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Covid 19, novel corona virus. Split from off-grid thread


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21 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

Me too mate. Gone very quiet haven’t they.

Some bad boys broke it and ran away.....

Well I have to say judging by the numbers that are being vaccinated in France, UK seems to have at least 1 advantage at the moment. (just saying)!

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About the only one, and driven by the desperation resulting from the utter shitshow that is the general “Management plan”.

When the plague has got right away..... the motivation is there. They are already talking about relaxing things because the vaccine will solve everything.....

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41 minutes ago, mpbarrett said:

and not giving the second vaccination ....

Well.... yeah, but I can see that one from both sides, and for the AZ vaccine they are within the bounds (just) at 12 weeks.  With the Pfizer one they appear to be kiting it........ but it may pay off.  Puts me on the horns of dilemma as I'd be happy to see them crash and burn, but that would mean more death and destruction so I have hope for them (and the rest of us!) to win!  I may be nasty but I ain't no Lord Sumption! :ohmy:

Wonder how long it will be before the second shot is dropped altogether.....

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The Pfizer, and other trials, used a short interval between injections, to provide an answer as quickly as possible.      If any shorter was acceptable, then they would have been hours apart!   Those results cannot say if a longer interval will be effective, but experience and practice shows that it will be.

Longer intervals beween the first and 'booster' inoculations are commonplace.   For instance, infants in the UK should get their MMR vaccine (measels mumps and rubella - 'German' measels) at 1 and at 3 years old, a two year gap, and their 'teenage booster' for tetanus, diphtheria and polio at 14, eleven years after their preschool booster for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio.    This is a booster, becausethey should get the 6-in-1, diphtheria, hepatitis B,Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b), polio, tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis) three times, in their first year. 

Other first year vaccines include against Pneumococcus, which should then  be repeated at 65 years old!  This is because the immune response fades as we get elderly.   Other more esoteric inoculations include for "tick borne encepahalitis" (Caught in forests in Eurasia - hikers and backpackers should get!) which needs three injections, up to three and twelve months apart.     Long intervals are neither unusual nor ineffective. 

John

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3 hours ago, JohnD said:

Pneumococcus,

Hello John

                  I had to look that up! and I am not sure I understand it now!

Its a good job there are people like yourself that understands these things!

I think I will stick to Cars and Motorcycles etc !

Roger

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Sorry!  I didn't mean to show off specialist knowledge (which I don't have - I looked it up!), but to demonstrate that a longer interval between first and booster doses of vaccine are normal and effective.   

I could also quote immunologists' opinions, but that would be subjective hearsay!

John

Edited by JohnD
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Well, my job is a bummer sometimes! Scotland have changed their criteria, and opened up vaccinations for volunteer rescue teams. Being a member of the local lifeboat, I would qualify!

However I am due to head out again next week, so have decided to wait until I get back. A) I would upset even the extended 12 week gap between jabs if the trip even slightly extends from minimum and B) I don't want the potential side effects whilst joining a "new" ship (sailed on this class, but not this vessel before).

So going to rely on decent levels of D3 to get me through this trip, hopefully when I get back I should be eligible for immediate dosing, and this way I should hopefully also be able to get both doses in the one vacation. Also, there is still the faint hope that I may get vaccinated through the company (there is a push right now to promote seafarers being prioritised world-wide, as crew changes have become difficult again due to the new strains).

Phil

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3 minutes ago, JohnD said:

Provided no-one else brings it aboard, you are safer than anyone else not on a ship, Phil!

I am hoping that may be the case, John, though I do have trepidations. The ship I will be joining is one of "lightering" fleet, it loads from the big VLCC's outside LA and takes it to 2 refineries, which involves several "offshore" guys coming onboard at different points so the risk is a darn sight higher than I would like. This is repeated weekly, so I hope I have made the right decision!

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Ah, not so isolated, Phil!     I hope they and your colleagues will take the hygeine precautions seriously.   I see that in Europe, reusable cloth masks may soon be considered inadequate, and that FFP2 or 3 respirator masks may be what people are required to wear in public.   These fit closely and actually filter the air you breath, rather than divert it away from someone you face.  They are available online at present, but are not cheap and are single-use.

I was fitted for these, when SARS was on the horizon.  There are different sizes and you have to put your head in a hood into which an unpleasant smelling vapour is released, to test the seal on your face.      Of course, you will have much more aggressive 'respirators' on board in case of an actually toxic atmosphere!

John

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26 minutes ago, PeterC said:

Phil, D3 reduces severity and transmission. so encourage all the crew to sunbathe or pack enough capsules to dose them ?

Remember the D3 hammer 50,000IU one off at fisrt sign of C-19

Peter

Yeah, I'm on 5000IU daily already (going to take another test in the next few days to see my levels since increasing). However, as nice an idea it would be to dose the crew, there will be over 30 of them so that would be a lot of tablets lol. Unfortunately, sunbathing will not be an option this trip either, USWC this time of year tends to not be very nice!

Should have enough tablets to cover D3 hammer for myself and any crew if required however (if they accept it).

Also, I will be extolling the virtues of D3 to all crew, being US based they can order it readily enough if they decide they wanted to.

Phil

Edited by thebrookster
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"The Race for a Vaccine - Are vaccines the answer?"  a symposium at the Royal Society (Britain's premier science organsiation) is to be streamed online, chaired by Prof. Brian Cox, Thursday 28th Jan, 1800.  Join and watch at:

https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2021/01/vaccine-race/?fbclid=IwAR20l7hhdVgsPbrWj4sg4yf_MHnLhYVSlPmaXpHsVUFlBNE3k2pAZ9mQzRU

John

 

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Anyone else watch?

Speakers were, Rino  Rappuoli (Chief Scientist & head of external research and development at GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines), Melinda Mills ( Nuffield Professor of Sociology at Nuffield College, University of Oxford) and Charles Bangham( Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London)

I took notes if anyone is interested.    

Not many surprises, except on "Herd Immunity"  (HI) the proportion of the population who must be immune, through prior infection or vaccine, so that an epidemic cannot occur - it does NOT prevent sporadic infection.    That proportion depends on the infectivity of the infection, which may be expressed as the R factor, the average number of people who catch it from one individual.       Unsupressed by lockdown or vaccine, the R for Covid is 2-3, and the proportion is 60-70%.

Measles on the other hand has an R of 12-15!  And 90% must be vaccinated to prevent epidemic!

Edited by JohnD
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1 hour ago, JohnD said:

R for Covid is 2-3, and the proportion is 60-70%

Do you gather whether that was based on the original infectivity or new variant, so called UK or South African, which are being called "30% more infective"?

Would seem wise to err on the side of caution.

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It wasn't stated specifically, but I would say so too.

The mutation of Covid to 'new variants' was discussed.     In comparison with Flu, for which we need a new vaccine every year, it is a stable virus.   It is here for ever, but not very long so far, and  we just don't know yet how often a new vaccine might be needed.   

They also discussed how readily that might be done, and said that only "tweaks" might be needed, and done quickly.   The need for re-approval would depend on how big the tweak!

Edited by JohnD
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