45 thoughts on “C-19 Chat Post – September 7 2021”

  1. From Dr. Eric Topol:

    “We have no national data for fully vaccinated people who have been hospitalized. In Alabama it’s 12%. We need to know more: vaccine, when vaxed, age, medical conditions, etc. The Secretary of HHS can mandate that data collection, but has decided not to. Flying blind is unacceptable.”

  2. Good morning,

    May I rant a bit?

    I saw a video on FB on a private page of my home town.

    This guy had a meter that he professed to use at his job as an electrician. He showed it to the camera with a tube sticking in the air, showing no reading and no alarm. Then he placed a mask on his face and stuck the tube under the mask whereupon the alarm starting going off with him spouting how dangerous it is to be wearing a mask all day.

    This kind of misinformation infuriates me to the point that I can’t stand it anymore!

    There are so many wack jobs in this country, it is unbelievable.
    There were enough to elect the brain dead trump. Wow!

    This virus is NEVER leaving us. It will be killing for years to come and it is the nut jobs out there doing it to us!

    Unbelievable.

  3. UK PM Boris Johnson announced a 1.25% tax increase (effectively for all; though there is a sliding scale below a certain amount of income) today to help pay for the higher costs of the National Health Service as a result of the pandemic.

    In a parliamentary democracy there is effectively no separation between the executive and legislative branch. So, it’s MUCH easier to implement changes right away, like the 1.25% tax increase. His cabinet has already agreed to it. There’s still a procedural issue of passage, but it’s mostly pro forma as the Tory government has a very sizable majority of MPs.

    1. That is 1 in 5,000 residents. How many break throughs are there in newly report cases?

      I have seen that rate as high as 30%.

      2 different stats, yet both accurate. It depends upon how one
      wants to paint the picture.

      To me, the 30% is more real. Up to 30% or more of the persons getting infected are break through cases. That scares the crap out of me. Of course only a small percentage of those 30% become seriously ill, which is a very good thing.

      1. The 1 in 5,000 risk of breakthrough is a daily risk, not calculated over time.

        More problematic is the fact that the U.S. doesn’t systematically track breakthrough cases. Nor does it systematically track breakthrough hospitalizations. So, we’re left guessing.

        I sincerely wish the NYT and others would not resort to doing back-of-the-enveloped calculations, with sometimes dubious assumptions, and focus on rigorous analysis from Israel and the UK. In these two countries breakthrough cases and hospitalizations (and deaths) are tracked systematically on an almost daily basis.

        1. I’m very close to ending my subscription to NYT. I have had the same thoughts several times lately that you expressed, Joshua

    2. I lean toward JPDs numbers. I’d like to read the author’s source for viral loads being different.

      It seems odd to me that the efficacy has dropped and countries are working feverishly on third doses if the first two are working as well as the author describes.

      At the moment, I have a bit more faith in Israel

      https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/30/israel-doubles-down-on-covid-booster-shots-as-breakthrough-cases-rise.html

      And am I reading this correctly…there is a good chance I’m not understanding the comment

      “The vaccines make serious illness rare in adults, and the risks to young children are so low that Britain may never recommend that most receive the vaccine.”

      https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/25/pediatric-covid-hospitalizations-surge-to-highest-on-record-in-us-as-doctors-brace-for-more.html

  5. On a macro level I feel that Americans are really not aware of how badly we’re doing in this Delta wave. We’re the worst affected among peer nations (similar GDP per capita) by a very wide margin. Many factors contribute to this, including vaccination rate, underlying health conditions, lack of timely testing, tiered healthcare system. During the Delta wave the U.S. has risen the death rate rankings (Covid-19 deaths per million) from 6th to 3rd place. We will soon overtake Italy and Belgium and be number 1 among peer nations. That’s a shameful record, and something the NYT and other media rarely talk about. It’s not as if we didn’t know Delta was coming (many stupidly denied it would have much of an impact, including the MSM like NYT), or we don’t have vaccines (we have an oversupply), or we don’t have a well-funded, modern healthcare system (we spend more per person than any other nation; now, whether we spend it wisely is of course a different matter altogether).

    1. Some people just don’t get it and never will or if they do, it is too late. I WISH we could mandate the vaccine like we did with
      small pox.

      1. I thought we could not mandate. No clue why I thought so. If we mandated small pox, why in heavens name not covid. Or can we once approved?

        1. I think we couldn’t mandate due to not officially approved. But now Pfizer is and Moderna soon to follow.

          Perhaps they are awaiting Moderna and then they will pull the trigger. Hope so.

    2. I definitely try not to berate anyone and have never name-called. I can be critical of certain policies. If you’d like me to tone that down, I respect that. It’s your blog.

      2. You’re well into the safe zone.
        The information you bring to this blog is beyond valuable…

    3. If it were I, I am so sorry. I try not to cross that line.
      If I slipped up, I apologize. I don’t recall referring to anyone here, but may have referred to some people in general.

      In looking back over the posts, I have a feeling you may have been were to someone else.

      But I will be more careful none-the-less.

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