*** OFFICIAL *** COVID-19 CoronaVirus Thread. Fresh epidemic fears as child pneumonia cases surge in Europe after China outbreak. NOW in USA (25 Viewers)

[gianmarco]

And, from a personal standpoint, we've mostly been back to normal.  As I posted here, my girls were in the trial for 5-11 year olds and I'm positive one of them got the vaccine and pretty sure the other did as well.  So, from a health standpoint, I'm not worried about them (even given the low risk at baseline without it).  However, knowing any illness becomes an inconvenience to get testing, miss school, etc, that still factors into our decision making.

I'm hoping with widespread vaccine availability for all school age kids that we can get away from having to miss school, quarantine, etc. with any new cough or runny nose which is currently the case.  We just went through that at the beginning of this week and it's a time waster.  If that can happen (and potentially get rid of masks), then that's really one of the final steps to return to "normal" while the pandemic is going on and just hope enough get people get vaccinated at some point to really drive overall numbers down to end this thing for good.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

The perspective when you have young children changes things a little. Once they get vaccinated, then things will really take a big step back to normalcy.

But when having to quarantine for anything until testing completed to go back to school is a thing, it's a factor in decision making.

Also, some are still higher risk from a health standpoint or have close family members in that category. I believe @Leeroy Jenkinsis in that boat. Not everyone's risk is the same 

Thank you. I think that as we get boosted and have the kids getting vaxxed this time of year, helps as well. We ramp up immunity right before peak season in the northeast and we can get to the spring with cases dropping normality.  
 

With better weather, more robust community immunity, and less cases out there over spring and summer, we can get this thing to really drop and be seasonal with flu and covid vaccination every October/November. Then this is truly endemic and we are mostly “normal” again overall. 

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

And, from a personal standpoint, we've mostly been back to normal.  As I posted here, my girls were in the trial for 5-11 year olds and I'm positive one of them got the vaccine and pretty sure the other did as well.  So, from a health standpoint, I'm not worried about them (even given the low risk at baseline without it).  However, knowing any illness becomes an inconvenience to get testing, miss school, etc, that still factors into our decision making.

I'm hoping with widespread vaccine availability for all school age kids that we can get away from having to miss school, quarantine, etc. with any new cough or runny nose which is currently the case.  We just went through that at the beginning of this week and it's a time waster.  If that can happen (and potentially get rid of masks), then that's really one of the final steps to return to "normal" while the pandemic is going on and just hope enough get people get vaccinated at some point to really drive overall numbers down to end this thing for good.

Yea, my kids had colds. Had to get a negative covid test for the 1st grader. He missed 3 days of school and his brother the whole week (his symptoms trailed by 3 days). 

 

[fatness]

Thank you. I think that as we get boosted and have the kids getting vaxxed this time of year, helps as well. We ramp up immunity right before peak season in the northeast and we can get to the spring with cases dropping normality.  
 

With better weather, more robust community immunity, and less cases out there over spring and summer, we can get this thing to really drop and be seasonal with flu and covid vaccination every October/November. Then this is truly endemic and we are mostly “normal” again overall. 

I hope your optimism is warranted,  but I do remember last year when lockdowns were lifted, things opened up more and people were outdoors more, Thanksgiving and indoor season began and the delta variant spread like crazy. Here we are a year later with the same essential optimism or blindness.  Fortunately now we have the benefit of effective vaccines, but we also have a significant part of the population that won't get vaccinated and are volunteering to help the virus and its variants keep spreading.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I hope your optimism is warranted,  but I do remember last year when lockdowns were lifted, things opened up more and people were outdoors more, Thanksgiving and indoor season began and the delta variant spread like crazy. Here we are a year later with the same essential optimism or blindness.  Fortunately now we have the benefit of effective vaccines, but we also have a significant part of the population that won't get vaccinated and are volunteering to help the virus and its variants keep spreading.

Well, hopefully by booster season, if there are new variants of concern, we can add those to the cocktail. 

 

[Alex P Keaton]

And, from a personal standpoint, we've mostly been back to normal.  As I posted here, my girls were in the trial for 5-11 year olds and I'm positive one of them got the vaccine and pretty sure the other did as well.  So, from a health standpoint, I'm not worried about them (even given the low risk at baseline without it).  However, knowing any illness becomes an inconvenience to get testing, miss school, etc, that still factors into our decision making.

I'm hoping with widespread vaccine availability for all school age kids that we can get away from having to miss school, quarantine, etc. with any new cough or runny nose which is currently the case.  We just went through that at the beginning of this week and it's a time waster.  If that can happen (and potentially get rid of masks), then that's really one of the final steps to return to "normal" while the pandemic is going on and just hope enough get people get vaccinated at some point to really drive overall numbers down to end this thing for good.

If you got Pfizer for your first two doses, would you get a Pfizer or Moderna boost?

 

[gianmarco]

If you got Pfizer for your first two doses, would you get a Pfizer or Moderna boost?

I did Pfizer for mine. I don't have any info either way. 

 

[Alex P Keaton]

I did Pfizer for mine. I don't have any info either way. 

Fair enough.  Figured if anyone would know it was you.  

 

[Terminalxylem]

There are 1500 people a day still dying from this thing. For reference, that is nearly twice as many that were dying in early April of 2020 when we all started freaking out about this. True, most that are dying are unvaccinated, but it certainly isn't everyone. 

Now, I rarely wear a mask these days and my life has gotten pretty much back to normal, but that changes when my parents visit (dad is an organ transplant recipient and super high risk still). There are plenty of people around the country that are still at risk of dying from covid.

Yeah, I don’t get it. A contagious disease killing more people daily than anything else? Even vaccinated and boosted, I don’t look at that as an invitation to go about business as usual.

Fixated on a return to normalcy, I think many people are failing to consider all the vulnerable people they encounter on a daily basis.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I hope your optimism is warranted,  but I do remember last year when lockdowns were lifted, things opened up more and people were outdoors more, Thanksgiving and indoor season began and the delta variant spread like crazy. Here we are a year later with the same essential optimism or blindness.  Fortunately now we have the benefit of effective vaccines, but we also have a significant part of the population that won't get vaccinated and are volunteering to help the virus and its variants keep spreading.

The difference this time, hopefully, is a much greater percentage of the population will be immunized or previously infected (or both). Plus we have a couple treatment options.

Barring another bad variant, I think spring is a reasonable goal to be mostly out of this mess. 

 

[Doug B]

One thing we’re perhaps lucky about with Delta is that it will be very hard for another variant to out-compete it. Delta virions just replicate too fast.

 

[beer 30]

Barring another bad variant, I think spring is a reasonable goal to be mostly out of this mess. 

Hear what you're saying and this isn't a statement directed at you so please don't take it that way. Much respect for contributions in this thread and field of work.

I'm kinda over the this season we should be back to normal stuff. I've heard it ever season since this started and we just keep doing the same thing over & over. The folks who said it will be 2-3 years before we get back to some semblance of normality look pretty smart right now but got absolutely crushed when they opined about the length of time necessary for this to run it's course. You're correct in that at some point we'll dwindle the number of people down to negligible that will still have risk, think we call it herd immunity but who knows anymore. Too many variables with this thing, I just never feel like there is an end in sight that I'd be comfortable agreeing with 

One thing we’re perhaps lucky about with Delta is that it will be very hard for another variant to out-compete it. Delta virions just replicate too fast.

Piggy backing on Terminalxylem's comments, I sure hope so but we seem to find a way every time we think we're stepping into the clear.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Hear what you're saying and this isn't a statement directed at you so please don't take it that way. Much respect for contributions in this thread and field of work.

I'm kinda over the this season we should be back to normal stuff. I've heard it ever season since this started and we just keep doing the same thing over & over. The folks who said it will be 2-3 years before we get back to some semblance of normality look pretty smart right now but got absolutely crushed when they opined about the length of time necessary for this to run it's course. You're correct in that at some point we'll dwindle the number of people down to negligible that will still have risk, think we call it herd immunity but who knows anymore. Too many variables with this thing, I just never feel like there is an end in sight that I'd be comfortable agreeing with 

Piggy backing on Terminalxylem's comments, I sure hope so but we seem to find a way every time we think we're stepping into the clear.

Sure, I was wrong with my initial prediction that we’d be close last fall. But without delta, seemed like a reasonable extrapolation mid-summer.

I agree with @Doug B that delta is about as contagious as we’ve ever seen in a respiratory virus, so hopefully not much more it can do in terms of transmissibility. While I suppose a vaccine escape mutant is possible, I still believe the RBD is crucial enough that the virus will be hard pressed to alter it in a way to simultaneously resist antibodies and maintain ability to bind ACE-2.

In any event, I don’t think now is the time to get complacent. We still have a ton of covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths, on top of typical winter surges in regular illnesses.

FWIW, with some, but certainly not all, of the same pandemic variables, it took the 1918 flu a couple years to burn out.

 

[Doug B]

Just as an aside: I really hope work on a nasal COVID vaccine is still ongoing and there are concrete plans obtain approval and to bring such a vaccine to market ASAP.

EDIT: I forgot to specify "why nasal?" Because it elicits antibodies located at the most common source of infection -- the sinus cavities. Before COVID, I didn't realize vaccine-application location really mattered, but apparently it does make a difference.

I can see a world in which we do a nasal COVID vaccination one year, and then the following year do the shot-in-the-arm. Then keep alternating. Maybe in the beginning it will be on a six-month schedule instead of annually. Something like that.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

SARS-CoV-2 can infect the inner ear, study says

tl;dr summary:

You’ve heard of Covid brain, Covid nose, Covid toes. Now you can add Covid ear to the list of body parts or systems the coronavirus can invade with varying degrees of severity. New research out today (study linked above) ties tinnitus, dizziness, and new hearing loss to Covid-19 infection. Looking at both human and mouse inner ear cells, scientists identified the molecules that allow SARS-CoV-2 to infect specific human inner ear cell types. It turns out that certain types of cells in the ear — hair cells and Schwann cells — produce the proteins needed for SARS-CoV-2 to enter those cells. That suggests inner ear infections cause hearing and balance problems in people with Covid infections, their study in Communications Medicine concludes, and the researchers urge health care providers to watch for these problems in Covid patients.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Among COVID-19–like illness hospitalizations among adults aged ≥18 years whose previous infection or vaccination occurred 90–179 days earlier, the adjusted odds of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 among unvaccinated adults with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection were 5.49-fold higher than the odds among fully vaccinated recipients of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine who had no previous documented infection (95% confidence interval = 2.75–10.99).

Link

As a layperson, I'm kind of shocked that vaccines are 550% more effective at preventing infection than prior infection itself.  I'd be interested in knowing whether there are other illnesses for which vaccines make this much of a difference or whether this is a relatively new mRNA thing.  Either way, it's a clear sign to get vaccinated if you haven't already.  

 

[beer 30]

Link

As a layperson, I'm kind of shocked that vaccines are 550% more effective at preventing infection than prior infection itself.  I'd be interested in knowing whether there are other illnesses for which vaccines make this much of a difference or whether this is a relatively new mRNA thing.  Either way, it's a clear sign to get vaccinated if you haven't already.  

Somebody should tell cav

 

[gianmarco]

Somebody should tell cav

So it can be promptly ignored.....

 

[Terminalxylem]

Link

As a layperson, I'm kind of shocked that vaccines are 550% more effective at preventing infection than prior infection itself.  I'd be interested in knowing whether there are other illnesses for which vaccines make this much of a difference or whether this is a relatively new mRNA thing.  Either way, it's a clear sign to get vaccinated if you haven't already.  

HPV is the most common example of a vaccine besting Mom Nature, and there are a few others.

But to be clear, viruses and other microbes have all sorts of strategies to evade immunity. Much of the practice of medicine is about helping nature do it’s job a little better.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Somebody should tell cav

Still waiting on peer review from that Israeli paper…

 

[The Commish]

Link

As a layperson, I'm kind of shocked that vaccines are 550% more effective at preventing infection than prior infection itself.  I'd be interested in knowing whether there are other illnesses for which vaccines make this much of a difference or whether this is a relatively new mRNA thing.  Either way, it's a clear sign to get vaccinated if you haven't already.  

We need not be.  This is the benefit of thought/analysis that the body doesn't possess itself.  Our ability to add this to the equation is huge.  The fact that we can do it quickly and safely is even more huge.  Our bodies identify foreign proteins, but they may not be the "best" proteins when they create the roadmap for fighting off a virus.  That we are able to intervene and guide that process is what's amazing.  

 

[Jobber]

We scheduled my 19 year old for a Moderna booster next Friday. He and I got the J&J in early April.

I would get the booster myself, but had a breakthrough infection early this month. A very mild case of course. The worst (best?) part of it was I lived in the basement for 10 days. My wife delivered my meals to the top of the stairs while I played Xbox, binged Battlestar Galactica, Queen’s Gambit, and a bunch of movies.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

A friend’s infant had covid a couple of months ago and is now having severe spleen issues. 

 

[jobarules]

Vaccine mandate shuts down 26 firehouse in NYC

https://nypost.com/2021/10/30/fdny-firehouses-shuttered-over-vaccine-staffing-shortages/

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Vaccine mandate shuts down 26 firehouse in NYC

https://nypost.com/2021/10/30/fdny-firehouses-shuttered-over-vaccine-staffing-shortages/

Would be glad to see them fire anyone who refuses to get vaccinated.

 

[fatness]

6 FDNY Firefighters Suspended for Taking Truck to Threaten NY Senate Staff Over Vaccine Mandate

 

[fatness]

Vaccine mandate shuts down 26 firehouse in NYC

https://nypost.com/2021/10/30/fdny-firehouses-shuttered-over-vaccine-staffing-shortages/

The mandate doesn't take effect until Monday. That was a sickout protest.

 

[gianmarco]

The mandate doesn't take effect until Monday. That was a sickout protest.

Thank you.

NSFW language, but this.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Thank you.

NSFW language, but this.

Good riddance.  

 

[fatness]

More information.

A half-dozen on-duty city firefighters, answering their own unhinged 911 call inside an FDNY truck, stormed a Brooklyn state senator’s office Friday over City Hall’s looming deadline for vaccines.

The six smoke-eaters were instantly suspended for four weeks after commandeering the vehicle, with its emergency lights flashing, before four of the fuming firefighters headed inside to declare the city mandate meant “blood would be on (the) hands” of State Sen. Zellnor Myrie — who had nothing to do with the order for city workers to get vaccinated or get sent home without pay.

Other vaccine-protesting firefighters called in sick Friday, putting some firehouses temporarily out of service, a Fire Department official said.

The protest crew at Myrie’s office was based a long block away, at Ladder 113 on Rogers Ave. in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

After riding to Myrie’s office, the firefighters demanded the legislator’s home address from the badly shaken office workers, Myrie told the Daily News. And then, according to a source, the crew headed over to harass workers at the offices of Community Board 9.

When a staffer asked why they wanted the senator’s home address, one firefighter said “blood will be on his hands” because of the COVID-19 vaccination mandate, authorities said.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

6 FDNY Firefighters Suspended for Taking Truck to Threaten NY Senate Staff Over Vaccine Mandate

Suspended?

Seems kind of illegal.

 

[BigJim®]

Thank you.

NSFW language, but this.

Hopefully they get a permanently freed up schedule so they can focus on their facebook vax research. 

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Tristan Snell@TristanSnell
BREAKING - After threats that 10,000 NYPD officers could quit the force over the NYC vaccine mandate, the actual number going on unpaid leave today was 34.

Once again we find that with incentives appropriate to COVID's threat to society we can get more than 99% of the population vaxxed.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Once again we find that with incentives appropriate to COVID's threat to society we can get more than 99% of the population vaxxed.

Pretty much just need to call their bluff, and let the diehard antivaxx move to Florida.

 

[fatness]

Out of the approximately 36,000 police officers in the New York Police Department, 34 of them went on unpaid leave for refusing to follow New York City’s coronavirus vaccine mandate and therefore were placed on leave, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.

Another 40 civilian NYPD employees were put on leave for refusing to follow the vaccine mandate, which took effect on Friday and required the city’s employees to get at least their first shot of the vaccine by then.

Overall, 84 percent of the NYPD is vaccinated, according to the NYC Mayor’s office.

In total, 9,000 city employees were reportedly put on paid leave for refusing to abide by the mandate.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/only-34-nypd-officers-actually-went-on-unpaid-leave-after-citys-vaccine-mandate-went-into-effect/

Looks like firefighters are being the main jerks, with much larger than average number of requests for sick leave. Imagine that, feeling entitled to sick leave while refusing to get a shot to prevent them and others from getting sick. 

 

[fatness]

But at least 21,000 city workers covered by the mandate remain unvaccinated: 9,000 who have now been barred from working, and another 12,000 who have applied for religious or medical exemptions. The latter group is being allowed to work until decisions on those exemptions are made in the coming days. The total city workforce is roughly 378,000.

“This mandate was the right thing to do,” de Blasio said Monday. “We now see it worked.”

Between 2% and 3% of NYC workers are out of work as a result of refusing to get vaccinated. Huge press coverage for the resistors, few actual resistors. Same story everywhere.

https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2021/11/01/nyc-puts-9-000-workers-on-unpaid-leave-as-vaccine-mandate-kicks-in-1392160

 

[fatness]

"I ain't afraid of covid or dying, I dam [sic] sure ain't afraid of taking someone with me on my way out,"

 

[The Commish]

Pretty much just need to call their bluff, and let the diehard antivaxx move to Florida.

I'd rather they not...we're already full of crazy.

 

[jobarules]

Once again we find that with incentives appropriate to COVID's threat to society we can get more than 99% of the population vaxxed.

This is a little misleading. The # is 89 now not 34 but more importantly 6000 NYPD have requested religious or medical exemptions. They are allowed to work until their cases are heard. Currently 85% of NYPD is vaccinated.

 

[Terminalxylem]

This is a little misleading. The # is 89 now not 34 but more importantly 6000 NYPD have requested religious or medical exemptions. They are allowed to work until their cases are heard. Currently 85% of NYPD is vaccinated.

Why is it misleading? Seems like the holdout % is pretty low already, and surely will decrease with time.

When all is said and done, what percentage of the force do you think will remain unvaccinated?

 

[jobarules]

Why is it misleading? Seems like the holdout % is pretty low already, and surely will decrease with time.

When all is said and done, what percentage of the force do you think will remain unvaccinated?

No clue. The i told ya so post above was misleading though as alot more NYPD are currently unvaxxed than 34. These 6000 are only working right now due to a loophole. We will see how many of the 6000 become vaxxed once they lose their cases. At that point the I told ya so posts may be more appropriate. 

 

[Terminalxylem]

No clue. The i told ya so post above was misleading though as alot more NYPD are currently unvaxxed than 34. These 6000 are only working right now due to a loophole. We will see how many of the 6000 become vaxxed once they lose their cases. At that point the I told ya so posts may be more appropriate. 

Even if every one of the 6K stands their ground, the “I told you so post” is accurate. 

 

[jobarules]

Even if every one of the 6K stands their ground, the “I told you so post” is accurate. 

How?

After threats that 10,000 NYPD officers could quit the force over the NYC vaccine mandate, the actual number going on unpaid leave today was 34.

 

[Terminalxylem]

How?

After threats that 10,000 NYPD officers could quit the force over the NYC vaccine mandate, the actual number going on unpaid leave today was 34.

While that was linked in the post you quoted, the part included in your response was:

Once again we find that with incentives appropriate to COVID's threat to society we can get more than 99% of the population vaxxed.

I understand your gripe with the numbers, but judging from other posts delineating the total NYC workforce, the % of unvaxxed willing to leave their positions will end up being quite small…so I don’t think the message is deceiving at all.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Now that vaccines are belatedly approved for kids, hopefully some of our states will ditch restrictions and get back to the life that those of us in the Midwest have enjoyed the last six months.

 

[jobarules]

While that was linked in the post you quoted, the part included in your response was:

I understand your gripe with the numbers, but judging from other posts delineating the total NYC workforce, the % of unvaxxed willing to leave their positions will end up being quite small…so I don’t think the message is deceiving at all.

This board is wonky. I quoted the whole post but the actual quote wasn't in my reply.

 

[BigJim®]

Day 3 of a man cold - not the worst I've had and nothing lung/throat yet - but a little worried that I lost my sense of taste this morning. Took a test so I'll know in 24-48. Fully vaxxed with Moderna in April.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

It’s official: 

https://twitter.com/billritter7/status/1455683209459609606?s=20

I must say, I’m glad my boys can get vaxxed and we will do it as soon as possible, but in terms of impact, this pales in comparison to a) my parents getting their shots and b) my wife and I. This just gives me a little more peace of mind

 

[Dezbelief]

Day 3 of a man cold - not the worst I've had and nothing lung/throat yet - but a little worried that I lost my sense of taste this morning. Took a test so I'll know in 24-48. Fully vaxxed with Moderna in April.

Sounds like you have it, hope you get better soon.

 

[Biff84]

Now that vaccines are belatedly approved for kids, hopefully some of our states will ditch restrictions and get back to the life that those of us in the Midwest have enjoyed the last six months.

What do you think people have been doing in the Midwest that they aren’t doing in other states? Are you just talking about wearing masks in some places?