virus is by vaccinating all of us," said Illa.



Source: thepostmillennial.com
Website: https://thepostmillennial.com/spain-...-covid-vaccine
Date: December 29, 2020