COVID-19 Virus.

[octave]

21 minutes ago, red750 said:

You can be vaccinated, still catch and spread the virus, just not suffer the more severe effects.

  I think the evidence so far is that whilst a vaccinated person may be able to spread it, the chances are greatly reduced.    The fact that the vaccine massively reduces hospitalizations  and serious complications will, when enough are vaccinated make covid more like the seasonal flu in its impact on society.

 

I got my first vax yesterday and I was pretty impressed with the organization.  I had my vax in the old Ford factory.  There were huge numbers there but we were in and out in 30 minutes. 

 

It is a shame though that the vaccination has had such a slow start in Australia.     We criticize the US over its handling of covid (and rightly so)  however they have done (in most states) an amazing job of rolling out the vax.  My son how lives permanently in NZ is in the US at the moment for 3 months and on about day 2 after his arrival had his first vax (Pfizer) and has now had the second.   He literally walked into Wallmart where there was a vax station and said "hi I am visiting from NZ can I get the vax?"    their response "roll your sleeve up".

 

Unfortunately we are way behind many other countries when it comes to percentage of the population vaccinated. 

[willedoo]

Based on figures so far, AstraZeneca has a lower prevention rate than some other vaccines. On the flip side, there's growing evidence that it's one of the best when it comes to the mortality rate among those vaccinated. Recent data from Hungary rated it no.2 to the Sputnik V vaccine in death prevention. A recent leaked report from AstraZeneca included data from six European countries. It showed AstraZeneca to have approximately a 3 to 1 advantage over Pfizer in mortality rate. That concurs with the figures out of Hungary.

 

The bottom line is, if you're not the 1 in 100,000 to get life threatening blood clots from AZ, it is looking like one of the better vaccines for preventing severe symptoms. There's always the possibility in the future for an even better AstraZeneca/Sputnik V combined vaccine. Back in December, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V developers, the Gamaleya Institute, signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct a joint trial of their vaccines. I think they will mainly be looking at trialing AstraZeneca's single vector vaccine as one dose, and either of Sputnik V's two vectors as the other dose. In news this week, the Russian Health Ministry said they will make the decision to approve the trial as soon as all documentation is received.

 

At present, out of necessity, we're going with what we've got, but in another year we might have a bigger range of good vaccines and treatments.

[Marty_d]

I just wish they'd open it up to under 50's who are prepared to get AZ.  I'm 49 so at the moment not able to get the shot, but would do it if I could.  Gotta say they haven't covered themselves in glory with both the vaccination rollout and the inability to set up proper open-air quarantine locations.

[red750]

[pmccarthy]

Maybe Covid changes behaviour to enhance its spread. Like in some insects.

 

[spacesailor]

marty-d

Hang in there, lot,s of youngsters are waiting for a big  $ Incentive, before they,r going anywhere near that needle 

. LoL

spacesailor

[Jerry_Atrick]

On 29/05/2021 at 12:10 AM, red750 said:

Thse buggers that won't stay home! Looks like 21 days quarantine should be mandatory, with new arrivals separated from those due to leave within a week. No offense Jerry, but while people are traipsing in and out of the country, we will forever be putting out spot fires. And vaccination is not the answer. You can be vaccinated, still catch and spread the virus, just not suffer the more severe effects.

No offence taken..  As @willedoo points out, the AZ has a lower efficacy than most other vaccines, which means one is more likely to catch COVID than others, which means for a bit, the person is a carrier (as they are less likely to suffer material symptoms).

 

Personally, I would be happy to quarantine for 3 weeks if that is what is required. For a virus such as this, one must do what is required.. Actually, 3 weeks locked up in a hotel room is not a bad option at times.

 

In the UK, 2 weeks ago they relaxed lockdown. They have never had an effective quarantine strategy. Guess what, cases, hospitalisations, and deaths are up. The next relaxation date, June 21, is looking shakey now. People here are worse than Aus with respect to selfishness and entitled attitude. Although they have done better in the vaccination stakes, the UK is so far not out of the woods...

[spacesailor]

Steady on jerry.

At $ 300 a day, they are very expensive Holiday stays.

I just passed a motel at $80 a double,

Three weeks at a ' resort motel ' would be a lot better than ONE room  !.

spacesailor

[pmccarthy]

I just got rejected for an Astrazenica shot, due to risk of clotting. Wasted an hour and half waiting. I have been put on the essential services list for Pfizer next week. A good outcome I think.

[octave]

Why you can't compare Covid-19 vaccines

[Old Koreelah]

On 30/05/2021 at 11:52 AM, pmccarthy said:

Maybe Covid changes behaviour to enhance its spread. Like in some insects.

 

I believe that actually happens with some parasites. One which is carried by domestic cars is said to act on the brains of infested persons to encourage risk-taking behavior that spreads the parasite to new hosts.

[spacesailor]

It's making No difference to those Big Parasites in parliament,! Just the same ' head down, snout in trough '  as per usual.

spacesailor

[octave]

2 hours ago, pmccarthy said:

I just got rejected for an Astrazenica shot, due to risk of clotting. Wasted an hour and half waiting. I have been put on the essential services list for Pfizer next week. A good outcome I think.

Wasted an hour and a half but ultimately you will end up with the best vaccine for you.   

 

I did put off getting vaccinated because I briefly held the view that the best vaccine for me was not Astrazeneca however shortly  before the latest outbreak I came to the conclusion that waiting entailed a greater risk than  having AZ straight away.    The risk of adverse reactions has to be weighed up against the risk of catching covid and having a poor outcome.

 

For me I am less concerned with the rate that a vaccine reduces infection than what that infection may mean for me. 

 

 

"COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca confirms 100% protection against severe disease, hospitalisation and death in the primary analysis of Phase III trials"

 

https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-confirms-protection-against-severe-disease-hospitalisation-and-death-in-the-primary-analysis-of-phase-iii-trials.html

 

This is the most important figure.   This means I could still catch covid but it will be a mere inconvenience.   

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

3 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Steady on jerry.

At $ 300 a day, they are very expensive Holiday stays.

I just passed a motel at $80 a double,

Three weeks at a ' resort motel ' would be a lot better than ONE room  !.

spacesailor

Well, I have it on good authority that there are ways around it...  And, in any case, even if there aren't, small price to pay..

[spacesailor]

$4,000 plus will buy a good few hours in the aircraft of your Choice !.

spacesailor

 

[Yenn]

It doesn't matter how long you stay in hotel quarantine, it depends upon how that quarantine is done. If the workers at the quarantine site go home and into the general population, you are going to get have the virus getting away.

I think all of the cases in Australia have been escapes from quarantine, either from just incompetence on the part of the government or on the part of those running the quarantine sites.

It seems that the vaccines will not prevent us catching the virus and they will not prevent us spreading it, so all they are really doing is slowing its advance down. It is not going to obliterate the human race but it could well reduce the numbers to a very small proportion of what they are now.

[octave]

1 hour ago, Yenn said:

It seems that the vaccines will not prevent us catching the virus and they will not prevent us spreading it, so all they are really doing is slowing its advance down. It is not going to obliterate the human race but it could well reduce the numbers to a very small proportion of what they are now.

 

The vaccine will greatly reduce the transmission rate. Even one of the less impressive vaccines such as AZ at around 70% will make a massive difference.  This means that   if everyone was immunized, 30% may still be able to be infected but the pool of infected people form whom they could catch it is that smaller and if they do get it they will not become seriously ill.  Yes this means covid may be here to stay but in the same way the common cold is here to stay.

 

The news IS good 

[spacesailor]

According to what I read.

Vaccinated people Will still catch AND transmit this virus.

The only difference will be, Not having the Hospitalisation.

Just like a bad dose of "WU-FLU",.

spacesailor

[red750]

Latest reports from here in Victoria indicate that this Indian strain of the virus can be  caught simply by standing next to a carrier in a coffee shop, possibly just waiting for the pedestrian lights to change.

[Marty_d]

Look, I previously thought (and said) that the federal government were doing a good job with Covid, and in some respects they did (although I'm starting to suspect it was far more due to the states).

 

But now they have become a joke.  After losing over 600 people due to the virus made it into age care, they didn't even make it mandatory for age care workers to be vaccinated.

 

WTF???  Talk about not learning from your mistakes!  What bunch of idiots look at the age care system, KNOWING that the deaths were caused by underpaid workers having to do shifts at multiple facilities to make ends meet, and say "she'll be right, mate!  We don't need to make vaccination mandatory for them.  We don't have to make it easy for them or support them.  We won't go in to every age care facility with special mobile teams and vaccinate all staff, we'll just leave it up to the underpaid casual staff to organise their own appointments, take time off work (which they won't get paid for), then probably have to take a sick day the next day or two which they won't get paid for either.   Who wouldn't go for that deal?   Surely we can leave it up to the aged care management, they're not driven by greed and cost-cutting at all.  Oh, and we won't bother keeping records either so we know how many haven't been vaccinated.  Data?  We don't need no stinking data!!"

 

This coming after their sh*tfull rollout of the vaccination program at large just makes them look like Keystone Kops.  They couldn't organise a root in a brothel, a pissup at a brewery, hell they couldn't even make a sandpit on Bondi Beach.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Marty - the same people that wanted to join Clive Palmer in a constitutional challenge in the High Court when WA decided it was going to close its borders.. only to back out because they could finally see the electoral damage it would do to them. The same that left the states in control of the international borders, of which they have constitutional control (I understand - could be wrong). They haven't had to do much and just keep the spin spinning... When they have had to do something or decided they were going to do something, they were found wanting.

 

To be fair though, one has to question the public service competence; usually in these situations, the public service just get on and do things. We had the same here.. the central purchasing of PPE was a nightmare, so the local NHS management took it upon themselves to get the stuff they needed (as an example).

Edited June 1, 2021 by Jerry_Atrick

[octave]

Several federal government ministers have said recently with regard to the vaccine rollout that "it is not a race"  the problem is that it is a race or at least should be.  All we really have available are mass vaccination or lockdowns.   

 

Brazil Covid: Deaths plunge after town's adults vaccinated

[Marty_d]

Not sure that you can blame the public service when they get no leadership from the ministers responsible.  The trouble is they're facing an election this year (which is probably why they've ramped up the anti-China rhetoric - nothing like an "external threat" to get votes, that's a classic from the John Howard playbook).

Oh, and then there's their mates from the fossil fuel industry in their ear about ensuring any transition is from one form of fossil fuel to another, rather than do anything which may result in lower emissions, and more importantly, lower profits.

So as a result the focus is purely on politics - for a change *ironic tone* - and the actual business of planning and leading an effective response to a pandemic is waaaaay down the list. 

[nomadpete]

Cynically.....

 

Did anybody else notice how our political leaders very publicly got the first vaccine jabs......

 

Then told the punters, 'It's not a race'

 

(No need to worry, we made sure We're Ok)

[Yenn]

We don;t have political leaders. Those at the top of the political pile are not leaders. They are professional politicians with only one aim in life and that is to stay in power. The frightening thing is that given their very poor handling of the situation I am afraid that they will still manage to scare enough of the voters to put them back in power when the election comes.

Of course they are aided by the oppositions inability to avoid shooting themselves in the foot.