Coronavirus, Monkeypox, and Other Contagious Diseases

[jackd]

Maybe but it's also likely that they're worried about losing employees over the requirement in a short labor market.

[pnwguy]

Jul 31, 2021 14:51:55 GMT LFC said:

Jul 31, 2021 1:39:09 GMT jackd said:

Now I learn it's just corporate employees. That's better than nothing, but if it applied to all store employees that would have potentially made a real difference.

That shows that Walmart values their corporate people and view the store employees as disposable.

It is probably also the case that this is a more educated part of their workforce who is less likely to defy the requirement and rant to their GOP representatives and senators.

[Bact PhD]

Jul 31, 2021 5:29:40 GMT Rue Bella said:

press release:


www.alz.org/aaic/releases_2021/covid-19-cognitive-impact.asp

DENVER, JULY 29, 2021 — Much has been learned about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the novel coronavirus, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, questions remain about the long-term impact of the virus on our bodies and brains. New research reported at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® (AAIC®) 2021, held virtually and in Denver found associations between COVID-19 and persistent cognitive deficits, including the acceleration of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and symptoms.

Saw a wire story account of this. The possibility is more than a little unnerving. That said, we’ll definitely need to continue to follow this issue over time. There could be some other factors contributing to the memory issues; it could be something caused purely by the virus…or the issues could resolve over time.

[indy]

Jul 31, 2021 14:51:55 GMT LFC said:

Jul 31, 2021 1:39:09 GMT jackd said:

Now I learn it's just corporate employees. That's better than nothing, but if it applied to all store employees that would have potentially made a real difference.

That shows that Walmart values their corporate people and view the store employees as disposable.

I think it's just the beginning. Mr. Non Vaccinated is about to enter into the ring with Mr. Market in the title bout. I know who my money is on.

[LFC]

Jul 31, 2021 5:29:40 GMT Rue Bella said:

press release:


www.alz.org/aaic/releases_2021/covid-19-cognitive-impact.asp

DENVER, JULY 29, 2021 — Much has been learned about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the novel coronavirus, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, questions remain about the long-term impact of the virus on our bodies and brains. New research reported at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® (AAIC®) 2021, held virtually and in Denver found associations between COVID-19 and persistent cognitive deficits, including the acceleration of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and symptoms.

OMG! Does that mean COVID may create more Republicans?

[Traveler]

Jul 31, 2021 15:11:41 GMT indy said:

Jul 31, 2021 14:51:55 GMT LFC said:

That shows that Walmart values their corporate people and view the store employees as disposable.

I think it's just the beginning. Mr. Non Vaccinated is about to enter into the ring with Mr. Market in the title bout. I know who my money is on.

Especially once the health ins. cos. reset premiums based on vaccination status

[indy]

Jul 31, 2021 16:37:11 GMT Traveler said:

Jul 31, 2021 15:11:41 GMT indy said:

I think it's just the beginning. Mr. Non Vaccinated is about to enter into the ring with Mr. Market in the title bout. I know who my money is on.

Especially once the health ins. cos. reset premiums based on vaccination status

Yeah, I was thinking about this the other day and was wondering if the reconciliation package might include some sort of ACA modification that would allow premiums to be differentiated between those who have the vaccination and those who don't, similar to the way premiums are currently different for smokers and non-smokers.

[pnwguy]

I thought of a new product opportunity today before Sturgis next Friday. Harley Davidson brand respirators.

"Includes a special mounting adapter for most front fuel tanks, so you can ride in style to any MAGA rally. Wheeze on down the road. For those nanny states with helmet laws, our special breathing tube fits in under the visor"

[pnwguy]

Flori-duh is reaching for new heights!

apnews.com/article/lifestyle-health-business-arts-and-entertainment-florida-01fa89e1d9491ab075c5deb689af1ea8

That strong gubernatorial MAGA leadership is paying off for citizens of the Sunshine state. Did DeSantis forget to explain to everyone to funnel that sunshine INTO the body? Wlll Disney World need to offer light saber enemas at the gift shops outside of the Star Wars attractions?

[AnBr]

.

Attachments:

[indy]

Spurred by rising Covid cases and the Delta variant’s spread, a wave of major employers announced the same rule for unvaccinated workers this week: They will need to submit to regular surveillance testing. The new requirement raises a thorny question: Who pays for those coronavirus tests?

Doctors typically charge about $50 to $100 for the tests, so the costs of weekly testing could add up quickly. Federal law requires insurers to fully cover the tests when ordered by a health care provider, but routine workplace tests are exempt from that provision.

“It’s really up to the employer,” said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. “They can require employees to pick up the tab.”

Among the employers taking a different approach is Rhodes College in Tennessee: It will require unvaccinated students without a medical or religious exemption to pay a $1,500 fee per semester to cover the costs associated with a weekly coronavirus testing program.

From the NYT

[pnwguy]

I'm waiting for some signs that say:



  No Shirt
  No Shoes
  No Service Freedom?
    Stop Government
          Tyranny!!!

[andydp]

Sadly, the recipients of a con job are very reluctant to say they've been had.  Looks like its happening with COVID shots:

The Anti-vaccine Con Job Is Becoming Untenable

Something very strange has been happening in Missouri: A hospital in the state, Ozarks Healthcare, had to create a “private setting” for patients afraid of being seen getting vaccinated against COVID-19. In a video produced by the hospital, the physician Priscilla Frase says, “Several people come in to get vaccinated who have tried to sort of disguise their appearance and even went so far as to say, ‘Please, please, please don’t let anybody know that I got this vaccine.’” Although they want to protect themselves from the coronavirus and its variants, these patients are desperate to ensure that their vaccine-skeptical friends and family never find out what they have done.


www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/vaccine-refusers-dont-want-blue-americas-respect/619627/?fbclid=IwAR0R_NMHV6726fAXW1FwqVFo1jOfC3MCwQxDxJk5_D48AdrLBD9X7wHXjQM

[llewop]

I have noticed a couple of reports where the majority of newly infected people have been fully vaccinated. In one location, Singapore I believe, 75% of the population had been fully vaccinated yet 75% of the people getting infected were from the vaccinated group. The article said the infections in this group were mostly asymptomatic and less serious, OK, however the viral load in the nose and throat was said to be as great as unvaccinated people who had developed covid, and so they are presumably just as infectious.

What I wonder will the news about long covid be for vaccinated people and what will the extra risk of covid mutation due to mass vaccination with reinfections persisting and the like. Alarm bells will be clamouring at Pfizer even as they stash the $20 billion profits they have made so far.

Getting vaccinated is a mute point for me because there are no available vaccines here anyway. I am not complaiining, although only people with private islands like Richard Branson and co will be able to stop it getting to them eventually. I do not think anybody really knows where this is all going. Sure there are lots of theories but very little data published that I as an individual would trust. This whole thing can go so disastrously wrong. If it goes well then it will be luck more than management.

Mel Gibson

[Deleted]

I see a whole lot of calculations about breakthrough rate of Covid-19 cases in fully vaccinated people. These yield numbers in the order of 0.0n%, and hospitalization and death even an order of magnitude rarer. People arrive at these numbers by dividing the number of breakthrough cases by the total number of people vaccinated. However, most vaccinated people are not exposed to the virus. It's not as if they encountered the virus and the vaccine shield prevented any intrusion. The number of fully vaccinated people actually exposed to the virus across the country is difficult to estimate. It's relatively easier to estimate the same number in individual congregate settings.

Also, only a fraction of the number of fully vaccinated people exposed to the virus undergo Covid-19 tests. Many have been tested because they found themselves in situations where testing was routine; not because they had specific reasons to get tested. All in all, we just do not have a basis to make those calculations.

The breakthrough rates, as calculated, are not particularly meaningful as measures of risk for fully vaccinated individuals. In fact, these numbers give people a false sense of security about the potential for infection when exposed to the virus, and subsequent bad outcomes. We expect people with co-morbidities to have higher risks. That have been borne out in the unvaccinated. What about the fully vaccinated? What level of protection from the vaccine can we currently expect? Just no good answer.

Data from different parts of the world do not yet converge. It's very difficult to normalize exposure and therefore risk data from different contexts. Activities are different, durations are different, proximities are different, vaccines are different, health conditions are different etc. We know very little about the epidemiology of the virus to model and predict its behavior and outcomes.

In the face of these uncertainties the only meaningful steps for individuals are getting fully vaccinated, continuing with the precautionary measures minimizing exposure, keeping up with the news and analyses from credible sources.  

[Bact PhD]

Thanks for that analysis, Prob.
I’ll add one more element to the equation: When they were talking about “efficacy” early on, the yardstick was “sick enough to be hospitalized/dead”, not that an exposed individual wouldn’t get infected/mildly ill/contagious and not know it. Once enough of us got vaccinated to where re-opening was occurring in a big way, we were still in uncharted territory. Unfortunately, we’re now seeing the chances of being fully vaxxed and still becoming contagious after sufficient exposure are higher than we might have hoped at New Year’s. The Coalition of the Stubborn has also managed to maintain much more of a Petri dish for variant generation than was anticipated. We may be in for another winter dealing with this, booster shot or no booster shot.

How tired am I of this? Let me count the waves…

[jackd]

Sure would be helpful if the unvaccinated turned around. Some advocate "listening" to them to gain their trust so that they will listen. I'm not seeing its efficacy when listening to talk of "the mark of the beast".

[goldenvalley]

Mutation of viruses is not something understood even in the absence of the partisan nonsense that has swirled around this disease. To people it just looks like the scientists are either lying or incompetent. They didn't believe this virus was as serious as it was and continue to disbelieve that any variant is as serious as it is. And many haven't been ill with it after hearing about it for 18+ months so they assume they have really good immune systems and won't be getting it...younger people in particular feel this way.

[Bact PhD]

Supposedly, some of the Coalition of the Stubborn are seeing the light, but according to a piece I read last night, they’re so concerned about “losing face” with their fellow MAGATs that they’re going for their vaccinations in disguise, seeking private areas to get it done, and so forth. IDGAF how they get jabbed, just that they “git ‘er done” at the earliest available opportunity.

I agree that by and large “reasoning” won’t work with this Coalition.

[pnwguy]

Aug 2, 2021 18:34:54 GMT goldenvalley said:

Mutation of viruses is not something understood even in the absence of the partisan nonsense that has swirled around this disease. To people it just looks like the scientists are either lying or incompetent. They didn't believe this virus was as serious as it was and continue to disbelieve that any variant is as serious as it is. And many haven't been ill with it after hearing about it for 18+ months so they assume they have really good immune systems and won't be getting it...younger people in particular feel this way.

"I haven't experienced something, therefore it must NOT be true."

That's a philosophical core of the MAGA-verse. Since anything historical can not be a current experience, there is no reason to look to history for any guidance now. And anything that requires abstract thinking (like much of science) is both worthless and suspect.

[Deleted]

Aug 2, 2021 18:20:40 GMT Bact PhD said:

Thanks for that analysis, Prob.
I’ll add one more element to the equation: When they were talking about “efficacy” early on, the yardstick was “sick enough to be hospitalized/dead”, not that an exposed individual wouldn’t get infected/mildly ill/contagious and not know it. Once enough of us got vaccinated to where re-opening was occurring in a big way, we were still in uncharted territory. Unfortunately, we’re now seeing the chances of being fully vaxxed and still becoming contagious after sufficient exposure are higher than we might have hoped at New Year’s. The Coalition of the Stubborn has also managed to maintain much more of a Petri dish for variant generation than was anticipated. We may be in for another winter dealing with this, booster shot or no booster shot.

How tired am I of this? Let me count the waves…

You don't have to count them individually. I'm sure numerical models exist that can predict with a high degree of confidence. Then again where's the fun in that?! 

The coalition of the stubborn, the stupid, and the southern (the placement of words is merely coincidental; any slanderous connotation is a product of your mind; it's just wholesome fun to alliterate) is not the only group ensuring continued replication and propagation of the virus, leading to ever dangerous variants. The world population is an order of magnitude bigger problem. America is very likely to become familiar with the entire Greek alphabet beyond those used by the sorority sisters.

[Rue Bella]

Too many people want definite information on COVID... and that's impossible. It has not been around long enough for good research to be done. Not to mention the virus continually changes - as in evolves! We can't have that happening! There is a segment of the population that simply thinks evolution of any sort does not happen, Their god (no doubt working incognito in a Wuhan lab) created everything as it is now. No wonder they think the whole pandemic is a hoax - change of that sort simply cannot happen.

[Traveler]

Great article on the anti-vaxxer mentality. As we all know, it's a massive con, and they were the rubes.

[Deleted]

Aug 3, 2021 13:23:49 GMT Traveler said:

Great article on the anti-vaxxer mentality. As we all know, it's a massive con, and they were the rubes.

Basically, one has to humor and pamper the recalcitrant, the petulant, the obnoxious, the irresponsible, the indifferent, the careless just so the society can move along. Incentivizing bad behavior begets more bad behavior.

[Traveler]

Another take on Mr. Market's options.  Turns out the ins. cos had issued waivers before vaccines available.   They needed no permission to revoke them.  Now Covid costs real money.  

In 2020, before there were Covid-19 vaccines, most major private insurers waived patient payments — from coinsurance to deductibles — for Covid treatment. But many if not most have allowed that policy to lapse. Aetna, for example, ended that policy on Feb. 28; UnitedHealthcare began rolling back its waivers late last year and discontinued them by the end of March.

More than 97 percent of hospitalized patients last month were unvaccinated. Though the vaccines will not necessarily prevent you from catching the coronavirus, they are highly effective at assuring you will have a milder case and are kept out of the hospital.

For this reason, there’s logic behind insurers’ waiver rollback: Why should patients be kept financially unharmed from what is now a preventable hospitalization, thanks to a vaccine that the government paid for and made available for free? It is now in many drugstores, popping up at highway rest stops and bus stops and can be delivered and administered at home in parts of the country.