Tag: coronavirus

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Tennessee Woman Drives Through Vaccination Tent In Protest

COVIDiot Virginia C. Brown drove through a COVID vaccination site in protest of vaccines narrowly missing workers.

COVIDiot Virginia C. Brown drove through a COVID vaccination site in protest of vaccines narrowly missing workers. Look, I get that some folks don’t want to get a coronavirus shot. So, don’t. But Virginia C. Brown, 36, has been arrested after driving through a vaccination site at a high rate of speed narrowly missing 7 workers. From WSMV in Nashville:

Deputies assigned to assist at the site saw a blue Chrysler SUV traveling at a high rate of speed through a closed cone course and through an enclosed tent with several health department and national guard personnel working under the tent. The deputy observed the Chrysler SUV exit the tent and continue to drive recklessly through the cone course.

A deputy was able to follow Brown after she drove through the site and arrest her. She was charged with seven counts of felony reckless endangerment.

Workers in the tent said the woman in the car was shouting things about the vaccine. They told deputies they thought the woman was yelling “No vaccine,” as she sped by them, narrowly missing hitting seven of the workers under the tent. 

Workers at the vaccination site told deputies they thought the driver was attempting to kill them.

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New COVID Infections Drops To Lowest Level In 11 Months

Getting my second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine

Getting my second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine
Getting my 2nd Pfizer shot today
From the Washington Post:

For the first time in 11 months, the daily average of new coronavirus infections in the United States has fallen below 30,000 amid continuing signs that most communities across the nation are emerging from the worst of the pandemic.

The seven-day average dipped to 27,815 on Friday, the lowest since June 22 and less than a tenth of the infection rate during the winter surge, according to state health department data compiled by The Washington Post.

The pandemic map remains speckled with hot spots, including parts of the Deep South, the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest.

The big question at this point is whether the virus will be snuffed out completely or if it will ‘smolder’ in isolated areas where folks choose to not be vaccinated. The second scenario could leave pockets of the virus laying in wait allowing it to return with colder weather. #GetYourShot

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Free Beer: Brewery Hosts ‘Shot And A Chaser’ Vaccination Clinic

Free beer was on the menu at a Buffalo brewery which hosted a 'shot and a chaser' pop-up vaccination site
(photo: Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels)
Free beer was on the menu at a Buffalo brewery which hosted a ‘shot and a chaser’ pop-up vaccination site. I am not mad at this. From Buffalo News:

Saturday was the first day that Erie County worked with a local microbrewery to host its Shot and a Chaser program, offering individuals who got their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at Resurgence Brewing Company a free pint glass and coupon for the vaccinated person’s drink of choice.

County Executive Mark Poloncarz, who was nursing his own drink in one hand while directing vaccine recipients to open table with the other, was happy to see the county’s first Shot and a Chaser effort going so well. Before the vaccinations started at 11 a.m., there was a line out the door.

If free beer wasn’t your thing, the local theme park Darien Lakes will host a pop-up vaccination clinic on Tuesday offering free admission to anyone who gets their shot. We’ve gone from former presidents encouraging vaccinations to major sports groups like Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA and more giving away free tickets to get those shots in arms. Whatever gets it done, folks.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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NY Gov Says Broadway Can ‘Effectively’ Re-Open May 19, But…

A photo of Broadway marquees in Times Square
(photo: Ludovic Bertron/Flickr)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has given the green light for Broadway shows to reopen as of May 19, although getting productions up and running on the Great White Way is actually going to take a bit longer. From The Hollywood Reporter:

Though Broadway can effectively reopen on that date “from a capacity point of view,” Cuomo said, the governor noted that it will take time to remount productions and sell tickets.

“They may make their own economic decision as to when they reopen,” Cuomo said during a Monday press briefing. “We’re talking about Broadway.”

For their part, Broadway leaders — including The Broadway League — had previously said a September reopening is more likely. This came after Mayor Bill de Blasio said he expects New York City to reopen in July.

And, following Cuomo’s Monday remarks, the League remains committed to reopening at full capacity in the fall.

Included in Cuomo’s announcement was an emphasis on social distancing measures which would have to remain in effect per the CDC unless theatergoers provide proof of vaccination or recent negative test results. Read the full article here.

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Herd Immunity May Not Be Achievable In US

(photo: Anna Shvets/Pexels)
Medical experts have said that the goal in defeating the coronavirus in the U.S. would be to achieve ‘herd immunity’ – when some 80 percent of Americans would be protected from the virus via natural infection or vaccines. Now, with vaccination rates slowing down, health officials aren’t sure we’ll actually reach that level. From the New York Times:

Instead, they are coming to the conclusion that rather than making a long-promised exit, the virus will most likely become a manageable threat that will continue to circulate in the United States for years to come, still causing hospitalizations and deaths but in much smaller numbers.

How much smaller is uncertain and depends in part on how much of the nation, and the world, becomes vaccinated and how the coronavirus evolves.

It is already clear, however, that the virus is changing too quickly, new variants are spreading too easily and vaccination is proceeding too slowly for herd immunity to be within reach anytime soon.

Medical experts originally thought 60-70 percent of Americans getting vaccinated would get us to herd immunity, but they’ve upped that estimate to 80 percent due to the new variants of the virus spreading. Polls show nearly 30 percent of Americans have no plans to get vaccinated. Read the full article here.

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Doctor Dies Of COVID Just Weeks After Calling Vaccines ‘Totally Unnecessary’

Dr. Stephen Karanja

Dr. Stephen Karanja
Dr. Stephen Karanja (image via Update of Nepal Banda)
A doctor in Kenya who virulently opposed the use of COVID-19 vaccines has died from the virus just weeks after calling the shots “totally unnecessary.” From the BBC:

Dr Stephen Karanja, chairman of the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association, advocated steam inhalation and hydroxychloroquine tablets.

Health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) rejected his claims.

“[The vaccine] being distributed in Kenya, has been reviewed and found safe not only by the WHO rigorous process but also by several stringent regulatory authorities,” the WHO said in March.

In a letter dated 3 March Dr Karanja said that “there are drugs that have been repurposed and used effectively to treat Covid-19,” adding that “we also know that vaccination for this disease is totally unnecessary making the motivation suspect.”

I don’t celebrate the death of any man, but this is would seem to be yet another lesson to those who continue to fall for or espouse anti-vaccine propaganda. #Choices

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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India Reports Over 400K New COVID Cases In One Day

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

Over 400,000 new cases of coronavirus were reported in India on Saturday as the  new surge there continues to ravage the country. Forty percent of new cases globally are in India where over 3,000 people a day are dying from the virus. From the Washington Post:

The soaring number of cases prompted the United States to restrict travel from India on Friday. Dozens of countries have begun sending aid to bolster hospitals overwhelmed by patients and short on oxygen.

On Saturday, a hospital in the capital, New Delhi, issued an SOS for oxygen supplies, saying its tank was empty.

Eight coronavirus patients died over the next hour before it was refilled, said S.C.L. Gupta, the medical director of Batra Hospital. The dead included one of the hospital’s own doctors. “We have lost him,” Gupta said.

The 7-day rolling average of new daily cases in India was more than 357,000 on Thursday. That’s five times what it was just a month ago. A tight lockdown last year helped the country avoid huge case numbers, but clearly officials relaxed those restrictions far too soon.

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100 Million Americans Fully Vaccinated Against COVID

Vials of COVID-19 vaccine

Vials of COVID-19 vaccine White House coronavirus response director Jeff Zients announced today that over 100 million Americans are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. From CNN:

The news comes as CNN reported that Biden’s coronavirus advisers are moving into the next phase of their response, from ramping up availability of Covid-19 vaccines to reaching those who have not yet gotten the shot.

White House officials have three overarching goals for the next 100 days: increasing accessibility, combating misinformation and assisting those without the resources to get vaccinated.

The US has administered approximately 237 million shots of the three Covid-19 vaccines as of Friday morning, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With 330 million people in the United States, medical experts say the minimum needed in order to reach the goal of ‘herd immunity’ is 70 percent or 231 million.

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Health Officials: Fully Vaccinated Can Skip Masks When Outdoors

New York state is about to drop its face mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the Empire State.

A man wearing a face mask during the pandemic As vaccinations for the coronavirus have begun to slow, federal health officials announced today that those Americans who are fully vaccinated will no longer need face masks when exercising outdoors, or at small outdoor gatherings or indoors with family members of their household. From the New York Times:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped short of telling those people that they could shed their masks altogether in outdoor settings — citing the worrying risk that remains for transmitting the coronavirus, unknown vaccination levels among people in crowds and the still high-caseloads in some regions of the country.

Federal health officials and President Biden were announcing the updated advice on Tuesday, linking the news with the administration’s public campaign to get most American adults vaccinated by summer and trying to offer reassurances that some semblance of normal life can return.

But the C.D.C. is maintaining advice on other safety measures, saying vaccinated adults should continue wearing masks and staying six feet apart in large public spaces, like outdoor performance or sports events, indoor shopping malls and movie theaters, where the vaccination and health status of others would be unknown. And they still should avoid medium and large gatherings, crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, officials said.

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Study Warning About Face Masks Debunked, Soon To Be Retracted

Stock photo of a man working out

Stock photo of a man working out
(stock image via Depositphotos)
A study that purportedly criticized the efficacy of wearing face masks during the pandemic is about to be retracted after some funky facts came to light. From Retraction Watch:

A study that warned of the perils of using face masks as a precaution against contracting Covid-19 appears slated for retraction, Retraction Watch has learned. The 2020 paper, “Facemasks in the COVID-19 era: A health hypothesis,” was written by Baruch Vainshelboim, who listed his affiliation as Stanford University and the VA Palo Alto Health System.

But the study gained wide circulation earlier this month, thanks in part to some conservative politicians, and became the subject of fact-checks by the Associated Press and Snopes, which pointed out that the paper was published by an exercise physiologist with no academic connection to Stanford University or the NIH in a journal that accepts “radical, speculative and non-mainstream scientific ideas.

Stanford has disavowed both Vainshelboim and the paper. Snopes, the fact-checking site, cited the study as false and misleading: “The paper was published by an exercise physiologist with no academic connection to Stanford University or the NIH in a journal that accepts ‘radical, speculative and non-mainstream scientific ideas.'” Vainshelboim is not a medical doctor but reportedly holds a PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Porto in 2014. The paper got renewed traction this month after the far-right leaning fake-news site, The Gateway Pundit, which has been banned from Twitter for repeatedly posting misinformation.

(h/t JoeMyGod)