Mutating Corona Virus

[honeybee13]

I wonder if this variant is anything to do with the low vaccine rate in southern Africa, leading to more mutation of the virus than in Europe.

 

I think the manufacturers should have released the formulation of their vaccines so that poorer countries could make their own, rather than waiting until rich countries had vaccines to spare.

[BazzaS]

(Almost) absolutely (to your first point) HB, and partial agreement with your second point.

 

It isn’t now low vaccination rate though, it is low vaccination rate in the immunocompromised (and the whole host of other pressures that come with sociopath-economic challenges in the developing world) .

Virus mutation is expected for the coronaviridae. Add to that prolonged replication / shedding in the immunocompromised, increased risk of transmission in those environments (poorer housing / access to healthcare / lower vaccination rates / inability to self-isolate when unwell), and emergence of variants can be expected.

(If you are in a marginalised group and living hand to mouth at best, when unwell you can’t self-isolate / stop doing whatever gives you some income, let alone arrange for food deliveries ……)

 

vaccines? Production in the developing world needed, as well as vaccines from the developed world. At what point should the focus switch from “vaccinate our population at most risk” to “vaccinate the developing world’s population at most risk” to protect OUR population (from the emergence of new variants that have greater escape from current vaccine).

 

Whilst travel bans appeal to those who want to blame “Johnny Foreigner”:

a) Omicron is already here.

b) “Punishing” South Africa (or anywhere with a robust sequencing / surveillance system!) is counter-productive.

We don’t seem to learn the lessons of history (1918 H1N1 ‘Spanish Flu’ didn’t originate in Spain ……)

[snowdragon]

Eight things we learned from the Number 10 briefing on Omicron

UK.YAHOO.COM

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation on Saturday.

 

[unclebulgaria67]

I am due my booster vaccination  and have been looking to book, for the last week or so. But when I try to book, the venues show no time slots available or no vaccines available. And now the NHS are prioritising 1st & 2nd doses and boosters to those with health conditions that mean they are at higher risk, which makes perfect sense.

 

Is there a shortage of vaccine supplies or are the NHS wanting the vaccine delivery centres to concentrate on those most at risk ? 

 

 

[hightail]

It really is mixed messaging UB.  I can't get a booked appointment and when I look to walk-in centres every one flags up not doing boosters.  There does seem to be a real PR job going to blame the public for not getting a third jab while making it very difficult in the real world.

 

I'm not overly worried as I've been tracking my antibody levels and although they did drop significantly at around the 3-4 month mark they have plateaued nicely since then.

[tobyjugg2]

Well, this clarifies the new strain infections getting into the UK

 

Javid admits passengers from South Africa were not tested despite Omicron strain

WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

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Health Secretary Sajid Javid has admitted that passengers arriving from South Africa on Friday were not tested for Covid-19 despite fears they...

 

 

Seems they came in, crossed the country and then found to be infected when they got symptoms?

 

Seems the UK hasn't learned from all the people they let in before without tests

 

"Javid said these passengers would have got home from the airport “in the normal way”, when appearing on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

The news comes after a single flight from South Africa into the Netherlands showed that a staggering 10 per cent of passengers tested positive for Covid."

Edited November 28, 2021 by tobyjugg2

[honeybee13]

You're right, TJ. HMG has learned nothing since the start of the epidemic as far as I can see.

[hightail]

40 minutes ago, tobyjugg2 said:

The news comes after a single flight from South Africa into the Netherlands showed that a staggering 10 per cent of passengers tested positive for Covid."

I've seen a figure of 61 passengers from two flights.  These were/are presumably symptom free or as good as.  So far I've seen headache and overwhelming fatigue as the main symptoms (among the vaccinated) of the new variant  - more or less what you'd expect from jet lag.

[tobyjugg2]

add to all this that apparently one person has 'visited London' and apparently left for somewhere else ...

 

Comparing Johnson the corrupt incompetent liars regime to Muppets is being unkind to muppets

[snowdragon]

COVID-19: Third person infected with Omicron coronavirus variant identified in UK

UK.YAHOO.COM

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A third person infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant has been identified in the UK, health officials have said. The UK Health Security...

 

[honeybee13]

The Citizens and Byline Times are investigating government contracts for private firms, transparency, etc.

 

'Where is the challenge? Where is the scrutiny?' - by the Citizens - Keeping the Receipts

KEEPINGTHERECEIPTS.SUBSTACK.COM

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We spoke to Good Law Project founder Jolyon Maugham QC about Covid contracts, corruption and why things will get worse before they get better

 

[snowdragon]

COVID-19: Six Omicron variant cases detected in Scotland, authorities say

UK.YAHOO.COM

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Six cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant have been found in Scotland, authorities have confirmed. Four cases are in the Lanarkshire area and two...

 

Covid: Britons who refuse to wear a mask ‘face fines of £200’ as ministers tighten rules

UK.YAHOO.COM

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Britons who refuse to wear a face mask could will face fines of £200 as the Government tightens Covid restrictions to contain the Omicron variant...

 

[hightail]

So here we go again with another variant, proof that we're none of us safe until we all are.  Have to wonder if a push for boosters among rich nations is what the world really needs.

[honeybee13]

I agree, HT, help poorer countries. I read earlier that Botswana ordered Moderna doses and paid over the odds for them, but delivery is being held up because richer countries are being prioritised.

 

But as I said the other day, companies like Pfizer could do more by licensing developing country companies to make their own vaccines.

[tobyjugg2]

2 hours ago, hightail said:

So here we go again with another variant, proof that we're none of us safe until we all are.  Have to wonder if a push for boosters among rich nations is what the world really needs.

 

It is what the rich nations need, but the rich nations ALSO need to get the rest of the world inoculated.

There is no need for it to be one OR the other - quite the opposite (other than profit)

Edited November 29, 2021 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

and you can be certain the ONLY reasons we aren't seeing more cases reported in England is:

 

* They aren't looking

(evidenced by the infected arrivals traveling across the country - unlike with other nations)

 

* Immensia and other VIPals incompetence in their 'labs' and processing

(as reported - yet they are still profiting)

 

* probably suppression of any reporting of infections thats occurring ... where they can

(just like the Johnson variant spreading for 2 months unannounced before last Christmas)

[tobyjugg2]

This Is What We Know So Far About the Omicron Variant

SCIENCE.THEWIRE.IN

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The omicron variant is not a descendant of any of the existing VOCs; instead, it appears to have descended directly from the ‘original’ strain.

 

 

Why COVID boosters weren't tweaked to better match variants - ABC News

ABCNEWS.GO.COM

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COVID-19 booster shots are an extra dose of the original vaccine, and some experts wonder why they weren't updated to better match the delta variant

 

How can Covid vaccines be tweaked to tackle new variants? | Medical research | The Guardian

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

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Drugmakers are looking at ways to improve their vaccines so they are ready for mutations of the virus

 

[tobyjugg2]

I was somewhat concerned that my booster wasn't tweaked to the delta variant, but Omicron isnt a delta descendant

Still pleased to be getting an mRNA vaccine booster

[tobyjugg2]

I see Javid is saying that boosters for all is now the option

 

Hows that then when they couldn't meet the prior demand? (as also evidenced by members here)

[snowdragon]

8 COVID hotspots as UK urges boosters for all adults to battle Omicron

Jimmy Nsubuga

Mon, 29 November 2021, 5:21 pm

Health secretary Sajid Javid insisted the booster programme is the main form of defence from the variant. (Getty)

Some eight local authorities in the UK are currently recording a weekly rate of new COVID cases higher than 750 infections per 100,000 people.

It comes as the UK battles to keep the Omicron variant under control, with the government announcing on Monday that all people aged 18 and over will be offered a COVID-19 booster vaccine.

Across the UK as a whole, a further 42,583 cases of coronavirus were reported in the most recent 24 hours.

Another 35 people were confirmed to have died, which now puts the official COVID death toll at 144,810.

Many of the worst-hit areas for infections are in the South West, with the highest current rate in Torridge, Devon, with a seven-day rolling case rate of 1,081.2 new cases per 100,000 people.

The UK’s seven-day rolling rate of infections is up 3.7% compared to this time last week.

These are the UK's eight COVID hotspots, and their weekly COVID case rates

Torridge: 1,081.2 cases per 100,000 people

North Devon: 895.4 cases per 100,000 people

Mid Sussex: 889.3 cases per 100,000 people

Gwynedd: 858 cases per 100,000 people

Elmbridge: 848.3 cases per 100,000 people

Guildford: 820.1 cases per 100,000 people

Wycombe: 782.1 cases per 100,000 people

Tandridge: 762.4 cases per 100,000 people

The map below show's the UK's rate of new COVID cases by local authority area. The higher the case rate, the darker the colour.

Map showing COVID hotspots in the UK

Speaking in parliament on Monday, health secretary Sajid Javid failed to rule out any future lockdown when urged to do so by Tory MP Richard Drax.

Instead he insisted that "putting the booster programme on steroids” is the country's main form of defence.

Deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said the booster campaign was “as urgent as it could possibly be” – but added people should not panic over the new variant.

Read more:

WHO names Omicron variant identified in South Africa

New coronavirus variant is 'not doomsday', leading UK scientist says

Urgent hunt for COVID cases linked to KFC restaurant and school in Essex

He told a Downing Street press conference: “I want to be clear this is not all doom and gloom at this stage and I do not want people to panic at this stage.

“If vaccine effectiveness is reduced, as seems pretty likely to some extent.

“The biggest effects are likely to be in preventing infections and hopefully there will be smaller effects on preventing severe disease."

However, it could be three more weeks before further details emerge from scientists on how transmissible the variant is, whether it evades vaccine protection, and whether it causes more severe disease.

All people aged 18 and over will be offered a COVID-19 booster. (Getty)

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified two further cases of the Omicron variant in England on Monday, bringing the total to five.

The individuals who tested positive are not connected and are not linked to the previously confirmed cases.

One case is located in Camden, London, and the other case is located in Wandsworth, London. Both have travel links to southern Africa.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) also advised that young people aged 12 to 15 should be offered a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, no sooner than 12 weeks after their first dose.

Further advice said that severely immunosuppressed people should be offered a booster dose no sooner than three months after completing their primary course of three doses.

The JCVI said that both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines can be given as a booster for adults – with equal preference given to both.

Watch: Booster programme 'has never been more vital', says Van-Tam

 

0:05

 

2:10

   

Booster programme 'has never been more vital', says Van-Tam

Edited November 29, 2021 by snowdragon

[honeybee13]

Sandy, could you link us to the article you got that information from please?

[tobyjugg2]

13 hours ago, tobyjugg2 said:

I see Javid is saying that boosters for all is now the option

 

Hows that then when they couldn't meet the prior demand? (as also evidenced by members here)

 

Ah : As usual - Johnson and co just blathers at the last minute and expects others to deliver when already run into the ground:

 

 

 

NHS scrambles for volunteers to meet ‘huge challenge’ of 20 million extra jabs

WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

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‘NHS can’t do it alone’ says chief executive

 

[honeybee13]

It's certainly a challenge for the NHS. I do wonder if it could have been phased in more gradually because this isn't sounding planned.

[tobyjugg2]

A number of issues IMO HB, and I have people I know, double vaccinated (mostly, but not exclusively AZ recipiants) testing positive in the last week via LFT and then PCR,  although we dont know what variant. The effects are varied, some unpleasant, but none life threatening.

 

on the one side, I think (as i already stated) that all those who have had the AZ vaccine more than 4 months ago will benefit significantly from an mRNA booster.

 

BUT That its just been opened up - with no resourcing and lack of management and planning, and with a number of sites apparently implementing a first come first served basis (as some did before) is utterly Bonkers

- Queuing for a preventative vaccine - when many who have a far more defined need are still struggling to get an appointment - is both stupid and potentially dangerous.

 

I booked my jab almost a month ago and go this week - and have rung up today to ensure the site isnt operating a 'just turn up' policy to ensure I wont again be stuck in a queue with hundreds of people i dont know waiting an hour and a half plus for my booked jab.

 

Typical Johnson chaos.

I doubt even Farage would have made a worse job of all this - although I'm not certain on that.

Edited November 30, 2021 by tobyjugg2

[honeybee13]

Whatever else we say about Javid, this has to be acknowledges.