The new COVID thread

[nullnor]

I'm pretty sure this is false. A brief survey of the literature suggests it is complete bunk, and that vaccines create IgA in the saliva, which is a good proxy for IgA in the mucous membranes of the respiratory and digestive tracts.

that would be a good thing.

I was trying to order ivermectin from India and I think the plan is not going to work.

[madducks]

Twitter has permanently suspended Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter account for repeated violations of their COVID-19 misinformation policy.

Rep. Greene released a statement after the ban, part of which said: "Social media platforms can't stop the truth from being spread far and wide. Big Tech can't stop the truth. Communist Democrats can't stop the truth. I stand with the truth and the people. We will overcome!"

[Sour Masher]

Twitter has permanently suspended Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter account for repeated violations of their COVID-19 misinformation policy.

Rep. Greene released a statement after the ban, part of which said: "Social media platforms can't stop the truth from being spread far and wide. Big Tech can't stop the truth. Communist Democrats can't stop the truth. I stand with the truth and the people. We will overcome!"

I am glad she has been booted, but the larger problem remains--the algorithms designed to promote clicks will continue to drive people to outrageous information, regardless of its merit and people will still click and read and be overloaded with misinformation, propaganda, and content meant to anger and upset them.

[umjewman]

Twitter has permanently suspended Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter account for repeated violations of their COVID-19 misinformation policy.

Rep. Greene released a statement after the ban, part of which said: "Social media platforms can't stop the truth from being spread far and wide. Big Tech can't stop the truth. Communist Democrats can't stop the truth. I stand with the truth and the people. We will overcome!"

Kind of surprised she didn’t throw in a “Jews can’t stop the truth!”

[Teenwolf]

that would be a good thing.

I was trying to order ivermectin from India and I think the plan is not going to work.

Joe Rogan had Dr. Robert Malone on his show this past week, and it was full of lies. Just awful misinformation for the entire thing.

The Indian region (Uttar Pradesh) that reported to have wiped out Covid by a secret Ivermectin trial, which Biden ordered to be done in secrecy... its all a lie, and it's their only "evidence" of Ivermectin efficacy. Don't be sucked into the right wing conspiracy, Nully. You're smarter than that.

Here's a guy I watch a lot lately breaking down all of the bullshit being spewed by Malone and Rogan. He's a political twitch streamer. This clip is almost 2 hours, but the Uttar Pradesh breakdown is at the beginning.

[Sour Masher]

Kind of surprised she didn’t throw in a “Jews can’t stop the truth!”

The one thing she respects is firepower. We have her outgunned with space lasers, so she held her tongue.

[Teenwolf]

Here's an article from a non-profit called the Poynter Institute.

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checkin...pradesh-india/

Dr. Nick Mark, who works with critical care and pulmonary patients at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, has examined claims that ivermectin has had dramatic success in Uttar Pradesh.

“This is not even remotely the case,” he said during a lecture with other doctors on Oct. 15. While there are claims that the state began using ivermectin in May 2021, during the height of India’s COVID-19 crisis, the government actually said it began giving the drug in August 2020.

“Not only did it not hasten the end of that alpha wave, but it didn’t prevent the delta wave,” Mark said.

Mark cited research where scientists looked at data for all deaths in India, and found that certain populous districts in Uttar Pradesh had no reported deaths at all for several months.

“So either you have to believe that ivermectin prevents you from dying of everything — car crashes, cancer, homicide, suicide — or, that the data is just garbage and you can’t interpret it,” he said.

[umjewman]

My wife just tested positive this morning. She'd been feeling crappy the last week and had a cough (which is unusual for her), but had three negative tests (two at home and one PCR) all last week. She was still feeling kinda bad today so took an at-home and tested positive this morning. She actually feels a little better than a few days ago, so that's good. Doesn't seem to be too bad, all things considered.

[Sour Masher]

Joe Rogan had Dr. Robert Malone on his show this past week, and it was full of lies. Just awful misinformation for the entire thing.

The Indian region (Uttar Pradesh) that reported to have wiped out Covid by a secret Ivermectin trial, which Biden ordered to be done in secrecy... its all a lie, and it's their only "evidence" of Ivermectin efficacy. Don't be sucked into the right wing conspiracy, Nully. You're smarter than that.

Here's a guy I watch a lot lately breaking down all of the bullshit being spewed by Malone and Rogan. He's a political twitch streamer. This clip is almost 2 hours, but the Uttar Pradesh breakdown is at the beginning.

Thanks for posting this. I am much more eager for such debunking of Malone than the crackpot know-nothings, because despite his unbelievable ego and arrogance that is next-level, even for a doctor (claiming to have invented mrna vaccines singlehandedly, for instance), he is actually a dissenting voice with deep knowledge of the subject, unlike so many others. His case is a tough one for me, because while the examples you point to show just how easily an "expert" can spread misinformation, when all he does is look uncritically and evidence that supports his worldview, underneath those mistakes is someone who does know about the technology--a lot more than I ever will. On the other hand, because of those bona fides, what he has done is all the more dangerous, as he can be held up as a credible source by all the millions of others looking to confirm their anti-vax views. I am torn on the right way for a society to handle such a person, but despite tremendous danger he poses, I'm inclined to believe he should be brought to task by other highly knowledgeable experts publicly and frequently, but I don't think he can be ignored in the same way one would an Alex Jones.

I suspect if in a debate with peers rather than on a podcast with someone who has very little knowledge of the subject, his positions would revert back to more reasonable ground--that he is concerns about the fast role out of the mRNA vaccines, that he is concerned about the financial forces driving their quick roll out, and the obvious conflict of interests in letting CEOs of Pharma companies have a say in whether vaccines and boosters are the best and only way forward. But then it is obvious his ego has grown this concerns past careful analysis. He snatches on to any bit of a half-assed study that may verify his suspicions that treatments are being suppressed, because they may promote vaccine hesitancy, and it leads him to saying just wrong things, based on poor data. He should and does know better and yet, he still does it, because those examples are all he has to support the underlying argument, which on its face, isn't all that crazy to me, even though they get undermined when he uses such BS support for them.

But as I've mentioned before, this is dangerous territory and I don't know what to make of how to approach it. The overwhelming evidence favors vaccination, and people like Malone undermine vaccination, which is very dangerous. Still, I'm uncomfortable with the common political tactic of stripping someone of his credentials, like the right has done to Fauci, even when that person has gone off the deep end (a Malone has, not Fauci, although, the right thinks Fauci has). I cannot think of another single voice against the mrna COVID vaccines that I put any stock into, but Malone's voice was one I had to listen to and consider. Ultimately, obviously, since I am my family are vaxxed, the anti-covid vax viewpoints of some were overwhelmed by the sea of evidence that vaccination was and is the right move for society. But unlike almost all anti-vaxxers, I don't think Malone is someone to be mocked as a know-nothing unworthy of debating. His arguments, because of his background, must be met head on and addressed--he cannot be ignored like we should do people who are clearly completely ignorant on the subject--so again, thanks for posting something that does that.

[Sour Masher]

My wife just tested positive this morning. She'd been feeling crappy the last week and had a cough (which is unusual for her), but had three negative tests (two at home and one PCR) all last week. She was still feeling kinda bad today so took an at-home and tested positive this morning. She actually feels a little better than a few days ago, so that's good. Doesn't seem to be too bad, all things considered.

Sorry to learn she has it. I hope she gets better soon.

[ironfist]

My wife just tested positive this morning. She'd been feeling crappy the last week and had a cough (which is unusual for her), but had three negative tests (two at home and one PCR) all last week. She was still feeling kinda bad today so took an at-home and tested positive this morning. She actually feels a little better than a few days ago, so that's good. Doesn't seem to be too bad, all things considered.

Same here. My wife tested positive the other day and my 12-year-old looks like she tested positive. It was one of those rapid at-home tests and the result was kind of iffy, so we aren't sure with her. Waiting on another result for her. Meanwhile me and the other kid were negative. Trying to stay in separate rooms and all that, luckily symptoms have been more or less mild for my wife (some coughing and runny nose) and barely any for the kiddo (a few sniffles). I actually was sick right before Christmas but tested negative and her symptoms are very similar to what I had. So we're not sure if her results are off or maybe mine were? Or maybe it's just a coincidence.

[Moonlight J]

Has anyone else read this? https://eand.co/is-omicron-just-covi...d-15e4ed5e6d8e

I found it insightful

[Sour Masher]

Has anyone else read this? https://eand.co/is-omicron-just-covi...d-15e4ed5e6d8e

I found it insightful

Thanks for the link. I'd read stuff that touched on many of these points, but this one puts it very clearly that Omicron cannot be assumed to be the "end of the pandemic," that viruses do NOT necessarily evolved to be milder, and that the next variant, which is inevitable could just as easily be worse--maybe orders of magnitude worse. And all these Omicron infections, which seem unavoidable at this point, even with boosters, because current vaccines just are not very good against preventing Omicron, will most assuredly lead to another variant pretty soon.

That part I had not really thought about before is the birth places of variants is in immune-compromised people who have the virus linger in them for a long time. That makes me think if we can keep these folks from getting infected, we could greatly reduce variants, but I don't know how that would be possible short of strict quarantine. It is all pretty depressing, but rings true. That any of us let ourselves believe it isn't I guess is a product of our desire to believe that things will get better. The truth is, we have to keep fighting this thing the best we can, and we should get used to disappointment when it evolves ahead of our vaccines and treatments. What else can we do?

[The Feral Slasher]

My wife just tested positive this morning. She'd been feeling crappy the last week and had a cough (which is unusual for her), but had three negative tests (two at home and one PCR) all last week. She was still feeling kinda bad today so took an at-home and tested positive this morning. She actually feels a little better than a few days ago, so that's good. Doesn't seem to be too bad, all things considered.

Hope your family and others here recover quickly/avoid infection.

[The Feral Slasher]

Apparently local schools will be opening in person today/tomorrow. From what I've read it may become difficult to continue in person with the expected amount of cases impacting teachers, students, bus drivers, families, etc. Hard to fathom that some schools won't require masks and have inadequate ventilation at this point. I guess the plan is to deal with it until we can't. If you consider that a plan.