GioCas

👎👎👎 I dont like ! 😐

Godiv

Yike, the dominant strain in the US by the end of March? It moves fast for sure. That is scary.

Parkinsonjisung in reply to Godiv

This first arrived in Ireland in December. It is now 90% of cases here. Its 70% more contagious and possibly more lethal. Our cases and deaths rates have risen by ridiculous amount since it arrived here. It will not be kind to as country that continues to ignore covid. However studies show the mrna vaccine work against it. It will 100% be the most dominant strain in the US soon.

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Godiv in reply to Parkinsonjisung

Oh that’s terrible. I know the United States is very much behind on its reaction to the pandemic. So glad that there is a vaccination will work against it.

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ion_ion

Is the vaccine you just had it going to protect you against Covid cousin?

gwendolinej

It's early days with these new strains. We here in Australia (in Victoria)had a 5 day lockdown this month due to the perceived knowledge that the new strain of the virus from the UK, which escaped from hotel quarantine, was 70% more contagious than the one we'd had in circulation. Turned out it wasn't, and spread only to very close contacts, and not to anyone else. It was scary for a few days.

Parkinsonjisung in reply to gwendolinej

Ya, the real worry is the mutation that we haven't seen yet. The one that will require a new vaccine

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gwendolinej in reply to Parkinsonjisung

Hey, it's not a real worry till and if it happens. Let's assume at the moment that it won't and keep smiling. 😊

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MBAnderson

World-renowned epidemiologist and public healthcare policy advisor to presidents, Ivanka Trump volunteered to be vaccinated in public no doubt to demonstrate to other wealthy white women that they too could use their status and money to cut in line.

gwendolinej

Maybe that's unfair. Just maybe she thinks it may influence others to get it 🤔

MBAnderson in reply to gwendolinej

Funny how that works. Before the vaccine came out she was dismissive of Covid.. Her attempts to influence others was to model not wearing masks and tweeting, "Use of mask is not grounded in science..." but now that she can protect herself, she's all in favor of science.

Rich, white, and famous is not within the CDC guideline for distribution.

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alaynedellow in reply to MBAnderson

She's otherwise called a parasite Marc 😱

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MBAnderson in reply to alaynedellow

Her and Jared made $82 million last year much of it because the Chinese invested 500 million in the building he owns on Fifth Avenue which was about to be foreclosed because he paid way over market value for it.

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alaynedellow in reply to MBAnderson

That Jared is creepy.

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GioCas in reply to MBAnderson

Here is a summary of the context that explains why the US is more advanced than the EU in vaccination:

politico.eu/article/europe-...

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chartist

Well, I'm definitely not throwing my melatonin away, vaccine or no vaccine! 😓😓😓

Art

MBAnderson in reply to chartist

How do you feel about getting the vaccine? Man of science, such as you are, need I ask?

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chartist in reply to MBAnderson

Hi Marc,

Since I look at melatonin as being able to do as much or more than the vaccine while bringing the potential for many other health benefits with it, the vaccine at this point is a lower priority for me. While viral mutations may potentially render a vaccine useless and this virus has clearly shown the ability to mutate quickly, I believe that melatonin, because of its different methods of action is more likely to be unaffected in terms of its abilities to fight against these mutations.

Based on Dr. Neel's experience with his Covid-19 patients and the ability of the virus to mutate quickly is why I said, don't throw your melatonin away! A more recent study suggested that melatonin may actually help the vaccine to work better.

Right now, there are simply not enough vaccines for everyone. Apparently you can still get Covid-19 and transmit it to others with the current vaccines, but the event is predicted to be milder. I feel that melatonin makes the disease milder, not deadly and some researchers have shown that melatonin may prevent Covid-19 infection, especially in black people if the daily dose is high enough. Further research is needed to confirm this.

I have written on this forum about how melatonin can fight Covid-19, stroke, multiple forms of cardiovascular disease which PwP are at higher risk for (my latest post on CVD on HU), work against PD and improve memory while increasing glutathione and TAC. This is a very incomplete list of the potential health benefits that melatonin offers and I will be writing about others as time allows. The vaccine is only helpful for Covid-19 in its current form. For me, the choice is simple, I would rather take melatonin for all of the other potential health benefits it appears to offer compared to the vaccine, but that's just the way I think.

Art

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MBAnderson in reply to chartist

I've read all your posts. I seem to recall the dose is 90 mg - 100 mg after you contracted Covid, but I forget what is that those for prophylactic protection?

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chartist in reply to MBAnderson

In the symposium that Dr. Neel attended where the use of melatonin for Covid-19 was discussed at length, the general consensus was a bare minimum of 20mg/night, but imo there is insufficient data to confirm that dose. I remain at 106 mg/night for almost 5 months now and plan to do this until I die unless studies convince me otherwise. His starting dose for his Covid-19 patients is 1 mg/kilogram of bodyweight. Nice and simple. I had one guy write me and say that he used 2 mg/kilogram of bodyweight and his "symptoms completely disappeared" by the next morning. Human studies have used even more. Dr. Shallenberger said he gives all of his patients 180 mg / day and his stage 4 cancer patients get about 360 mg/day. Here is a link to what Dr. Neel and other participants at the symposium suggested as a minimum prophylactic dose. Imo, 20 mg is too low to act as a prophylactic. I think the dose I am taking (106 mg/night) could be prophylactic and I will let the forum know if I get Covid-19 even at this dose. Then I will know that melatonin is not prophylactic for Covid-19, but is an excellent treatment. Covid-19 or no Covid-19, I will continue this dose for the many other potential health benefits of which I would like to partake.

devinenews.com/dr-neel-intr...

Melatonin is thought to possibly have life extending qualities through multiple mechanisms of action, including increased SIRT1 production and potent antioxidant effects. I haven't discussed this aspect of melatonin before, but it is just one more reason I use it everyday.

Art

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MBAnderson in reply to chartist

It's almost unbelievable. (I tried again 2 weeks ago to get my brother to try this, but it only made him angry.)

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chartist in reply to MBAnderson

I got the impression that your brother already has his plan in place and will not be distracted from it in anyway! For you, that's like banging your head on a block wall. Better to preserve your head than try and get your brother to change his plan!

Art

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MBAnderson in reply to chartist

Well, I get my second dose of Pfizer in three hours from now, so 10 days hence, I'll be sleeping better.

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NRyan

"How the Wealthy Are Maneuvering to Get the Vaccine First. Have they no shame?" I laughed out loud. Thanks for that. The author of the article must not know any wealthy people...or pay attention to the news.

alexask

We have had scare stories in the UK for months about different strains of the virus being more infectious. Has any flu/cold virus in history not eventually mutated to something much milder?

But again Vitamin D for the win- this is from 2008:

In fact, Aloia and Li-Ng presented evidence of a dramatic vitamin D preventative effect from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) [25]. In a post-hoc analysis of the side effect questions of their original three-year RCT, they discovered 104 post-menopausal African American women given vitamin D were three times less likely to report cold and flu symptoms than 104 placebo controls. A low dose (800 IU/day) not only reduced reported incidence, it abolished the seasonality of reported colds and flu. A higher dose (2000 IU/day), given during the last year of their trial, virtually eradicated all reports of colds or flu.

virologyj.biomedcentral.com...

So the virus should go away in the summer, but will be back to say hello (in the Northern Hemisphere) to those who don't supplement next Winter.

Parkinsonjisung in reply to alexask

Are you actually implying that the British strain is milder and vit d is a cure?

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alexask in reply to Parkinsonjisung

I am saying that the British strain is probably not any more transmissable or deadly than any other strain. It is also likely that eventually the virus will mutate into something milder. And from what I have read (and there are multiple studies indicating this - the ones that don't are deeply flawed) I am 90% sure that keeping Vitamin D (and zinc) levels elevated will stop the majority of people getting bad outcomes.

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Parkinsonjisung in reply to alexask

To say that is to ignore all scientific evidence and facts. The British strain is approx 70% more transmissible. What are you basing your opinion on?

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alexask in reply to Parkinsonjisung

Everything I have read states "may be", "is expected to". It's all supposition rather than actual facts. Given the amount of disinformation put out to scare you by Governments (and I see you are from Ireland so you have possibly the most dishonest scare-mongering media and government in the world on this issue), so far I am just extremely skeptical about any claim. Just take the Vitamin D, and don't worry.

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Parkinsonjisung in reply to alexask

Lol. Well agree to differ on this one. As will the 1000s that ended up in hospital since the strains introduction into Ireland

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MBAnderson

Here is the latest re variants from MEDCRAM (2/24) an excellent source of info.

"Coronavirus Update 123: COVID 19 Vaccines vs. Variants"

youtube.com/watch?v=9ymKocj...(Not working as expected?)

MBAnderson

Here is a 15 minute video of what it's really like inside an ICU recorded by two nurses wearing campers.

nytimes.com/2021/02/24/opin...

ParlePark in reply to MBAnderson

Marc, a stark reality, horribly sad and true but thank you for posting. Hard to watch but very necessary. I hope everyone watches it

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MBAnderson

The jury is in; Masks save lives.

"Human Studies of Masking and SARS-CoV-2 Transmission"

"Seven studies have confirmed the benefit of universal masking in community level analyses: in a unified hospital system, a German city, a U.S. state, a panel of 15 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., as well as both Canada and the U.S. nationally. Each analysis demonstrated that, following directives from organizational and political leadership for universal masking, new infections fell significantly. "

"An investigation of a high-exposure event, in which 2 symptomatically ill hair stylists interacted for an average of 15 minutes with each of 139 clients during an 8-day period, found that none of the 67 clients who subsequently consented to an interview and testing developed infection."

"A retrospective case-control study from Thailand documented that, among more than 1,000 persons interviewed as part of contact tracing investigations, those who reported having always worn a mask during high-risk exposures experienced a greater than 70% reduced risk of acquiring infection compared with persons who did not wear masks under these circumstances.34"

"A study of an outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an environment notable for congregate living quarters and close working environments, found that use of face coverings on-board was associated with a 70% reduced risk.35"

"Investigations involving infected passengers aboard flights longer than 10 hours strongly suggest that masking prevented in-flight transmissions, as demonstrated by the absence of infection developing in other passengers and crew in the 14 days following exposure.36,37"

cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc...

MBAnderson

"...the Covid-19 virus announced ... Thursday Plan To Move Operations To Texas Full-Time To Escape Burdensome Regulations."

“Shifting my operation to Texas will give me the freedom to spread my wings and grow this pandemic in ways that are impossible in blue states,” said the coronavirus molecule, adding that it had been especially heartened by the governor’s recent decision to cut away unnecessary regulations like dining restrictions and mask mandates."

theonion.com/covid-announce...

MBAnderson

Dear covid-Vaccine Ethicist,

I am a single, thirty-four-year-old kindergarten teacher and have just received my second dose of the covid vaccine. (Yay!) My neighbor across the hall is an eighty-year-old woman in poor health. As far as I know, she hasn’t even got her first dose yet. Is it O.K. for me to take her huge, rent-stabilized two-bedroom when it becomes available?

—Studio-Bound in Bed-Stuy

Dear Studio,

You certainly could take this woman’s apartment—living across the hall, you will likely be among the first to know when it’s up for grabs. But should you? That is a thorny question, and it begets other thorny questions, some ethical and some practical.

Does your proximity give you an unfair advantage over other apartment-seekers? Might it be better if this apartment went to someone who truly needs the space—say, a young family? Can you really afford a two-bedroom—even one that’s rent-stabilized? Are you willing to break your current lease? How “icky” might you feel, living in the apartment of a dead woman? Have you offered to help your elderly neighbor find a vaccination site and make an appointment, or did you deflect when she recently asked you about the Band-Aid on your upper arm?

These are the kinds of questions the conscientious apartment-hunter grapples with before making such a big decision.

P.S. In the time it took me to write this response, your neighbor’s apartment went on the market and was snapped up by a day trader from Queens.

Dear covid-Vaccine Ethicist,

My father is seventy-four years old and has a history of heart problems. Clearly, he is in a high-risk group. Yet he refuses to get the vaccine, saying that he doesn’t believe it’s safe. I would like to rent a windowless van and recruit some friends to stage a kidnapping—snatching my father from the street, pulling a hood over his head, and driving him to an abandoned warehouse, where he would be injected with “truth serum” (i.e., the covid vaccine) and interrogated before being dumped back where we found him and warned to keep his mouth shut.

My wife thinks someone could get hurt. I think the benefits outweigh the risks. Who’s right?

—À la Balaclava in Buffalo

Dear Balaclava,

I’m with you. If your father won’t listen to reason, abducting him and injecting him under duress during what he believes is a kidnapping is the next logical step. (You may have to repeat the process a few weeks later, of course, to administer a second dose. But I’m sure you’ve accounted for that.)

As the population ages and more of us are forced into the role of caretaker, I’m afraid such difficult choices will only become more common. None of us wants to shove a terrified, elderly parent into an unmarked vehicle driven by masked strangers. But sometimes love leaves us no choice.

Dear covid-Vaccine Ethicist,

I am a healthy forty-five-year-old woman, living alone, and not an essential worker of any kind. As such, I’m nowhere near the top of the list for a vaccination—and I’m O.K. with that. But I also know that if a vaccination site has extra doses on any given day, they must use them quickly or trash them. Am I ethically allowed to ask a health-care worker to squirt one such dose in my mouth? I’ve been wondering what that stuff tastes like.

—Curious in Columbus

Dear Curious,

Ethicists agree that the worst possible outcome in this scenario is that a vaccine dose goes to waste. So, yes, have a guilt-free taste. Or two! And please report back, because I’ve been wondering the same thing. (I’m guessing it just tastes “mediciney,” but you never know.)

Dear covid-Vaccine Ethicist,

I’m not yet eligible to be vaccinated, but I would be if I lived in France. May I lie about my nationality in order to get the shot?

—Torn in Tacoma

Dear Torn,

Ethics prohibits lying in order to receive a benefit to which you aren’t entitled. That said, I believe there’s a way to thread this needle. Is it ethical for you to go to Paris? Yes. To wear a beret and smoke a Gauloise as you stroll the streets, looking bored? Certainly. To enter a covid-19 vaccination site? To roll up your sleeve? To not protest as a needle goes into your arm? Yes, yes, and yes. No lying necessary.

True, some ethicists might call this lying by omission. But those ethicists wouldn’t last a minute on the streets of Paris.

Bon courage!

Dear covid-Vaccine Ethicist,

Let me get this straight: I can’t get the vaccine yet, but somehow my asshole neighbor can? How is that ethical?

—Disbelieving in Delaware

Dear Disbelieving,

Ethics is asshole-blind. Just one of the many things wrong with ethics.

newyorker.com/humor/daily-s...