The COVID-2019 Thread

[cyrille]

The strains which kills their carrier does not survive long themselves.

That's the most fascinating aspect for me.

Asymptomaticity is also very cool.

I can see why people get into this stuff, which I couldn't at all when at school.

Biology teachers in the 20s and 30s will get more attention than they ever did in the seventies.

[harrybarracuda]

The peak fitness is when the virus is as most contagious and at the same time is least lethal.
The strains which kills their carrier does not survive long themselves. Survival of the fittest.

Tell that to Ebola, I don't think it got the memo.

[harrybarracuda]

and now the good news

Talking of new vaccines, if the chinkies don't fuck ARCov up and it works better than the shit they have now, it could make a huge difference.

Walvax COVID-19 vaccine - Wikipedia

That other name is a clever idea too... Walvax.

If they sell it at Walmart even the trumpanzees might go for it.

[misskit]

Experts say virus ‘out of control’ as Tokyo logs 4,989 cases in one day

Tokyo reported 4,989 new cases of COVID-19 on Aug. 12, its second highest for a single day after the 5,042 tallied on Aug. 5.


COVID-19 patients in serious condition topped 200 for the first time to hit a record 218 in the capital as health experts called the spread of infections “out of control.” They issued a dire warning that Tokyoites are on their own to protect themselves as the health care system can no longer function due to the flood of patients.


Six new deaths from COVID-19 occurred in the capital, according to metropolitan health officials.


The daily average of new cases over the week through Aug. 12 came to 3,976, an increase of 9 percent from the figure for the preceding week.


The 218 serious cases represented an increase of 21 from the day before. Metropolitan officials define serious cases as patients requiring a ventilator or ECMO heart-lung bypass machine to breathe.


At a Aug. 12 meeting of experts on response to the coronavirus and metropolitan officials, Norio Omagari, director of the Disease Control and Prevention Center under the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, used a strong term to sound an alarm over the capital’s situation.


“We are in an emergency as the virus is raging at a disaster level,” he said.


It was reported at the meeting that the daily average of new cases over the week through Aug. 11 stood at 3,934, more than double, compared with two weeks earlier, indicating that infections are spreading at an unprecedented pace.


Omagari said if the current pace were maintained, the seven-day average of new cases could hit 5,113 on Aug. 25.


“We will not be able to save people’s lives” that can be saved under the normal circumstances, he said. “We are at a stage where each of us need to act to protect our own lives.”


Masataka Inokuchi, vice chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association, said the capital’s health care system has become dysfunctional due to the deepening health crisis.


“Regular medical care, including emergency care and scheduled surgeries, has also been seriously affected,” he said. “Maintaining the health care system would be difficult if the pace of the spread (in the coming weeks) remains at the same level as now.”


Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Tokyo totaled 3,667 as of Aug. 11, with 56.8 percent of the beds filled, according to officials.


Most of the serious cases reported were among patients in their 40s and 50s.

Experts say virus ‘out of control’ as Tokyo logs 4,989 cases in one day | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

[harrybarracuda]

That doesn't seem a lot for the most populous city in the world.

[harrybarracuda]

As Jeff would say, "consider the source"....

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the ministry had placed an order for 20 million doses with Pfizer as part of its vaccine procurement plan. In addition, he said, Pfizer has also offered to send another 10 million doses to the country within this year.
“This, combined with the 2.5 million doses donated by the US – 1.5 million doses of which have already been delivered – will bring the total of Pfizer vaccines up to 32.5 million doses,” Anutin said.
He also confirmed that the ministry had distributed Pfizer doses to frontline medics without any double standards and vowed to complete the vaccination process as soon as possible.

Thailand will have over 32 million doses of Pfizer jabs before yearend, promises Anutin

[harrybarracuda]

Tear gas and rubber bullets hold off the protestors marching to Government House in Bangkok. They’re looking for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, who they blame for Thailand’s Covid plight. As Covid cases continue to rise in Thailand, the protestors have three demands: the resignation of Prayut, more funding for the country’s Covid response, and for the country to stop using the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine.

Back when Sinovac first landed in the country in February the shipment was welcomed by Prayut, who proclaimed it ‘a historic day’. But six months down the line hundreds of healthcare workers are still being infected with coronavirus despite having received two shots of Sinovac. A Thai government memo also leaked, in which an expert warned the government against introducing Pfizer booster shots in case it undermined confidence in the Sinovac vaccine. Faced with widespread scepticism of Sinovac, the Thai government has relented and is now topping up anyone jabbed with Sinovac with AstraZeneca doses instead.

In Indonesia, the Moderna vaccine is similarly being offered as a booster to the country’s Sinovaxxed healthcare workers, thousands of whom have since been infected with coronavirus. On Indonesian social media, both China bashing and vaccine conspiracies are commonplace.

Chinese vaccines have come to be associated with incompetent or coercive national governments

Meanwhile in Peru the Sinopharm vaccine, also developed in China, has been seriously tarnished by what locals call ‘Vacunagate’. Almost 500 senior politicians (and their wives, siblings and children) had secretly been given the vaccine in October 2020, months before it was rolled out to healthcare workers. After the scandal broke, the health minister and the foreign minister resigned, and the then-President, who was also in on the scheme, expressed ‘great surprise’ that his vaccine wasn’t part of an advanced clinical trial. Surprise indeed.

In Vietnam, the Chinese embassy lobbied the government to give its Sinopharm vaccines to Chinese nationals living in Vietnam. China’s generous vaccine donation apparently had the condition that the doses would first go to Chinese nationals, a promise Hanoi tried to ignore. Under pressure from China, the Vietnam government U-turned – a move which went down particularly badly amongst young Vietnamese, who tend to be more favourable to America.

In the Philippines, President Duterte apologised for being vaccinated with the unapproved Sinopharm shot (which he’d broadcast live on Facebook). The country was meant to be using Sinovac, 1.5 million doses of which had just arrived in the country, but the Chinese embassy had also thrown in a donation of 1,000 Sinopharm jabs. Duterte possibly caught wind of the fact that Sinopharm is more effective, but given that the jab hadn’t yet been approved in the Philippines, it stank of ‘one rule for us, one rule for them’. In a televised address, Duterte said ‘Don’t follow my footsteps. It’s dangerous because there are no studies, it might not be good for the body’ and asked the Chinese embassy to take back their donation.

These separate incidents taking place around the world suggest that Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy, once the envy of the world, has run into two fundamental problems. For one, the two Chinese jabs simply don’t cut the mustard when it comes to efficacy, especially against the Delta variant. It’s been estimated that the protection offered by the Chinese vaccines against the new strain could be up to 20 per cent lower than against the original coronavirus, coming down from already low efficacy numbers of 51 per cent for Sinovac and 79 per cent for Sinopharm.

Countries like Chile, Bahrain, Mongolia, and the Seychelles are finding out that after using the Chinese vaccines they need a much higher level of vaccine coverage to beat back new infections. It’s a problem that China itself will soon have to face – with the Delta variant currently in 17 Chinese provinces. Many countries though have no other choice. Until the G7 begins rolling-out the one billion vaccines they have promised to give the rest of the world, China’s vaccines will continue to dominate. As one Indonesian academic recently said, ‘Sinovac is the only choice’.

The other problem is more prickly. Beijing is now finding that its best photo op partners – strongman leaders across the world who accepted the Chinese vaccines and whose supplicatory gestures and grateful words adorned Xinhua reports in China – are, in fact, not such a blessing. Take the current Thai protests, which have bubbled over from the 2020 student protests and which are fuelled by existing political grievances. In this climate Sinovac has found itself lumped in with a government under siege. In Peru, the President who helped himself to Sinopharm before it was approved for the rest of the population was impeached soon after, on separate corruption accusations. In various countries, Chinese vaccines have come to be associated with incompetent or coercive national governments, who are often seen as forcing the Chinese vaccine on their sceptical people.

Ultimately, China’s vaccine diplomacy has still been a success. Of the 350 million jabs it has exported to over 80 countries, a handful of difficult or unhappy customers isn’t a huge issue. And it would be unlike Beijing to have compunction about being associated with sleazy governments or impeached presidents. Other countries still laud the Chinese vaccines (Serbia has made itself into something of a local benefactor, doling Chinese vaccines out to its wanting neighbours). And until the West makes its superior vaccines readily available China will find that it’s a seller's market, even if the country can’t portray itself as the technological champion it had wanted to be by 2021. But for now, when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of ordinary people around the world (not the Dutertes or the Prayuts), Beijing is finding that vaccine diplomacy is harder than just a few photo ops.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/...o-difficulties

[HuangLao]

Talking of new vaccines, if the chinkies don't fuck ARCov up and it works better than the shit they have now, it could make a huge difference.

Walvax COVID-19 vaccine - Wikipedia

That other name is a clever idea too... Walvax.

If they sell it at Walmart even the trumpanzees might go for it.

Clever Chinks.
Ahead of the game still?

It appears that this might be our future - ever-changing and updating vaccine boosters to combat the omnipresent mutations of COVID.
I'm sure everyone and their mother are already developing the next generation of vaccines.

Envisioning that our official documentation updates/info will simply be uploaded onto our mobile units - no need for paper certificates.
COVID, and it's ever changing forms, is gonna be around for a while.

Good times to come.

[misskit]

^ Right now COVID seems to be the never-ending story.

Russia Sets New Pandemic Record With Over 800 Coronavirus Deaths

Russia reported more than 800 coronavirus deaths for the first time since the start of the pandemic Thursday, following four record-tying fatalities in recent weeks.


Russia’s Covid-19 task force said that 808 people died Thursday.

The last pandemic mortality record of 799 deaths was recorded on four separate days in mid-July and early August, including Wednesday.


The country’s total death toll of 168,049 is the sixth-highest in the world, but experts say the true figure is likely higher.


Russia’s excess fatality toll since the start of the pandemic stood at above 531,000 as of June, the latest month for which data is available, according to The Moscow Times' analysis. That is one of the highest figures in the world, both in absolute terms and adjusted for population size.


The Covid-19 task force also reported 21,932 new Covid-19 cases Thursday, with Delta variant-driven cases starting to stabilize in mid-July.


Russia has the world's fourth-highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases at more than 6.5 million.


The country has grappled with a stuttering vaccination campaign despite offering four domestically made vaccines at no cost and several regions introducing mandatory vaccinations for public-facing workers. Just 19.7% of the population has received two vaccine doses as of Thursday, according to independent monitors.

Russia Sets New Pandemic Record With Over 800 Coronavirus Deaths - The Moscow Times

[harrybarracuda]

It's ironic that all that vaccine disinformation they've been spewing out there is coming back to bite them in the arse.

[cyrille]

^ Right now COVID seems to be the never-ending story.

Ya think?

[panama hat]

Chinese vaccines have come to be associated with incompetent or coercive national governments

I'd protest at calling the Chinese government incompetent. Murderous, bullying, two-faced, aggressive, warlike etc . . . absolutely. Incompetent . . . less so.

[PAG]

[Klondyke]

Wondering why Israel is on US list to avoid travelling, highest level 4.
COVID-19 Travel Recommendations by Destination | CDC


Whilst Israel is one of the most vaccinated countries:

Israel Vaccine Data: How Many Have Already Been Inoculated for COVID
More than 78 percent of Israelis eligible for COVID-19 vaccination have been inoculated. As delta variant spreads, booster shot campaign is under way

HaaretzAug. 10, 2021

On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control added Israel to its highest risk level, advising U.S. citizens to avoid travel.

Israel vaccine data: How many have already been inoculated for COVID - Israel News - Haaretz.com

[aging one]

Maybe this has something to do with it.

Israel tightens coronavirus restrictions as new cases surge | Coronavirus pandemic News | Al Jazeera

Israel’s government on Wednesday advanced a raft of new coronavirus restrictions, including sweeping implementation of a digital vaccine passport and tighter restrictions on mass gatherings, as the country struggles with skyrocketing new infections.
The country that had appeared to put the coronavirus pandemic behind it a few months ago after a world-leading vaccine drive is now reimposing regulations in a bid to clamp back down on infections.
Despite its vaccination campaign, Israel has seen new coronavirus cases rise in recent weeks. The Health Ministry recorded 5,755 new cases on Wednesday, the highest daily figure since February, and serious cases have grown from 19 in mid-June to 400.

[OhOh]

a raft of new coronavirus restrictions, including sweeping implementation of a digital vaccine passport and tighter restrictions on mass gatherings,

Sounds a bit Asian.

[cyrille]

Sounds a bit Asian.

It is Asian.

[OhOh]

It is Asian.

It may well be situated in Asia, but Asian culturally/centred?

[OhOh]

WHO Statement on advancing the next series of studies to find the origins of SARS-CoV-2

12 August 2021

Statement



Reading time: 3 min (838 words)

"Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO has been working with Member States and the scientific community to better understand how this pandemic began so that we can be better prepared for the next one."

"Searching for the origins of a novel virus is an immensely difficult scientific task that takes time. WHO is committed to following the science, and we call on all governments to put differences aside and work together to provide all data and access required so that the next series of studies can be commenced as soon as possible."

WHO Statement on advancing the next series of studies to find the origins of SARS-CoV-2

[HermantheGerman]

It seems that your eyes full of hatred do not see clearly that:

It seems that you are blinded from your socialist/communist past and can't face reality.
In the old days the east block countries knew very well how to read and write. What happened ?

Fact is: But why does Moscow itself not allow any foreign vaccines IN its own country?

[HermantheGerman]

Searching for the origins of a novel virus is an immensely difficult scientific task that takes time.

bla bla bla bla...bla bla......bla bla bla.....bla bla bla bla bla

Fact is the Chinese did not cooperate (as always) from the beginning.
Never trust a communist swine!

[harrybarracuda]

It may well be situated in Asia, but Asian culturally/centred?

Stop waffling.

Definition of Semite

1a: a member of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs

[harrybarracuda]

WHO is committed to following the science, and we call on all governments (but we really mean the chinkies) to put differences aside and work together to provide all data and access required

FTFY.

[harrybarracuda]

Gamma Plus...

A summary but the link is in Portugese:

Brazilian researchers found a new version of the Gamma variant of the coronavirus, identified in January in Manaus (AM). The strain called Gamma plus is described in a work done by the Genov project, from the Dasa laboratory network.
Scientists analyzed 1,380 samples from people with covid-19 in the country. Eleven of them (Gamma plus) had the P681H mutation, which the report's authors classified as "converging with characteristics of Delta, a variant that usually presents this structural change".

<snip>

Levi adds that "it is certain" that this mutation makes the Gamma plus variant more transmissible than the traditional Gamma.

Cientistas brasileiros identificam variante Gama plus do coronavirus - Noticias - R7 Saude

[harrybarracuda]

Despite all the damage they've done, the chinkies still refuse to help the Wuhan virus investigation.

The WHO on Thursday urged China to share raw data from the earliest Covid-19 cases to revive its probe into the origins of the disease, as Russia recorded record deaths.

The World Health Organization's plea came as Russia saw its highest daily death toll from the pandemic that has killed at least 4.3 million people worldwide.

The WHO stressed it was "vitally important" to uncover the origins of the virus first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.

In the face of pushback from Beijing, the UN health agency called for the provision of "all data and access required so that the next series of studies can be commenced as soon as possible".

After much delay, a WHO team of international experts went to Wuhan in January 2021 to produce a first phase report, which was written in conjunction with their Chinese counterparts.

Their March report drew no firm conclusions, instead ranking four hypotheses.

It said the virus jumping from bats to humans via an intermediate animal was the most probable scenario, while a leak from the Wuhan virology labs was "extremely unlikely".

However, the investigation faced criticism for lacking transparency and access, and for not evaluating the lab-leak theory more deeply.

A WHO call last month for the investigation's second stage to include audits of the Wuhan labs infuriated Beijing, with vice health minister Zeng Yixin saying the plan showed "disrespect for common sense and arrogance towards science".

After reading the phase one report, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus concluded that the probe into Wuhan's virology labs had not gone far enough.

Meanwhile, Danish scientist Peter Ben Embarek, who led the international mission to Wuhan, said a lab employee infected while taking samples in the field falls under one of the likely hypotheses as to how the virus passed from bats to humans.

He told the Danish public channel TV2 that the suspect bats were not from the Wuhan region and the only people likely to have approached them were workers from the Wuhan labs.

"In order to address the 'lab hypothesis', it is important to have access to all data and consider scientific best practice and look at the mechanisms WHO already has in place."

WHO asks China for more data on Covid origins as Russia deaths spike - France 24