the no-nonsense, nothing-but-the-facts-m'am C19 thread

[Conor Dary]

Rich Countries Signed Away a Chance to Vaccinate the World

Despite warnings, American and European officials gave up leverage that could have guaranteed access for billions of people. That risks prolonging the pandemic.

The rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines, achieved at record speed and financed by massive public funding in the United States, the European Union and Britain, represents a great triumph of the pandemic. Governments partnered with drugmakers, pouring in billions of dollars to procure raw materials, finance clinical trials and retrofit factories. Billions more were committed to buy the finished product.

But this Western success has created stark inequity. Residents of wealthy and middle-income countries have received about 90 percent of the nearly 400 million vaccines delivered so far. Under current projections, many of the rest will have to wait years.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/21/world/vaccine-patents-us-eu.html#click=https://t.co/w006nMhbxM

[Conor Dary]

The prospect of billions of people waiting years to be vaccinated poses a health threat to even the richest countries. One example: In Britain, where the vaccine rollout has been strong, health officials are tracking a virus variant that emerged in South Africa, where vaccine coverage is weak. That variant may be able to blunt the effect of vaccines, meaning even vaccinated people might get sick.

[Halfmiler2]

Weekly Update:

The Monday (3/15/21) Afternoon Numbers:

Global: 119.758 million cases & 2,649K deaths
The USA: 29.677 million cases & 540K deaths
NY State: 1,734K cases & 39,585 deaths
NJ State: 744K cases & 21,451 deaths
Bergen: 73,700 cases & 2,371 deaths

Global numbers exclude China.
NY, NJ, & Bergen County numbers include only confirmed cases and deaths.

The Rt for NJ is 1.02.
NJ has 1,870 & NY has 4,517 hospitalizations.
3.00 million NJ vaccine shots.
1.05 million in NJ fully vaccinated.

7-day rolling daily averages:

Global: 0.418 million cases & 8.1K deaths
The USA: 0.095 million cases & 2.1 K deaths
NY State: 6.9K cases & 80.3 deaths
NJ State: 3.0K cases & 36.9 deaths
Bergen: 329.6 cases & 4 deaths

Weekly update:
The Monday (3/22/21) afternoon numbers:

Global: 123.197 million cases & 2,712K deaths
The USA: 30.055 million cases & 548K deaths
NY State 1,788K cases & 39,970 deaths
NJ State: 768K cases & 21,666 deaths
Bergen: 76,509 cases & 2,405 deaths

Global numbers exclude China numbers as unreliable
NY, NJ, & Bergen include only confirmed-not probable

NJ: 1,992 hospitalizations.
The Rt for NJ is 1.09.
NJ spot positivity test rate is 8.48%
3.5 million NJ vaccinations - 404K in Bergen County
18% of NJ adults fully vaccined-goal is 70% by 6/30
400 variant cases in NJ - mostly Brazil & UK.

7-day daily average:

Global: 0.491 million cases & 9K deaths
The USA: 0.054 million cases & 1.1K deaths
NY State: 7.7K & 55 deaths
NJ State: 3.5K cases & 31 deaths
Bergen: 401 cases & 4.9 deaths

[gh]

good news on the jabbing front....

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine 100% effective at preventing hospitalizations, company says

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/astrazeneca-vaccine-coronavirus-effective-us

[Conor Dary]

Rather unlikely it will be needed or used in the US.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/business/astrazeneca-covid-vaccine.html

[Trickstat]

good news on the jabbing front....

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine 100% effective at preventing hospitalizations, company says

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/astrazeneca-vaccine-coronavirus-effective-us

That's pleasing as I had my first shot of it yesterday. The UK has now reached 50-54 year olds with no health issues.

[Conor Dary]

Meanwhile...

Europeans now see AstraZeneca vaccine as unsafe, following blood clots scare

Perceived safety drops substantially in France, Germany, Spain and Italy

The decision by many countries, including many EU nations, suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following concerns that it could cause blood clots, has hugely damaged public perceptions of the vaccine’s safety in Europe.

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2021/03/22/europeans-now-see-astrazeneca-vaccine-unsafe-follo?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=website_article&utm_campaign=Eurotrack_vaccine_safety_Mar_2021

[NotDutra5]

Rather unlikely it will be needed or used in the US.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/b...d-vaccine.html

No link from me but a report on the local news said it will be approved and available in 6-7 weeks in the US.

[Halfmiler2]

CDC cuts social distancing in schools from 6 feet to 3 feet. I am surprised they did not make it a meter to be internationally politically correct.

And WHO says one meter is ok.

[Conor Dary]

Oops....

U.S. health officials question results from AstraZeneca’s vaccine trial, less than a day after they’re released.

Federal health officials said Tuesday that the encouraging results that AstraZeneca announced about its Covid-19 vaccine may have been based on outdated and incomplete information about the vaccine’s effectiveness, an extraordinary blow to the credibility of an already embattled vaccine.

In a statement released shortly after midnight, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said that an independent panel of medical experts that has been helping to oversee AstraZeneca’s U.S. trial had “expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from that trial, which may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/world/us-health-officials-question-results-from-astrazenecas-vaccine-trial-less-than-a-day-after-theyre-released.html

[Conor Dary]

Some Nations Could Wait Years for Covid Shots. That’s Bad for Everyone.

While richer places, such as the U.S., hope to vaccinate most of their citizens within months, poorer countries, like Kenya, expect to reach just small fractions of their populations in that time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/world/africa/africa-vaccine-inequality-covid.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20210323&instance_id=28360&nl=the-morning&regi_id=55086215&segment_id=53988&te=1&user_id=696ec3c29cabb1321806529326813370

[Conor Dary]

Coronavirus: Germany imposes Easter lockdown to curb new surge

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56486732

[Conor Dary]

China’s vaccine diplomacy stumbles as clinical trial data remain absent

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-coronavirus-singapore-data/2021/03/23/7a0582ca-8afc-11eb-a33e-da28941cb9ac_story.html#click=https://t.co/ENBbmObsup

[Conor Dary]

AstraZeneca used ‘outdated and potentially misleading data’ that overstated the effectiveness of its vaccine, independent panel says


Federal officials were taken aback by the letter from the board. One said the AstraZeneca results were the equivalent of “telling your mother you got an A in a course, when you got an A in the first quiz but a C in the overall course.” Another said the disclosure by the board would inevitably hurt the company’s credibility with U.S. regulators

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/astrazeneca-oxford-vaccine-concerns/2021/03/23/2f931d34-8bc3-11eb-a33e-da28941cb9ac_story.html#click=https://t.co/Gdvyk2hpZk

[Conor Dary]

They Had Mild Covid. Then Their Serious Symptoms Kicked In.

A new study illuminates the complex array of neurological issues experienced by people months after their coronavirus infections.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/health/long-covid-symptoms.html#click=https://t.co/5Z9i2xK0gl