I can sympathize with the emotion, and it's probably half-facetious... but that's a preposterous thing to hope for. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think "unvaccinated" is "under 12" (covid-19 doesn't merely kill). And next I think "parent". It's a lose-lose situation, before one ever gets to voting habits and the fate of the planet. It's really just additional misery for a few tens of thousands of people distributed among 300 mill, most of whom would survive, and therefore won't make much difference in elections.

If that's not persuasive, then the fact that black Americans are 2x more likely to die from it and 4x more likely to need hospitalization... might more than cancel things out (black Dem voters are proportionally more consequential than white Repub). Black folk don't trust doctors, because doctors hate them... This is a special country, and it's going to destroy you all, unfortunately. Might as well make peace with it.

I agree.

If I needed convincing about getting vaccinated, the reaction both my DH and I had to being infected, 15 months and two weeks post first Pfizer vaccination, would convince me.

We had the first shot on 1 June, and are now getting ready for the second. In the meantime, and despite our successful avoidance of infection until two weeks later, we were both man-down with the infection. South Africa is currently in the second week of another lockdown, so we can't go to see the doctor, but once we've had the second shot, and a week or more afterwards, if the long-term reaction we're having doesn't improve we're going to have to be checked to see what damage has been done.

I don't know how we got it. We've been meticulous, going out only to buy groceries and masked and sanitised like we're showering in the stuff, and once to get my hair cut when was growing beyond being controllable even with elastic bands, and a properly socially distanced birthday party for me in April, held mostly outside, and him going to bowls, we haven't been anywhere. When he plays bowls they use rinks with one empty in between and only two people on either side at a time, masked, temperature checked, sanitising the bowls after each shot, so it couldn't have been there. I have no idea how we got it, but it was bad enough for me, For him, when I realised what was making him so ill, I thought I was going to lose him. Luckily the vaccination helped, he's recovered, but not enough to go back to the life we had before, yet.

My son, 45 and unvaccinated, lives in the cottage on our property. By the time I realised what the problem was, he was sick, and getting sicker every day. Eventually last Monday he had a test: positive and now after a week of treatment, he's breathing properly again, and improving enough to return to his normal life.

I can't say if my 80 year old husband will recover to his former self, not yet. He's not himself. At least he's not sleeping in the day anymore, he is getting back into his obsessive washing routine, not needing bed baths anymore, but we're both feeble old people who can't take a walk around the garden without having to sit down and rest.

The Delta variant is taking its toll here. My son says when we get to the Omega variant there'll be nothing but looted shops and zombie white walkers in the streets. Please be careful out there. We're really not ready for "back to normal" yet. Despite what people holding super spreader events without wearing masks think.

Bloody hell, sorry to hear about that.

Any of those self-serving reprobates saying "we have to have to learn to live the virus" while arguing for relaxation of measures [so they can profit] can fuck off and when they've done fucking off they can fuck off some more.

Alan C wrote:
Any of those self-serving reprobates saying "we have to have to learn to live the virus" while arguing for relaxation of measures [so they can profit] can fuck off and when they've done fucking off they can fuck off some more.

Almost precisely what the new UK Health Secretary Javid said this weekend.

I see Boris Johnson is announcing today the move for England to effectively total relaxation, including no mask requirements, despite having very high rates of infection. The high vaccination numbers are keeping deaths and ICU levels low, but Boris is now moving to the "personal responsibility" phase, ie do what you want, let it run wild, it'll be your own fault not mine strategy.

And we are even worse in Scotland with the highest rates in Europe afaik. At least the Scottish govt are saying no, we are not going to stop mask wearing etc when our next review comes in August. But with what's happening in England with Boris telling people to do what they want, and most people here getting that message on tv not the Scottish govt message, I expect to see people abandoning masks, and carnage in our hospitals again soon.

Sigh.

And all because Boris didn't put India on the red list because he wanted to go to India for political reasons, and by the time he did it was too late.

Boris Let-The-Bodies-Pile-High Johnson wants to roll the dice with peoples' lives to get the economy going? Surely not!

So my understanding of Boris' plan is that after July 19th., if you are in any of the "at risk" groups, you're screwed.

And if a mutation develops in the festering reservoir of anti-vaxxers that is vaccine resistant, we're all screwed.

And now there's a lambda variant which appears to have said to the delta variant "hold my beer", it's in the UK now. It's caused serious issues in Peru. It's possible extant vaccines may be less effective on this one.

On another note; Vaccine diplomacy, some stumbles for China and Russia?

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/u-s-covid ... s-n1272957

And at home, Russians seem extremely skeptical of Sputnik and the two other Russian Covid-19 vaccines. NBC News reported last week that “Russia's vaccination rate is one of the lowest in countries where vaccines are widely available”:

Just 14 percent of Russia’s 146 million people have been vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to 53.5 percent of Americans, according to Our World in Data, a monitoring project based at the University of Oxford.

An ambitious plan to vaccinate 30 million Russians by June — which involved giving away cars and free groceries — has fallen short by a third.

And for all its once-vaunted diplomatic efforts, Moscow’s delivery has fallen short of expectations, especially in Africa. South Africa’s government has shown interest in purchasing doses of Sputnik V from Moscow, despite its reported ineffectiveness against the Beta variant of Covid-19 that first appeared there. (The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority has also yet to clear Sputnik V or Sinovac for use in the country.)

Alan C wrote:And now there's a lambda variant which appears to have said to the delta variant "hold my beer", it's in the UK now. It's caused serious issues in Peru. It's possible extant vaccines may be less effective on this one.

My understanding (just finished a new post on Javid's new epidemic management programme) is that Lambda isn't a variant of concern as yet, though it is a variant of interest. Prevalence of Lambda doesn't appear to be huge compared to alpha and delta variants, though it is slowly increasing, and appears to have higher transmissibility than other extant variants.

Of more concern is that, with three strains - all with differing degrees of vaccine resistance - and a partially partially vaccinated population, that makes for twelve distinct survivability differentials (just the obvious and basic ones, though we know there are more), which in turn tends to accelerated rates of evolution.

Post here, in case anybody's interested.

https://www.hackenslash.co.uk/2021/07/q ... unity.html

Bigger worry on the horizon:

Here's study conducted after initial signs of brain pathologies in COVID patients with severe symptoms. In essence, they took a sampling from the 40K brain scans they had on file, invited patients back for reimaging. They noted a strong correlation between even mildly symptomatic COVID and a reduction in grey matter.

Even mild neurotropism is a huge deal in a developing brain, and we're proposing to let this crap rip through our children in a partially partially vaccinated population.

This could easily be the thalidomide of the generation, and this easing of restrictions isn't only imposing this on the UK, but on the globe. Unless, of course, Orwell was slightly less prescient than we give him credit for an. rather than Airstrip One, the island should be called Quarantine One.

Brain imaging before and after COVID-19 in UK Biobank Douaud et al 2021.

I'm partway through that blog post btw.

COVID-19 is the gift that just keeps on giving.

Well, I got my coupon from the city office that gives me my registration number that I need to use to book an appointment for a shot. The only thing is that none of the clinics in my municipality have any vaccine...

And I can't register at any other municipality who may have open slots because of non-uptake by their citizenry.

Meanwhile a friend of roughly the same age who lives at the other end of Osaka prefecture got his coupon, went online, booked for the next day and is now on the countdown to his second shot.

Meanwhile, my university sent out a questionnaire to gauge the numbers of people who would like to get the vaccine. All filled in and fingers crossed....but then a general notification yesterday...ahhh. sorry but the ministry can't supply us with vaccine, or provide dates when vaccine will be available. So back to square one there.

Another friend who works at a different university in Osaka was told during the working day to get himself over to the health center. Vaccine during lunch hour. All staff, regardless of tenured , part-time or whatever can get it on demand. Off he popped and there it was.

A student (19 years old) mails me today and tells me that she can't attend class. Feeling a bit under the weather because she had her shot yesterday.

Farcical, inept, sclerotic, indecisive, patchy, and whatever other adjectives you wish to apply...(Look at the history of the battle of Midway for a good example of Japanese decision making in action.)

Mind you, Olympics coming soon...Hooray!

To my mind, some Western governments are complicit, not least the UK, who refused patent waivers on the vaccines and wouldn't relinquish production, along with several other G7 nations.

Profit over people. Cunts.

I'm hearing reporting that the NSW government is considering the 'live with the virus' approach, with Delta. Would any Aus members here know about this? Hearing that cross-state border control isn't ideal?
If so that trans-Tasman bubble will have to close again it seems, we've been relatively lucky/on to it here to date.

Alan C wrote:I'm hearing reporting that the NSW government is considering the 'live with the virus' approach, with Delta. Would any Aus members here know about this? Hearing that cross-state border control isn't ideal?
If so that trans-Tasman bubble will have to close again it seems, we've been relatively lucky/on to it here to date.

Neither NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian nor any other member of the state's government as much as hinted at a 'live with the virus' approach. She just announced an indefinite extension to restrictions as well as tightening them. Police is out en masse enforcing them. Most people take this seriously. State borders are heavily patrolled.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-nsw-update-cases-spike-again-western-suburbs-liverpool-fairfield-canterbury-bankstown-bondi-cluster-july-9/614f3d9b-c278-4570-a17c-1c31595019c3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0J7JnUq1Qs

Lead Sinovac vaccine scientist in Indonesia dies of suspected Covid-19

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/08/asia/sin ... index.html

Wow, what a headline!