Coronavirus

[Pornfan99]

China is blowing up:

"The Chinese government has reported only seven Covid-19 deaths since restrictions were loosened dramatically on Dec. 7, bringing the country’s total toll to 5,241." Seriously??

https://www.yahoo.com/news/packed-icus-crowded-crematoriums-covid-125545832.html

 

[Luxman]

The Covid-19 deaths in China may be in the millions. Some reports say the CCP has euthanized many of the sick to try to stop covid and cut costs.
Only ahole commie members of the CCP know the national stats. They will never publicize the real stats to protect themselves.
I'm sure those commie assholes will give themselves a bonus at the end of the year for their corrupt censorship and covering up of the truth.

 

[Luxman]

Covid-19 and Its Sequels

Our response to Covid-19 should make us dubious about our chances if we go up against something even deadlier. Only 5.5 billion people have gotten even one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, leaving billions more to host a constantly proliferating assortment of mutations. Already vaccines and therapeutics are less effective against new variants.

With some bad rolls of the dice, we could be back to the world of March 2020, or worse. This scenario is increasingly likely considering climate change and globalization. Another accurate point in “The Communist Manifesto” is that “the need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere.”

Sure, we could have decided to vaccinate everyone. Last year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated this would cost $50 billion, or 0.05 percent of the world’s annual gross domestic product. But we didn’t do it for very good reason: This would have hurt the “intellectual” “property” — and hence the profits — of Moderna and Pfizer.

So the downside here is our unending Covid nightmare. The upside is we now have 10 vaccine billionaires! We’d like to believe they’re spending this Christmas Eve together, downing negroni sbagliatos somewhere on the Amalfi coast, toasting the freedom that is capitalism. (If you violate their vaccine patents, the government will crush you like a bug.)

https://theintercept.com/2022/12/24/christmas-capitalism-covid-climate-change/

 

[D-rock]

It's sad to admit it, but when a really bad pandemic hits next that's deadly, and eventually one will, a giant part of the world is doomed. Part of that is there is too much of a profit motive in healthcare in too many places, like the US, instead of doing medicine for ethical reasons or to help others. Another equally big problem is there is just too many damn people will end up not giving a shit, and won't even be bothered to do modest minimum efforts to protect others because they think it will infringe on their "freedumb".

 

[tvstrip]

It's sad to admit it, but when a really bad pandemic hits next that's deadly, and eventually one will, a giant part of the world is doomed. Part of that is there is too much of a profit motive in healthcare in too many places, like the US, instead of doing medicine for ethical reasons or to help others. Another equally big problem is there is just too many damn people will end up not giving a shit, and won't even be bothered to do modest minimum efforts to protect others because they think it will infringe on their "freedumb".

The first one, that's capitalism, and while not perfect, I can live with it. If profits expedite progress, including a vaccine, so be it. For a pandemic, the average person won't be footing the bill.

The latter though... that was unexpected for me, at least the extent of it was. When the pandemic started, I did not seriously think that people refusing a vaccine would be a serious issue. Nor did I really think that asking that people do simple things like masking be such a problem, and worse, even seeing some leaders questioning/mocking such practices.

The scariest part of all this is, should a more deadly pandemic hit, many will point at this one and think "oh, it's just the flu", and take it even less seriously.

 

[DrakeM]

It's sad to admit it, but when a really bad pandemic hits next that's deadly, and eventually one will, a giant part of the world is doomed.

If "a giant part of the world is doomed", then I'll say it again: Best possible outcome for the planet's ecosystem. There are too damn many people in the world and it's getting worse every day. Yes it will be a terrible tragedy and millions (billions?) will suffer but those who live through it will recover (look up how the survivors of the medieval black death plagues prospered). Best of all, dramatically dropping our population will give this planet a chance to recover from us. Pandemics are part of the cycle of life and act as a natural brake on overpopulation of any given species. The fact that we can use our intelligence and technology to fight back will blunt the impact except for those too stupid to do so and frankly getting rid of them is not a bad thing either.

 

[Theopolis Q. Hossenffer]

If "a giant part of the world is doomed", then I'll say it again: Best possible outcome for the planet's ecosystem. There are too damn many people in the world and it's getting worse every day. Yes it will be a terrible tragedy and millions (billions?) will suffer but those who live through it will recover (look up how the survivors of the medieval black death plagues prospered). Best of all, dramatically dropping our population will give this planet a chance to recover from us. Pandemics are part of the cycle of life and act as a natural brake on overpopulation of any given species. The fact that we can use our intelligence and technology to fight back will blunt the impact except for those too stupid to do so and frankly getting rid of them is not a bad thing either.

As I said about the Texas Lt. Governor who suggested that old people should die for the economy during Covid, You first brother.

 

[gmase]

On a happier note: half the passengers landing in Milan from China do not have COVID.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthca...-china-to-milan-have-covid-italian-officials/

 

[tvstrip]

On a happier note: half the passengers landing in Milan from China do not have COVID.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthca...-china-to-milan-have-covid-italian-officials/

Lovin' the "glass half full" POV

 

[Luxman]

Those CCP commie assholes are too corrupt, that's why the Chinese people are still suffering.

US to Require Negative Covid Tests From China Travelers - Dec 28, 2022

China's frontline healthcare workers overwhelmed by rising covid-19 case numbers - Dec 26, 2022

 

[tvstrip]

I'm worried that the Chinese surge is going to be blamed on the loosening of restrictions, which might be abused by the CCP to even more draconian measures. All they need to say is "We told you so!", and then kiss any freedom you had left goodbye.

 

[tvstrip]

With the news of increased hospitalizations, got my flu shot at Walmart.

Good news is that the viruses covered by the shot are bang on with those which are infecting people this season. I skipped the last couple flu shots since people were generally respecting COVID measures, but now that's all out the window, I feel it might be good to get back to getting the regular shot.

 

[Pornfan99]

Uh, oh - here comes XBB.1.5:

Why is this wave different? Experts expect XBB.1.5 to spread quickly and globally, but say it’s “not a Category 5 hurricane.” Also:Less masking = easier transmission. Combine that with a record-breaking flu season, and you have a strapped healthcare system.

Gimme the data. My city's hospitals reported 306 new COVID-19 hospitalizations from Dec. 28 through Jan. 4, a 41% increase from two weeks before. Meanwhile, as of Dec. 29, the viral concentration in the city County’s wastewater samples was up 42% over the previous week and 116% over the previous two weeks.

 

[tvstrip]

Uh, oh - here comes XBB.1.5:

It is really close enough to Omicron that we need to be giving it complicated sub-variant names like Star Wars droids? Seriously: BA.2, BA.2.75, BA.5, BQ.1, BF.7, XBB...
Can't we just move on to Pi? Or COVID-23? Why complicate things?

 

[tvstrip]

Moderna CEO: 400% price hike on COVID vaccine “consistent with the value”
https://arstechnica.com/science/202...400-price-hike-on-covid-vaccines-report-says/

Moderna is considering raising the price of its COVID-19 vaccine by over 400 percent—from $26 per dose to between $110 and $130 per dose—according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Ars has reached out to Moderna for comment but has not yet received a response. The plan, if realized, would match the previously announced price hike for Pfizer-BioNTech's rival COVID-19 vaccine.

And worst of all, the price increases, likely combined with other factors like people not getting vaccinated, even for free, means:

But now that the federal government is backing away from distributing the vaccines, their makers are moving to the commercial market—with price adjustments. Financial analysts had previously anticipated Pfizer would set the commercial price for its vaccine at just $50 per dose but were taken aback in October when Pfizer announced plans of a price between $110 and $130. Analysts then anticipated that Pfizer's price would push Moderna and other vaccine makers to follow suit, which appears to be happening now.

Fucking Hell. Can you imagine if you had to pay for the COVID vaccine? For over $100 a shot?

I'm fully vaxxed, and plan to continue to get boosters if they are free. But at that price, I'm tempted to roll the dice. And I'm willing to bet that many vaxxed people, either through choice or financial inability, will also skip the boosters too.

 

[D-rock]

Moderna CEO: 400% price hike on COVID vaccine “consistent with the value”
https://arstechnica.com/science/202...400-price-hike-on-covid-vaccines-report-says/


And worst of all, the price increases, likely combined with other factors like people not getting vaccinated, even for free, means:


Fucking Hell. Can you imagine if you had to pay for the COVID vaccine? For over $100 a shot?

I'm fully vaxxed, and plan to continue to get boosters if they are free. But at that price, I'm tempted to roll the dice. And I'm willing to bet that many vaxxed people, either through choice or financial inability, will also skip the boosters too.

What should piss people off even more than just medicine being run as a profit driven business like this, which is already bad enough, is that they had massive taxpayer funding to help get it working. Then they turn around and have it cost more for the simple reason they feel like they can get away with it.

 

[tvstrip]

What should piss people off even more than just medicine being run as a profit driven business like this, which is already bad enough, is that they had massive taxpayer funding to help get it working. Then they turn around and have it cost more for the simple reason they feel like they can get away with it.

I'm ok in principle with medicine being profit based, after all, that's why we got a vaccine so soon.
That said, there has to be limits. And definitely no gouging like this. Like you said, they get massive taxpayer funding, and for vaccines, a captive market. They shouldn't be biting the hand that feeds them.

Maybe it's time we reminded them of this punchable face:
.

 

[gorgator]

Hope, this year vaccine version 3.0 not will mandatory.

 

[Pornfan99]

More XBB.1.5 news: When Italy’s initial tests of passengers from China showed that almost half of them tested positive for the virus, criticism quickly died down, and France (which was finding that about one-third of passengers arriving from China were testing positive),

https://www.yahoo.com/news/europe-i...demic-former-who-official-says-222519314.html

 

[Luxman]

Wear a mask and wash/disinfect your hands, and you greatly reduce the chances of getting infected with covid, flu, cold, etc.