Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[The Larch]

Vaccine patriotism? 

BBC North East and Cumbria
@BBCNEandCumbria

Patients have turned down the chance to have the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine because they want to "wait for the English one", a doctor says

[Sheilbh]

Vaccine patriotism? 

BBC North East and Cumbria
@BBCNEandCumbria

Patients have turned down the chance to have the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine because they want to "wait for the English one", a doctor says

That story doesn't pass the sniff test

A single political source (a former Labour MP) that neatly fits a political narrative, with no details and it's only Twitter. It's a bit like the blind woman going to the polling station for Brexit and all the people cheered

[The Minsky Moment]

Is it Yoga Berra's? That place is hilarious.

Nobody goes there anymore. It is too crowded.

90% of yoga is half mental.

[viper37]

I don't really understand how it is more contagious than the "original" strain?

Is it more resistant to alcohol and soap and warm water?  Is it spreading faster after infections?  Is it "alive" longer outside of the human body than the original one?

Any kind of scientific publication on that would be appreciated.

There are multiple mutations in the spike protein, which allows B.1.1.7 to enter human cells easier than other varieties of SARS CoV 2.

ah. got it now.  thanks.

[The Larch]

Vaccine patriotism? 

BBC North East and Cumbria
@BBCNEandCumbria

Patients have turned down the chance to have the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine because they want to "wait for the English one", a doctor says

That story doesn't pass the sniff test

A single political source (a former Labour MP) that neatly fits a political narrative, with no details and it's only Twitter. It's a bit like the blind woman going to the polling station for Brexit and all the people cheered

What about this other one?

A UK government unit is said to have demanded that the British flag be printed on Oxford vaccine doses

The UK government's "Union Unit" is said to have insisted that the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford should be labeled with the UK flag, HuffPost reported Friday.
People familiar with the matter said there were no plans for the UK flag to be printed on the vaccine doses but didn't deny the request was made.
The plan was said to be strongly supported by Health Secretary Matt Hancock and the UK business secretary, Alok Sharma.
"Manufacturers are well-versed in the best way to package products like this," a government representative told HuffPost.

A unit of the UK government is said to have demanded that the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford should be branded with the national flag of the UK, according to HuffPost.

No. 10 Downing Street's "Union Unit," which fights Scottish independence and other campaigns to divide the UK, is said to have asked the government's vaccine task force to insist that manufacturers of the vaccine label the doses with the UK flag.

People with knowledge of the matter told HuffPost there were no plans for the Union Jack to be labeled on the vaccine doses but didn't deny the request was made.

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca on Monday was found to be 70% effective on average in a late-stage trial, though questions have circulated about the way the trial was carried out.

The UK government has preordered 100 million doses of the vaccine and would be one of the first countries to receive it should it receive authorization from regulators. AstraZeneca on Monday said it planned to make up to 3 billion doses next year.

The idea for the branding was strongly supported by Health Secretary Matt Hancock and the UK business secretary, Alok Sharma, the sources said.

"Manufacturing for some of the leading potential vaccines is already underway so they can be rolled out quickly if approved," a government representative said, per HuffPost. "Manufacturers are well-versed in the best way to package products like this," the person added.

AstraZeneca didn't immediately respond to Business Insider for a request for comment.

[Sheilbh]

That's definitely true

But I don't really have an issue with that - if the EU funds something they have specific rules about the size of the EU flag and the placement on projects they fund, most aid agencies have similar. It helps show people sort of the effect of government spending. I want the UK state to be funding scientific research and infrastructure and I want the UK flag all over it to make clear this isn't some market miracle, this is what the state can do. And I would note the Scottish government are very good at making sure they put the Scottish flag and Scottish government logo on things they fund.

It's a bit like the EU idea of results legitimacy - I have no issue with it whether it's the UK, the EU, the Scottish government or whoever else. We should absolutely 100% be flag waving for state spending in these sort of areas - these vaccines would not happen without state money and it's right to celebrate big pharma's role in this but we should also be celebrating the state

As an aside slightly annoyed at the BBC's way of reporting the anger of a nurse who got covid after being vaccinated because no vaccine is 100% effective, over 1.3 million people in the UK have had the vaccine and it feels like we probably shouldn't focus on the outlying cases where it isn't effective which is what you'd expect? I don't know if it requires the breaking news treatment

[Josquius]

The UK government's "Union Unit"

Oh ffs

Doesn't the Oxford one have lower effectiveness?
If you've got pfizer in front of you, all the storage having already been done, its idiotic to then reject it.

[The Larch]

That's definitely true

But I don't really have an issue with that - if the EU funds something they have specific rules about the size of the EU flag and the placement on projects they fund, most aid agencies have similar. It helps show people sort of the effect of government spending. I want the UK state to be funding scientific research and infrastructure and I want the UK flag all over it to make clear this isn't some market miracle, this is what the state can do. And I would note the Scottish government are very good at making sure they put the Scottish flag and Scottish government logo on things they fund.

It's a bit like the EU idea of results legitimacy - I have no issue with it whether it's the UK, the EU, the Scottish government or whoever else. We should absolutely 100% be flag waving for state spending in these sort of areas - these vaccines would not happen without state money and it's right to celebrate big pharma's role in this but we should also be celebrating the state

As an aside slightly annoyed at the BBC's way of reporting the anger of a nurse who got covid after being vaccinated because no vaccine is 100% effective, over 1.3 million people in the UK have had the vaccine and it feels like we probably shouldn't focus on the outlying cases where it isn't effective which is what you'd expect? I don't know if it requires the breaking news treatment

But this is not done as part of highlighting the public financing contribution or to recognize the role of the state vis a vis the market, it is promoted by a government unit dedicated to "fight Scottish independence and other campaigns to divide the UK". It is being used as a propaganda weapon.

[Sheilbh]

But this is not done as part of highlighting the public financing contribution or to recognize the role of the state vis a vis the market, it is promoted by a government unit dedicated to "fight Scottish independence and other campaigns to divide the UK". It is being used as a propaganda weapon.

How is that different from the EU putting their flag on infrastructure projects? It's purpose is to highlight the material contribution the EU makes to people's lives - the benefits of being in the EU. This is highlighting the material contributions the UK union makes - the benefits of being in the UK.

It's all propaganda - same for the flags on aid.

[The Brain]

The problem is that people want the English vaccine, not the British. See above. A Union flag might not cut it.

[Sheilbh]

Moderna vaccine approved for use in the UK (Although we won't get any until the spring it's still good news).

[mongers]

1325 uk deaths announced today.

Likely to climb higher of the next few days. 

[Jacob]

Exhaustive article how the initial response on how the Corona virus was handled: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html

Unsurprisingly, both Xi and Trump come off as feckless. With better leaders in place we could've had better outcomes.

[mongers]

London mayor declares and emergency, as some hospitals face being overwhelmed with patients. This as estimates suggest as many as 1 in 30 Londoners may currently have the virus.

[Sheilbh]

New strain rising in all regions - and dominant in London, the South-East and East of England:


(Some of the dark purple might not be the new strain because it's based on the spike being absent on positive PCR tests rather than sequencing.)

And the spread and concentration in a map - purple shows it's been detected, the deepness of the colour shows the proportion of tests that are in the new strain:


Another piece of evidence from the contact tracing (who knew that was still happening? but there are hundreds of thousands of contacts still being traced according to the PHE data). Basically around 15% of contacts from the new strain are positive v 10% of the wild strain. So another indication that it's around 50% more transmissible.