“Blake Murdoch at the University of Alberta said #DanielleSmith framing the town hall as a chance to look at the international evidence of harm to children by COVID vaccines is a “reckless misrepresentation of what this event” is based on the guest list. (1/4)
“The issue is not that there is a difference of opinion here. It’s that there is a huge amount of science that shows that these #VaccinesSaveLives and they are overwhelmingly safe so to claim otherwise becomes a statement of #misinformation,” (4/4)
Spring Covid Vaccination achievement unlocked. I scheduled and filled in my form (they already had my details) online, checked in from the parking lot. Had my shot within 5 minutes of parking. Was required to hang out for ten minutes (I never have had any reaction, but I obeyed. :)) and be proud of me I did NOT buy any chocolate. That said, easier to avoid as this is the American Cadbury recipe that tastes like draino. The UK recipe is so much better.
Next week- the Shingrix shot (1 of 2) even though I had earlier type of vaccine. Heard enough horror stories re how painful shingles is, opted to pay out of pocket to get vaccine. Since then, Shingrix came on market and now I want the more effective vaccine.
Am vaccinated from babyhood (around the world, in India, Lebanon, Iran) and now plan to test immunity to all cooties, and if needed get boosters given how anti-vax numbskulls are spreading disease again.
@grrrr_shark Ugh. Sorry you went through that. I've heard from a few friends who had it how nasty shingles is. And I learned from @Eigenseide that one can test for how well one's immunity is still doing - so I plan to do all of that and get boosters, if necessary. BTW, she's writing a book about vaccinations!!! So definitely worth a follow if you are interested in the subject.
Trump said in Richmond, that he will take all federal funds away from public schools that require vaccines. Like most states, Virginia requires MMR vaccine, chickenpox vaccine, polio, etc.
So Trump would take millions in federal funds away from all Virginia public schools.
My parents, who are in their 70s, finally got #Covid despite all their precautions. Thanks to the fact that they had all their boosters they are both completely recovered, and with neither one needing any hospital care.
I thank God every day they are not Fox News watching anti-vaxxers and they are alive.
"People over age 65 made up 67 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations between October 2023 and January 2024, according to CDC data.."
@gemelliz I grew up in a developing country, I'm amazingly lucky to be in #Canada now and I cannot fanthom anyone, with all the correct information available to them, choosing to not vaccinate their kids...CHOOSING it!!!
After three arduous years spent combing through the health data of more than 99 million vaccinated people around the globe, Dr. Jeff Kwong was finally done.
He and a multinational team of 34 researchers had just completed the largest-ever study into COVID-19 vaccine safety — and yielded results the authors say confirm the safety of the vaccine.
"The bottom line message is that COVID vaccines are very safe," said Kwong
JN.1.11 has totally fizzled out (that's the difference between how it looks in a lab compared to actual infectivity) but there is a new variant that is being VERY closely scoured for by geneticists: JN.1.23 (that's JN One Dot Twenty-Three.)
This variant has an absolutely astounding ACE2Binding ability (which means it's easier to "stick" to lungs) + very good escape rate (which means it looks different than anything else before it and the body isn't sure how to react to it).: https://ibb.co/B45zX5B
It has already been found on 3 continents (South America/Brazil, North America/California, and Asia/India) and also in Canada/Alberta. it's now being tracked on Rajnarayanan's Tableau chart for the US.: https://ibb.co/xMwRyyC
This also has so much binding ability, it has the most potential to even "spend" some of its infectivity on other mutations that will benefit its children, sacrificing it for more severity or more innate infectivity....which would be very bad.
The good news is that this variant has only 2 differences between it and what we're already dealing with. Despite the very good ACE2 binding, XBB.1.5 vaccines and prior infections with JN.1 should hold against it at least a little while.: https://ibb.co/42D30fZ
(Note: don't get infected to prevent infection. That's silly. There's NO sure way to know if you were infected with JN.1 unless you get your case sequenced. Get vaccinated and use source control. That's smart and NOT silly.)
Wastewater
Wastewater SARS2 material is rising in the US again. Not a good sign.: https://ibb.co/DGx889k
Regionally, all regions except the West are starting to tick upwards again.: https://ibb.co/dtKpRsK
In PA, the 5 stations that report to Biobot are showing very volatile elves, but Chester, Lackawanna, Luzerne, and MontCo are handling it. :canparrot: GOOD GOING. Source control keeps those numbers down!!!: https://ibb.co/JxZX7YC
BucksCo is on an uptick, now above national averages. Please be cautious and keep working at it for Spring!!! 💐
The PA DoH Wastewater dashboard reflects these rising levels, with levels especially rising in Monroe County. PLEASE USE SOURCE CONTROL. Wear a quality respirator, clean the air with MERV-13 or HEPA filters, and STAY HOME if you are sick!: https://ibb.co/DwtcNgd
Year-Over-Year
Want to remind everyone that this year has the highest national wastewater numbers of all COVID years at this time.: https://ibb.co/WP98zxT
(I changed the color of the 2024 year because the original color used to represent it was...pretty unseeable.)
MORE people are getting infected/reinfected more quickly, and you can see the general trend is for the absolute baseline rising throughout the year.
This is in addition to, on WastewaterSCAN, high levels of other respiratory pathogens like RSV, FluA and FluB and the gastro-disturbing (and just gross) Norovirus.: https://ibb.co/ggyxfBt
Wash hands to prevent especially non SARS pathogens.
🌊👍🌊
Wash fruits and veg too before you eat them!
🌊🍎🥒🌊
Guys, this is us on our way to a high tide that will never drop IF we don't use source control.
But if we do, we can prevent life, learning, and financial loss going into spring and have a LOVELY and healthy new season soon! 💐
“The contagious nature of measles means that if an infected person walks into a store and another person who isn't vaccinated comes in two hours later, they can still catch it.
Research suggests that one person with measles can spread it to an average of 12 to 18 others.”
In PA,, a little slower pace but it's still at over 28% of leaderboard share.: https://ibb.co/sCmQtbH
In NY/NJ, JN.1 at over 45% of share and this is only going to go up when kids go back to school.: https://ibb.co/DkJbCXs
Please take this highly evasive, transmissible variant seriously. The latest XBB vaccine will help sorta-ok-marginally against severe disease and health care system strain but this variant is many, many mutations away from anything we currently have, so source control is best.
Wear a quality RESPIRATOR. This is increasingly VITAL as it gets colder, making leaving windows open less ideal.
Nationally, most of the contiguous States are at VERY HIGH levels. We in PA are in more moderate levels of SARS2 spread and it will be more important than ever to practice source control against JN.1 to maintan this. It will prevent straining health care systems from not only increasing FluA, FluB, etc. but also people that just didn't care to get vaccinated.: https://ibb.co/RCYyNY3
Please get the XBB version ASAP if you didn't get one.
In PA, numbers match national levels so there's no real difference here. The last 2 weeks are shaded grey as they are incomplete, so the massive dropoff in wastewater on the end there is not due to declining levels but rather data gap.: https://ibb.co/FJK3BxN
PLEASE NOTE that we are in the midst of the SECOND largest increase in wastewater SARS2 material, and even if cases aren't reflecting this in data, those cases are still out there.
Try to go virtual if you can. Crack open a window. Practice SOME form of source control until the Spring!
If we all work together we can prevent life, learning, and finanical fallout in the next few months! :canparrot: :canparrot: :canparrot:
Stay safe from COVID and also that wacky storm coming our way tomorrow! ❄️❄️❄️
“#Florida’s top health official called for a halt to using mRNA coronavirus vaccines on Wednesday, contending that the shots could contaminate patients’ DNA — a claim that has been roundly debunked by public health experts, federal officials and the #vaccine companies” #COVID 💉😷
@GottaLaff Grabbed my “Block” mallet and marched into this comment section with steely reserve…only to find just one person deserving of the #WhackATroll honor. Color me shocked lol
In NY/NJ, JN.1 has ALREADY reached 40% of random sequencing 👀 and that was before 100,000 people hung out together unmasked in Times Square. 😓: https://ibb.co/ZhghSmQ
The closest new competitor to JN.1 is GE.1.2.1, a descendant of XBB.2.3, but it still falls a bit short of JN.1'a relative growth rate. JN.1.1.1 also falls a bit short but is still so fast it warrants monitoring.: https://ibb.co/9Yhn37n
This NOWCAST was from two weeks ago, so should be updated this Friday. You can see the absolutely explosive rate of JN.1's growth.: https://ibb.co/0qYtpB1
We will know how much of a surge it will cause once it hits 50% share of national sequencing, after which hosiptals and other care centers could experience strain.
DON'T CONTRIBUTE TO THIS.
Wear a respirator.
Keep the air clean.
CDC
You can see on the CDC At-A-Glance graphic, we're heading (not unexpectedly) in the wrong way after the holday season.: https://ibb.co/61yR8Jk
Emergency Department visits rising along most populous/coastal/border States.: https://ibb.co/QYzSJM6
Most Eastern states and metro areas in most other States have substantially increased in new hospital admits.: https://ibb.co/3CHBpQb
Don't let this get worse, folks. Wear a quality respirator. Stay home. test and retest. Keep the air clean!
The old coal region including and west of Schuylkill south toward the MD border is holding steady.
Tioga and the southwest corner is still hoiding out there, doing OK with numbers reducing.
Inpatient Beds holding steady and actually decreasing through msot of the state with some rising around Easton, around CentreCo. and up by Potter Co.: https://ibb.co/dW26YRs
ICU bed use reducing in a lot of areas but increasing significantly in Huntigdon, Mifflin and Juniata Cos.: https://ibb.co/wsc4jmp
More states are experiencing increases in deaths over a 3-month period. This is very much caused in part by refusal to take latest vaccinations causing waning immunity.: https://ibb.co/Sf3rk0K
4% of deaths in PA in the past week were from COVID. GO GET XBB VACCINATED.
With an increase of caution now we can prevent fallout in the health system in the next month or two! 😷😷😷😷😷
“Essentially, when you're infected with measles, your immune system abruptly forgets every pathogen it's ever encountered before – every cold, every bout of flu, every exposure to bacteria or viruses in the environment, every vaccination. The loss is near-total and permanent. Once the measles infection is over, current evidence suggests that your body has to re-learn what's good and what's bad almost from scratch. ”
In NY/NJ, fast-moving variants (compared the the current already fast variants!!) holding at around .9%. JD.1.1 at over 2%.: https://ibb.co/d4Nv5sw
JN.1 updates
JN.1 looks like it's seriously affecting infection numbers in Canada, Muenich, and especially France, where JN.1 is already estimated to be the top variant. Very bad for the holidays.
🔴BA.2.86 defintiely has potential to take over the whole variant market in the future. (And this is the SLOWEST variant, the parent of even faster variants.) With over 30 mutations to all current variants it has great potential to infect through any current immunity, due to antigenic shift alone.
🔴Four antivirals work against it including Remdesivir. (Molnupiravir is strongly discouraged by the viral genetics community.)
🔴The cell fusion is only slightly greater than BA.2, meaning it has potential to not cause as severe disease as something more fusogenic (i.e., it's not Delta-like).
🔴"Overall, BA.2.86 does not appear to pose an increased risk to human society. However, it is possible that its virological phenotype may change or even worsen in the future by acquiring additional mutations. Continued monitoring and surveillance are important now and then."
Sato is being encouraged to do similar testing for JN.1 and JQ variants which are descendants of BA.2.86 and have been proven faster movers.
Wastewater
Nationally, looks like the Fall honeymoon is over and wastewater levels are starting to go back up.: https://ibb.co/6gjjV5J
Regionally, the Midwest and West are yet again adjusted upwards.: https://ibb.co/tzDfT05
In PA, 5/9 stations (excluding the 2 that don't seem to report lately to Biobot) are going upwards.: https://ibb.co/bgG4XF5
WastewaterSCAN has our area in the Northeast at HIGH levels for SARS2.
WWSCAN has the Dauphin/Harrisburg area on a rise again through Oct. 31.
🔴WWSCAN has Norovirus (the common "stomach virus") as HIGH nationally. Please wash your hands often, make sure utensils and eating places are clean, and also wash any fresh food that might need it (fruits, veggies, etc.)
What's going in the Lackawanna area??? Please get a hold of this before the holidays or we're gonna have a bad time. Also in Bucks/Franklin areas. Clean that air and use those respiratoirs!
CDC
Lots of new hospital admits all along south of I-80. Also in Western half border counties. Philly area is stable.: https://ibb.co/nLKFZTz
Staffed inpatient Beds map has improved. Numbers increasing in Lawrence Co. especially.: https://ibb.co/HzQv43T
Staffed ICU beds somewhat increasing surrounding Dauphin Co and over in the Somerset/BedfordCo areas.: https://ibb.co/dtqH5jN
🍁A little bit of caution now will prevent a lot of life, learning, and financial loss later on.
Be careful and protect yourself this Fall (and get those flu and XBB vaccinations!) 🍁🍁🍁