mpreorder
mpreorder's JournalPlease don't avoid the J&J vaccine...
I know at first glace the J&J vaccine doesn't compare well to Moderna or Pfizer, but the devil is in the details.
You can probably find the article this information came from on pubmed to verify. Most (all?) Covid articles are free there.
I'm relaying this information from a DrBeen.com recent video (there is a paywall)
The technology is actually decades old and there are significant advantages:
- Single Shot whose efficacy builds over time
- easy storage (stable for 3 months refrigerated and 2 yrs frozen)
- good against variants
The approval study:
>44K patients >= 18 yrs old, 30% >60 yrs old
- Overall 66% efficacy but this varied by region (72% in US, 66% in Latin America, 57% efficacy in South Africa)
- Lower efficacy in South Africa thought to be due to B.1.351 variant (57% still good, but J&J can tweak this vaccine to make it better)
28 Days after administration - 100% protection from hospitalization or death
49 Days after administration - NO CASES (again, efficacy builds over time)
Side Effects:
Fever 9%
Grade 3 fever (> 104)- 0.2%
No serious side effects
The important thing is to GET VACCINATED!! The sooner you can the better...
On a side note...tRump got vaccinated....LMFAO at first, then cried inside. Fucking bastard costing lives.
True story...
My wife and I didn't talk politics much. I knew she's right leaning, liked Bush 2, fiscally conservative, etc. She has been a court reporter (stenographer) who transitioned to closed captioning a few years ago. During this time she captioned the news in real time for multiple stations including Fox, CNN, MSNBC, you name it. After she started getting her news from other sources she, you guessed it, is now a pretty solid democrat. She saw how fox news lies and really really grew to hate Trump.
She's still fiscally conservative, as am I. (Personally I believe we can solve lots of problems by cutting the military budget by a good fraction).
But what a great transition to witness!
Funny how the Orange menace isn't claiming voter fraud for any of the states that HE won. nt
What it's really all about...
I did a little research recently and was a bit shocked to discover that between the fed and states over a 1 TTTTRRRillion dollars a year are spent on public assistance. Source
OK, so I kinda agree that this is batshit insane and really is one of the things that drive republicans crazy. No one should get anything free, we can't have any policies that act as a disincentive to workers, blah, blah.
(Now, I'm not nearly qualified to make broad sweeping statements on what is really going on, but I can speculate. So if I'm missing information someone please let me know and I'll gladly change my views if appropriate.)
But I started thinking....didn't we have RECORD LOW unemployment before covid?? And despite record low unemployment we have to give out over a TRILLION a year to keep people and families afloat?? What is the real problem if it isn't that WORKERS ARE NOT GETTING PAID ENOUGH?
I speculate that the SYSTEM IS DESIGNED THIS WAY ON PURPOSE. I think that those in control of the money, i.e. BANKERS, deliberately cause the flow of dollars from bottom to top gaining more and more and buying politicians to continue to implement laws and policies to continue more of the same. The trillion a year spent on public assistance is built in as a regrettable cost to keep the peasants at bay. It they didn't do this there really would be class warfare. Generous amounts are spent convincing an unknowing populace how capitalism is the greatest system the world has ever seen which keeps us divided. And division is good for the status quo, isn't it?
So is the REAL problem between the right and left, or is the REALLY REAL problem between the rich and the not so rich and poor?? (Social issues such as abortion and guns aside.)
This IS class warfare, the rich have known this for decades, and they are winning. It's time to fight back.
Separating RBG's ideology and rulings from want of power.
Is anyone else disappointed or even pissed that she didn't retire during Obama's term? Seriously, she must have known her chances of surviving 4 more years (or 8!) was slim, and that her death anytime during a republican administration would stack the court with corporate approved justices. Yes, I KNOW she didn't know Hillary (or someone else) would lose, but why take the chance when so much was on the line? Everything she believed in is now in jeopardy.
Further than that, (and something I don't think anyone at the time could have seen), is that her death is adding potential to a real threat of violence in this country between the left and right. Mitch WILL shove thru someone, and how will the right react if Biden expands the court? Or worse, the right will hold their collective nose and turn out to re-elect the orange menace. (And I don't think that will happen, the left is too motivated this trip)
What a fucking mess......
It's so frustrating...
With a small group yesterday, some of us wearing masks, others not. Discussion turned to covid case counts and how most in the room didn't believe it and were actually angry over the information provided to them. Thank His Orangeness for that. I said, well, if you really want to believe in a conspiracy, how about Trump bypassing the CDC. Oh my, the way the flocked to the defense of the move. Yes, they said the CDC will still be involved. No, I said, not if they don't get their numbers directly, they'll likely be doing data analysis on under reported and otherwise inaccurate counts. The government fucks everything up, they said.
Then another guy asked me, the token Democrat in the room, how many kids have actually died from Covid. Two he said, so why shouldn't we open the schools. I fucking lost it. I actually raised my voice, (I usually don't when discussing politics) and said "You know BOB, it was NEVER about saving the kids, it's about saving the grandparents!" I stopped short of saying idiot at the end. Even then, they went into the "personal responsibility to stay safe" routine.
They really have no fucking clue.
Thanks for letting me rant.....
This resonates, this REALLY resonates.
I saw this on Reddit and to be clear this was NOT written by Ron Howard, but by Lori Gallagher Witt. (I'm glad I did some fact checking before posting this here. You can't trust anything on the intertubes.) Apologies if this has been posted before.
Lori Gallagher Witt
about 2 years ago
An open letter to friends and family who are/were shocked to discover I'm a liberal...
This is going to be VERY long, so: TL;DR: I'm a liberal, I've always been a liberal, but that doesn't mean what a lot of you apparently think it does.
Some of you suspected. Some of you were shocked. Many of you have known me for years, even the majority of my life. We either steadfastly avoided political topics, or I carefully steered conversations away from the more incendiary subjects in the name of keeping the peace. "I'm a liberal" isn't really something you broadcast in social circles where "the liberals" can't be said without wrinkling one's nose.
But then the 2016 election happened, and staying quiet wasn't an option anymore. Since then, I've received no shortage of emails and comments from people who were shocked, horrified, disappointed, disgusted, or otherwise displeased to realize I am *wrinkles nose* a liberal. Yep. I'm one of those bleeding heart commies who hates anyone who's white, straight, or conservative, and who wants the government to dictate everything you do while taking your money and giving it to people who don't work.
Or am I?
Let's break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: Not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines.
1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. Period.
2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that's interpreted as "I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all." This is not the case. I'm fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it's impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes "let people die because they can't afford healthcare" a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I'm not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.
3. I believe education should be affordable and accessible to everyone. It doesn't necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I'm mystified as to why it can't work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.
4. I don't believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don't want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can't afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.
5. I don't throw around "I'm willing to pay higher taxes" lightly. I'm self-employed, so I already pay a shitload of taxes. If I'm suggesting something that involves paying more, that means increasing my already eye-watering tax bill. I'm fine with paying my share as long as it's actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.
6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn't have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.
7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is - and should be - illegal) All I ask is that Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I'm not "offended by Christianity" -- I'm offended that you're trying to force me to live by your religion's rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia on you? That's how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don't force it on me or mine.
8. I don't believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe we should have the *same* rights as you.
9. I don't believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN'T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they're supposed to be abusing, and if they're "stealing" your job it's because your employer is hiring illegally.). I'm not opposed to deporting people who are here illegally, but I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).
10. I believe we should take in refugees, or at the very least not turn them away without due consideration. Turning thousands of people away because a terrorist might slip through is inhumane, especially when we consider what has happened historically to refugees who were turned away (see: MS St. Louis). If we're so opposed to taking in refugees, maybe we should consider not causing them to become refugees in the first place. Because we're fooling ourselves if we think that somewhere in the chain of events leading to these people becoming refugees, there isn't a line describing something the US did.
11. I don't believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It's not that I want the government's hands in everything -- I just don't trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they're harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.
12. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I'm butthurt over an election, but because I've spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.
13. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege -- white, straight, male, economic, etc -- need to start listening, even if you don't like what you're hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that's causing people to be marginalized.
14. I believe in so-called political correctness. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you're using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person? Your refusal to adjust your vocabulary in the name of not being an asshole kind of makes YOU the snowflake.
15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.
I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I'm a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn't mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don't believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.
So, I'm a liberal.
(c) 2018 Lori Gallagher Witt. Feel free to share, but please give me credit, and if you add or change anything, please note accordingly.
Healthcare workers: A way to decontaminate and reuse N95 and surgical masks
Please print out the link and take to your administrators.(Bolding Mine)
"4C Air confirmed all the proposed treatments have killed corona viruses. Labs have no way to test COVID-19 directly and as an accepted protocol, E. Coli is used for testing. We asked what methods can be used to decontaminate the facial mask for reuse safely and without loss to filtration efficiency. 4C Air confirms using 70 degree C hot air in an oven for 30min, or hot water vapor are additional effective decontamination methods. Please see Table 2 "
https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fstanfordmedicine.box.com%2Fv%2Fcovid19-PPE-1-1
Even IF some of the drugs work, chances are you still won't get them.
I've been a clinical pharmacist in a hospital for over 30 years. I've seen shortage after shortage of COMMON drugs. Our buyers have to scramble to get them more often than anyone who's ever been in a hospital would be comfortable with. As a last resort we go to the "grey market". These are companies that somehow manage to have a supply, and guess what folks...capitalism at it's finest is at work and 400% or more increases in cost are not uncommon. But I digress.
The real reason you won't get the drugs is because there simply isn't enough out there. Did anyone else read how a manufacturer had 3 million doses of chloroquine available? Or 10 million doses of hydroxychloroquine? The population of the US is >310 million....at a 40% infection rate (low estimate) that's over 120 million people infected. True, not all will need the drug, so lets say they reserve it for the sickest. Right now these is one estimate that about 12% of those infected require hospitalization, so lets say this is the population that needs the drug(s) (This number varies depending on age, co-morbidities, etc.) So something over 14 million people will need treatment. OUR SUPPLY IS SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH!!
What about other manufacturers or making more? Good questions. In my 30+ years I don't think I've ever seen chloroquine used, but hydroxychloroquine is used for people with rheumatoid arthritis. We usually have 1 or 2 patients in our hospital on it at any one time. Read that as being that it's just not that commonly used, even for the indication it's intended for. I can't speak to what other manufacturers have on hand, but can tell you that as of yesterday our hospital was not able to get any. (We have enough to treat about 100 patients). I also can't speak about manufacturing capability, especially during a pandemic where supply lines are wavering. Hopefully they can ramp up production in a meaningful way.
I know I sound like the sky is falling, but it almost is. We have a central government that doesn't give a rats ass about it's people and worse, are getting in the way of those that do. I'm looking to move out of my house because my wife has MS and I can't chance giving to to her. The leadership in my hospital, while communicating daily, isn't saying much in the way of anything concrete, no less what we are going to do when the staff starts getting sick. I work in a Coumadin clinic where over 90% of our patients are over 70. We're going to see many of them die from this.
OK, that last paragraph was a rant, forgive me. I know it seems like I'm new here but I've actually been on DU since the Bush years. You guys are kindred spirits to me and I truly wish you all the best.
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Member since: Sun Oct 5, 2014, 12:35 PMNumber of posts: 51
