Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Maladict]

Meanwhile, in the old Kentucky home:

Now that you mention it, vaccine records that you present at immigration are on yellow cards...

I've had a vaccination passport for ages. And yes, it's yellow. 

[Zanza]

This is how the vaccination pass looks in Germany and presumably elsewhere, no?



I had to show that at borders in Africa to check for yellow fever vaccination before.

[Maladict]

This is how the vaccination pass looks in Germany and presumably elsewhere, no?

Yeah, pretty similar.

[Sheilbh]

I will visit my parents over Easter. That's allowed here. You are just limited to meeting with one other household - at a time. So this "bubble" concept only exists here informally.

That sounds very nice.

The bubble is something we nicked from New Zealand. I think the theory was support bubbles so a family with young kids bubble with one of the parents and they're basically one bubble - the kids can go and stay with the grandparents or they can share childcare responsibilities etc. Or a friend or relative for someone who needs care or has limited mobility.

As a young(? ) Londoner the only people I know who've properly bubbled have been couples who don't live together but still want to see each other in lockdown

So now we are starting to move from just our bubbles to bubbles plus other individuals.

Edit: And the reason is you were not allowed to travel (full stop - even in your area) without a good reason, and one good reason was support bubbling.

This is how the vaccination pass looks in Germany and presumably elsewhere, no?

Yep - though I think mine has expired/I need a booster. I got mine for Latin America but don't think I ever had to use it.

[Eddie Teach]

There are no young people on Languish.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Also, Belgium has been ordered by a court to cancel all current anti-Covid measures within 30 days as they are without legal basis. The government can appeal but the appeal will not suspend the 30 day deadline.

there will be a law in place by then, and if there isn't the government will still do as it pleases because there are -when push comes to shove- older laws already present that allow for more or less all the stuff that's been done. And even if that wasn't the case: the belgian constitution is just a paper rag (freely after Leo Tindemans' most famous quote when he announced the resignation of his goverment in '78 which he did by stating that for him the constition wasn't just a rag of paper. The reality is, of course, different)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tindemans

[Sheilbh]

Mexico's revised its official death toll up 60% which puts it closer to their excess deaths but still some distance.

Mexico City's excess deaths are falling now but, all told, it looks like about 1% of the city have died of covid in the last 9 months or so.

As with Brazil, South Africa and Iran the human cost is just incredibly sad and the impact is probably even worse in these countries once you start adjusting for age

[Iormlund]

Vaccine passports are a phenomenal idea. A great way to encourage people to get vaccinated, and forcing people to keep dealing with bullshit after vaccination is anti-science.

I can see the argument for them as a temporary measure until the vaccine roll-out is complete, or as part of international travel. And I think the argument could be different if there's significant reluctance to take the vaccine. But I'm not convinced there should be any measures, including vaccine passports after the vaccine's been rolled out.

I also think you need a practical solution for people who are not medically allowed/advised to get the vaccine such as pregnant women and people with allergies - and it needs to be better than the "I don't need to wear a mask" lanyard you can buy on eBay

Vaccination passports have been a thing for almost a hundred years. 

Much of the world is off-limits for people who, like me, can't get a specific vaccine. But I'm not mad, nor am I going to protest if others can take advantage of their vaccinations.

The same is true with Covid. I'm not vaccinated yet. But if the choice is between allowing vaccinated people or another -95% tourist-spending season like last year, well that's hardly a choice, is it?

[Sheilbh]

I've no issue with it for international travel.

But not for things like going to the pub or a restaurant or to use public transport (all discussed in the UK).

Edit: Obviously so far I've not seen any issue where the UK public doesn't support requiring vaccine passports - because no-one lost money betting agains the British population being authoritarian

[Iormlund]

I've no issue with it for international travel.

But not for things like going to the pub or a restaurant or to use public transport (all discussed in the UK).

But the same rationale applies. Why keep gyms, pubs, restaurants and everything else closed when there's a way to make it work?

[mongers]

Mexico's revised its official death toll up 60% which puts it closer to their excess deaths but still some distance.

Mexico City's excess deaths are falling now but, all told, it looks like about 1% of the city have died of covid in the last 9 months or so.

As with Brazil, South Africa and Iran the human cost is just incredibly sad and the impact is probably even worse in these countries once you start adjusting for age

Yes distressing and more than just a little flu.

Also already reported up thread:

Recently Mexico exceeded 200,000 deaths to become the third worst affected country.

Yesterday the Mexican government revised up its official death toll by 60% to 321,000.   

[Sheilbh]

Adding this to the supply chains and supply of vaccines still very fragile - human error

Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine is delayed by a U.S. factory mix-up.
By Sharon LaFraniere and Noah Weiland
March 31, 2021, 5:19 p.m. ET

Workers at a Baltimore plant manufacturing two coronavirus vaccines accidentally conflated the vaccines' ingredients several weeks ago, ruining about 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine and forcing regulators to delay authorization of the plant's production lines.

The plant is run by Emergent BioSolutions, a manufacturing partner to both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. Federal officials attributed the mistake to human error.

The mixup has halted future shipments of Johnson & Johnson doses in the United States while the Food and Drug Administration investigates. Johnson & Johnson has moved to strengthen its control over Emergent BioSolutions' work to avoid further quality lapses.

The mistake is a major embarrassment for Johnson & Johnson, whose one-dose vaccine has been credited with speeding up the national immunization program.

It does not affect Johnson & Johnson doses that are currently being delivered and used nationwide. All those doses were produced in the Netherlands, where operations have been fully approved by federal regulators.

But all further shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — projected to total tens of millions of doses in the next month — were supposed to come from the massive Baltimore plant.

Those shipments are now in question while the quality control issues are sorted out, according to people familiar with the matter.

Federal officials still expect to have enough doses to meet President Biden's commitment to provide enough vaccine by the end of May to immunize every adult. The two other federally authorized manufacturers, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are continuing to deliver as expected.

Pfizer is shipping its doses ahead of schedule, and Moderna is on the verge of winning approval to deliver vials of vaccine packed with up to 15 doses instead of 10, further boosting the nation's stock.

Sharon LaFraniere is an investigative reporter. She was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for national reporting on Donald Trump's connections with Russia. @SharonLNYT

Noah Weiland is a reporter in the Washington bureau, covering health care. He was raised in East Lansing, Mich., and graduated from the University of Chicago. @noahweiland

[Berkut]

Mexico City's excess deaths are falling now but, all told, it looks like about 1% of the city have died of covid in the last 9 months or so.

this isn't that bad

[Valmy]

But not for things like going to the pub or a restaurant or to use public transport (all discussed in the UK).

Why? It is pretty important that we get all those things open as soon as possible. Also theatres and the like. Why are you against using vaccine passports to do that faster? I don't understand why that is authoritarian. Shutting them down for months longer for no reason strikes me as more authoritarian.

If you want to go see a play or a music show or go to a movie, what is wrong with letting vaccinated people do that? I don't get the fucking paranoia. I needed vaccination records to go to Elementary School and there wasn't a damn pandemic going on in 1983.

[Syt]

I've no issue with it for international travel.

But not for things like going to the pub or a restaurant or to use public transport (all discussed in the UK).

But the same rationale applies. Why keep gyms, pubs, restaurants and everything else closed when there's a way to make it work?

The state of Vorarlberg reopened bars and restaurants two weeks ago because their numbers were far below the rest of the country for some time. You need a negative test to go to those places.

Still, since the reopening their numbers have more than doubled and they're quickly catching up with the rest of Austria again.