9 votes

Weekly coronavirus-related chat, questions, and minor updates - week of October 11

This thread is posted weekly, and is intended as a place for more-casual discussion of the coronavirus and questions/updates that may not warrant their own dedicated topics. Tell us about what the situation is like where you live!

10 comments

  1. HotPants
    Link
    Monitoring Incidence of COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, by Vaccination Status — 13 U.S. Jurisdictions, April 4–July 17, 2021 This is a really interesting article. Delta looks to have...

    Monitoring Incidence of COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, by Vaccination Status — 13 U.S. Jurisdictions, April 4–July 17, 2021

    Across 13 U.S. jurisdictions, incidence rate ratios for hospitalization and death changed relatively little after the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant reached predominance, suggesting high, continued vaccine effectiveness against severe COVID-19. Case IRRs decreased, suggesting reduced vaccine effectiveness for prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

    This is a really interesting article.

    Delta looks to have the same 5% hospitalization rate of infected and 1% fatality rate of infected as other strains.

    The vaccines seem incredibly effective for under 50, and sadly less effective for over 65.

    This covered a period where approximately half of americans were vaccinated, and on average for every ten unvaccinated cases, there is one vaccinated case.

    6 votes
  2. kfwyre
    Link
    FDA panel endorses booster shot for J&J COVID-19 vaccine

    FDA panel endorses booster shot for J&J COVID-19 vaccine

    U.S. health advisers endorsed a booster of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine Friday, citing concern that Americans who got the single-dose shot aren’t as protected as those given two-dose brands.

    J&J told the Food and Drug Administration that an extra dose adds important protection as early as two months after initial vaccination — but that it might work better if people wait until six months later. Unable to settle the best timing, the FDA’s advisory panel voted unanimously that the booster should be offered at least two months after people got their earlier shot.

    5 votes
  3. skybrian
    Link
    FDA panel endorses lower-dose Moderna COVID shot for booste

    FDA panel endorses lower-dose Moderna COVID shot for booste

    U.S. health advisers said Thursday that some Americans who received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago should get a half-dose booster to rev up protection against the coronavirus.

    The panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend a booster shot for seniors, as well as younger adults with other health problems, jobs or living situations that put them at increased risk from COVID-19.

    The recommendation is non-binding but it’s a key step toward expanding the U.S. booster campaign to millions more Americans.

    4 votes
  4. skybrian
    Link
    Anchorage conservative activist’s COVID-19 treatment becomes flashpoint in battle over ivermectin

    Anchorage conservative activist’s COVID-19 treatment becomes flashpoint in battle over ivermectin

    A conservative Anchorage political activist’s illness at Providence Alaska Medical Center became a flashpoint in a battle over COVID-19 treatments this week, with a city Assembly member joining in a campaign to compel doctors to administer ivermectin, an unproven treatment for the virus.

    William Topel’s treatment at Providence became a rallying point for people who say patients should be allowed to try ivermectin, a medicine used to treat parasites in humans and worms in livestock that the FDA says should not be used for COVID-19.

    Topel died early Wednesday, according to Michael Chambers, an Anchorage artist who described himself as a longtime friend.

    4 votes
  5. skybrian
    Link
    Alaska doctors forced to ration life-sustaining treatments as Covid patients clog up hospitals

    Alaska doctors forced to ration life-sustaining treatments as Covid patients clog up hospitals

    Anchorage hospitals, where nearly all of the state's dialysis machines are located, have been forced to reject transfers of patients who have a low chance of survival from other in-state medical centers, Gitomer said. It's not just putting Covid patients at higher risk. Hospitals are now struggling to treat non-Covid patients with a range of life-threatening conditions, including cancer, accident injuries and organ failure. Patients with brain tumors face extended emergency room delays, prolonging their ability to get an MRI and see a neurosurgeon, doctors say.

    4 votes
  6. skybrian
    Link
    Nearly 40% of California state workers are unvaccinated against COVID despite Newsom order […] […] […] […] Vaccination or testing? Why not both?

    Nearly 40% of California state workers are unvaccinated against COVID despite Newsom order

    Fewer than two-thirds of state workers — about 62% — were vaccinated as of Oct. 7, according to preliminary figures provided by department spokeswoman Camille Travis. That compares to a rate of about 72% among all Californians, according to state data.

    The employee data is incomplete, accounting for about 213,000 of the state’s 238,000 employees, Travis said. But the relatively low rate identified so far suggests many workers weren’t moved by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s July orders to workers to get vaccinated or submit to regular testing.

    […]

    Several of the largest state departments shared vaccination rates for their staff: 52% of California Highway Patrol employees, 60% of Department of Motor Vehicles employees and 60% of prison employees have received the shots. Caltrans reports a higher rate, with 70% of its employees vaccinated against COVID-19.

    […]

    Vaccinated state employees could soon come into closer contact with their unvaccinated peers as state offices reopen in the weeks ahead. Large numbers of unvaccinated employees could strain some offices, since supervisors are responsible for monitoring and processing employee coronavirus tests.

    […]

    The state launched pilot testing programs in the central offices of five state departments, and has expanded testing to 13 departments and 40 sites, Ortega said.

    The offices are using a combination of antigen and PCR testing, working through a national shortage of supplies for the antigen tests, which are less uncomfortable then the deep nasal swabs of the PCR tests. Sixty departments with 20 or fewer employees are using over-the-counter tests, said Travis, the CalHR spokeswoman.

    […]

    Paulina Vasquez, a California State Lottery district sales representative and SEIU Local 1000 union steward, said some employees — including her — are vaccinated but haven’t shown proof to the state.

    Vasquez said that while the lottery hasn’t offered employees any testing yet, she wants to be tested regularly even though she’s vaccinated. She said her job requires her to visit about a dozen grocery or liquor stores each day, and she doesn’t want to spread the virus with a breakthrough infection.

    Vaccination or testing? Why not both?

    4 votes
  7. skybrian
    Link
    US throws out millions of doses of Covid vaccine as world goes wanting (The Guardian) In a perfectly efficient market, using fewer vaccines in the US would mean more available in other countries....

    US throws out millions of doses of Covid vaccine as world goes wanting (The Guardian)

    States continue tossing unused shots. Louisiana has thrown out 224,000 unused doses of the Covid vaccines – a rate that has almost tripled since the end of July, even as a deadly fourth wave of the virus gripped the state. Some of the lost doses came from opening and not finishing vials, but more than 20,000 shots simply expired.

    Thousands of doses are reportedly wasted each day in Wisconsin. In Alabama, more than 65,000 doses have been tossed; in Tennessee, it’s almost 200,000.

    The wasted doses represent a small fraction of the number of shots administered in these states – in Louisiana, for instance, 4.4m doses have been given out successfully.

    In a perfectly efficient market, using fewer vaccines in the US would mean more available in other countries. But since apparently we aren't that efficient, global inequality isn't a good reason not to get vaccinated (or get boosters). At least, at the level of individual decision-making.

    For the big decisions made by a nation's leaders, in theory it could make a difference but it would require a lot of coordination, and a different kind of leadership than the US has. (For example, I don't think the FDA is allowed to consider inequality when approving vaccinations.)

    4 votes
  8. [2]
    skybrian
    Link
    Imperfect figures mean many countries do not know how many residents have been vaccinated […] […] […] […] If you can’t read the article, here is the Twitter thread.

    Imperfect figures mean many countries do not know how many residents have been vaccinated

    The fundamental problem is that countries’ denominator data — the estimate of their total population from which they calculate vaccination rates — are imperfect and inconsistent.

    […]

    Using it could lead to people being missed or double-counted because they were either not registered with a doctor or were listed at more than one, he said, adding: “University students, recent migrants and people not registered with primary care are obvious examples.”

    […]

    Elsewhere in Europe, some countries have recorded vaccine uptake of more than 100 per cent of their official population in certain cohorts.

    […]

    In Florida, unreliable vaccination rates have “become a theatre of the absurd”, according to Dan Gelber, mayor of Miami Beach.

    In one Florida zip-code, vaccine uptake rates reached 3,512 per cent of the local adult population. Another 50 zip-codes in Miami-Dade county, more than half of the total, show uptake of more than 100 per cent among over-65s.

    Gelber speculated that the faulty data could be a consequence of vaccine tourism or the so-called “snowbird effect”, in which retirees move to Florida for the winter, meaning large numbers of non-residents appeared in the records.

    […]

    In Florida, the high number of people in the state assumed to be protected against infection by the jabs “created a false sense of security” among the unvaccinated who believed they did not have to worry because others had done their part, said Gelber, adding: “Complacency was definitely a factor [in Florida’s Delta wave].”

    If you can’t read the article, here is the Twitter thread.

    3 votes
    1. cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      The FT paywall can usually be gotten around by googling the article title, which in this case is "Covid response hampered by population data glitches", and clicking the top result. Which worked...

      The FT paywall can usually be gotten around by googling the article title, which in this case is "Covid response hampered by population data glitches", and clicking the top result. Which worked for me again this time too.

      If you have a browser plugin that allows changing the referrer, changing it to https://www.google.com/ would probably get around it as well.

      2 votes
  9. skybrian
    Link
    Here’s a report on Twitter of six positive lateral flow tests and two negative PCR tests, plus loss of taste and smell. The third PCR test was positive.

    Here’s a report on Twitter of six positive lateral flow tests and two negative PCR tests, plus loss of taste and smell. The third PCR test was positive.