When a 49 year old dies the day after his booster, it’s anecdotal.
Carlos Tejada, a New York Times Deputy Asia Editor, has died at the age of 49. He suffered a heart attack less than a day after posting to social media that he had received a Moderna booster vaccination.
When a 13 year old dies of Covid, it’s a national news story.
el gato malo – if boosters stop the spread of covid, why don’t we see it in the data?
I think we can say with fairly high confidence that there is nothing in this data that supports the idea that widespread booster usage is stopping spread or contagion of covid. The issue of whether they are, in fact, making spread worse remains open and the data seems mixed and wants for greater explanation, though several studies seem to show negative vaccine efficacy for boosters on case counts (link below), so I have a hunch there may be something to the notion and will keep scratching at it.
Took a quick look and I’d say things look the same in Gibraltar.
New York Post- Cops had to step in Friday as a crowd mobbed a Brooklyn corner where the city was giving away free at-home COVID-19 tests. Tempers flared as the larger-than-expected crowd descended on Flatbush and Church avenues, one of five spots in the Big Apple where city health officials were doling out tests amid a surge in demand over the holidays and lack of supply.
WCAX- COVID-positive Vermonters with no symptoms clog up ERs
NewsNow- CDC updates quarantine guidelines for healthcare workers amid continued staffing shortages
Metro- NHS is ‘grinding to a halt’ as even triple-jabbed staff fall ill in Covid surge
Sky News- COVID-19 boosters available on Christmas Day in NHS ‘jingle jab’ campaign amid surging infection rates
The Telegraph- Fourth jabs possible as Covid booster immunity may fall for millions by new year. Protection against getting sick with omicron is as low as 35 per cent 10 weeks after a booster, according to government data.
Update: Reuters- U.S. airlines scrap nearly 1,000 Christmas Day flights due to Omicron
After all the lockdowns, masks, mass vaccinations, mandates, and passport systems you finally flattened the curve (along the wrong axis) and reached all time high case counts. Just in time for Christmas.
We’ve been watching overall case numbers in the fully vaccinated increase for some time now, but in Ontario the rate per 100,000 people (second chart below) just crossed over the parity line. Judging from the trend its probably not going to stay there.
click on images for full screen
This 15 minute video from Geert Vanden Bossche explains why Omicron may be our last opportunity to end the pandemic with the achievement of actual herd immunity. If we continue with mass vaccination, we run a serious risk of closing that window.
“The time has come to admit that the mass vaccination program…has been a complete failure.”
Related: UK and danish studies show strongly negative vaccine efficacy for [Omicron] cases.
A few short months ago this was the recommendation.
CTV- Second doses of COVID-19 vaccines can be given up to 4 months after first, NACI now says
They didn’t think the second shot was particularly necessary, and now…
The Times of Israel- In world first, Israel set to give 4th COVID shot to over 60s, at-risk groups
Meanwhile … Quebec considers asking hospital workers with COVID-19 to stay on the job
Shiny Pony shows us how its done. Trudeau says three personal staff and three members of security detail are positive for COVID-19
And surprise, surprise the testing system is now getting overwhelmed.
Millions of people take antidepressants each day, but a major new review of the data brings up some concerns with how the drugs are currently prescribed.
In fact, when taken over long periods for mild and moderate depression, antidepressants may be doing patients more harm than good, the review explains.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t use antidepressants at all – in many instances, they save lives and work well.
But the authors of the new review, which appears in the British Medical Journal’s Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, suggest doctors should prescribe fewer antidepressants for shorter periods of time, and focus on people with severe depression.
In other cases, the evidence is unclear on how effective the drugs really are – and whether the benefits outweigh the side effects.
But wait, there’s more.
One of the big issues highlighted by the review is that most clinical trials only look at the efficacy of the drugs over a six- to 12-week study period. In the real world, however, people are prescribed antidepressants for years.
Good grief.
Its amazing what kind of carnage one unvaccinated player can cause.
National Post- NHL and NHLPA to pull out of Beijing Olympics due to COVID surge:
The NHL has postponed 50 games because of COVID outbreaks on teams and has paused its season through Christmas
Listen to the experts.
Ontario's top doctor advises against seeing your triple vaccinated grandparent if you're double vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/XzZhMrz5bh
— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) December 17, 2021
Why would it work any better than it does in adults?
Those must be some crazy, daredevil parents letting Pfizer use their babies as pincushions.
Citynews- Quebec orders shops, bars, restaurants, churches to operate at 50 per cent capacity
“It’s important to say that in this fight, vaccination is not sufficient,” Legault told reporters in Montreal. “The second thing is that we have to reduce contacts to be less often around other people.” And for the second year in a row, Legault walked back from plans to relax COVID-19 restrictions ahead of the holidays, keeping the maximum at 10 people instead of raising it to 20 on Dec. 23.
CTV- Montreal Canadiens game to be played tonight without fans in Bell Centre amid COVID-19 concerns
Westphalian Times- The Montreal public health said of the 95 cases of the Omicron variant in the city of Montreal, 90% were fully vaccinated.
Quebec’s covid passport system has been going since September 1st.
Quebec’s vaccination status: 80% double, 6% triple
Your Moral And Infected Superiors: BuzzFeed staff who attended a company party in New York tested positive for COVID despite wearing masks, showing vaccine passports and being triple jabbed.
Media has stopped ‘naming and shaming’ unvaccinated NHL players. Unexpectedly.
Update: Rather than waste time I don’t have picking my way through the trolling and the insults, I’ve chosen to delete all the comments on this post. My apologies to those of you who did contribute something useful.
Do better, or I’ll start hammering down the lot of you.
GB News- Covid-19: 78,610 cases recorded in UK today, highest daily total since pandemic began
80% double vaxxed (age 12 and up), 40% have had booster shots.
Westphalian Times- Canadian province stops giving boosters to elders who have had COVID in the past due to severe, life-threatening side effects
The side effects were so severe that the establishments under Zhang’s supervision had to stop giving the boosters to vaccinated elders who had COVID-19 within 48 hours.
Le Devoir- A third dose too much for seniors who have had COVID-19
Notice to those 70 and over: If you have suffered from COVID-19, a third dose of the vaccine is no longer recommended. The Quebec Immunization Committee (CIQ) changed its mind after seniors in CHSLDs who had already contracted the disease suffered significant side effects during the booster dose.
You’ll probably have to use something like google translate for the last article if it pops up in French. (if you don’t speak French)
As we have all been reminded ad nauseum, Vaxx passports were said to be critical to ending the pandemic. For some reason, these Spanish health care workers did not get that memo.
All of the professionals had been fully vaccinated—including with booster shots.
Sur reported on Monday that the health workers who attended the Christmas meal had all taken an antigen test before the meal.
Having been assured for months that Vaccine Apartheid would allow people (at least those outside the ranks of the unclean) to resume a normal life, maybe the clincher is for people to figure out a way to eat and drink without removing their mask:
“Although I know that those attending the celebration took measures, the virus is still there and you should not lower your guard,” Bueno said. “It is necessary to keep a distance, it is essential to use the mask indoors and it should be used in outdoor spaces where there is an agglomeration of people.”
Back to your basements, you ungrateful hedonists! Don’t make me come down there!
“What you have to do is take measures so that it does not happen again,” he said.
Sportsnet- Raptors president Ujiri joins growing list of NBAers with COVID
“On Sunday, Giants of Africa held our first in-person event since 2019. It was organized in compliance with all current public health guidance – everyone who attended had to show proof of vaccination, and to wear masks when not eating or drinking,” said Ujiri in a statement issued by the team. “Unfortunately, after the gala, we learned of positive COVID-19 tests among our guests – and even though I am fully vaccinated and have received a booster shot, I also subsequently tested positive.
Sam Amico- Despite 97 percent vaccination rate, NBA has already at least equaled last year’s total number of players/coaches entering COVID protocol.