Canada now reopening its border for the first time in 18 months. Hard to believe it’s been that long.
How is Canada doing compared to other world locations? How are their vaccination rates compared to ours?
Thanks, Philip. I knew they planned to open and thought they had. I am a bit surprised they didn’t end up keeping borders closed.
I am hearing some frightening facts about the lamda variant of covid. I’ll try to locate the details.
I heard about that lamda variant on the radio driving in my car a month ago. I thought then they said the vaccines might not hold up against that variant but please don’t hold me to that.
JJ I heard that and also that it was more DEADLY. NOT a good combination for sure.
This variant I remember them saying was first identified in Peru last December.
Throughout the pandemic Canada’s death rate has been about 4 times lower than ours. Strong and consistent mitigation efforts have curbed transmission. A better healthcare system for dealing with a public health crisis has certainly helped. And, a healthier population with fewer underlying conditions has helped.
After a poor start to vaccinating, Canada has surged past the U.S. The closest European comparator is Germany, both in terms of Covid-19 indicator record (3 times better than U.S.) and vaccinations.
The Lambda variant is more deadly, but has not been competing well with Delta. Could be a transmissibility issue. Not as transmissible.
That is encouraging re Lamda. I’d also been hearing dribs and drabs od what JPD and JJ posted.
Here is a technical paper on the lamda variant.
It is a tough read, but look into, it clearly stats that
this variant is far more efficient at escaping the vaccines.
But, thus far, Lambda has not competed well against Delta in terms of transmissions. This could change, so we need to keep an eye on it.
Eric Topol has posted some insightful tweets recently. He’s an observer and a scientist. After a period in which I felt he was downplaying the issues in Israel, the UK, and even Delta overall (to a degree), he’s come back down to earth. This is his latest tweet on Israel (“It was not supposed to be this way” – Yes, indeed, Dr. Topol, at least you’re not falling into the revisionist trap so many others are): https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1427275340158701572
46 deaths were reported in Israel yesterday. That is likely an outlier, but the upward trend is very concerning. Israel has about 1 million more people than Massachusetts.
Test positivity in Israel is approaching 6%. The steady increase over time, even in the face of a very efficient vaccination campaign, has to have public health officials concerned.
wow! I think we are all in deep shit.
Are we dosing too close (3 weeks) vs. 8+ weeks?
Dose #1 = 4/1/21
Dose #2 = 4/22/21
It wasn’t my call, the nurse told me to come back again on that date. Oh well. 🙂
Pfeizer??
Yes, Pfizer.
Thanks. It is interesting, isn’t it
The Mrs has a theory…
The virus was made made and/or altered to study a virus that constantly mutates and to study how to control it. Only problem is, the virus escaped from the lab.
Now it is doing its thing on the whole world and it is designed to kill, to wipe us out.
Perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch, but I see ZERO signs of this going away any time soon. Let’s see what the next variant brings. Let’s say I am concerned that this is a possibility and I do not think we are being told the whole truth.
Let’s see if we can get this delta variant under control (IF we can) and see what happens from there.
I am a pessimist. Always was and always will be. It seems that Murphy’s Law always rears its ugly self.
Polyanna here is not a pessimist which should not surprise anyone. Mac was as far as you could get from being a pessimist. To me, Mrs OSs thoughts might be closer to logic than either pessimism or optimism. Not saying it is fact, but there is a lot of that logic in it.
It’s not that a virus has not escaped before. Look at Lyme….which I know is not in the same stratosphere as covid……being tested on Plum island off of NY and Lyme, CT, where ferries took those studying the ticks back and for the to work daily.
According to Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of Infectious Diseases at Brigham & Women’s Hospital there could be a major shift in the genetic makeup of the virus. It is certainly possible that a new strain could emerge that is able to escape from the current vaccines and where you would need a completely new vaccine to give protection. Hopefully we won’t need it if enough people get vaccinated.
I don’t think this virus, or any virus for that matter, will wipe us all out. Even the plague in the middle ages spared some in the hardest hit areas, for unknown reasons. One could say survival of the fittest applied. Similarly, there are mysteries surrounding HIV. HIV does not invariably lead to AIDS. This was found prior to medications designed to stop virus replication (anti-retroviral therapy).
All this said, SARS-CoV-2 presents a major challenge to earth’s inhabitants. This includes the fully vaccinated. We don’t know the long-term effects of contracting regular or breakthrough infections. The evidence on long haulers is sobering to say the least. Then there’s the obvious issue with those hospitalized. Most recover. But recent data from dozens of countries is crystal-clear. The virus impacts multiple organs and systems within the body, leading in many instances to post-recovery morbidity and in some cases mortality. Finally, the excess mortality since March 2020 in the vast majority of countries is so significant it can’t be ignored. And though far less impacted, the vaccinated can be severely impacted by Covid-19, as Israeli and UK data are showing. It’s not normal for a nation of 8 million (Israel) to lose >100 people per week to a respiratory illness; the majority of whom were fully vaccinated. Sure, it would have been MUCH worse without vaccinations. But, we’re deceiving ourselves if we simply say “I’m vaccinated and therefore good to go.” You’re very unlikely to get severely ill and die. But, it happens and its frequency of happening is increasing over time.
I don’t believe it will wipe us out either, but I do see some sense in JPDs remarks.
The man in this video is a piece of garbage. One thing I can assure you is that if someone were to do what he did in the London Underground (subway), to an elderly person no less, he wouldn’t make it out of the subway car, or station. And no, it wouldn’t be police intervention necessarily, it would more than likely be people intervention. They’d beat the living shit out of him. https://twitter.com/MichaelRapaport/status/1427243607791177728
I am beyond sick of the us vs them in this country. The masked are attacking unmasked and the unmasked are attacking masked …..literally and/or verbally.
Not covid or weather related but Biden is going to address Afghanistan at 3:45.
This wave is stunning. 85,000 hospitalizations and rising. I agree with Dr. Topol. If you had told me we’d have 60,000 hospitalizations, let alone 85,000, I would have said, no, not going to happen. Yet, here we are. This is what any pronouncement, by anyone (myself definitely included) about what happens next after this wave is over, is folly. Why? Because we simply don’t know. I expect the pandemic to be over sometime in 2022, perhaps as early as the spring. But there’s a lot of time between now and May 2022. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1427419825773572103
Good journalists, the CDC, the President, and so many others keep citing inaccurate numbers on protection against breakthrough infections. The numbers are NOT what we want them to be, they are what they are. https://twitter.com/erlichya/status/1427366204277207048
Do you think they are inaccurate because we have stopped tracing breakthroughs…..fools that we are. Or because 30ish states are not reporting? Im beyond frustrated with us and with US.
The idea of not testing asymptomatic is truly beyond believe….especially in schools.
Some of it is willful inaccuracy, as in not making a distinction between Delta breakthroughs and Alpha or wild type breakthroughs. It’s manipulative and grossly inaccurate to go back in time to December and say, well, the breakthrough rate is low when you know Delta changed everything regarding the vaccines’ efficacy against contracting the virus.
But, compounding the problem is the obsolete nature of a lot of the data. When CDC provides data updates, check the time stamp, it’s often at least 3 weeks old.
States do their own thing, which I find incredible when we’re dealing with a pandemic that affects all states.
And then some of it is inherent to American optimism, or even wishful thinking. It’s nice to be optimistic, but can be foolish to remain that way in spite of what you see in front of you. Finally, some of it is revisionist history. Once we peak or turn the corner you’ll see people, even experts, saying the Delta wave hasn’t been that bad. It’s as if they’ve forgotten that we were not supposed to get tens of thousands of more deaths, and many more hospitalizations. And, it’s as if they forget that just because a wave has peaked doesn’t mean it’s over.
Thanks, Joshua. That all makes perfect sense. But I can’t help think this is somehow calculated …but what is the reasoning? Is it because we truly cannot admit that what we promised a vaccine would accomplish was not accurate? Is it seen as some sort of protection for the administration? I’m guessing because in my wildest dreams, I cannot think of a reason
What would possess us to stop tracking breakthroughs
Dr Riner? On CNN Said tonight that only about one third of 12-18 are vaccinated. I need to make it clear that because I try to see both sides does not have anything to do with my view. Many parents are hesitant. Many parents are not. Both sets of parents have only the best interest of their children in mind.
C-19 for 8-17 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Canada now reopening its border for the first time in 18 months. Hard to believe it’s been that long.
How is Canada doing compared to other world locations? How are their vaccination rates compared to ours?
Thanks, Philip. I knew they planned to open and thought they had. I am a bit surprised they didn’t end up keeping borders closed.
I am hearing some frightening facts about the lamda variant of covid. I’ll try to locate the details.
I heard about that lamda variant on the radio driving in my car a month ago. I thought then they said the vaccines might not hold up against that variant but please don’t hold me to that.
JJ I heard that and also that it was more DEADLY. NOT a good combination for sure.
This variant I remember them saying was first identified in Peru last December.
Throughout the pandemic Canada’s death rate has been about 4 times lower than ours. Strong and consistent mitigation efforts have curbed transmission. A better healthcare system for dealing with a public health crisis has certainly helped. And, a healthier population with fewer underlying conditions has helped.
After a poor start to vaccinating, Canada has surged past the U.S. The closest European comparator is Germany, both in terms of Covid-19 indicator record (3 times better than U.S.) and vaccinations.
The Lambda variant is more deadly, but has not been competing well with Delta. Could be a transmissibility issue. Not as transmissible.
That is encouraging re Lamda. I’d also been hearing dribs and drabs od what JPD and JJ posted.
Here is a technical paper on the lamda variant.
It is a tough read, but look into, it clearly stats that
this variant is far more efficient at escaping the vaccines.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.28.454085v1.full
True.
But, thus far, Lambda has not competed well against Delta in terms of transmissions. This could change, so we need to keep an eye on it.
Eric Topol has posted some insightful tweets recently. He’s an observer and a scientist. After a period in which I felt he was downplaying the issues in Israel, the UK, and even Delta overall (to a degree), he’s come back down to earth. This is his latest tweet on Israel (“It was not supposed to be this way” – Yes, indeed, Dr. Topol, at least you’re not falling into the revisionist trap so many others are): https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1427275340158701572
46 deaths were reported in Israel yesterday. That is likely an outlier, but the upward trend is very concerning. Israel has about 1 million more people than Massachusetts.
Test positivity in Israel is approaching 6%. The steady increase over time, even in the face of a very efficient vaccination campaign, has to have public health officials concerned.
wow! I think we are all in deep shit.
Are we dosing too close (3 weeks) vs. 8+ weeks?
Dose #1 = 4/1/21
Dose #2 = 4/22/21
It wasn’t my call, the nurse told me to come back again on that date. Oh well. 🙂
Pfeizer??
Yes, Pfizer.
Thanks. It is interesting, isn’t it
The Mrs has a theory…
The virus was made made and/or altered to study a virus that constantly mutates and to study how to control it. Only problem is, the virus escaped from the lab.
Now it is doing its thing on the whole world and it is designed to kill, to wipe us out.
Perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch, but I see ZERO signs of this going away any time soon. Let’s see what the next variant brings. Let’s say I am concerned that this is a possibility and I do not think we are being told the whole truth.
Let’s see if we can get this delta variant under control (IF we can) and see what happens from there.
I am a pessimist. Always was and always will be. It seems that Murphy’s Law always rears its ugly self.
Polyanna here is not a pessimist which should not surprise anyone. Mac was as far as you could get from being a pessimist. To me, Mrs OSs thoughts might be closer to logic than either pessimism or optimism. Not saying it is fact, but there is a lot of that logic in it.
It’s not that a virus has not escaped before. Look at Lyme….which I know is not in the same stratosphere as covid……being tested on Plum island off of NY and Lyme, CT, where ferries took those studying the ticks back and for the to work daily.
According to Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of Infectious Diseases at Brigham & Women’s Hospital there could be a major shift in the genetic makeup of the virus. It is certainly possible that a new strain could emerge that is able to escape from the current vaccines and where you would need a completely new vaccine to give protection. Hopefully we won’t need it if enough people get vaccinated.
I don’t think this virus, or any virus for that matter, will wipe us all out. Even the plague in the middle ages spared some in the hardest hit areas, for unknown reasons. One could say survival of the fittest applied. Similarly, there are mysteries surrounding HIV. HIV does not invariably lead to AIDS. This was found prior to medications designed to stop virus replication (anti-retroviral therapy).
All this said, SARS-CoV-2 presents a major challenge to earth’s inhabitants. This includes the fully vaccinated. We don’t know the long-term effects of contracting regular or breakthrough infections. The evidence on long haulers is sobering to say the least. Then there’s the obvious issue with those hospitalized. Most recover. But recent data from dozens of countries is crystal-clear. The virus impacts multiple organs and systems within the body, leading in many instances to post-recovery morbidity and in some cases mortality. Finally, the excess mortality since March 2020 in the vast majority of countries is so significant it can’t be ignored. And though far less impacted, the vaccinated can be severely impacted by Covid-19, as Israeli and UK data are showing. It’s not normal for a nation of 8 million (Israel) to lose >100 people per week to a respiratory illness; the majority of whom were fully vaccinated. Sure, it would have been MUCH worse without vaccinations. But, we’re deceiving ourselves if we simply say “I’m vaccinated and therefore good to go.” You’re very unlikely to get severely ill and die. But, it happens and its frequency of happening is increasing over time.
I don’t believe it will wipe us out either, but I do see some sense in JPDs remarks.
The man in this video is a piece of garbage. One thing I can assure you is that if someone were to do what he did in the London Underground (subway), to an elderly person no less, he wouldn’t make it out of the subway car, or station. And no, it wouldn’t be police intervention necessarily, it would more than likely be people intervention. They’d beat the living shit out of him. https://twitter.com/MichaelRapaport/status/1427243607791177728
I am beyond sick of the us vs them in this country. The masked are attacking unmasked and the unmasked are attacking masked …..literally and/or verbally.
Not covid or weather related but Biden is going to address Afghanistan at 3:45.
This wave is stunning. 85,000 hospitalizations and rising. I agree with Dr. Topol. If you had told me we’d have 60,000 hospitalizations, let alone 85,000, I would have said, no, not going to happen. Yet, here we are. This is what any pronouncement, by anyone (myself definitely included) about what happens next after this wave is over, is folly. Why? Because we simply don’t know. I expect the pandemic to be over sometime in 2022, perhaps as early as the spring. But there’s a lot of time between now and May 2022. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1427419825773572103
Good journalists, the CDC, the President, and so many others keep citing inaccurate numbers on protection against breakthrough infections. The numbers are NOT what we want them to be, they are what they are. https://twitter.com/erlichya/status/1427366204277207048
Do you think they are inaccurate because we have stopped tracing breakthroughs…..fools that we are. Or because 30ish states are not reporting? Im beyond frustrated with us and with US.
The idea of not testing asymptomatic is truly beyond believe….especially in schools.
Some of it is willful inaccuracy, as in not making a distinction between Delta breakthroughs and Alpha or wild type breakthroughs. It’s manipulative and grossly inaccurate to go back in time to December and say, well, the breakthrough rate is low when you know Delta changed everything regarding the vaccines’ efficacy against contracting the virus.
But, compounding the problem is the obsolete nature of a lot of the data. When CDC provides data updates, check the time stamp, it’s often at least 3 weeks old.
States do their own thing, which I find incredible when we’re dealing with a pandemic that affects all states.
And then some of it is inherent to American optimism, or even wishful thinking. It’s nice to be optimistic, but can be foolish to remain that way in spite of what you see in front of you. Finally, some of it is revisionist history. Once we peak or turn the corner you’ll see people, even experts, saying the Delta wave hasn’t been that bad. It’s as if they’ve forgotten that we were not supposed to get tens of thousands of more deaths, and many more hospitalizations. And, it’s as if they forget that just because a wave has peaked doesn’t mean it’s over.
Thanks, Joshua. That all makes perfect sense. But I can’t help think this is somehow calculated …but what is the reasoning? Is it because we truly cannot admit that what we promised a vaccine would accomplish was not accurate? Is it seen as some sort of protection for the administration? I’m guessing because in my wildest dreams, I cannot think of a reason
What would possess us to stop tracking breakthroughs
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/30/pressure-cdc-breakthrough-cases-501821
Dr Riner? On CNN Said tonight that only about one third of 12-18 are vaccinated. I need to make it clear that because I try to see both sides does not have anything to do with my view. Many parents are hesitant. Many parents are not. Both sets of parents have only the best interest of their children in mind.
C-19 for 8-17 is ready.