Coronavirus (No Politics)

According to several news media, including BBC (https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55768627) "early evidence suggests the variant of coronavirus that emerged in the UK may be more deadly". Still too early to say for certain, but current estimates say it's around 30% more deadly.

According to the news report "the Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are both expected to work against the variant that emerged in the UK.". However, the new Brazilian and the South African strains "have certain features which means they might be less susceptible to vaccines". Again, too early to say for certain.

Lots of uncertainty, but one thing is certain (IMO): The virus is unpredictable.

an incarnation of pibbur, a bringer of bad (possibly) inaccurate news
 
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a pibbur said:
According to several news media, including BBC (https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55768627) "early evidence suggests the variant of coronavirus that emerged in the UK may be more deadly". Still too early to say for certain, but current estimates say it's around 30% more deadly.
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Yeah - that is interesting and scary. Initial reports were that it seemed more infectious but less severe .. which were thrown into doubt very quickly. Now I have also heard about multiple variants (aside from UK and South Africa) ... whew.
 
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Yes, these concerns were raised on tonight's government briefing. I'm also told that this is confirming what's been widely suspected by folks on the ground, from what they've been seeing over the last couple of months. In particular, a significant rise in more severe cases, and more serious outcomes in younger and healthier people.
 
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Alrighty - I've got my Pfizer shot. No ill effects, so far. I shall notify you if anything unexpected results.
 
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Ripper said:
Alrighty - I've got my Pfizer shot. No ill effects, so far. I shall notify you if anything unexpected results.
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Lucky you I have to wait till next year. As the shots are given by age group and I'm not 65 are older. I'm also not a front line worker or government employee. Sucks alright.:(
 
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Maybe Ripper got his shot because he is a top dog in the UK.
 
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It was delayed twice, which is very poor service. I'm going to take it up with the Queen when I see her.
 
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Ripper said:
...I'm going to take it up with the Queen when I see her.
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Useful information for those of us who strive to find out who the Ripper really is. Should narrow down the number of candidates, significantly, especially taking into account the familiar tone of the remark.

an incarnation of pibbur who now suspects his (the Ripper) name may be Charles.
 
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Well, my arm's not really sore, but it has given me a stiff neck and shoulder. Nothing too notable - just feels like I strained something. It did slow me down when I was grinding my morning coffee.
 
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Ripper said:
Well, my arm's not really sore, but it has given me a stiff neck and shoulder. Nothing too notable - just feels like I strained something. It did slow me down when I was grinding my morning coffee.
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It must be bothering you when playing Polo, though.

[just testing pibbur's hypothesis]
 
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Lol.

Thinking about it, my only criticism is that the organisation of their system was a bit chaotic. Things weren't very clear, we sat in a poorly-spaced waiting area, and there was a heavy-breathing old lady with her mask under her nose. It'll be different in every centre, but just pay attention to what's going on around you, as things can get sloppy.
 
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I got my first Moderna shot on the 11th in the states. My arm was definitely sore, it felt like I pulled a muscle and I couldn't sleep on my right side because it was too painful to lie on it. But that only lasted about 24 hours and then I was totally fine. Overall it was a pretty smooth process.
 
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I'm not even close to being in line yet, but I've tried to make an appointment for my 84-year-old stepfather. The telephone hotline suggested using the online appointment system.

OK, great, the country is finally on its way towards digitization!

So here's what people 80 years and over experience as they attempt to schedule an appointment:

  • navigate to the website
  • pick a vaccination center out of a list sorted by zip codes (the center in my home town was listed twice, once with, once without a spelling error; a day later, the entry with the correct spelling had been removed, along with my reservation code). There is no indication at this point if and when a center might have appointments available.
  • declare whether their eligibility had already been verified (you need to answer "no" in order to get a reservation code, which appears to be what the question is *really* about)
  • declare on the next page whether they are part of an eligible group
  • enter their mobile phone number
  • receive a verification PIN by SMS and enter it on the site
  • enter their e-mail address
  • receive an e-mail with their reservation codes
  • enter the code (or click the embedded link in the mail)
  • acknowledge a disclaimer that says that, depending on which vaccine they will be receiving, they need to schedule their appointments either at least 21 or at least 28 days apart, and that they'd better book both appointments at once and need to make sure they will be around for the second one (without knowing at this point which vaccine they WILL be given)
  • be told that no appointments are available in their region
  • wonder if that is true, or if the reservation system simply isn't working, or if they should rather have picked a different vaccination center (but apparently the reservation codes are bound to a specific center, and you need to repeat the whole process if you are wondering if another center might have an opening)

Let's name the guilty parties: That is happening in Germany in 2021.
 
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Atrachasis said:
I'm not even close to being in line yet, but I've tried to make an appointment for my 84-year-old stepfather. The telephone hotline suggested using the online appointment system.

OK, great, the country is finally on its way towards digitization!

So here's what people 80 years and over experience as they attempt to schedule an appointment:

  • navigate to the website
  • pick a vaccination center out of a list sorted by zip codes (the center in my home town was listed twice, once with, once without a spelling error; a day later, the entry with the correct spelling had been removed, along with my reservation code). There is no indication at this point if and when a center might have appointments available.
  • declare whether their eligibility had already been verified (you need to answer "no" in order to get a reservation code, which appears to be what the question is *really* about)
  • declare on the next page whether they are part of an eligible group
  • enter their mobile phone number
  • receive a verification PIN by SMS and enter it on the site
  • enter their e-mail address
  • receive an e-mail with their reservation codes
  • enter the code (or click the embedded link in the mail)
  • acknowledge a disclaimer that says that, depending on which vaccine they will be receiving, they need to schedule their appointments either at least 21 or at least 28 days apart, and that they'd better book both appointments at once and need to make sure they will be around for the second one (without knowing at this point which vaccine they WILL be given)
  • be told that no appointments are available in their region
  • wonder if that is true, or if the reservation system simply isn't working, or if they should rather have picked a different vaccination center (but apparently the reservation codes are bound to a specific center, and you need to repeat the whole process if you are wondering if another center might have an opening)

Let's name the guilty parties: That is happening in Germany in 2021.
Click to expand...

Wow! Here in New York City the vaccine registration system has been widely criticized as being poorly implemented and confusing to older people. But at least they don't have to get verification codes before they can register. Part of the problem we have is that while there is a central website, it doesn't have info on every vaccination center and you might be told there that there are no appointments when you would actually find them if you went to a different website.
 
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What I find incredible is the assumption that someone in their 80's would necessarily have both a mobile phone and an email.!! I frustrate many people because I refuse to have a mobile phone; I still have my old landline and it's all that I need. :)
 
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Atrachasis said:
I'm not even close to being in line yet, but I've tried to make an appointment for my 84-year-old stepfather. The telephone hotline suggested using the online appointment system.

OK, great, the country is finally on its way towards digitization!

So here's what people 80 years and over experience as they attempt to schedule an appointment:

  • navigate to the website
  • pick a vaccination center out of a list sorted by zip codes (the center in my home town was listed twice, once with, once without a spelling error; a day later, the entry with the correct spelling had been removed, along with my reservation code). There is no indication at this point if and when a center might have appointments available.
  • declare whether their eligibility had already been verified (you need to answer "no" in order to get a reservation code, which appears to be what the question is *really* about)
  • declare on the next page whether they are part of an eligible group
  • enter their mobile phone number
  • receive a verification PIN by SMS and enter it on the site
  • enter their e-mail address
  • receive an e-mail with their reservation codes
  • enter the code (or click the embedded link in the mail)
  • acknowledge a disclaimer that says that, depending on which vaccine they will be receiving, they need to schedule their appointments either at least 21 or at least 28 days apart, and that they'd better book both appointments at once and need to make sure they will be around for the second one (without knowing at this point which vaccine they WILL be given)
  • be told that no appointments are available in their region
  • wonder if that is true, or if the reservation system simply isn't working, or if they should rather have picked a different vaccination center (but apparently the reservation codes are bound to a specific center, and you need to repeat the whole process if you are wondering if another center might have an opening)

Let's name the guilty parties: That is happening in Germany in 2021.
Click to expand...

Oof. That sounds even more horrible than what my dad was doing. At least he finally was able to just do it via phone (But they don't seem to be able or willing to send a confirmation.)

Out of curiosity: which state is that? It seems it differs alot depending on that. For instance, in some states (NRW) it is organized by the "Kassenärztliche Vereinigung". In other states (Schleswig-Holstein), private companies seem to have been hired.
 
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It does say "No Politics" in the title.
 
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What strikes me most of this pandemy is, that is the so far closest thing nature could conjure to make the "zombie craze" actually become reality.

Just look around you : Like in various zombie settings, one must not come near to other, infected, citizens, it can spread over to anyone, and the lockdown could also be entitled "the walking infected", cynically speaking.
 
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Cacheperl said:
Out of curiosity: which state is that? It seems it differs alot depending on that. For instance, in some states (NRW) it is organized by the "Kassenaerztliche Vereinigung". In other states (Schleswig-Holstein), private companies seem to have been hired.
Click to expand...

That's in B-W, which seems to use the same system as NRW and three other states.

It's theoretically doable by phone, but they suggested trying the web-based system. Presumably the phone operators are hooked up to the same database. But I wonder, how hard would it be to poll the databases of all centers in the region once per minute and display right on the front page if there are any appointments available at all? What is most mind-boggling to me is how improvised these services feel in terms of usability, as if the start of vaccination drives had come as a complete surprise.

Meanwhile, first tentative signs that the shots are having an effect on case and hospitalization rates are emerging from Israel.
https://twitter.com/segal_eran/status/1356313705684869121
Tentative, because this isn't really a proper comparison to a control group, but between two age groups with different vaccination rates, but still - congrats on that!
 
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