Coronavirus - worldwide breaking news, discussion, stats, updates and more

[Chairman Meow]

We were hoping to take a trip to Ireland to see our families, including my husband's little brother who is going downhill with MND. I am starting to think this is increasingly unlikely. We can't take the risk of getting stuck there if Oz was to shut the border, and even if we did go back, who knows if we could risk seeing his brother anyway. Its all a bit shit really. I also haven't seen my mum now since 2017, to be honest I am more hopeful of seeing her again than my brother in law, even though mum is 73 and the BIL is 38. All we can hope for is a miracle cure really, both for Covid and MND, and I don't believe in miracles.

 

[Aladdin]

At the same time, Ireland is one of the very best off in Europe so far for deaths per head of population.

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Not that this is a reason not to take the current wave seriously, of course, or to minimise the deaths. Just to say that Ireland’s handling of it to date has worked out better than most.

Our hospitals have 300 ICU beds. In total. For the entire country.
125 are filled with covid patients. That number is rising.

Ireland doesn't have test capacity to cope.
And the virus is now everywhere.

People are dying because of covid here. Dying because the beds are gone to covid patients.

The stats above are not helpful in describing what is actually happening on the ground

 

[Badgers]

Spent this morning reading up (as best i can without science skillz) about the new (nu?) B.1.1.529 strain. Too early to be really worried but it certainly needs urgent government action/attention.

What made me sad was that a lot of my job now is more advisory than testing/vaccinations and a large part of that is travel. Over the past month I have helped a lot of people navigate the PCR test mess that is travel and most have booked flights. Some to see relatives with terminal illness or to deal with the estate of a dead parent.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Spent this morning reading up (as best i can without science skillz) about the new (nu?) B.1.1.529 strain. Too early to be really worried but it certainly needs urgent government action/attention.

What made me sad was that a lot of my job now is more advisory than testing/vaccinations and a large part of that is travel. Over the past month I have helped a lot of people navigate the PCR test mess that is travel and most have booked flights. Some to see relatives with terminal illness or to deal with the estate of a dead parent.

See this post - Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

 

[MrCurry]

See this post - Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

Does anyone who knows about vaccines know how easy / fast it might be to tweak the current vaccines to extend their protection to include this new variant? Or is that not possible and creating a vaccine against it will take just as long as the current vaccines took to develop?

This is going to be the way of the future isn’t it? An ever increasing pool of variants which diverge further from original covid and proliferate most successfully if they evade the vaccines? How long until we need three different vaccine shots each six months?

 

[MickiQ]

Spent this morning reading up (as best i can without science skillz) about the new (nu?) B.1.1.529 strain. Too early to be really worried but it certainly needs urgent government action/attention.

What made me sad was that a lot of my job now is more advisory than testing/vaccinations and a large part of that is travel. Over the past month I have helped a lot of people navigate the PCR test mess that is travel and most have booked flights. Some to see relatives with terminal illness or to deal with the estate of a dead parent.

This is where the ratlickers have the upper hand, they don't need any actual science skillz, all they need to do is watch a couple of FB videos and they're good to go.

Does anyone who knows about vaccines know how easy / fast it might be to tweak the current vaccines to extend their protection to include this new variant? Or is that not possible and creating a vaccine against it will take just as long as the current vaccines took to develop?

This is going to be the way of the future isn’t it? An ever increasing pool of variants which diverge further from original covid and proliferate most successfully if they evade the vaccines? How long until we need three different vaccine shots each six months?

I'm sure one of the Urbs who does actually know will be along soon but I thought the whole point of the super smart way they made the AZ vaccine at least was that it could be rapidly tweaked to handle new variants

 

[Supine]

Does anyone who knows about vaccines know how easy / fast it might be to tweak the current vaccines to extend their protection to include this new variant? Or is that not possible and creating a vaccine against it will take just as long as the current vaccines took to develop?

This is going to be the way of the future isn’t it? An ever increasing pool of variants which diverge further from original covid and proliferate most successfully if they evade the vaccines? How long until we need three different vaccine shots each six months?

There is no evidence, at least yet, that existing vaccines need to be tweaked.

 

[prunus]

This is where the ratlickers have the upper hand, they don't need any actual science skillz, all they need to do is watch a couple of FB videos and they're good to go.

I'm sure one of the Urbs who does actually know will be along soon but I thought the whole point of the super smart way they made the AZ vaccine at least was that it could be rapidly tweaked to handle new variants

It’s the mRNA vaccines (rather than the AZ viral vector one) that can be tweaked quickly - pretty much as soon as the new variant is sequenced. 6 weeks is not unrealistic. Whether or not it would be deployed in that timeframe depends on whether it’s considered already tested, as ‘the same’ as the other ones, or not, and is tested, at least on a small scale, for safety, efficacy and so on. I’d imagine the latter. I’d be surprised to see any new variant vaccines deployed within 4 months of sequencing. But then again - it might be a case that we just have to…

 

[Yossarian]

It's going to get confusing if the new variant is called the Nu variant - but China's not going to like if they skip a letter and call it the Xi variant.

 

[2hats]

Does anyone who knows about vaccines know how easy / fast it might be to tweak the current vaccines to extend their protection to include this new variant? Or is that not possible and creating a vaccine against it will take just as long as the current vaccines took to develop?

I guarantee that teams within the various vaccine enterprises are already investigating redesign, if only to better refine the process. They've been performing trial runs with previous variants of concern over the past few months so they will be ready should the need arise. That need, in the case of B.1.1.529, will take some time to establish (if there is any need at all). mRNA vaccine redesign could be measured in weeks but establishment of immunogenicity, in particular with a view to regulatory authorisation, could take a few months.

 

[StoneRoad]

I still think that the CoVax program needs to be supported to be expand as quickly as possible and actually "get jabs in arms" .
The relatively low levels of vaccinations outside of Europe & America are very worrying.
IMO, that's why "Delta" developed & this as yet un-named South African variant [the one with an excessive number of mutations] were able to evolve ...
And I'm not sure the UK has acted quickly nor firmly enough to prevent the latter arriving here, in a short time span. They certainly didn't with Delta.

 

[JoeyBoy]

I guarantee that teams within the various vaccine enterprises are already investigating redesign, if only to better refine the process. They've been performing trial runs with previous variants of concern over the past few months so they will be ready should the need arise. That need, in the case of B.1.1.529, will take some time to establish (if there is any need at all). mRNA vaccine redesign could be measured in weeks but establishment of immunogenicity, in particular with a view to regulatory authorisation, could take a few months.

Easy to forget with all the fucking dimwits out there going on and on that there are some very clever people thinking about this as well

 

[The39thStep]

Portugal announces new measures

Measures​

The Government states that the mask will be mandatory in closed spaces and the digital certificate will also be mandatory to enter restaurants, hotels and gyms.

Digital certificate:: A certificate is now required to attend restaurants, tourist and hotel establishments, events and shows with marked seats and for gyms.

Teleworking is recommended whenever possible to avoid excessive contacts.

Mandatory testing : For visits to homes, for visits to patients admitted to any health establishment, for all major events, of any nature, that take place in improvised places, without marked spaces and in all sports venues, indoors or outdoors. It is also mandatory to test negative to enter clubs and bars .

Flights : It is mandatory to submit negative tests for all passengers on flights to Portugal. The prime minister emphasizes that airlines that do not comply with the new rules will be heavily sanctioned. "We find that the companies have not fulfilled their obligation, we will start to apply a fine of 20 thousand euros for each passenger disembarked in Portuguese territory (that is not properly tested), he said.

Between 2 and 9 January
The week following the ticket Every year, between the 2nd and 9th of January, we will have a week of contention for contacts to limit contacts outside the family universe.

The clubs will be closed during this period and teleworking becomes mandatory .

There will also be a change in the school calendar postponing the start of the second period to January 10th. This postponement will be compensated with a reduction in the period of interruption of the Carnival (two days) and the remainder in the Easter holidays, that is, two days in Carnival and three in Easter.

In addition to these recommendations, the Council of Ministers approved a raise in the alert level for a Calamity situation , as of December 1st.

The prime minister refers that the measures are general recommendations and stressed that whenever possible we should do a self-test, before joining the families, namely before Christmas and New Year.

 

[2hats]

Does anyone who knows about vaccines know how easy / fast it might be to tweak the current vaccines to extend their protection to include this new variant?

Just to add - less than 4 months according to the Pfizer CEO, earlier this year.

"We have built a process that within 95 days from the day that we identify a variant as a variant of concern, we will be able to have a vaccine tailor-made against this variant," Bourla said.

Pfizer CEO says a vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant is 'likely' to emerge

The CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, told Fox News he thought a vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant would emerge "one day."

www.insider.com

 

[cupid_stunt]

Just to add - less than 4 months according to the Pfizer CEO, earlier this year.

Pfizer CEO says a vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant is 'likely' to emerge

The CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, told Fox News he thought a vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant would emerge "one day."

www.insider.com

3 months is good for developing a vaccine, but how much longer to get it approved, manufactured at scale, and delivered into arms?

Surely we are looking at at least 6 months?

 

[Supine]

3 months is good for developing a vaccine, but how much longer to get it approved, manufactured at scale, and delivered into arms?

Surely we are looking at at least 6 months?

Most manufacturers have been doing test runs with delta so that they are well practiced in turning around new strains.

Probably some manufacturing at risk will go on while regulatory hurdles are managed. That’s the way flu works and this would be the same process.

No idea how long it will take from go into arms but we’re taking months not years

 

[T & P]

I guarantee that teams within the various vaccine enterprises are already investigating redesign, if only to better refine the process. They've been performing trial runs with previous variants of concern over the past few months so they will be ready should the need arise. That need, in the case of B.1.1.529, will take some time to establish (if there is any need at all). mRNA vaccine redesign could be measured in weeks but establishment of immunogenicity, in particular with a view to regulatory authorisation, could take a few months.

I’m guessing the wisest move would be to have the booster jab as soon as one can, rather than wait a few extra weeks in the hope that by then it might have been tweaked to tackle this new variant?

 

[elbows]

One of the more depressing things I had to warn everyone about in the early days of the pandemic was that the WHO would not come out in support of travel bans and border restrictions etc, quite the opposite. There are some legitimate reasons why they were wary of such things (used for dodgy purposes by some regimes earlier in human history) but it was also a sign of the neoliberal wanky environment which shaped that institution like it did so many others. And indeed it didnt take long before they decided to twat on about the world tourism board instead of doing the right thing back then.

Sadly I dont think things have changed all that much for the WHO on that front, since I see this in some of todays new variant of concern news:

Covid: New variant classed 'of concern' and named Omicron

More nations are restricting travel to southern Africa to try to slow the spread of a new variant.

www.bbc.co.uk

The WHO has said it will take a few weeks to understand the impact of the new variant, as scientists work to determine how transmissible it is.

It has warned against countries hastily imposing travel restrictions, saying they should look to a "risk-based and scientific approach".

South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla told reporters that the flight bans were "unjustified".

"The reaction of some of the countries, in terms of imposing travel bans, and such measures, are completely against the norms and standards as guided by the World Health Organization," he said.

Sorry South Africa, there is a new normal that even shit regimes like the UKs have learnt to pay some attention to at times. Especially as Johnson did not like people calling the Delta variant the Johnson variant, I bet he learnt a political lesson from that if not a public health one.

 

[Yossarian]

So they did skip Xi variant as well as Nu variant - though in a way they're all Xi variants.

 

[2hats]

I’m guessing the wisest move would be to have the booster jab as soon as one can, rather than wait a few extra weeks in the hope that by then it might have been tweaked to tackle this new variant?

Correct. If you are due the third dose now then there is no point delaying. Any B.1.1.529-tweaked vaccines aren't going to be available in a few weeks (outside of clinical trials); perhaps closer to 6 months, which is the second-third dosing interval anyway.

(IANAD, but if I were due dose 3 I'd take a heterologous shot if/when offered; for some other factors may come into play. I'm not due dose 3 for ~6 months though, since as previously mentioned, I've had the luxury to retime mine to perhaps optimise better with respect to a few potential scenarios).

 

[T & P]

Correct. If you are due the third dose now then there is no point delaying. Any B.1.1.529-tweaked vaccines aren't going to be available in a few weeks (outside of clinical trials); perhaps closer to 6 months, which is the second-third dosing interval anyway.

(IANAD, but if I were due dose 3 I'd take a heterologous shot if/when offered; for some other factors may come into play. I'm not due dose 3 for ~6 months though, since as previously mentioned, I've had the luxury to retime mine to perhaps optimise better with respect to a few potential scenarios).

Cheers. Duly booked my booster for Monday. Could have even done it tomorrow but I’m going to the football in the afternoon, so probably not a good idea

 

[MrCurry]

Am I the only one reading “omicron” in my head as the “oh-my-god!” variant? No? Just me…? Sorry then.

Well it is an anagram of moronic, which could maybe describe this post nicely.

 

[two sheds]

yes I've been reading it as Omigod too

 

[_Russ_]

Cheers. Duly booked my booster for Monday. Could have even done it tomorrow but I’m going to the football in the afternoon, so probably not a good idea

I know I'll get shit for it but I can't not call out that sort of prioritization, pisses me right off that I havnt even been offered the booster and then read of people delaying it so can go watch a football match and crowd together with a huge bunch of other Like-minded sheeple

 

[Supine]

Jesus wept! That’s mad.

 

[two sheds]

Kept on the plane 'for hours' isn't going to help isolate the infections.

 

[Yossarian]

I know I'll get shit for it but I can't not call out that sort of prioritization, pisses me right off that I havnt even been offered the booster and then read of people delaying it so can go watch a football match and crowd together with a huge bunch of other Like-minded sheeple

Double-vaxxed people who schedule their booster shot at a convenient date aren't really the problem here.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Welcome to Europe, Omicron.

 

[LDC]

I know I'll get shit for it but I can't not call out that sort of prioritization, pisses me right off that I havnt even been offered the booster and then read of people delaying it so can go watch a football match and crowd together with a huge bunch of other Like-minded sheeple

FFS, you really seem a nasty and stupid prick.

 

[Yossarian]

This virologist's take on Omicron is far from reassuring - from what Dr. Hatiionnou and other reputable experts are saying, it seems like the wisest thing to do might be to act as if we were at the dawn of a new pandemic and take proactive measures including, at the very least, a return to mask mandates - but it's the last news anybody wants to hear right now and it seems like there's zero chance of it happening unless hospitals become overwhelmed.

Theodora Hatziioannou, a virologist at Rockefeller University in New York, said that Omicron’s distinctive mutations raise the possibility that it first evolved inside the body of someone with H.I.V., whose immune systems may have been too weak to quickly fight it off. “Your responses are just not as good,” Dr. Hatziioannou said.

Instead of getting cleared away in a matter of days, the virus may have lingered in that person for months, spending the time gaining the ability to evade antibodies. “This virus has seen a lot of antibodies,” Dr. Hatziioannou said.

Dr. Hatziioannou and her colleagues have been able to produce mutant spike proteins in their laboratory that make viruses highly resistant to Covid-19 antibodies. She said that Omicron has many mutations in the same regions of the spike protein pinpointed in their own research. “The overlap is pretty striking,” she said.

New Virus Variant Stokes Concern but Vaccines Still Likely to Work (Published 2021)

The Omicron variant carries worrisome mutations that may let it evade antibodies, scientists said. But it will take more research to know how it fares against vaccinated people.

www.nytimes.com