Covid-19 Updates & Info

[JazzNU]

What surprises me is that some ministers actually resigned. That is very unusual down here. You don't resign until they find you in bed, with the underage son of the leader of a drug cartel, cocaine spread all over the yacht you bought with public funding. Until then, it is business as usual.

Off topic and maybe for the Random thread. But that's just so specific I kind of want details...

[JazzNU]

hubby got Moderna dose 2 last night. Sleeping today with bad headache & ringing ears, but expect he'll be feeling better for the weekend. GA is adding K-12 teachers to this phase - guess the union lobbying was strong - by the time the teachers get their second doses, schools will be about to let out for the summer, so they probably could have waited their turn according to the original plan. It's been hard enough for people to get appointments as it is with the current group.

Great to hear about your husband getting his second dosage. Sorry to hear he has some side effects, but yes, most say they are gone in a couple of days.

Is extending the school year into the summer being discussed down there? I've heard rumblings up here.

[ti-amie]

What surprises me is that some ministers actually resigned. That is very unusual down here. You don't resign until they find you in bed, with the underage son of the leader of a drug cartel, cocaine spread all over the yacht you bought with public funding. Until then, it is business as usual.

Off topic and maybe for the Random thread. But that's just so specific I kind of want details...

Oh we definitely need receipts on this one ponchi.

[dryrunguy]

I assumed ponchi was being facetious and dramatic for effect. But if that's not the case, I want dirt. After all, it's Friday night. And to quote the great Olympia Dukakis, "If you can't say anything nice about anybody, come sit by me."

[ponchi101]

My point being that here in L. America NOBODY resigns over points of morality.
Heck, they don't resign when their teenage daughter is found to have millions of dollars in cash in a bank safety deposit box, all still in the original plastic wraps that the US Treasury sends them out in. Why on earth should they resign simply for skipping line for a vaccine?

[JazzNU]

You've disappointed me @ponchi. I was gearing up to hear the salacious details of that scandal.

[Deuce]

I just read that Germany have 1.4 million doses of AZ vaccines that are going unused.
How do I get myself to Frankfurt?

Germans are being stupid here... They registered this vaccine only for those under 65, but people under 65 are not being vaccinated yet (except medics). Additionally they praised superior performance of the local BioNTech vaccine so much that a large portion of population now consider AZ second rate product.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was just approved here in Canada today. But some scientists are saying that was a mistake.

To me, the AstraZeneca vaccine IS a second rate product.
62% efficacy for AZ vs. over 90% for Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna. Which would you choose?
Also, AZ has been shown to be less effective against the South African variant. And there are questions about its efficacy in older people.
On the other hand, it's more practical in that it can be stored at typical fridge temperatures, whereas the other two require significant freezing temperatures.
If AZ was the only one available, then sure, it beats the hell out of no vaccine. But if better options are available, I want the better option.

[Togtdyalttai]

I just read that Germany have 1.4 million doses of AZ vaccines that are going unused.
How do I get myself to Frankfurt?

Germans are being stupid here... They registered this vaccine only for those under 65, but people under 65 are not being vaccinated yet (except medics). Additionally they praised superior performance of the local BioNTech vaccine so much that a large portion of population now consider AZ second rate product.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was just approved here in Canada today. But some scientists are saying that was a mistake.

To me, the AstraZeneca vaccine IS a second rate product.
62% efficacy for AZ vs. over 90% for Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna. Which would you choose?
Also, AZ has been shown to be less effective against the South African variant. And there are questions about its efficacy in older people.
On the other hand, it's more practical in that it can be stored at typical fridge temperatures, whereas the other two require significant freezing temperatures.
If AZ was the only one available, then sure, it beats the hell out of no vaccine. But if better options are available, I want the better option.

Yeah, J&J at least has the advantage that it's only one shot. AZ doesn't even have that. I know it's likely AZ is approved here sometime this spring, but I'd really have to think before getting it if there was the possibility of getting Pfizer or Moderna soon.

[Suliso]

Sure Pfizer a bit better than AZ, but it's good enough and in a situation this desperate we can't be too picky. If they don't want to use give it up to someone else. Danish PM already offered to take it all straight away. Seems to be working just fine in UK.

[atlpam]

hubby got Moderna dose 2 last night. Sleeping today with bad headache & ringing ears, but expect he'll be feeling better for the weekend. GA is adding K-12 teachers to this phase - guess the union lobbying was strong - by the time the teachers get their second doses, schools will be about to let out for the summer, so they probably could have waited their turn according to the original plan. It's been hard enough for people to get appointments as it is with the current group.

Great to hear about your husband getting his second dosage. Sorry to hear he has some side effects, but yes, most say they are gone in a couple of days.

Is extending the school year into the summer being discussed down there? I've heard rumblings up here.

I haven't heard anything about extending school, but I don't have a child in school anymore, so I might not be aware of any discussions.

[ponchi101]

As Suliso says, it may be not as good but this is a public health crisis, not a personal one. The whole point is getting the virus under control. A proper policy would be to use it in lower risk groups, mainly the young and healthy. Keep vaccinating the entire world so that some bulkheads against further spread are set up. Later on, when the most vulnerable populations have been protected, return for your Pfizer/BioNTech/J&J shots and keep doing that for two or three years, until this is really under control.
By then who knows if we will have Covid22 and new vaccines may need to be out there but right now, it is a case of using anything and everything. Heck, if they say that wearing the vaccine vial on a string around your neck works, do it.

[JazzNU]

Yeah, J&J at least has the advantage that it's only one shot. AZ doesn't even have that. I know it's likely AZ is approved here sometime this spring, but I'd really have to think before getting it if there was the possibility of getting Pfizer or Moderna soon.

J&J has more advantages than just one shot. But people are entirely too hung up on the Pfizer and Moderna numbers and are ignoring the rest, they just stop at the 90-95% and do not want to hear anything else even though it's greatly to their benefit to do so. Hopefully people get out of their own way on this, because if people start getting picky about the manufacturer shot they get, we will surely be stuck in this through most of 2022, but likely 2023.

[atlpam]

Best advice I saw was that your best option is the first one available to you.

[Deuce]

Best advice I saw was that your best option is the first one available to you.

I disagree.
If I'm assigned the AstraZeneca vaccine, I will do proper verification - and if it's possible for me to get the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNtech, I will choose the latter. If I have to wait longer for it, or pay for it, I will. Hell, I've been very careful with protecting myself (and others) thus far - if I have to do it for an extra few weeks, or even an extra few months, in order to get a more efficient vaccine, and thus gain more protection and freedom in the long run, I will.

There's a reason some scientists here are saying that it was a mistake for us to accept the AZ vaccine. They say that it lowers the standard of protection - because it does.
As far as giving it to 'low risk' groups - there are NO low risk groups with this virus. It has killed teenagers; it has killed people in their 20s and 30s... As long as no-one knows how the virus will affect each individual person - anything from no symptoms to death -, EVERYONE is in a high risk group.

Honestly, if I got the AZ shot, I don't see where my current behaviour would change, as I'd know that I'm only 62% protected... and perhaps not protected at all against the South African variant. Thanks, but no thanks.

[ponchi101]

Of course it has killed teenagers, and people in their 20's and 30´s. In a population of millions of dead, you will find deaths in all cohorts.
It has killed 45 children under the age of 1, 648 kids in the 15-24 age group, 2,922 in the 25-34 group. 0.009%, 0.13% and 0.59%. (USA Data). Assuming that the AZ vaccine gives you a 65% protection, you can slash those numbers in half and safely assume new mortalities for those groups.
Get the AZ. Then, in September, get any other you want. They are not exclusive. And you are in the (I guess) 45-54 age group (21.251 deaths, 4.5%). Dropping that 4.5% to 2.76% is not trivial. Adding your medical history (any underlying conditions) gives you a better stat yet.