Weekly coronavirus-related chat, questions, and minor updates - week of June 7

My son and his girlfriend are now vaccinated, and today I am making the long drive to go see them and my grandson who I haven't seen in almost two years. We went into lock down just before I was to see them last year, and it has been the hardest thing for me to do deal with this entire time. I haven't seen my grandson since he was a few months old and he's 27 months old now. I am SO freaking excited to get on the road!

I don't know if this is the right place for this, but it's coronavirus related... as of today, I am fully vaccinated! Two weeks ago I got my second injection, so this is the day my day-to-day gets back to a level of normal.

You! Get vaccinated!

What We Know About the Dangerous COVID B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant

The B.1.617.2 coronavirus variant originally discovered in India last December has now become one the most — if not the most — worrisome strain of the coronavirus circulating globally. Recent research suggests it may the most transmissible variant yet and has fueled numerous waves of the pandemic around the world. B.1.617.2 has already spread to at least 62 countries, including the U.S., and undoubtedly contributed to the massive wave of cases that has inundated India in recent months. It also appears to have become the dominant strain infecting unvaccinated people in the U.K., and may be more likely to infect people who are only partially vaccinated than other strains. Below is what we know about B.1.617.2 — also known as the Delta variant.

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The rapid spread of B.1.617.2 is prompting warnings that a third wave may already be under way in the country among those who remain unvaccinated. The rise of the variant has led the U.K. to attempt to speed up its vaccination campaign, particularly the second doses that half of U.K. adults still have not received.

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From the available evidence, B.1.617.2 may be the most transmissible variant to yet spread in the world, and thus poses the biggest risk to unvaccinated populations, and possibly also populations where most vaccine recipients have only received one dose. Scientists have good reasons to sound the alarm over it.

San Francisco may be first major US city to hit herd immunity, experts say

San Francisco is still recording a small number of coronavirus cases, about 13.7 per day, said Dr George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at University of California, San Francisco, but they don’t appear to be gaining enough of a foothold in the population to trigger wider outbreaks.
“That is what herd immunity looks like,” Rutherford said. “You’re going to have single cases, but they’re not going to propagate out.”

Houston Methodist Hospital system suspends 178 (of their 25,000+) staff for not complying with COVID vaccine mandate

Many Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine doses may be close to expiring

As demand for Covid-19 vaccines declines across the country, unused Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses are piling up on state shelves, leaving state officials increasingly concerned that the lack of a coordinated federal plan to redistribute them means hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of doses will go to waste.

The buildup of doses is largely a result of the Food and Drug Administration's order in early April pausing distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of safety concerns. Enthusiasm for the one-dose shot was dampened after the 11-day pause, according to state officials.

State officials are aware that people in other countries are eager to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, medical director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Plescia described a growing fear among his members that Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses, which are coveted in the developing world, could go to waste if no national effort emerges.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine data tracker indicates that 21.4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been distributed and that a little more than half have been administered, or 11.1 million.

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In other countries, like Haiti, with a population of 11 million, case numbers are rising and no vaccines have been administered.

Racha Yehia, who works in public health for Care2Communities in Cap-Haïtien, said the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine makes the most sense. She said that based on her work, she expects that Haitians will be vaccine resistant and that encouraging them to return for second shots of other vaccines would be tough.

Do we know how long vaccine protection lasts yet? Have they figured out whether we’ll be needing boosters or annual doses like flu shots? This was still up in the air the last time I looked into it, but I admittedly haven’t followed COVID news at all recently (which has been a welcome and very fortunate change of pace).

UK urges young people to get COVID vaccine as jabs open to over-25s

Britain's health minister has urged young people to come forward when invited to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations as jabs open up to people over the age of 25 this week.

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Despite a rise in COVID cases prompted by the spread of the Delta variant, which was first identified in India, Hancock told MPs "hospitalisations have been broadly flat".

"The majority of people in hospital with COVID appear to be those who haven't had the vaccine at all," he said.

As of 3 June, Hancock said that 12,383 cases of the Delta variant had seen 464 receive emergency care, with 126 admitted to hospital.

"Of these 126 people, 83 were unvaccinated, 28 had received one dose and just three had received both doses of the vaccine," he said.

"The jabs are working, we have to keep coming forward to get them and that includes vitally that second jab which we know gives better protection against the Delta variant," the health secretary asserted.

Biden administration to buy 500 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses to donate to the world

The first 200 million doses will be distributed this year, with the subsequent 300 million shared in the first half of next year. The doses will be distributed by Covax, the World Health Organization-backed initiative to share doses around the globe, and they will be targeted at low- and middle-income countries. Pfizer is selling the doses to the United States at a “not-for-profit” price, according to the people familiar with the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details that were not yet public.

Taiwanese Panic About Health Amid COVID Surge, Vaccine Shortage

People in Taiwan, which had held off COVID-19 throughout most the global pandemic, are panicking about their health and income this month as the island grapples with its first major outbreak and shutters businesses amid limited vaccine supplies.

Taiwan’s coronavirus total since the start of the global pandemic stood at 12,500 on Friday, with 385 deaths. More than 90% of the cases were recorded since May 15.

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People have become “really concerned” since mid-May and have begun looking for vaccines despite possible side effects, said Joanna Lei, CEO of Chunghua 21st Century Think Tank in Taiwan. Many Taiwanese with dual citizenship in the United States have hopped on U.S.-bound flights this month to get vaccines.

Taiwan is “far” from the double-digit vaccine rate that might offer “herd immunity”, she said. An estimated 1% of Taiwan’s nearly 24 million people were vaccinated as of mid-May.

“I think the really scary part is the government has no plan," Lei said. "And they don’t have a real survey of the land because they did not do broad testing, so they actually have no clue about where things are happening."

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Japan sent 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week despite a protest from China, Tokyo-based Kyodo News Service reported. Washington will donate 750,000 doses, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth announced Sunday as she visited Taiwan with two other lawmakers.

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Taiwan bars Chinese-made vaccines because of their poor record before COVID-19, Chen said in an interview in January. The government's Central Epidemic Command Center would not say for this report how many vaccines it expects from foreign sources by year's end but pointed to "insufficient" capacity to make them worldwide.

Anyone have thoughts on this conversation about Covid-19 vaccines?