COVID-19 Rant

[lester1/2jr]

I went to the local Japanese buffet last night. You had to wear a mask and these plastic glove when you got your food, but you could till get the food! so I was happy

[bob]

I'm planning on getting the the booster shot when it's available in my city on a date that I'm not working

that covid scare last week was stressful as all hell

[pennywise37]

i can believe it my dad who just turned 71 a on the couple week sago had his booster shot on wed. i think? he got them both in one day, i'm i can at least say too young for the booster shots since they are giving folks 65 and over so my mom can have it too i believe.

[Alex]

My brother finally got off oxygen yesterday and was declared well enough to go home. Hopefully, he won't have the long recovery some other people have had.

[pennywise37]

finally some good news around here i'm glad to hear that man

[Leah]

Good to hear Alex

[Alex]

Could be some more good news, although I'd recommend waiting for peer reviews etc before getting too excited.

The German multinational science and technology company Merck has said that its experimental Covid-19 pill reduced stays in hospital and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus.

The company said it would soon ask health officials around the world to authorise its use.

If cleared, Merck's drug would be the first pill shown to treat Covid-19, a potentially major advance in efforts to fight the pandemic.

Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said early results showed patients who received the drug, called molnupiravir, within five days of Covid-19 symptoms had about half the rate of stays in hospital and death as patients who received a dummy pill.

The study tracked 775 adults with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 who were considered higher risk for severe disease due to health problems such as obesity, diabetes or heart disease.

Among patients taking molnupiravir, 7.3% were either admitted to hospital or died at the end of 30 days, compared with 14.1% of those getting the dummy pill.

There were no deaths in the drug group after that time period compared with eight deaths in the placebo group, according to Merck.

The results were released by the company and have not been peer reviewed. Merck said it plans to present them at a future medical meeting.

An independent group of medical experts monitoring the trial recommended stopping it early because the interim results were so strong.

"It exceeded what I thought the drug might be able to do in this clinical trial," said Dr Dean Li, vice president of Merck research. "When you see a 50% reduction in hospitalization or death that's a substantial clinical impact."

Side effects were reported by both groups in the Merck trial, but they were slightly more common among the group that received a dummy pill. The company did not specify the problems.

Earlier study results showed the drug did not benefit patients who were already in hospital with severe disease.

Health experts including the US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci have long called for a convenient pill that patients could take when Covid-19 symptoms first appear. Such medications are seen as key to controlling future waves of infection and reducing the impact of the pandemic.

Merck's pill works by interfering with an enzyme the coronavirus uses to copy its genetic code and reproduce itself. It has shown similar activity against other viruses.

Several other companies, including Pfizer and Roche, are studying similar drugs that could report results in the coming weeks and months.

[Rev. Powell]

Could be some more good news, although I'd recommend waiting for peer reviews etc before getting too excited.

The German multinational science and technology company Merck has said that its experimental Covid-19 pill reduced stays in hospital and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus.

The company said it would soon ask health officials around the world to authorise its use.

If cleared, Merck's drug would be the first pill shown to treat Covid-19, a potentially major advance in efforts to fight the pandemic.

Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said early results showed patients who received the drug, called molnupiravir, within five days of Covid-19 symptoms had about half the rate of stays in hospital and death as patients who received a dummy pill.

The study tracked 775 adults with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 who were considered higher risk for severe disease due to health problems such as obesity, diabetes or heart disease.

Among patients taking molnupiravir, 7.3% were either admitted to hospital or died at the end of 30 days, compared with 14.1% of those getting the dummy pill.

There were no deaths in the drug group after that time period compared with eight deaths in the placebo group, according to Merck.

The results were released by the company and have not been peer reviewed. Merck said it plans to present them at a future medical meeting.

An independent group of medical experts monitoring the trial recommended stopping it early because the interim results were so strong.

"It exceeded what I thought the drug might be able to do in this clinical trial," said Dr Dean Li, vice president of Merck research. "When you see a 50% reduction in hospitalization or death that's a substantial clinical impact."

Side effects were reported by both groups in the Merck trial, but they were slightly more common among the group that received a dummy pill. The company did not specify the problems.

Earlier study results showed the drug did not benefit patients who were already in hospital with severe disease.

Health experts including the US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci have long called for a convenient pill that patients could take when Covid-19 symptoms first appear. Such medications are seen as key to controlling future waves of infection and reducing the impact of the pandemic.

Merck's pill works by interfering with an enzyme the coronavirus uses to copy its genetic code and reproduce itself. It has shown similar activity against other viruses.

Several other companies, including Pfizer and Roche, are studying similar drugs that could report results in the coming weeks and months.

No thanks, I'll stick with horse dewormer. 

[pennywise37]

i saw that they want to make it a pill ya know if people take that instead of the shot.... but you still will f.... idiots who refuse to take that as well i mean the worst than can happen is that your balls can swell up i know that was proven  BS but it's still funny as hell

[zelmo73]

new rule, at least if I was in charge:

if your dumb ass doesn't get vaccinated you can't send your children to in school learning

My sister-in-law and both her kids, my nephews, tested positive for COVID just a few days ago. My sister-in-law has been fully vaxxed since March of this year, but her youngest brought it home from kindergarten class and gave it to her. My brother, her husband and also fully vaxxed since March, tested negative but he's sick af and those PCR tests are often inaccurate. Kinda makes the whole vax thing seem pointless, don't it?

[Rev. Powell]

Alaska is being hit extremely hard after having escaped most of the pandemic early. They're suddenly the worst state in the nation, even worse than Florida or West Virginia. This article says 1 in 84 Alaskans have been infected in the past month! That's insane. That's double the rate of the next highest state.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-alaska-health-1500db35e56b688e9cf3e0eea1d2a114

Heidi Hedberg, director of the state Division of Public Health, encouraged all residents to wear masks and get vaccinated.

'Every action you take helps prevent COVID-19 from spreading and protects you, your family, other Alaskans and our health care system. No one wants to use crisis standards of care guidelines,' she said.

[RCMerchant]

new rule, at least if I was in charge:

if your dumb ass doesn't get vaccinated you can't send your children to in school learning

My sister-in-law and both her kids, my nephews, tested positive for COVID just a few days ago. My sister-in-law has been fully vaxxed since March of this year, but her youngest brought it home from kindergarten class and gave it to her. My brother, her husband and also fully vaxxed since March, tested negative but he's sick af and those PCR tests are often inaccurate. Kinda makes the whole vax thing seem pointless, don't it?

Maybe your dumb ass GAVE it to them, shmuck.

On the flipside- I'm sorry your family is sick. I wish them well.
We talk all this political s**t-left and right and upsidedown, but you wear a football helmet, or don't run stop signs. And don't b***h about it. Your kids got shots before they started school. Bet you did too. And your dog. I mean, this is all about red and blue-why?

[Newt]

Speaking of pointless...missing the point comes into it somewhere.  Again.   

[zelmo73]

Speaking of pointless...missing the point comes into it somewhere.  Again.   

So explain the point then. Why vax at all if you still going to get sick from it? Big waste of time and effort by the look of it. We are supposed to vax to protect the vaccinated from the unvaccinated; that's the yarn that is being spun by the Biden Administration now. Explain how that logic is supposed to make any sense at all. 

[bob]

Speaking of pointless...missing the point comes into it somewhere.  Again.   

So explain the point then. Why vax at all if you still going to get sick from it? Big waste of time and effort by the look of it. We are supposed to vax to protect the vaccinated from the unvaccinated; that's the yarn that is being spun by the Biden Administration now. Explain how that logic is supposed to make any sense at all. 

you do realize that Trump got the vaccine approved.... right?

he just did a terrible job of distributing it