Coronavirus Crisis: Main Thread

[streeb]

Harvey said:

I just watched it but the headline is accurate enough. Is this some kind of street theatre or what?

I assumed it was real when I saw it a couple weeks ago. Where I live, some people are that mental. Some of them used to be my boss and they sit around all day pumping out articl... opinion pieces abut how masks and vaccines aren't enough.

[streeb]

Dr. Evil said:

I think they're safer than the virus. I don't subscribe to the idea that it's just another flu like some here do. With an IFR of 0.2% that's almost 700K dead in the US if you assume everyone eventually gets it. Then repeat that exercise with probably lower numbers every year as the virus mutates and immunity becomes obsolete, so basically, a really bad flu season every year.

For myself, I got vaccinated because my lungs are a burning heap of trash and probably wouldn't go well with the coronavirus. And yes, I think it was correct policy to vaccinate as many as possible, because there weren't really any good alternatives, but I think it should be entirely voluntary, and the government should make a point of saying that often and loudly. Side effects should also be openly discussed and reported on, so people have the best information possible available. For young people I think it should be left up to them. If they want it they should get it, but if they don't it should make no difference. And finally, corona-passes and apartheid treatment of the unvaccinated is a big no-no.

For healthcare workers I'm conflicted. They work with vulnerable people every day, exactly the people most at risk to the virus, so they do have an extra obligation of care, and being a nurse or a doctor isn't a human right. I can see both sides of the argument, and haven't really made up my mind one way or the other.

My reasons for believing the above are simple: it's what we did where I live and it (so far at least) worked. The majority of people are vaccinated, restrictions are lifted and life is back to normal.

Dr. Evil, sincere thanks for the reply.

[Laodicean]

Ok, last Radiohead song I post for the year. I swear.

[stickdog99]

I just watched it but the headline is accurate enough. Is this some kind of street theatre or what?

You can see scenes like that anywhere in San Francisco, where the vaccinated congregate to spread vaccine resistance strains among themselves.

[stickdog99]

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defe ... -research/

The Research Is Clear: Ivermectin Is a Safe, Effective Treatment for COVID. So Why Isn’t It Being Used?

Despite efforts to denigrate ivermectin as “horse paste” and prevent doctors from prescribing it and patients from using it, the latest research shows this safe, inexpensive drug is effective at keeping COVID patients out of the hospital.

A patient with Type 1 diabetes called to tell me the pharmacist at our local Walgreens refused to fill the prescription I had written for ivermectin, so I called to ask why.

The young pharmacist, a few years out of pharmacy school, informed me he did not understand why I was using ivermectin for early treatment of COVID because “SARS-CoV-2 does not have an exoskeleton.”

I explained I was not using ivermectin as an anti-parasitic medication, but that it had impressive data as an anti-inflammatory and anti-viral.

Furthermore, as a pediatrician, I have more than 40 years of experience managing multiple viral illnesses. There is value in treating viruses early, often with inexpensive natural remedies, rather than “staying at home until you have problems breathing then go to the hospital” as U.S. public officials have advised for COVID.

The pharmacist was not buying my initial explanation. “I am not going to fill prescriptions for ivermectin that are used in pseudo vaccine doses,” he told me.

I was surprised a young pharmacist was able to override an experienced physician’s prescription, effectively removing an inexpensive prevention and treatment option for selected patients in the middle of a pandemic.

The medical educator in me kicked in. “I would be happy to send you some references about the use of ivermectin for treatment and prevention. There are impressive studies from Argentina, Peru, Africa and India that suggest much better outcomes than we are achieving here in the U.S. with our single-minded focus on vaccines.”

He told me the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not recommend ivermectin for COVID. I asked to see the documentation and he agreed to fax it to me.

I hand-delivered 93 references and a great review article to the Walgreens.

The pharmacist faxed back a post from March 5, on the FDA website entitled “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19.”

The next day, I received notice that a pharmacy in Northern Virginia would not fill any prescriptions for ivermectin if the diagnosis code mentioned COVID.

I had written an ivermectin prescription for a patient who has a history of bad reactions to vaccines and significant autoimmune illness. His adolescent age means that he is at very low risk of death from COVID itself.

Based on my experience as his doctor for over a decade, I was worried about potential adverse events if he got the COVID vaccine. I dug into the data about ivermectin, and it seemed like a great option for him to have on hand for early treatment of COVID if he got sick.

A pharmacist in a drug store, who never examined my patient or learned his extensive medical history, got to trump my best medical judgment by refusing to fill the prescription.

The same day, in a conversation with a compounding pharmacy, we learned of a case in which a patient’s family had to take a hospital to court to obtain treatment with ivermectin.

Bear in mind that the safety profile for ivermectin is excellent and the drug is spectacularly less expensive than the vast majority of hospital interventions.

Three days later, on a zoom call with a colleague whose parents live in Colorado, I learned that a pharmacist at a major drugstore was not only refusing to fill ivermectin for 86- and 87-year-old patients who held valid prescriptions, but the pharmacist was taking the initiative to remind the other King Soopers pharmacies in the state not to fill those prescriptions either.

My analysis of the medical literature is that ivermectin has an impressive safety record and there are multiple studies from around the globe suggesting it can decrease morbidity and mortality from COVID 19.

Two doctors who were actually in the ICU treating real patients, Dr. Paul Marik and Dr. Pierre Kory, looked at their prior experience with similarly sick patients and reviewed treatment strategies to determine what could be helpful.

As Dr. Anthony Fauci advised us to “stay home and wait for the vaccine,” frontline doctors took care of the patients before them, learning valuable lessons about what worked and what did not.

Let’s hit the highlights, quoting directly from the review paper by Kory et al, Jan 2021:

Since 2012, multiple in vitro studies have demonstrated that ivermectin inhibits the replication of many viruses, including influenza, Zika, Dengue and others (Mastrangelo et al., 2012; Wagstaff et al., 2012; Tay et al., 2013; Götz et al., 2016; Varghese et al., 2016; Atkinson et al., 2018; Lv et al., 2018; King et al., 2020; Yang et al., 2020).

ivermectin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and binding to host tissue via several observed and proposed mechanisms (Caly et al., 2020a).

ivermectin has potent anti-inflammatory properties with in vitro data demonstrating profound inhibition of both cytokine production and transcription of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), the most potent mediator of inflammation (Zhang et al., 2008; Ci et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2009).

ivermectin significantly diminishes viral load and protects against organ damage in multiple animal models when infected with SARS-CoV-2 or similar coronaviruses (Arevalo et al., 2020; de Melo et al., 2020).

ivermectin prevents transmission and development of COVID-19 disease in those exposed to infected patients (Behera et al., 2020; Bernigaud et al., 2020; Carvallo et al., 2020b; Elgazzar et al., 2020; Hellwig and Maia, 2020; Shouman, 2020).

ivermectin hastens recovery and prevents deterioration in patients with mild to moderate disease treated early after symptoms (Carvallo et al., 2020a; Elgazzar et al., 2020; Gorial et al., 2020; Khan et al., 2020; Mahmud, 2020; Morgenstern et al., 2020; Robin et al., 2020).

ivermectin hastens recovery and avoidance of ICU admission and death in hospitalized patients (Elgazzar et al., 2020; Hashim et al., 2020; Khan et al., 2020; Niaee et al., 2020; Portmann-Baracco et al., 2020; Rajter et al., 2020; Spoorthi V, 2020).

ivermectin reduces mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19 (Elgazzar et al., 2020; Hashim et al., 2020; Rajter et al., 2020).

ivermectin leads to striking reductions in case-fatality rates in regions with widespread use (Chamie, Juan, 2020).

The safety, availability, and cost of ivermectin is nearly unparalleled given its near nil drug interactions along with only mild and rare side effects observed over almost 40 years of use and billions of doses administered (Kircik et al., 2016).

ivermectin was successful at controlling several diseases which blighted the lives of billions living in poverty in the tropics.

ivermectin’s discoverers were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2015.

ivermectin is included in the World Health Organization’s “List of Essential Medicines.” It has been widely distributed in countries like India for pennies a day. The out-of-pocket cost of ivermectin at my Walgreen’s is more than $1,000.

Kory and Marik compiled eight studies (three randomized controlled studies and five observational controlled studies) demonstrating efficacy in prevention of COVID-19 with significant decreased transmission.

They found 19 controlled studies that showed significant impacts on time to recovery, hospital stay, decrease in viral loads, reductions in duration of cough and decreased mortality.

In medical history pre-COVID, this body of research about ivermectin would be applauded for bringing value in the midst of a pandemic. In the medical era pre-COVID, the judgment and experience of clinicians at the patient’s bedside counted for something.

Pre-COVID, we taught medical students to use keen observational skills and keep accurate records of whether the patient improved or deteriorated after the treatment strategies used.

In the Age of COVID, pharmacists who chide doctors that “COVID does not have an exoskeleton” deny patients ivermectin — a safe, cheap, effective and potentially life-saving early treatment.

If you or your patients are having trouble getting ivermectin prescriptions filled for COVID 19 prevention or treatment, see this excellent resource from the Front Line COVID 19 Critical Care Alliance.

[stickdog99]

Video: https://rumble.com/vnbv86-winning-the-w ... -unte.html

[Belligerent Savant]

.

Unfortunately can't embed this Twitter video clip. Worth watching. From October 2019.


https://twitter.com/commieleejones/stat ... 93569?s=20

Here's a fuller version from c-span:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?465845-1/ ... lu-vaccine

OCTOBER 29, 2019

Universal Flu Vaccine

Health experts discussed the scientific and technological prospects of an effective universal influenza vaccine. Speakers included Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Margaret Hamburg, former FDA commissioner. Panelists discussed the need for more funding for research, better collaboration between the private and government sectors, advances in technology in flu research and the goal of a universal flu vaccine.

Snippets (the transcript provides the text in all caps -- I didn't do that):

Michael Specter (00:08:03):
..WHY DON'T WE BLOW THE SYSTEM UP ? OBVIOUSLY WE CAN'T JUST TURN OFF THE SPIGOT ON THE SYSTEM WE HAVE AND SAY EVERYONE IN THE WORLD SHOULD GET THIS FLU VACCINE WE HAVEN'T GIVEN TO ANYONE YET BUT THERE MUST BE SOME WAY.
WE GROW VACCINES MOSTLY IN EGGS THE WAY WE DID IN 1947 . WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE I CAN DOWNLOAD WHATEVER SONG I WANT ONTO MY PHONE AT COMMAND AND WE GROW VACCINES THE WAY WE DID 70 YEARS AGO . WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THAT?

Margaret Hamburg:
...SOMETIMES I THINK BUT IN TERMS OF WHY WE'RE STILL GROWING IT'S MAINLY IN EGGS , I THINK A PART OF IT IS THAT IT'S JUST THE WAY WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT . IT'S THE WAY WE KNOW WE WILL GET SOME KIND OF VACCINE OUT INTO THE MARKETPLACE AND THERE'S ALWAYS THAT IN THE MEANTIME OTHER WORK WILL BE GOING ON AND IT WILL HAVE A BREAKTHROUGH AND THE HOMILY WHEN WE HAD A VACCINE. CLEARLY THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN . I THINK IT'S ALSO THAT WE HAVEN'T HAD THIS SENSE OF URGENCY .

Specter:
DO WE HAVE TO GET LOTS OF PEOPLE TO DIE FOR THAT SENSE OF URGENCY?

Hamburg:
THE INCREDIBLE THING IS A LOT OF PEOPLE DO DIE EVERY YEAR AND YET WE ARE MOBILIZING. I WOULD HAVE TO SAY TO BE MORE POSITIVE THAT I CAN'T REALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION OF WHY IS IT TAKING US SO LONG BECAUSE I THINK IT SHOULDN'T HAVE. AND YOU KNOW, THERE REALLY IS NOT A GOOD EXCUSE . THE SCIENCE HAS HAD TO MOVE FORWARD . GAPS IN THE SCIENCE STILL PERSIST INCLUDING OUR UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT IMMUNE PROTECTION IN ADDITION TO UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF THIS PARTICULAR VIRUS WHICH HAS ITS COMPLEXITIES AREA CERTAINLY PART OF THE PROBLEM HAVE BEEN THAT IT'S MUCH SAFER FOR A COMPANY TO KEEP DOING WHAT IT'S DOING AND TO TRY TO DO SOMETHING NEW BUT IT'S ALSO I THINK , WE HAVEN'T FUNDED ALL THE WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ON AN OPTIMISTIC NOTE, THERE'S A LOT GOING ON NOW AND TONY IS LEADING EFFORTS AND THERE ARE OTHER EFFORTS , THE GATES FOUNDATION , THE EUROPEAN UNION RESEARCH HORIZON 20/20. MANY OTHER ENTITIES AS WELL BUT WE'RE ALSO NOT GOOD AT COLLABORATION AND I THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED AREA WE NEED TO START SHARING KNOWLEDGE , WE NEED A ROADMAP FOR RESEARCH THAT REALLY WE FOLLOW, WE IDENTIFY WHAT DO WE KNOW WHERE THE GAPS, HOW CAN WE FILL THOSE GAPS. WE NEED TO IDENTIFY WHAT ARE THE RUTS THAT WERE STUCK IN THAT WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO USE ALL THE CAPABILITIES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TODAY AND THE ENERGY OF OUR SOCIETY AND THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY TO GET THE JOB DONE .
...
(00:22:16) Fauci:
...IN ORDER TO MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM GETTING OUT OF THE TRIED AND TRUE EGG GROWING WHICH WE KNOW GIVES US RESULTS THAT CAN BE BENEFICIAL. WE'VE DONE WELL WITH THAT BECAUSE SOMETHING THAT HAS TO BE MUCH BETTER . YOU HAVE TO PROVE THAT THIS WORKS AND THEN YOU GOT TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THE CRITICAL TRIALS , PHASE I, PHASE II, PHASE 3 AND SHOW THAT THIS PARTICULAR PRODUCT IS GOING TO BE GOOD OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS. THAT ALONE IF IT WORKS PERFECTLY IS GOING TO TAKE A DECADE.

(00:32:43)
Rick Bright:
I LIKE THE CONCEPT DISRUPTING THE FIELD . IF WE ARE JUST CONTINUALLY THINKING WE'RE GOING TO WORK ON ANOTHER ITERATION OR NO OFFENSE, I THINK WE NEED TO CONTINUE WHAT WE'RE DOING ANOTHER ITERATION OR ANOTHER ASSAY OR ANOTHER STEP, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S ENOUGH TO EXCITE AS CREATIVE THINKERS SO IN ADDITION TO DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING, WE'RE SO GLAD , I THINK IN PARALLEL THERE MIGHT BE A NEED OR EVEN AN URGENT CALL FOR AN ENTITY OF EXCITEMENT OUT THERE THAT'S COMPLETELY DISRUPTIVE , THAT'S NOT BEHOLDEN TO BUREAUCRATIC STRINGS AND PROCESSES .

[stickdog99]

https://1-rp--online-de.translate.goog/ ... tr_pto=nui

Yellow button advertises vaccination in Germany

[DrEvil]

They're ambitious, I'll give them that. They're hoping for a hundred people wearing it.

Gotta love Google's translation though:
Guido Lohmann also insisted that vaccinated people not only infect the button, but also discuss it with other, unvaccinated people in order to convince them of the point of the vaccination.

[Laodicean]

Federal public servants, RCMP and air and rail travellers must be vaccinated by month's end, Trudeau says

All would-be travellers must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 30 to board planes, trains or marine vessels

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federa ... -1.6201528

[Laodicean]

Get the shot, or die.

UCHealth requiring COVID vaccination for organ transplants 'in almost all situations'

UCHealth said the policy change was driven by the significantly higher mortality rate, as well as the concern that living donors could still pass on a COVID infection after testing negative.

"This is why it is essential that both the recipient and the living donor be vaccinated and take other precautions prior to undergoing transplant surgery," the statement said. "Surgeries may be postponed until patients take all required precautions in order to give them the best chance at positive outcomes."

[norton ash]

Bangladesh: Pop 165 million Full vax 10.4%
1.56 million Cases 27, 635 Deaths

Canada: Pop 38 million Full vax 80.7%
1.65 Million Cases 28, 077 Deaths

Wow, we almost edged Bangladesh with 2 years of masks and lockdowns, 80% jabs, and a quarter of the population! (Source: WHO)

[Joe Hillshoist]

I think they're safer than the virus. I don't subscribe to the idea that it's just another flu like some here do. With an IFR of 0.2% that's almost 700K dead in the US if you assume everyone eventually gets it. Then repeat that exercise with probably lower numbers every year as the virus mutates and immunity becomes obsolete, so basically, a really bad flu season every year.

For myself, I got vaccinated because my lungs are a burning heap of trash and probably wouldn't go well with the coronavirus. And yes, I think it was correct policy to vaccinate as many as possible, because there weren't really any good alternatives, but I think it should be entirely voluntary, and the government should make a point of saying that often and loudly. Side effects should also be openly discussed and reported on, so people have the best information possible available. For young people I think it should be left up to them. If they want it they should get it, but if they don't it should make no difference. And finally, corona-passes and apartheid treatment of the unvaccinated is a big no-no.

For healthcare workers I'm conflicted. They work with vulnerable people every day, exactly the people most at risk to the virus, so they do have an extra obligation of care, and being a nurse or a doctor isn't a human right. I can see both sides of the argument, and haven't really made up my mind one way or the other.

My reasons for believing the above are simple: it's what we did where I live and it (so far at least) worked. The majority of people are vaccinated, restrictions are lifted and life is back to normal.

I can get behind any view that is based on an accurate IFR with a stratified risk assessment.

Check out that aspiration video I posted a page or two back. It appears inadvertently injecting the vaccine into a blood vessel could be behind alot of the post vax complications, which can be easily avoided through getting the person who gives the shot to 'aspirate'.

It's common sense that the needle shouldn't draw blood if it's been correctly inserted into the muscle, which is where the mRNA is meant to stay, never getting into the blood stream. Worth thinking about if you are getting booster shots.

That's what i reckon myself. But you know...

[stickdog99]

https://vermontdailychronicle.com/2021/ ... kthroughs/

Just eight of the 33 Vermonters who died of Covid-19 in September were unvaccinated, the Vermont Department of Heath said Wednesday.

And it is unclear how many of those 8 unvaccinated were actually partially vaccinated.

Over 95% of Vermont's seniors citizens have been vaccinated, but case rates are higher than ever before and death rates are over 10 times that at this time last year.

[Harvey]

Any intelligent observer (factoring in the existence of Covid19 in populations throughout 2019 though minus any spike in excess deaths in that year) would conclude that everything done in the name of Health since early 2020 is precisely what has killed above average numbers of people between that period and now.