Covid-19 discussion

Especially considering the virus is barely a year old and less than that since US community spread. Like truly what more can you expect? Every single failure of governments is being projected onto scientific research :roll_eyes:

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And even more specifically, ramp up distribution to places that cannot reasonably do one of the mRNA vaccines. Rural, hot, at war, poor nations, (any or all combo of these) the storage and supply chain requirements for moderna and pfeizer are frankly a little insane. Hence even Oregon having to give it out in a snow storm lol.

ā€œWeā€™re not safe until weā€™re all safeā€ which reminds me, I saw Biden had the US join Covax program. Anyone know the actual actions/implications of this?

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It is really so freaking cool that the J&J vaccine is good at preventing those complications. My major concern were the long term implications of severe illness, and if the vaccine prevents that, I am ON BOARD.

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The best way to stop complications is halt spread. The best way to do that is with any vaccine program :woman_shrugging: I think this ends up being a ā€œdonā€™t make perfect the enemy of goodā€ situation.

That being said, I AM curious if weā€™ll bolster less effective ones or will need to. Too early to tell on any of them though I think.

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Iā€™m frustrated at how slowly the manufacturers all seem to be in regards to pediatric vaccines. I know thereā€™s a reason for it but I think itā€™s Moderna that said they wouldnā€™t have any data on little kids till 2022. A couple others might have something available later this year, at some unspecified time.

Iā€™ve become so used to my kid getting shots at every well visit (till this year at least, but then he still got the flu shot) that it didnā€™t occur to me for most of 2020 that he would be the last one in our family to get vaccinated against covid. Iā€™d really, really like to send him back to in-person school next school year. Oh, dare to dream, summer camp! But our area continues to be a dumpster fire of community spread, even ignoring specific health factors in our family.

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It sounds ideal for homeless people and seasonal workers and other people that might not be able to return in the correct timeframe for a second dose.

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Iā€™m reading that thereā€™s no reason you canā€™t follow up with one of the mRNA vaccines when they are more available. Iā€™ll tell you Iā€™d be delighted to take the J&J tomorrow if I could, and itā€™s very likely thatā€™s what Iā€™ll be offered because of some of the supply requrements BJ mentioned.

I think my place may qualify for 3/4 (sort of but not exactly joking about the ā€œpoor nationā€ part).

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Oh, absolutely! Just, a ā€œmildā€ case can result in long term issues, so it gave me pause when it said itā€™s mostly effective against severe illness.
If a lot of people get ANY vaccine, though, then of course that will help.
I think the one year when the flu shot was a poor match for the flu, and Boyfriend and I both got it, the effectiveness was less than 20 percent? That was my concern - get vaccine, get sick anyway, like the flu.

OK, this is excellent news.

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Clinical trials are currently underway for kids ages 12-17 (Moderna) and 12-15 (Pfizer). I watched part of the white house briefing this morning: Dr. Fauci said theyā€™re not going to require the large-scale real-world efficacy trials requiring 30,000+ enrolled for kids. Theyā€™re doing trials in a few thousand kids, maybe trying lower doses in younger kids, to make sure they mount a good immune response, and there arenā€™t significant side effects. He said the first EUA for kids is expected by the end of the summer.

There will be step-down trials: next will be kids 6-11, then 2-5, and finally infants. That they havenā€™t started enrolling anyone my kidā€™s age right now makes it really unlikely thereā€™ll be a shot for him in the fall. Maybe when he turns 6 at the end of this summer, heā€™ll be eligible for a clinical trial.

I think thereā€™s also less urgency to authorize vaccines for kids, since they (so far) have had fewer symptoms and transmit the virus less, particularly kids under 10.

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And my understanding is that kids 10 and up have been lumped in with older adolescents, so itā€™s possible that kids who are more like 10-12 donā€™t spread it as much as kids who are more like 15-17.

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Yeah, Iā€™m with you. One of the reasons Iā€™m anxious to get vaccinated is to help protect my kid, who will not be able to be vaccinated for a long time.

I appreciate those who have added more info on the ā€œtrials in kidsā€ topic!

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This. Sigh. I donā€™t feel like Iā€™ll be coming out of lockdown much until both my toddler and unborn baby can get a vaccine. I get that not a lot of kids have experienced severe symptoms, (thank goodness!) but Iā€™m just not comfortable not knowing what the long term effects could be of even a mild case. Hopefully a vaccine for RLG, me, and the other adults in our circle will help reduce the risk of transmission somewhat.

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CDC requiring masks to be worn over both mouth and nose in all public conveyances in the US starting Monday evening. The order includes taxis and ride-shares.

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

@anomalily

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Has anyone seen that requirement not be in place already? Every transit agency I work with has been requiring it. Good to have it at a federal level though.

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ā€¦ yeah. This applies to rural paratransit, too. Not that theyā€™ll follow it, but at least now I can bitch with backup.

Also applies to ferries, taxis, Ubers. I guess airport shuttle services (if they are rideshares)? I know those drivers have not been wearing masks going through college town on the way to the regional airport.

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Ours requires it, but people like to point to our governorā€™s comments decrying any sort of mask mandate as a reason not to follow it. Iā€™m hoping here that the CDC recommendation means more folks will follow it, but Iā€™m not hopeful. Theyā€™ve been ignoring most of what the CDC has been saying for a long time now.

What authority does the CDC actually have to make sure this happens?

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Technically this is an order under in a public health emergency declaration rather than another recommendation, and they have power to charge people criminally if they donā€™t comply. What they would actually do is a separate question.

Fully expect it to be challenged in the courts under a states rights argument. The emergency powers are clear, so challenges shouldnā€™t go much of anywhere, but these days, who knows.

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Perth and surrounding areas within Western Australia have gone back into lockdown until Friday. We had gone almost 10 months without community transmission. Seeing the lack of social distancing that people are doing as they rush to the shops and how little social distancing has been done over the last few months is really worrying.

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Was interesting watching the press conference - first time Iā€™ve hear Mark McGowan and your Health Minister and CHO speak. They appear to have the details of the restrictions under control, pretty good considering the time frames - positive case came to light last night I think? The CHO seemed to struggle with the query re birthing partners and also whether schools would offer an online program.

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We had the same in our last semi-lockdown. The shops werenā€™t closing and as soon as the mask mandate came in at 6pm that day, they were empty.

:crossed_fingers:you have a similar outcome to us and it doesnā€™t spread beyond that one personā€™s household.

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