The Politics of Covid 19, mask wearing and the vaccination process

[Smoove_B]

I can't believe that you can't believe it.

I know, I know...

It's frustrating to see (elsewhere) what I've been working on locally. It's like I've spent the last 25 years unraveling a giant cable-knit sweater and someone keeps knitting, and kitting, and knitting...

[Smoove_B]

...and then I see something like this and I am given just a tiny sliver of hope.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday announced two winners in its mask innovation challenge launched more than year ago, with the agency declaring the endeavor a success due to the new designs.

In March of 2021, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority launched a contest to develop “the next generation of masks.” Contest participants stood to win hundreds of thousands of dollars if their designs were chosen.

HHS on Tuesday announced that the masks developed by Airgami and ReadiMask were chosen as the ultimate winners of the government competition. Both masks have already been made available on the market, though Airgami is not currently accepting orders due to high demand.

Both masks were found to provide filtration greater than 95 percent, HHS said in a statement. The agency cited the unique features of the masks, including Airgami’s origami-inspired design that increased the surface area of the filter material and ReadiMask’s use of adhesive to provide a close fit.

Both companies were awarded $150,000 for their winning designs. The runner-up masks created by Flo Mask and Levi Strauss & Co. were each awarded $50,000. Flo Mask’s product has also already been introduced to the market.

[Blackhawk]

Elko county

Elko County is the fourth-largest county by area in the contiguous United States
...
It contains 49.8 percent of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation
...
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 48,818 people

I've spent time in Elko County over the years. It has elbow room - most of the population of the county is jackrabbits and sagebrush. I mean, this is most of Elko County:



It brings tears to my eyes (literally) how much like 'home' it looks to me after 22 years trapped in Indiana, but it isn't exactly where you'd go for forward thinking people.

[Isgrimnur]

It brings tears to my eyes (literally) how much like 'home' it looks to me after 22 years trapped in Indiana, but it isn't exactly where you'd go for forward thinking people.

This view is characteristic of most of the county.

[Isgrimnur]

[Blackhawk]

Isg, I love and appreciate your information, but sometimes it's like playing charades.

[Alefroth]

I can't even believe this is happening in the same country I'm currently living in - that citizens of the United States of America are living in areas where local leaders are actively rejecting public health.

Just wait, they'll hold those leaders accountable.

[Isgrimnur]

Brevity is the soul of confusion.

[Alefroth]

...and then I see something like this and I am given just a tiny sliver of hope.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday announced two winners in its mask innovation challenge launched more than year ago, with the agency declaring the endeavor a success due to the new designs.

In March of 2021, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority launched a contest to develop “the next generation of masks.” Contest participants stood to win hundreds of thousands of dollars if their designs were chosen.

HHS on Tuesday announced that the masks developed by Airgami and ReadiMask were chosen as the ultimate winners of the government competition. Both masks have already been made available on the market, though Airgami is not currently accepting orders due to high demand.

Both masks were found to provide filtration greater than 95 percent, HHS said in a statement. The agency cited the unique features of the masks, including Airgami’s origami-inspired design that increased the surface area of the filter material and ReadiMask’s use of adhesive to provide a close fit.

Both companies were awarded $150,000 for their winning designs. The runner-up masks created by Flo Mask and Levi Strauss & Co. were each awarded $50,000. Flo Mask’s product has also already been introduced to the market.

That Airgami one looks interesting. I guess it's a good sign they have high demand. I'm not sure I'd want one that sticks to my face with adhesive, like the Readimask.

[Smoove_B]

I thought that was kinda weird too - and that you'd likely need to be dolphin smooth to get it to work. But I bet for a subset of people, it's a great option - and that's really the key - having more options for masks that provide a tight seal.

I have seen lots of people commenting on how great the Flo Mask is, but hadn't heard of that "origami" style mask at all. It's nice to see the government encouraging entrepreneurial behaviors with "contests" like this. I'm a big fan.

[Max Peck]

The weird thing about the ReadiMask is that it has no earloops or headbands. The adhesive is load-bearing, not just for an improved seal.

The most interesting thing on the Airgami product site (to me, ymmv) were the instructions on how to sterilize it using an Instant Pot. My initial reaction was that $24 seems steep for what looked like a disposable mask, but they claim it is washable and good for 48 cleaning/sterilizing cycles.

The Flo Mask looks interesting, but I don't like the fact that the facepiece fits on the front of the chin just below the mouth. I tried out a couple of similar-fitting designs back in 2021 and didn't find that they maintained a great seal compared to disposable N95s/FFP3s or elastomeric respirators that fit under the chin.

[Max Peck]

Leading by example...

Ontario's top doctor goes against own advice while maskless at Toronto party

Days after “strongly” recommending the use of masks in Ontario, the province’s top doctor was spotted at a party in Toronto without one.

In a number of posts to social media, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, appeared to be in attendance at Toronto Life’s “50 most influential 2022” list party, where he ranked 12th for “Keeping COVID under control.”

In at least two videos posted to the publication’s Instagram account, Moore could be seen without a mask on.

[Max Peck]

How it started:

Nov 17: Ontario health minister insists province was ready for respiratory illness surge as hospitals struggle

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones insisted Thursday that the government was prepared for a surge in respiratory illnesses in children this fall, as hospitals struggle with unprecedented demand for care made more challenging by continued staffing shortages.

"I want to give the people of Ontario reassurance that if your child is sick in the province of Ontario you are going to get the health care you deserve and you need, in a timely manner," Jones said at a morning news conference in Toronto. 

Her comments come as a combination of flu, respiratory syncytial virus (more commonly known as RSV) and COVID-19 continue to put tremendous stress on under-staffed hospitals, though there are some early positive signs that the pressure could be easing somewhat. 

Newly released data shows there are more children currently in intensive care across Ontario than available beds to care for them.

How it's going:

Nov 23: Ontario asks family medical clinics to work nights, weekends to help overwhelmed hospitals

Ontario has asked thousands of family health-care workers to work evenings and weekends to help ease the burden on overwhelmed children's hospitals, a government memo obtained by The Canadian Press shows.

Nadia Surani, the director of the primary health care branch in the Ministry of Health, said in the note to family health teams that the "difficult and complex" respiratory illness surge predicted by health-care workers has materialized.

The flu, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and COVID-19 are circulating in all parts of the province, Surani wrote in the memo sent Monday.

"This scenario is contributing to pressures on our health-care system, particularly in the pediatric sector, and we are expecting high-volume pressures across our health system now and through the winter," Surani wrote.

"I am writing to call on your support and requesting your organizations to offer clinical services 7 days a week, including evening availability, until further notice, to meet the needs of your patients. Please advise your patients of this availability so they may seek care in the appropriate place for their health concerns."

[Max Peck]

Alberta government bans school mask mandates, online-only learning

No Alberta schools or pre-kindergarten classes can require students to wear masks to attend school, says a new provincial government regulation.

The rules, which take effect today, also prevent almost every Alberta school from shifting Grade 1 to 12 classes to a solely online format.

Kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes are excluded and schools in sensitive settings such as hospitals may be exempt from the rules.

"Parents and students have told me time and time again that they want a normal school environment for their kids," Premier Danielle Smith said in an afternoon news release Thursday.

They even said the quiet part out loud.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said in a letter to parents posted online Thursday afternoon the move will help provide parents assurance they can head to work while their children are at school in person.

[Smoove_B]

It's at least nice to see there's a recognition of where the roots of the problem are. Fixing it? I'm not feeling confident:

Around the country, countless Americans are suffering a very particular type of Covid grief — a mixture of anger, sorrow and shame that comes with losing a loved one who has consumed social media falsehoods. On Tuesday, in what was likely his last appearance in the White House briefing room before he retires from government service at the end of the year, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, pleaded with Americans to speak out against scientific misinformation.

“The people who have correct information, who take science seriously, who don’t have strange, way-out theories about things but who base what they say on evidence and data, need to speak up more,” Dr. Fauci said, “because the other side that just keeps putting out misinformation and disinformation seems to be tireless in that effort.”

What's the plan?

In preparation for future pandemics, the White House recently released a new national biodefense strategy that calls for the government to “enhance messaging partnerships” before another biological threat emerges. The goal, said Dr. Raj Panjabi, Mr. Biden’s top adviser on global health security, is to work with “reputable companies who care about getting the message right.”

But fighting misinformation has become political in itself — and has landed the Biden administration in court, opposite the attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, both Republicans, who have accused it of suppressing free speech on matters like Covid-19 and elections by working with social media giants including Facebook and Twitter.

However:

It will not be so easy for the government to team up with smaller fringe sites like Gab, a hub for white supremacists and online conspiracy theories whose founder, Andrew Torba, argues that “unapologetic Christian Nationalism is what will save the United States of America.” The site, which gained millions of new users after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, is rife with posts promoting unproven Covid-19 remedies, including ivermectin. It also has displayed ads offering ivermectin for sale.

In an email to The New York Times, Mr. Torba said Gab was “not in a position, as a neutral platform provider, to ‘fact-check’ our users or assess the truth or falsity of any information posted to the site.” He also criticized The Times and ended his message with an instruction: “Please repent and accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior.”

It's a good read. The answer is clearly fighting back against disinformation, but after 2+ decades of losing the battle to anti-vax lunatics, I'm not sure how we're going to solider forward through this.

Lawrence O. Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University and an expert in public health law, said the administration would be on “weak legal footing if it tries to regulate these companies.” Misinformation and disinformation, he said, amount to “probably the central problem for public health and safety in America, and yet no one knows what to do about it.”

[LordMortis]

Michigan broke 4 deaths per thousand, putting us in the exclusive company of Tennessee, New Mexico, Arkansas, Alabama, West Virginia, Arizona, and Mississippi!

[Smoove_B]

This will be the week (I think) that sets the tone for how things are going to look headed into the end of the year. I guess we'll see what happens.

[Zaxxon]

I guess we'll see what happens.

America: seeing what happens with COVID-19 since mid-2020.

[LordMortis]

I guess we'll see what happens.

America: seeing what happens with COVID-19 since mid-2020.

America: Land of the Free and home of FAaFO.

[Max Peck]

Twitter Quietly Removes Its Covid-19 Misinformation Policy

Twitter has dropped its covid-19 misleading information policy that used to prohibit users from spreading misinformation about the virus. Over 11,000 Twitter users were banned under the platform’s previous policy, and nearly 100,000 posts involving content that included covid misinformation was removed between January 2022 and September according to information published by Twitter, CNN reported.

The social media company’s new CEO, Elon Musk, has been reinstating some accounts that were either suspended or banned for various policy infractions. Including recently letting Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene have her personal account back after losing it for posting covid misinformation. Taylor Greene addressed the situation from her official representative account, writing: ‘On January 2, 2022, they violated my freedom of speech and ability to campaign & fundraise crying “covid misinformation.’ My account is back. Go follow @mtgreenee for MTG unfiltered.”

Twitter did not announce the policy change, but users noticed it had lifted the covid-19 policy on Monday night citing a note added on its website. “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy,” the note read.

The update appeared below a line that still reads: “As the global community faces the COVID-19 pandemic together, Twitter is helping people find reliable information, connect with others, and follow what’s happening in real-time.”

Twitter did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment, as it seems to no longer have a communications department.

[Smoove_B]

Twitter did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment, as it seems to no longer have a communications department.

Genius.

[Smoove_B]

American exceptionalism:

In a 2009 report, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) reviewed paid sick leave policies in 22 countries ranked highly in terms of economic and human development. We found that the United States was the only country that did not guarantee that workers receive paid sick days or paid sick leave. Since then, several other countries included in our initial report have strengthened their standards for paid leave, including for self-employed workers, while the United States remains the outlier that provides no national guarantee.

[coopasonic]

I mean we are certainly exceptional. Also, on your knees before our great lord Capitalism!

[pr0ner]

American exceptionalism:

In a 2009 report, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) reviewed paid sick leave policies in 22 countries ranked highly in terms of economic and human development. We found that the United States was the only country that did not guarantee that workers receive paid sick days or paid sick leave. Since then, several other countries included in our initial report have strengthened their standards for paid leave, including for self-employed workers, while the United States remains the outlier that provides no national guarantee.

Always amuses me that the US doesn't have guaranteed sick leave yet federal employees get generous amounts of sick leave every year.

[Max Peck]

Always amuses me that the US doesn't have guaranteed sick leave yet federal employees get generous amounts of sick leave every year.

That probably says more about unions than it does about the federal government.

[Smoove_B]

That probably says more about unions than it does about the federal government.

Not just that, but every public organization I've ever worked for, we had A++ benefits. Not always union either - just a perk of working for the government. Funny that.

[Max Peck]

My experience has been that public service unions negotiate the benefits, then non-union public service employees also get them because it becomes the baseline for compensation.

[YellowKing]

Got the bivalent booster Monday. Only side effects were a really sore arm, and the microchip inside keeps setting off my Amazon Echo.

[Freyland]

Got the bivalent booster Monday. Only side effects were a really sore arm, and the microchip inside keeps setting off my Amazon Echo.

Bivalent means it works with both 2.4 and 5 Ghz, right?

[Blackhawk]

Got the bivalent booster Monday. Only side effects were a really sore arm, and the microchip inside keeps setting off my Amazon Echo.

Bivalent means it works with both 2.4 and 5 Ghz, right?

No, it means it works on clams and oysters.

[gbasden]

Got the bivalent booster Monday. Only side effects were a really sore arm, and the microchip inside keeps setting off my Amazon Echo.

Bivalent means it works with both 2.4 and 5 Ghz, right?

No, it means it works on clams and oysters.

OK, that was excellent, sir!

[Smoove_B]

Good stuff.

Apparently the CDC is now encouraging mask use:

The Centers for Disease Control Prevention on Monday encouraged people to wear masks to help reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses this season as Covid, flu and RSV circulate at the same time.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, in a call with reporters, said wearing a mask is one of several everyday precautions that people can take to reduce their chances of catching or spreading a respiratory virus during the busy holiday season.

"We also encourage you to wear a high-quality, well-fitting mask to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses," said Walensky, adding that people living in areas with high levels of Covid transmission should especially consider masking.

Thankfully it's really easy to figure out the number of cases in your community and look at a map accurately describing transmission risk.

Beyond depressing. You're all still on your own. Good luck.

EDIT: Though I guess in fairness this is the first time in a long-ass while that the CDC and/or CDC Director have specifically commented on masking and explicitly encouraged it. I guess that's ...something.

[LawBeefaroni]

From New Zealand. Baby will die without heart surgery. Parents won't allow surgery because donated blood necessary for surgery may be from vaccinated donors (blood donors aren't screened based on vaccine status). And the heart valve is sustaining more damage every hour this drags on.

A High Court judge has reserved his decision in the battle over guardianship of a baby boy whose parents refuse vaccinated blood being used in a life-saving operation - with a decision now expected tomorrow.

The court earlier heard that the case was a matter of life and death, with Health NZ Te Whatu Ora seeking to have the courts take guardianship of the baby so urgent heart surgery can go ahead.

...

Paul White, lawyer for Te Whatu Ora, said..."What we have is loving parents … with beliefs that contrast with the medical professions’ views based on science.

“His survival is actually dependent on the application being granted.

“His only option is surgery, and there’s an excellent prognosis with that surgery.”

"Beliefs that contrast with... science" is certainly one way of putting it.

[Smoove_B]

I'm only surprised we haven't heard more of this, quite frankly. Unhinged.

[Smoove_B]

The politics of treatment, coming in 2023:

Nearly 6 million Americans have taken Paxlovid for free, courtesy of the federal government. The Pfizer pill has helped prevent many people infected with covid-19 from being hospitalized or dying, and it may even reduce the risk of developing long covid. But the government plans to stop footing the bill within months, and millions of people who are at the highest risk of severe illness and are least able to afford the drug — the uninsured and seniors — may have to pay the full price.
CBS News logo

And that means fewer people will get the potentially lifesaving treatments, experts said.

...

The U.S. government has so far purchased 20 million courses of Paxlovid, priced at about $530 each, a discount for buying in bulk that Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla called “really very attractive” to the federal government in a July earnings call. The drug will cost far more on the private market, although in a statement to KHN, Pfizer declined to share the planned price. The government will also stop paying for the company’s covid vaccine next year — those shots will quadruple in price, from the discount rate the government pays of $30 to about $120.

Bourla told investors in November that he expects the move will make Paxlovid and its covid vaccine “a multibillion-dollars franchise.”

Of note:

One group doesn’t need to worry about sticker shock. Medicaid, the public insurance program for low-income adults and children, will cover the treatments in full until at least early 2024.

HHS officials could set aside any leftover taxpayer-funded medication for people who can’t afford to pay the full cost, but they haven’t shared any concrete plans to do so. The government purchased 20 million courses of Paxlovid and 3 million of Lagevrio. Fewer than a third have been used, and usage has fallen in recent months, according to KHN’s analysis of the data from HHS.

Sixty percent of the government’s supply of Evusheld is also still available, although the covid prevention therapy is less effective against new strains of the virus. The health department in one state, New Mexico, has recommended against using it.

[malchior]

Apparently we have totally given up on serious behavior - the military vaccine mandate will be no more after the Republicans threatened to block the NDAA unless it was removed. That'll make mixed NATO troop deployments super fun to coordinate.

[LawBeefaroni]

Yeah, make it like the good olden days when servicemen could choose to do what they wanted with their bodies and didn't have to put up with mean old Uncle Sam telling them what to do!

[malchior]

If I was in the Senate I'd get up every time these morons talked about this and just read from the health.mil page on George Washington's vaccination campaign in the American revolution.

In late 1776, as Gen. George Washington led his troops through the opening battles of the American Revolution, it was not necessarily the enemy fighters who posed the biggest risk to the fledgling U.S. Army.

An estimated 90% of deaths in the Continental Army were caused by disease, and the most vicious were variants of smallpox, according to the U.S. Library of Congress.

That's why Gen. Washington made the controversial decision to order the mass inoculation of his soldiers, an effort to combat spread of the disease that was at the time a major deterrent to enlistments and posed the risk of debilitating his army and tipping the balance of power against America's first warfighters.

According to the U.S. Library of Congress's Science, Technology, and Business Division, the smallpox inoculations began Jan. 6, 1777, for all of Washington's forces who came through the then-capital of Philadelphia, and through Morristown, New Jersey, following the Battle of Princeton.

Smallpox is a potentially fatal disease that starts with fever and vomiting and an outbreak of ulcers in the mouth and a skin rash. The skin rash turns into highly contagious fluid-filled blisters. The fatality rate was very high.

Inoculations were far more primitive - and dangerous - than today's vaccinations. The most common method was to cut a person's skin and rub the minor incision with a thread or cloth contaminated with a less-virulent version of smallpox, which in this case was a strain known as "variola."

[Zarathud]

Yeah, make it like the good olden days when servicemen could choose to do what they wanted with their bodies and didn't have to put up with mean old Uncle Sam telling them what to do!

Like camping next to a nuclear blast zone. Or in the path of Agent Orange. Conscientious Objectors in World War 2 still served in a non-combat role or Public Service, or went to jail.

[Defiant]