Coronavirus

[DrGriz]

The problem was this matrix:

Early Covid Statement 1: Everyone should wear a mask. Effect: People hoard masks like toilet paper and some at risk don't have masks when they need them, but long term people trust the consistent easy to understand message. You can spin this with follow up statements about supply and risk, but this scenario is about having a strong masks are needed by all education (clear messaging) before dealing with the supply issue.

Early Covid Statement 2: The public shouldn't wear a mask, leave them for the professionals. Effect: People hyper focus on the change of message when it comes. If they think masks work; they think you threw them under the bus early on, if they think masks don't work; they think you are throwing them under the bus (financially) later on. Either way they don't like the change in guidance.

Which method would have saved more lives. We can guess, but we can't prove.

I would have liked the messaging to be more like statement 1 even if the supply of masks was limited and they suggested we shelter in place if masks weren't available for mixing in public.

Maybe we would have seen different spin by the side that went anti mask, maybe it would have been less effective, maybe just as effective for another reason. But as someone who is pro mask I found the early statements poorly framed. They set themselves up for failure by not suggesting "everyone mask" soon enough.

Yes, hindsight is 50/50.

 

[dhanson865]

Yes, hindsight is 50/50.

I had N95 masks that I used casually for yardwork pre pandemic just because of allergies.

I wore a mask out in public before they were mandated, because I was concerned about the pandemic that was clearly getting worse.

I felt the messaging was poor early on. Hindsight might make it easier to call them on it now, but I was ready to call them on it as it happened.

 

[DrGriz]

I had N95 masks that I used casually for yardwork pre pandemic just because of allergies.

I wore a mask out in public before they were mandated, because I was concerned about the pandemic that was clearly getting worse.

I felt the messaging was poor early on. Hindsight might make it easier to call them on it now, but I was ready to call them on it as it happened.

I did as well. And I knew people who started hoarding them in January 2020. Yes, I agree that the messaging might have been better, but my faith in human nature is such that I fear that the consequences of panic buying would have compromised those of us in health care even more than we were.

At any rate, I think imperfect messaging isn't the same as malicious lying. The real shame was that we didn't have enough masks to go around.

 

[JRP3]

Try this:

'Seriously people - STOP BUYING MASKS!': Surgeon general says they won't protect from coronavirus

The surgeon general has a message for people who want to run out and stockpile masks to combat the coronavirus...

www.jacksonville.com

"Seriously people - STOP BUYING MASKS!" Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted. "They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!"

"CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19," the CDC says. "Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others."

The CDC recommendations add that "the use of facemasks is also crucial for health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings."

My previous post explains why they initially thought the general public didn't need masks if they were healthy. You're trying very hard to take a simplistic black or white view.

 

[Doggydogworld]

I did as well. And I knew people who started hoarding them in January 2020.

Yep, poor planning left us ridiculously short of masks. And fear of hoarding shaped public health messaging.

At any rate, I think imperfect messaging isn't the same as malicious lying.

I'd call it "lying for the greater good" vs malicious.

They weren't confused about pre-symptomatic transmission. The January 2020 Webasto outbreak in Bavaria, among others, put that to rest. Nor were they confused about transmission through the air, despite debate over the technical definition of "aerosol". They knew masks worked. And they knew they'd only stockpiled a tiny fraction of what was needed.

Finally, they knew "masks can prevent Covid, but please don't buy them so doctors and nurses can have enough" would have been as effective as "please don't hoard toilet paper" or "please don't empty your Silicon Valley Bank account". So they played word games. In some cases they lied outright.

Did that "destroy confidence"? Not really. The freedumb crowd was never going to accept masking, no matter what anyone said.

 

[JRP3]

Nor were they confused about transmission through the air, despite debate over the technical definition of "aerosol".

The idea of "social distancing" and 6ft perimeter was because they initially thought it would not stay suspended for as long as it actually did.

 

[scottf200]

7/8/2023

COVID Data Tracker

CDC’s home for COVID-19 data. Visualizations, graphs, and data in one easy-to-use website.

covid.cdc.gov

 

[DrGriz]

Don't know if anyone has posted about this before or not, but, in short, at least 20% of unvaccinated people appear to have an HLA B gene variant that clears Covid before it becomes symptomatic. So they are not aware of having ever had Covid.

Possibly paywalled (I don't think so):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/07/19/genetic-variant-asymptomatic-covid/?utm_campaign=wp_the7&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_the7

The article from Nature the WAPO article is based on:

A common allele of HLA is associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection - Nature

The human leukocyte antigen allele HLA-B*15:01 is associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection due to pre-existing T cell immunity.

www.nature.com

 

[JRP3]

at least 20% of unvaccinated people appear to have an HLA B gene variant that clears Covid before it becomes symptomatic.

I read it as 20% of the 20% who are asymptomatic have the gene:

"On average, studies have found, at least 20 percent of people who contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus are asymptomatic."

"Among the asymptomatic participants, 20 percent carried a common HLA variant called HLA-B*15:01."

 

[DrGriz]

I read it as 20% of the 20% who are asymptomatic have the gene:

"On average, studies have found, at least 20 percent of people who contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus are asymptomatic."

"Among the asymptomatic participants, 20 percent carried a common HLA variant called HLA-B*15:01."

You are correct. That specific HLA gene is overrepresented in that group, but it's not the whole picture, since there are people in the symptomatic group who also carry HLA-B*15.01. There may be other HLA genes, or just other genes that are associated with the phenomenon.

Overall, one in five individuals (20%) who remained asymptomatic after infection carried HLA-B*15:01, compared with 9% among patients reporting symptoms.

After adjusting for sex and age, only the combination of HLA-B*15:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:01 remained significant after correction for multiple comparisons (P = 3 × 10−4, Padj = 0.01). We found an OR for this combination (OR = 3.17, 95% CI = 1.65–5.80) that exceeds that for HLA-B*15:01 alone, suggesting that, although not significantly associated with the asymptomatic infection on its own in this cohort, the class II allele HLA-DRB1*04:01 enhances the effect of HLA-B*15:01.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

7/8/2023

COVID Data Tracker

CDC’s home for COVID-19 data. Visualizations, graphs, and data in one easy-to-use website.

covid.cdc.gov

https://twitter.com/x/status/1682167805553041408

 

[JRP3]

Exposing the dangerous covid lies of RFK Jr.

 

[dhanson865]

Some people's brain function still affected by Long COVID years after infection

UK researchers have found that people with longer-term COVID-19 symptoms including 'brain fog' showed reduced performance in tasks testing different mental processes up to two years after infection with the virus.

www.kcl.ac.uk

 

[madodel]

Vaccine politics may be to blame for GOP excess deaths, study finds

Researchers also pointed out that more than 50 million Americans have yet to get an initial coronavirus vaccine, and reasons often extend “beyond political beliefs or party affiliation alone.” Surveys have shown Republicans lagged in vaccination rates, including for booster shots. KFF estimated that between June 2021 and March 2022, at least 234,000 covid-19 deaths could have been prevented if people had received a primary series of vaccinations.

 

[madodel]

Doctors who put lives at risk with covid misinformation rarely punished

State medical boards charged with protecting the American public often failed to stop doctors who went against medical consensus and prescribed unapproved treatments for covid or misled patients about vaccines and masks, the Post investigation found.

At least 20 doctors nationally were penalized for complaints related to covid misinformation between January 2020 and June 2023, according to board documents, which The Post obtained by filing requests with state medical boards and reviewing public records. Five of those doctors lost their medical licenses — one had his revoked, while four surrendered theirs. Discipline is typically connected to patient care, not just what doctors say.

 

[jerry33]

Doctors who put lives at risk with covid misinformation rarely punished

Not surprising because the main source of misinformation was political.

 

[DrGriz]

Not surprising because the main source of misinformation was political.

The physician from Idaho mentioned in the article (a pathologist who had no business treating patients, let alone treating them with Ivermectin) was reported to the state Medical Board, which proceeded to do nothing. Most of us are ashamed of our medical board.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Just a blip so far; can’t call it a wave yet. We’ll see in a couple months what it comes to.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1684694954541555713

 

[scottf200]

7/8/2023

COVID Data Tracker

CDC’s home for COVID-19 data. Visualizations, graphs, and data in one easy-to-use website.

covid.cdc.gov

"In September, vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are slated to deliver new single-strain Covid shots targeting the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, the most immune-evasive strain of the virus to date."
via: New Covid vaccines are coming to the U.S. this fall, but uptake may be low — Here’s why

https://twitter.com/x/status/1683120054399823872

 

[jerry33]

"In September, vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are slated to deliver new single-strain Covid shots targeting the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, the most immune-evasive strain of the virus to date."
via: New Covid vaccines are coming to the U.S. this fall, but uptake may be low — Here’s why

https://twitter.com/x/status/1683120054399823872

During the last booster timeframe for part of it pharmacists were advising not to get a booster if you already had the multi-variant. This eventually changed but it didn’t help the take levels.