Coronavirus/COVID-19

[Northernsoul74]

Vic’s definitely peaked and on the way down now, honestly the first time there’s been a bit of light at the end of the tunnel in 2 years. We can handle the worst an outbreak of the current, relevant strain can throw at us without halting our day to day lives - and believe it or not, the world didn’t end.

Interesting to see what happens from here, do we see more spikes in your typical flu season? How much protection does a previous infection provide, do we see once a year outbreaks? Once every 6 months? Will the cases just trickle along in the thousands per day for the next year before running out of people to infect? As we’ve seen it just really does not affect a lot of people. And then of course the threat of another variation could change things but yeah as of right now, it’s a very promising time for VIC (and I’m sure NSW/QLD aren’t too far behind, I don’t keep up to date on their numbers)

Back to school this week though.

 

[dogwatch]

Back to school this week though.

The level of testing of kids will go up so we will probably see a lot of cases that wouldn't otherwise have been recorded or even discovered (eg asymptomatic infections or things that were just thought to be a cold). So a spike in official case numbers next week wouldn't surprise even without the impact of bringing a whole lot of germ-swapping kids together.

 

[ScragCity]

Lol I'm finding it hard to comprehend the fact that we are talking about mandating a third jab of a vaccine that has, let's be honest, been pretty ineffective. The definition of insanity is taking the same shot every three months and expecting different results.

 

[Sentinel]

Lol I'm finding it hard to comprehend the fact that we are talking about mandating a third jab of a vaccine that has, let's be honest, been pretty ineffective. The definition of insanity is taking the same shot every three months and expecting different results.

Ineffective? That's just not true.

 

[dogwatch]

Lol I'm finding it hard to comprehend the fact that we are talking about mandating a third jab of a vaccine that has, let's be honest, been pretty ineffective. The definition of insanity is taking the same shot every three months and expecting different results.

Sources?

 

[maddog37]

 

[ScragCity]

Sources?

Trust me

 

[Northern Dogs]

Trust me

Okay, come clean. Are you really ScoMo, Dictator Dan or Anastacia Bjelke Peterson?

 

[dogwatch]

Pfizer CEO

Pfizer CEO says two Covid vaccine doses aren't 'enough for omicron'

Bourla said the two-dose vaccine has lost its protective power against infection and its ability to prevent hospitalization has also dropped.

www.cnbc.com

"Bourla said the two-dose vaccine does not provide robust protection against infection and its ability to prevent hospitalization has also declined."

"...Bourla said it’s unclear how long a booster dose will provide protection against Covid. The U.K. Health Security Agency also found that boosters are only 40% to 50% effective against infection 10 weeks after receiving the shot."

This will inevitably break down into an argument over semantics and what the definition of "effective" is. My opinion is that the current vaccines aren't effective enough against Omicron to justify mandates for boosters. If we could access an Omicron-specific booster that is more effective against this variant then it would make a lot more sense.

We know that protection against infection declines first but even in that article it appears that protection against serious disease (hospitalisation, death) is considerably longer lasting. I guess it's too early to know how long that T-Cell type protection lasts with third doses. Even Israel isn't that far down the track after they administered third doses and they've usually been the front runners. Anyway they're already charging down the fourth dose path.

I do agree there's not a really strong case for mandating third doses yet. However Norman Swan argues that we shouldn't think of them as boosters but as the third dose in the standard three-course vaccination program that it always should have been (if we'd had the luxury of time to set it up that way).

As for an Omicron specific booster - it is only going to be useful as long as Omicron is the dominant strain which might be for as little as 6 months (that's roughly how long Delta was top of the charts). So we still might not get away from the scenario of needing 2-3 shots a year as new strains emerge.

What do you make of the new class of vaccines supposedly under development which aim to be effective independent of strain? I haven't done much reading on them but my questions would still be:

• just how effective will they be against all strains?
• for how long? we need it to be for a year or more.
• when will they be ready for approval and distribution?

The concept seems good but I don't know anything about the technology they are using to achieve strain-independence.

It seems to me the two things that will stymie our long term recovery from the pandemic will be (1) new strains that bypass the immunity acquired through vaccines or prior infection, and (2) the rapid decline in immunity after vaccination (say 3-6 months). I'd expect the pharma giants are working hard on both of these problems and we'll see better and better vaccines in each successive year. Developed economies could do more to prevent new strains emerging by sponsoring vaccination programs in those third world populations who want but can't afford or get enough of the vaccine.

New covid-specific antiviral treatments offer some hope but are limited in their use so far. They aren't available over the counter. I think it's only for high risk patients in a supervised setting ... and maybe also only if it's in the early days of infection. So I don't think they will be getting us out of the hole we are in, even if they do end up saving a lot of lives.

 

[D Mitchell]

Trust me

That's good enough for me.

 

[LittleG]

That's good enough for me.

 

[dogwatch]

Much lower number of deaths reported today - 41 plus whatever Queensland report. So probably around 50.

Hope this drop is a trend and not an exception.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Much lower number of deaths reported today - 41 plus whatever Queensland report. So probably around 50.

Hope this drop is a trend and not an exception.

3 in Queensland today. Also, active cases are dropping by large amounts, daily. 455,000 on Australia Day, 313,000 today.

On another topic, was anyone aware that you don't have to be vaxed to fly Virgin or Jetstar (domestically) but you do on Qantas?

 

[footscray1973]

3 in Queensland today. Also, active cases are dropping by large amounts, daily. 455,000 on Australia Day, 313,000 today.

On another topic, was anyone aware that you don't have to be vaxed to fly Virgin or Jetstar (domestically) but you do on Qantas?

Do you mean you do if you're flying domestically on Qantas to connect to/from an International flight - as that would make sense? Even though Qantas and Jetstar are effectively the same company.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Do you mean you do if you're flying domestically on Qantas to connect to/from an International flight - as that would make sense? Even though Qantas and Jetstar are effectively the same company.

I mean within Australia. Qantas to anywhere is my understanding.

 

[LittleG]

You can get a $20 Qantas Voucher for being vaxxed. Not that I have found an opportunity to use it.

 

[BrisDog]

On another topic, was anyone aware that you don't have to be vaxed to fly Virgin or Jetstar (domestically) but you do on Qantas?

Flying out of Melbourne today on VA - I think you may be correct. Lot’s of high-vis morons and women in yoga gear.

 

[LittleG]

Lot’s of women in yoga gear.

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[NBates]

Nothing wrong with that.

You haven't seen me in yoga gear....

 

[LittleG]

You haven't seen me in yoga gear....

 

[ScragCity]

You can get a $20 Qantas Voucher for being vaxxed. Not that I have found an opportunity to use it.

Is that two doses or three? Or is it $20 per dose?

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Is that two doses or three? Or is it $20 per dose?

I smell a business opportunity.

 

[Chicago1]

I am now in Lockdown. Someone in my retirement village has tested positive. Might only be for two days. The village is being deep cleaned. I haven't been out of my unit since Friday so I should be safe I guess.

The woman who contracted Covid early last month has been taken to palliative care from hospital and has only a few days left I've been told.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

The woman who contracted Covid early last month has been taken to palliative care from hospital and has only a few days left I've been told.

Man, that’s sad. Sorry to hear it.

 

[Chicago1]

Man, that’s sad. Sorry to hear it.

I don't know what other ailments she has or how old she is, but since she was living here she must have been well enough to live independently in her own unit unlike someone in an aged care facility. Apparently she is the first Covid case that this village has had throughout the pandemic.

I've been very careful and have only left the village three times in the two months that I've been here, twice for doctor appointments. I have to visit Cetrelink next week to have my identity verified in person. I feel safer about going there since I received my booster last week. I actually might get my hair cut at the shopping centre next to Centrelink while I'm there.