Just curious, anyone have a plan, or preps for global pandemic?

[Saul]

Long Covid is a common side effect of a Covid Infection.  Interestingly, young children catch Covid, but are usually asymptomatic.  But the rate of long Covid among infected children is identical to that for adults and seniors.

One not uncommon long Covid effect is brain damage.

Matt,

Get vaccinated!

  --  Saul

[Saul]

BTW, I am one of the 240 or so subjects in the mix and match trial -- I had two shots of Pfizer, and the Mix and Max trial gave me one FULL DOSE of moderna.

For each shot, I had zero side effects.

(The only vaccine that ever gave me side effect was placebo.  😀)

  --  Saul

[BrianA]

The CDC has a new report out comparing natural immunity vs mRNA vaccines, with the result that for all ages above 18 years:

 

"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"

 

For people aged 18 to 64, the risk was lower, but 2.57-fold higher odds to be infected for unvaxxed w/ natural immunity vs. vaxxed.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7044e1.htm

[BrianA]

Study confirms SARS-CoV-2 can infect some types of inner ear cells, likely cause of post-infection hearing loss + tinnitus & vertigo reports. I know of one musician that lost a significant amount of hearing after being infected, but it's still not clear how common this side effect is.

 

SARS-CoV-2 virus can infect the inner ear, study finds

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211029074929.htm

[Mike41]

On 10/29/2021 at 4:53 PM, Saul said:

BTW, I am one of the 240 or so subjects in the mix and match trial -- I had two shots of Pfizer, and the Mix and Max trial gave me one FULL DOSE of moderna.

For each shot, I had zero side effects.

(The only vaccine that ever gave me side effect was placebo.  😀)

  --  Saul

I often wonder how much of a nocebo effect there is wrt vaccines. I’ve been getting them all my life and have never had side effects. I suspect nocebo effects are quite common considering all the hysteria 

[Sibiriak]

On 10/30/2021 at 3:53 AM, Saul said:

For each shot, I had zero side effects.

The most common side effects result from the innate immune system's reaction to the vaccine.   Since the innate immune system declines naturally with age,  it's unsurprising that the elderly report fewer side effects than younger people.

[Saul]

So why do I get a side effect for placebo?

  😀

  --  Saul

 

[Sibiriak]

2 hours ago, Saul said:

So why do I get a side effect for placebo?

You don't.

Or it's a nocebo effect. (negative expectations cause a negative effect)

Or some ingredients of the placebo cause a negative effect.

[corybroo]

Perhaps it was a real reaction to a real injection of an alternative virus.  I read that for the covid tests they were providing innoculations for other viruses so that subjects would not be able to determine if they'd received the control.  I could not find the original aritcle I read, but I found this  https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-health/placebos-used-vaccine-trials-do-not-please-everyone

A team in the United Kingdom is conducting a trial of a new COVID-19 vaccine (charmingly called ChAdOx1 nCOV-19) and they are comparing it not to a saline injection but to a vaccine against meningitis.

So, I think the simplest explanation was a reaction to the immunization received which as it turned out was not Sars-CoV-2.

 

[Matt]

This is a really good informative talk.

The ninth lecture in the Fall 2021 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 and the Pandemic Series, presented by the MIT Department of Biology. Shane Crotty of La Jolla Institute gave a talk titled "Adaptive Immunity and Immune Memory to SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Vaccines." 

MIT Department of Biology 7 Nov 2021

 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Matt

[Gordo]

China's "Zero Covid" policy may be going off the rails, now leading to food hoarding which may lead to even bigger problems:

 

[BrianA]

Several reports of how SARS-CoV-2 may be interacting with the brain from the Society for Neuroscience conference:

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-covid-might-sow-chaos-in-the-brain/

[BrianA]

Scientists are finding more damaged and dead capillaries in brains of covid-killed individuals vs. matched controls, it appears the virus may be triggering death of endothelial cells.

 

Losing NEMO: Could This Protein Explain COVID Brain Fog?

https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/losing-nemo-could-protein-explain-covid-brain-fog

[Matt]

Just an anecdote fwiw: my dad had his booster jab yesterday and had a fever close to 38 degree C all day. He took 6 allicin capsules and his fever went away completely to 35.6 degrees C just after 30 minutes. Interestingly, same happened to my mum in Oct 2020 when she had COVID and was seriously ill (should have been hospitalized)... Within half hour her fever disappeared after she took lots of allicin capsules and it was repeatable observation, too.

[Matt]

The majority of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in COVID-19 patients with obesity are autoimmune and not neutralizing

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-021-01016-9

[mccoy]

Europe has been hit by a 4th epidemic wave and Italy, which seemed all right, is suffering an upward trend as well. Herd immunity seems not to have been reached, even with about 90% vaccination ratio. So there is something seriously wrong with epidemiological theories. Worst, if this has been shown to be wrong, then many other aspects may be wrong.

I'm becoming more and more skeptic. If two doses have failed to succeed against the virus, why 3, or multiple ones should succeed?

It is evident by now that this is a trial and error process...

[Matt]

The situation in Ireland right now: 

COVID-19: Ireland's Co Waterford has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world - so why are cases surging?

A massive 99.5% of adults over the age of 18 in Co Waterford are double-jabbed. That's thought to be one of the highest rates of any region anywhere in the world.

But, according to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the county now tops the national infection league table, with a 14-day incidence rate of 1,294 per 100,000.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-irelands-co-waterford-has-one-of-the-highest-vaccination-rates-in-the-world-so-why-are-cases-surging-12461642

Edited November 12, 2021 by Matt
formatting

[Saul]

Monroe County, in upstate NY, where I work and live, has an increase in Covid 19 as well.  Vaccination, and booster, rates are only fair.  But, happily, doubly vaccinated (Pfizer or Moderna) people who get Covid 19, for the most part get only mildly ill; almost all hospilizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated.  I think the same is true for the UK -- although many Europeans you astrozennica vaccine; not as effective as the MRNA vaccines.

(Ironic -- because the Pfizer vaccine was developed by two Turkish immigrants to Germany.)

  --  Saul

[Sibiriak]

COVID-19: Ireland's Co Waterford has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world - so why are cases surging?

Quote

 

Some scientists feel that any public frustration with the high incidence rates is based on a misunderstanding of what the vaccines were supposed to achieve.

"The function of the vaccine is to stop illness and death, that's the primary goal, and the vaccines are holding up, it's great." That's the view of Professor Luke O'Neill, an immunologist at Trinity College Dublin, and one of the country's best-known scientific figures during the pandemic.

 

 

[Matt]

7 hours ago, Sibiriak said:

COVID-19: Ireland's Co Waterford has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world - so why are cases surging?

Some scientists feel that any public frustration with the high incidence rates is based on a misunderstanding of what the vaccines were supposed to achieve.

"The function of the vaccine is to stop illness and death, that's the primary goal, and the vaccines are holding up, it's great." That's the view of Professor Luke O'Neill, an immunologist at Trinity College Dublin, and one of the country's best-known scientific figures during the pandemic.

Great. But that's not what the message used to be. I've closely followed the pandemic and this message has changed over time. The vaccines, 2 doses were a way out of the pandemic. Unfortunately, despite high rates of vaccination and immunity, they're still introducing COVID passes (pointless), putting in more restrictions, and seriously looking at lockdowns again. And boosters (which are qualitatively the same and protection will exponentially decrease in the first few months).

10 hours ago, Saul said:

Monroe County, in upstate NY, where I work and live, has an increase in Covid 19 as well.  Vaccination, and booster, rates are only fair.  But, happily, doubly vaccinated (Pfizer or Moderna) people who get Covid 19, for the most part get only mildly ill; almost all hospilizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated.  I think the same is true for the UK -- although many Europeans you astrozennica vaccine; not as effective as the MRNA vaccines.

(Ironic -- because the Pfizer vaccine was developed by two Turkish immigrants to Germany.)

  --  Saul

I believe it is different the UK, obviously because most people are vaccinated. Most people in the ICU's in the UK are now vaccinated.

We had a very high number of people in my local area get COVID over the past few weeks. Everyone I know personally that were infected had received the vaccine around spring/summer time this year. I've had contact with people who tested positive and were ill, including my young niece. But none of us at home have been ill though, fortunately.

Unless I caught the virus and I didn't know. I'm gonna do another blood test soon to check antibody level.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2021 by Matt

[Matt]

"The latest evidence from SAGE shows that protection against symptomatic disease falls from 65%, up to three months after the second dose, to 45% six months after the second dose for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, and from 90% to 65% for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Protection against hospitalisation falls from 95% to 75% for Oxford/AstraZeneca and 99% to 90% for Pfizer/BioNTech."

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rugby-figures-urge-fans-to-get-vaccinated-and-ventilate-indoor-spaces

[mccoy]

10 hours ago, Matt said:

Great. But that's not what the message used to be. I've closely followed the pandemic and this message has changed over time.

Ditto in Italy. In my eyes, the government health institutions have lost a lot of credibility (hypothesizing they had any in the beginning...).

10 hours ago, Matt said:

"The latest evidence from SAGE shows that protection against symptomatic disease falls from 65%, up to three months after the second dose, to 45% six months after the second dose for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, and from 90% to 65% for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Protection against hospitalisation falls from 95% to 75% for Oxford/AstraZeneca and 99% to 90% for Pfizer/BioNTech."

Here in Italy, they are trying to scare people, citing only a decrease of 'protection' down to 50%. I agree that it's a must not to close businesses again, I agree that it's good to wear masks and exercise caution, but trying to scare people into a third shot after only 6 months starts being grotesque. Government employees cannot go to work now unless they have two shots, otherwise they are suspended with no salary. They are maybe doing the same for the third shot.

And my rebellious instincts are starting to wake up ...

Edited November 13, 2021 by mccoy

[Saul]

I've had my booster shot.  Snd I teach in person at the University of Rochester, and shop in a huge supermarket without a mask.

 (I'm also in the CDC's "mix and mzcth" trial; that gave me a full jab of moderna, after my two shots of Pfizer; (and my booster was a third full shot of Pfizer)

😀

  --  Saul

[mccoy]

4 hours ago, Saul said:

(I'm also in the CDC's "mix and mzcth" trial; that gave me a full jab of moderna, after my two shots of Pfizer; (and my booster was a third full shot of Pfizer)

Saul, so your booster shot was actually a 4th jab!

 

[Matt]

My mother and father and basically on their 4th dose in a period of 12 months if you include the infection also.

Infection in October 2020 for both, jab around March 2021, followed by 2nd jab a few weeks later. And then a booster jab almost exactly 12 months after COVID.