I'm starting this thread as a side discussion of all things Corona Virus related. I understand that this is going to be discussed in almost all other topic threads but we could collect news and other items here. 

 

At work, many conferences have been cancelled.

NBA - Suspended.

NHL - About to be suspended. 

NCAA March Madness - Playing - no crowd. 

 

Political Rallies have been cancelled. 

Travel bans. 

 

Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks tested positive. They're in Australia where testing is available. If they were in the US, they wouldn't have been tested. 

For those wondering about 5 to 11 second dose intervals I suggested you go find Dr Reiner’s availability from last week. There is evidence that an 8 week interval will have the greatest overall efficacy. Shortening the interval might have a slight benefit in the short term but overall creates a deficit in protection. 
 

I guess if you believe Covid will be gone forever in a month go for it. My 9 yr old will wait his full 8 weeks. 

20 minutes ago, GCJenks said:

For those wondering about 5 to 11 second dose intervals I suggested you go find Dr Reiner’s availability from last week. There is evidence that an 8 week interval will have the greatest overall efficacy. Shortening the interval might have a slight benefit in the short term but overall creates a deficit in protection. 
 

I guess if you believe Covid will be gone forever in a month go for it. My 9 yr old will wait his full 8 weeks. 

Doctor at RBC said 8 weeks when I took my 7 year old December 19 ish 

1 hour ago, GCJenks said:

For those wondering about 5 to 11 second dose intervals I suggested you go find Dr Reiner’s availability from last week. There is evidence that an 8 week interval will have the greatest overall efficacy. Shortening the interval might have a slight benefit in the short term but overall creates a deficit in protection. 
 

I guess if you believe Covid will be gone forever in a month go for it. My 9 yr old will wait his full 8 weeks. 

Now - why can that not be the consistent message?

* bangs head on wall*

Simple answer is a george Carlin quote from years and years ago 

Stupid people elect stupid politicians 

7 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Now - why can that not be the consistent message?

* bangs head on wall*

This has been Dr Reiner’s message always. To me she is the best source of information that makes sense that we have. The worst part to me is that there is too much contradictory comment by others to see through it. 

Reiner and Atwall over Roussin and his conservative overlords any day 

The word of the day/week/month/year/decade is endemic.

Edited January 5, 20224 yr by FrostyWinnipeg

 

16 hours ago, GCJenks said:

For those wondering about 5 to 11 second dose intervals I suggested you go find Dr Reiner’s availability from last week. There is evidence that an 8 week interval will have the greatest overall efficacy. Shortening the interval might have a slight benefit in the short term but overall creates a deficit in protection. 
 

I guess if you believe Covid will be gone forever in a month go for it. My 9 yr old will wait his full 8 weeks. 

 

I am thinking of shortening my 5-11 yr olds interval to 7 weeks and getting their second shot this week. I have found numerous places where it states that waiting the full 8 weeks is better... but I have never seen any information as to HOW much better- no stats that I can find, at all. So.. is it a little bit better.... or a whole lot better?

Just now, wanna-b-fanboy said:

 

I am thinking of shortening my 5-11 yr olds interval to 7 weeks and getting their second shot this week. I have found numerous places where it states that waiting the full 8 weeks is better... but I have never seen any information as to HOW much better- no stats that I can find, at all. So.. is it a little bit better.... or a whole lot better?

Doctor friend is lowering her kids to 6 weeks. She has to work, so they have to be in school. 

She says it's less effective but does provide more protection over one dose. At this point, it's near impossible to avoid getting Omicron, so minimizing the outcomes is the goal. 

I'm mid 30s. Double vaxxed. 

No booster as not eligible yet for some reason 

In my humblest of opinions... omicron is the new flu or cold. 

Bottom line with me with the testing is if I'm ok enough to wait 8 hours then I'll just stay home until I feel better. But it's also minus 30 last couple weeks then shoots up to a seems way way warmer minus 10 or less for a few days... then back so tis the season.  The flu season which is likely non existent tho with omi being the new flu. 

TPR is 40.3% provincially, 48% in Winnipeg. That's nuts.

1 hour ago, JCon said:

Doctor friend is lowering her kids to 6 weeks. She has to work, so they have to be in school. 

She says it's less effective but does provide more protection over one dose. At this point, it's near impossible to avoid getting Omicron, so minimizing the outcomes is the goal. 

Yup. I have a doctor friend that did 4 weeks for his kids. My kids are getting their's tomorrow, at 6 weeks. Risk to kids is so low already, so short term protection for school (and youth sports) is our top priority. Combined with the fact that they will likely get boosters down the road anyways, I am not that worried about it. All the 8 week data is for adults, and the US is doing 3 weeks, so how bad can 6 be?

1 hour ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

 

I am thinking of shortening my 5-11 yr olds interval to 7 weeks and getting their second shot this week. I have found numerous places where it states that waiting the full 8 weeks is better... but I have never seen any information as to HOW much better- no stats that I can find, at all. So.. is it a little bit better.... or a whole lot better?

Just do it. It seems to be trending that way anyways, and Pfizer's (and CDC's) own numbers say 3 weeks. When they get a booster in 6 months will that one week really matter?

 

Disclaimer: I'm just a rando on the internet, not a virologist, so take everything I say with a giant grain of salt. 

Edited January 5, 20224 yr by Super Duper Negatron

1 hour ago, Stretch said:

TPR is 40.3% provincially, 48% in Winnipeg. That's nuts.

Yes, it is but the context is important. You can't even get a test (PCR) unless you have a positive RAT, so we're not comparing apples to apples from the start of the pandemic to today. The Gov't has given up. 

27 minutes ago, JCon said:

Yes, it is but the context is important. You can't even get a test (PCR) unless you have a positive RAT, so we're not comparing apples to apples from the start of the pandemic to today. The Gov't has given up. 

That's interesting.  I would think the TPR should then be higher than 40%

I would assume there's still a backlog from the previous system

the only number that really matters to me these days is hospitalizations and ICU admissions (and deaths, obviously...) Daily case counts are basically "everyone" at this point...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/second-covid-19-vaccine-dose-children-eight-weeks-manitoba-1.6305266

Sounds like the province is catching up to parents and doctors.

Edited January 6, 20224 yr by Super Duper Negatron

3 hours ago, Noeller said:

the only number that really matters to me these days is hospitalizations and ICU admissions (and deaths, obviously...) Daily case counts are basically "everyone" at this point...

If there was only a way to keep the hospital numbers down and icu's for real emergencies.

Looks like BC has also thrown in the towel.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-s-top-doctor-i-want-to-get-out-of-the-public-health-order-business-1.5728055

Novak Djokovic noted Anti-Vaxxer has had his visa cancelled and told to get out of Australia pronto, entitlement has it's limits when the public gets upset

4 minutes ago, bustamente said:

Novak Djokovic noted Anti-Vaxxer has had his visa cancelled and told to get out of Australia pronto, entitlement has it's limits when the public gets upset

Good, I hope they give him a swift kick in the balls on the way out. While practicing social distancing, of course.

How in the f are there that many people with children in the 5 - 11 age group that haven't got their first shot? My daughter is currently 3 and I plan on booking her first shot on her 5th birthday. I wish we had a better option than just "welp hope our 3 year old doesn't catch this life altering virus".

38 minutes ago, Eternal optimist said:

Good, I hope they give him a swift kick in the balls on the way out. While practicing social distancing, of course.

How in the f are there that many people with children in the 5 - 11 age group that haven't got their first shot? My daughter is currently 3 and I plan on booking her first shot on her 5th birthday. I wish we had a better option than just "welp hope our 3 year old doesn't catch this life altering virus".

Last I heard they were hoping for a vax for 6 months to five years for this summer. It was supposed to be early 2022, but the trials were showing it wasn't very effective. Sure hope my 9 month old doesn't have to wait 4 years.

I believe the FP had a story about a vaccine being tested in Manitoba (as well as other areas) for kids as young as 6 months.

11 hours ago, bustamente said:

Novak Djokovic noted Anti-Vaxxer has had his visa cancelled and told to get out of Australia pronto, entitlement has it's limits when the public gets upset

And now he gets to deal with the consequences of his stupidity: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-australian-open-exemption-update-1.6305775

In South Africa, COVID cases fall as fast as they rose — suggesting the omicron wave could be brief
The omicron variant is going extinct almost as fast as it took off in South Africa

As goes South Africa, so goes the rest of the world.

That sentiment might capture the hope of the health care community as they observe the infection pattern of omicron variant in the Southern Hemisphere nation of nearly 60 million people. When cases of the newly discovered COVID-19 mutation skyrocketed in South Africa in November and December 2021, the world took notice, fearful that it would soon reach the shores of all nations. After scientists learned that the SARS-CoV-2 strain was more transmissible than other viruses which cause COVID-19, political leaders like President Joe Biden began preparing their nations for the worst.

But now, merely a month since cases began spiking in South Africa, numbers have dropped precipitously. Indeed, recent COVID-19 case numbers in South Africa resemble a very steep mountain — an incredibly fast spike, followed by an equally fast fall. 

Now, as South Africa emerges from the other side of its omicron wave, observers hope that the rest of the world will also find itself in better shape at the end of this chapter of the pandemic than it was during other variant phases. 

Fortuitously, researchers in South Africa have found that people in that country who were infected with the omicron variant were much less likely to be hospitalized, at least compared with previous variants. Just as notably, people who become sick after getting infected with omicron seem to recover more quickly than patients who were infected with other SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Experts in the country believe the omicron surge there has already peaked, with the government issuing a statement on Dec. 30 explaining that there had been a 29.7 percent decrease in the number of confirmed new cases for the week ending on Christmas Day, compared with the number from the previous week (from 127,753 down to 89,781 cases).

"All indicators suggest the country may have passed the peak of the fourth wave at a national level," the statement added, noting that there were only two provinces that reported increases in cases (the Western Cape and Eastern Cape). Officials also noted that, although the variant remains highly transmissible, hospitalizations have not increased as much as during previous COVID-19 waves. "This means that the country has a spare capacity for admission of patients even for routine health services," they pointed out.

In South Africa, COVID cases fall as fast as they rose — suggesting the omicron wave could be brief | Salon.com