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

[Smoove_B]

Hey everyone, look - an actual study focused on masking in schools (data collected was in Massachusetts). What did they find?

Before the statewide school masking policy was lifted, there was no statistically significant difference in case rate trajectories between school districts. However, weekly and cumulative case rates were significantly higher in students and staff in school districts that removed masking requirements, compared to districts that had not yet lifted requirements. We estimate that lifting of school masking requirements was associated with an additional 44.9 (95% CI: 32.6, 57.1) COVID-19 cases per 1,000 students and staff over the 15 weeks since the lifting of the statewide school masking requirement, representing nearly 30% of all cases observed in schools during that time.

Keep this in mind as school is currently resuming and hardly any have masking policies in place.

[Zaxxon]

Hey everyone, look - an actual study focused on masking in schools (data collected was in Massachusetts). What did they find?

Before the statewide school masking policy was lifted, there was no statistically significant difference in case rate trajectories between school districts. However, weekly and cumulative case rates were significantly higher in students and staff in school districts that removed masking requirements, compared to districts that had not yet lifted requirements. We estimate that lifting of school masking requirements was associated with an additional 44.9 (95% CI: 32.6, 57.1) COVID-19 cases per 1,000 students and staff over the 15 weeks since the lifting of the statewide school masking requirement, representing nearly 30% of all cases observed in schools during that time.

Keep this in mind as school is currently resuming and hardly any have masking policies in place.

I'm sure it will be fine, because we want it to be.

[stessier]

I'm sure it will be fine, because we want it to be.

That's my plan because there isn't anyone masking in the classes that started this week. My hope is that everyone already got it over the summer and we can skate through until boosters in September.

[Zaxxon]

I'm sure it will be fine, because we want it to be.

That's my plan because there isn't anyone masking in the classes that started this week. My hope is that everyone already got it over the summer and we can skate through until boosters in September.

I'm a little leery to admit it, but we let our kids choose whether to mask or not this year (at least for now, while community level is 'low' and maybe when it inevitably moves back to medium). By late last year they were typically either the only one in their class, or one of 2-3. I know there's still some minor benefit, but when they're spending 30+ hours/week with these kids, with the mask off while eating, that benefit is extremely small. (It's not like a perfectly-fitted N95 warn flawlessly through a 2-hour plane flight, for example.) We are leaving it up to the kids for now. One has so far chosen to largely keep wearing it, the other has not.

We will absolutely be first in line when the new boosters hit next month. I reaaallllyyy hope they roll those out for kids as well as adults.

[Smoove_B]

I'm pretty sure my daughter will be one of like 5 kids in a mask at her high school. We've recently been advised by school staff that they're...concerned she's still wearing one, so that's great.

I would not fault her for taking it off; I cannot imagine the pressure she's under at school. My wife continues to wear hers at work and I will absolutely continue to wear mine. There's still value in one-way masking in that it reduces your overall dose when you're ultimately exposed. If I'm going to get it, ideally it's not because I'm raw-dogging indoor community air.

[ImLawBoy]

We're hosting a playdate for twin girl at the moment (school doesn't start until 8/22). Yes, we had a mask ready for her friend (and her dad didn't seem to have a problem with it when we explained our situation). We imagine this will be a good incentive to get them to play outside (plus it's gorgeous today).

[coopasonic]

Today was the first day of school for my kids and as we were heading out the door, my 7th grader said "Where's my mask?" and ran off to find it before he would go to school. The school shared first day of school pictures this morning and there was one kid in a mask out of the 20 or so pictured in total. It was not my son, so there may well be TWO kids in masks today!

[LordMortis]

Today is one of those days where the isolation is getting to me. I think I watched 6 hours of streaming cartoons and ate about 4000 calories of junk and that did not help me stay comfortable in my skin. I want nothing more than to plant myself in the corner of some bar and have a few beers. I sooo hoped things would have calmed down this summer and the new vaccine would have been taken and settling in my system about now. I'm sure I can hunker down into and through winter again this year, when all I want to do hibernate anyway, but I'm sure by mid to late next spring, I'll resign my position as one of the last of left out of all the things. Thank pancake for the rare gaming day or lunch with my parents.

[Zaxxon]

Do you have any bars/breweries with patios? That has helped me a lot. Not the same, maybe, but it's helped.

[LordMortis]

Do you have any bars/breweries with patios? That has helped me a lot. Not the same, maybe, but it's helped.

Not really. I'll get through it, just having a tough moment.

[Smoove_B]

Welp, one of my parent national public health organizations just announced information about a Fall 2022 conference. Not only are masks optional, but they have decided that inviting an unrepentant minimizer (Leana Wen) as a speaker to talk about "Backlash" was a good idea. When a national public health organization is this far off the rails, I'm left without hope.

[Smoove_B]

Again, I know no one cares but when you see polling data like this (is it too early for polling?), it really reinforces how we're collectively being influenced by special interests.

Code: Select all

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, do you favor or oppose: [RANDOMIZE]
                                                                                     Favor Oppose (Don’t know)
Schools requiring teachers to be vaccinated    6-9 Aug 22   62%      37                2
                                                                  14-17 Nov 21 55%      40                 5
                                                                  12-15 Sep 21 61%       36               2

Schools being allowed to require teachers and
students to wear masks?
                                                                    6-9 Aug 22  60%     38                2
                                                                  12-15 Sep 21 67%     31                3

Schools requiring students to be vaccinated?
                                                                  6-9 Aug 22     52%     45                  2
                                                                14-17 Nov 21   48%      46                 6

EDIT: I tried formatting; I give up

[Smoove_B]

Ugh, just catching up to the news I missed last night:

"One of the things we've spent a lot of time thinking about in the last many months -- and we're going to continue this work, and you'll hear more from the administration on this -- is getting us out of that acute emergency phase where the US government is buying the vaccines, buying the treatments, buying the diagnostic tests," Jha said at an event sponsored by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

"My hope is that in 2023, you're going to see the commercialization of almost all of these products. Some of that is actually going to begin this fall, in the days and weeks ahead. You're going to see commercialization of some of these things," he said.

Saying this at an event sponsored by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation is just additional proof we're in Hell.

[LordMortis]

I don't know anything about Jha or the event in question but I give the Chamber of Commerce exactly zero leeway for taking them at their word or aligning with anything they promote. They're such dirty players and shills for bad actors in everything that if I see their sticker on a business, I debate not being a patron just to protest CoC interests, advertisements, and actual political action. I have debated looking for their in state membership and forming a shitlist based on it. For me, watching them attack voting rights and the democratic process beginning in around 2014 opened my eyes to them and how their fingers have been in so many dirty pies.

/end crazy unreasonable triggered rant

[malchior]

CDC Reorganization

It doesn't sound like they are releasing the internal review. I think we deserve to see it. Many may have died from their incompetence and we have the right to know if there were people or functions responsible. They need to restore our confidence in their decision making process for the future.

Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Wednesday delivered a sweeping rebuke of her agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying it had failed to respond quickly enough and needed to be overhauled.

In a meeting with senior staff, Dr. Walensky outlined in broad terms a plan to reorganize the agency’s structure to prioritize public health needs and efforts to curb continuing outbreaks, and to put less emphasis on publication of scientific papers about rare diseases.

The steps announced on Wednesday grew out of an external review Dr. Walensky had ordered in April, after months of scathing criticism of the C.D.C.’s response to the pandemic. Its public messages on masking and other mitigation measures were sometimes so confusing or abruptly modified that they seemed more like internal drafts than carefully considered proclamations.

The public guidance has been “confusing and overwhelming,” according to a briefing document provided by the agency.

Leaders of the agency’s Covid team rotated out after only a few months, leaving other senior federal health officials unsure about who was in charge. And important data were sometimes inexplicably released too late to inform federal decisions, including some data on breakthrough infections that could have influenced a recommendation on whether to authorize a round of booster shots.

“For 75 years, C.D.C. and public health have been preparing for Covid-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations,” Dr. Walensky said in a startling acknowledgment of the agency’s failings. “My goal is a new, public health, action-oriented culture at C.D.C. that emphasizes accountability, collaboration, communication and timeliness.”

Her plan, which was also described in a video to the agency’s more than 11,000 employees, was short on specifics. But it was welcomed by at least some of the agency’s two dozen senior staff members, as well as by outside public health specialists.

[Smoove_B]

I'd mentioned this last month, but the reorg plans for the CDC are finally being revealed, stemming from struggles with COVID-19 response.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday that she intended to improve the agency’s communication, timeliness and accountability. The CDC has at times amended its guidance on masking, isolation and other mitigation efforts in ways that spurred confusion or lagged behind the trajectory of the pandemic.

“In our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations,” Dr. Walensky said. “I want us all to do better, and it starts with CDC leading the way.”

The changes will include elevating the laboratory division to report to the CDC’s director and restructuring the communications office, according to a CDC official with knowledge of the plans. Dr. Walensky wants to shift the CDC’s culture from highly academic to focus more on preparedness and response, the official said. Dr. Walensky also wants additional funding and more authorities for the CDC on matters including mandating data collection from states, changes that would require action from lawmakers, the official said.

Some of it is probably necessary - streamlining administrative / reporting elements seems like a solid idea. However, as long as public health remains the charge of states and locals (because again, it's not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution), we're always going to be a strong as whatever state is the weakest link. If nothing else, I'd have hoped that would have been made crystal clear over the last 2.5+ years, but apparently not. Without a unified, national public health program that has authority, every disease outbreak has the potential to spread and spiral out of control. To be clear, we still need state and locals (of course I'm biased) because they have the potential to be nimble in an emergency, but if each state is still primarily tasked with preparation and response? Pain.

[Unagi]

And let’s be totally honest with ourselves, these States are anything but United.

[Smoove_B]

Considering Alabama tried to take COVID-19 money from the federal government and use it to expand prisons, yeah, that's an understatement.

[malchior]

Vaccination meltdown incoming?

Good thing we've been waiting for these BA.5 vaccines to come in just as the system might be melting down.

It isn't hard to assess that the United States is a failed state in many ways. We can't deliver health care services consistently. We can't manage outbreaks. We can't communicate with the public. It's a system in collapse and everyone is pretending it isn't happening. Like I seem to be saying more often now, we're appear to be our own and just keep preparing.

This fall, the health of the nation will depend in large part on vaccines.

Health officials are banking on vaccinations to contain monkeypox and polio before those become standing threats in the United States. They're counting on updated boosters to restore waning immunity against Covid-19. With influenza expected back in the US this fall, flu shots could be critical to prevent severe illness and keep hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.

While the federal government will facilitate getting these inoculations to states, it will be the 2,820 state and local health departments that will spearhead the work of getting shots into arms, and public health experts say it's not clear that these offices have enough funding or staff to get the job done.

I think it's deeply worrisome," said Dr. Peggy Hamburg, former health commissioner for New York City and former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration. "It's hard to imagine how state and local health departments can all mobilize, and they desperately do need additional support."

[Smoove_B]

I think it's deeply worrisome," said Dr. Peggy Hamburg, former health commissioner for New York City and former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration. "It's hard to imagine how state and local health departments can all mobilize, and they desperately do need additional support."

This is what I was saying earlier. I've yet to see any information in our state about clinics being arranged at the same scale that they were provided during the original rollout. Above and beyond the logistics, locals are just...done. Absolutely finished. So either someone is going to magically pull a rabbit out of a hat or we're going to rely on hospitals and corporate pharmacies to run this show. It's beyond failure at this point and it was 20 years in the making with all of the budgetary and staffing cuts happening nationwide in state and local health services.

[Smoove_B]

Oooh, that's a bullseye.

If only school administrators thought about COVID the way they think about peanut butter.

[Smoove_B]

This news was kinda buried in the Friday afternoon news cycle, but file it under "We have the tools", or at least, we did:

Beginning next week, the Biden administration will suspend taking orders for free at-home COVID-19 tests because of limited supply, USA TODAY has learned.

The administration was expected to announce Friday that it needs to preserve tests for a potential rise in infections in the fall, according to a senior administration official.

As of Sept. 2, free tests will no longer be available through COVIDTests.gov. Tests, however, are still being distributed other ways, including at 15,000 federally supported community sites such as libraries and pharmacies, and through community health centers. People also can be reimbursed for tests through private and public health insurance plans.

The administration says it has to limit distribution of tests because Congress has not approved funding to replenish the nation's stockpile.

I'd just make a minor correction that it wasn't Congress that didn't approve funding, it was the GOP members of Congress.

So yeah, good luck everyone. Hope you have insurance. And money.

[Max Peck]

The province of Ontario takes yet another step on the long road to COVID being over...

Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table to dissolve next month

Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, a key group of independent experts in the province's response to the ongoing pandemic, confirmed Friday that it will be dissolved early next month after more than two years.

In a statement posted to its website, the table says it was informed by Public Health Ontario (PHO) at an Aug.18 meeting that it and all of its working groups would be disbanded as of Sept. 6.

"We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to have served Ontario since July of 2020," the statement read. "Many of us will remember our work for the Science Table as some of the most important work we have ever had the chance to do."

The group said its work reflected the dedication of hundreds of volunteer scientists, physicians and administrators. It added that the key principles that will help Ontario manage the continued dangers of COVID-19 are that science matters, equity counts, transparency is critical, independence must be both perceived and delivered, and timeliness and relevance are essential.

"The COVID-19 pandemic continues, and it contributes to Ontario's growing number of health system crises," the statement continued.

A statement Friday from PHO suggested it is looking at forming a new group, saying it has been engaged in discussions with science table representatives over the last few weeks over new terms of reference.

"The new terms of reference establish a mandate that reflects a long-term, sustainable approach and ensures the continued provision of credible and independent scientific and technical public health advice to the province on COVID-19 and future public health emergencies," it wrote.

"Membership will continue to be comprised of independent experts."

However while speaking in Niagara Falls, Premier Doug Ford disputed the science table's announcement that it was dissolving. "We are actually transferring it over to public health," said Ford, despite the fact that transfer occurred earlier in the spring — as the PHO statement correctly noted.

Ford's spokesperson Ivana Yelich declined to clarify via email.

[Kraken]

This news was kinda buried in the Friday afternoon news cycle, but file it under "We have the tools", or at least, we did:

Beginning next week, the Biden administration will suspend taking orders for free at-home COVID-19 tests because of limited supply, USA TODAY has learned.

The administration was expected to announce Friday that it needs to preserve tests for a potential rise in infections in the fall, according to a senior administration official.

As of Sept. 2, free tests will no longer be available through COVIDTests.gov. Tests, however, are still being distributed other ways, including at 15,000 federally supported community sites such as libraries and pharmacies, and through community health centers. People also can be reimbursed for tests through private and public health insurance plans.

The administration says it has to limit distribution of tests because Congress has not approved funding to replenish the nation's stockpile.

I'd just make a minor correction that it wasn't Congress that didn't approve funding, it was the GOP members of Congress.

So yeah, good luck everyone. Hope you have insurance. And money.

I've still got 10-15 free home tests in stock, but they expire between last month and next month. Should I just pitch them?

[Smoove_B]

I've still got 10-15 free home tests in stock, but they expire between last month and next month. Should I just pitch them?

Check the dates against the FDA site, here as many have been extended beyond what was stamped on the box when they were manufactured.

[LordMortis]

Guess we're at the next phase. I've gotten rather used to being one of one to five people masking in a large grocery area but today at Meijer I hit my first hostile encounter. I young twenty something looked me in the eye and muttered in his lazy stoner intonation "masked dumbass" as he we passed each other.

I guess that's one less person who will be competing with me for the updated booster in a couple of weeks, as schools are opening on Tuesday and we're still at 1000 hospitalizations on a long slow uptick with 15 people dying daily before school has let in. Long COVID = ??? here.

If everyone is back normal but me, I do have to question why supply chains for food is still so messed up irrespective of inflation/smaller quantities of food. Also, just about any processed food I get in its normal state would have failed quality control in 2019. I had pop tarts the other day for the first and last time in a long time. Every tart was the same. There was an off centered splash of frosting thinly covering less than half the surface and nearly no filling. This was across two different flavored boxes. Bread often has huge air bubbles or a crazy deep split top. Salty foods "have settled during shipment" are all broken in tiny fragments. Right down the line QA doesn't exist. It's like everyone became their own knock off brands and failed to be that even well. It's good I eat a lot less processed food than I used to.

[Rip]

Pureblooded, and uninfected. Who would have guessed?

[hepcat]

Lol…rip bot is confusing luck with proof the entire medical community was pulling one over on its programmer.

This new rip bot is a hoot.

Also, “pure blooded”? Is the rip bot programmer part of the aryan nation too?

[Smoove_B]

Pureblooded, and uninfected. Who would have guessed?

[Max Peck]

"Uninfected" is just how the purebloods spell "asymptomatic."

[hepcat]

I looked up “pureblood” as I hadn’t heard that used before. Turns out there’s a whole bunch of nut job whack cases out there claiming because they’ve never been vaccinated they’re to be called that (these morons seem to completely forget they’re most likely vaccinated against other things as children…but hey, if you’re gonna be stupid, go all the way!).

You can’t make this shit up, people. We have some truly idiotic citizens.

[Zaxxon]

Pureblooded, and uninfected. Who would have guessed?

[Max Peck]

[raydude]

Pureblooded, and uninfected. Who would have guessed?

From 2053:

Back in the 2020s the argument was made that the COVID-19 vaccines were "fake" given that purebloods were still alive and posting that they never got sick with COVID despite not having been vaccinated. Then someone pointed out that pureblood fans shouldn't just look at the numbers of purebloods who were still posting; they needed to take into account the number of purebloods (both on the internet and on the radio airwaves) who had stopped.

[Smoove_B]

Anyway, back to reality.

Info coming out today that the White House is signaling that Covid vaccines will likely become annual - like a flu shot. This shouldn't be a surprise.

"In the absence of a dramatically different variants, we likely are moving towards a path with a vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine, with annual updated Covid-19 shots matched to the currently circulating strains for most of the population," Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a White House briefing.

The reasoning behind this expectation, according to Fauci and White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha, has to do with improved protection from newly updated Covid booster shots.

...

Going forward, Fauci and Jha said, they expect similar booster updates to account for dominant omicron subvariants. People with underlying health issues may need to get vaccinated more than once a year, though, Fauci said.

However, experts aren't yet sure how much the updated boosters will really improve protection. The CDC authorized the reformulated shots based on tests in mice, plus human trial data that looked at a similar vaccine targeting the original omicron strain, BA.1. That data showed that updated boosters produced higher levels of antibodies than the original vaccines — a sign of stronger, more lasting protection.

The reason we have an annual influenza shot is because influenza is seasonal. We haven't reached that point yet (and the jury is still out if we ever will) for SARS-CoV-2, but I guess we'll keep hoping.

Also, it has been pointed out that even if we have *best case scenario* situations for Covid-19 moving forward and the current levels of morbidity and mortality truly are the endemic levels we'll see in the United States, our healthcare infrastructure cannot handle the volume. In short, we can't handle a 3x or 4x flu problem every single year (on top of dealing with the flu).

But I've repeatedly been told we will, so I guess we'll see.

I'm also not clear how a vaccine that provides 3-6 months protection will work for a virus that is apparently still in 12 month uncontrolled circulation, but I what do I know?

Regardless, thankfully we're not doing anything to undermine this strategy by encouraging the emergence of new variants. So overall great news!

[LawBeefaroni]

Herd Immunity!

[LordMortis]

I have braced myself for semi annual so annual would be step up.

[Smoove_B]

Seems like a great time to do this:

New Yorkers are no longer required to wear masks on subways, buses and other mass transit, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday.

Hochul said the decision to end the mandate takes effect immediately. The governor said New York is in a much stronger place as infections and hospitalizations decline. New boosters that the target the dominant omicron subvariant BA.5. should also offer better protection against Covid, she said.

"We do believe that we're in a good place right now, especially if New Yorkers take advantage of this booster. That is how we get back to not just a new normal, but a normal normal, and that is what we're striving for," Hochul said during a news conference.

A normal normal. Got it.

[Zaxxon]

New boosters that virtually no one has gotten yet. It's amazing how even when elected officials have a real leg to stand on, they manage to fuck it up every time.

[LawBeefaroni]

Even if you are hanging it all on the BA.5 booster, wouldn't you want to wait until people had the BA.5 booster? Preferably then plus 2 weeks?