Coronavirus (No Politics)

Originally Posted by Pladio
Yes, but the MERS fatality rate and others too are why some viruses don't spread as fast.

It is a valid point. Killing the host can reduce the chance for a germ to spread.

But, IMO for MERS it's more that the virus itself isn't very contagious. Infection requires a high dose of virus, most cases are infected from animals, and there seems to be little human to human transmission. There is concern that MERS might mutate into something readily spreading from human to human. Like Sars-Cov2. So on the one hand we have a coronavirus that is lethal but doesn't transfer easily between humans. On the other hand we have a related coronavirus that is highly contagious, but not very deadly. At the moment.

We have plenty of examples of highly infectious and at the same time very deadly germs. Smallpox, caused by the variola virus killed around 30% of the patients. And the virus was wide spread, infecting many millions of humans each year. As late as 1967 when the disease was largely under control in many parts of then world 15 million got infected by smallpox. Another example is of course the plague that spread widely in Europe back in the 14th cenrtury, while at the same time killing 30-60% of the population.

Viruses causing seasonal epidemics tend to evolve into not being very lethal. So, over time, if Covid-19 became a seasonal infection, it could very well become similar to the flu (which BTW also has/had quite deadly outbreaks). But that would not be the case here, if the virus at this stage mutated into something still highly infectious and now lethal, with still a largely not immune population it could turn into a real PIA.

There is real concern about what pandemics we might expect in the future. A highly contagious MERS is one example. Another more scary candidate is Nipah, which kills up to 90% of it's victims. Currently this one requires close contact, but secretions from the respiratory tract do contain virus, so there is potential for more extensive spreading. And we already know one Ebola species with airborne transmission, the Reston variant, which fortunately didn't cause disease humans.

an incarnation of pibbur who like that 747 pilot trusts that you are "not in too much distress" by this.

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

Originally Posted by a pibbur
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.

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.

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.

Alrighty - I've got my Pfizer shot. No ill effects, so far. I shall notify you if anything unexpected results.

Originally Posted by Ripper
Alrighty - I've got my Pfizer shot. No ill effects, so far. I shall notify you if anything unexpected results.

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.

Maybe Ripper got his shot because he is a top dog in the UK.

It was delayed twice, which is very poor service. I'm going to take it up with the Queen when I see her.

Originally Posted by Ripper
…I'm going to take it up with the Queen when I see her.

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.

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.

Originally Posted by Ripper
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.

It must be bothering you when playing Polo, though.

[just testing pibbur's hypothesis]

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.

Originally Posted by Ripper
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.

Well, let's be honest, nobody was ready for a pandemic. It's just that it's strange - a problem began in China, the whole world knew about it, but few deigned to prepare in advance. And this is just incomprehensible. We played democracy, did not recognize the existence of COVID - and what is the result? Monstrous statistics on morbidity.

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.

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.

Originally Posted by Atrachasis
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.

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.

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.

Originally Posted by Atrachasis
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.

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.

Originally Posted by Atrachasis
Let's name the guilty parties: That is happening in Germany in 2021.

Yeah, our politicians and state agencies are pretty inept when it comes to "new" technologies and thinking outside the box.

It does say "No Politics" in the title.