CORONAVIRUS INFO PROVIDED BY DR. JIM HARRIS – 09/30/2021

CITED BY HOPKINS RECENTLY:

 1. PRIOR INFECTION & IMMUNE PROTECTION “As we have discussed previously, protection conferred by vaccination has been demonstrated to be better than protection conferred via natural SARS-CoV-2 infection. Two recent studies, however, provide further analysis of the immune response during and following SARS-CoV-2 infection, including possible protection against re-infection. A study from Japan, published in the Journal of Medical Virology, analyzed the IgG and IgM responses against 2 SARS-CoV-2 proteins (N and S1) in 231 COVID-19 patients. The researchers found that mild cases exhibited stronger immune responses (IgM and IgG) against both proteins early after symptom onset than severe or critical cases. As the disease progressed, the IgM and IgG responses increased in severe and critical cases higher and more rapidly than for mild cases. Additionally, the immune responses remained elevated for longer periods of time in patients with severe or critical disease, while they declined more rapidly for patients with mild disease. ELISA analysis demonstrated that a significantly higher proportion of severe and critical patients remained seropositive at 22 days after symptom onset than for mild patients for the S1 protein but not the N protein. The researchers note that lower immune response among mild cases could potentially signal lower levels of neutralizing antibodies and a shorter period of conferred immune protection against re-infection. Further analysis is needed to better characterize the duration and strength of protection, including the role of the innate immune response and memory B and T cells, and any association with disease severity during the initial infection.”

(J. Harris: So get a vaccination and later boosters even if you have had Covid, in my opinion.)

2. SOUTHERN US BLACK COMMUNITIES Rural communities in the US South are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, most likely due to disparities in social determinants of health such as employment and access to healthcare. In the region’s predominantly Black communities, the pandemic has exacerbated ongoing medical and financial inequities. In a photojournalism report, titled “Distanced: Pandemic stories of Black life in the rural South,” STAT News examines the challenges these communities face and how they have found strength in the midst of this unprecedented public health emergency. Although the racial gap in COVID-19-related deaths seems to have shrunk in recent months, data can obscure the nuances in disparities; for example, Black people are less likely to live into older age, when COVID-19 is most lethal. Even when controlling for individual factors such as economic status, housing, education levels, preexisting health conditions, and occupation, researchers warn that structural racism contributes to demographic disparities in COVID-19 deaths, and the recent wave of cases due to the Delta variant have worsened these imbalances. 

FROM NBC NEWS: 

Covid Is killing rural Americans at twice the rate of people in urban areas

”…Rural Americans are dying of Covid at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts — a divide that health experts say is likely to widen as access to medical care shrinks for a population that tends to be older, sicker, heavier, poorer and less vaccinated…Roughly 41 percent of rural America was vaccinated as of Sept. 23, compared with about 53 percent of urban America, [HARRISON COUNTY 33%]…the overload of Covid patients in hospitals has undermined a basic tenet of rural health care infrastructure: the ability to transfer patients out of rural hospitals to higher levels of specialty care at regional or urban health centers…Access to medical care has long bedeviled swaths of rural America — since 2005, 181 rural hospitals have closed. A 2020 KHN analysis found that more than half of U.S. counties, many of them largely rural, don’t have a hospital with intensive care unit beds….As travel nurse companies attract more nurses, the nurses left behind shouldering their work become more burned out — and eventually quit….”

Mask Mistakes You’re Making Now

(J. Harris: A slide show from Webb MD)

Twiter to Ban Vaccine Misinformation

A Daily Pill to Treat Covid Could Be Just Months Away, Scientists Say

”…a short-term regimen of daily pills that can fight the virus early after diagnosis and conceivably prevent symptoms from developing after exposure…Antivirals are already essential treatments for other viral infections, including hepatitis C and HIV. One of the best known is Tamiflu, the widely prescribed pill that can shorten the duration of influenza and reduce the risk of hospitalization if given quickly…They work by interfering with the virus’s ability to replicate in human cells….The top contender is a medication from Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics called molnupiravir, …Two others include a candidate from Pfizer, known as PF-07321332, and AT-527, an antiviral produced by Roche and Atea Pharmaceuticals.In the case of molnupiravir, the enzyme that copies the viral genetic material is forced to make so many mistakes that the virus can’t reproduce. That, in turn, reduces the patient’s viral load, shortening infection time and preventing the kind of dangerous immune response that can cause serious illness or death…Like the monoclonal antibodies, antiviral pills would be no substitute for vaccination,”

AND LAST BUT NOT LEASED:

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By George Smith — September 29, 2021

Take this snippet and slip it into your mental maw and chew on it.

The country’s deficit and debt BELONG to the Republican Party and its presidents and GOP-held congresses.

Let’s go back to Bill Clinton: He left a huge surplus. (Trumpuppets, did you know that? Cat got your tongue?)

Clinton had budget surpluses for fiscal years 1998–2001, the only such years from 1970 to 2018. Clinton’s final four budgets were balanced budgets with surpluses, beginning with the 1997 budget.

Debt held by the public reached a high of 49.5% of GDP at the beginning of President Clinton’s first term. However, it fell to 34.5% of GDP by the end of Clinton’s presidency due in part to decreased military spending, increased taxes (in 1990, 1993 and 1997), and increased tax revenue resulting from the 1990s boom.

The debt held by the public relative to GDP rose again due in part to the Bush tax cuts and increased military spending caused by the wars in the Middle East and a new entitlement Medicare D program. During the presidency of George W. Bush, debt held by the public increased from $3.339 trillion in September 2001 to $6.369 trillion by the end of 2008. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007–08 and related significant revenue declines and spending increases, debt held by the public increased to $11.917 trillion by the end of July 2013, under the presidency of Barack Obama.

The Obama Administration increased the deficit but for six of his eight years, the GOP controlled both houses of Congress…you know…passing bills and raising the debt and deficit. And there was pesky 2008 worldwide economic downturn that bombed tax revenues exponentially.

WHAT ABOUT THE BUDGET DEFICIT?In Trump’s first three years the national budget deficit increased from $585 billion in fiscal 2016 to $984 billion in fiscal 2019, up 68%, for a total of $2.4 trillion. If the coronavirus had not hit this years deficit was on-track to be $1.1 trillion, per the Congressional Budget Office or CBO, which would then make Trump’s first four years deficits total $3.5 trillion. At $1 trillion or more this would have been the largest budget deficit in history with a growing economy and the largest as a percentage of GDP outside of recessions or World War II.

That deficit ballooned in Trump’s last year and that is understandable. Just like debt increases dramatically during wartime, national emergencies serve the same anti-budget purpose.

Cutting to the heart of the matter:
Government SHOULD operate as a non-profit business…it’s appropriate to run a surplus and “slush” the funds for emergencies.

The country now operates as a golden-egg-laying goose and assuming the goose will never die!

The only reason Trump and his GOP puppets cut taxes was to make sure rich folks and corporations were happy.

In case you have forgotten, trickle-down economics does not work; the 1-percenters and Big Business DO NOT, for the most part, pass along tax savings in any meaningful way…except in stock payments and executive bonuses.

The GOP is not fiscally conservative as a  party. Research it…debt and deficit.

Scary, scary read… if you are a Republican.

“CURRENT” SCHOOL DATA: LOOKS GOOD

MISD COVID COUNTS:

HOPKINS CITED:

1. Mental Health and Social Support for Healthcare and Hospital Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthcare and hospital workers providing care and support to infected patients during a pandemic are at increased risk for mental distress. Factors impacting their mental health include high risk of exposure and infection, financial insecurity due to furloughs, separation from and worries about loved ones, a stressful work environment due to surge conditions with scarce supplies, traumatic experiences due to witnessing the deaths of patients and colleagues, and other acute stressors. Finding ways for institutions to support the mental wellbeing of healthcare and hospital workers in an acute pandemic-related crisis situation is of critical importance.

2. Clinical Practice

Remdesivir Reduces Covid Hospitalizations When Given Early, Study Shows (STAT News) Gilead’s Covid-19 drug remdesivir appeared to reduce hospitalizations by 87% in high-risk patients diagnosed early in the disease in a new study, the company said Wednesday. The new results, which were issued in a press release, could help shore up the perception that the medicine is effective. They also could boost hopes for the use of oral antiviral drugs being developed by drug companies including Pfizer and Merck to treat people in the early stages of Covid-19.

What is the R.1 variant? Here’s what you need to know about the mutated COVID strain

(J. Harris: The R.1 has been in the US but is not expected to be a significant Covid problem.)

Safety and Efficacy of NVX-CoV2373 Covid-19 Vaccine

‘…Early clinical data from studies of the NVX-CoV2373 vaccine (Novavax), a recombinant nanoparticle vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that contains the full-length spike glycoprotein of the prototype strain plus Matrix-M adjuvant, showed that the vaccine was safe and associated with a robust immune response in healthy adult participants. Additional data were needed regarding the efficacy, immunogenicity, and safety of this vaccine in a larger population… A post hoc analysis showed an efficacy of 86.3% (95% CI, 71.3 to 93.5) against the B.1.1.7 (or alpha) variant and 96.4% (95% CI, 73.8 to 99.5) against non-B.1.1.7 variants. Reactogenicity was generally mild and transient. The incidence of serious adverse events was low and similar in the two groups. 

CONCLUSIONS

A two-dose regimen of the NVX-CoV2373 vaccine administered to adult participants conferred 89.7% protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and showed high efficacy against the B.1.1.7 variant.

(J. Harris: So NVX has developed a safe, effective vaccine to add to our other excellent vaccines.)

Public & Global Health

Assessment of a Program for SARS-CoV-2 Screening and Environmental Monitoring in an Urban Public School District (JAMA Network Open) In this quality improvement study, weekly school-based saliva polymerase chain reaction testing at 3 urban public schools was associated with increased case detection among staff and students compared with symptom-based strategies, exceeding county-level case rates. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in school wastewater samples each week as well as air and surface samples from choir classrooms.  This study suggests that routine SARS-CoV-2 testing may identify infected staff and students who are not identified through conventional case detection and may provide insight into disease burdens of undertested communities.

DO NOT READ THIS ARTICLE!

”…Taken together, the analysis presented here, made possible by broad participation of a few hundred therapeutic candidates in a global study, offers a detailed structural and competitive landscape of key antibody binding sites on Spike. The results of this effort can be used to predict and interpret effects of VOCs, and for strategic selection of durable therapeutics and cocktails against emerging variants…”

(J. Harris: Just thumb through this article and look at the pictures, none of which you will understand and thank God we haved brilliant scientists and physicians and great institutions — all over the world — working together to control Covid and similiar maladies.You will definitely feel encouraged.)

AND LAST BUT NOT LEASED:

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FDA decision means Pfizer boosters for healthcare workers: 5 things to know

(J. Harris: A sixth thing to know would be what to do if your prior vaccinations are JNJ or Moderna. Wait?  How long?)

From THE ATLANTIC:(a short very readable explanation of the value of vaccination that even your hard-headed quasi-intellectual daughter might understand is she would just read it. Read it and then send it to her. J. Harris)

No, Vaccinated People Are Not ‘Just as Likely’ to Spread the Coronavirus as Unvaccinated People

”…To spread the coronavirus, you have to have the coronavirus. And vaccinated people are far less likely to have the coronavirus—period. …Among the unvaccinated, the virus travels unhindered on a highway with multiple off-ramps and refueling stations. In the vaccinated, it gets lost in a maze of dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs. Every so often, it pieces together an escape route, but in most scenarios, it finds itself cut off, and its journey ends. It can go no further.

US likely to miss big winter COVID-19 surge, analyst models predict

Public Health Law after Covid-19

”…Courts have historically been deferential to health orders, especially during disease outbreaks…”

Mask Wars

(J. Harris: Historical graphic)

QUACK QUACK QUACK: America’s Frontline Doctors Face Long Overdue Medical and Legal Censure

(J. Harris: This is a well-written and referenced expose of fraud as well as the  murder of many gullible patients.)

COVID-19 Testing Moves Out of the Clinic and Into the Home

”…Testing, 1, 2, 3, Repeat

When a test is about as good as a coin toss, it’s not useful as a one-off, such as testing people before allowing them to enter a theater or a restaurant,…

But although rapid antigen tests aren’t as sensitive as PCR, their speed and lower cost make it easier to conduct serial testing, which improves the chance of detecting infection as viral loads increase. Using the tests in “closed environments” where people are tested regularly, such as in schools, would likely be a better application…They’re not as accurate as the lab-based PCRs, but if you do serial testing, they’re pretty accurate…you will eventually catch [positive] people…”

(J. Harris: I had trouble following this article — off day?)

HOPKINS SITUATIONAL REPORT REGARDING PEDIATRIC VACCINATIONS: 

PEDIATRIC VACCINATION DATA Pfizer and BioNTech on September 20 announced positive results from a Phase 2/3 trial of their SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in children aged 5 to 11 years. The researchers found that a 2-dose regimen of 10µg doses administered 21 days apart demonstrated a favorable safety profile and robust neutralizing antibody response. The findings—which are neither published nor peer-reviewed—are a crucial step toward a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine becoming available for younger children, and the companies expect to submit an application to the US FDA for the vaccine’s authorization for that age group by the end of September. US regulators have issued warnings to the general public to wait for authorization before seeking vaccination for younger children, as the full adult dose of 30µg may put children at a higher risk for adverse side effects, including myocarditis.

The trial included nearly 2,300 children, and two-thirds of them in the vaccine group. The vaccinated children also were compared with a separate cohort of 16-25-year-old individuals who received the full adult course of the vaccine (2 doses of 30µg). The trial found that the neutralizing antibody response was similar between both vaccinated groups, with the neutralizing antibody levels within 5% of each other. Both groups also experienced similar post-vaccination adverse events.

Results from another study evaluating the Sinopharm SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in children were published on September 15 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The Phase 1/2 trial examined the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine in a cohort of children aged 3-17 years, with participants broken into several age groups (3-5, 6-12, and 13-17 years) and dosing groups (0 [control], 2µg, 4µg, and 8µg). Three (3) doses of each vaccine dosage or placebo were administered 28 days apart. All adverse events were categorized as mild or moderate severity, but the article does not report on serious adverse events. The study concluded that children who received the vaccine had robust immune responses and similar levels of neutralizing antibodies to those observed in older vaccine recipients. The study recommended a 2-shot 4µg dose regimen for future Phase 3 trials. Additional data are being collected through a Phase 3 trial currently taking place in the UAE. 

AND LAST BUT NOT LEASED

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.   Mark Twain

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UPDATE FROM MARSHALL HARRISON COUNTY HEALTH DISTRICT (KEEP?)

Good Morning, 

As you are aware we are still in the trenches of battling COVID 19 in our area, case counts, hospital data, county trends, vaccine data and more can be found at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/default.aspx . Here is our latest vaccine coverage data: 

County: Harrison

Public Health Region:         4/5N

Percentage of Population 12+ Vaccinated with At Least One Dose: 45.76%

Percentage of Population 12+ Fully Vaccinated: 38.55%

Percentage of Population 65+ Vaccinated with At Least One Dose: 67.48%

Percentage of Population 65+ Fully Vaccinated: 61.41%

Our office is available to go out to local businesses to conduct COVID 19 vaccine clinics, please contact us at 903-938-8338. I have put together the information below about COVID 19 testing and COVID 19 vaccines, please share. 

You can go to https://meds.tdem.texas.gov/ to find Vaccine availability and testing sites.

Find Vaccine by Phone

Get answers to questions or help finding a vaccine near you by phone:

Text your ZIP code to find vaccine, childcare, and free rides to clinics to

GETVAX (438829) for English

VACUNA (822862) for Spanish

Call 1-833-832-7067 (toll free) for referral to a local vaccine provider

Call center is open Monday–Friday 8:00am⁠–⁠6:00pm, and Saturday 8:00am–5:00pm.

Spanish language and other translators are available to help callers.

Call the national vaccine finder hotline toll free at 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489)

Vaccination Services for People with Disabilities

People with disabilities needing assistance getting vaccinated can contact the Disability Rights Texas Hotline (DRTx Vaccine Hotline) by phone or email, at 1-800-880-8401 or vaccine@DRTx.org.

You can also contact the national Disability Information and Access Line (DIAL) at 888-677-1199 or DIAL@n4a.org for vaccine help.

Local Information:

Marshall Harrison County Health District (Vaccine available)

Pfizer 19 Vaccine available – call for more information 903-938-8338.

Mlife DX (Testing available)

Contact via email covid19@mlifedx.com or phone 833-654-3339

https://www.mlifedx.com/

Healthcare Express (Testing available)

https://www.gohce.com/

CVS (Vaccine & Testing available)

https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic

Wal Greens (Vaccine & Testing available)

https://www.walgreens.com/

Genesis PrimeCare (Vaccine & Testing available)

https://www.genesisprimecare.org/

Wal Mart (Vaccine available)

https://www.walmart.com/pharmacy/clinical-services/immunization/scheduled?imzType=covid

Jennifer Hancock, RN, BSN  

Executive Director – Marshall-Harrison County Health District

805 Lindsey Drive  |  Marshall |  TX 75670

*****

F.D.A. Authorizes Pfizer Booster Shots for Older and At-Risk Americans

FROM HOPKINS SELECTIONS:

1. Single-dose Intranasal Vaccination Elicits Systemic and Mucosal Immunity Against SARS-CoV-2 (iScience) The current intramuscular vaccines are designed to elicit systemic immunity without conferring mucosal immunity in the nasal compartment, which is the first barrier that SARS-CoV-2 virus breaches before dissemination to the lung. We report the development of an intranasal subunit vaccine that uses lyophilized spike protein and liposomal STING agonist as an adjuvant.

2. TWO J & J ARTICLE DEMONSTRATING WONDERFUL RESULTS:

    A. Second Dose of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Increases Protection Against Covid-19, Vaccine Maker Says (Washington Post) A second shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine boosts protection against symptomatic and severe covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the drug company announced early Tuesday. Those booster shots also generated additional antibodies, molecules churned out by the immune system to help fight off infections. Under the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency-use authorization, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is given as a single dose, unlike the two shots required for full immunization with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines. Results published this summer indicate that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine generates lasting amounts of antibodies able to target delta and other variants of concern. In June and July, when delta was ascendant, the effectiveness of the one-shot vaccine was 78 percent against observed covid-19, according to a report published Thursday that has not yet gone through peer review.

   B. Johnson & Johnson Announces Real-World Evidence and Phase 3 Data Confirming Strong and Long-Lasting Protection of Single-Shot COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S. (Johnson and Johnson)

3. Where Are the Tests? (New York Times) Your daughter wakes up with a scratchy throat, and you can’t decide whether she should go to school. You can’t shake a runny nose and start wondering whether it’s really because of allergies. You’re planning a family gathering, but you are nervous about your aging parents being there. Millions of Americans are grappling with situations like these, and there is a straightforward solution to all of them. But that solution is not widely available in the United States, even though the technology exists and is being used in much of Western Europe. The solution is rapid testing.

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I hope I restored my mailing list correctly. I sadly deleted a subscriber who decided against getting a vaccination. He was young; he died — horribly. 

FROM HOPKINS:

1. Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years — Long Beach, California, April 1–December 10, 2020 (CDC MMWR) Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, also known as “long COVID,” is used to describe the long-term symptoms that might be experienced weeks to months after primary infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Among persons with a previous COVID-19 diagnosis, estimates of the prevalence of sequelae range from 5% among non hospitalized persons to 80% among hospitalized persons. In a random sample of recovered COVID-19 patients in Long Beach, California, one-third of participants reported post-acute sequelae 2 months after their positive test result, with higher rates reported among persons aged ≥40 years, females, persons with preexisting conditions, and Black persons.

2. PRESS RELEASE

Executive Order on Adding Measles to the List of Quarantinable Communicable Diseases President Biden made an amendment to Executive Order 13295 to add measles to the list of quarantinable communicable diseases. The addition was made based on recommendation of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Surgeon General. (White House, 9/17/2021)

(J. Harris: Yes, he can do that and could do it with Covid “if ever necessary.”

3. In 13 U.S. jurisdictions, rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were substantially higher in persons not fully vaccinated compared with those in fully vaccinated persons, similar to findings in other reports (2,3). After the week of June 20, 2021, when the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant became predominant, the percentage of fully vaccinated persons among cases increased more than expected for the given vaccination coverage and a constant VE [VACCINE EFFECTIVENESS]. The IRR [INCIDENCE RATE RATIOS] for cases among persons not fully vaccinated versus fully vaccinated decreased substantially; IRRs for hospitalizations and deaths changed less overall, but moderately among adults aged ≥65 years. Findings from this crude analysis of surveillance data are consistent with recent studies reporting decreased VE against confirmed infection but not hospitalization or death, during a period of Delta variant predominance and potential waning of vaccine-induced population immunity.

(J. Harris: Because of Delta and other potential variants, I suspect that third jabs and later mix and match vaccinations will become useful as will immunized children and youths).

FROM THE LA TIMES: HIGHEST DEATH RATES ARE IN STATES WITH THE LOWEST VACCINATION RATE:

FROM NPR RADIO TODAY:

Is The Worst Over? Modelers Predict A Steady Decline In COVID Cases Through March

”…We have to be cautious because the virus has shown us time and time again that new variants or people loosening up on how careful they’re being can lead things to come roaring back,…there is a fair amount of .. concerned about interpreting these in an overly optimistic fashion for the country as a whole… overall the pandemic will be “comparatively under control by March, but… there could be a number of bumps in the road.”

Ivermectin is Dead and Buried. Will We Learn the Lessons it Has To Teach?

(J. Harris: We’ve buried some Ivermectin users locally. This is a good readable article about quacks and grifters and mentally derranged proponents of unproven and dangerous therapies.)

AND LAST BUT NOT LEASED DIRECTLY FROM NYC:

1.    365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer because it’s less filling:    1 lite year

2.   10 cards: 1 decacards

3.   1 million bicycles: 2 megacycles

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Harrison County marks highest fatality rate from COVID-19 last week

I Ran the C.D.C. Here’s How to Prove That Americans Are Vaccinated.

We need a system that works. Here are five requirements for such a system.

1. First, it needs to be accurate.

2. Second, it needs to be secure and maintain privacy.

3. Third, there must be multiple options for people to retrieve and voluntarily present their vaccination status.

4. Fourth, the system needs to be accessible in real time, such as when people are going through airport security.

5. Fifth, the system should be used to verify Covid vaccination alone.

Fauci says data on Moderna, Johnson & Johnson boosters ‘a few weeks away’ from FDA review

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST REGARDING DENMARK”

Denmark appears to have beaten covid-19 — for now. Here’s how it did it.

“Danes trusted government and health authorities to make responsible and competent decisions to fight the pandemic, which for the most part they did. The Danish government and authorities in turn trusted the people of Denmark to behave responsibly and follow the guidelines.“…Vaccination rates are high — 86 percent of all eligible citizens 12 and older have received at least one shot, and 95 percent of people 50 and older are fully vaccinated…Denmark’s death toll during the pandemic was only 450 people per million citizens, compared to 1,982 per million in the United States…Denmark initially paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine and later removed both the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines from the public vaccine program, donating 3 million spare vaccines to developing countries…In the meantime, a core part of the solution to keep the virus under control was mass testing. At the peak, in the spring of 2021, Denmark performed 4 million tests (75 per 100 citizens) a week. And Danish authorities promoted compliance with testing and other covid-19 guidelines as a moral obligation — to put it simply, as the right thing to do for each other, building upon the collective approach to beating the pandemic…Danes did not appear to resort to blaming and shaming to keep each other in line. In other words, most people followed the advice of the authorities and didn’t take it upon themselves to police others…Denmark was in a favorable position to deal with a pandemic, as Danish political parties have a rich history of working together… initially 80 percent of Danes felt their leaders were united against the coronavirus…In part, this common understanding was facilitated by a general commitment among political elites to follow the science, including medical research, epidemic modeling, economics and behavioral science …”

Support for government covid-19 policies, by country;

Safety and immunogenicity of an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, BBIBP-CorV, in people younger than 18

(J. Harris: An inactivated vaccine widely used and effective in China and Asia is also safe for younger folks.)

AND LAST BUT NOT LEASED:

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NYT This Morning

Covid Vaccine Prompts Strong Immune Response in Younger Children, Pfizer Says

They Shunned Covid Vaccines but Embraced Antibody Treatment

”…“It’s clogging up resources, it’s hard to give, and a vaccine is $20 and could prevent almost all of that,” said Dr. Christian Ramers…an infectious disease specialist . Pushing antibodies while playing down vaccines, he said, was “like investing in car insurance without investing in brakes.”

FROM HOPKINS:

1.  SARS-like Viruses May Jump From Animals to People Hundreds of Thousands of Times a Year (Science) Only two new coronaviruses have spread globally the past 2 decades: SARS-CoV, which caused an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But that may just be the tip of the iceberg of undetected infections with related viruses emerging from bats, a new paper claims. In a preprint published yesterday researchers estimate that an average of 400,000 people are likely infected with SARS-related coronaviruses every year, in spillovers that never grow into detectable outbreaks.

2.  The Fight to Manufacture COVID Vaccines in Lower-income Countries (Nature) Vaccines against COVID-19 are not reaching many people in the global south, despite donations from wealthy nations. Less than 1% of people in low-income countries are fully vaccinated, and just 10% are in lower-middle-income countries, compared with more than half in high-income countries. Many researchers say the best way to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is to enable countries in the global south to make their own. “Charity is good, but we can’t rely on charity alone,” says Peter Singer, an adviser to the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO).

NOTICE THAT HARRISON COUNTY HAS THE HIGHEST DEATH RATE CURRENTLY OF THE LISTED COUNTIES BELOW:

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

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