The COVID-2019 Thread

[misskit]

Covid "Tsunami" Will Drive Health Systems Towards Collapse: WHO

Geneva: A "tsunami" of Omicron and Delta Covid-19 cases will pile pressure on health systems already being stretched to their limits, the World Health Organization warned on Wednesday.


The WHO said the Delta and Omicron variants of concern were "twin threats" that were driving new case numbers to record highs, leading to spikes in hospitalisations and deaths.


The WHO said new global cases had risen by 11 percent last week, while the United States and France both registered record daily case numbers on Wednesday.


"I am highly concerned that Omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.


"This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers, and health systems on the brink of collapse."


He said the pressure on health systems was not only due to new coronavirus patients, but also large numbers of health workers falling ill with Covid.


'Moral shame'


The WHO reflected on the fight against Covid-19 in 2021 and hoped that next year would see an end to the acute stage of the pandemic -- but warned that it would rest on greater vaccine equity.


The WHO wanted 40 percent of the population in every country fully vaccinated by the end of the year and has a target of 70 percent coverage by the middle of 2022.


Tedros announced that 92 of the WHO's 194 member states were going to miss the 40 percent target.


"This is due to a combination of limited supply going to low-income countries for most of the year and then subsequent vaccines arriving close to expiry and without key parts like the syringes," he said.








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"It's not only a moral shame, it cost lives and provided the virus with opportunities to circulate unchecked and mutate. In the year ahead, I call for leaders of government and industry to walk the talk on vaccine equity.


"While 2021 has been hard, I ask everyone to make a New Year's resolution to get behind the campaign to vaccinate 70 percent by the middle of 2022."


Misinformation and populism


Tedros slammed the attitude of richer countries accusing them of hogging the weapons to combat Covid-19 -- and leaving the back door open for the virus.


"Populism, narrow nationalism and hoarding of health tools, including masks, therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines, by a small number of countries, undermined equity, and created the ideal conditions for the emergence of new variants," he said.


Meanwhile disinformation had been a constant distraction in 2021, hampering efforts to beat the pandemic.


"In the huge waves of cases currently seen in Europe and in many countries around the world, misinformation which has driven vaccine hesitancy is now translating to the unvaccinated disproportionally dying," he said.

Tedros lamented that while there were 1.8 million recorded deaths in 2020, there were 3.5 million in 2021 -- and the true number would be much higher.

Covid Tsunami Will Drive Health Systems Towards Collapse: WHO

[harrybarracuda]

vaccine hesitancy is now translating to the unvaccinated disproportionally dying

The sooner the better. Thins out the shallow end of the gene pool.

[Joe 90]

I for one am not taking anymore vaccines, I've had it with this covid crap and gonna get on with life.

[Buckaroo Banzai]

I for one am not taking anymore vaccines, I've had it with this covid crap and gonna get on with life.

How ever short it might be . LOL

[misskit]

UK reports surge in COVID deaths, builds temporary wards

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. reported a sharp increase in coronavirus-related deaths Thursday as the National Health Service announced it was building temporary structures at hospitals in England to prepare for a possible surge of patients infected with the highly transmissible omicron variant.


The government reported 332 deaths, the highest figure since March 2. Public health officials cautioned that the number included a backlog of cases that stemmed from incomplete reporting during the Christmas holiday period.


The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 jumped to 11,898, up 44% from a week earlier.


While the figures are the highest in almost 10 months, they are still far below the peaks reported last January, when most people were unvaccinated.

MORE UK reports surge in COVID deaths, builds temporary wards | AP News

[Buckaroo Banzai]

UK reports surge in COVID deaths, builds temporary wards

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. reported a sharp increase in coronavirus-related deaths Thursday as the National Health Service announced it was building temporary structures at hospitals in England to prepare for a possible surge of patients infected with the highly transmissible omicron variant.


The government reported 332 deaths, the highest figure since March 2. Public health officials cautioned that the number included a backlog of cases that stemmed from incomplete reporting during the Christmas holiday period.


The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 jumped to 11,898, up 44% from a week earlier.


While the figures are the highest in almost 10 months, they are still far below the peaks reported last January, when most people were unvaccinated.

MORE UK reports surge in COVID deaths, builds temporary wards | AP News

What many fail to understand is that what Omicron lucks in virility , it makes up and surpasses in quantity

[harrybarracuda]

I for one am not taking anymore vaccines, I've had it with this covid crap and gonna get on with life.

Already had my booster. My only concern with getting it at this stage is the travel restrictions.

[Switch]

Who will staff the new temporary structures once a higher proportion of medical staff become infected with Omicron?

[S Landreth]

Medical students and retired medical professionals

[OhOh]

The government reported 332 deaths

Any breakdown by age available yet?

[Joe 90]

Any breakdown by age available yet?

It is mostly unvaccinated.

[baldrick]

I for one am not taking anymore vaccines

and if an anti ageing vaccine comes out ? or maybe hair loss ? cock on forehead reduction vaccine ?

[headhunter]

having had 2shots of pfizer told my booster would be in 6months time,RIGHT OR WRONG.?

[Joe 90]

having had 2shots of pfizer told my booster would be in 6months time,RIGHT OR WRONG.?

Wrong mate, I had my booster 3 months after my second.

[headhunter]

Wrong mate, I had my booster 3 months after my second.

,
thanks joe,just to be sure i got it right,i had 2 shots of pfizer and they told me my booster of pfizer wood be in 6months,my wife is the health worker for our area so she will also check with the doctor.

[malmomike77]

Not surprising..sadly

I’m a UK Covid scientist. Here’s a sample of the abuse in my inbox

“You scaremongering ignorant fucking [at][at][at][at], you and your retarded team made predictions that could have fucked this country for billions of pounds, fucked Christmas for a second time and cost thousands thier [sic] jobs only to have your most pessimistic ballshit [sic] now found to be just that. How fucks like you can sleep at night is beyond me and I hope you are fucking held to account for what you have done and could have done if there weren’t some people in the government with a brain.”


How would you like to get this in your inbox? As a senior scientist advising the government on Covid, I get this sort of email on a fairly regular basis. Indeed, (someone calling himself) Mr Roberts (who sent this) is a regular offender. What particularly upset me about this email was that it wasn’t sent to me, but to a junior member of my team. Awful, isn’t it?


Although this is a typical email from Roberts, it is not altogether typical of the genre. Roberts’s spelling is generally good and his sentences might be a bit long, but the grammar is usually sound. Most letter-writers have at best a very basic grasp of the English language – enough to get their point across, but extremely rudimentary. The spelling really is shocking. Sometimes it makes me wonder about the mental state of the sender; whether they are from the UK at all (Russian call centres come to mind); or whether they were even written by a human. I find it strangely comforting to think that some of them might have been generated by a clever bit of computer code rather than an angry, deluded member of our society.


Other things that I have learned is that if you mention vaccination in the media, particularly vaccination of children, then there is likely to be a reaction. However, this only occurs if one’s comments are picked up by the rightwing press – particularly the Daily Mail. The letter-writers also seem to use the same tropes, like the phrase “tick tock” (sometimes just that) or the Nuremberg trials and, of course, Bill Gates (who must get this stuff by the bucketload every day). This rehashing of the same motifs sometimes leads me to believe that there is a coordinated campaign, or at least that these ideas are circulating somewhere and they cut and paste them into their letters to my colleagues and I.


But it isn’t all bad. Sometimes you get someone who is genuinely concerned and/or confused. I always reply to these letters. If I can help explain the science or the risks so that they come to a more informed decision, then I feel I have done my job.


Then there are the slightly more outre examples. There is an artist who occasionally sends me a picture of a misty landscape or a still life – wonderfully touching and thought-provoking – and the musician who dubbed one of my Radio 4 interviews over his song. Bonkers, but it worked.


And perhaps that is the lesson. There are some people out there who might need help, some rude and threatening types who really need to look at themselves, some confused souls who need advice, and some magical, whimsical sorts who just need to carry on doing what they do. Help those who need it, block out the idiots (spam filters are great) and concentrate on the wonderful, the wacky and the profound. Happy new year!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/31/im-a-uk-covid-scientist-heres-a-sample-of-the-abuse-in-my-inbox

[pickel]

having had 2shots of pfizer told my booster would be in 6months time,RIGHT OR WRONG.?

It's 6 months in Canada.

[Loy Toy]

Word is, and since the bars have opened again, a few establishments around Maprachan Lake have had a few patrons test positive for Covid.

At this stage no action from the authorities but I will be staying home away from all those cooling fans which blow airborne germs around.

[headhunter]

,
thanks joe,just to be sure i got it right,i had 2 shots of pfizer and they told me my booster of pfizer wood be in 6months,my wife is the health worker for our area so she will also check with the doctor.

i have been told,if you have 2shots of either pfizer or modena then your third is not due till 6 months,any other vacine eg.its 3months.

[harrybarracuda]

COVID-19: England reports 162,572 new cases and 154 further coronavirus-related deaths, daily figures show

COVID-19: England reports 162,572 new cases and 154 further coronavirus-related deaths, daily figures show | UK News | Sky News

[harrybarracuda]

Well if these 7/11 covid tests are anywhere near accurate, I've managed to avoid it so far.

[Troy]

^^^ That's the information I have too.
If you had 2 shots of pfizer or moderna then it is 6 months before booster.
If you had astrazenica then booster after 3 - 6 months
If you had J&J then booster after 2 - 6 months.
However, I did hear the 6 months wait has been reduced to 5 in some countries.

[headhunter]

^^^ That's the information I have too.
If you had 2 shots of pfizer or moderna then it is 6 months before booster.
If you had astrazenica then booster after 3 - 6 months
If you had J&J then booster after 2 - 6 months.
However, I did hear the 6 months wait has been reduced to 5 in some countries.

yes troy the UK has reduced it to 3months oweing to the latest surge.
i did read elswhere that david hen [tv] waited 5hrs to get a booster only to be told after 2 pfizer shots he must wait for 6months.[30 dec.] also on mor-prom.

[OhOh]

More cases, more deaths now and probably increasing post the latest holiday spirits intake.

[Little Chuchok]