Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #VaccinesPlus

Most recents (24)

We often hear "live with it, just like the flu"...

My response is, and always has been, DO NOT play virus top trumps - it's daft.
As @covidinquiryuk continues, one thing I hope we can take forward, it's how to do things better, rather than how it's "normally done"... briefšŸ§µ
Influenza A virus has been the top of the list for potential pandemics since time immemorial, not JUST because of the 1918/19 pandemic and its aftermath, but because of all the other pandemics of the 20th and 21st centuries that are less familiar to many:
science.org/doi/10.1126/scā€¦ Image
What followed each pandemic was the dominance of that particular virus for many years after, causing seasonal flu. Note, seasonality is complicated, it doesn't really occur in tropical regions and is not just driven by our behaviour...

annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/anā€¦
Read 25 tweets
So, yesterday @chrischirp and @Zubhaque hosted a brilliant @IndependentSage briefing on lived experience of a group of University students during restrictions.
Some were surprised at the content, especially that negative impacts from restrictions were discussed...
Certain folks
seem to actually BLAME us for restrictions!
Seemingly, we convinced the virus to return, and it was nothing to do with any missteps in policy, certain folks being invited to no10, or anyone seemingly more motivated by monet over public health...

So, it may surprise some to hear that agreeing something is necessary for the greater good is NOT the same as "wanting it". We have had multiple discussions of vulnerable groups, inequalities, inequity etc., we have families, including clinically vulnerable ones. We have kids, we
Read 14 tweets
No tests...like flu?
5 waves/year...like flu?
>30k dead in 22...like flu?
2M+ with long COVID...like flu?
10s of 1000s in hospital...like flu?
Vax 4 vulnerable, NOT kids...like flu?
1 antiviral...like flu?
Cardio, neuro, metabolic sequelae...like flu?
FFS

bbc.co.uk/news/health-65ā€¦
Please don't take this as being dismissive of flu, it's a dreadful disease, i work on both 4 good reasons.
But our dynamics with seasonal strains is nothing like our friendly pandemic CoV.
I'm continuously astonished by the total absence of population scale considerations...nuts.
While we're at it, of course I'm pro-vax, but mainly pro- #VaccinesPlus as ever...
No one thing is enough to mitigate this virus. Our vaccines are incredibly good vs severe COVID, but that's not the whole battle, by any means...

We need better invariant targets, mucosal vax etc
Read 4 tweets
Some long-standing critics of @IndependentSage appear to be conducting an interesting work of fiction casting us as either some useful stooges, unintentionally supporting government mind control strategies, or a dedicated psy-ops operation trying to create a world of restrictions
Well...
Whilst several amongst this number are indeed trying to sell books, watchful magazines...or rose-tinted retrospectoscopes šŸ¤Ŗ

I'm sure it helps comfort some suffering with the increasingly common affliction pre-vax amnesia (PVA) that some sinister plot was in fact responsible for
Read 24 tweets
OK, so China...
Do I agree with some of the draconian measures used to implement their COVID strategy? Of course not.
However, there are some laudable achievements at play. Their test/trace/isolate network is incredible. They have also kept deaths right down following the first
emergence of SARS2 back in 2019. No small feat in a country of 1.4 bn inhabitants. If they had the same deaths/100k as the UK we're talking an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Sadly, we may be about to see a version of this.
Have they completely unlocked and r "living" with
the virus? Well, no. In fact, they retain a pretty good set of mitigations, the likes of which would be great to see here.

So, what's the problem? Well, China simply doesn't have the extent of vaccine/infection induced immunity that we have. They made their own killed virus vax,
Read 19 tweets
To @keithbaldrey,
Actually, COVID-aware *are* in step w/ science; itā€™s ā€œif we have to live w/ this virus, letā€™s be smart about it instead of #LetItRip nonsense.ā€

Letā€™s look at the science, shall we? And about public opinionā€¦letā€™s look at that too.

A thread šŸ§µā€¦

@GlobalBC
2/ First, who are these people you deride as ā€œCOVID zeroā€? Many have good reason to seek out info to keep ourselves & others safe:
- front line workers
- caring professions (schools, LTC, hospitals)
- immunocompromised or live w/ someone who is
- have #LongCovid
- have empathy
ā€¦
3/ So, with the above motivations, COVID-aware looked for evidence to understand what the world is facing w/ this virus.

No 1 basic fact: #COVIDIsAirborne, but unfortunately political forces (incl šŸ‡ØšŸ‡¦PH) deny & obfuscate that.

Itā€™s a massive failure. Mario Possemai says it best:
Read 24 tweets
1/4 Co-circulation of #COVID19, #influenza & #RSV viruses is causing significant strain on health care systems. Very young & elderly people and those with pre-existing medical conditions, continue to be at highest risk for serious illness.

canada.ca/en/public-healā€¦
2/4 Most worrisome is an increase in influenza-related hospitalisations. Also, sentinel paediatric hospital data suggest a shift to a ā†‘ proportion of hospitalized cases in 10-16 year-olds, compared to seasons prior to the #COVID19 pandemic.

canada.ca/en/public-healā€¦
3/4 However, the highest cumulative hospitalization rates for influenza continue to be among young children under 5 years of age and weekly pediatric hospitalization numbers remain above typical peak season levels.
Read 4 tweets
People are trying to kill their way out of the pandemic.

ā€œEndemic.ā€
ā€œHybrid immunityā€ (for only the survivors).

This is about 2/3rds of the way along the plot of a horror movie.
I have never worked out why people think that an aim should be to have ā€œendemicā€ SARS.

Endemic just means present all the time.

What a nightmare. šŸ¤Æ
Hereā€™s the maths that we are doing.

At some point, we will not have people going to hospital or dying as often of COVID-19.

Not because we have stopped the disease circulating as much, but because there are fewer people that are susceptible to a poor outcome.
Read 7 tweets
@mvankerkhove @DrTedros @DrMikeRyan @WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @WHOAFRO @WHOEMRO @WHO_Europe @pahowho @gabbystern @SCBriand So... let us to start by compensating our residual risk in every public spaces, for near and distant contagion through respiratory aerosols, with quality standards of prevention linked to multilayered non-pharmaceutical interventions. Before Christmas pls!
@mvankerkhove @DrTedros @DrMikeRyan @WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @WHOAFRO @WHOEMRO @WHO_Europe @pahowho @gabbystern @SCBriand @AIREyVIDA2021 #las7capas (the 7 layers) is a comprehensive #VaccinesPLUS model of #Prevention for airborne diseases as COVID/LongCOVID, developed nonprofit between 2020 and 2022 -before #Consensus- by @ongdesinflamate from Chile, then shared with spanish-speaking people through @AIREyVIDA2021.
@mvankerkhove @DrTedros @DrMikeRyan @WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @WHOAFRO @WHOEMRO @WHO_Europe @pahowho @gabbystern @SCBriand @AIREyVIDA2021 @ongdesinflamate All We citizens and peoples of the world, actually need @WHO and our States to teach, regulate and facilitate #las7capas (the 7 layers).

If these Quality Standards linked to multilayered #VaccinesPLUS NPIs are not recommended by Dec 23rd, 2022 #1YearLater, We won't trust on you.
Read 4 tweets
Have we figured out that COVID-19 is bad for us yet.

Ready to do something about it?

Write to your MP.

#VaccinesPlus.
Send this to your school.
Send this to your workplace.
Read 4 tweets
(1/3) One of the biggest challenges of having multiple respiratory viruses circulating at the same time is the large and sudden surge of illnesses that can overwhelm the health system. It also means there is a lot of virus circulating in the community.
canada.ca/en/public-healā€¦
(2/3) This means we may be more likely to encounter viruses as we interact with others in schools, workplaces and social settings, especially indoors and if masks are not being worn.
(3/3) This is why #VaccinesPlus is so important right now. Although no individual layer of protection is perfect, when used consistently & together, layers provide very good protection against #COVID19 & other respiratory infections. #Flu #RSV
Read 3 tweets
CO2 monitors are a great tool for managing indoor air quality. <3

ASHRAE Position Doc on Indoor Carbon Dioxide (2022): ashrae.org/file%20libraryā€¦

My Canadian source for Aranet4 is @Prescientx1: prescientx.com/products/araneā€¦

Rebreathed CO2 decal is by @amandalhu: 1eb3b6.myshopify.com/products/araneā€¦ Photo of Aranet4 CO2 monito...
#COVIDisAirborne #BringBackMasks #CleanTheAir #engineering #IAQ #SARSCoV2 #humanrights #COVID19 #VaccinesPLUS #DisabilityRights #inclusion #accessibility

Shared spaces with mandates for clean indoor air as per ASHRAE & high efficacy masking are safer and more accessible for all. Photo of Aranet4 CO2 monito...
On @DonateMask's store, you can find CO2 monitors under $100 and support a good cause at the same time.

#COVIDisAirborne #CleanTheAir donatemask.ca/store
Read 5 tweets
Dear ON,

Stop waiting for those who are behaving the way they are with #IStandWithCUPE šŸ˜· to tell you to put #Masks back on to prevent airborne spread of airborne viruses.

A non-exhaustivešŸ§µ of their behaviour so far:



pingthread.com/thread/1588918ā€¦
PHO

ā€œincreasing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can cause immune dysregulationā€¦ a potential increase in acquired impaired immunity in the ON pop could have significant impact on the incidence & assoc burden of infectious diseasesā€œ

publichealthontario.ca/-/media/Documeā€¦ā€¦

Read 28 tweets
For the avoidance of doubt:
SARS-CoV2 transmission is mainly aerosol, some droplet - proportion varies with activity. Hence, indoors = super-spreader events, outdoors = dissipates quickly.
Well ventilated/filtered indoor spaces or outdoors, keep distance to avoid droplets, reduce
time spent in proximity to others, wear well-fitted filter masks (FFP2/3) if distancing is problematic, for long durations, and/or if prevalence is high.
Poorly ventilated/filtered indoors - masks as above are ESSENTIAL. Limit time, distance if possible to avoid direct exposure.
Now apply some logic...
Face shields do next to nothing, unless you're expecting a sneeze in the face, and even then will only prevent "direct inoculation"...
Read 9 tweets
COVID is killing thousands of Australians who would have otherwise lived, likely to be 20-30,000 by year's end. This fig shows that, after saving lives in 2020 (another story), once this line crossed the zero in late 2021, we were in ā€˜excessā€™ territory. 1/
Only shown to June 26, this ABS report has more recent data showing that XS deaths continue unabated abs.gov.au/statistics/heaā€¦

We had 2,500 XS deaths in July alone. 2/
Around half of these XS deaths are formally assigned as due to COVID. Singapore data tells us that the remainder are also driven by COVID in 3 months bf death. There are no XS deaths in people who have not had COVID in the last 90 days.

moh.gov.sg/resources-statā€¦ . 3/
Read 7 tweets
1/3 Fall #COVID19 Ready? NACI recommends that all older adults (ā‰„65 yrs), as well as people aged 12-64 yrs at ā†‘ risk of severe illness from COVID-19, should be offered a fall #COVID19Vaccine #booster regardless of the # of previous booster doses.
canada.ca/content/dam/phā€¦
2/3 Donā€™t delay! If the bivalent Omicron-containing mRNA #COVID19Vaccine is not readily available, Canadaā€™s NACI recommends that an original mRNA COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to ensure timely protection. #VaccinesPlus
3/3 Individuals choosing to delay a #COVID19Vaccine booster dose in anticipation of a new vaccine should carefully consider their individual risk. Layering individual public health measures can help protect you & others from #COVID19.
canada.ca/en/public-healā€¦ Image
Read 3 tweets
So, yet again the UK is an outlier for kids vax.
Kids turning 5 after Aug22 are now unable to access SARS2 vax.
This is short-sighted, will cause profound harm in the short term, and could be detrimental to "living with" COVID in the longer term. Short šŸ§µ

gov.uk/government/pubā€¦
The UK has an established narrative that infection in children, esp Omicron, is harmless. Whilst IFR in recent ADULT vaccinees is lower, we've long known that omicron ā‰ˆ delta 4 <18s. So MASSIVE prevalence = huge impact. Excellent summary from @dgurdasani1
There are many that quote the incidence of severe disease in kids relative to adult disease, this is the wrong comparison. Other vax preventable infections in kids cause ā¬‡ļøā¬‡ļøharm. Also, ratios are fine 4 personal risk, but you MUST assess ABSOLUTES across populations.
Read 18 tweets
So they examined all the placentas of people known to have COVID-19 exposure during pregnancy and placentitis was found in people not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Study period pre-vaccination and early delta approx.
Mild maternal disease was associated with severe outcomes. 15/21 patients with stillbirth and COVID-19 placentitis had mild or asymptomatic disease initial COVID-19 infection.
January 1, 2020, through November 4, 2021 was the study period, and CDC published guidance that vaccines were recommended and safe on 11th August 2021.

That means that any women that were vaccinated and protected from placentitis would have been recently vaccinated.
Read 7 tweets
This is a very carefully considered, thought through thread, and yet I am expecting the opposite.
First assumption.

Long COVID is a single entity.

It probably isnā€™t.

If it was, you could expect the whole thing to behave in a certain way, and respond to prevention similarly.

It probably wonā€™t.
There will be some factors that are reversible. Those will respond well to prevention, such as timely, effective boosters.
Read 11 tweets
I think I know how the pandemic will endā€¦ and itā€™s not pretty.
A while ago I read a paper about how outbreaks end in animal populations.

It involved the population density becoming so low, that disease could no longer transmit efficiently.
In humans, this is likely going to mean that we will reduce our population numbers somewhat also, but we will not get to very small number, or extinction, because the remaining will do what is required to survive.

#VaccinesPlus
Read 5 tweets
As we all anticipate a GNB press conference today...
...I had a look at how many YouTube views the old COVID briefings were getting.
Remember those?
The last one was Feb 24, when BA.1 was dominant. They made us go through the whole BA.2 wave without any live guidance.
/1 GNB's COVID briefings used to get 25-29k views. NB hasn't ha
Now the BA.5 wave is here, and we have hundreds of thousands of NBers whose most recent vaccine dose was over 6 months ago (which means their antibodies have waned significantly - protection from infection has waned). Still no briefings.
/2
Anyway, there's a bunch of volunteers out here trying desperately to inform the public about all kinds of aspects of SARS-CoV-2 that are really important to know, because they help you make better informed decisions. It is slow going.
/3
Read 8 tweets
1/5 Today, the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) announced seroprevalence results from 21 studies funded by the Government of Canada, estimating the level of infection during the Omicron wave up to the end of May 2022. covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/the-omicron-tsā€¦
2/5 Antibodies to certain blood proteins known as ā€œnucleocapsidsā€ only develop in those whoā€™ve been infected. So detecting their presence in blood (seroprevalence) is a way to estimate the proportion of people with past #SARSCoV2 infection.
3/5 CITF results confirm the massive scale of the #Omicron wave. Before Omicron arrived in Dec 2021, ~7% of Canadians had infection-acquired antibodies to #SARSCoV2. Then from Dec 2021 to May 2022, that proportion rose to 45%!
Read 6 tweets
Lucky we have an ongoing and responsive vaccination strategy for people of all ages then isnā€™t it?

/S
Maybe we should try something new?

#VaccinesPlus
It wasnā€™t all that unexpected. Parts of the new sub variants are delta, or delta-like.

So if delta didnā€™t protect well from omicron, I wouldnā€™t have thought omicron would protect well against child of delta.
Read 4 tweets
1/5 #COVID19 key concerns šŸ‡ØšŸ‡¦ : as public health measures have eased and we resume more activities and connections, other serious infectious diseases, such as influenza and measles, are making a comeback. canada.ca/en/public-healā€¦
2/5 #COVID19 is still circulating across the country and Canada is reporting increased #influenza activity in recent weeks, late in the 2021-22 season. This includes the first outbreaks and a sharp rise in influenza detections, mostly in ages <45 years.
canada.ca/en/public-healā€¦
3/5 .@UNICEF & @WHO report a 79% increase in worldwide measles cases in Jan-Feb 2022 compared to the same time last year, a worrying sign of overall heightened risk for spread of vaccine preventable diseases (VPD) that could trigger larger outbreaks.
who.int/news/item/27-0ā€¦
Read 5 tweets

Related hashtags

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!