outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

Drove into London (Ontario) for a movie this afternoon, and there was a big slowdown downtown. First "Freedom Rally" I've yet encountered in my sedate corner of the world. One sign said something about "Communism is the real virus." Having spent the last year basically doing everything I'm supposed to, makes you feel quite hopeless. I've been very sympathetic to small business during this time, and do what I can to support them--that part I get. The defiantly crowding together and not wearing masks, no.

https://london.ctvnews.ca/hundreds-across-southwestern-ontario-gather-to-protest-provincial-lockdowns-1.5355639

Some more good news:

https://apnews.com/article/us-data-shows-astrazeneca-vaccine-safe-all-ages-a73e711c7309be4444c65d5f9ae90c43

Cool. Now don't pull it from circulation over unfounded rumors!

xpost - https://sciencenorway.no/covid19/norwegian-experts-say-deadly-blood-clots-were-caused-by-the-astrazeneca-covid-vaccine/1830510

A puzzling claim seeing as millions of people have received the AZ vaccine with no statistically significant life-threatening complications. Perhaps there's something wrong with the lots that were shipped to Norway?

xp that article is 4 days old and the EMA have subsequently approved it for use

We are the new Israel narrative developing.

17 deaths. Lowest announced day since 28th September. Cases not so good. Graphs later.

— Oliver Johnson (@BristOliver) March 22, 2021

Typical cave-shaming! You'll hear from our lawyers!

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/02/24/dna-from-neanderthals-affects-vulnerability-to-covid-19?

― "Salvation Army FUCK!" (Neanderthal), Saturday, 20 March 2021 17:29 (two days ago) link

I've been wondering this whole time about what if any role genetics might play due to the massive geographically-based differences in the severity of the outbreaks. Climate likely plays a big role too.

We are the new Israel narrative developing.

🐦[17 deaths. Lowest announced day since 28th September. Cases not so good. Graphs later.
— Oliver Johnson (@BristOliver) March 22, 2021🕸]🐦

There are lots of LFT tests being used in addition to PCR tests since schools started back two weeks ago - on some days as many if not more than PCRs. I'd say they're a lot woollier in terms of ascertaining a real positive rate (partly because people are testing so often they might not bother reporting a negative) but I'd be interested to know how many cases are from LFTs - I've seen people suggest it's quite a large proportion, so that's a lot more cases now 'known' due to asymptomatic testing that we didn't 'know' before.

I should clarify, I mean positive LFTs without subsequent positive PCRs - so 3 days ago in England it was 3990 cases, of which 722 were LFTs without positive PCRs (I think you need to allow for some time lag to marry up the actual LFTs and subsequent PCRs if you're being accurate, though)

Didn't want to post this (heavily political) story in the mostly apolitical thread, but this one is bumming me out today:

https://www.wbez.org/stories/loretto-hospital-admits-mistakes-in-covid-19-vaccine-chance-for-judges-and-their-spouses/a395bac9-b41a-45c0-b78b-43668812e988

pertinent point if you don't want to read the whole thing:

In a statement, Lightfoot cited recent “stories” about health care providers who “allowed well-connected individuals to jump the line to receive the vaccine, instead of using it to service people who were more in need.”

“Our city will not tolerate providers who blatantly disregard the Chicago Department of Public Health’s distribution guidelines for the COVID-19 vaccine,” Lightfoot said, threatening similar action against other providers who are caught not following the rules.

And administration officials said Loretto can give second and final doses of the vaccine to those who received their first shot there — but the hospital will not get any first doses from the city next week and “until we can confirm their vaccination strategies and reporting practices meet all [city health department] requirements."

Obviously a shitty story and there needs to be some punishment for the hospital leaders that allowed this to happen (twice!), but punishing an underserved, majority black and brown neighborhood by taking away an entire source of vaccine distribution is indefensible, imho, and a terrible look for Lightfoot.

Yup. Give them vaccines to administer properly, as required, but fine them bigly for each confirmed case of blatant favoritism.

Statement from NIAID (Fauci's part NIH): Data & Safety Monitoring Board (independent monitors) for the AstraZeneca trial are concerned about the company's statement on efficacy. It may be "outdated...[&] have provided an incomplete view" of the data https://t.co/7hKyc8v9GC

— Hilda Bastian, PhD (@hildabast) March 23, 2021

Zeynep is taking this a bit personally but she’s not wrong (see rest of the thread). Amateur hour stuff and people are going to die because of it.

The short of it is the AZ final trial results look fine, but for some unfathomable reason, they did a press release on *earlier* results instead of waiting 48 hours to release latest ones (which may have a few more negative events, but are still great). https://t.co/kBdIUKXMzZ

— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) March 23, 2021

https://chicago.eater.com/2021/3/22/22344263/restaurants-bars-capacity-limit-proof-covid-19-vaccination-pritzker-ramova-theater-restoration

All adults in Illinois will soon be eligible for vaccinations, and that could have major ramifications for restaurants: Fully vaccinated customers — with proof — won’t count against COVID-19 capacity rules. Under current Phase 4 rules, Chicago’s restaurants and bars are allowed a maximum of 50 customers per indoor dining space or 50 percent of full capacity, whichever is fewer.

This is going to be interesting to see how it plays out. The assumption here being that, especially for restaurants struggling to survive after the last year, owners are obviously going to want to prioritize customers that have been vaccinated. If the choice is between a half filled house or a full house, of course they want the latter. It does raise interesting questions about the legality and ethics of discriminating against the unvaccinated, especially those who can't for medical reasons.

i'm guessing ppl who are unvaccinated for medical reasons will not be dining out in restaurants for awhile in any case

Oh fair, I deleted an additional paragraph where I made the same assumption, but I don't know... some of the restaurants around here seem (to my eyes) dangerously crowded already, and I don't assume they're all vaccinated. Personally, I'm in no hurry to return to indoor dining, doubt I will even after I'm vaxxed up, at least not anytime soon.

The one thing I couldn't find was whether this applies only to restaurant and bars, or if it applies to other businesses as well.

I mean, hell, maybe it's not going to be a problem at all and hopefully vaccines ramp up enough to make this a very short term problem. On the other hand, I will never underestimate the willingness of Americans to find new and novel ways to sort themselves into haves and have nots, nor will I underestimate their glee in being able to discriminate against another group.

I might be fine with discriminating against ppl who refuse to get vax, but I can't offhand think of how to not also have that affect lower-access people so yeah.

How to be rich:
V+ t-shirts for $40 that require you to upload a photo of your card with a name that matches your credit card
then a month later, limited edition versions from specific designers/brands from $20 to $250
then same thing when it's cleared for kids but you get a digital copy for fortnite/minecraft

who will bankroll my genius

I just wish I felt like local politicians exuded any sense of urgency at all about getting shots in arms. For what is, quite literally, a matter of life and death, our leaders feel exceedingly chill about things.

i'm sorry your local scene is still filling you with dread jon.

It's just frustrating to see our state just sitting idly and not tackling the seemingly easy to fix issues while we wait for increased supply on the federal level. On the southern end of Illinois, 6 hours away from Chicago, there are apparently dozens, if not hundreds, of unused appointments each week because the demand is just not there. Meanwhile, seeing people in the NE corner of the state on their fourth and fifth weeks of eligibility still struggling to get a first dose appointment. I'm no supply chain expert here, but that seems like an easily solvable problem.

lmao AZ are so bad at this!

All that just so the press release could have a slightly better number https://t.co/I4MrPQQMFi

— Ed MD (@notdred) March 23, 2021

another day, Chicago cuts off another vaccine provider:

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago Department of Public Health is cutting off distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to the healthcare group that was contracted to vaccinate Chicago Public Schools employees.

CDPH said Innovative Express Care, located at 2400 N. Ashland Ave., "knowingly misallocated" 6,000 doses of vaccines meant for CPS employees. As a result, CDPH said it will be reclaiming all vaccine distributed and stored at IEC.

Innovative Express Care issued a statement denying the allegations, claiming the so-called misallocated doses were not used by CPS at the end of each week and were given as first doses to seniors, frontline workers and other qualified patients.

A spokesperson for IEC said in a statement: "All vaccine doses that were not used by CPS at the end of each week went to another eligible patient for their first dose. We always ensured that there were enough allocations for additional doses for all CPS employees."

This location isn't as much of a blow to underserved neighborhoods as the Loretto Hospital one was, but it's infuriating to see how quick they are to just yank another point of distribution at a time when Chicago is severely lagging behind the rest of the state in administration rates.

Hey, you guys. Remember all those off-market hand sanitizers that started cropping up after hand sanitizer was unavailable for a few months? Guess what? We're all gonna get leukemia. My family and I have gone through a LOT of artnaturals hand sanitizer in the past 10 months or so, which has the top benzene levels from their list.

https://www.valisure.com/blog/valisure-news/valisure-detects-benzene-in-hand-sanitizers/

NEW HAVEN, CT – MARCH 24, 2021 – Valisure has tested and detected benzene, a known human carcinogen, in several batches across multiple brands of hand sanitizer, which are considered drug products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Benzene is known to cause cancer in humans according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other regulatory agencies. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines benzene as a carcinogen and lists “inhalation, skin absorption, ingestion, skin and/or eye contact” as exposure routes. The FDA states that benzene should not be used in the manufacture of any component of a drug product because of its unacceptable toxicity; however, to meet the high demand for hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 public health emergency, FDA has allowed an interim limit of 2 parts per million (ppm) for benzene only in aqueous solution (liquid) hand sanitizers. Of the 260 hand sanitizer products tested by Valisure, including liquid and non-liquid products, 44 batches (17%) contained benzene with the highest level of benzene detected of 16.1ppm, which is over eight times this interim limit.

Valisure is asking FDA to request an immediate recall of the contaminated batches and to update its guidance to include an exposure limit for benzene in addition to a concentration. Also, Valisure is requesting FDA further investigate batches of hand sanitizer that, in addition to being contaminated, are inconsistent with FDA guidance to not add inactive ingredients, such as those that improve smell, taste or appearance, that could increase the risk of ingestion from children. Some of the highly contaminated batches Valisure analyzed appear to be specifically formulated and marketed for children.

I knew skipping the hand sanitizer was the right choice.

xps speaking of Loretto: https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/03/24/another-group-favored-by-loretto-hospital-exec-got-vaccinated-early-gold-coast-steakhouse-higher-ups-sources-say/

Employees at an expensive Gold Coast steakhouse were able to get vaccinated early, sources say — making it the third business where people with ties to Loretto Hospital’s chief operating officer were seemingly able to cut the line.

These people will likely face no meaningful consequences, of course.

Nope. And the only ones actually being punished are the eligible residents of Austin who have now lost access to a local administration site. Pretty disappointed in the way Lightfoot is handling this so far. I wanted to give her credit for starting from an equitable distribution standpoint, but that kinda gets undercut when she closes sites like Loretto completely.

People...praise Lightfoot...for anything? Lol. I have never heard a single good thing about her. She seems awful

She’s neck and neck w Jenny Durkan in the Worst Lesbian Mayor Competition

She is awful. I was willing to give her a sliver of credit at the start of the vaccine process because she had what sounded like a reasonable approach to a more equitable approach to distribution, but she's managed to knock the supports out of even that at every turn, so I don't have any reason to praise her at all now.

A little San Francisco vaccination update with new numbers up through this morning's report. 41% of the eligible population (16-and-up) now with one shot, 21% with a fully completed regimen whether it's a Pfizer/Modern two-shot or a J&J one-shot, 80% of the over-65 population has one shot, while 57% of them have a completed regimen. It's also worth noting that among the most heavily vaccinated neighborhoods so far include Excelsior and Bayview/Hunter's Point, which is really good to see.

Wow, that sounds incredible, good job SF!

For comparison's sake, Chicago is at 24.4% of the population now with one shot, though the eligibility there is nowhere near as open as SF's yet.

Meantime California as a whole: anyone 50 and over can get a vaccine on April 1, anyone 16 and over on April 15

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-25/all-california-adults-covid-vaccine-eligible-april

Florida down to 40 and older:

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article250196325.html

Has there been a good, more recent article about supply increases? I remember seeing something a few weeks ago that larger numbers of the J&J shot should be hitting at the start of April, but not much news since. All of the local updates have really gone to great pains to emphasize patience and have said that supply levels are not likely to increase "in the near future". Given that phrase could mean any number of things, it would be nice to cut through the noise and see some reassuring data unaffected by spin.

these are rookie numbers

Our #COVID19 vaccine insight of the day is our view on total doses produced and the number of doses that have actually been exported across countries/regions. pic.twitter.com/1dInQRVzxw

— Airfinity (@Airfinity) March 24, 2021

xp 27 million doses supplied this week in the US.

Double the 13.5 million doses per week as of February 16th.

New York still 60+. Going to need the NY recreational marijuana to get me through to 2022 when I can get vaccinated.

xpost - Thanks, that's the kind of info I was looking to read. It's a nice antidote to seeing this type of thing day after day:

Restaurant staff, construction trade workers and religious leaders can join the line March 29, before appointments open to any resident 16 or older starting April 12. Those new guidelines apply to all Illinois residents, but not at Chicago or Cook County sites, where officials have said supply is still too scarce to add more people to the line.

NY is 50+ now, no?

Good news out of California

Beginning April 1, we are expanding #COVID19 vaccine eligibility. Supply continues to increase thanks to the leadership of @POTUS.

With more than 15 million shots in arms, the light at the end of the tunnel continues to get brighter. pic.twitter.com/Bee0V7vGjP

— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) March 25, 2021

Imagine having that kind of optimism in the messaging from your leaders instead of the doom and gloom and "supply still too scarce" bullshit (and it increasingly does indeed look like bullshit, deployed to excuse poor planning and reacting) every single day. That would go miles towards improving the optimism of a ton of folks I speak to regularly.

It's just wearing on me so much to watch this endless cycle of the state announcing eligibility expansion after eligibility expansion, only to have every single one of them immediately followed up by our county saying, "not here!", "nope" and "no way".

NY is 50+ now, no?

― G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Thursday, March 25, 2021 3:08 PM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I must have missed this or it just happened. Still doesn't help me (barely), but at least there's hope of getting it in the spring.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/new-yorkers-age-50-and-up-can-now-get-vaccinated/2958683/

based on some of the movement i'm seeing in the event industry and general news reading, I think it's not unreasonable that NY vaccinations will be "available" to anyone 16 and older before the end of April. Getting an appointment is likely to be a shitshow through May but I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a needle in your arm before June. I am increasingly optimistic that NYC is gonna be at 60-65% vaxxed by July. But someone else in thread pipe up and let me know if I've gone soft!

Getting an appointment is likely to be a shitshow through May

i have no idea of the local supply issues, but i don't think opening it up to everyone 16+ is suddenly going to turn *getting an appointment* into a shitshow. it's a larger group than have gotten access before, but it's also a lot of people who work full time or will otherwise be constrained in their ability to make an appointment (this is bad, but it's probably good news for everyone else), and it's the group that will have the largest fraction of people who refuse to get the vaccine ("i'm not personally in danger"). will be pleasantly surprised if half the people in it try get the shot tbh.

i just mean that the infrastructure is still iffy. would love to be wrong about that.