Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[The Brain]

Wow, the mind control kicked in quickly for that one.   

Don't you guys sign NDAs?

[Sheilbh]

UK government have now ruled out domestic vaccine passports.

Meanwhile - the latest vaccine monitoring report by Public Heatlh England is very heartening as their effectiveness:

[Sheilbh]

I see lots of coverage of breakthrough infections and deaths in the US - this report from the UK ONS (and obviously the characteristics will be different in different countries) is interesting:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/deathsinvolvingcovid19byvaccinationstatusengland/deathsoccurringbetween2januaryand2july2021

Office for National Statistics (ONS)
@ONS
There were 640 deaths involving COVID-19 of people who were fully vaccinated between 2 Jan and 2 July 2021.

This includes people who had been infected before they were vaccinated
Age-standardised mortality rates for deaths involving #COVID19 are consistently lower for people who have received two vaccinations
A 'breakthrough death' is a death involving #COVID19 that occurred in someone who'd received both vaccines, and had a first positive PCR test at least 14 days after the second vaccination dose.

There were 256 breakthrough deaths between 2 Jan and 2 July
Males accounted for 61.1% of breakthrough deaths.
This proportion is higher than
▪️ other #COVID19 deaths (52.2%)
▪️ non-COVID-19 deaths (48.5%)

The average age of breakthrough deaths was 84, compared with 82 for other #COVID19 deaths and for non-COVID-19 deaths
13.1% of breakthrough deaths occurred in people who were identified as likely to have weakened immune systems, compared with 5.4% for other #COVID19 deaths

It feels like the slightly excitable coverage of breakthrough infections and deaths needs to be strongly tempered by how good and effective the vaccines are.

[mongers]

I see lots of coverage of breakthrough infections and deaths in the US - this report from the UK ONS (and obviously the characteristics will be different in different countries) is interesting:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/deathsinvolvingcovid19byvaccinationstatusengland/deathsoccurringbetween2januaryand2july2021

Office for National Statistics (ONS)
@ONS
There were 640 deaths involving COVID-19 of people who were fully vaccinated between 2 Jan and 2 July 2021.

This includes people who had been infected before they were vaccinated
Age-standardised mortality rates for deaths involving #COVID19 are consistently lower for people who have received two vaccinations
A 'breakthrough death' is a death involving #COVID19 that occurred in someone who'd received both vaccines, and had a first positive PCR test at least 14 days after the second vaccination dose.

There were 256 breakthrough deaths between 2 Jan and 2 July
Males accounted for 61.1% of breakthrough deaths.
This proportion is higher than
▪️ other #COVID19 deaths (52.2%)
▪️ non-COVID-19 deaths (48.5%)

The average age of breakthrough deaths was 84, compared with 82 for other #COVID19 deaths and for non-COVID-19 deaths
13.1% of breakthrough deaths occurred in people who were identified as likely to have weakened immune systems, compared with 5.4% for other #COVID19 deaths

It feels like the slightly excitable coverage of breakthrough infections and deaths needs to be strongly tempered by how good and effective the vaccines are.

Couldn't agree more.

And thanks for the interesting figures, Shelf.

[Sheilbh]

And one key one is that people who had both doses plus 14 days account for just 1.2% of covid deaths from January to July. Obviously that stat's a bit misleading given that January was very much part of the winter wave, but it still indicates that they provide a really strong protection.

Edit: Chief Medical Officers of all four countries have recommended single dose vaccination (same as for 16-17 year olds) for 12-15 year olds.

The JCVI which makes recommendations on this stuff hadn't recommended this step. Their view was that there was a marginal direct health benefit, but it wasn't large enough to justify a universal vaccination campaign. However they noted that their remit didn't include looking at indirect benefits (around transmission) or social impacts. The CMOs have justified their decision on social impacts and, in particular, the effect of covid cases on education:

Whilst full closures of schools due to lockdowns is much less likely to be necessary in the next stages of the Covid-19 epidemic, UK CMOs expect the epidemic to continue to be prolonged and unpredictable. Local surges of infection, including in schools, should be anticipated for some time. Where they occur, they are likely to be disruptive.

The jabs are justified on the basis of avoiding major disruption to kids' education primarily though there is also a marginal health benefit.

[Jacob]

Denmark seems to have declared that they're done with Covid-19. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

[crazy canuck]

Today is the first day of the BC vaccination passport.  There was a bit of a hiccup at the gym this morning as a lot of people didn't realize they needed a piece of ID along with their digital verification, so they had to go back home to get their IDs.  But eventually the gym filled up with the usual morning people.  It was comforting to know that the people I have been working out with in close proximity for the last two months have been vaccinated...

[Barrister]

Alberta did not release Covid numbers over the weekend, which was very unusual.

I'm now reading that there are 256 patients in ICU, 202 with Covid, which is an all-time high for the province.  Scared to see how many new cases there are.

[crazy canuck]

Alberta did not release Covid numbers over the weekend, which was very unusual.

I'm now reading that there are 256 patients in ICU, 202 with Covid, which is an all-time high for the province.  Scared to see how many new cases there are.

I applaud the Alberta PHO for acknowledging it was a mistake to remove the restrictions and that they should have taken into account the areas of low vaccination rates within the province.

[Eddie Teach]

Denmark seems to have declared that they're done with Covid-19. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

Surprised nobody thought of this last year. 

[Jacob]

Denmark seems to have declared that they're done with Covid-19. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

Surprised nobody thought of this last year. 

They did, though, and it didn't work out. Which is why I'm a little apprehensive.

[Jacob]

Had a lunch meeting with a colleague. At the restaurant, they checked our Covid Passports.

We discussed the possibility of our work requiring Covid Passports for a return to the office. We didn't reach a conclusion, though.

[Malthus]

A question. I'm old enough to have a smallpox inoculation scar on my arm. I remember reading about how smallpox was the first disease to be completely eradicated by vaccinations.

Was there a strong anti-vax movement back when smallpox vaccinations were being given? I mean, that one actually permanently scars you.

[Savonarola]

A question. I'm old enough to have a smallpox inoculation scar on my arm. I remember reading about how smallpox was the first disease to be completely eradicated by vaccinations.

Was there a strong anti-vax movement back when smallpox vaccinations were being given? I mean, that one actually permanently scars you.

I spoke once with my parents about this once, and they said there wasn't anti-vaccine sentiment back when.  They were were in the first generation to get the Salk vaccine.  They knew people who had been crippled by polio; and whatever risk there was to getting the vaccine, it was certainly much better than that.  They thought that's why there's anti-vaxxers today; most people living today haven't even seen the permanent damage measles can do much less polio or smallpox.

[HisMajestyBOB]

A question. I'm old enough to have a smallpox inoculation scar on my arm. I remember reading about how smallpox was the first disease to be completely eradicated by vaccinations.

Was there a strong anti-vax movement back when smallpox vaccinations were being given? I mean, that one actually permanently scars you.

I spoke once with my parents about this once, and they said there wasn't anti-vaccine sentiment back when.  They were were in the first generation to get the Salk vaccine.  They knew people who had been crippled by polio; and whatever risk there was to getting the vaccine, it was certainly much better than that.  They thought that's why there's anti-vaxxers today; most people living today haven't even seen the permanent damage measles can do much less polio or smallpox.

This whole sentiment reminds me of the bit in Good Omens where one of the horsemen of the apocalypse, the Pestilence, retired because of modern medicine.