48 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

Finally convinced my Mom to get the vaccine. Is JJ the best for long term and doesn't breakdown as fast as Pzifer? 

I actually think it's Moderna, Pfizer then J&J in terms of breakthrough hospitalizations (from least to most). Keep in mind that we're still talking less than 1 percent for all vaccines in terms of number of vaccinated who end up in the hospital so they're all great.

As far as "long-term" is concerned it's very hard to say. Maybe J&J is stronger after a year but nobody will know for a while if that's true.

7 hours ago, SB52 said:

I understand science and the scientific method go against the cult of "progressivism,” but have Nicki Minaj’s strange comments been PROVEN incorrect?

I certainly agree her comments seem crazy, but simply accepting visceral ad hominem attacks is a much greater threat to the future of our society.

I also assume asking a simple question now makes me an anti-vaxxer (even though I’m vaccinated).

Shockingly it seems as if Nicki Minaj may not be a super reliable source of information on COVID and its vaccine.

6 hours ago, Procus said:

Tell us what happened.

What happened in India is the country avoided adopting mitigation strategies, was slow to vaccinate its population, and experienced a severe wave of COVID during the spring that they were ill-prepared for. LINK  As scientists are still studying the causes of such an outbreak: What factors led up to the outbreak? Why does it come in waves? How do we handle it?... We have these biased political publications touting miracle cures saving the population. It reeks of BS. LINK  India remains ill-prepared for the next wave. LINK  Yet people like you don't care. You will believe the first story you hear, charmed by the snake oil salesmen. Then when India is suffering its next outbreak, you won't care. You'll already be onto the next story.

If you want to use ivermectin as prophylactic or treatment, knock yourself out. I recommend finding a doctor who will prescribe it, help you find the right stuff to take, and the correct dosages. If it makes you feel better, then great. I'd rather hear your personal experience with the stuff than some BS you researched on the internet.

I'll be interested to see if the mass vaccinations are creating accelerated variants. If so how long until we get the killer kung flu?

10 hours ago, vikas83 said:

Do you get to pick now? I got Moderna because that's what they had -- we couldn't choose.

I think it just depends on what each place has in stock. At work back in March when I got mine they were giving out Moderna but when I got my second shot of Moderna in April they were giving Pfizer to people getting their first shot. 

16 minutes ago, lynched1 said:

I'll be interested to see if the mass vaccinations are creating accelerated variants. If so how long until we get the killer kung flu?

Unvaccinated people lead to higher transmission rates which leads to higher mutation rates. 

7 hours ago, Dave Moss said:

 

Ahh sheet atheists represent!!

1 hour ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Ahh sheet atheists represent!!

They don't believe in God but aren't in a rush to test their theory. 

7 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

They don't believe in God but aren't in a rush to test their theory. 

True, but religious people should have no problems getting the vaccine if they truly believe he will save them from any harm 

In a perfect world the unvaccinated and the vaccinated but high risk individuals would be using up the supply first and then booster shots could become more widespread.  However, we don't have a perfect world.

Long term, the issue is going to be getting people across the globe in places like Africa vaccinated.  Before that happens we will continue to get variants and thus will continue to need further boosters or new vaccines/treatments.

4 hours ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Ahh sheet atheists represent!!

4 hours ago, Diehardfan said:

They don't believe in God but aren't in a rush to test their theory. 

Sure, those vaccinated atheists are dropping like. . .no, wait, that's Evangelical nutbags and anti-vaxxers.

5 hours ago, Diehardfan said:

They don't believe in God but aren't in a rush to test their theory. 

Of course I would want to stay alive as long as possible because it's the only life we have thus an atheist

8 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

Of course I would want to stay alive as long as possible because it's the only life we have thus an atheist

Yeah I think death is actually pretty scary for atheists. 

54 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

Yeah I think death is actually pretty scary for atheists. 

Apparently so. It seems they favor life more than the evangelicals and protestants.

 

7 minutes ago, mr_hunt said:

 

Things gotta breathe, Mike.

My iMmUnE sYsTeM cAn HaNdLe tHiS, iT's jUsT a BaD CoLd, AnD tHe SurViVaL rAtE iS 99.7%!

How does COVID-19 affect the brain? A troubling picture emerges.

In the U.S. alone, millions of people have developed lasting cognitive and neurological problems long after an initial COVID-19 infection. Some of these patients may be permanently disabled and need long-term care. "My concern is that we're going to have huge numbers of the population who aren't able to function at their cognitive baseline. They can't go back to work, or at least not to what they did before,” Frontera says. "We haven’t even thought of the long-term implications. It could be an incredible blow to the economy.”

Davis says the scariest part about COVID-19’s cognitive effects is that people of all ages and health status are affected. "This is something everyone is at risk for, and it's completely debilitating.”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-does-covid-19-affect-the-brain-a-troubling-picture-emerges

 

53 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

Yeah I think death is actually pretty scary for atheists. 

No more scary than for anyone else.  Maybe less so, because we don't have to worry about whether our life will be judged by some mythical creature and then sent to a good or bad place.   

Just now, caesar said:

No more scary than for anyone else.  Maybe less so, because we don't have to worry about whether our life will be judged by some mythical creature and then sent to a good or bad place.   

Yeah I have to disagree. I find the finality of death terrifying.

1 minute ago, Boogyman said:

Yeah I have to disagree. I find the finality of death terrifying.

Well think of it this way.  Once actually dead you won't know it or realize it (since your brain ceases to function;   think sleeping without dreaming).   The scary part is actually the process of dyING.  Not death itself.  Nothingness (i.e death) that you aren't aware of, can't be scary.  Being terrified is an emotion/feeling based on your brain and hormones functioning.  Without that -- you won't be terrified.  

There is some sort of terror in living forever too, if you think about it.  I could see a great sci fi movie about that.  

Death is inevitable. Nobody gets out alive.

People can be frightened of anything. No longer breathing is a frightening concept to lots of people.

14 hours ago, Diehardfan said:

What the crap....nobody can get on the same page.

 

Like I've been saying, the term "need" in this context is going to be more subjective than it was back in February. If you don't meet the 6-60 guideline, then it's more of a judgment call.

If you don't want to feel any symptoms of covid at all, then yes you will likely "need" a booster shot soon.

On the other hand, if you're okay with potentially getting covid, and dealing with mild to moderate symptoms, but not ones severe enough to land you in the hospital, then you don't "need" a booster shot soon.

Also note that the WHO, and some researchers/doctors, are framing this primarily as a humanitarian issue. When viewing this through the lens of world health policy, they see boosters deployed to first world countries as marginally beneficial, and they think those doses should be prioritized for third-world countries who are still largely unvaccinated. Which is fine, but it's a completely separate discussion centered on the ethical outcomes, rather than the clinical / epidemiological ones. It's also a bit of a false dichotomy, since production is no longer a bottleneck, and distribution issues are not going to be resolved because Americans are forgoing booster shots. In reality, those doses are bought and paid for, and many are expiring on the shelf every single day. So if you ask me, I'd say better to get those doses in arms rather than tossing them in the garbage.

6 hours ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

True, but religious people should have no problems getting the vaccine if they truly believe he will save them from any harm 

Just a joke.

 

17 hours ago, Procus said:

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/uttar-pradesh-government-says-ivermectin-helped-to-keep-deaths-low-7311786/

Uttar Pradesh government says early use of Ivermectin helped to keep positivity, deaths low

Claiming that timely introduction of Ivermectin since the first wave has helped the state maintain a relatively low positivity rate despite in its high population density.

Written by Maulshree Seth | Lucknow |
May 12, 2021 10:02:08 am

 

The state Health Department introduced Ivermectin as prophylaxis for close contacts of Covid patients, health workers as well as for the treatment of the patients themselves through a government order on August 6, 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

 

A year after the country’s first Covid-19 cluster, with 5 cases, was reported in Agra district, the Uttar Pradesh government has claimed that it was the first state to have introduced a large-scale "prophylactic and therapeutic” use of Ivermectin and added that the drug helped the state to maintain a lower fatality and positivity rate as compared to other states.

Citing the results from Agra in the month of May and June last year, following which the use of Ivermectin, a medicine to treat parasitic ailments, along with Doxycycline was introduced as a protocol across the state for both prophylactic as well as treatment purposes, the state Health Department said it would conduct a controlled study once the second wave of the pandemic subsides.

The state Health Department introduced Ivermectin as prophylaxis for close contacts of Covid patients, health workers as well as for the treatment of the patients themselves through a government order on August 6, 2020, after a committee headed by the Director General, Medical and Health Services, gave it the go ahead.

"Uttar Pradesh was the first state in the country to introduce large-scale prophylactic and therapeutic use of Ivermectin. In May-June 2020, a team at Agra, led by Dr Anshul Pareek, administered Ivermectin to all RRT team members in the district on an experimental basis. It was observed that none of them developed Covid-19 despite being in daily contact with patients who had tested positive for the virus,” Uttar Pradesh State Surveillance Officer Vikssendu Agrawal said.

Read |At least Rs 1 crore compensation for death of polling officers due to Covid-19: Allahabad HC

He added that based on the findings from Agra, the state government sanctioned the use of Ivermectin as a prophylactic for all the contacts of Covid patients and later cleared the administration of therapeutic doses for the treatment of such patients.

Claiming that timely introduction of Ivermectin since the first wave has helped the state maintain a relatively low positivity rate despite its high population density, he said, "Despite being the state with the largest population base and a high population density, we have maintained a relatively low positivity rate and cases per million of population”.

He said that apart from aggressive contact tracing and surveillance, the lower positivity and fatality rates may be attributed to the large-scale use of Ivermectin use in the state, adding that the drug has recently been introduced in the National Protocol for Covid treatment and management. "Once the second wave subsides, we would conduct our own study as there has been an emerging body of evidence to substantiate our timely use of Ivermectin from the first wave itself,” Vikasendu told The Indian Express.

Agra District Magistrate Prabhu N Singh also attributed the state’s relative success in keeping the Covid numbers down to the timely nod to the use of Ivermectin as a prophylactic. He added that government doctor Anshul Pareek had approached him last year citing use of the medicine abroad.

"We reported the first Covid-19 cluster in the country after five members of a family, who had returned from Italy, tested positive. Soon, the virus spread, with a large number of police personnel getting affected. Doctor Pareek approached me with a request to introduce Ivermectin on an experimental basis. I was told there are no risks involved with the use of the drug,” Singh told The Indian Express.

He said the district administration had formed small groups of personnel from the same police station as well staffers at his office. "We introduced it (Ivermectin) for three days, 12 mg as advised in the national guidelines at the time, followed by tests on the fourth or fifth day. We introduced it in the jail as well and the results helped us reduce positivity to a great extent, following which Additional Chief Secretary Health Amit Mohan formed a committee to access its usage and it was finally introduced in the state’s Covid management protocol in 2020 itself,” Singh said.

• 
• The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.

 

A major, heavily-populated state virtually eliminated COVID with the use of a cheap, readily available, safe drug. I’m really surprised there’s not more discussion about this. Oh wait, no I’m not. 😂🤣