BF2S Forums Pandemic thread

Ok so vaccine effectiveness drops from 90% to bout 11%?

Reading beyond the headline it seems the new variant is resistant to antibodies made by people who suffered 'original covid'. This doesn't say anything about vaccine effectiveness yet and seems a tad alarmist. I've read other articles which state vaccines are still likely to remain effective.

Last edited by Larssen (2021-01-21 01:21:32)

how about you stop reading articles and start reading (peer-reviewed) research?

data already exists that suggests quite strongly that new mutations thus far are still covered by existing vaccines.

weren't you the one advocating all of 4 posts ago abandoning lockdowns and accepting that fast-spreading covid was a 'fact of life'?

now you're like a headless chicken because you read a news stub somewhere? 'omg getting covid multiple times might be really bad after all?' ffs figure it out.

Last edited by uziq (2021-01-21 01:47:20)

And the latest, non-peer reviewed DATA suggests otherwise.

Dilbert_X wrote:

In summary, no-one knows at this point.

literally from the article.

An eight-fold drop in neutralisation is the threshold the World Health Organization uses to decide when updates are needed for seasonal influenza vaccines, though the two infections are not directly comparable.

If the results from South Africa are confirmed, the risk of the variant spreading more widely would justify planning for a “potential strain update” this autumn, said Trevor Bedford, who works on immunology and virus evolution at the University of Washington.

“I’ll be getting the vaccine as soon as I’m able,” he tweeted. “We have an amazing vaccine now that works against currently circulating viruses. And if it becomes necessary, this emerging situation can be dealt with through a forthcoming vaccine update.”

we're DoOmED!!!!

Dilderpus wrote:

Vaccination gives the same benefit of having the virus and developing the defences to the virus without the hassle of actually having the virus.

thank god we've got an engineer in the house who can explain this stuff to us. i feel safer knowing there's a *checks notes* scientist posting on bf2s.

Last edited by uziq (2021-01-21 01:58:58)

don't get me wrong, i am in support of lockdown and social distancing measures to curb the virus's spread.

that's because we don't need to encourage mutation at this still incredibly high-risk time.

widespread antigen testing in the population suggests, at best, that still only 10-15% of people have had covid thus far. that's in heavily hit countries like the US, UK, spain.

the vaccination rollouts we have for the currently remarkably effective vaccines is still at < 5% worldwide.

we need to sit on our hands for a little bit longer. it is prudent. but talking about having to update the vaccines for new strains 'next autumn' is not the fucking end of the world and a 'told you so' for people who are arguing we should be under house arrest 12 months a year. this is an entirely foreseeable and planned-for situation.

the same anti-vax crowd will also deny that covid is lethal up until their dying breath.

i don't think you can appeal to reason or evidence to sway these people. they don't 'believe' in vaccines just like they don't believe 400,000 americans have died. 'but WhY aRe thErE nO fLu deAthS tHis YeaR?'

fuck them.

i'd say these people are free to remove themselves from the gene pool at their own behest, but it's hard to be so sanguine when they're an active danger to other people and nullify public efforts.

mRNA is cool but hardly affordable so long as it's tech in the hands of private pharmaceutical companies.

definitely a promising avenue for future vaccine tech, but has some pretty considerable logistical and economical problems, too.

it’s an epidemiological commonplace that poorer populations, communities, regions, etc, are impacted far more than richer ones. a vaccine tech that requires -70 degree transport temps or whatever it is does not bode particularly well for the majority of the world’s population who aren’t in well-developed nations, and who are by default staring down a much longer barrel when it comes to endemic or pandemic crises. but that’s by the by.

Last edited by uziq (2021-01-21 04:03:29)

Daily deaths totals still trending up. Why did Joe Biden do this?

uziq wrote:

With that in mind, Biden said he will sign an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to accelerate the production of supplies needed to test, vaccinate and protect Americans.

“This is a wartime undertaking,” Biden said.

day 1 and biden is taking federal charge of this thing.

also introduced tests before flights and quarantine upon arrival, similar to other countries with OPEN BORDERS that have done well.

remember how many months jay spent arguing that the federal government wasn't suited to this, and it was best left for state-level governors to respond 'dynamically'? ROFL. half a million dead americans later ...

But why didn't Biden do anything before 400,000 died? <-- Literal argument from some right wingers

So my uncle's most pressing issue is getting his tablet working again, and he believes the China Bat Virus originated from Saddam's NBC weapons program.
He still hasn't been tested and apparently trying to navigate the UK health system and get a test done is so hard you'd think it was deliberate to discourage people from getting tested.

Dilbert_X wrote:

So my uncle's most pressing issue is getting his tablet working again, and he believes the China Bat Virus originated from Saddam's NBC weapons program.
He still hasn't been tested and apparently trying to navigate the UK health system and get a test done is so hard you'd think it was deliberate to discourage people from getting tested.

we're testing 640,000 people a day.

you can get a test kit in the post via request, go to your local doctors or pharmacy, or go to a major testing centre.

perhaps your uncle is just as bad at managing life as an independent adult as you are, and the problem isn't 'the UK health system'?

current PCR capacity is 850,000 per day. we are doing 640,000. that’s a lot of spare tests your uncle is struggling to find.

you can get tested publicly or privately. i can find 20+ private options in my immediate area with a google search, if the NHS is failing him so badly.

this is funny:
https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1 … 89314?s=21