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

[Smoove_B]

Maybe try joining the Facebook Group "Urine Magic" and letting us know?


EDIT: Even though that's a top of the page post, I'm going to leave it there, without context

[Ralph-Wiggum]

If you're relying on pee to help you avoid Covid, urine trouble.

[$iljanus]

Astronauts drink urine all the time on the ISS. It’s recycled of course but for us terrestrial folks skipping all that processing the unadulterated urine like unpasteurized milk keeps all the good properties!

I’m reminded of a scene from Vikings when loopy Princess Kwenthrith was pissing on Ragnar’s wound after a battle and he was no worse for wear.

[Smoove_B]

People clamor for raw milk so you might be on to something!

Also, this is a bullseye:

The US approach to rapid tests sure seems like something a rich investment firm ceo with no training in public health might come up with

[$iljanus]

People clamor for raw milk so you might be on to something!

Also, this is a bullseye:

The US approach to rapid tests sure seems like something a rich investment firm ceo with no training in public health might come up with

I love reading the occasional article about the illicit market for raw milk. I think Schitt’s Creek had an episode about it too.

Yeah, the difference between government run health care and Adam Smith health care is pretty stark when a pandemic comes around. I heard the going price for a test in one of those “socialist” European countries was 50 US cents. I think other countries actually give them to people for…free.

It’s not like countries with government run health care don’t have issues with Covid outbreaks or an unhappy populace protesting government restrictions or mandates but it sure makes it easier for a country to respond to shifting circumstances when you have a central authority guiding the response vs the clown show of fifty states and local boards of health doing their own thing.

[El Guapo]

People clamor for raw milk so you might be on to something!

Also, this is a bullseye:

The US approach to rapid tests sure seems like something a rich investment firm ceo with no training in public health might come up with

I don't disagree exactly, but my understanding is that the core problem (other than America's preexisting lack of a social safety net and disregard for workers and their safety) is that the FDA botched the rapid test approval process - is that right / fair?

[Isgrimnur]

Can we sell the idiots on DIY Trepanation?

[Smoove_B]

I don't disagree exactly, but my understanding is that the core problem (other than America's preexisting lack of a social safety net and disregard for workers and their safety) is that the FDA botched the rapid test approval process - is that right / fair?

That's part of it. But there's no reason the feds couldn't have said waaaaaaay back in May that we need produce more tests and paid companies (under emergency production) to do so - with the idea that the USPS could deliver [X] of tests to each household a week or give them to states and locals to distribute freely. "But people are selling them", you say - that's true. Because supply is scarce. I read a story yesterday about a school district that sent tests home for kids and a good number of them ended up on eBay. However, if they were producing them and absolutely blasting them out to everyone there wouldn't be a need to sell them - easier to get them for free on street corners.

Now we're back to mandating that insurers must cover tests, which is helpful. But completely ignoring that not everyone has insurance. And that you still need to (1) find and (2) pay out of pocket first. And the people that likely need to get tested the most are probably at the center of the Venn Diagram between lacking insurance and greatest risk of exposure. Why do we keep involving the middle-man (insurance)? Why not just blast out half a dozen tests a week to each household? Why is this so difficult as we start our 3rd goddamn year of the pandemic??

I keep seeing so many people from around the world sharing what their governments are doing for them - mailing free tests, mailing care packages for quarantine/isolation, guarantee of paid time off, masks - these are not impossible things. The pandemic is universal at this point but so many of our problems our uniquely American and we're making it so much worse on ourselves.

I'm super excited that Biden said he's going to make 500+ million tests available to homes that ask. This would have been great back in October, not during the peak of Omicron. Same with providing n95 masks. After cocking up the message back in May of 2021, now - as the virus is surging beyond comprehension we're finally going to start looking into maybe making masks available to everyone?

[Unagi]

If you're relying on pee to help you avoid Covid, urine trouble.

[Zaxxon]

If you're relying on pee to help you avoid Covid, urine trouble.

Wee good joke there, RW.

[malchior]

That's part of it. But there's no reason the feds couldn't have said waaaaaaay back in May that we need produce more tests and paid companies (under emergency production) to do so - with the idea that the USPS could deliver [X] of tests to each household a week or give them to states and locals to distribute freely. "But people are selling them", you say - that's true. Because supply is scarce. I read a story yesterday about a school district that sent tests home for kids and a good number of them ended up on eBay. However, if they were producing them and absolutely blasting them out to everyone there wouldn't be a need to sell them - easier to get them for free on street corners.

Yep - it's crazy to me how badly the administration missed the boat on this. And they had public health experts talking about this problem over a year ago. Many were complaining about the FDA and asking for a rapid approval process. Naturally that was a Trump administration position at the time but Biden didn't fix it. Cato actually had a good piece I read a few months back that talked about the regulatory failure (with the usual dash of absurd leaps to why all regulation is bad).

Now we're back to mandating that insurers must cover tests, which is helpful. But completely ignoring that not everyone has insurance. And that you still need to (1) find and (2) pay out of pocket first. And the people that likely need to get tested the most are probably at the center of the Venn Diagram between lacking insurance and greatest risk of exposure. Why do we keep involving the middle-man (insurance)? Why not just blast out half a dozen tests a week to each household? Why is this so difficult as we start our 3rd goddamn year of the pandemic??

Also I hate to inject basic economics but it doesn't help with the supply/demand problem that the FDA caused with their processes. So people have to find scarce tests, file paperwork with the insurers, deal with their bullshit, and then the cost will be passed ultimately along to the government and employers. Cool. Cool. Cool. It's better than nothing but it was a kludge and one they cooked up at the last minute because...of so many reasons. A government that is at its core dysfunctional and politely corrupt.

I'm super excited that Biden said he's going to make 500+ million tests available to homes that ask. This would have been great back in October, not during the peak of Omicron. Same with providing n95 masks. After cocking up the message back in May of 2021, now - as the virus is surging beyond comprehension we're finally going to start looking into maybe making masks available to everyone?

Except they are failing at this promise too. As of 3 days ago they still don't even have a contract in place on the testing. Instead they are pivoting to taking credit for general supply increases. That's nice and all but looks like we're stuck with DIY pandemic response.

[dbt1949]

From an article from Aljazeeera:

Repeating booster doses of the original COVID vaccines is not a viable strategy against emerging variants, the World Health Organization (WHO) said as it predicts that more than half of Europe’s population will get infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant within the next six to eight weeks.


On a personal note my wife had a booster shot and it didn't help her.

[Smoove_B]

Public health people have been saying that since the vaccines were first announced - that in the short term we're not going to vaccinate our way out of this. It's why we've been pushing (unsuccessfully) for national and state level non-pharmaceutical interventions (like masks) to stem the uncontrolled spread.

But when you have policies that conflict with how *we know* the disease is spreading (wear masks in school; restaurants and bars open - no masks) we are going to be in a never ending cycle of surges because the virus continues to spread. I can only imagine what kind of variant is cooking up right now in America based on what we're encouraging. It's no coincidence that we're not aggressively sequencing here - we're likely ground zero for the next surge.

[LordMortis]

I'm super excited that Biden said he's going to make 500+ million tests available to homes that ask. This would have been great back in October, not during the peak of Omicron. Same with providing n95 masks. After cocking up the message back in May of 2021, now - as the virus is surging beyond comprehension we're finally going to start looking into maybe making masks available to everyone?

I heard this on the news this morning.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/insure ... 022-01-10/

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Insurance companies will be required to cover eight over-the-counter at-home coronavirus tests per person each month starting Saturday, the Biden administration said, expanding access to highly sought-after kits as Americans grapple with a surge in coronavirus cases.

No idea how it will work yet.

[Smoove_B]

No idea how it will work yet.

You purchase them retail (because they are so readily available right now) and then submit proof of purchase to your insurer for them to review and approve. They send you a check (or wire you money) upon review. I'm sure it will work exactly the same way it does now when you purchase things and need to ask your insurance company for reimbursement.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

On a personal note my wife had a booster shot and it didn't help her.

It obviously didn't help her not get it, but it probably has helped with the symptoms (but of course, there's no way to know for sure).

[LawBeefaroni]

I'm super excited that Biden said he's going to make 500+ million tests available to homes that ask. This would have been great back in October, not during the peak of Omicron. Same with providing n95 masks. After cocking up the message back in May of 2021, now - as the virus is surging beyond comprehension we're finally going to start looking into maybe making masks available to everyone?

I heard this on the news this morning.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/insure ... 022-01-10/

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Insurance companies will be required to cover eight over-the-counter at-home coronavirus tests per person each month starting Saturday, the Biden administration said, expanding access to highly sought-after kits as Americans grapple with a surge in coronavirus cases.

No idea how it will work yet.

"Mandatory insurance coverage" is a great way to get people to pay for things they don't want to.

[Smoove_B]

It would seem Fauci is out of Fucks to give

Fauci: Why would a Senator want to do this? Go to Rand Paul’s website and you see fire Dr. Fauci with a little box that says contribute here. So you are making catastrophic epidemic for your political gain

[Smoove_B]

These kids have more courage than our elected leaders

Proud to stand with my 1st grader, fellow families of @STARAcademyPS63 @SchoolTns and our local @UFT members to demand #SafeSchools for our kids and educators. @NYCMayor @DOEChancellor stop putting our families in danger.#Strike4SafeSchools

[Smoove_B]

Some chatter that the CDC is about to publish updated mask guidance for adults (which is great) but that they're completely leaving out any helpful information about kid-friendly options or that KN94 are viable substitutes for children. I really hope that's not the case because I've had just about enough.

[dbt1949]

On a personal note my wife had a booster shot and it didn't help her.

It obviously didn't help her not get it, but it probably has helped with the symptoms (but of course, there's no way to know for sure).

Our symptoms are pretty much the same and I didn't have a booster.

[ImLawBoy]

On a personal note my wife had a booster shot and it didn't help her.

It obviously didn't help her not get it, but it probably has helped with the symptoms (but of course, there's no way to know for sure).

Our symptoms are pretty much the same and I didn't have a booster.

That doesn't really tell you much, because the disease doesn't start from the same baseline for two people. It's possible that she would have had it much worse without the booster while you would have had virtually no symptoms with the booster. You'll just never know, but the safer bet is to go ahead and boost.

[Smoove_B]

Here we go total failure. NJ Governor declares another public health emergency as we are hit with "omicron tsunami". So under this crushing surge what's the plan?

But the new order does not include any new restrictions and the governor has also said he doesn’t intend to issue any new rules.

Ok everyone, enjoy COVID.

[Jaymon]

But this is Emergency Covid, its completely different than the regular covid. Whole separate species.

[Octavious]

Well at least he's keeping the mask restrictions. I was half expecting them to say f it.

[Zaxxon]

I think it's pretty clear at this point that under no circumstances will any wide-scale restrictions be implemented that are not currently in place.

[Smoove_B]

I think it's pretty clear at this point that under no circumstances will any wide-scale restrictions be implemented that are not currently in place.

You're right. But you can't give a state of the union address and declare a continued public health emergency over a communicable disease and then do absolutely nothing to stop it from spreading. What is the goddamn point? To keep some additional administrative powers? Whoopity fucking do.

All time now is just space between the next surge with our current plan. Infuriating beyond words. Dexter became a lumberjack right? That's what I'm getting ready to do. Just up and disappear into Canada to swing an axe.

[Zaxxon]

I think it's pretty clear at this point that under no circumstances will any wide-scale restrictions be implemented that are not currently in place.

You're right. But you can't give a state of the union address and declare a continued public health emergency over a communicable disease and then do absolutely nothing to stop it from spreading. What is the goddamn point? To keep some additional administrative powers? Whoopity fucking do.

Sure can. The point is simply to try to goose popularity #s and odds of the next election.

All time now is just space between the next surge with our current plan. Infuriating beyond words. Dexter became a lumberjack right? That's what I'm getting ready to do. Just up and disappear into Canada to swing an axe.

Fun thread:

[malchior]

I think it's pretty clear at this point that under no circumstances will any wide-scale restrictions be implemented that are not currently in place.

You're right. But you can't give a state of the union address and declare a continued public health emergency over a communicable disease and then do absolutely nothing to stop it from spreading. What is the goddamn point? To keep some additional administrative powers? Whoopity fucking do.

Sure can. The point is simply to try to goose popularity #s and odds of the next election.

There's no next election. I get what Smoove_B is saying. Pointing out a problem and saying let's continue doing the thing not working is useless leadership.

[Zaxxon]

I think it's pretty clear at this point that under no circumstances will any wide-scale restrictions be implemented that are not currently in place.

You're right. But you can't give a state of the union address and declare a continued public health emergency over a communicable disease and then do absolutely nothing to stop it from spreading. What is the goddamn point? To keep some additional administrative powers? Whoopity fucking do.

Sure can. The point is simply to try to goose popularity #s and odds of the next election.

There's no next election. I get what Smoove_B is saying. Pointing out a problem and saying let's continue doing the thing not working is useless leadership.

Oh, I get it, too. Useless leadership is kind of our thing.

[malchior]

Totally. That part of why I'm on the opposite side of the Tweet above. I get why someone would definitely regret moving here. I actually started having a serious conversation with my wife about leaving. What good is foresight if we don't act on it? Trouble naturally is emigration is tough in your mid-40s even without children and during a pandemic it is basically a no go. It'd take extraordinary support and I don't have that right now. I had the slight chance at my last job to relocate to NL and I'm kicking myself at the moment.

[Kraken]

you still need to (1) find and (2) pay out of pocket first.

Among the 45% of Americans who have private insurance, those who can access participating pharmacies will only need to show their insurance card -- the insurers will then pay the pharmacy directly. Socialized capitalism FTW!

[El Guapo]

Totally. That part of why I'm on the opposite side of the Tweet above. I get why someone would definitely regret moving here. I actually started having a serious conversation with my wife about leaving. What good is foresight if we don't act on it? Trouble naturally is emigration is tough in your mid-40s even without children and during a pandemic it is basically a no go. It'd take extraordinary support and I don't have that right now. I had the slight chance at my last job to relocate to NL and I'm kicking myself at the moment.

NL?

[stessier]

Totally. That part of why I'm on the opposite side of the Tweet above. I get why someone would definitely regret moving here. I actually started having a serious conversation with my wife about leaving. What good is foresight if we don't act on it? Trouble naturally is emigration is tough in your mid-40s even without children and during a pandemic it is basically a no go. It'd take extraordinary support and I don't have that right now. I had the slight chance at my last job to relocate to NL and I'm kicking myself at the moment.

NL?

I'm betting Netherlands.

[El Guapo]

I've given some thought to emigrating as well, especially if Trump wins in 2024. Not totally sure to where, though - my wife would want to move to Israel I'm sure if we moved to another country. Which I would like to do on some level, except for my deep concerns about rockets, terrorism, and IDF service / my kids getting shot at in Gaza.

Maybe Toronto if we can navigate immigration rules / attorney bar stuff.

[ImLawBoy]

I don't think we mentioned it, but the Chicago Public Schools/Chicago Teachers' Union showdown has ended. Kids are back in school tomorrow, in person. Meanwhile . . .

Spoiler:

Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot
@chicagosmayor
Earlier today, I tested positive for COVID-19. I am experiencing cold-like symptoms but otherwise feel fine which I credit to being vaccinated and boosted. I will continue to work from home while following the CDC guidelines for isolation.
2:40 PM · Jan 11, 2022·Twitter Web App

[malchior]

Totally. That part of why I'm on the opposite side of the Tweet above. I get why someone would definitely regret moving here. I actually started having a serious conversation with my wife about leaving. What good is foresight if we don't act on it? Trouble naturally is emigration is tough in your mid-40s even without children and during a pandemic it is basically a no go. It'd take extraordinary support and I don't have that right now. I had the slight chance at my last job to relocate to NL and I'm kicking myself at the moment.

NL?

I'm betting Netherlands.

Indeed I was working there a lot. It is where I developed my deepening sense that America is a bad place vibe. I just saw how other people were living in 'socialist' dystopia and it felt welcoming and importantly not crazy.

[Max Peck]

FDA head: Omicron is a “natural disaster… most people are gonna get COVID”

US officials are comparing the ultra-transmissible omicron coronavirus variant to a natural disaster as the country continues to shatter records, logging over 1.4 million new COVID-19 cases Monday and seeing hospitalizations at all-time highs of over 140,000.

Officials are now bracing for the weeks ahead, which are expected to bring yet higher numbers of cases that will hamstring health care systems and other essential services nationwide.

"I think that we're talking about a natural disaster," Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the Food Drug Administration, said in a Senate Health Committee hearing Tuesday. "I think right now, we need to focus on continuity of operations for hospitals and other essential services as this variant sweeps through the population."

"Prior approaches" aren't responsible for the omicron wave, Woodcock added. She then tried to redirect the discussion away from politics, giving a sobering outlook of the next few weeks.

"I think it's hard to process what's actually happening right now, which is [that] most people are gonna get COVID," Woodcock said. "And what we need to do is make sure that the hospitals can still function [and that] transportation [and] other essential services are not disrupted while this happens. I think after that will be a good time to reassess how we're approaching this pandemic."

[malchior]

But despite the results that probably won't stop the SCOTUS from taking a position that ends up killing a lot of people in the coming weeks and months. For freedom.

[malchior]

If you're relying on pee to help you avoid Covid, urine trouble.