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Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
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7 Nov, 9 tweets, 4 min read
Unsurprisingly, there is a sense of relief today across the political spectrum in Germany and I thought I’d give you a flavor of sentiments here:
“We want the West to play as a team again. Only as a team will we effectively assert our shared values worldwide and have the necessary clout.” Foreign Minister @HeikoMaas
“Joe Biden’s declaration as President-elect has sparked enormous relief, hope & joy in the US, in Germany & around the globe! ... Congrats America!”
@peteraltmaier, Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy.

“I’m relieved that this election thriller has ended well. My trust in American democracy has increased again. Now the bizarre spectacle of the last few days should end.”
@Markus_Soeder, Minister President of Bavaria

“Such liberating news!”
@ABaerbock, chairwoman of the Greens
“Is this Trump in 2 years?”
@Karl_Lauterbach, member of parliament for the Social Democrats
“this is a moment of relief and joy. Let's all take a break to celebrate that decency won.”
@n_roettgen, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committed
“I’m unbelievably relieved that Trump has not won the election. The narrow result in 2020 shows Trump’s win 4 years ago was not a ‘slip-up’, but the expression of a strengthening right-wing populist bloc.”
Katja Kipping, chairperson of the Left Party
“The election of Joe Biden is a relief. Congratulation. Not every difference of opinion with the USA will disappear now, but there now is a chance to restart the transatlantic partnership.”
@c_lindner, chairman of the Liberals

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More from @kakape

Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
9 Nov
This is big news: Pfizer says early phase 3 data of its #covid19 vaccine developed with German company BioNTech shows it to be about 90% effective in preventing disease with no serious safety concerns. Remember this is preliminary, but reason to be hopeful nytimes.com/2020/11/09/hea…
This is based on a review of data after 94 people in the trial developed #Covid19. Final analysis is planned for when there have been 164 #covid19 cases in participants in the trial.
As usual, the caveats are as important as the results: We don’t know if these numbers will hold up. We don’t know how long immunity will last. Billions of doses will take time to produce. etc. But we are in a better place today than we were yesterday.
Read 10 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
6 Nov
The #covid19 pandemic has set back immunization efforts around the world leaving children "more vulnerable to killer diseases like polio, measles and pneumonia”, says @drtedros at @WHO presser. “Now we’re starting to see outbreaks of these diseases."
@DrTedros @WHO WHO and @UNICEF are launching an emergency appeal to rapidly boost measles and polio vaccination, says @drtedros. "This is a global call to action for all donors to stay the course and not to turn their backs on the poorest and most marginalized children in their hour of need."
@DrTedros @WHO @UNICEF An estimated $655 million are needed to address immunization gaps in countries not eligible for @gavi funds, says @drtedros. "We need to turn the tide quickly and ensure no child is left behind."
Read 11 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
5 Nov
I suspect we can all use a tiny break from refreshing our browsers and since we’re thinking a lot about vaccines and vaccine delivery these days, let me share sth with you that I learnt recently about the world’s first vaccine, the smallpox vaccine and that kind of blew my mind.
Many of you know the story of Edward Jenner. In 1796 he took some liquid from a cowpox blister and scratched it into the arm of eight-year old James Phipps. Jenner later inoculated the boy with smallpox and Phipps did not get sick. This is usually seen as the first vaccination.
The reality is a bit more complicated. (For one it was probably horsepox not cowpox that Jenner used.) But that’s not the point. It’s how do you get from that one vaccination to vaccinating millions of people given that cowpox/horsepox was actually quite rare?
Read 16 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
3 Nov
Across Europe #covid19 cases are surging and the continent is shutting down again. Germany‘s second shutdown began yesterday, Austria‘s starts today, England is following on Thursday. How did we get here? What‘s the plan? Quick thread and my story here: sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/e…
First: What went wrong? Many ways to think about this. But to be clear: It was always going to be hard. I wrote about Europe‘s „dangerous“ path out of the lockdowns in April (science.sciencemag.org/content/368/64…). Consensus was it would be trial and error. We erred, but did we really try?
In April, @gmleunghku explained 3 dials governments had to keep transmission in check:
test, trace, isolate -TTI
border restrictions
physical distancing

TTI worked reasonably well in some European countries. Border restrictions: meh. Backbone of strategy was #physicaldistancing
Read 16 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
2 Nov
“I have been identified as the contact of someone who has tested positive for #covid19”, says @drtedros who is joining @WHO presser remotely today from his quarantine. “At this time, it's critically important that we all comply with health guidance."
@DrTedros @WHO “While many countries have brought #COVID19 under control cases in some countries in Europe and North America, continue to spike”, says @drtedros. “This is another critical moment for action, another critical moment for leaders to step up..."
@DrTedros @WHO "It's not too late”, says @DrTedros. "We all have a role to play in suppressing transmission. And we have seen across world, that it's possible."
Read 11 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
30 Oct
“What’s clear is that this is not just a virus that kills people. To a significant number of people, this virus poses a range of serious long-term effects”, says @drtedros at @WHO presser on #covid19. "While people do recover, it can be slow, sometimes weeks or months…"
@DrTedros @WHO Exact numbers of #COVID19 long-haulers are not clear yet, says @drtedros. “WHO will continue to do more research to establish best standards of care to accelerate recovery and prevent such complications."
@DrTedros @WHO “For months, I went through cyclical bouts of dreadful fatigue, sweats, headaches, unable to move, mood swings, and that went on for months. And then I had another three months, completely exhausted”, says @PaulGarnerWoof, himself an infectious disease epidemiologist @LSTMnews.
Read 19 tweets

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