Agreed! Potential for counter-productive backlash is there! We all hope they are right! They better be right, for all our sake's!!!
Or one can see this and ponder... carefully.... https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-5517661...8GCgDFOB9y3fNU5fhqRN7X_ws3M3hKwoP3EdkSHPIScr8 Covid-19: UK surpasses 60,000 deaths IMAGE More than 60,000 people in the UK have now died within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test, official figures show. A further 414 were recorded on Thursday, taking the total to 60,113. Two other ways of measuring deaths - where Covid is mentioned on the death certificate, and the number of "excess deaths" for this time of year - give higher total figures. Only the US, Brazil, India and Mexico have recorded more deaths than the UK, according to Johns Hopkins University. However, the UK has had more deaths per 100,000 people than any of those nations. In terms of deaths per 100,000 people, the UK is the seventh-highest country globally, behind Belgium, San Marino, Peru, Andorra, Spain and Italy. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said every death was "one too many". "While it's fantastic news that a vaccine is on its way, we must not lose sight of the fact that the fight against coronavirus is not yet won," he added. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, meanwhile, described the milestone as "heartbreaking". "My thoughts are with all those families who will spend Christmas remembering those loved ones who are no longer with us," he said. The latest daily figures for the UK also showed a further 14,879 people have tested positive for Covid-19, taking the UK's total cases to 1,674,134. The government's death figures only include people who died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus - but two other ways of measuring deaths give higher overall figures. The first includes all deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate, even if the person had not been tested for the virus. The most recent figures suggest there have been more than 69,000 deaths by this measure. The second is a measure of "excess deaths" - the number of deaths over and above the usual number at this time of year. Deaths normally do rise at this time of the year, but the latest data from the Office for National Statistics and its counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland - which measure excess deaths - suggest the second wave of the virus has pushed the death rate above the average seen over the past five years. 'These are sobering statistics' Covid news comes in contrasting shades. In early November, Pfizer and Biontech announced the success of their vaccine trial, which increased hopes of a return to normality. Two days later, the UK's daily reported death toll hit 50,000. This week's news of regulatory approval for the vaccine is closely followed by that total passing 60,000. This covers those who have died within 28 days of a positive test. There is a broader definition that includes those who might have died after a longer period from the time of a test, or who weren't tested but whose death certificates involved Covid-19 - this shows around 70,000 have died with the virus. These are sobering statistics and underline even more the importance of the vaccine for charting a way towards saving lives. How do the first and second waves compare? So far, the second wave has been lower and slower than the first wave. About 80% of deaths involving coronavirus happened before August, and most of those happened in just one month. Almost 10,000 coronavirus deaths a week were registered in consecutive weeks in April. In this second wave, it looks like the peak figures - assuming infections keep falling before widespread vaccination takes place - might be closer to 3,000 than 4,000. And, as in the first wave, those over 75 account for about 75% of the deaths, suggesting that vaccinating over-75s could stem the vast majority of future deaths. This time around, the spread of deaths around the country has looked quite different. In the spring and summer, London and the north-west of England each accounted for about 15% of coronavirus deaths in the UK. But in this wave, London's share is down, closer to 5%, whereas the North West is just under 25%. Meanwhile, bed occupancy rates have fallen in almost three-fifths of English hospitals since the week ending 8 November - the first week these figures were published. In the week to 29 November, 87% of beds in English hospitals were occupied, compared with 88% the previous week. The NHS is meant to keep at least 10% of its beds free so that it can be flexible, allowing it to admit patients and cope with surges in demand. The number of hospitals reporting more than 90% occupancy has fallen slightly since the first week of November - down from 52 to 45 of the 127 trusts reporting data. However, Robert Cuffe, the BBC's head of statistics, said pressures on hospitals are not "evenly spread". Some hospitals like North Middlesex, Southport and Ormskirk, Surrey and Sussex, and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh have more than 95% of beds taken. He said: "More hospitals have seen capacity free up this month than have seen it tighten. "But as we move into the months that, in any year, put the most stress on capacity within the NHS, all eyes will be on these figures."
>We all hope they are right! They better be right, for all our sake's!!! Nope . Being an altruist i hope and prey that they're wrong . We should be looking at the bigger picture , bite the sour apple and stop being pussys . All this ego crap with poor little me i might die !!! ........ ' What about the old ' ? ...... WTF !!!! When did old people ever matter ? When did the poor ever matter ?
Being an expert (gathering covid19 knowledge from various sources) and discovering a vaccine are two different things. The later needs diligent research, tests and what not where the former needs news and views around the world.
Says a person aggrandising himself, C-S... "Oh, look at me, I am larger than life, I couldn't even be bothered with life as such - so long as it's other people's life... So, I am bigger than you, tiny brains, who bog yourselves down with caring about others.... I am so much bigger than that - I just don't care, so big am I..." Now, for someone who attacks others for "ego crap" - you really are jumping into your stomach with both feet.... In other words, if you are "beyond ego crap", what do you care if somebody dares to criticise you, eh, eh, eh?!?!?!? Talk about utterly clueless....
No personal nonsense re. common interest, please... Especially if it is close to eugenics... Thanx a bunch! Sweden moves school classes online as death toll grows By EUobserver 4. Dec, 07:13 Swedish prime minister Stefan Lofven has announced that high schools will switch to distance learning from next week, after the country's death toll surpassed 7,000 on Thursday, Reuters reported, "This is being done so as to have a slowing effect on the spread of the disease," Lofven said, warning students that "this is not an extended break for Christmas". The new rule will be in place until early January. They don't know what they are doing, either, eh?
I did and I do! You have no leg to stand on! You don't want to do anything about C-19, you do not care if we die in large numbers and so on. Get real! If you can not see it - oh, well...
Recently I focus my spare time on the vaccine development. From what I know until today I cannot share the euphoria which is found in all mainstream media. Besides of the fact that NO mRNA vaccine before has passed beyond phase I in history and the safety concerns (We have here a completely new kind of human vaccine.) I do not think that a vaccine approach generally is suitable to break infection chains for SARS-CoV2. The major reason why I think so is that if you suffer from COVID-19, the illness, or get only mild symptoms or even remain asymptomatic depends besides of your own immunity / cross-immunity / comorbidities on the viral load. The antibody level obtained from a vaccination will get a particular peak amount. This peak level soon is declining. The severity of an infection is dependent on the antibody level on the one side, on the other side on the viral load. (Existing cross-immunity from T-cell response excluded in this consideration.) You should know: Antibodies bind to the surface (spikes) of the virus in order to prevent them entering and capturing a cell to produce new viruses there. Once they are bound they are 'done'. If the viruses are overwhelming you get more or less the symptoms of COVID-19. We have to get away from black / white thinking. Means a clear statement on efficacy. AKA Does it protect or doesn't it. It can at best, but only to a certain amount. It'll always depend on your current antibody level. How high was your individual peak obtained from vaccination and when was it. How far is the progress of declining already AND the viral load you are exposed to at a particular life situation. In other words. You get a shift to less probability to suffer from severe COVID-19 to mild or asymptomatic progresses. But I don't think you get sterilizing antibodies. Means that you are completely protected AND you cannot spread the virus to others. The question if it can break infection chains at all remains. I am not optimistic in this regard. BTW: "Will covid-19 vaccines save lives? Current trials aren’t designed to tell us." https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4037
Damn, that's depressing... if true... EDIT: But we have other vaccines... about half a dozen... some more "traditional" than others... This one by Pfizer/Ntech is apparently strictly synthetic, so at least they know exactly what's in there and they say that in that respect they do know what it does... Well, let's hope so....
And things certainly are complex, in our complex society... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/29/coronavirus-toxic-chemicals-pfas-bpa During the rare moments you’ve ventured outside these days, you’ve probably noticed clearer skies and the benefits of reductions in air pollution. Long-term exposure to air pollution increases the danger associated with four of the biggest Covid-19 mortality risks: diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease and asthma. It also can make the immune system overreact, exaggerating the inflammatory response to common pathogens. But there are other common contaminants in our homes that are also likely to be hacking our immune systems, which have had less attention. You’ve probably heard about synthetic chemicals in non-stick pans, cosmetics and aluminum cans disrupting our hormones. The notion of endocrine-disrupting chemicals was only widely accepted about a decade ago, when scientific societies raised the alarm. The science of immune disruption is even newer, with a large review in a major scientific journal just out last year. You may have heard of “forever chemicals”, or perfluoroalkylsubstances (PFAS) from the movie Dark Waters, with Mark Ruffalo. These chemicals, used to keep food from sticking to surfaces and our clothing free of oily stains, are widely found in the US water supply. We’re talking about chemicals that 110 million Americans drink each day that increase the death rate of mice exposed to influenza type A. Children exposed during pregnancy have worse immune responses to vaccines, with weaker antibody responses. Studies in Norway, Sweden and Japan have found greater difficulties in children with various infections, ranging from colds to stomach bugs to ear infections. Bisphenol A, or BPA, which is found in thermal paper receipts and aluminum can linings, has been found in the laboratory to increase the body’s release of a molecule called interleukin-6, or IL-6, that may be involved in the raging wildfire inside the lung that has already killed so many from coronaviruses. One of the more promising treatments for coronavirus patients is tocilizumab, an antibody to IL-6. Phthalates, used in cosmetics, personal care products and food packaging, alter levels of cytokines, which are key players in the immune response to coronavirus. Is the evidence perfect? Hardly. And we have to rely on observational studies – you can’t run a randomized controlled trial of potentially toxic mixtures of virus and chemical exposures. There are ethical and logistical challenges to running these kinds of studies. But absence of evidence doesn’t mean absence of harm.
Our immune system has 2 major 'instances' to fight the viral infection. The virus has spike proteins at its surface. Those spikes act as a kind of door-opener to enter a human cell. After it has entered it it makes the cell to produce more of the viruses. After the cell has been captured it produces besides of the virus some additional waste. -Antibodies: The immune system checks the spike proteins and creates specific antibodies for it. Those antibodies have the ability to bind to the spikes (surface of the virus). As result the spikes are inactivated and the function as a door-opener is lost. The virus cannot capture cells anymore to produce new viruses. -T-cells: They recognize already those infected human cells which have been already captured to make new viruses. They recognize them by their waste. They simply kill the entire infected cell, means the virus factory. The t-cells have a long term memory and have learned from other viral infections of former corona viruses. (cross-immunity). The antibodies are specific, short-term and once they have bound they are 'done'. T-cells can kill many infected human cells (virus factories), though. Vaccine approach: You actually 'mimic' an infection in order to provoke an immune response. You have to remain specific SARSCoV2 without getting COVID-19, the illness. Briefly there are 3 approaches: -Inactivated SARSCoV2 viruses (classic approach). The Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm are developing such vaccines. -Vector virus. You use another virus (for instance adenoviruses), but with the genetic code of SARSCoV2 spike proteins (Oxford vaccine). Once it enters a human cell it produces the spike protein of SARSCoV2 but without to create an illness. -mRNA. You are channelling in the blueprint of the spike protein of SARSCov2. The cell then produces the spike protein of SARSCoV2. The first is most 'original'. Means it is closest to COVID-19. Therefore it could create symptoms of COVID-19. The vector virus. Originally another virus, but produces the same spike proteins of SARSCoV2. Which cells will be affected depends also on the adenovirus base. mRNA: Which cells are used for 'channelling in' the blueprint is unknown. The big question at the second and third approach is: What will the t-cells do with such cells once they start to produce the spike protein???? Since they are more unspecific they probably kill them because they have become 'factories'. And since both approaches are not original they probably choose other cells than the original SARSCoV2 virus. Do the T-cells also learn by it? If yes there can be a longer term protection. But the uncertainty which cells will be used to make the spike protein still remains. Also when alarming those t-cells by self-created factories there can be an overpowering of those cells.(Overreaction of immune response). Those are the reasons why I am worried about the mRMA and vector virus approach.
I don't know if any of you guys were around in the 50's when the Polio epidemic struck, but I was and remember it well. A good article on the Salk vaccine: https://www.history.com/news/salk-polio-vaccine-shortages-problems And the quote that caught my eye was this: =========================================================================== The American public was deeply invested in fighting polio, with 300,000 volunteers from all walks of life helping to complete the Salk vaccine trial in 1954, a massive and unprecedented undertaking. At over 200 test sites nationwide, volunteers inoculated nearly 2 million children, some with the real vaccine and others with a placebo as part of the first double-blind vaccine trial in American history. =========================================================================== And Salk was so confident in the vaccine, that he gave it to his wife and children. Do you imagine the president of Pfizer or any other drug company giving their company's vaccine to their children on nationwide TV? And then this happpened, known as the Cutter incident: https://brill.com/view/journals/joa...cle-10.1163-25895893-bja10009.xml?language=en .