[Mitzpah]

Very reassuring words from Dr Fauci: https://twitter.com/i/status/1341550338973855744

It is an interview on CNN (Wolf Blitzen, I think his name is?)

[marvin4242]

So not a surprise but more good data about how critical masks are in spreading the spread of the virus. I have seen purposeful misinformation from anti-maskers saying masks don’t protect you from getting it. Again to be clear they are meant to PREVENT spread, not to protect the wearer. So if EVERYONE wore masks it would work brilliantly. Excerpt from Guardian below:
——
Face masks lower the risk of spreading large Covid-linked droplets when speaking or coughing by up to 99.9%, a lab experiment with mechanical mannequins and human subjects has found.

A woman standing 2 metres from a coughing man without a mask will be exposed to 10,000 times more large droplets than if he were wearing one, even if he were then only 50cm away, researchers reported in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

The study focused on particles larger than 170 microns in diameter, which are understood to be the main driver of Sars-CoV-2 transmission.

“There is no more doubt whatsoever that face masks can dramatically reduce the dispersion of potentially virus-laden droplets,” senior author Ignazio Maria Viola, an expert in applied fluid dynamics at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, told AFP.

According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Seattle, Washington, 55,000 lives could be saved in the United States over the next four months if a policy of universal mask use were adopted.

The WHO updated its Covid-19 guidance earlier this month to recommend masks be worn indoors in the presence of other people if ventilation is inadequate.

[marvin4242]

More good news, studies shows having had Covid offers protection from reinfection to six months and maybe more. This probably also carries to vaccination, which means immunity will last for a good while helping halt the pandemic spread with vaccines.

https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/studies-find-covid-19-protect-reinfection-74886868

[readytofixmyselffirst]

Hello,

Thanks for the positive news.  I agree about the masks and the need for us to not let our guard down because we have friends and family together. I am setting up for our Christmas lunch tomorrow and we will be all outside and I am setting up tables to keep us socially distanced as well. 

Since I am not a big New Year's eve person, I am settling for just my wife and I as a couple. And Oh what fun we shall have!!!

I just hope in the meantime, we can get past this surge and let our health community get some well deserved rest.

((((Ready)))))

[marvin4242]

And here is more potential help to treat high risk people after exposure to prevent getting the disease:

UK scientists trial drug to prevent infection that leads to Covid

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/25/uk-scientists-trial-drug-to-prevent-coronavirus-infection-leading-to-disease

[xyzcf]

This is powerful:

https://www.emrap.org/episode/covid19notthat/covid19notthat

[xyzcf]

A very good article that talks about the effects of living in these pandemic times...and explaining what is happeneing to us psychologically


https://elemental.medium.com/your-surge-capacity-is-depleted-it-s-why-you-feel-awful-de285d542f4c

[Treasur]

What a very useful article, xyz, and tbh probably not so different from the post BD experience for many of us even without a pandemic.

[marvin4242]

From The Guardian (sorry no direct link) about more the results from Moderna vaccine, all good news. I know I have zero concerns about getting the vaccine the seconds it is available to me. And. I would encourage the same to everyone:
—-
Further results of clinical trials of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine have been released, with the US firm saying it “exhibited a favourable tolerability and safety profile”.

The phase three trial results showed the vaccine to have 94.1% efficacy at preventing Covid-19 illness, including severe disease, as previously reported.

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed no serious safety concerns were identified.

The UK government signed a deal for seven million doses of the vaccine, much fewer than numbers for the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech jabs.

The Moderna deal is enough for around 3.5 million people, who would each receive two doses.

More than 30,000 volunteers were randomly assigned to receive either the vaccine - known as mRNA-1273 - or a placebo.

The journal paper said symptomatic Covid-19 illness was confirmed in 185 participants in the placebo group and 11 in the vaccine group.

Severe Covid-19 happened in 30 participants, with one fatality - all of whom were in the placebo group, the paper said.

Moderna said “solicited systemic adverse events” occurred more often in the vaccine group than the placebo group and were most commonly headache, fatigue and muscle pain.

The firm said the majority of adverse events happened within the first one to two days after injection and generally persisted for around one or two days.

They said safety data will continue to be collected and all participants will be monitored for two years after their second dose to assess long-term protection and safety.

[marvin4242]

This is what was believed but good to see data backing it up.

Pfizer vaccine protects against new Covid variants, study suggests

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/08/pfizer-vaccine-protects-against-new-covid-variants-study-suggests