Dr. Anthony Fauci sat down with “Meta” CEO Mark Zuckerberg and finally said out loud what many people have been warning for over a year about the rushed mRNA vaccines: They may actually make the Covid pandemic worse.
“China eats weird animals disease”
David Frum: Hospitals should “quietly” treat the unvaccinated last (if at all)
Atlantic opinion columnist David Frum is sick and tired of this pandemic and all of the disruptions it’s causing for everyone. That’s a position that most sensible people could agree with, I’m sure. He just wants things to get back to normal. But with these new variants cropping up and government mandates still being issued, how do we go about that? Frum offered up what he clearly saw as a “reasonable” list of options this weekend, leading to some rather swift blowback on social media.
COVID’s Winnipeg-Wuhan-Galveston Connection
Merry white coat supremacy Christmas, everybody.
“Anyone on your team conducting gain of function studies, recombination studies or any other studies that may have resulted in the creation of the nCoV?” That was James LeDuc, director of the Galveston National Laboratory (GNL) in a February 9, 2020 email to Juan Zhiming at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China. LeDuc, who earned a PhD in epidemiology from UCLA, had trained staff at the WIV, yet the GNL boss had little clue what was going on there.
“Where is coronavirus research conducted?” LeDuc wanted to know. “What level of biocontainment? How many different laboratories actually handle live virus? Where are coronavirus stocks stored?” In addition, “When was the nCoV first handled in your laboratory? What was the source of that virus?” and “what are the coronaviruses in your possession that are most closely related to nCoV based on genetic sequences and are able to replicate in culture?”
Omicron: Why do boosters work if two doses struggle?
The heavily mutated Omicron variant has led to a serious dent in the ability of vaccines to protect us from catching the Covid virus.
Two doses of some vaccines offer almost no protection from an Omicron infection, although they should still greatly reduce the risk of becoming so ill you need hospital care.
The vaccines were all developed to fight the first form of the virus that emerged two years ago.
So can a third or “booster” dose of those original vaccines make the difference or has Omicron already outwitted the protection they can give?
I remain skeptical
Yikes! – If we continue waiting for more evidence about omicron, it will already be too late
People think fairly linearly, and we like to feel rational by making decisions on the basis of large quantities of data, gathered carefully over time.
It is unintuitive to think exponentially. Yet, understanding exponential growth of infection is absolutely key to responding to and mitigating pandemics. This is because the amount of harm increases so quickly, and the economic and social costs of mitigating that harm rise alongside it.
Ontario reports 1429 new Covid cases .. and Norway’s miracle cure for Omicron – Ban Booze in bars and restaurants!
Ontario reports 1,429 new COVID-19 cases, 5 more deaths
Ontario reported more than 1,400 new COVID-19 cases and five more virus-related deaths on Tuesday as the test positivity rate hit a high not seen in nearly seven months.
Another 1,429 new coronavirus infections were reported today, down from 1,536 on Monday but up from 928 a week ago.
With case counts on the rise over the past month, the seven-day rolling average continues to climb and hit 1,400 today, compared to 975 a week ago.
European country bans booze to tackle Omicron
Norway has banned the sale of alcohol in bars and restaurants in an effort to curb the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, which continues to push infections in the country on a sharp rise.
New Covid-19 rules will prohibit the sale of alcohol at bars, restaurants, and other service-based venues from Wednesday, while Norwegians are also being urged to work from home if possible.
“Infection rates in Norway are increasing sharply, and we have now gained new knowledge about the omicron variant and how fast it can spread. We are in a more serious situation,” declared Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who claimed that the “stricter measures” were necessary “to maintain control of the pandemic.”
Why omicron is overtaking delta — and what that means for our fight against COVID-19
In the battle of the variants, omicron is poised to win.
While delta has long dominated the bulk of Canada’s coronavirus cases, the latest variant of concern is set to overtake other variants both here and abroad as it spreads through more than 60 countries around the world.
Early evidence suggests omicron is more adept at infecting people who’ve already had COVID-19 or multiple doses of leading vaccines, and the heavily mutated variant also has an uncanny knack for transmitting between people in the same home.
Full disclosure. I booked a Booster shot – earliest I could get is Dec 23 by which point if predictions are correct we will be dominated by Omicron. Fab. I was invited to Christmas at my brother’s. He is holding on but his condition continues its now accelerated, unrelenting assault. At this point I wonder if exposing him to the risk of infection is wise. We’ll abide by his decision.
Public health needs renewal
Canada’s top doctor is urging the federal government to transform its public health system so the country is better equipped to handle future and present health threats.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call on the need for “public health renewal” in Canada.
Part of that involves improving Canada’s public health data collection and surveillance.
Liberals open to providing more pandemic support if COVID worsens, says Trudeau in CityNews year-end interview
The federal government is open to providing additional economic support for Canadians that may need it if the country faces another COVID-19 surge this winter.
CityNews, along with our colleagues from Breakfast Television and OMNI News, got the chance to sit down with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to look back at some of the biggest stories from 2021, including the government’s overall pandemic response and the vaccine rollout in Canada.
‘There is a myth out there that it’s mild,’ head of Ontario’s science table says of Omicron
“This is historical. This is unprecedented. This week Omicron will become the dominant variant in the province… People cannot imagine the sheer scale of what we are talking about here. It is really challenging,” Dr. Peter Jüni, the head of the province’s Science Advisory Table.
As the pandemic raged, at least 75 lawmakers bought and sold stock in companies that make COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests
Dozens of Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill have invested in companies that have a direct stake in the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an Insider analysis of federal financial records.
If we sacrifice for COVID, we should sacrifice for climate, say environmental scientists
Nova Scotians have made many sacrifices for the COVID-19 pandemic, but environmental experts say it is now time for them to make sacrifices for the climate crisis as well.
The Medical Profession Implodes
In “normal” times, the practice of medicine has many challenges, some from within and some from outside the profession. If you let it, much of your daily practice follows specialty guidelines, insurance company criteria, hospital formularies, and other annoyances. None of those entities have any liability when it comes to our patients. For the most part, liability lies with the treating physician.
Pfizer, AstraZeneca COVID vaccines less effective at fighting Omicron: study
Pfizer and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines are not as effective in fighting off the Omicron variant compared to other strains, according to a new study published Monday.
Researchers from the University of Oxford said in the pre-print paper that they had discovered a “substantial fall” in neutralizing antibodies when the Omicron variant was introduced to blood samples 28 days after participants received their second dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Ontario reports 1536 new Covid cases … and only 12 more days till the Christmas Omicron panic
Ontario reports more than 1,500 new COVID-19 cases; seven-day rolling average surpasses 1,300
Ontario is reporting more than 1,500 new COVID-19 cases today, nearly double the number of infections logged last Monday.
The province typically reports a notable drop in new cases early in the week but today, officials confirmed 1,536 new infections, up from 1,476 cases on Sunday and 887 last Monday.
Of the new cases confirmed today 601 are in those who are unvaccinated, 33 involve people who are partially immunized, 809 are in those with at least two doses, and 93 involve people with an unknown vaccination status
Ontario needs new pandemic response strategy as omicron makes inroads: experts
With the omicron variant poised to become Ontario’s dominant COVID-19 strain, experts want the province to explain how it plans to shift its pandemic response if many people are infected much more quickly than in previous waves.
“We obviously have dealt with this for two years, but this is very different,” said Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases specialist at McMaster University.
“We’re going to see something I don’t think we’ve seen before.”
I am seriously concerned about getting a booster. I had no side effects from the Moderna/Pfizer combo. Is it worth the risk?
Canada drops COVID-19 travel rule that rejected South African tests
After weeks of criticism from scientists and global health experts, Canada has dropped a travel rule that had rejected COVID-19 tests from South Africa and had required Canadian travellers to get tests from third countries.