For clues to the future of out #COVID19 fight pay heed to #Sirael, which has vaccinated the >est % of its population of any country.
Can it achieve herd immunity & "return to normal"?
MORE foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/17/wha…
Israel/2
No doubt about it, death and severe hospitalization rates in Israel have plummeted, especially for vaccinated >60-year-olds.
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Israel/4
But Israel (like NYC) has a large ultra-orthodox population that mostly opposes lockdowns, masks and #COVID19 vaccines. If herd immunity can possibly be achieved, the govt has to find a way to break down those barriers.
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Israel/5
And as much as Israel would like to avoid Palestinian issues, the populations live side-by-side, and many Palestinians are part of Israel's workforce. #COVID19#vaccination rates among them are near-zero.
MORE jpost.com/diaspora/berni…
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There're big #COVID19 lessons, far beyond Israeli borders. Any dreams of "herd immunity" must tackle isolation, religious objections, animosities betwn populations, ethnic issues and #vaccine hesitancy -- or the dreams will become nightmares.
Look in the mirror, America.
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ATTN, New Yorkers: There's a new type of #SARSCoV2 in town -- a mutant that may outwit our #COVID19#vaccines.
Here's what we know so far:
1.) A @Caltech team has been screening viral samples from USA and noted a new mutant appeared in November in NYC, dubbing it B.1.526.
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2/ The @Caltech team says B.1.526 variant is spreading fast in NYC, now ='ing 27.8% of all new infections.
This virus has 2 key mutations that may make it dangerous. Both, alter the spike proteins that protrude from #SARSCoV2 & attach to human cells.
MORE biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
3/ One mutation in NY's B.1.526 variant form of #SARSCoV2 is E484K -- this is the mutation point that makes the so-called South African and Brazil variants capable of evading antibodies and rendering some of the #COVID19#vaccines far less effective.
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From doxs submitted to @US_FDA on b ehalf of the J&J #COVID19#vaccine application, some highlights:
1.) Genomic sequencing of viruses found in South African clinical trials came up 94% B.1.351 variant. But the vax was 52% effective against mild disease & 73% anti-severe.
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2.) Some of the clinical trials were done in Brazil, where 69% of viruses they sequences were mutant P.2 variants.
3.) Data coves nearly 40,000 volunteers, half receiving placebo or 1 dose vax, followed for a mean of 2 months.
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4.) "#Vaccine efficacy (VE) against lab-conf'ed moderate to severe/critical #COVID19 across all geographic areas in which the trial was conducted was 66.9% [for] cases occurring at least 14 dys after vaccination & 66.1%
[for] cases occurring at least 28 dys after vax."
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Listening to a @melindagates talk now --- she says 47 million women have dropped out of the labor force worldwide due to #COVID19 & needs to care for ailing families and kids home from school.
continues
"People are in crisis around the world. People are going hungry!"
Because of #COVID19#pandemic
and says "there have been 15 million unexpected pregnancies in the world [during #COVID19 ] due to loss of family planning."
Today @DrMikeRyan -- who heads up @WHO#COVID19 response -- received Ireland's Trócaire’s Romero Award. His speech was extraordinary. Some is in the clip below. And in a thread, here are key transcriptions.
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Ryan/2
“#COVID19 does not discriminate. We too cannot, must not, discriminate in our fight against this #pandemic. Doing so will only work in the pandemic’s favour. The last eight months have shown us that unity, not singularity, defeats pandemics.”
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Ryan/3
“We are pushing nature to its limit. We are pushing population to its limit. We’re pushing communities to their limits. We’re stressing the environment. We are creating the conditions in which epidemics flourish. We’re forcing & pushing people to migrate away from..."
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In a letter circulated yesterday #PeterDiamondis apologized for holding his annual Abundance 360 brainstorming for CEOs: it turned into a #COVID19 superspreader event. But when you read what he did to make the gathering safe, you'll see why this virus is SO hard to control.
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2/excerpts
"I thought creating a #COVID19 'Immunity Bubble' for a small grp in a TV studio setting was possible. I was wrong. If any of you have an impulse to lower your vigilance w/masks & social distancing after receiving a negative PCR test, you need to read this."
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3/excerpts
Diamondis in January in LA switched his annual mtg to a studio, with virtual attendance. But some CEOs wanted an in-person experience, so they set up a rigorous series of PCR #COVID19 testing protocols, testing every person daily starting 72 hrs b4 the mtg.
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After last nights @SuperBowl@Buccaneers victory Tampa burst with celebrations all night long --- few were wearing #COVID19 masks or thinking about the B.1.1.7 variant, which has been found in that Florida city.
More Tampa @SuperBowl#COVID19 superspreading.
This was 100% predictable. The @NFL should have made 20,000 "special" (aka collectible) masks for the mobs.
3/More Tampa @SuperBowl#COVID19 superspreading.
As with every big sports victory, men partied wildly all night. Fine. But in the Age of #coronavirus masks, social distances should...SIGH