I hope the ocean volcano and extremely high day temperature in Australia did not cause their antivaxxers to protest too much.

In Microsoft Bing Science Alert news today they reported about a test done at a medical center in Boston with 50,000 people. Half were given the Covid Vaccine and the other half were given a fake placebo. Many of them got the common side affects of headache, fatigue and soreness that were previously reported by people who got the Covid vaccine. They say to spread the word to antivaxxers (the side effects are in your head) to reduce their hesitancy to getting the vaccine.

I got 3 doses of what I guess were the real Pfizer Covid vaccine and I have no side effects except for a bit of high frequency ringing (tinnitus) in my old hearing. The common-for-my-age tinnitus might have happened anyway without the vaccine.
Maybe I should get a radioactivity test?

 

The wave is moving on in the US.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/17/us-coronavirus-cases-decrease-latest

New York City and some north-eastern US states appear to be seeing rapid decreases in their numbers of Covid-19 cases in recent days, raising the possibility that the Omicron wave has now already peaked in some parts of America.

In New York City the rolling seven-day average of new cases was less than 28,000 a day on 16 January, down from an average of more than 40,000 on 9 January.

Similar patterns were being observed in the state as a whole and other nearby regions.

“The Covid forecast is improving … the Covid clouds are parting,” said Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, in a statement Sunday after releasing figures that showed positivity rates in the state are falling sharply. “Overall, the prognosis, the forecast, for Covid is much brighter than it had been before.”

 

https://unherd.com/thepost/israeli-vaccine-chief-we-have-made-mistakes/

Professor Cyrille Cohen is head of Immunology at Bar Ilan University and a member of the advisory committee for vaccines for the Israeli Government. In a wide-ranging and forthright interview, the Professor tells Freddie Sayers:

• The Green Pass / vaccine passport concept is no longer relevant in the Omicron era and should be phased out (he expects it to be in short order in Israel)
• He and his colleagues were surprised and disappointed that the vaccines did not prevent transmission, as they had originally hoped
• The biggest mistake of the pandemic in Israel was closing schools and education – he apologised for that
• Widespread infection is now an inevitable part of future immunity — otherwise known as herd immunity
• Omicron has accelerated the pandemic into the endemic phase, in which Covid will be “like flu”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israe...nds-4th-dose-not-good-enough-against-omicron/

Nearly a month after Sheba Medical Center launched a landmark study to test the efficacy of a fourth COVID shot, the hospital said Monday that this fourth booster was only partially effective in protecting against the Omicron strain.

“The vaccine, which was very effective against the previous strains, is less effective against the Omicron strain,” Prof. Gili Regev-Yochay, a lead researcher in the experiment said.

“We see an increase in antibodies, higher than after the third dose,” Regev-Yochay said. “However, we see many infected with Omicron who received the fourth dose. Granted, a bit less than in the control group, but still a lot of infections,” she added.

 

Also here in Ontario Canada the daily case counts are dropping as more antivaxxers including little kids get vaccinated.
But the cases are mostly the vaccinated majority of people who have no symptoms or very mild symptoms. Antivaxxers have severe illness and are hospitalized.

 

https://www.abc15.com/news/coronavirus/hong-kong-to-kill-2-000-animals-after-hamsters-get-covid-19

Hong Kong authorities say they will kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an employee was also infected.

They say the city will also stop the sale of hamsters and the import of small mammals.

 

A very sad case. Ignorance can be deadly:

Hana Horka: Czech singer dies after catching Covid intentionally


​

Hana Horka, 57, was unvaccinated and had posted on social media that she was recovering after testing positive, but died two days later. Her son, Jan Rek, said she got infected on purpose when he and his father had the virus, so she could get a recovery pass to access certain venues.

​

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60047438

England's Plan B measures are to end from next Thursday, with mandatory face coverings in public places and Covid passports both dropped, Boris Johnson has announced.
The prime minister also said the government would immediately drop its advice for people to work from home.
The PM said England was reverting to "Plan A" due to boosters and how people had followed Plan B measures.
He told MPs scientists believed the Omicron wave had peaked nationally.
In a statement to MPs in the House of Commons, the prime minister said:

• Mandatory Covid passports for entering nightclubs and large events would end, though organisations could choose to use the NHS Covid pass if they wished

• People would no longer be advised to work from home and should discuss their return to offices with employers

• Face masks will no longer be mandated, though people are still advised to wear coverings in enclosed or crowded spaces and when meeting strangers

• From Thursday, secondary school pupils will no longer have to wear face masks in classrooms and government guidance on their use in communal areas would be removed "shortly"

I guess we will see how fast restrictions will fall elsewhere as the Omicron wave fades.

https://news.yahoo.com/4-signs-omicron-may-soon-peak-in-the-us-153809296.html

Cases are plummeting in New York City — and they’re plummeting even faster than they were rising.
New York City was the first place in the U.S. to get slammed by Omicron: Between Christmas and New Year’s, reported cases there more than doubled, on average, from about 15,000 a day to about 33,000 a day.

Previously, America’s biggest city had never averaged more than about 6,200 cases in a single day. By Jan. 10, it was averaging more than 40,000.

But ever since, transmission has fallen off a cliff.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-new-arrivals-over-unprecedented-omicron-risk

New Zealand has temporarily cut off the only pathway home for overseas citizens and visa holders, citing the risk of the Omicron variant.

Officials announced on Tuesday evening that new spaces in the country’s managed isolation and quarantine system (MIQ) would not be released.
...
New Zealand’s tough border restrictions have been crucial to its avoiding an Omicron outbreak and keeping Covid cases extremely low – but they are also a source of increasing heartache and rage for those who have found themselves locked out, often in extremely difficult personal circumstances.

 

https://www.abc15.com/news/coronavirus/hong-kong-to-kill-2-000-animals-after-hamsters-get-covid-19

The disease has stopped being COViD a long time ago. We are suffering from something else...

 

The disease has stopped being COViD a long time ago. We are suffering from something else...

It's called Pandemic Fatigue ... at least I know I'm suffering from that ...

 

Also here in Ontario Canada the daily case counts are dropping as more antivaxxers including little kids get vaccinated.
But the cases are mostly the vaccinated majority of people who have no symptoms or very mild symptoms. Antivaxxers have severe illness and are hospitalized.

one day 100% of population may be vaccinated. even then Covid will still be around and i wonder who would you blame then.

i tried to find some data that shows hospitalization rates with respect to number of vaccine shots. Saskatchewan does just that.

Number of hospitalizations among people that received no vaccine is 9 per 100000.
Number of hospitalizations among people that are triple vaxxed is 6.9 per 100000.

While there is a difference between the two values, it is very small (only 0.0021%) despite extremely different vaccination status. data also shows that most hospitalizations are among people over 60 years old. according to data linked below, very few hospitalizations are among younger than 60 - regardless of their vaccination status (0,1,2 or 3 shots).

i would like to get same data for more populous provinces - Ontario and Quebec but don't seem to find it. on the other hand your posts are very alarmist. If you have better data please state the source, do not spread unsupported claims.

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/governm...vid-19-vaccine-information/vaccine-statistics

 

one day 100% of population may be vaccinated. even then Covid will still be around and i wonder who would you blame then.

i tried to find some data that shows hospitalization rates with respect to number of vaccine shots. Saskatchewan does just that.

Number of hospitalizations among people that received no vaccine is 9 per 100000.
Number of hospitalizations among people that are triple vaxxed is 6.9 per 100000.

While there is a difference between the two values, it is very small (only 0.0021%) despite extremely different vaccination status. data also shows that most hospitalizations are among people over 60 years old. according to data linked below, very few hospitalizations are among younger than 60 - regardless of their vaccination status (0,1,2 or 3 shots).

i would like to get same data for more populous provinces - Ontario and Quebec but don't seem to find it. on the other hand your posts are very alarmist. If you have better data please state the source, do not spread unsupported claims.

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/governm...vid-19-vaccine-information/vaccine-statistics

Extracting only part of the data from that report does not paint the whole picture. While hospitalizations may seem close, it is those that end up in ICU or dying that make up a larger portion of the unvaccinated vs vaccinated.
To quote (an excerpt) from same link you posted:
"Estimated death rates were 1.4/100,000 for the unvaccinated and 0.4/100,000 in those with second dose." More than 3 times for no vaccine.
On that same page, estimated death rate of those with booster is zero.
Now, all those numbers were for December, before the peak of Omicron hit. Saskatchewan is not a "shining example" of a province that addresses Covid seriously.
I think the key to all this is that if vaccinated, your chances are better for surviving it. But, no vaccine is never 100%, so there are always exceptions.

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/he...vaccination-during-delta-surge-us-2022-01-19/

Jan 19 (Reuters) - People who had previously been infected with COVID-19 were better protected against the Delta variant than those who were vaccinated alone, suggesting that natural immunity was a more potent shield than vaccines against that variant, California and New York health officials reported on Wednesday.

Protection against Delta was highest, however, among people who were both vaccinated and had survived a previous COVID infection, and lowest among those who had never been infected or vaccinated, the study found.
...
For the study, health officials in California and New York gathered data from May through November, which included the period when the Delta variant was dominant.

It showed that people who survived a previous infection had lower rates of COVID-19 than people who were vaccinated alone.

That represented a change from the period when the Alpha variant was dominant, Silk told the briefing.

"Before the Delta variant, COVID-19 vaccination resulted in better protection against a subsequent infection than surviving a previous infection," he said.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e1.htm?s_cid=mm7104e1_w

Still waiting for Omicron immunity studies but the same results are expected with both forms of prior immunity being much less effective on Omicron infections.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...to-drive-forklifts-catches-states-by-surprise

A proposal by Scott Morrison to allow children to drive forklifts appears to have caught the states by surprise, with the Queensland, Victorian and NSW governments saying they have no plans to lower the current age of 18.



https://abc7.com/teens-drive-big-rigs-semi-trucks/11483898/

U.S. to let teens drive big rigs in test program to help ease supply chain shortage

 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...s/coronaviruscovid19latestinsights/antibodies

Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights: Antibodies

The presence of antibodies to COVID-19 suggests that a person has previously had the infection or been vaccinated. In the week beginning 20 December 2021, the percentage of adults that would have tested positive for antibodies is estimated to be:

• 97.5% in England
• 96.8% in Wales
• 97.4% in Northern Ireland
• 97.7% in Scotland

Everyone, everyone, everyone, who isn't living like a hermit will be given quite a bit of exposure to Omicron. A mass immunization program using live virus.

 

Extracting only part of the data from that report does not paint the whole picture. While hospitalizations may seem close, it is those that end up in ICU or dying that make up a larger portion of the unvaccinated vs vaccinated.
To quote (an excerpt) from same link you posted:
"Estimated death rates were 1.4/100,000 for the unvaccinated and 0.4/100,000 in those with second dose." More than 3 times for no vaccine.
On that same page, estimated death rate of those with booster is zero.
Now, all those numbers were for December, before the peak of Omicron hit. Saskatchewan is not a "shining example" of a province that addresses Covid seriously.
I think the key to all this is that if vaccinated, your chances are better for surviving it. But, no vaccine is never 100%, so there are always exceptions.

if you read my post, you may notice that i was not happy with the data either - but that happens to be the best i could find that neatly shows each vaccination status. i too want to know the facts not base my decision on guesses or unsupported allegations. i also wanted something more recent (at the peak of the wave) with larger figures and not something statistically insignificant. which is why i asked for better data. the difference of 1 in 100000 is just that - insignificant, not a watershed moment that reveals pattern. you are basing your claims on literally the smallest figures you can find and then turn the whole thing around to make those smallest figures look significant. for whatever reason more detailed data is not easily found which is why i asked for finding it when making claims. so show me your data. show me official report that backs what you are stating.

if you believe that in ICUs which had 100 Covid deaths in Jan 2022, not a single death was among boosted and more than 50% was among unvaccinated - i am very interested so please share that data. i am not saying it does not exist but from what i could fund so far, that seem to be just a myth. cannot dispute something that is not supported so if you have it, please share.

and forgive me if i am skeptical of those concluding that 5 year old shall be mass vaccinated even though that may be putting young at risk of cardiac problems while almost all of deaths are in people over 60 year old. Australia admitted that there were tens of thousands of severe reactions to vaccine. Those are people in the prime of their lives, not the ones at risk of Covid (over 60 and with comorbidity).

This should be taken seriously and good data from official sources is needed. Short of that, i'll take it at face value and if hospitals say 2x vaxxed are fully vaccinated - that is the data at hand. and looking at thing with that in mind, hospitalizations due Covid do not seem to differ too much among groups with different vaccination status.

if you have better data - share it.

 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/tran...theageof60withnounderlyinghealthissuesintheuk

You asked
Under the freedom of information could you tell me number of COVID-19 deaths under the age of 60 with no underlying health issues in the UK up to October 2021?

We said
Thank you for your request.

We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively

We produce data in broad age groups due to disclosure concerns when we are breaking information down by a number of variables, such as by cause and pre-existing conditions.

 

thanks, that is good but it still does not show the cases split based on vaccination status.
and without such details everyone is free to speculate and spin it one way or another.
pro-vaxxers may say those 8,640 deaths are all unvaccinated cases,
antivaxxers may say those are largely vaccinated cases or maybe that it is awash....
and truth is likely somewhere in the middle but still not revealed.

so can anyone find such data that also includes precise number of shots (0,1,2,3...)?

 

Ontario updates ICU occupancy daily and the data shows more or less similar results regardless of vaccination status when considering all ages:


But things do change when looking at older group (60-79). and the picture is even bleaker for 80+ year old. this definitely supports that elderly will be much better off vaccinated:




Btw. they updated also what is meant by fully vaccinated and - it is 3 doses rather than 2:

 

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-693996

More than two-thirds of the common side-effects people experience after a corona shot can be attributed to a negative version of the placebo effect rather than the vaccine itself, new research indicates.

Scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston examined data from 12 clinical trials of COVID vaccines and found the “nocebo effect” accounted for 76% of all common adverse reactions after the first dose, and nearly 52% after the second dose. A third of clinical trial participants who received no vaccine reported systemic adverse events like headache and fatigue.

The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, suggest that a large proportion of milder side-effects such as headaches, short-term fatigue and arm pain are not produced by the vaccine itself, but by other factors thought to generate the nocebo response, such as anxiety.