The Vaccine

[Tubetec]

I heard that a batch or production issue had been ruled out as the cause of the blood clotting reactions with the Oxford/Astra vax in Norway. What the reports also said was the adverse reactions were observed in relatively young people in and around their 20's , I think thats the main reason countries are playing it safe and suspending roll out until more data comes through .

Id also heard anecdotal evidence from a reliable source that BMI's over 30 were very very common in people who had the most severe reactions to covid infection .

By the way Im not trying to pretend that my views are without bias , same time we have a Doctor/Professor here in Ireland who's become a household name cause of covid and daily expounds the upside of vaccinations , the real question I'd like to put to him is how much has he invested in vaccine production .

Im lucky , Im mid 40's with same waist size and BMI I had when I was 19 , Ive averaged well below one trip to the doctors office per year as far back as I can remember , despite always having had medical cover.
Regular exercise , good home cooked food , moderation with alcohol/benefical herb  intake , a very healthy scepticism of modern medecine and an above average level of directness when it comes to expressing my feelings or emotions (no filter , some may say ;D) are all key factors.
I know a lot of our contributors here are probably another generation down the line from me  and maybe because of lifestyle choices or the hand of cards you were dealt perhaps have health issues to be dealing with on top of Covid. 

Now I'm off down the town on foot ( a 2 mile round trip )  to grab a few beverages , a little effort followed by a little reward , its the only fair deal for mind body and spirit .
Health is wealth my friends .

 

[Script]

It's quite clear that supermarkets and the (office) workplace are the most important factor in spreading the virus.

In Japan, they publish traceable routes of infection as categories. Usually it is about 50% traceable at the moment. Route number one is in 'medical facilities', followed by 'nursing homes'. Next comes among 'family' members. Officially, at 'workplace' it is quite low as is in 'resturants' at the moment. There have been a few clusters in 'schools', but not during regular classes but rather extracurricular sports acitivies (they stopped that). Public 'transportation' and while 'shopping' are almost impossible to trace in the first place, but the remaining 50% of untraceable infections have to come from somewhere.

Lately to see the dentist, I took the train and the bus back. Mask compliance in public is very high here in general and in trains and stores it is 99.9%. Also, nobody is talking on trains or the bus any more -- it's absolutely silent.

 

[Tubetec]

Sounds very unerving , millions of people swarming around the place and not a single word uttered between them . Isnt it bizzare a virus has stopped us doing many of the most fundamental things that make us human and differentiate us from the more humble creatures.

 

[Script]

Yes, it is time, this pandemic got halfway under control. Luckily we have some very powerful tools now.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Just read a report that in the UAE where they are performing phase 3 trials on Sinopharm (chinese) covid vaccine, they have just given a number of people 3rd jabs.

They have not explained exactly what is going on, but the speculation is low antibody response.

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MS has just opened up vaccinations for all residents older than 16.... That was simple.

I have been noticing seats added to pharmacy area of my local Walmart for the 15 minute post jab wait, while website did not indicate any vaccine supply availability last time I checked. Perhaps they are jabbing employees which would be smart.

JR 

 

[JohnRoberts]

More news about the Chinese covid vaccine... Now they are offering to supply vaccines for all the athletes participating in the Japan olympics. But there's a catch, the vaccine has to be approved for use in the home country the athletes are coming from. Looks like a strategy to get more approvals.

Japan has already said no thank you.... This is the same vaccine getting 3 jabs in UAE phase three trial to improve antibody response.

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My first vaccine appointment got cancelled and rescheduled for next week because of weather. I guess a tornado watch interferes with the outdoor drive-thru jab party. 

JR

 

[cyrano]

More news about the Chinese covid vaccine... Now they are offering to supply vaccines for all the athletes participating in the Japan olympics. But there's a catch, the vaccine has to be approved for use in the home country the athletes are coming from. Looks like a strategy to get more approvals.

Keeping it legal/safe seems far more likely...

I mean, these athletes need to return to their home countries after the games. They've had one vaccin. Maybe they would need to get another vaccin to be in order with local rules.

I don't think scientists want/need to get into possible interactions between different vaccins.

Besides, the Chinese didn't tell Japan theirs was the only vaccin they could use, did they?

 

[JohnRoberts]

It appears that the Astra Zeneca vaccine shut down over fears of blood clots has already be reversed in a few EU countries. I saw one news report that the number of blood clots was not significantly higher than the general population.

It is human nature to connect dots around us even when unrelated (its where conspiracy theories come from).

JR

 

[ruffrecords]

It appears that the Astra Zeneca vaccine shut down over fears of blood clots has already be reversed in a few EU countries. I saw one news report that the number of blood clots was not significantly higher than the general population.

It is human nature to connect dots around us even when unrelated (its where conspiracy theories come from).

JR

Some Europeans countries stopped using it despite the European Medical thingy  that approved it saying it is perfectly safe and also WHO said so too. I saw a report that said the number of blood clotting cases was below the average. I think it got red flagged because Covid itself can cause severe blood clotting as the body's immune system goes into over drive to kill it. I suspect it might have been that in rare cases the body's reaction to the vaccine might have the same effect. Of course this can happen with any vaccine since is is the nature of the way they work.

The UK managed over 600K vaccinations in one day on Friday and now over 50% of the adult population has been vaccinated.

Cheers

ian

 

[Tubetec]

We havent even managed that number in total in three months of vaccine roll out here in Ireland . On the current trajectory Ireland wont reach 100% vaccination (theoretical) for around 30 months  :-\
There is a serious delay in reporting of deaths due to covid here too , even still the figures are going in the right direction at least .

 

[ruffrecords]

We havent even managed that number in total in three months of vaccine roll out here in Ireland . On the current trajectory Ireland wont reach 100% vaccination (theoretical) for around 30 months  :-\
There is a serious delay in reporting of deaths due to covid here too , even still the figures are going in the right direction at least .

Are you guys in lock down?

Cheers

Ian

 

[Winston OBoogie]

The extent of the UK roll out of the vaccine is something for sure, much credit is owed where it's due. 

I think a big part of it is that the NHS has been handling a lot of the allocations and the sequencing of when folks get vaccines based on their records of age or pre-existing health conditions. But,
whoever they are, I'm grateful to all the folks responsible.

I get my first jab tomorrow.

 

 

[Tubetec]

Here in Ireland there is a 5km limit for the purposes of exercise , there are a few exceptions to the rules though. This time round (since late december) the Police dont seem to be mounting anything like the number of checkpoints they did in the original lockdown , I think the extended traffic duty damaged morale and had other health impacts on the force aside from covid itself .

As far as vaccine roll out goes were now approaching 10% of the population .

 

[cyrano]

As far as vaccine roll out goes were now approaching 10% of the population .

That's not so bad. Belgium is at 11%, but started a bit earlier...

Lockdown has been strengthened here. Recently reopened businesses like hairdressers need to shutdown again, after being open for just over a week. Non-essential shops can only receive customers with an appointment and obviously limited in number. Nobody knows how that should be policed, but there's very little resistance to the rule, so the police shouldn't have to be bothered.

Stats indicate we were going for a third wave. Mainly due to mutations being more infectious, infecting younger and healthier people, but less deadly. I feel it's turning into "just another flu" that will reach a yearly cycle eventually. With population already thinned out and immunity going up, that seems like a logical evolution but AFAIK there's no evidence.

There still are around a thousand people in intensive care. That's less than 50% of the IC capacity. Not an immediate problem, but surely something to keep an eye on.

Most summer festivals have been cancelled, though Rock Werchter is still pondering about a limited event later on. Like early september, or late august.

Restaurants and bars have been hit hard. I estimate over half will never reopen.

How the cultural sector is doing, is much harder to tell. I know some theaters that have restarted a production three times now, only to hear all the work was in vain. Some are losing the will to continue. I just can't estimate how many they are.

 

[ruffrecords]

Let's hope we don't have a vaccine war - as if we didn't have enough problems already. India has already banned all exports of vaccine I hear.

Cheers

Ian

 

[JohnRoberts]

Let's hope we don't have a vaccine war - as if we didn't have enough problems already. India has already banned all exports of vaccine I hear.

Cheers

Ian

The only vaccine war will be between vaccine makers to sell their goods before this pandemic subsides.I heard on the news today that we vaccinated > 1% of our population just today.

I was impressed with the efficiency of the outdoor program I used. My original appointment was cancelled due to a tornado watch, but rescheduled for several days later... I showed up a little early, got waved right in..... answered a few questions, got my jab, and even after waiting 15 minutes (looking for side effects), I was out and back on the road before my actual scheduled appointment time.

I am optimistic we will have enough vaccine to dose the people wise enough to want it. 

JR

 

[hodad]

The only vaccine war will be between vaccine makers to sell their goods before this pandemic subsides.I heard on the news today that we vaccinated > 1% of our population just today.

I was impressed with the efficiency of the outdoor program I used. My original appointment was cancelled due to a tornado watch, but rescheduled for several days later... I showed up a little early, got waved right in..... answered a few questions, got my jab, and even after waiting 15 minutes (looking for side effects), I was out and back on the road before my actual scheduled appointment time.

I am optimistic we will have enough vaccine to dose the people wise enough to want it. 

JR

In fact, by summer the US will be looking at a substantial surplus.  OTOH, there are plenty of countries that could use all that and more. 

My 1st vaccine was yesterday, and it went about as smoothly as yours.  Large indoor facility, lots of helpful folks working there, in and out in a little over a half hour (and 15 minutes of that was the post-shot sit-around.)  Georgia finally seems to be getting its act together, thankfully. 

 

[ruffrecords]

The only vaccine war will be between vaccine makers to sell their goods before this pandemic subsides.I heard on the news today that we vaccinated > 1% of our population just today.

That indeed would be nice if true. However, the other day the EU authorities  seized 29 million doses from an Italian factory because they thought is was destined for the UK. Turned out it was for the EU and third world countries.

Cheers

Ian

 

[JohnRoberts]

That indeed would be nice if true. However, the other day the EU authorities  seized 29 million doses from an Italian factory because they thought is was destined for the UK. Turned out it was for the EU and third world countries.

Cheers

Ian

Perhaps Brussels is still suffering from separation anxiety?

The EU rollout was challenged by supply issues, perhaps related to placing one huge order for the entire EU bloc to amass more bargaining power, then AstraZeneca dropped the ball with sundry production problems, not to mention the faux clot problem.

The wealthy western nations will no doubt share vaccines with the poor nations but clearly after they take care of themselves first. AstraZeneca is a UK based company so perhaps Brussels doesn't trust them. This often reveals more about how they think and might behave themselves, than the others.

Big Pharma seems pretty generous in these early days, while everybody is expecting to make profits on the back end. Big drug companies are sharing technology, cooperating and working with each other like dogs and cats sleeping together. This too will pass.

JR 

 

[ruffrecords]

Perhaps Brussels is still suffering from separation anxiety?

LOL, I guess you could call it that.

The EU rollout was challenged by supply issues, perhaps related to placing one huge order for the entire EU bloc to amass more bargaining power, then AstraZeneca dropped the ball with sundry production problems, not to mention the faux clot problem.

Not to mention the root cause was that the EU placed its order 3 months after the UK.

The really funny part about the Italian job is that particular batch of vaccine was made outside the EU and only brought into Italy to be filled into vials.

Cheers

Ian