The COVID-2019 Thread

[fat bastard]

Anyone worrying about the blood clots associated with Astrazeneca? Especially if you've already had them? Well, I was.

I had blood clots after been bedridden in a hospital after a bike accident. So, I went back to my doctor (changed hospital) that had initially prescribed Warfarin (anti clotting meds). I took them for about 2 years until the all-clear.

Anyway, she said that I (you) am not any more likely to get blood clots than anyone else. It is a different mechanism than been stuck in bed. It's been more than 2 weeks already since my vaccination and I am okay. Next one is September but that may get moved forward to August, hopefully.

[harrybarracuda]

Anyone worrying about the blood clots associated with Astrazeneca? Especially if you've already had them? Well, I was.

I had blood clots after been bedridden in a hospital after a bike accident. So, I went back to my doctor (changed hospital) that had initially prescribed Warfarin (anti clotting meds). I took them for about 2 years until the all-clear.

Anyway, she said that I (you) am not any more likely to get blood clots than anyone else. It is a different mechanism than been stuck in bed. It's been more than 2 weeks already since my vaccination and I am okay. Next one is September but that may get moved forward to August, hopefully.

Are you worried about the blood clots associated with Covid?

[Klondyke]

Why most people who now die with Covid in England have had a vaccination

Don’t think of this as a bad sign, it’s exactly what’s expected from an effective but imperfect jab

Sun 27 Jun 2021 17.00 AEST

A MailOnline headline on 13 June read: “Study shows 29% of the 42 people who have died after catching the new strain had BOTH vaccinations.” In Public Health England’s technical briefing on 25 June, that figure had risen to 43% (50 of 117), with the majority (60%) having received at least one dose.

It could sound worrying that the majority of people dying in England with the now-dominant Delta (B.1.617.2) variant have been vaccinated. Does this mean the vaccines are ineffective? Far from it, it’s what we would expect from an effective but imperfect vaccine, a risk profile that varies hugely by age and the way the vaccines have been rolled out.

Consider the hypothetical world where absolutely everyone had received a less than perfect vaccine. Although the death rate would be low, everyone who died would have been fully vaccinated.

The vaccines are not perfect. PHE estimates two-dose effectiveness against hospital admission with the Delta infections at around 94%. We can perhaps assume there is at least 95% protection against Covid-19 death, which means the lethal risk is reduced to less than a twentieth of its usual value.

But the risk of dying from Covid-19 is extraordinarily dependent on age: it halves for each six to seven year age gap. This means that someone aged 80 who is fully vaccinated essentially takes on the risk of an unvaccinated person of around 50 – much lower, but still not nothing, and so we can expect some deaths.

The PHE report also reveals that nearly a third of deaths from the Delta variant are of unvaccinated people over 50, which may be surprising given high vaccine coverage; for example, OpenSAFELY estimates more than 93% among the 65-69s. But there are lower rates in deprived areas and for some ethnicities and communities with limited coverage will continue to experience more than their fair share of loss.

Coverage and effectiveness are important numbers for assessing vaccination programmes. It is better to look at cool analysis by analysts, rather than hot takes on social and other media.

David Spiegelhalter is chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge. Anthony Masters is statistical ambassador for the Royal Statistical Society

Why most people who now die with Covid in England have had a vaccination | David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters | The Guardian

(How comforting...)

[harrybarracuda]

Herd Stupidity.... I like it.

Indonesian epidemiologist says country has reached 'herd stupidity' in COVID second wave

Two weeks ago, Gusman Suherman lost his father to COVID-19.

Before he died, Mr Suherman said his father was consumed by coronavirus misinformation and "hoax messages" circulating on text messaging apps in his hometown of Bandung, the capital of West Java, Indonesia.

"He received information [on WhatsApp] saying that if you go to hospital, they are going to deliberately give you the virus," Mr Suherman said.

He said as a result of the text messages, his father didn't want to go to hospital despite being in a critical condition.

An alarming rise in infections in Indonesia has prompted warnings from health experts that the country's second wave could be as bad as India's.

On Thursday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced new emergency measures to contain the outbreak that has strained the country's medical system.

It comes as the daily average number of cases in Indonesia over the past week has reached 20,000.

In Mr Suherman's neighbourhood alone, at least nine people died from COVID-19 in the same week as his father.

While he said he did not previously think that coronavirus would reach his family, Mr Suherman is now concerned that conspiracy theories circulating on social media will do serious damage.

"I am worried about this kind of information being received by people who are too lazy to find out the truth or double-check it, [and that] their chances of finding reputable sources are a bit difficult," he said.

"They will believe all the information they receive."

A prominent epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia, Dr Pandu Riono, has described the situation in Indonesia as "herd stupidity".

"Indonesia has long been in a state of 'herd stupidity'. It is human behaviour that encourages the virus to replicate, reproduce itself, and become more infectious," Dr Riono said on his social media account.

He said government officials sent mixed messages and made poor decisions, while many people in Indonesia refused to follow health protocols and were reluctant to receive jabs.

Dr Riono told the ABC he started using the phrase "herd stupidity" when he saw people celebrating and traveling to mark Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

"Instead of staying at home to prevent transmissions, they still made a trip to their hometown, and posted some stories on social media about whether the trip was easy or a tough one when crossing the borders," he said.

Dr Riono added the government was not learning from or following the advice of experts and scientists.

"We want a miracle, so we let ourselves be lied to, be persuaded to use Ivermectin as a COVID medicine," Dr Riono said, referring to an anti-parasitic drug that experts say should not be used to treat COVID-19.

"Even government officials can be easily fooled and even endorse this medicine. That's another stupidity."

Mr Suherman said the term "herd stupidity" was a bit harsh, but he knew where it was coming from.

"Indeed we do have a group of people who are stubborn, but I can understand those who don't believe in COVID-19 due to financial reasons," he said.

"They can't think thoroughly when they can hardly make ends meet."

After losing his father, Mr Suherman said he hoped people would hold those who shared unverified information to account.

"We need to double-check. But if you can't be bothered to double-check it, then don't share it around."

A spokesman for the Indonesian COVID-19 Task Force, Professor Wiku Adisasmito, told the ABC via text message the Indonesian government had done its best to handle the pandemic.

"We need to unite to fight COVID-19," said Professor Adisasmito, who has been self-isolating after recently testing positive for coronavirus.

"Even if someone is considered stupid, who is considered smart at handling it?"

A study released last month by the Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS) found anti-vaccine messaging was often combined with anti-Indonesian government and anti-Chinese sentiments.

The study, which focused on TikTok users in the country, found that these messages were "typically couched in religious discourse and spread by religious micro-influencers".

Yatun Sastramidjaja, a visiting fellow at the institute and an author of study, said it was a
"worrying trend".

"First, because it indicates the government's chronic failure to gain the public's trust," she said.
"There is [also] a long-established general distrust in the government's motives, which is seen to prioritise the interests of elites rather than those of the general population.

"Second, in a climate of distrust, confusion and growing fears, religious micro-influencers can offer their followers a sense of refuge by nurturing faith in the protective power of religion and the bigger plan of the Almighty."

Dr Sastramidjaja said some parts of the community were opposed to "mainstream reality". "The echo chamber effect of social media further strengthens the separation of this alternative religious reality," she told the ABC.

The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information said it had recorded 1,723 hoax messages about vaccines and COVID-19 this year alone.

The ministry said they were found on various social media platforms, and most widely circulated on Facebook.

Yanuar Nugroho, an Indonesian sociologist at ISEAS who has worked in the presidential offices of both Joko Widodo and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said the community was vulnerable to disinformation.

He said the government needed to do a better job at communicating the risks of the pandemic.

"Messages delivered in a risky situation, in a crisis setting, should not be ambiguous," Mr Nugroho said.

Mr Nugroho said an example of mixed messaging was when the government put restrictions on people participating in Eid celebrations but allowed visits to tourist attractions.

"[The government made] an appeal not to travel, but now the state-owned Garuda Airways has just launched a promo: fly with Garuda, get free vaccinations … this, in my opinion, shows the government's inability to build risk perception."

Mr Nugroho said the government itself was not clear about what message it wanted to send to the public.

"In this critical situation, the government needs to have a single perception and a clear, consistent message."

Indonesian epidemiologist says country has reached '''herd stupidity''' in COVID second wave - ABC News

[tomcat]

...schadencovid...


More than 99% of recent COVID deaths in US involve unvaccinated people, a 'sad and tragic' situation, Fauci says: Today's live updates

Susan Miller and Jordan Culver, USA TODAY
Mon, July 5, 2021, 2:22 AM

About 99.2% of recent COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. involved unvaccinated people, a "tragic" situation that could easily be remedied, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday.

The top infectious disease expert said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was frustrated at a situation in which "you have a formidable enemy” – and “yet we do have a countermeasure that’s highly, highly effective. And that’s the reason why it’s all the more sad and all the more tragic why it isn’t being completely implemented in this country.”

Fauci cited several reasons for opposition to the vaccine by some Americans: “ideological” or some people “are just fundamentally anti-vax or anti-science.”

The U.S. is “very fortunate” that it has “enough vaccines to vaccinate essentially everybody in the country," Fauci said. "And there are people throughout the world who would do anything to get vaccines.”

[misskit]

Delta variant taking over in Bangkok, spreads to 46 other provinces


The COVID-19 Delta variant has been found in more than half of the samples received recently from Bangkok, and has spread to 46 other provinces across the country, according to the Department of Medical Sciences today (Monday).


Of the 936 samples collected over the past week in Bangkok, the Delta variant makes up 52%, followed by Alpha at 47.8%, said Department Director-General Dr. Supakit Sirilak.


Of the 11,233 samples received since April 1st, 9,209 were of the Alpha variant (81.98%), 721 were of the Delta strain (16.36%) and 186 were of the Beta strain (1.66%).


When focusing on recent samples, however, taken between June 28th and July 2nd, it is apparent that the incidence of the Delta variant is increasing, at 32.2% of the 2,238 samples from across the country, with Alpha still leading at 65.1% and Beta remaining minimal at 2.6%.


The more transmissible Delta variant, first identified in India, is on track to become the dominant COVID-19 strain in many countries and is expected to overtake the Alpha variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, soon. It has been found in almost 100 countries to date, according to the World Health Organization.

Delta variant taking over in Bangkok, spreads to 46 other provinces | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

[Switch]

Herd Stupidity.... I like it.



Indonesian epidemiologist says country has reached '''herd stupidity''' in COVID second wave - ABC News

This seems to me to be a fairly accurate and honest appraisal of the cultural hegemony that has prevented a poorly equipped country from applying the necessary measures to combat the pandemic.

The Eid diaspora following Ramadan, is a prime example of herd stupidity, which the government failed to pre-empt. The government is quite capable of issuing an enforcement order to prevent such travel, but chose instead, to issue an appeal for citizens to reconsider due to the pandemic.
The head of a supposedly secular government, was far too concerned about offending the Muslim majority.

Real leadership sometimes requires the leader to make, and enforce unpopular decisions. Cultural arrogance will only encourage ‘herd stupidity’.

[VocalNeal]

Anyone been offered SinoPharm?

[harrybarracuda]

Anyone been offered SinoPharm?

Yes. And instantly rejected it. I waited a few months to get Pfizer instead.

[harrybarracuda]

We can but hope...

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will stay at home for a week after he came into close contact with a person who later tested positive for coronavirus during events held to mark the reopening of resort island Phuket to vaccinated foreign tourists.

Prayut self-isolates after Phuket exposure

[harrybarracuda]

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN)More than 60 people died in a hospital in Indonesia this weekend after oxygen supplies nearly ran out, as the country battles a severe wave of Covid-19 that authorities say is driven by the more infectious Delta variant.

The world's fourth most populous nation is facing one of Asia's worst outbreaks, with a record high of 27,913 new cases reported on Saturday. The islands of Bali and Java -- which includes the capital Jakarta -- went under emergency lockdown Saturday to curb the spread of the resurgent virus.

In a statement, the Sardjito hospital on Java said 63 patients died between Saturday and early Sunday after it nearly exhausted its oxygen supplies. The hospital said it had sought more oxygen for days before the incident, but virus patients streaming in since Friday had pushed it beyond its capacity, consuming oxygen faster than expected.

The crisis eased when it began to receive fresh supplies just before dawn on Sunday. A hospital spokesman could not confirm if all the dead had suffered from Covid-19.

Indonesia faces Delta variant wave, with fresh lockdowns and oxygen shortages - CNN

[harrybarracuda]

Might even need a third Pfizer against this fucking Delta/Delta+ variant.

Israel’s Health Ministry released data on Monday showing that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine appears to largely prevent hospitalization and serious cases, but is significantly less effective against preventing the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.


According to the ministry, the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 has dropped by some 30 percent to 64%, given the spread of the Delta variant. The data shows that during May, when the strain was less prevalent, the vaccine was 94.3% effective.

The Delta variant, which is believed to be twice as contagious as the original strain of COVID-19, is thought to be responsible for 90% of new cases in Israel over the past two weeks.


The data, however, also shows that the vaccine is still highly effective against preventing serious symptoms and hospitalization. During May, that figure stood at 98.2%, and during June, it was 93%.

<snip>


Amid the rise in COVID cases across the country, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett along with Health Minister Nitzan Horowtiz instructed the Health Ministry on Monday to promote two medical studies on the need for a third vaccine shot against the coronavirus, which they said will provide decision-makers with “vital information.”

The Prime Minister’s Office said that the studies, which will be overseen by the head of public health services in the Health Ministry, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, will “evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine and the rate at which it wears off over time.”

Israel confirms vaccine less effective against Delta variant, eyes third dose | The Times of Israel

[harrybarracuda]

And with Delta spreading in Chiang Mai I wouldn't be surprised to see another lockdown in the near future.

CHIANG MAI: A field hospital for Covid-19 patients that was closed on June 9 will be reopened on Tuesday to cope with a surge of new infections.

The province logged 17 new infections on Monday.

The provincial communicable disease committee decided to re-open the facility, at the 2014 international convention and exhibition centre on Chang Phuak road in Muang district, from Tuesday afternoon.

On Monday, beds and other equipment were re-installed.

Dr Amporn Iamsri, director of the Chiang Mai field hospital, said it would have 250 beds and take patients with mild symptoms for treatment. This would relieve the burden on the major hospitals.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand...IiZo2ryFKGVQGs

[harrybarracuda]

The Shocking Enormity of Russia’s Botched Pandemic Response


MOSCOW—As I write this, Russia is firmly in the grip of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every day, there are about 22,000 reported new infections—twice as many as during the peak of the first wave in May 2020—and more than 600 deaths. The new Delta variant of the virus, which Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin says is responsible for 90 per cent of new infections in the Russian capital, has caught Russia almost completely unawares. Despite having access to the brain power and resources of one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, Russian authorities have repeatedly squandered almost every chance to beat the pandemic. Their massive, bloated propaganda apparatus failed to do the one job it was designed for: Get the message out. Instead, the pandemic has exacerbated the crisis of trust between the Russian government and citizens. Now, the campaign for parliamentary elections in September could make fighting the pandemic even harder, since the ruling United Russia party may be even more reluctant to impose unpopular measures such as lockdowns.

Russian independent observers and journalists—including me and my colleagues at Meduza—already knew something was terribly off with Russia’s handling of the pandemic in late spring of 2020. We had looked at the numbers and recognized that COVID-19 deaths were being underreported in many regions of Russia. According to the official statistics at the time, tens of thousands of Russians were dying in 2020 of a mysterious pneumonia epidemic unrelated to COVID-19. This was hardly plausible. The more likely explanation: Russian regional authorities were writing off the majority of COVID-19 cases as “community-acquired pneumonia.”

There is no evidence of a cover-up ordered from the top. More likely, regional governorates were simply being discreet to avoid being the bearer of bad news to the Kremlin. Underreporting COVID-19 cases in the early stages of the pandemic plausibly made many Russians question the existence of the virus or lulled them into a false sense of security, although there is no poll data to back this up. What’s certain is that by November 2020, according to independent polling institute Levada, the majority of Russians did not trust their government’s COVID-19 figures: 33 percent thought them too low, while 28 percent believed they were exaggerated.

The next time I felt a sense of foreboding was in early December 2020, when I called my local clinic during the start of the Sputnik V vaccine rollout. At the time, only certain categories of frontline workers were eligible.

However, vaccine uptake was so slow that the clinic told me it didn’t matter that I wasn’t prioritized—and asked if I could turn up right now. And so I did, and became one of the first Russians vaccinated with Sputnik V. I was down with a flu-like fever and fatigue for a couple of days after each of the two required doses, but recovered without any complications. I am now protected against the virus with an impressive level of spike protein antibodies. I still maintain social distancing whenever possible, avoid large public gatherings, and wear a mask.

Astonishingly, six months later I am part of only a tiny minority of Russians who have chosen to be vaccinated—or managed to be, amid a chronic shortage of vaccine doses. Off to an early start with its own vaccine, Russia is now severely lagging behind. At the time of writing, about 12 per cent are fully vaccinated, while another 4.7 percent have received a single dose—a much lower vaccination rate than China and Brazil, let alone most of the developed world. And Russians are steadfast in their anti-vaccine convictions: According to a recent Morning Consult poll, Russia now has one of the highest levels of vaccine skepticism in the world, with 35 percent saying they are unwilling to get vaccinated. Even the United States, where vaccine skepticism is rampant, has only 19 percent committed anti-vaxxers. Recently the Kremlin admitted that its original goal to vaccinate 60 percent of the population by September will be unachievable, according to a report by TV Rain. Instead, the government has settled for a more realistic 30 percent.

In fact, the situation is so dire that some of Russia’s regions are already reintroducing lockdowns. In Moscow, city authorities have ordered compulsory vaccinations for certain categories of public servants and service industry workers and barred unvaccinated people from entering bars and restaurants. Not that Russians are easily cowed: There is now a booming black market for fake vaccination certificates. There are also reports of Russians paying bribes to have their vaccine dose discarded and be injected with saline solution instead.

None of this should come as a surprise. Instead of promoting safety measures and campaigning to get the public vaccinated, Russian state-owned media have spent an inordinate amount of time ridiculing other nations for their harsh lockdowns—which Russia never imposed—and trashing their vaccines. Not that Russians have much of a choice over which jab to get: Only the domestically produced Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, and Covivac vaccines are permitted for use in Russia. One of these, EpiVacCorona, has been embroiled in a constant stream of scandal and skepticism about its efficacy and has been all but publicly accepted as a dud.

Television news programs and state news agencies, such as RIA Novosti, have gleefully amplified every complication and casualty from vaccines produced by BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca and gloated over every development hiccup. Unsurprisingly, vaccine skepticism is so rampant at these media outlets that the CEO of state news agency Rossiya Segodnya sent out a company-wide memo pleading the employees to get vaccinated and avoid the fate of three of their colleagues who died in intensive care in Moscow during a single week.

Meanwhile, Russian foreign broadcaster RT has been feeding Western audiences with anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories, comparing lockdowns and other restrictions to the Nazi occupation and apartheid. That same twisted rhetoric is now spreading in Russia: On June 22, Egor Beroev, a prominent Russian TV and film actor, spoke at an awards ceremony and gave an impassioned defense of unvaccinated Russians, who he claimed were being “segregated” from the rest of the society like the Jews under the Nazis. To drive the point home, Beroev wore a yellow six-pointed star. His speech was met with applause. Similar stars adorned the T-shirts of protesters picketing the campaign headquarters of the ruling United Russia party in Moscow to protest against mandatory vaccinations.

Among Russians, the reasons for refusing to be vaccinated vary—some will mention that Sputnik V was rushed through development and approved before phase III trial data was available. Others will insist that they don’t need any vaccines since they’ve already recovered from COVID-19. More cling to a motley array of conspiracy theories involving the Antichrist or a secret cabal seeking to make Russians infertile. Russia’s vaccine skeptics are found all over society; their ranks include Russian Orthodox right-wingers, center-left parliamentary leaders, and anti-Putin activists. If there were an anti-vaccine party, it would easily beat United Russia in the upcoming elections.

Not all unvaccinated Russians subscribe to conspiracy theories or are influenced by the example of top government officials who don’t wear a mask in public, let alone get a jab on national television. Sometimes there are simply not enough doses, especially in Russia’s far-flung regions. Back in December, when the first batch of Sputnik V arrived in Argentina, some Russians were grumbling that there were more Russian vaccines available in Buenos Aires than major Russian cities.

In fact, less than one month after Argentina became the first foreign country to adopt Sputnik V in December 2020, it had more people vaccinated with the Russian vaccine than all of Russia outside of Moscow, according to Russian independent news site Mediazona. Even now, the Argentinian Ministry of Health’s reports are the most extensive source of information about Sputnik V’s safety. And they confirm what the Russian government has failed to convey to its own citizens: Russia’s primary vaccine is indeed safe and effective.

Today, however, Argentina is unhappy about its arrangement with Russia: As of late June, it has only received a fraction of the number of doses that had been promised to be delivered by March. So instead of Russia’s international image getting a boost, Moscow’s attempt at vaccine diplomacy has turned into another flop.

According to Bloomberg, as of mid-June, Russia has only delivered 17 million doses of almost 900 million promised to its clients around the world. Argentina and Mexico are already turning to other vaccine producers. And on June 29, Guatemala also embarrassed Russia by demanding a refund on its advance payment for an undelivered batch of Sputnik V. But instead of addressing the logistical issues obstructing deliveries—problems that were visible from early on—Sputnik V distributor Russian Direct Investment Fund and its CEO Kirill Dmitriev instead complained about the international media’s alleged bias against the Russian vaccine.

Now that measures like restricting restaurant visits to the fully vaccinated (in effect in Moscow since June 28) and mandatory vaccinations for workers in certain industries (implemented in several regions) are finally underway, the abysmally low vaccine uptake will probably get a boost. But the sudden tightening of pandemic policies following many months of inconsistency and lack of positive examples is damaging the already low confidence and trust in the government. Even as restaurants are now off-limits to most Russians, public gatherings for thousands of people are apparently fine. Masks are mandatory on public transport—but not in the State Duma or at United Russia campaign rallies. No wonder that even during the current wave of the pandemic, barely half the passengers in a packed metro car in Moscow were wearing them during one of my recent trips.

There are signs that some Russians are at least thinking about getting more serious about the pandemic. Now that there is picketing against the new health measures in Moscow, the same state television that led the cheerleading about anti-lockdown protests in London, Paris, and Brussels is suddenly mute about similar protests in Russia. In a somber tone, the commentators are now urging their audiences to get vaccinated as soon as possible. But Russia’s terrible numbers don’t lie: By now, these efforts are too little, too late.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/07/05...-anti-vaxxers/

[Shutree]

authorities have repeatedly squandered almost every chance to beat the pandemic.

Remind you of any other country?

[harrybarracuda]

Remind you of any other country?

Not this late in the game, no.

[Klondyke]

The Shocking Enormity of Russia’s Botched Pandemic Response

Harry - as usually - did not disappoint us when placing here his obsessive blabla favorable to "Kremlin-controlled RT".

Why not to elaborate more in detail the links with the attached pejorative meaning that the reader does not need to read and have his own opinion about the matter?

[harrybarracuda]

"India's revenge"...

The average incubation period of the Delta variant strain (B.1.617.2) reported in South China's Guangdong Province in May was 4.4 days, shorter than the 5.2 days reported in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, according to a weekly report of China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The China CDC weekly report, which was published on Tuesday, showed the key transmission parameters of the highly infectious variant found in the latest local COVID-19 epidemic cluster in Guangdong.

There were a total of 167 locally transmitted cases related to the outbreak in four cities in Guangdong as of June 23.

The cases have been found to share the same gene sequence as the Delta variant strain which was first detected in India, the report said.

From the time Guangdong's first COVID-19 local case was confirmed on May 21, the infection had led to 5 generations of transmission in the 10 days that followed.

Incubation period of Delta variant strain in Guangdong 4.4 days, shorter than 5.2 days reported in Wuhan: CDC reports - Global Times

[harrybarracuda]

Why are the chinkies so secretive I wonder?

BEIJING, June 29 (Reuters) - Many countries from China to Indonesia and Brazil rely heavily on Chinese vaccines to inoculate their people against COVID-19, but there are growing concerns about whether they provide enough protection against the Delta variant, first identified in India.

Below are views from China's health experts about the effectiveness of home-grown vaccines against the Delta, which is becoming the globally dominant variant, and virus preventive measures China is taking.

DO CHINESE VACCINES WORK AGAINST DELTA?

China has not provided vaccine effectiveness results against the variant based on large-scale data in clinical trials or real-world use, nor offered detailed information from lab tests, but Chinese experts are urging people to get inoculated as soon as possible.

The lack of detailed data on the Chinese vaccines against the Delta has hobbled any meaningful peer reviews by foreign experts.

Researchers found that Chinese vaccines are somewhat effective in reducing the risk of symptomatic and severe cases caused by Delta, Zhong Nanshan, a epidemiologist who helped shape China's COVID-19 response, told reporters.

It is based on analysis of infections in Guangzhou city, and Zhong told Reuters the results are preliminary and the sample size is small.

Sinovac spokesman Liu Peicheng told Reuters preliminary results based on blood samples from those vaccinated with its shot showed a three-fold reduction in neutralizing effect against the Delta.

He said a booster shot following the two dose-based regimen could quickly elicit stronger and more durable antibody reaction against the Delta. However, he didn't provide detailed data.

Antibodies triggered by two Chinese vaccines are less effective against the Delta compared with other variants, Feng Zijian, former deputy director at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state media last week.

Feng did not provide details including the name of the two vaccines.

The shots could still offer protection, since none of those vaccinated in southern Guangdong province, where China's first cases of the Delta variant were found, developed severe symptoms. All severe cases are from unvaccinated people.

Jin Dong-Yan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, said Feng's comment alone is not enough to back up the claim that Chinese vaccines are effective against severe cases, as more data is needed.

Explainer: Are Chinese COVID-19 shots effective against the Delta variant? | Reuters

[OhOh]

The lack of detailed data on the Chinese vaccines against the Delta has hobbled any meaningful peer reviews by foreign experts.

Any links to peer reviewed studies of exceptional country's vaccines regarding COVID - Delta been published?

[harrybarracuda]

Any links to peer reviewed studies of exceptional country's vaccines regarding COVID - Delta been published?

Yeah lots of them. Are you stupid?

[harrybarracuda]

Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, has been admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 last week, local media have reported, citing a statement from his office.

Multiple outlets said Bettel, 48, attended hospital as a precautionary measure on Sunday morning. Unless doctors advised otherwise, he was due to spend 24 hours under observation while “additional tests and analyses” were carried out. There was no immediate report on his condition.

Bettel tested positive for coronavirus and began self-isolating for 10 days on 27 June, two days after attending a European Council meeting in Brussels with fellow EU national leaders. He received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on 6 May.

Luxembourg prime minister admitted to hospital with Covid | Luxembourg | The Guardian

[misskit]

Almost half of US reports rising cases, attributed largely to delta variant surge: Latest COVID-19 updates


COVID-19 cases were up in nearly half of U.S. states, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.


Alaska and Arkansas more than doubled cases in just the last week. South Carolina and Kansas are up more than 50%.


In Missouri, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients jumped by nearly 30% over the Fourth of July weekend in a hard-hit area where immunization rates are low, leading to a temporary ventilator shortage and a public call for help from respiratory therapists.


The delta variant, first identified in India, is spreading rapidly throughout the state, straining hospitals in Springfield and raising fresh fears that the situation could soon grow worse as holiday gatherings seed fresh cases. Missouri leads the nation with the most new cases per capita in the past 14 days; 39.4% of residents there are fully vaccinated.

MORE Delta COVID variant spikes Missouri, Mississippi cases: Updates

[OhOh]

Yeah lots of them

A link or two would evidence enough.

[harrybarracuda]

A link or two would evidence enough.

Let us know your favourites from Google won't you.