Coronavirus

New York State Department of Health Study Shows Continued Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines

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New York State Department of Health Study Shows Continued Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines

The New York State Department of Health today announced the release of a new study addressing one of the most critical questions regarding COVID-19 – the extent to which vaccine effectiveness is declining and whether these changes are due to waning immunity or other factors such as the predominance of the Delta variant.

The study, which expands upon the work of the Department's first-in-the-nation vaccine effectiveness study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in August, concluded that declines in vaccine effectiveness (VE) for cases may have been driven primarily by the Delta variant or factors other than immunological waning, such as reduced use of masks. In contrast, VE for hospitalizations remained high, with modest declines limited to Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna recipients 65 years of age and older. This finding supports targeted booster dosing recommendations.

It bothers me to see that so many rural folk are now dying of COVID-19 when there is a vaccine that can prevent so much death and misery

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It bothers me to see that so many rural folk are now dying of COVID-19 when there is a vaccine that can prevent so much death and misery

It’s just stupid on how political things have gotten with the vaccine – it’s a stupid shot or maybe two shots that hurt a bit but are quickly administered and then you can put them behind you. It’s free and bares no cost on your life or well except maybe for feeling a bit under the weather for one afternoon after your second shot.

Getting the COVID vaccine doesn’t change anything in your body except for priming your body in case of exposure to the real virus. The vaccine is just a few strands of RNA that are quickly broken down. It doesn’t make you pledge allegiance to Joe Biden. Your free to get vaccinated and vote for anyone you want.

Now, I would object to the vaccine if it did mean that you had to give up your rights and liberties. I don’t like vaccination mandates, and I don’t think that they are that productive at slowing the spread of the virus. That said, getting vaccinated doesn’t mean that you have to give up your guns or property rights or comply with any more restrictions on your homestead. A vaccine is recieved, it kicks in the gut like a night of hard drinking and then you get on with life.

There is some in our country who believe that it’s a moral imparative to force anybody who will not comply with the voluntary vaccination to force them to get vaccinated or marginalize them to the fringes of society. But I think that repugnant. If people really want to get sick or die, and are foolish enough to not get vaccinated then so be it. Maybe unvaccinated individuals should pay an insurance surcharge but don’t marginalize them. The evidence isn’t nearly as strong as some want to believe that unvaccinated individuals pose much harm to others besides themselves.

Covid is killing rural Americans at twice the rate of people in urban areas

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Covid is killing rural Americans at twice the rate of people in urban areas

Rural Americans are dying of Covid at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts — a divide that health experts say is likely to widen as access to medical care shrinks for a population that tends to be older, sicker, heavier, poorer and less vaccinated.

While the initial surge of Covid-19 deaths skipped over much of rural America, where roughly 15 percent of Americans live, nonmetropolitan mortality rates quickly started to outpace those of metropolitan areas as the virus spread nationwide before vaccinations became available, according to data from the Rural Policy Research Institute.

Since the pandemic began, about 1 in 434 rural Americans have died from Covid, compared with roughly 1 in 513 urban Americans, the institute’s data shows. And though vaccines have reduced overall Covid death rates since the winter peak, rural mortality rates are now more than double that of urban ones — and accelerating quickly.

Less wearing of the muzzle?

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It looks like the Delta wave has largely passed by locally and rates are dropping. I wonder if we will be able to put away our muzzles away more in the coming weeks.

County Albany Greene Saratoga Schoharie Schenectady Rensselaer Washington
Test Date
Aug 27 4.8 6.3 5.1 5.5 4.7 4.4 3.6
Aug 28 5.0 6.5 5.0 5.5 4.6 4.4 3.7
Aug 29 5.2 6.9 4.9 7.2 4.4 4.2 3.8
Aug 30 5.2 6.8 4.6 6.6 4.5 4.5 3.8
Aug 31 5.0 6.3 4.6 6.5 4.4 4.8 4.0
Sep 01 5.3 7.2 4.8 6.1 4.9 4.9 3.9
Sep 02 5.1 6.4 4.6 6.1 4.6 4.8 4.4
Sep 03 5.2 6.4 4.9 6.6 4.8 5.2 4.4
Sep 04 4.8 5.9 5.2 7.2 4.8 5.0 4.9
Sep 05 4.7 6.1 5.0 7.0 4.5 5.1 5.3
Sep 06 4.8 5.5 4.9 10.1 4.8 5.1 5.1
Sep 07 4.8 6.8 4.6 12.9 4.5 5.0 5.2
Sep 08 4.7 5.7 4.6 13.6 4.6 5.1 5.9
Sep 09 4.6 5.9 4.3 12.7 4.2 4.9 5.7
Sep 10 4.5 6.0 4.3 12.2 4.1 4.9 5.8
Sep 11 4.6 6.1 3.9 11.1 3.8 4.9 6.1
Sep 12 4.7 5.8 4.0 11.1 4.2 4.8 6.3
Sep 13 4.6 6.1 3.8 9.2 3.6 5.1 6.9
Sep 14 4.8 5.1 3.8 6.6 3.7 4.8 7.0
Sep 15 4.8 5.2 3.6 6.0 3.3 4.7 6.7
Sep 16 4.8 5.0 3.5 6.0 3.4 4.8 6.4
Sep 17 4.9 5.1 3.3 6.2 3.5 4.6 6.0
Sep 18 4.9 5.7 3.2 6.3 3.4 4.6 5.1
Sep 19 4.6 5.7 3.1 6.3 3.7 4.9 4.8
Sep 20 4.5 5.9 3.2 5.7 4.0 4.8 4.6
Sep 21 4.5 5.9 3.2 5.6 4.2 4.8 4.5
Sep 22 4.1 6.4 3.1 5.6 4.1 4.6 4.1
Sep 23 4.2 6.9 3.2 5.5 4.0 4.5 4.1
Sep 24 4.0 6.9 2.9 5.3 3.9 4.5 4.3
Sep 25 3.9 6.5 3.1 5.5 4.1 4.3 4.6

Clinical trials underway on pill to treat COVID-19 – pennlive.com

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Clinical trials underway on pill to treat COVID-19 – pennlive.com

Clinical trials that are part of an international effort to test an antiviral treatment aimed at halting COVID-19 early in its course, are currently underway.

According to a report by NBC News, researchers are testing a “short-term regimen of daily pills” that when begun shortly after diagnosis can fight the virus early and possibly prevent symptoms from developing after exposure.

Timothy Sheahan, a virologist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill who has helped pioneer the therapies, explained that in addition to curtailing the duration of one’s COVID-19 syndrome “oral antivirals have the potential to limit transmission to people in your household if you are sick.”

The questions I have about the COVID vaccine booster 🔬

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The questions I have about the COVID vaccine booster 🔬

I got vaccinated in April. Both shots of the Pzifer vaccine. The evidence is that it is quite effective, as while people are still getting sick from Delta varient, people aren’t ending up in the hospital or dying.

I’m not sure about the next round of boosters for they a proposing people get in 8 months. So far the vaccine has had an excellent safety record and I nor my friends have not had any ill effects from the vaccine except feeling a little ill after the second shot for a few years.

But I just wonder about the idea of injecting more of the same substance after the effects of the vaccine wear off. It really feels like to me the ideology of a heroin user – inject more to feel better. Substances used in moderation are often safe but things build up resistance and bioaccumulate. I am reminded of DDT and how harmless it was proven to mammals but how destructive it became to birds’ egg shells as they choice pesticide on farms and in the home.

Science is better now than fifty years ago. I am sure they have thoroughly tested the extra third dose on animals and humans. Messenger RNA has a short life both in the environment and in the human body – it’s quickly attacked by human bodies and natural forces, and broken down to harmless amino acids. But what if there is something that science is missing like with DDT?

There is a lot of good reasons why the drug manufacturers are more than happy to have a third round of vaccinations. For one, they have an extra stock of vaccines and it’s the same substance used for round 1 and 2. Pharmacies already have it in stock, factories continue to crank it out at a breakneck speed. Might as well use the supply by injecting it into people arms as a booster before its sent to the landfill, manufacturers say.

Lasting immunity might be hard with a Coronavirus as most are relatively harmless so our bodies T-cells might not prioritize memory of the virus and attack it immediately upon entry like it would with other deadly diseases. So maybe boosters are necessary. If the science continues to indicate that it is a good, safe preventive step come November or December when I’m eligible, I’ll give it a good hard look.

But I’m not celebrating or embracing a third shot but it is necessary I’ll give it a good hard look.