The Covid vaccines really do work

[Pyrrho]

Well I didn't inherit my Dad's collection of Slim Whitman LPs so you're out of luck.

[robinson]

I feel like I’m watching CNN or maybe Good Morning America

[robinson]

“In our next segment we take a look at stereos from the past …

[Pyrrho]

Current recommendation for unvaccinated is to wear N95 masks. If you double mask, wear a surgical mask on the outside, because it will repel virus electrically.

Link: https://twitter.com/MonicaGandhi9/status/1479176541070262273?t=Y5elG5mZUtHdD9RY9k1dTg&s=19

[Doctor X]

I thought the whole point of the masks were to prevent spreading the virus.

She is that stupid?

– J.D.

[Pyrrho]

There was a reply to one or other of her opinions, to the effect of, "Maybe you should sit one out."

[Doctor X]

It is a great example of "you are not helping, here." So the "COVID NOT REALZ!!1!" types can point to that with "SEEEEEE!!"

– J.D.

[sparks]

But BUT it electromestasticasually repels the virusoids!!!

Checkmate Skeptics!!!

[sparks]

And don't forget those fucking magnets!!!

[Ben Trovado]

Current recommendation for unvaccinated is to wear N95 masks. If you double mask, wear a surgical mask on the outside, because it will repel virus electrically.

Link: https://twitter.com/MonicaGandhi9/status/1479176541070262273?t=Y5elG5mZUtHdD9RY9k1dTg&s=19

Excuse me, but could I possibly see a REAL doctor on this one?




(Damned HMO!)

[Doctor X]

It only pays for a naturopathic nurse practitioner.

Hope you like sage.

– J.D.

[Pyrrho]

Hey we all tested negative today.

[Doctor X]

"Today."

– J.D.

[Hotarubi]

But BUT it electromestasticasually repels the virusoids!!!

Checkmate Skeptics!!!

Fuck you. I can repel teh particles by rubbing a balloon on my head.

Indian cow mystikz have ballon youtubes!!3! And Piss!!

2+2 =4 FAKT!!

[Hotarubi]

Hey we all tested negative today.

I have stopped shitting biscuits and can no longer walk up walls.

Still finding flies tasty.

[Anaxagoras]

Hey we all tested negative today.

PCR?

CDC says that rapid antigen tests aren't very good at detecting Omicron anyway.

ETA: There's also the flu which is back this year, and who knows what else might be going around.

[Anaxagoras]

Here are some studies from England:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... update.pdf

Studies of hospitalisation and vaccine effectiveness
(VE)
Two studies have been undertaken which examine the association between both variant and
vaccination status and risk of hospitalisation. Study 1 is based on a larger dataset,
approximately half a million Omicron cases, because it includes all cases diagnosed in the
community and in the first day of hospital admission, and all age groups. Study 2 uses a smaller
dataset because it is restricted to symptomatic cases diagnosed in the community, followed by
a hospital admission, in part to reduce the impact of cases where coronavirus (COVID-19) is
incidental to the admission but detected on routine hospital admission screening. It is restricted
to ages 18 and over.

The previous finding of reduced overall risk of hospitalisation for Omicron compared to Delta is
confirmed by the updated Study 1. In addition, both studies find a substantial reduction in risk of
hospitalisation for Omicron cases after 3 doses of vaccine compared to those who are
unvaccinated, with overlapping estimate ranges. Both studies have been run on relatively small
numbers of hospitalised cases and will require iteration. Despite the estimated reduction in
hospitalisation risk and preserved vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation, the very high
number of Omicron cases means that there may still be large numbers of admissions to
hospital.

Study 1: Risk of hospitalisation (UKHSA/MRC
Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge)
An update on the analysis published last week finds the risk of presentation to emergency care
or hospital admission with Omicron was approximately half of that for Delta (Hazard Ratio 0.53,
95% CI: 0.50 to 0.57). The risk of hospital admission from emergency departments with
Omicron was approximately one-third of that for Delta (Hazard Ratio 0.33, 95% CI: 0.30 to
0.37). These analyses were stratified on date of specimen and area of residence and further
adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, local area deprivation, international travel, vaccination status.
They are also adjusted for whether the current infection is a known reinfection, although as
reinfections are substantially under-ascertained, the adjustment may not have fully accounted
for the effect of reinfections.
In this analysis, the risk of hospitalisation is lower for Omicron cases after 2 and 3 doses of
vaccine, with an 81% (77 to 85%) reduction in the risk of hospitalisation after 3 doses compared
to unvaccinated Omicron cases.

Study 2. Vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic
infection and hospitalisation (UKHSA)
Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic disease continues to be lower for Omicron
than for Delta with waning by 10 weeks after dose 3, confirming findings published last week.
Symptomatic cases were then linked to hospitalisation data. After 3 doses of vaccine, the risk of
hospitalisation for a symptomatic case identified with Omicron through community testing was
estimated to be reduced by 68% (42 to 82%) when compared to similar individuals with
Omicron who were not vaccinated (after adjusting for age, gender, previous positive test,
region, ethnicity, clinically extremely vulnerable status, risk group status and period). Combined
with the protection against becoming a symptomatic case, this gives a vaccine effectiveness
against hospitalisation of 88% (78 to 93%) for Omicron after 3 doses of vaccine. Although
waning is seen in the effectiveness against symptomatic disease, there is insufficient data to
assess the duration of protection against hospitalisation, which is expected to last longer.

[Hotarubi]

Hey we all tested negative today.

PCR?

CDC says that rapid antigen tests aren't very good at detecting Omicron anyway.

ETA: There's also the flu which is back this year, and who knows what else might be going around.

Teh Aids. Srsly.

Clue: Needles. And if the government denies it...its real.

[sparks]

Another idiot at work tested positive today. Got the news from the HR bitch as usual.

Jesus fucking christ. And the company just announced we all have to provide proof of vaccination or get tested once a fucking week! Of course, there are medical and religious...that's right RELIGIOUS exemptions to be had by signing on the dotted line! :lmao: Because if you bleeve in Sky Daddy, you don't get sick with the Covidz.

What a nation of fucking foolz. I blame Suzi and cuntlips. :)

[Doctor X]

Religious exceptions work so well on childhood cancer.

I will pray for you.

– J.D.

[Hotarubi]

Is being a Jedi on the list?

I want to be Jedi.

[Doctor X]

Is being a Jedi on the list?

I want to be Jedi.

Only because you cannot be a samurai.

– J.D.

[Hotarubi]

Is being a Jedi on the list?

I want to be Jedi.

Only because you cannot be a samurai.

– J.D.

Why Jedis are cooler than Samurai.

Lightsabre

Katana

[Doctor X]

Katana actually exist.

#fullwin

– J.D.

[Doctor X]

Covid Science: Virus leaves antibodies that may attack healthy tissues

Jan 3 (Reuters) - The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review.

Coronavirus leaves survivors with self-attacking antibodies

Months after recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection, survivors have elevated levels of antibodies that can mistakenly attack their own organs and tissues, even if they had not been severely ill, according to new findings.

Among 177 healthcare workers who had recovered from confirmed coronavirus infections contracted before the availability of vaccines, all had persistent autoantibodies, including ones that can cause chronic inflammation and injury of the joints, skin and nervous system. "We would not normally expect to see such a diverse array of autoantibodies elevated in these individuals or stay elevated for as long six months after full clinical recovery," said Susan Cheng of the Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute in Los Angeles. Patterns of elevated autoantibodies varied between men and women, the researchers reported on Thursday in the Journal of Translational Medicine.

"We don't yet know how much longer, beyond six months, the antibodies will stay elevated and/or lead to any important clinical symptoms," Cheng said. "It will be essential to monitor individuals moving forward." Her team is investigating whether autoantibody elevations are linked with persistent symptoms in people with long COVID and planning to study autoantibody levels after infections with newer variants of the virus.

B cells' effects weakened but not defeated by Omicron

The effects of antibodies produced by the immune system's "memory B cells" against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, while weakened, could still be significant, researchers believe.

Once the body learns to recognize SARS-CoV-2, either after infection or vaccination, B cells generate fresh antibodies against the virus if there are not already enough antibodies circulating in the blood that can neutralize it. In a study reported on bioRxiv ahead of peer review, researchers analyzed the strength of more than 300 antibodies produced by memory B cells obtained from vaccinated volunteers, including some who had a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.

"Omicron seemed to evade a very large share of the memory B cells pool," researchers said, adding that it "seems to still be efficiently recognized by 30% of total antibodies and close to 10% of all potent neutralizing antibodies," said Matthieu Mahevas and Pascal Chappert of Universite de Paris in a joint email. Memory B cells' robust ability to proliferate and produce antibodies might compensate "in less than two days" for those antibodies' reduced effectiveness, they speculate.

In combination with other immune system components, particularly T cells, the effects of B cells likely help to explain why most vaccinated individuals who become infected do not become sick enough to require hospitalization, they said.

Virus variants' activity in cells makes them more effective

Along with spike mutations that help the coronavirus break into cells, mutations that change how the virus behaves inside the cells are a big factor in why some variants have been more transmissible, researchers have discovered.

The findings, published in Nature, show that scientists "have to start looking at mutations outside the spike," which has so far been the main focus of vaccines and antibody drugs, said Nevan Krogan of the University of California, San Francisco. Studying the Alpha variant, his team found a mutation at a non-spike site that causes infected cells to ramp up their production of a protein called Orf9B. Orf9b in turn disables a protein called TOM70 that cells use to send signals to the immune system. With higher levels of Orf9B disabling TOM70, the immune system does not respond as well and the virus can better evade detection, the researchers said.

Referring to the increase in Orf9B, Krogan said, "It's rare that mutations 'turn up' a protein. It's a very sneaky thing for this virus to do." The same mutation was identified on Delta, "and sure enough, almost the same mutation is on Omicron," he said, which suggests they may have similar effects on the immune system. The new information could spur development of drugs that target the interaction of Orf9b and TOM70.

"Don't Mention the War!"

– J.D.

[robinson]

For some unknown reason the vaccines didn’t work as promised

[Pyrrho]

I think it's pretty much a given that COVID-19 is or will become endemic.

[robinson]

No, but a modified version already is. The original SARS II virus that started killing people in December 2019 is not the virus spreading like wildfire at the moment.

Just as the seasonal flu virus that has killed 30 million is not the same one that killed millions in 1957, which was not the same as the one that killed millions in 1968, which was different from the one that killed a hundred million in 1917

They all came from southeast Asia, but they are not the same

[robinson]

The reason those strains still exist and kill each year, is because of ducks. Wild ducks are the reservoir of the bird flu types, and each fall the ducks show up, they shit the virus all over, it gets into the farmed ducks, chickens, geese, pigs and people, and mutates all around, and when a new flu evolves in China that can kill you, air travel spreads it around the world

Happens every year

Except for some reason in 2021

[Pyrrho]

https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior/statu ... 3838948359

I have no idea, really. All I can do is the best I can with the information I have at the time. I can't keep up with conspiracy theories and AHA!!! takes on any of this.

[robinson]

The authorities in a lot of countries have been complete liars

[Pyrrho]

I'm a bit dismayed at how so many people consider medical science to be some simple, easy thing that anybody can figure out. It isn't.

The reality is that data collection takes time, requires competent analysis, and even then, the results will change as more data are collected and analyzed. That's one of the primary reasons that post-marketing surveillance is required after clinical trials are done and after treatments are approved.

Have governments fouled things up? Undoubtedly. Is every scientific statement a lie? No.

[Doctor X]

I'm a bit dismayed at how so many people consider medical science to be some simple, easy thing that anybody can figure out. It isn't.

cuntlips finds it remains simple if he avoids it.

– J.D.

[robinson]

I'm a bit dismayed at how so many people consider medical science to be some simple, easy thing that anybody can figure out. It isn't.

Nobody is talking about “medical science”

It’s about the experimental mRNA treatments

The data from the real world

And the liars who always lie because of money and power

If people are calling out a new aircraft because it is crashing and killing people

You do not respond by saying you are dismayed that “so many people think aircraft science is simple and easy to figure out”

[robinson]

Well, maybe you do if you are a stockholder in the company

But it’s not a valid response

[Pyrrho]

Well if the Wuhan Flu factory would stop production of variants we'd be cool by now.

[Pyrrho]

Pfizer CEO says an omicron-specific vaccine will be ready in March.

[robinson]

Because when something doesn’t work, do more of it

[Anaxagoras]

https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior/statu ... 3838948359

I have no idea, really. All I can do is the best I can with the information I have at the time. I can't keep up with conspiracy theories and AHA!!! takes on any of this.

As Dr. X reminded me in another thread, the term "hospitalized covid patients" is vague because it includes both people hospitalized "for" covid and those hospitalized "with" covid.

It is abundantly clear now that being vaccinated doesn't mean you won't catch the virus anymore. However, it does still mean that your likelihood of having severe covid is reduced. In the omicron wave, a growing proportion of those hospitalized "with" covid are people who were hospitalized for other reasons, but who test positive (because they have to test everyone who they admit).

The information is sometimes buried deep in stories with alarming headlines focused on the total numbers:

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/ ... 155390002/

Many hospitalized patients who have COVID were admitted to the hospital because of other medical conditions. Of the 6,075 currently hospitalized with COVID, 2,963 of them — about 49% — are hospitalized primarily because of their COVID diagnosis. The rest were hospitalized for other reasons, and then tested positive for COVID in the hospital.

On the downside, this influx of patients also coincides with a shortage of staff, who must stay home for 5 days if they test positive.

But those with COVID who are hospitalized for other illnesses still pose a complication for hospitals, since they must be isolated in COVID-only parts of the hospital, away from other patients. In addition, COVID becomes a condition that could exacerbate their principal diagnosis, Persichilli said.

Among those hospitalized are 82 children with COVID, though the virus was the primary diagnosis for 27 of them, Persichilli said.

Even as they must deal with growing numbers of patients, hospitals are also grappling with serious staff depletions due to COVID. On Sunday, there were 340 new infections among staff, who must then isolate at home for five days. That comes on the heels of 469 new cases Saturday, and 586, 853 and 851 new cases in the previous days.

[Anaxagoras]

Pfizer CEO says an omicron-specific vaccine will be ready in March.

Prediction: by March, Omicron will be old news, since everyone already will have had it, and either the pandemic will be effectively over (the optimistic scenario) or we'll be on to the next "variant of concern" (the pessimistic scenario).