[drewprops]

I've seen your picture
Your name in lights above it
This is your big debut
It's like a dream come true
So won't you smile for the camera?
I know they're gonna love it
Peg-10

It's catchy and I can even follow (parts of) this.


...

[psmith2.0]

There’s nothing in that headline I understand. It may as well be in Klingon.

I couldn’t even begin to guess/explain what’s going on.

Best I can tell, retro mammals - horses and beavers wearing bell bottoms or bowling shirts - are delivering fake packages while listening to Steely Dan.

That’s all I got. Am I close?

[Dr. Bobsky]

Not at all...

Retrovirus is a class of viruses like HIV or CoV2-SARS that use mRNA (as opposed to DNA) as their genetic material. The protein of interest is a mammalian protein that is structurally related to retrovirus proteins responsible for packaging mRNA into the viruses before they are released from cells during an infection. This group (which is one of those responsible for a sizeable amount of Crispr technology) has shown that the mammalian protein can also package its own mRNA (this means it recognises and assembles with its own mRNA like how the viral proteins do). It also can be made to package artificial mRNA -- meaning packages mRNA encoding proteins that are not (only) its own sequence. This is relevant for a variety of reasons: mostly the question of how viruses evolved, and whether they arose from higher order cells or from independent paths. It is also a hint at how we might build vaccines or other mRNA delivery tools using non-immunogenic human proteins...

[turtle]

I just found out I've lost another (distant) family member. This guy was younger than me but retired from the military. He left a wife and daughter about the same age as my youngest.

He was in Alabama but had to be flow to Nashville because they couldn't handle his case near his home. What is really odd is we were given the report that he was doing great. Sitting up and talking to family followed by the report he died the next day.

That is two extended family members I've lost to this virus.

[drewprops]

Dammit T.
I am so sorry.

...

[drewprops]

Originally Posted by Dr. Bobsky It is also a hint at how we might build vaccines or other mRNA delivery tools using non-immunogenic human proteins...

Thanks for the synopsis. I think that's about how I understood it, but this is much more clear.


...

[709]

Talked to my idiot brother (who I love very much) last night and found out he's finally getting his first dose this weekend. Finally ran out of excuses I guess. It's been infuriating because he has a grandchild that's not vax-age, and brushes off any concern as "she goes to daycare so she's already exposed". He regularly has to travel to Canada for work (machine tech, classified as essential) and stopped flying months ago, just to have to drive there instead. I kept hoping for the Windsor Tunnel guards to turn his dumb ass around, but no luck. FDA approval and the thought of looming restrictions got him to cave, I think. Whatever it takes.

[kieran]

My mother told me that she finally got her first dose today.

No idea why or how, but all I know is that she finally got it.

She was all set to get the J&J one back in the spring, but then it got paused and she immediately thought all vaccines were bad then.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by turtle I just found out I've lost another (distant) family member. This guy was younger than me but retired from the military. He left a wife and daughter about the same age as my youngest. He was in Alabama but had to be flow to Nashville because they couldn't handle his case near his home. What is really odd is we were given the report that he was doing great. Sitting up and talking to family followed by the report he died the next day. That is two extended family members I've lost to this virus.

I’m sorry.

[drewprops]

In the past few days my science challenged and Covid misinformed friends have been increasingly surrounded by illness and death from the Delta variant. Posts about "pray for such and such for chest pains" and "my high school friend so and so has been put on a ventilator" and two nights ago a girl lost her father. As it turns out, he had Covid and needed to help but first responders couldn't get to him due to Hurricane Ida as it moved inland. I heard an anecdote passed along to me that the daughter felt that the vaccination accelerated his illness, which makes me wonder if they thought it was an antivenin or something? I am using this opportunity to NOT pounce on any of them as (a) it's not my place to castigate them in a time of peril and loss, and (b) if they don't learn the hard way they cannot be educated.

It's just so fricking sad.


...

[turtle]

Just to give a little update on the covid infection in my household: We are all almost better. Mrs T and I are still struggling for energy but don't require naps as often anymore. We aren't back to 100% for working out either. I ran on the treadmill for the first time since symptom onset yesterday (level 5 vs my normal level 7 but still 30 minutes) and I wasn't even winded. So at least my cardio system is doing great still. Monday I did weights for the first time since symptoms but was winded after two sets and just couldn't force the third set. Today is a weight day again so hopefully I'll be able to get three sets in.

I still have a nagging cough and Mrs T still has headaches pop up that are grueling. Other than that, we are good. I didn't get actual lab work done to say it was delta, but given that is what everyone around here is testing for I'm assuming it is. I did do a home test and was positive so we know it was covid for sure.

None of the kids are showing anything lingering at all. In fact, they have more energy than I've seen for a while. Good thing I could send them out to play in the yard.

[psmith2.0]

The older lady across the street from me, in her 80's (sweet, funny as can be), went into the hospital with COVID on Monday afternoon. I saw her family over there, never an ambulance. I guess they took her. A friend is friends with her daughter so I'm hearing updates through her. She's been admitted, etc.

She was feeling bad last Friday, apparently. She's had her kitchen worked on/remodeled (due a leak, etc.), so I know that in July and part of August, workers have come in and out (I've seen them). Any of them could've passed it on? But my friend also said that some in her family have/had it as well, so it could've been from any of them.

I assume she was vaccinated, but I honestly don't know. She doesn't strike me as the type who'd dismiss/resist on Alex Jones grounds, so I'm assuming she got jabbed quite early on, with her age and all.

I go over on the first of each month to put flea/tick/worm medicine on the back of her cat's neck. And she'll stand on her elevated back porch and I'll stand out in the yard, a good 10-15 feet away, and we'll chit-chat, catch up, etc. Going over this morning, it was just me and the cat and it was a little odd/sad, her not there (her daughter is getting by to feed Tommy and he just lurks about in her backyard/patio and carport area. I guess he misses her. I sat with him for about 15 minutes just so he had some human attention. I'll walk over again this evening to do the same.

Not sure what the prognosis/outcome will be. While she's in her 80's, she's quite healthy/spry/active and sharp as a tack. If I didn't know better, just personality-wise, appearance, physicality/activity, her mind, etc. I'd honestly think she's about 62-65. 68-70, absolute TOPS...certainly not 80-something! She's not frail or couch/bed-ridden (or already sick with a bunch of other things), so I hope it goes well for her. I've known her for years and years and I've always liked her.

[turtle]

So who can shed light on something I'm hearing grumbling about for the Pfizer vaccine. Apparently the approved version isn't what is actually being given to people who get the shot. Those getting the shot are getting a "EUA" version and not the one that was approved by the FDA. Is there anyone actually following this that can put light on what is actually happening?

Im so confused by the different links I've been given across the web where it is REALLY hard to figure out what is a conspiracy theory and what is a fact. Then there is the question of, does it actually matter? Is the difference really just a name plate/date stamp?

Anyone have an actual clue on this one?

I'm also curious about people like the Joe Rogan who test positive and then starts some strange therapy that may or may not work. Both times I've had covid we just dealt with it. Are these people throwing big guns at sniffles or are they nearing ventilator status? It just seems odd to me to take the strongest (sometimes experimental) drug options when they might have been fine with their natural immune system doing its thing.

[709]

The EUA version and the FDA approved version are the same thing. The 'confusion' is just more anti-vax conspiracy theory bullshit propagated by loons and people whose interests lie in sowing misinformation and chaos. The FDA approved it for 16+ years of age, the EUA still stands for 12-15. That gap in official approval is where the bad actors are feeding lies from.

[PB PM]

The other bunk making the rounds is that the Pfizer isn’t as good as Moderna vaccine because the dose is a lower amount. While a single recent study showed that people with the Moderna had more antibodies in their systems, there was no indication Pfizer is any less effective when it comes to preventing severe illness.

[drewprops]

A friend is convinced that Bill Gates is personally involved in a planned "thinning of the herd". He was an EMT in a former life and is conservative, although attuned to woke issues. I suppose people need a higher power to believe in, whether it's a power for good or bad?


...

[turtle]

So the EUA is really the same thing? Then why is there a naming confusion? I mean, I'm confused and trying to get clarity. Is it EUA is the naming for the 12 - 15y/o dosing while the "Comirnaty" is the FDA approved for +16y/o?

Edit: I finally figured out that "EUA" is Emergency Use Authorization, I thought it had to do with End User...

Edit2: FDA posted more clarifying details!. I think I'm finally getting this.

[Ryan]

The FDA never misses an opportunity to confuse the crap out of everyone.

Somehow they STILL haven't learned that almost nobody is tracking this stuff on a day-to-day basis. Regular people aren't listening in to ACIP meetings. Nobody knows or cares about their precious nuances but they treat the entire public as if they're speaking the same language as FDA bureaucrats.

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by Ryan The FDA never misses an opportunity to confuse the crap out of everyone. Somehow they STILL haven't learned that almost nobody is tracking this stuff on a day-to-day basis. Regular people aren't listening in to ACIP meetings. Nobody knows or cares about their precious nuances but they treat the entire public as if they're speaking the same language as FDA bureaucrats.

Good point. Communications in this entire crisis has been lacking across the board, at the very time we're dealing with hordes of misinformation from the internet.

[kscherer]

Arguing and stuff has been moved over here.

This is a COVID thread, not an abortion thread.

[drewprops]

A fully-vaccinated friend swore to me that they believed that Bill Gates wants to "thin out the herd" and that there's something nefarious about the origin of the virus.

I know that I can google this particular conspiracy theory, but thought that I would mention it here to demonstrate that there every conceivable flavor of player exists in this game.

Even among the vaccinated.





...

[Dr. Bobsky]

Over population and increased pressure on natural resources will lead to virus outbreaks -- it's how we got Ebola, Marburg, HIV, covid, etc. No intention needed for diseases to be advantaged by our density, interconnectedness and exposure.

[PB PM]

And it’s nothing new, viruses and other illnesses have spread across large portions of the globe in the past many times, it just took longer due to slower forms of transportation. The idea that it would take some one, or group of people, wanting to thin the herd to achieve this is just flawed logic.

If someone with that much money and power wanted to thin the herd, they wouldn’t waste time with something this slow. All they would have to do is buy up large swaths of the food supply and withhold it from the general population.

[kscherer]

Or just hire hackers to turn off the power.

[PB PM]

Turning off the power, while annoying, wouldn't kill that many people, and with time power could be restored. A physical attack on the power grid would be more effective for long term damage, and by that I mean destroying dams and power plants. Starving everyone would work much faster, particularly in densely populated cities with almost no natural food supplies available.

[turtle]

Oh the dark paths we could go down for this stuff. It is like that game "PANDEMIC: CONTAGION" where your goal is to wipe out humanity.

[Yontsey]

I'm going double middle finger and traveling to London for fun with my gf in November. Don't really give a shit about this shit tbh.

[Brad]

PATH OUT OF THE PANDEMIC: PRESIDENT BIDEN’S COVID-19 ACTION PLAN was posted a few hours ago. Sections include:

1. Vaccinating the Unvaccinated 2. Furthering Protection for the Vaccinated 3. Keeping Schools Safely Open 4. Increasing Testing and Requiring Masking 5. Protecting Our Economic Recovery 6. Improving Care for Those with COVID-19

Subsections under that first section include some great steps forward for Americans:

Requiring All Employers with 100+ Employees to Ensure their Workers are Vaccinated or Tested Weekly Requiring Vaccinations for all Federal Workers and for Millions of Contractors that Do Business with the Federal Government Requiring COVID-19 Vaccinations for Over 17 Million Health Care Workers at Medicare and Medicaid Participating Hospitals and Other Health Care Settings Requiring Employers to Provide Paid Time Off to Get Vaccinated

[Frank777]

Knowing American politics, I'm sceptical much of that will stick. For one thing, lawyers are going to have a field day in court.

And while I understand that Biden is a one-term president, the cooler heads in the Democratic party will surely step back from declaring war against almost 40% of the country. We saw Florida and border town Hispanics turn against the Democrats last November. I doubt going ten rounds with young black and brown urban vaccine holdouts is something they really want to contemplate.

I am curious though, why the US Postal Service was exempted from the federal vaccine mandate.
Given that it's the one federal jurisdiction that deals with, well, everybody.

[709]

Originally Posted by Frank777 Knowing American politics, I'm sceptical much of that will stick. For one thing, lawyers are going to have a field day in court.

They will, and it'll stick. There's already precedent on the books decided by the SCOTUS, and Roberts would be a fool to take anything new up unless he wants his court to be further delegitimized. We'll see.

Originally Posted by Frank777 I am curious though, why the US Postal Service was exempted from the federal vaccine mandate. Given that it's the one federal jurisdiction that deals with, well, everybody.

It's exempt from the Federal Employee mandate, not from the 100+ Employee mandate (which allows for weekly testing). The USPS is a weird entity.