Vaccine/Antibody updates

[Jockey]

I do want to clarify that the government/OSHA requirement isn't a mandate. Employees can still opt out of the vaccine and choose to get frequent testing instead. You aren't required to get the vaccine.

I think it gives cover, though, for companies wanting to do it.

[MU82]

Super-sad story about a beloved, 40-something, otherwise-healthy mom of 4 girls who died from COVID-19 because she didn't get vaccinated. One of her friends said that, as the woman was dying, she wished she had gotten the vaccine.

Yet another example of a "personal choice" that didn't affect only the person making it. Those 4 girls will go through the rest of their lives without a mother because of a totally preventable death.

A Wake County elementary school teacher who contracted COVID-19 has died.

In a letter sent Thursday to families at Scotts Ridge Elementary School in Apex, parents were told that Merridith Mongone had died that afternoon from complications due to COVID. Mongone, 43, was a fourth-grade teacher at the school.

"She will be greatly missed by the staff, students, and Scotts Ridge community and our hearts go out to her friends and family," said the letter from the school.

Mongone was not vaccinated, according to Christi Vereckey, a friend and fellow fourth-grade teacher at the school. Unvaccinated people are more than 15 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who are vaccinated, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Vereckey said Mongone contracted COVID in early August while on a family trip, back before the school year started at Scotts Ridge.

Mongone was too ill to come back to school, so Vereckey set up her friend's classroom. The school provided people to cover her class while hoping the beloved teacher would return.

"She was full of life, full of energy," Vereckey said in an interview Friday. "She never sat down. She loved teaching, loved seeing kids learn and grow."

Mongone wasn't feeling well so she was admitted to WakeMed in Cary. But her condition worsened, so she was moved to UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill.

Mongone was put on ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a machine that replaces the function of the heart and lungs by sucking blood out of the body, pushing it through an artificial lung that feeds it oxygen, then returning it to the heart

"Yesterday heaven gained another angel," said the GoFundMe page created to help the family pay the medical bills. "Merridith passed away with Frankie (her husband) at her side. Please pray for the family for the days to come."

Mongone also leaves behind four daughters.

Now those at the school, including the students, are processing her death. Mongone had worked at Scotts Ridge since August 2018.

"There's a lot of kids struggling today, not only her four girls," Vereckey said. "She really had an impact on a lot of people's lives."

Vereckey said that before her death, Mongone texted Vereckey saying she wished she had gotten the COVID vaccine. Vereckey said that after Mongone got sick she made sure to get her 17-year-old daughter vaccinated.

Mongone's other two teenage daughters will now get their shot too, Vereckey said.

Mongone's death comes as the Wake County school system weighs whether to require employees to be vaccinated as a condition of employment.

[pbiflyer]

This.

[Billy Hoyle]

Well, calling vaccine mandates and passports "a passport to racism" isn't going to help get Black people, the group with the lowest vaccination rate, to get the shot. Trumpets deserved to be mocked and scorned but all anti-vaxxers need to be called out.

Chivona Newsome, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, made the vow on Monday as NYC restaurants began enforcing legislation requiring all people aged 12 and older to show proof of vaccination to dine inside.

'We're putting this city on notice... Black people are not going to stand by, or you will see an uprising. And that is not a threat. That is a promise,' Newsome declared.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10024955/Co-founder-BLM-New-York-threatens-uprising-citys-racist-vaccine-mandates.html

My prediction: unvaccinated Black individuals will be exempted from the passports. We're talking DiBlasio here.

[The Sultan]

Well, calling vaccine mandates and passports "a passport to racism" isn't going to help get Black people, the group with the lowest vaccination rate, to get the shot. Trumpets deserved to be mocked and scorned but all anti-vaxxers need to be called out.

Chivona Newsome, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, made the vow on Monday as NYC restaurants began enforcing legislation requiring all people aged 12 and older to show proof of vaccination to dine inside.

'We're putting this city on notice... Black people are not going to stand by, or you will see an uprising. And that is not a threat. That is a promise,' Newsome declared.

My prediction: unvaccinated Black individuals will be exempted from the passports. We're talking DiBlasio here.

Hey look. Billy's obsessed with BLM again.

[MU82]

From the NYT:

In an article this month for Breitbart, the right-wing website formerly run by Steve Bannon, John Nolte argued that the partisan gap in vaccination rates was part of a liberal plot. Liberals like Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Anthony Fauci and Howard Stern have tried so hard to persuade people to get vaccinated, because they know that Republican voters will do the opposite of whatever they say, Nolte wrote.

His argument is certainly bizarre, given that Democratic politicians have been imploring all Americans to get vaccinated and many Republican politicians have not. But Nolte did offer a glimpse at a creeping political fear among some Republicans. "Right now, a countless number of Trump supporters believe they are owning the left by refusing to take a lifesaving vaccine," Nolte wrote. "In a country where elections are decided on razor-thin margins, does it not benefit one side if their opponents simply drop dead?"

It was part of a larger piece by David Leonhardt that showed the racial gap is narrowing while the partisan political gap is widening, and it included several graphics showing how people in red counties are far more likely to die or to need long hospital stays because they won't get vaccinated.

Another passage:

It's worth remembering that Covid followed a different pattern for more than a year after its arrival in the U.S. Despite widespread differences in mask wearing — and scientific research suggesting that masks reduce the virus's spread — the pandemic was if anything worse in blue regions. Masks evidently were not powerful enough to overcome other regional differences, like the amount of international travel that flows through major metro areas, which tend to be politically liberal.

Vaccination has changed the situation. The vaccines are powerful enough to overwhelm other differences between blue and red areas.

Some left-leaning communities — like many suburbs of New York, San Francisco and Washington, as well as much of New England — have such high vaccination rates that even the unvaccinated are partly protected by the low number of cases. Conservative communities, on the other hand, have been walloped by the highly contagious Delta variant.

Since Delta began circulating widely in the U.S., Covid has exacted a horrific death toll on red America: In counties where Donald Trump received at least 70 percent of the vote, the virus has killed about 47 out of every 100,000 people since the end of June, according to Charles Gaba, a health care analyst. In counties where Trump won less than 32 percent of the vote, the number is about 10 out of 100,000.

It's tragic that people die when death is so very avoidable.

[Galway Eagle]

Well, calling vaccine mandates and passports "a passport to racism" isn't going to help get Black people, the group with the lowest vaccination rate, to get the shot. Trumpets deserved to be mocked and scorned but all anti-vaxxers need to be called out.

Chivona Newsome, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, made the vow on Monday as NYC restaurants began enforcing legislation requiring all people aged 12 and older to show proof of vaccination to dine inside.

'We're putting this city on notice... Black people are not going to stand by, or you will see an uprising. And that is not a threat. That is a promise,' Newsome declared.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10024955/Co-founder-BLM-New-York-threatens-uprising-citys-racist-vaccine-mandates.html

My prediction: unvaccinated Black individuals will be exempted from the passports. We're talking DiBlasio here.

She's an idiot making illogical conclusions. Half the country voted for someone doing that same thing. If her idiocy picks up steam then it's worth being concerned.

[Pakuni]

Hey look. Billy's obsessed with BLM again.

Mostly the "B" part.

[CountryRoads]

Large anti-vaccine protest in NYC last night.

https://twitter.com/theinsiderpaper/status/1442631522587119621?s=21

[MU82]

According to the latest Kaiser Family poll about vaccination rates, Black and Hispanic people have significantly passed White evangelical Christians, rural residents, Republicans and uninsured people under 65.

https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-september-2021/?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20210928&instance_id=41490&nl=the-morning&regi_id=108420427&segment_id=70082&te=1&user_id=d36dcf821462fdd16ec3636710a855fa

The largest increases in self-reported COVID-19 vaccination rates between July and September were among younger adults (up 11 percentage points among 18-29 year-olds) and Hispanic adults (up 12 percentage points). The largest remaining gap in vaccination rates is by partisanship, with 90% of Democrats saying they have gotten at least one dose compared to 68% of independents and 58% of Republicans. In addition, large differences in self-reported vaccination rates remain between older and younger adults, between those with and without college degrees, and between those with higher and lower incomes, while rural adults continue to lag behind those living in urban and suburban areas. Non-elderly adults without health insurance also continue to report one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates of any group (54%).

Similar shares of Hispanic (73%), Black (70%), and White (71%) adults now report having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, a change from earlier in the vaccination effort when Black and Hispanic adults were much less likely to report being vaccinated than White adults, and reflecting other data showing that people of color make up a disproportionate share of recent vaccinations. KFF's analysis of state data on vaccination rates by race and ethnicity suggests that, when looking at people of all ages (including children who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated), White people continue to be vaccinated at higher rates than either Black or Hispanic people, although those gaps have narrowed over time.

[The Sultan]

Large anti-vaccine protest in NYC last night.

https://twitter.com/theinsiderpaper/status/1442631522587119621?s=21

OTOH, vaccine mandates looks to have motivated a significant number of health care workers to get vaccinated.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/nyregion/vaccine-health-care-workers-mandate.html

There were similar protests here when the local mandates were announced by the health care systems.  There was another protest last week that drew like 12 people.  Really they are running out of excuses and people are running out of patience. 

[ZiggysFryBoy]

According to the latest Kaiser Family poll about vaccination rates, Black and Hispanic people have significantly passed White evangelical Christians, rural residents, Republicans and uninsured people under 65.

https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-september-2021/?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20210928&instance_id=41490&nl=the-morning&regi_id=108420427&segment_id=70082&te=1&user_id=d36dcf821462fdd16ec3636710a855fa

The largest increases in self-reported COVID-19 vaccination rates between July and September were among younger adults (up 11 percentage points among 18-29 year-olds) and Hispanic adults (up 12 percentage points). The largest remaining gap in vaccination rates is by partisanship, with 90% of Democrats saying they have gotten at least one dose compared to 68% of independents and 58% of Republicans. In addition, large differences in self-reported vaccination rates remain between older and younger adults, between those with and without college degrees, and between those with higher and lower incomes, while rural adults continue to lag behind those living in urban and suburban areas. Non-elderly adults without health insurance also continue to report one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates of any group (54%).

Similar shares of Hispanic (73%), Black (70%), and White (71%) adults now report having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, a change from earlier in the vaccination effort when Black and Hispanic adults were much less likely to report being vaccinated than White adults, and reflecting other data showing that people of color make up a disproportionate share of recent vaccinations. KFF's analysis of state data on vaccination rates by race and ethnicity suggests that, when looking at people of all ages (including children who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated), White people continue to be vaccinated at higher rates than either Black or Hispanic people, although those gaps have narrowed over time.

What is the value of polling when state health departments are tracking demographics?  I'd trust the health departments more than a poll, but if it makes white Rs look bad, run with it.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Large anti-vaccine protest in NYC last night.

https://twitter.com/theinsiderpaper/status/1442631522587119621?s=21

You post like that's a good thing.

[The Sultan]

What is the value of polling when state health departments are tracking demographics?  I'd trust the health departments more than a poll, but if it makes white Rs look bad, run with it.

While you are correct that the data would be more accurate, state health departments don't track a number of factors that the poll covers.  (college degree, religious and political affiliation, etc.) 

I mean white Rs look bad because they aren't vaccinated.  But the good news is there has been progress. 

[Jockey]

You post like that's a good thing.

No point in these people being stupid, if they don't get to brag about it.

[Galway Eagle]

You post like that's a good thing.

Howso?

I think he just posted that factually a large anti vax protest was going on. There was no exclamation, or smiley face or commentary and it was a neutral source showing a video.

[jficke13]

Large anti-vaccine protest in NYC last night.

https://twitter.com/theinsiderpaper/status/1442631522587119621?s=21

Kettle them.

Dart gun them.

Problem solved.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Howso?

I think he just posted that factually a large anti vax protest was going on. There was no exclamation, or smiley face or commentary and it was a neutral source showing a video.

I inferred it based on his posting history. It's possible I am incorrect, because there is a first time for everything.

[Galway Eagle]

I inferred it based on his posting history. It's possible I am incorrect, because there is a first time for everything.

Gotcha, thanks for explaining

[MU82]

"I got vaccinated early. I have a baby girl. I travel a lot. I can't bring Covid back to her."

-- Ja Morant.

That's how you be not just a good parent but a role model -- to your daughter. to your fellow athletes and to your fans. Well done, Ja!

[jficke13]

"I got vaccinated early. I have a baby girl. I travel a lot. I can't bring Covid back to her."

-- Ja Morant.

That's how you be not just a good parent but a role model -- to your daughter. to your fellow athletes and to your fans. Well done, Ja!

More support for my "Trade Milwaukee's next 13 1st round picks for Ja Morant" plan.

[Pakuni]

In a shocking turn of events, it turns out that America's Frontline Doctors' push for "alternative" treatments like HQC and ivermectin is all a grift.

A network of health care providers pocketed millions of dollars selling hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and online consultations, according to hacked data provided to The Intercept. The data show that vast sums of money are being extracted from people concerned about or suffering from Covid-19 but resistant to vaccinations or other recommendations of public health authorities.

America's Frontline Doctors, a right-wing group founded last year to promote pro-Trump doctors during the coronavirus pandemic, is working in tandem with a small network of health care companies to sow distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, dupe tens of thousands of people into seeking ineffective treatments for the disease, and then sell consultations and millions of dollars' worth of those medications. The data indicate patients spent at least $15 million — and potentially much more — on consultations and medications combined.

https://theintercept.com/2021/09/28/covid-telehealth-hydroxychloroquine-ivermectin-hacked/

[Uncle Rico]

In a shocking turn of events, it turns out that America's Frontline Doctors' push for "alternative" treatments like HQC and ivermectin is all a grift.

A network of health care providers pocketed millions of dollars selling hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and online consultations, according to hacked data provided to The Intercept. The data show that vast sums of money are being extracted from people concerned about or suffering from Covid-19 but resistant to vaccinations or other recommendations of public health authorities.

America's Frontline Doctors, a right-wing group founded last year to promote pro-Trump doctors during the coronavirus pandemic, is working in tandem with a small network of health care companies to sow distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, dupe tens of thousands of people into seeking ineffective treatments for the disease, and then sell consultations and millions of dollars' worth of those medications. The data indicate patients spent at least $15 million — and potentially much more — on consultations and medications combined.

https://theintercept.com/2021/09/28/covid-telehealth-hydroxychloroquine-ivermectin-hacked/

They've gotten plenty of help promoting this

[tower912]

So much grifting.  So many rubes.

[Galway Eagle]

I for one am absolutely shocked by this news I definitely didn't see coming