Coronavirus: Vaccines

[Volkonski]

Enjoy, Sugar!!

[Foggy]

That's wonderful news, Sugar M.

[RTH10260]

repost

As a reminder that partial vaccination does not give a high level of protection, and that the second jab also takes time to go into effect. As also a reminder that even a full vaccination with thime to settle does not necessary give a 100% protection, but does lead to mild effects of an outbreak (*).

(article ten days old now)

Royal Caribbean delays cruise ship after 8 crew members test positive for Covid
Odyssey of the Seas' inaugural sailing, originally scheduled for July 3, is now set for July 31.

June 16, 2021, 1:30 PM CEST
By Wilson Wong

Royal Caribbean International is delaying the inaugural sailing of its Odyssey of the Seas cruise ship after eight crew members tested positive for Covid-19, officials said Tuesday.

"During routine testing, eight crew members received a positive test result for Covid-19," company CEO Michael Bayley said in a statement. "All 1,400 crew onboard Odyssey of the Seas were vaccinated on June 4th and will be considered fully vaccinated on June 18."


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ro ... t-n1270979

(*) from a different news item two patients out of all mentioned above had "100% protection" that resulted in the mild form.

[RTH10260]

crossposting - why vaccination is important

Two young unvaccinated passengers on Royal Caribbean cruise test positive for coronavirus

Hannah Sampson
June 25, 2021 at 6:27 p.m. GMT+2

Two young unvaccinated passengers on a Royal Caribbean International cruise out of the Bahamas tested positive for the coronavirus, the cruise line said.

The passengers, who were younger than 16 and traveling in the same group, left Adventure of the Seas before the end of the cruise on Thursday in Freeport with their companions. They returned home to Florida on a private flight arranged by the cruise company, CEO Michael Bayley said in a Facebook post.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2 ... ise-covid/

[Luke]

Have a wonderful time, Sugar!

This was on Newsmax, but it's a Reuters story. If you had the J&J, it's worth following this story closely. Pfizer & Moderna seem to be fine, no booster needed at this point.

Experts Taking J&J Vaccine Booster for Delta Variant
Friday, 25 June 2021 09:10 PM

Infectious disease experts are weighing the need for booster shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna mRNA-based vaccines for Americans who received Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine due to the increasing prevalence of the more contagious Delta coronavirus variant. A few say they have already done so themselves, even without published data on whether combining two different vaccines is safe and effective or backing from U.S. health regulators. Canada and some European countries are already allowing people to get two different COVID-19 shots.

The debate centers on concerns over how protective the J&J shot is against the Delta variant first detected in India and now circulating widely in many countries. Delta, which has also been associated with more severe disease, could quickly become the dominant version of the virus in the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky has warned.

There is no substantial data showing how protective the J&J vaccine is against the new variant. However, UK studies show that two doses of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccines are significantly more protective against the variant than one. Andy Slavitt, former senior pandemic advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, raised the idea this week on his podcast. At least half a dozen prominent infectious disease experts said U.S. regulators need to address the issue in short order.

"There's no doubt that the people who receive the J&J vaccine are less protected against disease," than those who get two doses of the other shots, said Stanford professor Dr. Michael Lin. "From the principle of taking easy steps to prevent really bad outcomes, this is really a no brainer."

More at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/johns ... d/1026501/

[Lani]

The mRNA Vaccines Are Extraordinary, but Novavax Is Even Better
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/arch ... aign=share

At the end of January, reports that yet another COVID-19 vaccine had succeeded in its clinical trials—this one offering about 70 percent protection [later testing was 96%] —were front-page news in the United States, and occasioned push alerts on millions of phones. But when the Maryland-based biotech firm Novavax announced its latest stunning trial results last week, and an efficacy rate of more than 90 percent even against coronavirus variants, the response from the same media outlets was muted in comparison. The difference, of course, was the timing: With three vaccines already authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the nation is “awash in other shots” already, as the The New York Times put it.

Practically speaking, this is true. If the FDA sees no urgency, the Novavax vaccine might not be available in the U.S. for months, and in the meantime the national supply of other doses exceeds demand.


The Novavax vaccine also has a substantially lower rate of side effects than the authorized mRNA vaccines.

[Uninformed]

Don’t know if this has already been posted. Map of States reaching 70% vaccination uptake. Also, don’t know if it’s true.

[neonzx]

Don’t know if this has already been posted. Map of States reaching 70% vaccination uptake. Also, don’t know if it’s true.

It's true. The top 20 states with highest vax rates went for Biden. The bottom 20 vax states went for Trump.

[MN-Skeptic]

Don’t know if this has already been posted. Map of States reaching 70% vaccination uptake. Also, don’t know if it’s true.

It's true. The top 20 states with highest vax rates went for Biden. The bottom 20 vax states went for Trump.

Georgia, even though it went for Biden, is the exception to that.

[Lani]

It's not true for Hawaii.

[Frater I*I]

Georgia, even though it went for Biden, is the exception to that.

Welcome to GA

[p0rtia]

It's not true for Hawaii.

Hawaii is at 83 percent adults vaccinated. What am I missing?

[scirreeve]

I just got back from Hawaii. If I understood correctly Hawaii's goal is 70% of all residents vaxxed. They count the ineligible (i.e. children) in this number. Local reports report on progress toward that goal and the local numbers are not adults only. I think different states report % vaxxed using different definitions so it gets confusing.

[p0rtia]

I just got back from Hawaii. If I understood correctly Hawaii's goal is 70% of all residents vaxxed. They count the ineligible (i.e. children) in this number. Local reports report on progress toward that goal and the local numbers are not adults only. I think different states report % vaxxed using different definitions so it gets confusing.

I'm sure you're right. But the map (and issue of which states met the goal) above we were talking about refers to Biden's goal of 70 percent of people 18 and over vaccinated by July 4. Hawaii has the second highest percentage of adults vaccinated.

[Lani]

https://health.hawaii.gov/coronavirusdi ... in-hawaii/

Percentages for 12 and older. Initiated vaccination 62.7%. Completed vaccination 53.8%.

By county, the neighbor islands have initiated vaccination of 70% or slightly higher, but Oahu is at 67%.

Yet another statistic on the same website: statewide initiated vaccination 63%, completed vaccination 58.3%.

[p0rtia]

Again, the map and the list of states referenced was for 1 vaccine, 18 years and up.
Hawaii has the second highest percentage at over 85 percent.

[Lani]

Again, the map and the list of states referenced was for 1 vaccine, 18 years and up.
Hawaii has the second highest percentage at over 85 percent.

Hawaii doesn't consider itself to have reached 70%. If it had, all COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.

Yes, we include 12 & up. I don't see separated data for only 18 and over, but I'll keep looking. That might raise the rate. And the State is adding in Federal personnel (mostly military), which may bump up the number a bit.

[p0rtia]

Again, the map and the list of states referenced was for 1 vaccine, 18 years and up.
Hawaii has the second highest percentage at over 85 percent.

Hawaii doesn't consider itself to have reached 70%. If it had, all COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.

Yes, we include 12 & up. I don't see separated data for only 18 and over, but I'll keep looking. That might raise the rate. And the State is adding in Federal personnel (mostly military), which may bump up the number a bit.

Apologies for not including the link last night -- I was on my bedside (TM) computer!

I do not wish this exchange to be seen as in any way argumentative. I've been following this particular number (18+ vaccinated) and related metrics obsessively. The correlation between blue states and states that met Biden's 18+ vaccinated goal is to me a massive red flag for the future of the republic (I am ready to secede).

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/202 ... doses.html

18+ July 7.jpg (133.84 KiB) Viewed 2446 times

[RVInit]

This really shows the effectiveness of rwnj messaging.

Democratic voters understand Covid is the enemy and vaccination is a public health issue.

Republican messaging is all in lockstep, as usual. The enemy is Democrats and the enemy are doing everything they can to take away your rights. Republican voters really have no chance of being able to come to their own conclusions and think for themselves. They are constantly bombarded with messaging coming from every possible source all telling them what to think and how to think it and every source telling them exactly the same thing. That is why when we hear one rwnj say something, within 2 hours every other rwnj source has already picked up that particular message and is busy spreading it.'

We are doomed. So sayeth the Doomseers. Or something like that.

[RVInit]

The only thing I can hope for at this point is that anyone who is not able, for whatever legitimate reason, to get vaccinated, hopefully can keep themselves safe while the rwnj kill each other off by passing more and more lethal versions of Covid.

Except the sad part is I know they will take innocent people along with them. Including the health care providers that are forced to treat these idiots when they show up at the hospital half dead from Covid.

[Lani]

Apologies for not including the link last night -- I was on my bedside (TM) computer!

I do not wish this exchange to be seen as in any way argumentative.

I assumed that there wasn't an argument. Just saying the data available in state is different. Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the NYT paywall to see where it's getting its data.

[p0rtia]

CDC

Source Covid 18_ Nos.jpg (121.89 KiB) Viewed 2382 times

[RTH10260]

slightly more than the standard four para rule suggests

How does the Delta variant dodge the immune system? Scientists find clues.

By Apoorva Mandavilli
July 8, 2021, 11:00 a.m. ET

The Delta variant of the coronavirus can evade antibodies that target certain parts of the virus, according to a new study published on Thursday in Nature. The findings provide an explanation for diminished effectiveness of the vaccines against Delta, compared with other variants.

The variant, first identified in India, is believed to be about 60 percent more contagious than Alpha, the version of the virus that thrashed Britain and much of Europe earlier this year, and perhaps twice as contagious as the original coronavirus. The Delta variant is now driving outbreaks among unvaccinated populations in countries like Malaysia, Portugal, Indonesia and Australia.

Delta is now the dominant variant in the United States. Infections in this country had plateaued at their lowest levels since early in the pandemic, although the numbers may be rising, while hospitalizations and deaths related to the virus have continued a steep plunge. That’s partly because of relatively high vaccination rates: 48 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, and 55 percent have received at least one dose.

But the new study found that Delta was barely sensitive to one dose of vaccine, confirming previous research that suggested that the variant can partly evade the immune system — although to a lesser degree than Beta, the variant first identified in South Africa.

French researchers tested how well antibodies produced by natural infection and by coronavirus vaccines neutralize the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants, as well as a reference variant similar to the original version of the virus.

The researchers looked at blood samples from 103 people who had been infected with the coronavirus. Delta was much less sensitive than Alpha to samples from unvaccinated people in this group, the study found.

One dose of vaccine significantly boosted the sensitivity, suggesting that people who have recovered from Covid-19 still need to be vaccinated to fend off some variants.

The team also analyzed samples from 59 people after they had received the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.

Blood samples from just 10 percent of people immunized with one dose of the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were able to neutralize the Delta and Beta variants in laboratory experiments. But a second dose boosted that number to 95 percent. There was no major difference in the levels of antibodies elicited by the two vaccines.

“A single dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca was either poorly or not at all efficient against Beta and Delta variants,” the researchers concluded. Data from Israel and Britain broadly support this finding, although those studies suggest that one dose of vaccine is still enough to prevent hospitalization or death from the virus.



https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/heal ... unity.html

[zekeb]

And the unvaccinated just keep going on thinking it won't affect them...

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

My hairdresser notified me today she has Covid. She didn't know if she had the Delta variant. She was very careful in her shop. She has some autoimmune issues and has had a helluva year with her sister and her mother dying. I wonder how much stress affected her immunity. She has had 2 doses of vaccine but I can't remember which one.