Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[mongers]

The truth in advertising people strike again.

I'm trying to figure out honeymoon destinations...with restrictions looks like we may be going for Rwanda or Uganda.

Or at least that is what I want to do...my fiance wants to just throw in the towel and go to Hawaii.

FYI:

16:48
Rwanda newlyweds 'forced to spend wedding night outside'

Samba Cyuzuzo

BBC Great Lakes

Footage of Rwandan newlyweds and family guests forced to spend their wedding night in stadia for breaching coronavirus rules has sparked criticism.

One bride told the BBC anonymously that spending the evening at a stadium "on my wedding day is a bad memory that will never fade in my life", adding:
Quote Message: Inflicting pain and shaming people like this doesn't make us fear corona or observe measures."

Inflicting pain and shaming people like this doesn't make us fear corona or observe measures."

Police in the capital, Kigali, had stopped at least three weddings over the Easter weekend because they exceeded the maximum of 20 attendees.

[alfred russel]

Thanks mongers but the idea was less to have the wedding there (or any sort of gathering) and more to visit the national parks. The country has opened up to american tourists.

[saskganesh]

Ontario now has 3000 cases a day. The third wave is ahead of the vaccine roll out. Loathe to call another lockdown/shutdown/provincial emergency, the govt is now calling our new status an "Emergency Brake."

[mongers]

Ontario now has 3000 cases a day. The third wave is ahead of the vaccine roll out. Loathe to call another lockdown/shutdown/provincial emergency, the govt is now calling our new status an "Emergency Brake."

Perhaps a 'handbrake turn' ?

[saskganesh]

Isn't that what you do when a semi is coming at you in the wrong lane and a cliff is on your right hand side?

[mongers]

Isn't that what you do when a semi is coming at you in the wrong lane and a cliff is on your right hand side?

It's an articulated lorry and the cliff is on the left-hand side, but yes. 

[viper37]

Isn't that what you do when a semi is coming at you in the wrong lane and a cliff is on your right hand side?

Had this stupid virus hitted us two-three weeks later, we would have laughed at it.  Dammit, we're starting 60+ vaccination by the end of the week. 

Everyone wants the vaccine now.  Teachers union is claiming its a disgrace we haven't vaccinated the teachers yet.  Parents wants their kids to be vaccinated.  Sports federations wants their coaches to be vaccinated.  Essential workers in groceries want to be vaccinated.  Duh.  Like the government is hoarding all this massive supply of vaccines 

[viper37]

Two of my second degree cousins have had covid-19 recently.  One* had mild symptoms, she was extremely tired, but she still managed to teach from home.  The initial spread was in her eldest son's classroom.  So her other kid got it, she got it, and her sister who's recently back in town (young retiree from the Fed gov... I'm jealous, she's my age dammit!) got it too, but she was hitten by a truck.  She required some moderate care at her home as she was unable to do anything by herself.  But both are better now


*Since we were living in the same city and our fathers are cousins of roughly the same age, we used to see one another very often when we were kids, much more so than my other cousins who were living abroad; that is, until we all left for university and life and work came in the way
Also, she is dating my former step-brother-in-law (that's getting confusing   the guy was dating my step-sister) so she's taking care of my nephew and nieces every other week   but her b/f and the kids all tested negative for covid.

[mongers]

Damn, 4,000 dead in Brazil yesterday, this P1 variant seems to spread easily and apparently is more aggressive when it takes hold of a victim.

[Sheilbh]

Interesting article on research being shared with UK regulator (also I think a really good example of how news about vaccines should be reported: lots of facts and putting risk into context, comments from experts and no attempt to get a more "interesting" take for contrast or vox pops).

What seems key is identifying if there's any other risk factors or symptoms, plus communicating to GPs what they need to look out for. When I was vaccinated before this started I was asked about blood thinners by the nurse as part of the check - and one theory I remember was possibly Danish or German that it may be something to do with someone getting infected before they have strong immunity so in that 2-3 week period after the vaccination:

Oxford/AstraZeneca jab could have causal link to rare blood clots, say UK experts
Evidence 'consistent with causality' but vaccination programme must continue, says drug safety specialist
Sarah Boseley
Tue 6 Apr 2021 17.53 BST
Last modified on Wed 7 Apr 2021 00.07 BST

Boris Johnson has sought to reassure people about the safety of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine as a trial in children was paused while regulators investigate rare reports of blood clots, largely in younger women.

The prime minister urged the public to take the jab when it is offered, while scientists stressed the side-effects were extremely rare and the benefits of protection against coronavirus were great.

Some UK drug safety experts believe there could be a causal link between the AstraZeneca jab and rare blood clotting events including cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).

But they said vaccination programmes must continue, with risk mitigation for women under 55. Doctors have already been alerted to CVST symptoms, which include headache, blurred vision and fainting.ement

Oxford University is running a trial in more than 200 children and young people aged six to 17 to see whether they could benefit from the AstraZeneca jabs. The trial was paused on Tuesday as a precautionary measure in response to investigations by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) in the UK and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), a university spokesperson said. The regulators are considering whether any action should be taken, with statements expected within days.

The Oxford spokesperson added: "While there are no safety concerns in the paediatric clinical trial, we await additional information from the MHRA on its review of rare cases of thrombosis/thrombocytopenia that have been reported in adults, before giving any further vaccinations in the trial."

On a visit to the AstraZeneca manufacturing plant in Macclesfield, Cheshire, on Tuesday, Johnson said that getting the vaccine was "the key thing". The jab has been given to more than 18 million UK adults with just 30 rare blood clotting cases reported, and seven deaths.

"The best thing people should do is look at what the MHRA say, our independent regulator – that's why we have them, that's why they are independent," said Johnson, who has received a first dose of the vaccine himself. "Their advice to people is to keep going out there, get your jab, get your second jab."

Prof Saad Shakir, the director of the drug safety research unit (DSRU) at Southampton University, said on Tuesday that the evidence accumulated in Europe and the UK of links between the vaccine and the rare blood clots "is consistent with causality".

While the dangers of coronavirus were so great that vaccination must not stop, he said, measures should be put in place to reduce any extra risk to women under the age of 55, who seemed to be most affected. The DRSU has shared its analysis with the regulators.

Earlier on Tuesday, the EMA denied it had already established a causal connection between the vaccine and the clots, after a senior official from the agency said there was a link. Marco Cavaleri, the EMA's head of vaccines, had earlier told Italy's Il Messaggero newspaper that in his opinion "we can say it now, it is clear there is a link with the vaccine ... but we still do not know what causes this reaction".

Across Europe, some countries have already decided to give the AstraZeneca jab only to older people – over-60 in Germany and over-55 in France – while in others, the use of the vaccine is still suspended.

The DSRU at Southampton University looked at cases of thrombosis (blood clotting inside the arteries) linked to thrombocytopenia (a reduction in blood platelets that usually causes bleeding but in rare cases results in clotting) and concluded that they were linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The events are very rare, however. In the UK, as of 24 March, 30 events had occurred resulting in seven deaths from 18.1m doses of vaccine, they said. In Germany, there was one event of cerebral venous thrombosis for every 46,512 women vaccinated and one female death associated with this condition for every 149,860 vaccine doses given to women of any age.

Even for younger people, the risk of death from Covid is higher. In the UK, according to the scientists, it has been calculated that 47,000 vaccines prevent one death from Covid among all people under 50.

Shakir says that all the cases now in the public domain occurred within four to 16 days of vaccination. "So, there is what we call a close temporal relationship, and they don't seem to be events of Covid, which you get in the first two weeks after vaccination," he said.

"The second thing is that there is a clear clinical description and similarities between the cases. The thromboses, lowering of the blood platelets, and various haematological changes. All of them are consistent with an event, which occurs very, very rarely, and certainly only with a drug called heparin."

Heparin is a blood-thinning drug. Very occasionally, it causes a syndrome called HIT – heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. A group of German scientists led by the clotting specialist Andreas Greinacher of the University of Greifswald has already pointed out that the blood clotting events reported after the AstraZeneca jab look very similar to HIT.

Shakir said the AstraZeneca vaccine was safe and effective. "It has protected millions of people from Covid-19 and will continue to do so around the world," he said.

Many vaccines in widespread use have side-effects, he said. A flu vaccine can in rare cases cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, for instance, in which the body's own immune system attacks the nerves and can cause paralysis. The answer is not to stop using the vaccine, but to mitigate the risk by assessing which people are most likely to get the side-effect, looking at any previous illnesses, medication use and their family history, for instance.

Regulators are now looking at this and also at any symptoms which might enable people experiencing the rare blood clots to be identified early and treated before their condition becomes too severe.

The MHRA said it was still considering the evidence. "People should continue to get their vaccine when invited to do so," said Dr June Raine, its chief executive. "Our thorough and detailed review is ongoing into reports of very rare and specific types of blood clots with low platelets following the Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. No decision has yet been made on any regulatory action."

[jimmy olsen]

Brazil crossed the 4k daily death mark

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/07/brazils-coronavirus-death-toll-passes-4000-a-day-for-first-time

[Tamas]

Hungary reported over 300 deaths for yesterday alone, but because the number of first round vaccinations have reached Orban's target number of 2.5 million (it matches the number of old people - mind you, it doesn't mean all old people are vaccinated, it is just a matching number), they are starting to ease out of lockdown today. Madness.

[Tamas]

Actually a possible reason why Hungary is opening up no matter the actual situation is that UEFA wants the Euro 2020 matches to be at stadiums with fans, and they are scheduled to decide which these stadiums are going to be on 19th April.

[Sheilbh]

Hungary reported over 300 deaths for yesterday alone, but because the number of first round vaccinations have reached Orban's target number of 2.5 million (it matches the number of old people - mind you, it doesn't mean all old people are vaccinated, it is just a matching number), they are starting to ease out of lockdown today. Madness.

The US has opened vaccinations to all adults from 18 April.

One thing I find slightly odd about this is they have a lower number of doses administered per head than the UK where we're mopping up the priority groups and then moving onto the under-50s. It's not clear to me if the US is just taking a far less regimented approach than the UK, or if take-up is just significantly lower? I get that there's more supply security so you can just roll it out.

[The Larch]

Australia and New Zealand are forming an international travel bubble.

New Zealand's tourism pitch to Aussies

It looks like the posters from Flight of the Conchords.