Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Syt]

The official plan here is to have a three week lockdown, and then open up again for a "normal" Christmas. I'm skeptical.

[Legbiter]

Sir John Bell's comment was that it rolls the pitch for other vaccines. So there's been indications all through this that vaccines will work. This just increases the likelihood that some or all of the other vaccines under development may work. That's key because we're not going to have a perfect vaccine within a year of a new virus so we'll probably all end up on one or other of these or maybe a combination.

Edit: I actually feel like the key bit is that they've got enough safety data to go for approval which might mean going to manufacture this year. (Total aside - but imagine how we'd all have felt in the first week of April if we were told we might get back to normal in spring 2021 )

Yeah this is incredibly good news. That means early next year general vaccination can be started. If other vaccines work as well we'll have a broad arsenal that won't compete directly against each other in the precursor supply chain.

Here our third wave is slowly petering out. It's been a bitch to stamp out though.

[crazy canuck]

Spring 2021 is pretty optimistic for a return to normal date.  I know everyone wants a feel good story, but there is a lot that is unknown about this vaccine at this point.

[Duque de Bragança]

Well in that case much of the USA is effectively independent as most our country is not a vacation destination. Why that would be a statement of political independence I have no idea.

I just think it's fascinating the lack of connections from England to Scotland - it's not a serious point.

Blame the Romans and their Hadrian Wall!
Alternatively, blame Septimus Severus for not finishing off the Caledonians by dying too early. 

In that case I blame Domitian.

Point taken, though I am bit skeptical on Tacitus nowadays.

[Razgovory]

I know I'm late to the vaccine discussion, but typically vaccines are 50-60% effective. 90% is an extremely effective number.

Is this something we should be concerned about?

[crazy canuck]

I know I'm late to the vaccine discussion, but typically vaccines are 50-60% effective. 90% is an extremely effective number.

Is this something we should be concerned about?

You mean that vaccines are usually only that effective?  No, the purpose of a vaccine is to prevent spread not to make everyone immune.  Preventing spread means bringing down the R naught number to a sufficiently low number that spread is not possible.  That level of effectiveness accomplishes that goal.

[merithyn]

I know I'm late to the vaccine discussion, but typically vaccines are 50-60% effective. 90% is an extremely effective number.

Flu vaccines are notoriously badly effective because it's all a guessing game. Scientists have to decide which flu strain might be prevalent in the coming year.

They know this strain and they know exactly what they are trying to accomplish.

Based on that, this makes sense.

[Zoupa]

I know I'm late to the vaccine discussion, but typically vaccines are 50-60% effective. 90% is an extremely effective number.

Flu vaccines are notoriously badly effective because it's all a guessing game. Scientists have to decide which flu strain might be prevalent in the coming year.

They know this strain and they know exactly what they are trying to accomplish.

Based on that, this makes sense.

I'm talking about vaccines in general though.

[Zoupa]

I know I'm late to the vaccine discussion, but typically vaccines are 50-60% effective. 90% is an extremely effective number.

Is this something we should be concerned about?

It's hard to give an answer. This was only a press release from Pfizer, they've not released the data behind it.

My guess is that press release has more to do with shareholders, competitors and stock price than science. We'll know more once they publish.

[Syt]

AfD in my old home state of S-H equate "no mask - no service" with the discrimination against Jews.

[celedhring]

If there's only one thing I could ban from the world, it would hyperbole.

[Tamas]

This far-right nihilism has really reached epic proportions.

[Legbiter]

I love the dark humor in this German corona ad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZgmIx3FmKc 

[Syt]

Chancellor Kurz on the news: Austria will do Slovakian style mass testing at the end of the lockdown period.

Reaction health ministry: Wait, we will do what now?

[Razgovory]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/15/politics/scott-atlas-coronavirus-michigan/index.html

I still don't understand this.  It's like they are on the side of the virus.

Washington (CNN)White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Scott Atlas criticized Michigan's new Covid-19 restrictions in a tweet shortly after they were announced Sunday evening, urging people to "rise up" against the new public health measures.

"The only way this stops is if people rise up," Atlas said. "You get what you accept. #FreedomMatters #StepUp"

His message -- which runs counter to the consensus of public health officials -- is likely to fuel new tension between the White House and Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom federal and state officials announced last month was the target of an alleged domestic terrorism kidnapping plot.
Responding to Atlas' tweet Sunday evening, Whitmer told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "We know that the White House likes to single us out here in Michigan, me out in particular. I'm not going to be bullied into not following reputable scientists and medical professionals."

Instead, Whitmer said, she consults "people that actually have studied and are well respected worldwide on these issues, not the -- not the individual that is doing the President's bidding on this one."
Whitmer announced in a news conference earlier Sunday that Michigan will begin a "three-week pause targeting indoor social gatherings and other group activities" to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

"If everyone does their part, we will see a big benefit from it," she told Blitzer of the new measures. "But we'll be assessing it every step of the way."
Throughout the pandemic, Whitmer has been the focus of extreme vitriol from far-right groups. The alleged scheme to kidnap her included plans to overthrow several state governments that the suspects "believe are violating the US Constitution," according to a federal criminal complaint.
Still, she joins a slate of officials who are tightening their restrictions as coronavirus cases continue to soar.
The United States surpassed 11 million coronavirus cases on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The latest milestone comes just six days after the US recorded 10 million cases.
It was the fastest the US has added one million new cases since the pandemic began.
Unlike the government medical experts who advised Trump in the early months of the pandemic, Atlas has adopted a public stance on the virus much closer to the President's -- including decrying the idea that schools cannot reopen this fall as "hysteria" and pushing for the resumption of college sports.
"He's working with us and will be working with us on the coronavirus," Trump said in August. "And he has many great ideas. And he thinks what we've done is really good, and now we'll take it to a new level."