Deadly Wuhan Coronavirus

nivek

As Above So Below
Denmark to reconsider exclusion of J&J and AstraZeneca shots

Denmark's government on Monday asked the country's health authorities to reconsider a decision to exclude Johnson & Johnson's and AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shots from its vaccination programme.

The move was prompted by a two-week delay in the Danish vaccination programme to September due to delivery of fewer Moderna and CureVac vaccines than expected, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said.

Denmark excluded the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines over a potential link to a rare but serious form of blood clot.

"We are now further into the epidemic, and the vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have now been in use in Europe for some time, Heunicke said. "There is a larger data base worldwide to assess the effect and side effects of the vaccines," he said.

The health authority found in early May that the benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccines did not outweigh the risk of causing the possible adverse effect in those who receive the vaccine.

Excluding the J&J vaccine, which accounts for around a third of Denmark's total contracted supplies of COVID-19 shots, delayed the country's vaccination calendar by up to four weeks, the health authority said.

Denmark had vaccinated 21% of its population as of Monday.

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Celestial
Thinking about this some, shouldn't restaurants be opened before any cinemas?...If I owned a restaurant I would be upset the government allows corporates (cinemas) to open and make money before the local people can open their restaurants...

Not being in the UK personally my opinion doesn't count for much but it seems Britain should have been as open as the US is right now given the vaccination campaign has been going on in earnest as it has here across the water...Honestly though in hindsight, I think every country should have done what Australia did and locked up their respective countries of outside travel immediately in the early part of last year...

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Both restaurants and cinemas were allowed to open their interiors to patrons on the 17th of May. I noticed, from reports, that the cinemas in a nearby 'no go' area happened to open on the following weekend. So, in practice, the cinemas did open after restaurants.
 

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Celestial
Here's a graphic from the Telegraph that shows the Indian variant (sorry, the Delta variant) outcompeting other variants in many areas across England:

upload_2021-6-1_15-3-5.png
 

Dejan Corovic

As above, so bellow

nivek

As Above So Below
'More infectious' Indian Covid variant is growing rapidly in the US and now makes up 7% of all cases | Daily Mail Online

(Excerpt)

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE INDIA VARIANTS?

Real name: B.1.617 – now divided into B.1.617.1; B.1.617.2; B.1.617.3

When and where was it discovered?

The variant was first reported by the Indian government in February 2021.

But the first cases appear to date back to October 2020.

Its presence in the UK was first announced by Public Health England on April 15.

What mutations does it have?

It has 13 mutations that separate it from the original Covid virus that emerged in China — but the two main ones are named E484Q and L452R.

Scientists suspect these two alterations can help it to transmit faster and to get past immune cells made in response to older variants.

PHE officials said it has split into three distinct virus types, with types 1 and 3 both having the E484Q mutation but type 2 missing the change, despite having all the other hallmarks of the variant.

Is it more infectious and can it evade vaccines?

The L452R mutation is also found on the Californian variant (B.1.429), even though the two evolved independently. It is thought to make the American strain 20 per cent more infectious than the original Wuhan version – even with the extra 20 per cent it is likely slower than the Kent variant.

The E484Q mutation is very similar to the one found in the South African and Brazil variants known as E484K, which can help the virus evade antibodies.

The South African variant is thought to make vaccines about 30 per cent less effective at stopping infections, but it's not clear what effect it has on severe illness.

Professor Sharon Peacock, of PHE, claimed there was 'limited' evidence of E484Q's effect on immunity and vaccines. Lab studies have suggested it may be able to escape some antibodies, but to what degree remains uncertain.

Early research suggests both the AstraZeneca vaccine, known as Covishield in India, and the Pfizer jab, still work against the variant, as well as India's own jab, Covaxin. A paper published by SAGE last week suggested two doses of the Pfizer vaccine is good enough to protect against all known variants.

How deadly is it?

Scientists still don't know for sure. But they are fairly certain it won't be more deadly than the current variants in circulation in Britain.

This is because there is no evolutionary benefit to Covid becoming more deadly. The virus's sole goal is to spread as much as it can, so it needs people to be alive and mix with others for as long as possible to achieve this.

And, if other variants are anything to go by, the Indian strain should not be more lethal.

There is still no conclusive evidence to show dominant versions like the Kent and South African variants are more deadly than the original Covid strain - even though they are highly transmissible.

Doctors in India claim there has been a sudden spike in Covid admissions among people under 45, who have traditionally been less vulnerable to the disease.

There have been anecdotal reports from medics that young people make up two third of new patients in Delhi. In the southern IT hub of Bangalore, under-40s made up 58 percent of infections in early April, up from 46 percent last year.

There is still no proof younger people are more badly affected by the new strain.

Should we be worried?

Scientists are unsure exactly how transmissible or vaccine-resistant the Indian variant is because it hasn't been studied thoroughly.

The fact it appears to have increased infectivity should not pose an immediate threat because the current dominant UK version appears equally or more transmissible.

However, if the Indian version proves to be effective at slipping past vaccine-gained immunity, then its prevalence could rise as the immunisation programme squashes the UK variant.

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Celestial
I was wondering if and when the WHO were going to get around to this. Apparently they have done so on request of the Indian government, who are sensitive about the "Indian variant" name, and to be consistent with all the fuss they were making about the name of Covid-19 originally more than a year ago at the behest of the PRC:

'It's the right thing to do': WHO renames COVID variants with Greek letter names to avoid confusion, stigma
[...]
The new WHO names are meant to be easier to remember and more practical for non-scientific audiences, as the virus lineage names do not trip off the tongue. For example, the variant discovered in the United States in March of last year is known as the B.1.427 to scientists.

Calling something "the South Africa variant" can make people fear anyone coming from South Africa, even when it's not clear the variant actually emerged there
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There's no evidence of this. I would counter that geographic names are not stigmatizing, but a useful mnemonic for laypeople. Scientists also name bacterial strains, for example, after places all the time.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
More Americans Searched for Vaccine Appointments After CDC Announced New Mask Guidelines

(Excerpt)

Visits to Vaccines.gov, the main government website for finding vaccine sites by zip code, started increasing in the moments after CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced the new, lifted guidelines on the afternoon of May 13. The site had been seeing its usual amount of daily traffic, but "just after 2 p.m., you really started to see them go up," John Brownstein, the co-founder of VaccineFinder, which runs Vaccines.gov, told CNN.

Two hours later, when President Joe Biden shared the new rules in a White House briefing and posted on social media: "The rule is now simple: get vaccinated or wear a mask until you do. The choice is yours," the site saw its second-highest visits ever. By the end of the day, it was the most-trafficked yet for Vaccines.gov.

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nivek

As Above So Below
I was wondering if and when the WHO were going to get around to this. Apparently they have done so on request of the Indian government, who are sensitive about the "Indian variant" name, and to be consistent with all the fuss they were making about the name of Covid-19 originally more than a year ago at the behest of the PRC:


There's no evidence of this. I would counter that geographic names are not stigmatizing, but a useful mnemonic for laypeople. Scientists also name bacterial strains, for example, after places all the time.

So will they go as far as attempt to conceal the origins of future variants for the reason of saving face to the country or city of origin?...

I want to know where these variants began...I have been estimating a timeframe on when to expect these newly rising variants to arrive in my area judging by where they began...The Indian variant for example, I've estimated a month ago that it will be found in my area in the larger populated surrounding cities by the end of this month of June...The US should have stopped travelers from India months ago...

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"Indian variant" or the DELTA is already is Finland. At least in 2 regions(but not in mine, yet). Really spiked up the numbers there for a while at least. The first part of the vaccine does not protect from it enough apparently(33 percent prevention effectiveness) and only 10 percent have gotten both parts(where it will be about 88 percent effective), around half the population have gotten the first dose. It also seems to get around some protection in hospital environments. Might really screw up the summer around here if it gets out of hand.
 
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nivek

As Above So Below
Here's a graphic from the Telegraph that shows the Indian variant (sorry, the Delta variant) outcompeting other variants in many areas across England:

View attachment 14244

Here's another problem this article below highlights, Indians using alternate routes to travel out of their country to other countries that have banned direct travel from India...I've heard many people are also using fake documents to show negative test results or fake vaccine documents, this really muddied the waters terribly...

COVID-19 India travel loophole: The $4,500 flight path that is helping stranded Canadians get back in the country

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nivek

As Above So Below
Assam doctor assaulted by kin of deceased Covid patient; 24 held

Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association’s Assam unit Wednesday called on all doctors in the state to abstain from outdoor patient services as a token protest. The group has demanded a swift trial of the accused. It has also sought the deployment of armed security personnel in all health care facilities of the state.


A doctor on Covid-19 duty in Assam was assaulted by a mob comprising the relatives and friends of a patient who died at a health facility on Tuesday afternoon. The police arrested 24 people allegedly involved in the incident early on Wednesday.

Dr Seuj Kumar Senapati was kicked and thrashed with brooms and utensils by the mob at the Udali Covid care centre in Hojai district. The incident came to light after a video of the assault was shared widely on social media.

Dr Senapati was carrying out the government-mandated rural service duty after completing his post-MBBS internship. He had been recently posted at the Udali facility.

Hojai district SP Barun Purakayastha told The Indian Express: “The patient died at the hospital. The mob consisted of relatives and friends of the deceased. Some of them had come with the patient from their village while some came later on hearing that the patient had died. All perpetrators have been arrested.”

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma put out names of the 24 arrested people — all of whom belonged to a minority community — on Twitter.

“24 culprits involved in this barbaric attack have been arrested and the chargesheet will be filed at the earliest. I am personally monitoring this investigation and I promise that justice will be served,” Sarma tweeted.

(More on the link)

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nivek

As Above So Below
Some 2,000 people had 'severe adverse reactions' to Pfizer, Moderna vaccine

SINGAPORE – There are some 2,000 individuals who have experienced severe adverse reactions after the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine and they should not receive an mRNA vaccine again, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

In a Facebook post on Saturday (5 June), the MOH said it is evaluating other suitable non-mRNA vaccines. "We expect to make such vaccines available before the end of this year for use in our national vaccination programme, after the vaccines have been rigorously assessed and approved by the HSA (Health Sciences Authority)," the ministry said.

In a press release on Friday, the MOH said that these 2,000 individuals are those who had developed "anaphylaxis or allergic reactions (hives, face/ eyelid/ lip/ throat swelling, generalised rash within 7 days after vaccination)".

The individuals can consider taking vaccines under the Special Access Route (SAR), such as the Sinovac vaccine, if they cannot wait, the ministry added in its post.

The ministry is also awaiting "some outstanding data on the Sinovac vaccine to complete our evaluation" for the vaccine to be part of the national vaccination programme.

(More on the link)

 

nivek

As Above So Below
A woman with HIV had the coronavirus for 216 days. The virus mutated at least 30 times inside her.

A 36-year-old woman with advanced HIV carried the novel coronavirus for 216 days, during which the virus accumulated more than 30 mutations, a new study has found.

The case report, which has not been peer-reviewed, was published as a preprint on medRxiv on Thursday. The woman, who has not been named, was identified as a 36-year-old living in South Africa.

The coronaviruses gathered 13 mutations to the spike protein, which is known to help the virus escape the immune response, and 19 other mutations that could change the behavior of the virus. It is not clear whether the mutations she carried were passed on to others, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Some of these mutations have been seen in variants of concern, such as:

  • The E484K mutation, which is part of the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7, which was first seen in the UK).
  • The N510Y mutation, which is part of the Beta variant (B.1.351, which was first seen in South Africa).
If more such cases are found, it raises the prospect that HIV infection could be a source of new variants simply because the patients could carry the virus for longer, Tulio de Oliveira, a geneticist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban and the study's author, told the LA Times.

But it is probably the exception rather than the rule for people living with HIV, because prolonged infection requires severe immunocompromise, Dr. Juan Ambrosini, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Barcelona, told Insider. Indeed, the woman in the case study was immunosuppressed.

The findings are important for the control of COVID-19 because these patients could be a continuous source of transmission and evolution of the virus, Ambrosini said.

(More on the link)

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nivek

As Above So Below
Amazon is apparently selling counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards

Olivia Little, a researcher at Media Matters, previously reported that Etsy has likewise struggled with sales of illegal, fake vaccination cards — including one particularly egregious case of a seller offering "'official' COVID-19 vaccination ID cards for $19.99," who'd even paid to promote the listing and made at least 34 sales. The New York Times reported that in general, scammers' efforts are "far from hidden, with Facebook pages named 'vax-cards' and eBay listings with 'blank vaccine cards' openly hawking the items."

The FBI has warned that fake vaccination cards are illegal, and lying about one's vaccination status could potentially put even fully vaccinated members of a community in danger. As CBS Tampa Bay writes based on a conversation with Harvard epidemiology and immunology professor Dr. Michael Mina, "for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, risks increase if more than one faker shows up."

"If there are too many people doing that, there are no safe places anymore," Mina said.

Little later reported that Amazon has now seemingly removed the listing.




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Celestial
The Indian variant has an estimated R-nought of 5.0-6.0 in the UK. From the table I made earlier in this post here

Deadly Wuhan Coronavirus

a vaccine that is on average 90% effective requires a coverage of 89-93% of the population to reach herd immunity for this range of R-nought. An 80% effective vaccine requires 100% coverage at an r-nought of 5.0. It cannot achieve herd immunity at any higher r-nought.

The symptomatology for the infection has now changed. According to the team behind the ZOE symptom-tracker app, there is almost no anosmia (loss of smell) being reported, and it is having a cold-like presentation. Any cold-like symptoms mean that the sufferer could have Covid.
 
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nivek

As Above So Below
The Indian variant has an estimated r-nought of 5.0-6.0 in the UK. From the table I made earlier in this post here

Deadly Wuhan Coronavirus

a vaccine that is on average 90% effective requires a coverage of 89-93% of the population to reach herd immunity for this range of r-nought. An 80% effective vaccine requires 100% coverage at an r-nought of 5.0. It cannot achieve herd immunity at any higher r-nought.

The symptomatology for the infection has now changed. According to the team behind the ZOE symptom-tracker app, there is almost no anosmia (loss of smell) being reported, and it is having a cold-like presentation. Any cold-like symptoms mean that the sufferer could have Covid.


What about loss of taste?..That seemed to be widely prevelant in early symptoms before the more aggressive variants emerged...The UK variant is currently the dominant variant in the US, however the Indian variant is gaining ground quickly each day...I'm not as concerned with getting sick from the Indian variant as I am wondering if vaccinated people can spread that Indian variant to others, even if showing no symptoms...

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nivek

As Above So Below
Heart inflammation in young men higher than expected after Pfizer, Moderna vaccines -U.S.

(Reuters) -A higher-than-expected number of young men have experienced heart inflammation after their second dose of the mRNA COVID-19 shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, according to data from two vaccine safety monitoring systems, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday.

The CDC and other health regulators have been investigating heart inflammation cases after Israel’s Health Ministry reported that it had found a likely link to the condition in young men who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. The agency said it is still assessing the risk from the condition and has not yet concluded that there was a causal relationship between the vaccines and cases of myocarditis or pericarditis.

While some patients required hospitalization, most have fully recovered from their symptoms, the CDC said. More than half of the cases reported to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) after people had received their second dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines were in people between the ages of 12 and 24, the CDC said. Those age groups accounted for less than 9% of doses administered.

(More on the link)

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