Corona

[CureTheSane]

Well no shit.

Vaccinations help combat the virus.

One thing that should be known is all day we hear politicians saying "get the jab"
What fucking jab?
My adult daughter (and all 18 to 39 year olds) became eligible to get a vaccine only a week ago.
So she tried top book and the earliest appointment was January lol

today she was sent a link from a friend and in a gap of 5 minutes, was able to book an appointment for 3 weeks from now.
My other kids also tried, but were too late, and the appointments were all gone.

So it's not really as much of an issue in the other parts of the world.
We've been so fucked over that everyone is desperate to get jabbed.
Hell, Geoff didn't want one if I remember correctly, but has it.
Pretty sure Darkstone doesn't want one, but I bet he'll get one.

I still say Australia will approach 90% vaccinated.

BUT, and I've said this before, until you've lived under these fucked up conditions, you just don't get it.

We have now been in lockdown for 212 days since the pandemic started. Add another 60 or so, and we're starting to get towards a year of full lockdown, unable to work, one person per family does tyhe shopping, one hour exercise etc

There are more people in hospital due to self harm and suicide attempts than there are for covid illnesses.
Our mental health aid agencies are crying for help. Many have stopped answering calls, literally. 
I last saw my daughter 6 weeks ago. Another 8 weeks until I will get to see her if I obey the rules. In the meantime, her grandfather, my ex-father in law, passed away, and I was not allowed to be there for her. (we are bother double jabbed)
Businesses are fucked. Especially hospitality, restaurants, and pretty much every shop that is not allowed to open (the ones the do not offer essential service)
People are losing their livelihoods.

What good opening up in December if they just go to their businesses to close them up?
No weddings, 10 people at funerals, we all know the drill, try living with it for this long.

So yeah, I get that we can't go back to NORMAL right now.
The vax rate it far too low.
But the way we are living is so destructive that the long term effects vastly outweigh the risks of weakening restrictions and partially opening.

As I've said before, nobody believes that even with 80% vax rate we will be allowed anything close to normal.
Easy to shout 'suck it up' from the UK, but how about if your government suddenly said " the hospitalisation and death rate it too high, we're going to lock down again"
How would that be?


 

[Geoff]

48 minutes ago, CureTheSane said:

Well no shit.

Vaccinations help combat the virus.

One thing that should be known is all day we hear politicians saying "get the jab"
What fucking jab?
My adult daughter (and all 18 to 39 year olds) became eligible to get a vaccine only a week ago.
So she tried top book and the earliest appointment was January lol

today she was sent a link from a friend and in a gap of 5 minutes, was able to book an appointment for 3 weeks from now.
My other kids also tried, but were too late, and the appointments were all gone.

So it's not really as much of an issue in the other parts of the world.
We've been so fucked over that everyone is desperate to get jabbed.
Hell, Geoff didn't want one if I remember correctly, but has it.
Pretty sure Darkstone doesn't want one, but I bet he'll get one.

I still say Australia will approach 90% vaccinated.

BUT, and I've said this before, until you've lived under these fucked up conditions, you just don't get it.

We have now been in lockdown for 212 days since the pandemic started. Add another 60 or so, and we're starting to get towards a year of full lockdown, unable to work, one person per family does tyhe shopping, one hour exercise etc

There are more people in hospital due to self harm and suicide attempts than there are for covid illnesses.
Our mental health aid agencies are crying for help. Many have stopped answering calls, literally. 
I last saw my daughter 6 weeks ago. Another 8 weeks until I will get to see her if I obey the rules. In the meantime, her grandfather, my ex-father in law, passed away, and I was not allowed to be there for her. (we are bother double jabbed)
Businesses are fucked. Especially hospitality, restaurants, and pretty much every shop that is not allowed to open (the ones the do not offer essential service)
People are losing their livelihoods.

What good opening up in December if they just go to their businesses to close them up?
No weddings, 10 people at funerals, we all know the drill, try living with it for this long.

So yeah, I get that we can't go back to NORMAL right now.
The vax rate it far too low.
But the way we are living is so destructive that the long term effects vastly outweigh the risks of weakening restrictions and partially opening.

As I've said before, nobody believes that even with 80% vax rate we will be allowed anything close to normal.
Easy to shout 'suck it up' from the UK, but how about if your government suddenly said " the hospitalisation and death rate it too high, we're going to lock down again"
How would that be?


 

Yeah, my mum and dad have to wait until mid-September to get their first jabs, as does my brother. My wife still can't get a booking around here.

I don't know if people are desperate to get jabbed, but it is being made absolutely crystal clear in this country that if you are not vaccinated you will never be allowed to do anything ever again. It is not mandatory, but it's mandatory if you ever want to leave your house again. 

No, I have never had a flu shot and never wanted this vaccine. I got it because it was obvious a while ago that I would not be allowed to live any kind of life without having it, it was offered through my workplace, and we were basically told straight up we would not have a job without a vaccination certificate. There's a possibility I might have had it anyway, by choice, but I despise how it has been forced upon us. 

Anyway, like you say, the cure here is far, far worse than the disease. 

[Dead Planet]

Here in Canada we have pretty much opened up everything although there are differing rules across the provinces....over 75% have had both jabs and 83% have had at least 1 jab....cases of covid are rising as we hit the 4th wave but deaths are pretty reasonable and most of the people dying and in hospital are the unvaccinated....

[heavyharmonies]

1 hour ago, Geoff said:

Yeah, my mum and dad have to wait until mid-September to get their first jabs, as does my brother. My wife still can't get a booking around here.

This blows my mind. I've been fully vaccinated for 5.5 months. It's been free for ANYONE (no restrictions/requirements) for at least 2.5 months here. I've not heard of anyone having difficulty in getting vaccinated for a long time.

[nyoilers]

40 minutes ago, heavyharmonies said:

This blows my mind. I've been fully vaccinated for 5.5 months. It's been free for ANYONE (no restrictions/requirements) for at least 2.5 months here. I've not heard of anyone having difficulty in getting vaccinated for a long time.

There's probably millions of vaccines for Covid being thrown away because they're expired

[Glen]

6 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

Well no shit.

Vaccinations help combat the virus.

One thing that should be known is all day we hear politicians saying "get the jab"
What fucking jab?
My adult daughter (and all 18 to 39 year olds) became eligible to get a vaccine only a week ago.
So she tried top book and the earliest appointment was January lol

today she was sent a link from a friend and in a gap of 5 minutes, was able to book an appointment for 3 weeks from now.
My other kids also tried, but were too late, and the appointments were all gone.

So it's not really as much of an issue in the other parts of the world.
We've been so fucked over that everyone is desperate to get jabbed.
Hell, Geoff didn't want one if I remember correctly, but has it.
Pretty sure Darkstone doesn't want one, but I bet he'll get one.

I still say Australia will approach 90% vaccinated.

BUT, and I've said this before, until you've lived under these fucked up conditions, you just don't get it.

We have now been in lockdown for 212 days since the pandemic started. Add another 60 or so, and we're starting to get towards a year of full lockdown, unable to work, one person per family does tyhe shopping, one hour exercise etc

There are more people in hospital due to self harm and suicide attempts than there are for covid illnesses.
Our mental health aid agencies are crying for help. Many have stopped answering calls, literally. 
I last saw my daughter 6 weeks ago. Another 8 weeks until I will get to see her if I obey the rules. In the meantime, her grandfather, my ex-father in law, passed away, and I was not allowed to be there for her. (we are bother double jabbed)
Businesses are fucked. Especially hospitality, restaurants, and pretty much every shop that is not allowed to open (the ones the do not offer essential service)
People are losing their livelihoods.

What good opening up in December if they just go to their businesses to close them up?
No weddings, 10 people at funerals, we all know the drill, try living with it for this long.

So yeah, I get that we can't go back to NORMAL right now.
The vax rate it far too low.
But the way we are living is so destructive that the long term effects vastly outweigh the risks of weakening restrictions and partially opening.

As I've said before, nobody believes that even with 80% vax rate we will be allowed anything close to normal.
Easy to shout 'suck it up' from the UK, but how about if your government suddenly said " the hospitalisation and death rate it too high, we're going to lock down again"
How would that be?


 

never said suck it up.

Just stated that living with COVID isn't all roses and that's in a country way more vaccinated than Oz. I mean the US in that statement. But same applies to the UK.

No we don't know what its like in Oz suffering with a long lockdown,  but you also don't know what its like have 1500 people die a day in your country. 

Neither is great trust me.

Your country remains locked down cos opening at your vaccination rate with the delta variant would be pretty disastrous. 

its obviously not great and mostly your government is to blame. Rollout was poor initially and then they ditched Astra due to ridiculous over reaction to a few 1/100,000 risk of a blood clot. Crazy.

 

[Doggy]

One of my mate has been knocked twice to get his first jab, he now has wait till end of Novemeber to his first jab.

[CureTheSane]

4 hours ago, Glen said:

never said suck it up.

Just stated that living with COVID isn't all roses and that's in a country way more vaccinated than Oz. I mean the US in that statement. But same applies to the UK.

No we don't know what its like in Oz suffering with a long lockdown,  but you also don't know what its like have 1500 people die a day in your country. 

Neither is great trust me.

Your country remains locked down cos opening at your vaccination rate with the delta variant would be pretty disastrous. 

its obviously not great and mostly your government is to blame. Rollout was poor initially and then they ditched Astra due to ridiculous over reaction to a few 1/100,000 risk of a blood clot. Crazy.

 

Our big fuck up was to invest heavily in Astra.
Forget if it was legitimately problematic or not, once the press got hold of it, our govt reacted and banned its use in under 60's, but saying it wasn't safe for under 60's
That pretty much fucked our stream of vaccinations.
Like I said before, the US can thank Trump for making his accurate call on Pfizer.

So now we wait for the other vaccines to eventually arrive, so that everyone has the option to get jabbed.
To be clear, my complaints about how our governments are handling this are not especially personal.
I am very fortunate, haven't been fucked over as much as so many other businesses and people.

Right now the govt is handing out money everywhere.
It will need to be paid back, but my kids and their kids.

Even comparing my state to NSW, I bet if you overlay the graphs they match pretty well, but NSW has always been more reasonable about restrictions.
And that's the thing that is fucked, just how ridiculous some of them are.
Kids not eating of drinking in parks, of a blanket ban on removing your mask to drink alcohol because one street allowed a pub crawl. Reactionary much?

[AlphaMale]

12 hours ago, heavyharmonies said:

That literally is the smartest thing you'll say today.

Or any other day as a matter of fact.

[Darkstone]

15 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

Pretty sure Darkstone doesn't want one, but I bet he'll get one.

Yeah, I'm gonna hold out for as long as I can.

The possible restrictions won't phase me, but the work eligibility might be a hurdle to high for me.

As i've mentioned before, we do a lot of work on Government sites. 

I'm not anti vax per say, I'm anti this vax, but down the track I may not have a choice and not having a choice about it is one of, if not THE biggest thing I have a problem with. Essentially being blackmailed into it.

As for the bet, I don't think I would take it. I may very well lose. We'll see.

[Doggy]

Don't forget you have to scan to get in the park, my phone is so old it belong to Adam of Adam & Eve.

To get a smart phone are to expensive to my price  range, as while Cashy and other second hand dealers are closed I cannot get one.

[Glen]

4 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

Or any other day as a matter of fact.

quoted by Mr Intelligence himself 

[Darkstone]

1 hour ago, Doggy said:

Don't forget you have to scan to get in the park, my phone is so old it belong to Adam of Adam & Eve.

To get a smart phone are to expensive to my price  range, as while Cashy and other second hand dealers are closed I cannot get one.

Just continue checking in manually mate. You could put anything down.

Not having a smart phone is probably very smart, ironically. 

I try to avoid it if I can.

I check in at work and some other locations like Bunnings (major Aussie hardware store). At Bunnings they actually ask to see your phone to make sure you've checked in. That is insane. A police officer needs a warrant to look at my phone FFS.

The big problem of checking in is that if somebody who went to my supermarket at the same time I was there tests positive, then I have to isolate and miss work for two weeks. 

It's full on. A couple of plasterer mates of mine were on a major site where someone tested positive. They had to get tested and isolate for 14 days. During that period they had regular phone calls making sure they were home and one at home visit with an inspector accompanied by a member of the Australian Army no less. 

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Darkstone

[Geoff]

20 hours ago, heavyharmonies said:

Once again, it's easy to point fingers and say "anti-vaxers! conspiracy theorists!" when comparing U.S. vaccination rates with European countries, but that ignores some realities.

It's the same as whenever I hear someone talking about banning cars and "just do everything by train like we do over here."

1. Our population is much larger than any European country.

2. We are more geographically spread out. It's more difficult to distribute to extremely remote areas.

3. There is a lot of uncertainty still regarding long-term complications of the vaccines. That cannot be done via trials or simulated in a lab.

4. People are reverting to "questioning the science" again, now that the talking points are changing again. At first it was "get your 2 shots and you'll be safe!" and now that's changing to "but you may need to get a third booster" and most recently "you may need to get a booster shot every year like the flu vaccine". People don't know who to believe.

P.S. It could be worse. We could be India, where only 10.5% of the population is fully vaccinated...

I found this and then Glen's reply to it very interesting to witness. 

I've said similar things for pages which never gets acknowledged. Without seeking it, I was interested to see this short little video pop up on my youtube recommendations today-

Interestingly, I had actually noticed some recent reporting specifically saying people had died "with" covid, rather than "from" covid. I noted that change in language with interest. I didn't actually realise it had ever been publicly acknowledged and addressed, as per the three examples in this short video. 

I really hope this isn't just swept under the carpet until the end of time and forgotten. I remember way back in mid 2020 a story came out of Ireland about the gross over-reporting of actual covid deaths. I'm just amazed at how few people out there, like myself, find this crucially damaging and dangerous info. 

Keep in mind, this thing has shut down the entire world. The fact that the death rate pre and certainly post-vaccination was, in the scheme of things, really quite low in the first place... and for it to be acknowledged that the number of actual deaths from covid could be anything from half of what is reported, to a quarter of the number. Who knows, maybe less? I posted a link to table a couple of months ago of all the covid related deaths in the US, and what the people had actually died from - it was showing very clearly that the vast majority had died from something else, but had covid at one point. 

Again, pretty crazy how something so significant just gets ignored. It obviously doesn't suit the media or governments to acknowledge it, as it goes against their scare campaigns. 

[Glen]

yes its been discussed and acknowledged that there might be a small discrepancy.

But its pretty easy to Google search the true deaths in 2019 and the true deaths in 2020 and it pretty much matches up with the extra COVID deaths - certainly for UK it was over 100K extra deaths which was about right for the 9 months that the pandemic affected. 

So yes this might be true but the overall difference is negligible.

This is one of the myths circulating mainly on social media which is just plain incorrect 

[CureTheSane]

People who died from the black plague are looking down laughing at us and our pissy disease..

now THAT was a fucking reason to isolate.

[auslander]

53 minutes ago, CureTheSane said:

People who died from the black plague are looking down laughing at us and our pissy disease..

now THAT was a fucking reason to isolate.

I wish I had a mask like the black plague beak masks. That would at least make mandatory mask wearing funny.

[Metal T]

Apparently some of the gestapo businesses,airlines etc...have been trying to tell people which "masks" and "face coverings" are acceptable and meets their standards...…  Can definitely see a lot of their employees getting knocked the F' out if they are going to insist on going down that insane road.

[heavyharmonies]

Especially given that half the morons on this planet wear their masks below their nose rather than over it... idiots.

[AlphaMale]

Another vaccine resistant variant has emerged: MU.

WHO monitoring new coronavirus variant named Mu | Coronavirus | The Guardian

WHO monitoring new coronavirus variant named Mu

Health body says Mu, or B.1.621, first identified in Colombia, has been designated as a variant of interest

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

 

A woman undergoes a Covid-19 test in Bogotá. The Mu variant was first identified in Colombia. Photograph: Carlos Ortega/EPA

 

Ian Sample Science editor

@iansample

Wed 1 Sep 2021 03.41 EDT

 

•  
•  
•  

 

 

The World Health Organization has added another version of coronavirus to its list of “variants of interest” amid concerns that it may partially evade the immunity people have developed from past infection or vaccination.

The Mu variant, also known as B.1.621, was added to the WHO’s watchlist on 30 August after it was detected in 39 countries and found to possess a cluster of mutations that may make it less susceptible to the immune protection many have acquired.

 

According to the WHO’s weekly bulletin on the pandemic, the Mu variant “has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape”. Preliminary data suggests it may evade immune defences in a similar way to the Beta variant first discovered in South Africa, the report adds, but this needs to be confirmed by further work.

The Mu variant was first identified in Colombia in January 2021. Since then, sporadic cases and some larger outbreaks have been recorded around the world. Beyond South America, cases have been reported in the UK, Europe, the US and Hong Kong. While the variant makes up less than 0.1% of Covid infections globally, it may be gaining ground in Colombia and Ecuador where it accounts for 39% and 13% of Covid cases respectively.

Scientists and public health officials are particularly eager to know whether the Mu variant is more transmissible, or causes more serious disease, than the Delta variant that is dominant in much of the world. “The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes,” the WHO bulletin states.

At least 32 cases of the Mu variant have been detected in the UK, where the pattern of infections suggests it was brought in by travellers on multiple occasions. A report by Public Health England (PHE) in July said most were found in London and in people in their 20s. Some of those testing positive for Mu had received one or two doses of Covid vaccine.

The Mu variant was added to PHE’s list of variants under investigation in July. The designation, which refers to Mu as VUI-21JUL-01, means the variant will be monitored to see how it behaves. So far it has not raised alarm as much as Alpha and Delta, which are classified as more serious variants of concern, largely because of their increased transmissibility but also concerns about evading immune defences.

A risk assessment of the Mu variant released by PHE in August highlighted laboratory work that suggests the variant is at least as resistant as the Beta variant to immunity arising from vaccination. But more evidence is needed from other laboratory studies and real-world cases of the variant. How much of a threat the variant poses is highly uncertain and depends on whether cases grow substantially in the weeks and months ahead, particularly in the presence of the fast-spreading Delta variant.

“At present, there is no evidence that VUI-21JUL-01 is outcompeting the Delta variant and it appears unlikely that it is more transmissible,” the report states, though it goes on to warn: “Immune escape may contribute to future changes in growth.”

Part of the concern about Mu comes from the particular mutations it carries. One genetic change, the P681H mutation, is found in the Alpha variant first detected in Kent and has been linked to faster transmission. Other mutations, including E484K and K417N, may help the virus evade immunity defences, which could give the variant an advantage over Delta as immunity rises into the autumn.

[Dead Planet]

24 minutes ago, AlphaMale said:

Another vaccine resistant variant has emerged: MU.

WHO monitoring new coronavirus variant named Mu | Coronavirus | The Guardian

WHO monitoring new coronavirus variant named Mu

Health body says Mu, or B.1.621, first identified in Colombia, has been designated as a variant of interest

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

 

A woman undergoes a Covid-19 test in Bogotá. The Mu variant was first identified in Colombia. Photograph: Carlos Ortega/EPA

 

 

Ian Sample Science editor

@iansample

Wed 1 Sep 2021 03.41 EDT

 

•  
•  
•  

 

 

The World Health Organization has added another version of coronavirus to its list of “variants of interest” amid concerns that it may partially evade the immunity people have developed from past infection or vaccination.

The Mu variant, also known as B.1.621, was added to the WHO’s watchlist on 30 August after it was detected in 39 countries and found to possess a cluster of mutations that may make it less susceptible to the immune protection many have acquired.

 

According to the WHO’s weekly bulletin on the pandemic, the Mu variant “has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape”. Preliminary data suggests it may evade immune defences in a similar way to the Beta variant first discovered in South Africa, the report adds, but this needs to be confirmed by further work.

The Mu variant was first identified in Colombia in January 2021. Since then, sporadic cases and some larger outbreaks have been recorded around the world. Beyond South America, cases have been reported in the UK, Europe, the US and Hong Kong. While the variant makes up less than 0.1% of Covid infections globally, it may be gaining ground in Colombia and Ecuador where it accounts for 39% and 13% of Covid cases respectively.

Scientists and public health officials are particularly eager to know whether the Mu variant is more transmissible, or causes more serious disease, than the Delta variant that is dominant in much of the world. “The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes,” the WHO bulletin states.

At least 32 cases of the Mu variant have been detected in the UK, where the pattern of infections suggests it was brought in by travellers on multiple occasions. A report by Public Health England (PHE) in July said most were found in London and in people in their 20s. Some of those testing positive for Mu had received one or two doses of Covid vaccine.

The Mu variant was added to PHE’s list of variants under investigation in July. The designation, which refers to Mu as VUI-21JUL-01, means the variant will be monitored to see how it behaves. So far it has not raised alarm as much as Alpha and Delta, which are classified as more serious variants of concern, largely because of their increased transmissibility but also concerns about evading immune defences.

A risk assessment of the Mu variant released by PHE in August highlighted laboratory work that suggests the variant is at least as resistant as the Beta variant to immunity arising from vaccination. But more evidence is needed from other laboratory studies and real-world cases of the variant. How much of a threat the variant poses is highly uncertain and depends on whether cases grow substantially in the weeks and months ahead, particularly in the presence of the fast-spreading Delta variant.

“At present, there is no evidence that VUI-21JUL-01 is outcompeting the Delta variant and it appears unlikely that it is more transmissible,” the report states, though it goes on to warn: “Immune escape may contribute to future changes in growth.”

Part of the concern about Mu comes from the particular mutations it carries. One genetic change, the P681H mutation, is found in the Alpha variant first detected in Kent and has been linked to faster transmission. Other mutations, including E484K and K417N, may help the virus evade immunity defences, which could give the variant an advantage over Delta as immunity rises into the autumn.

And another domino falls as it is becoming clear that we will have to live with Covid in one form or another indefinitely....

[auslander]

37 minutes ago, Dead Planet said:

And another domino falls as it is becoming clear that we will have to live with Covid in one form or another indefinitely....

They shoulda called it the Shakira strain.

[Glen]

5 hours ago, Dead Planet said:

And another domino falls as it is becoming clear that we will have to live with Covid in one form or another indefinitely....

its almost guaranteed we will have to get annual jabs

 

 

[CureTheSane]

19 hours ago, Glen said:

its almost guaranteed we will have to get annual jabs

 

 

Looking more like every 6 months at this point, hopefully graduates to annual.

[Geoff]

Western Australia and Tasmania apparently saying today they won't open borders until the country is 90% vaccinated. Wasn't mentioned in the story, but I assume Queensland on the same page? Good luck with that one, geniuses. 

So one of two things happen to WA and Tasmania (and other states too, I am sure of it)-

Option 1 - they live separated from the world until the sun swallows earth.

Option 2 - they realise they're complete fucking morons and join the rest of us in restricted freedom misery.