COVID-19 News and Discussions

[Ken_J]

If it causes severe long term neurological symptoms, then there is a definite possibility of this pandemic being a potential existential threat to humanity. Who knows! Perhaps a pandemic is the Great Filter. Of course that's just doomer thinking on my part.

I'd say the great filter is less specific. It's more than likely something along the lines of a species can identify the mutual hazards of unsustainable growth, industrialization, and the challenges caused by moving from nationalist intrests to a global mindset; and adjust their growth and consumption in such a way to ration the resources toward the best Return On Investment toward expanding and spreading themselves out through their solar system such that their burden in any one place is much less, while building biomes that expand the symbiotic ecosystems they depend on with them.

and no I don't think we are doing particularly well at navigating this filter

[erowind]

.

[wjfox]

A federal judge blocks Biden's vaccine mandate for U.S. health workers.

By Azi Paybarah and Reed Abelson
Nov. 30, 2021 Updated 8:53 p.m. ET

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday to halt the start of President Biden's national vaccine mandate for health care workers, which had been set to begin next week.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/worl ... ocked.html

Another victory for freedumb.

[wjfox]

Now that we're almost two years into this pandemic, longer-term impacts are starting to become known.

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Severe Covid infection doubles chances of dying in following year, study finds

Wed 1 Dec 2021 09.25 GMT

Patients who survive severe Covid are more than twice as likely to die over the following year than those who remain uninfected or experience milder virus symptoms, a study says.

The research, published in Frontiers in Medicine, suggests that serious coronavirus infections may significantly damage long-term health, showing the importance of vaccination.

The increased risk of dying was greater for patients under 65, and only 20% of the severe Covid-19 patients who died did so because of typical Covid complications, such as respiratory failure.

“We conducted a previous study that showed that patients with severe Covid-19 who recovered were at significantly greater risk of being hospitalised in the subsequent six months,” said ProfArch Mainous of the University of Florida, the lead author of the study. “This new study extended that to investigate mortality risk over the next 12 months.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... year-study

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

Republicans Threaten to Shut Down Government Over Vaccine Mandates
December 1, 2021

https://www.axios.com/gop-government-sh ... 3608e.html

Introduction:

(Axios) Conservative Republicans in the House and Senate are planning to force a government shutdown Friday to deny funding needed to enforce the Biden administration's vaccine mandates on the private sector, according to Politico.

Why it matters: Congress has until the end of the week to pass a stopgap measure to extend funding into 2022, though objection from a small group of Republicans could shut down the government.

• President Biden's vaccine mandates on employers with 100 or more workers and health care workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid have already been challenged and halted by multiple federal courts.

What they're saying: “I’m sure we would all like to simplify the process for resolving the CR, but I can’t facilitate that without addressing the vaccine mandates,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told Politico.

• “Given that federal courts across the country have raised serious issues with these mandates, it’s not unreasonable for my Democratic colleagues to delay enforcement of the mandates for at least the length of the continuing resolution.”

[Xyls]

[wjfox]

[Yuli Ban]

It's here in the States!

[Yuli Ban]

Did Omicron originate in the Netherlands?

Huh. Omicron is descended from an much earlier variant, one theory is that it's a human > animal > human zoological mutation, and the Dutch had to cull off their minks from last year when they found a mutant Covid-19 virus in their mink farms.

I think this is the mink SARS we were worried about from last year.

It make sense. The writers couldn't just leave that huge plot hook alone, they had to just bring that back to bring the ratings back up again

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[raklian]

[Yuli Ban]

The Fed chair says Omicron is a risk to the economy. Could that mean more stimulus checks?

The rise and rapid spread of the Omicron variant is already taking a toll on U.S. markets and has the World Health Organization on high alert. And that’s renewing demand for a fourth stimulus check among some people.

To date, nearly 3 million people have signed a Change.org petition calling for recurring $2,000 payments to adults and $1,000 payments for children, making it one of the platform’s most signed. And the Senior Citizens League continues to call for a $1,400 special stimulus to assist with cost-of-living adjustments.

But even with Omicron, the odds remain remarkably low, with lawmakers showing no appetite for a fourth round of checks.

The variant is certainly having a big impact in a short time. The World Health Organization has labeled it a “very high” global risk, saying that the “unprecedented number of spike mutations” in the variant could “impact the trajectory of the pandemic.” The Dow has lost roughly 700 points in the past two trading sessions on concerns over the virus, while the S&P index has dropped 54. And both markets were down sharply in early trading Tuesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, meanwhile, will tell the Senate today that Omicron could pose a risk to the economy.

Biden will have to do SOMETHING if he doesn't want Dems to get eviscerated in 2022. I don't expect him to do a damn thing.
But if you face the goddamn facts, we're getting dangerously too close to multiple precipices as I've mentioned before.

He's going to have to either:

• Give out a fourth, maybe even a fifth round of stimulus checks
• Cancel student loans up to $30,000 or $50,000
• Continue the student loan pause for at least another 6 months

One of those three things to avoid some massive economic shit come February.
If he does all three, we might actually avoid another economic recession altogether. If he does none of them, expect a GOP-run legislature in 2023-2024.

[Xyls]

[raklian]

Omicron is no joke.

[raklian]

A lot of people are going to die this coming winter.

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Researchers carry out the first head-to-head comparison of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12- ... cines.html
by Tamar Nordenberg, Veterans Affairs Research Communications

In the first head-to-head comparison of the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, researchers examined the electronic health records of veterans who had received each vaccine. Both vaccines were highly effective in preventing COVID-19 outcomes such as documented infection, hospitalization, and death.

However, the Moderna vaccine was found to offer an increased level of protection, including a 21% lower risk of documented infection and 41% lower risk of hospitalization, according to the research team, whose findings were published on December 1, 2021, in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Both vaccines are incredibly effective, with only rare breakthrough cases," said Dr. J.P. Casas, a member of the research team made up of experts from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women's Hospital. "But regardless of the predominant strain—Alpha earlier and then Delta later—Moderna was shown to be slightly more effective," said Casas, an epidemiologist and associate professor with Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and executive director of the VA's Million Veteran Program for genetics and health research.