CoVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 Information and Questions

[deubank1776]

Check again. It is the rate per million people. It is already adjusted for population. Unfortunately we are doing the worst and choosing to do so.

Oh cool! Didn't see the per million!

 

[deubank1776]

There is no need for rumors and disinformation.

Not a rumor or disinformation when it is done right in front of me.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I think our high rates are due in part because we have politicized getting vaccinated and we have some media sources convincing people (unfortunately) that things aren't as bad as the government makes them out to be. Couple this with a more contagious strain of the virus, and its no wonder our rates are so high.

My wife and I don't want to catch even a mild case of Covid and potentially be ill for a couple of days (we have too much to do right now), so when we meet with our construction supervisor at our new home tomorrow we will be wearing KN95 masks. This is quite a change from two months ago when we last met and we were maskless, but the current variant appears to be airborne and is much more contagious that the previous strains. Hopefully, the next strain won't be so contagious.

Jim

 

[Bruce]

@Jim_in_Delaware, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences found a R0 of 17 for Omicron. That is similar to measles while Alpha was around 1.4 and Delta a little over 3. Are you seeing any R0 numbers at a federal level?

For anyone wondering what I am talking about an R0 of 17 would have the average infected person infecting 17 others. For Influenza the R0 typically is around 1.2.

 

[Bruce]

Not a rumor or disinformation when it is done right in front of me.

Do you happen to remember what type of test? That is inconsistent with any FDA approved or authorized test.

 

[deubank1776]

Friends dad work for pfizer. Abbott BinaxNOW got them from work.

 

[Bruce]

Friends dad work for pfizer. Abbott BinaxNOW got them from work.

If true your friend must have gotten some special tests to waste.

Antigen tests are less sensitive than PCR which often results in false negatives.

False positives are quite rare with contamination being the most likely cause.

For example "Twelve false-positive BinaxNOW results (out of 2,308 tests) were observed; in all 12, the test bands were faint but otherwise normal and were noted by both readers." https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/JCM.00083-21

 

[deubank1776]

If true your friend must have gotten some special tests to waste.

Antigen tests are less sensitive than PCR which often results in false negatives.

False positives are quite rare with contamination being the most likely cause.

For example "Twelve false-positive BinaxNOW results (out of 2,308 tests) were observed; in all 12, the test bands were faint but otherwise normal and were noted by both readers."

Nothing special about them. They give them to employees if needed.
We made sure to follow directions very carefully. Don't touch test strip, 6 drops, don't touch tip of swab, etc.
Life is always left up to chance. I am glad to see that the 90% CI had success... not as successful as Guinness!

 

[Mesa50]

It is easy to understand why we are doing so poorly but hard to understand why many of us want to make this worse.

View attachment 169741

I don’t see Israel on the chart. They are 12 times higher than they were 1 week ago, and the highest they have been since July of last year (back when they had the highest transmission rate in the world). No one likes to include them in charts, because they have terrible transmission rates, while also being the most vaccinated country on the planet. The CEO of Pfizer also admitted that the 2 dose vaccine offered little to no protection against transmission, and the booster only offers “moderate” protection against hospitalization, but are now working on a 1.1 vaccine. My family is vaccinated, but everyone we know who now has contracted covid, are all triple poked. My neighbor (also triple poked) was just taken by ambulance to the er due to covid complications. He contracted covid less than 30 days from the booster, so will likely be counted as “non vaccinated”. The term “non vaccinated” is now being applied to the boosted who contract covid shortly after. You really can’t believe a damn thing you hear about the numbers. I didn’t used to think that.

 

[Evil Sports]

Israel said 4th booster had zero affect on O. Guess the immune system has had enough

 

[Bruce]

@Mesa50, I am not immediately seeing hospitalization numbers for Israel however looking at deaths per million people their highly vaccinated country is doing much better than ours.

Vaccines do not prevent infection. They train the immune system to fight after infection. That likely is the largest misunderstanding of this pandemic. On the positive side hospitalization and death from Omicron is much lower among the vaccinated.

 

[Julian]

I don’t see Israel on the chart. They are 12 times higher than they were 1 week ago, and the highest they have been since July of last year (back when they had the highest transmission rate in the world). No one likes to include them in charts, because they have terrible transmission rates, while also being the most vaccinated country on the planet. The CEO of Pfizer also admitted that the 2 dose vaccine offered little to no protection against transmission, and the booster only offers “moderate” protection against hospitalization, but are now working on a 1.1 vaccine. My family is vaccinated, but everyone we know who now has contracted covid, are all triple poked. My neighbor (also triple poked) was just taken by ambulance to the er due to covid complications. He contracted covid less than 30 days from the booster, so will likely be counted as “non vaccinated”. The term “non vaccinated” is now being applied to the boosted who contract covid shortly after. You really can’t believe a damn thing you hear about the numbers. I didn’t used to think that.

Israel is far from the most vaccinated country on the planet, they don't even make the top 20 last I checked they were around 65% fully vaccinated. Lots of ultra conservative jews refusing on religious grounds and then congregating together. (rank around 70th in reporting countries)

I agree on what one "hears".....so many sources producing BS that one has to routinely do one's own fact checking to see if what one hears holds water!

 

[Mesa50]

Israel is far from the most vaccinated country on the planet, they don't even make the top 20 last I checked they were around 65% fully vaccinated. Lots of ultra conservative jews refusing on religious grounds and then congregating together. (rank around 70th in reporting countries)

I agree on what one "hears".....so many sources producing BS that one has to routinely do one's own fact checking to see if what one hears holds water!

As of today, Israel is at 90% first dose, and 82% second dose, making them one of the highest percentages in the world. Your last check must have been a while. They’ve been leading the world for a while.

 

[Can0n11]

What I am seeing in the numbers being followed is the US may have peaked. Probably will know in the next few days. Both my wife and I have worked thru Omnicron last week, me with only a very brief fever and slightly runny nose and her with initial heavy nasal conjestion, head ache and very brief loss of taste. My P-AC daughter caught it from the office most likely and she was seeing many Covid like symptom patients. Hope the numbers continue down. Here in my parts Covid tests can still be found at Walgreen's and Rite-Aids depending on the day. Stay well!

 

[tabbibus]

What I am seeing in the numbers being followed is the US may have peaked. Probably will know in the next few days. Both my wife and I have worked thru Omnicron last week, me with only a very brief fever and slightly runny nose and her with initial heavy nasal conjestion, head ache and very brief loss of taste. My P-AC daughter caught it from the office most likely and she was seeing many Covid like symptom patients. Hope the numbers continue down. Here in my parts Covid tests can still be found at Walgreen's and Rite-Aids depending on the day. Stay well!

The US is too big and diverse to peak as a whole. While some places may have peaked others may have not. We certainly are still seeing a steady rise in the north Atlanta suburbs.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

As of today, Israel is at 90% first dose, and 82% second dose, making them one of the highest percentages in the world. Your last check must have been a while. They’ve been leading the world for a while.

I suspect that you are looking at different populations than Julian.

From Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, "40 percent of Israelis have no protection against COVID omicron variant: 1 million refused the booster while just 110,000 out of 1.2 million young kids got the vaccine...According to the Health Ministry, as of Saturday just over 58 percent of eligible Israelis over the age of five are fully vaccinated, meaning that they have received three doses or are within a six-month window following their second dose. A further 9.3 percent are double-vaccinated but have allowed more than six months to pass without getting a booster shot, while 32.4 percent are unvaccinated..."

Jim

 

[Mesa50]

My data on Israeli vaccination is from the cdc, so I suppose it is extremely unreliable.

 

[Mesa50]

I suspect that you are looking at different populations than Julian.

From Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, "40 percent of Israelis have no protection against COVID omicron variant: 1 million refused the booster while just 110,000 out of 1.2 million young kids got the vaccine...According to the Health Ministry, as of Saturday just over 58 percent of eligible Israelis over the age of five are fully vaccinated, meaning that they have received three doses or are within a six-month window following their second dose. A further 9.3 percent are double-vaccinated but have allowed more than six months to pass without getting a booster shot, while 32.4 percent are unvaccinated..."

Jim

Also, the article you provided is counting people who have not received their third and fourth boosters in the unprotected category. Back in June and July of last year, Israel was counted as the highest vaccinated country in the world, while also having the fastest transmission rate in the world by August. The article you provided makes it look like if you don’t take vaccines like vitamins, you lose your vaccination status.

 

[Mesa50]

Also, the article you provided is counting people who have not received their third and fourth boosters in the unprotected category. Back in June and July of last year, Israel was counted as the highest vaccinated country in the world, while also having the fastest transmission rate in the world by August. The article you provided makes it look like if you don’t take vaccines like vitamins, you lose your vaccination status. It appears as though people who were pro vaccine and believed the vaccine companies unreliable information on protection, have begun to become disillusioned and are not getting boosters.

 

[adrianp89]

Good to see the Pro-vacc bias is strong here! @Mesa50 don't even bother with these guys. They live in a fear bubble.