Vaccine by Halloween

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Yahoo News reported that, the US could authorize COVID-19 vaccines for younger kids, 5 to 11, by Halloween, Pfizer‘s new timeline suggests. The company expects to submit data to the FDA for this younger age group in early October. Pfizer is testing a lower dose of its vaccine among young kids to avoid unnecessary side effects.

The timeline might be as follows:

  • Late September 2021: Pfizer’s clinical trial will show whether the shots are safe and effective for kids ages 5 to 11.
  • Early October 2021: Pfizer will submit that trial data to the FDA.
  • Late October 2021: The FDA could authorize COVID-19 shots for emergency use among kids ages 5 to 11.
  • Early November 2021: Pfizer will submit trial data for kids between 6 months and 5 years old to the FDA.
  • Late November 2021: The FDA could authorize the shots among kids between 6 months and 5 years old.

    Moderna, meanwhile, expects to have data about its vaccine’s efficacy among young kids later in the fall or early this winter.

    Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on September 24, 2021 that we might even see the FDA authorize both the Moderna and Pfizer shots for kids before the winter.

    Johnson & Johnson is on a slower timeline. The company won’t start studying its vaccine among children ages 12 to 17 until this fall. If the shot is shown to be safe and effective among older kids, J&J could then start enrolling 2- to 11-year-olds in its trial, followed by children younger than 2. That means a single-dose shot likely won’t be available to kids until sometime in 2022.

Anti Vax Horror

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Orlando’s crop of Halloween Horror attractions are opening full boar in the midst of the pandemic. Scare actors are hard pressed to compete against the daily horrors of anti vaxers and anti maskers who selfishly spread the horrors of COVID-19 in the name of freedom. They have gone so far as to adopt the star of David which marked the Jews during WWII claiming that being forced to get a vaccine is equal to the holocaust. Their is no limit to their horror.

Halloween Horror Nights, and two Florida-based Howl-O-Scream events don’t require guests to wear masks, they are “encouraged”. Some of the scare actors  at Howl-O-Scream had facial coverings that had facial features printed on them to blend in with the intended character.

A Petrified Forest has the added benefit of being outside where the virus can potentially disparate on a breeze.

With Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis specifically blocking masking mandates and vaccine passports, it is a real challenge to keep actors and participants safe.

NYC theaters that are finally opening back up and they are requiring audiences to prove vaccination or a negative test and they must wear a mask at the performance. Disney started requiring masks for guests again when COVID cases ticked back upwards due to the Delta variant, but Universal Studios and Sea World, do not require masks, including at their haunt events. Social distancing markers are also long gone, so press together in mass crowds and share the horror. What could go wrong?

Local actors are also not showing up for auditions. What actor can compete against the real life horror of so many anti vaccination Karens? They are an army of the damned. Florida has passed the peak of Delta Variant hospitalizations but deaths continue to rise and will likely continue to do so for several weeks. The Florida governor also does his best to hide the death numbers for as long as possible. If he sweeps them under the rug or spreads them out he could possible be considered a candidate for president.

The Delta surge is even more deadly than the surge back in January 2021. Infections among children and teenagers have increased by 28% over the week before with some children’s hospitals noticing an uptick in admissions as well in the first few weeks back at school. An infant died in Orange County this week. Florida has now surpasses 50,000 deaths. That is more deaths than what can be seen in most countries around the world. Good luck searching for your Halloween Horrors.

Herd Stupidity

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Cows are actually pretty smart. Researchers are training cows to use bathrooms (Moo Loos) to avoid nitrous oxide, emissions and they are finding cows are as easy to train as little children. The MAGA crowd on the other hand smeared feces on the walls of the capitol on January 6, 2021.

Republican governors and US representatives are slinging plenty of denials and misleading poo about the pandemic. Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis invited anti vaxers to a press conference and allowed a quack to claim that the vaccines changes peoples RNA, WHICH THEY DO NOT.  By remaining complicit the governor is allowing mass murder of his constituents. The governor knew the statement to be false – he is a Harvard graduate after all – and he remained silent, thus showing his cowardliness and weakness. DeathSantis was vaccinated and therefor is safe from COVID-19 but he accepts the wild conspiracy theories that kill his followers.

Joe Biden proposed a six-pronged “Path Out of the Pandemic” includes a controversial provision that would require private companies with over 100 employees to require them to submit to either a Covid-19 vaccine or weekly testing. The edict would be enforced by OSHA, the federal agency responsible for worker safety. Several GOP state governors, including South Dakota’s Kristi Noem, Tennessee’s Bill Lee, Georgia’s Brian Kemp, Florida’s Ron DeathSantis, and Iowa’s Kim Reynolds, criticized the mandate and promised push back.

Children must be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps rubella, hepatitis B and Chicken Pox, yet Republican governors choose to revolt against mandating a COVID vaccine that works and saves lives.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott banned vaccine mandates, DeathSantis plans to fine city officials when they insist on vaccine mandates for city employees, DeathSantis also tried to ban vaccine mandates for cruise ships but he lost in court. The anti vaccine movement is beneficial for these governors when they run for re-election or seek a higher office. This stupidity is why America leads the world in deaths from COVID-19 and will continue to do so.

18 of 20 Gorillas Test Positive for COVID-19

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The Independent reported that 18 Gorillas at the Zoo Atlanta tested positive for COVID-19. Handlers at Zoo Atlanta noticed that a number of western lowland gorillas were experiencing mild coughs, runny noses and slight loss of appetite, so they collected fecal samples and tested the gorillas for disease.

The disease was most likely transmitted to the gorillas from an asymptomatic worker who subsequently tested positive. The employee was vaccinated, according to a report. Zoo Atlanta’s policy requires all workers to wear gloves, masks and face shields while on the job.

The tests were conducted at a University of Georgia lab. Covid tests were also sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Amex, Iowa. Zoo Atlanta is reportedly awaiting those results before definitively saying that the gorillas have Covid.

All 20 gorillas living at the facility are now being tested for Covid. There are four gorilla troops at Zoo Atlanta. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), members in each troop have shown signs of infection. Zoo Atlanta spokesperson, Rachel Davis, told the AJC that employees are not mandated to take Covid vaccines.

Zoo Atlanta’s Bornean and Sumatran orangutans, African lions, clouded leopard, and Sumatran tigers have all received the Zoetis vaccine, which was developed for veterinary use.

In the United States, respiratory disease and increases in mink deaths have been seen on most affected mink farms. There is a possibility of mink spreading SARS-CoV-2 to people on mink farms. Mink-to-human spread of SARS-CoV-2 has been reported in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Poland, and new data suggest it might have occurred in the United States. 17 Million of mink were killed in  Denmark in November 2020. Their bloated carcasses rose from the ground where they were buried. Locals referred to them as Zombie Mink.

Zoos in San Diego and Detroit have also vaccinated their at-risk animals. The US Centers for Disease Control has stated that animals are not a major contributing factor to spreading Covid to humans. Research is ongoing so there are many unanswered questions.

COVID Visiting Hour

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The New Zealand Auckland district health board faced criticism for allowing hundreds of visitors to see patients a day despite a strict city-wide lock down in place to help stamp out an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.

Around 5 p.m. last week, Kevin, a recent patient at an Auckland, New Zealand, hospital, noticed a young woman disappear behind a curtain to visit another patient in his ward.

“It was pretty obvious what was happening in there,” Kevin, the first patient, told 1 News. They were having sex.

“It was just all a bit staggering, all very embarrassing,” he added.

Kevin alerted the staff to the sexual activity, and they quickly intervened.

“There was a view that, ‘Hey, don’t be a spoilsport,’ but it was the wider COVID question that I was raising, and in fact, I made a complaint to the staff on that,” said Kevin.

New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern, was asked by a reporter at a press conference about the sexual disregard for social distancing. Arden was at first flustered and then amused, she responded, “I would say, generally, regardless of the Covid status, that kind of thing shouldn’t generally be part of visiting hours, I would have thought.”

On September 13, 2021, New Zealand extended the strict lockdown of Auckland for another week due to the persistence of Covid-19 transmission. Auckland, the country’s most populous city which was confined with the rest of the country in mid-August after a single case of Covid-19 was reported, it will remain under a national level 4 alert until midnight on Sep. 21, 2021 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

College Football Super Spreaders

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College football stadiums across America have been packed this Labor day weekend. The number in attendance at some of the country’s biggest stadiums was staggering. The University of Michigan hosted Western Michigan with close to 110,000 spectators standing shoulder to shoulder. The University of Texas defeated Louisiana on September 4, 2021, cheered by more than 91,000 screaming and cheering fans. And the list could go on and on as more than 80 games were played during the long weekend.

“I don’t think it’s smart,” said Dr Anthony Fauci of the huge college football crowds, amid a surge of Covid-19 cases in the US.

“Outdoors is always better than indoors, but even when you have such a congregate setting of people close together – first, you should be vaccinated. And when you do have congregate settings, particularly indoors, you should be wearing a mask,” the president’s leading infectious diseases expert told CNN on Tuesday.

Penn State, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Alabama are planning for full-capacity crowds and are not asking for vaccination records. Iowa fan and critical care pharmacist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Alyssa Sykuta, commented on her team’s fans waving to the Children’s Hospital behind the stadium before the game on September4, 2021. “As an Iowa fan this is one of my favorite college football traditions, but in the context of the past 18 months, it is cringe worthy,” she wrote on Twitter. “Maybe a moment of silence to honor kids at @UIchildrens who have been impacted by Covid instead? And for the love of God mask up and get vaxxed.” “ICUs are full, children are being hospitalized as schools reopen. College football stadiums full of mask less fans. I don’t understand,” said a retired hospital employee Rick Green on Twitter.

Experts have pointed out that being outdoors is less likely to spread the virus but if you are sitting shoulder to shoulder with thousands of other shouting fans the doesn’t just disappear. On top of that people gather in the bathrooms and then in bars after the game further heightening the chance of spread.

The 2021 NFL season begins on September 9, 2021 when defending Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay host the Dallas Cowboys with a capacity of more than 65,000 people. Masks are not required but recommend for the game.

Super Immunity

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NPR reported that new studies have found cases of “Super Immunity” against COVID-19 infection in some individuals. Some researchers refer to the phenomenon as “Bulletproof.” Immunologist Shane Crotty prefers “hybrid immunity.”

Over the past several months, a series of studies has found that some people mount an extraordinarily powerful immune response against COVID-19. Their bodies produce very high levels of antibodies, but they also make antibodies with great flexibility, likely capable of fighting off the coronavirus variants circulating in the world but also likely effective against variants that may emerge in the future.

In a study published online last month, Paul Bieniasz and his colleagues found antibodies in these individuals that can strongly neutralize the six variants of concern tested, including delta and beta, as well as several other viruses related to SARS-CoV-2, including one in bats, two in pangolins and the one that caused the first pandemic, SARS-CoV-1.

So who are these super immune individuals? Were they bit by a spider or irradiated with a Vita-Ray? No, these super immune individuals are people who have had a “hybrid” exposure to the virus. Specifically, they were infected with the coronavirus in 2020 and then immunized with mRNA vaccines in 2021. These findings show how powerful the mRNA vaccines can be in people with prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Researchers don’t know if everyone who has had COVID-19 and then an mRNA vaccine will have such a remarkable immune response. The study only reported data on 14 patients.

I am wondering if this super immune response will also result from people who get fully vaccinated and then have a breakthrough infection of COVID-19.  Since we are all likely to meet this virus at some point, it would be reassuring to think we would become super immune after suffering through a minor infection. This research I believe has not been done yet.

Mass Psychosis

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The insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was a failure, but the boiling anger continues to bubble up at school board meetings across America. Anti maskers are teaming up with the Proud Boys to threaten school boards about mask mandates.

A school board meeting in North Carolina got so chaotic that protestors attempted to overthrow the officials and install themselves as the new school board. Parents are being trained as front line disruptive soldiers. They are being taught how to die and kill others in the process.

Parents are also being trained to heckle and harass health care professionals who advocate masks to slow the spread of the virus. One petite nurse was purposefully bumped by an angry mask less dad as she was about to give testimony at a school board meeting.

The right continues to stoke the mob who need to vent their anger at anyone they can, be it school boards, who are trying to protect their children, or health care workers who are trying to save their life when they inevitably get sick from the virus.

It is fairly easy to seduce a loud minority to riot. So many have lost touch with reality and have descended into delusions. Ideas are expressed only through brute force. Anger is the fuel that radicalizes the white middle class who fear extinction s they commit viral suicide. The anger left over from the attempted insurrection is not fading away but rather getting more intense as it moves into every neighborhood.

As health care workers deal with the unvaccinated dying in their hospitals, they are often subjected to harassment because people refuse to accept the reality of the virus even as they are taking their last breaths. At the beginning of the pandemic heath care workers were hailed as heroes, but as time wore on they became villains in peoples minds who deny science and basic health measures. Health care workers have been the primary targets of coronavirus-related acts of violence, harassment, and discrimination recorded by the International Committee of the Red Cross across more than 40 countries. A total of 611 incidents were recorded between February 1, 2021 and July 31, 2021.

Endemic

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We are in the midst of the worst of the Delta wave of the pandemic right now, but there is talk of learning to live with the virus. Endemic means, “in the population, restricted or peculiar to a locality or region.

Unlike Ebola which was contained, this virus has been allowed to rage out of control. It is likely that everyone will at some point be infected by COVID-19. Herd immunity is impossible with so many people unvaccinated. People have the choice to be vaccinated before they are infected which protected from severe illness and death,  or get infected without getting vaccinated. A vast majority of the people dying from COVID-19 in southern hospitals right now are unvaccinated.

Professor Andrew Pollard of the Oxford Vaccine Team has said that it is clear that vaccinated people can become infected and they can spread the virus around though they are more than 90% protected from hospitalization or death. Only 50% of fully vaccinated individuals however will be protected from infection. This will make achieving herd immunity near impossible. You will at some point come in contact with the virus. Nothing available stops the transmission of the virus. More infectious variants are possible in the future. A winter wave is inevitable.

Viruses spread where there are enough susceptible individuals and in America there are plenty of people who have refused to get vaccinated and they are ample fuel too keep the virus burning. The virus will not disappear on its own. The hope is that enough people will gain immune protection from vaccination and from natural infection such that there will be less transmission and much less COVID-19-related hospitalization and death, even as the virus continues to circulate.

If everyone will be infected then mass testing becomes a mute point. Instead, testing might only be done on a clinical basis. German chancellor Andrea Merkel is ending free testing starting October 11, 2021. It will be less important to record every case of COVID-19 as the virus becomes endemic. In the future, testing might be limited to people who are sick enough to go to the hospital. For unvaccinnated individuals that is often too late.

The 1918 Spanish Flu took about 3 years to become endemic, but outbreaks flared up again in 1968 and 2009. Like COVID-19 the Spanish Flu had a tame first wave which built complacency, and then much more deadly subsequent waves. In America 675,000 died from the 1918 Spanish Flu. To date 653,265 Americans have died from COOVID-19, so it looks like we will exceed the number of deaths from the Spanish Flu. New modeling shows that the virus is spreading from older adults to younger children as COVID-19 becomes endemic. COVID-19 may behave like other common-cold coronaviruses, affecting mostly young children who have not have been vaccinated or exposed to the virus.

Hating Mini Me

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The former 45th US president hates his mini me. “Trump f#cking hates DeSantis,” a confidant told Vanity Fair. “He just resents his popularity.” Earlier this year, a 2024 straw poll taken at the Western Conservative Summit saw DeathSantis slightly ahead of Trump, 74 percent to 71 percent.

Former adviser Jason Miller predicted that Trump “definitely will” seek the 2024 Republican nomination. But former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg predicted to Vanity Fair that since DeSantis is “primed to push Trump off the throne,” Trump will “offer Governor DeSantis a joint ticket.”

“Trump tells people, ‘I made Ron,'” a prominent GOP source told Vanity Fair anonymously. “Trump says that about a lot of people. But in this case, it’s actually true.”

DeathSantis is following in his mentors footsteps by killing as many Floridians as he can. As children return to schools he is fighting tooth and nail to keep schools from enforcing mask mandates. He lost this case in court but is appealing. He was late to close down and early to open while he blocks local governors from protecting citizens from the virus.

On August 31, 2021, more Florida children were hospitalized with COVID-19 than in any other state, reflecting a rapid rise in serious illness among an age group still not eligible for vaccination. In Florida, 46 pediatric patients were admitted to hospitals with confirmed infections On September 3, 2021 and 22 more were hospitalized with suspected cases, according to federal data. DeathSantis is fueling his political fire with the health of children. Oddly some voters might not appreciate a candidate who is actively trying to kill their children.

The governor asked the former president to postpone a campaign style rally in Florida as bodies were being removed for the site of a seaside condo collapse that killed 98 people. The former president refused. Trump’s post-presidency operation is led by Susie Wiles who lead DeathSantis’s governor campaign. “There’s a huge rift between the DeSantis and Trump [camps],” a source said, pointing directly to the conflict over the rally. (Like others interviewed for this piece, the source was granted anonymity to speak candidly.)

So, which of these men could kill more Americans? How many could they kill if they work together?