Support NeoGAF

[poppabk]

I just have a hard time myself taking anyone seriously, from either side, who commonly use terms like “gaslight” or “strawman”. Maybe it’s just me. It’s fucking annoying.

These words get thrown around so much, that I feel like the people who use them, ironically are trying to either use them as a “strawman” as they would say, or are actually just psychologically “gaslighting” themselves in the process and don’t know it lol.

Can we just stop using these buzzwords and talk like normal, pre-2016 era people?

Nice micro-aggression there. Your e-edition slacktivism is a hyperlocal hot-mess. Maybe you should get your dad-bod ass off the darkweb and stop fapping to gender-fluid individuals in jeggings and skorts and binge-watch some photobombs. Yassss. U+1F602

 

[Narasumas]

Nice micro-aggression there. Your e-edition slacktivism is a hyperlocal hot-mess. Maybe you should get your dad-bod ass off the darkweb and stop fapping to gender-fluid individuals in jeggings and skorts and binge-watch some photobombs. Yassss. U+1F602

This is gold

 

[SF Kosmo]

If Omicron is truly less deadly, this could be a turning point if the more deadly variants are pushed out almost completely.

Yeah unfortunately "less deadly" is only so helpful when we're looking at something that might be 20 times as infectious. Hospitals are filling up again and death rates are the highest they've been since the vaccines rolled out.

I hope that Pfizer's new therapeutic will help to drastically cut that down, though.

 

[phisheep]

Fresh Omicron news from Germany (using official federal sources). Very good news for unvaccinated people.

REPORT: Nearly 80% of Omicron Cases are in Vaccinated People. - The National Pulse

Nearly 80 percent of reported cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in Germany occurred in fully vaccinated individuals, according to a new report from the federal government.Note: This article has been updated following an error by the German federal government. Following publication, the...

thenationalpulse.com

"showing that vaccinated individuals were over 21 times as likely to contract the COVID-19 variant"

Nope, it doesn't show that at all.

It would show that if the underlying population sample had an equal number of vaccinated and unvaccinated people, but it doesn't. The figure of "21 times" is arrived at by dividing 4020 by 186, but that is not the right calculation to do.

Over 70% of the German population is fully vaccinated. That translates roughly to 83% of adults, (assuming similar demographics to the UK). It depends on what the underlying population for this survey is (it isn't really a survey, it is just a partial data gathering where the data is available, and it doesn't state what the underlying population is). Or about 90% of adults at least partially vaccinated.

From the report we have 6,788 cases of which 4020 (59%) are fully vaxxed, 2,582 (38%) partially vaxxed, and 186 (3%) unvaxxed. That's 97% at least partially vaccinated. So probably the underlying population we're talking about is adults (if it included children there would be a lot more unvaxxed).

So, what we are left with is 90% of the population generating 97% of the cases, and 10% of the population generating 3% of the cases. That's something like a 3 times advantage, not 21 times.

Even that probably isn't the whole story, since it is pretty obvious (from the UK MSOA local authority data) that people who care enough to get vaccinated are also more likely to get themselves tested if they have only mild symptoms. That's an extra bias which is showing up in stats only now that the test positivity rate is going up nearly everywhere.

The upshot is that this is exactly the sort of result we would expect to see if the vaccines are not very effective at preventing sympomatic infection. Which is what we know already from studies on AZ and Pfizer - the antibodies wane over time (while the T cell response doesn't, at least not so much).

So it's not 21 times anything, it's probably not even 3 times anything, it's not particularly good news for the unvaccinated.

It doesn't tell us anything either about the effectiveness of the vaccines against severe illness, because the data's not there.

It rather looks like the National Pulse has an agenda here, and is cherry-picking and misrepresenting data (it's only them, not the Koch Institut, making the 21 times claim).

 

[Chittagong]

As mentioned.

Studies Suggest Why Omicron Is Less Severe: It Spares the Lungs (Published 2021)

Compared with earlier variants, Omicron may cause less damage to the lungs, new animal research suggests.

www.nytimes.com

Omicron might be milder because it has a less effective way of attacking lung cells, studies say

The variant favors a way of taking over cells that works well in some parts of the body but not in the lungs, the authors of a new study told Insider.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Jaysen]

What gets me about this paranoia about "anti vax" rhetoric, is that you rarely see a discussion about why these dissidents hold the views they do, and why they choose to promote them publicly.

I mean, you can look and see pretty easily if a person has some sort of financial incentive for taking a controversial stance, and if there is one... fair enough then there's cause for skepticism. However when there isn't, you really have to think twice about summarily discarding their view, and certainly about how reasonable it is for them to share their "truth".

Just saying, not everyone who gets tarred with the anti-vaxxer brush strikes me as a cynical grifter.

Most aren’t grifters. Most are just straight up gullible idiots.

 

[sinnergy]

As mentioned.

Studies Suggest Why Omicron Is Less Severe: It Spares the Lungs (Published 2021)

Compared with earlier variants, Omicron may cause less damage to the lungs, new animal research suggests.

www.nytimes.com

Omicron might be milder because it has a less effective way of attacking lung cells, studies say

The variant favors a way of taking over cells that works well in some parts of the body but not in the lungs, the authors of a new study told Insider.

www.businessinsider.com

Gupta also warned that it might be possible for future variants to appear that are again more deadly. "The next variant could have combined characteristics, so I don't think we can be complacent," he said.

And he is right , just like I said yesterday , don’t let the suckers circulate..

 

[betrayal]

Yeah unfortunately "less deadly" is only so helpful when we're looking at something that might be 20 times as infectious. Hospitals are filling up again and death rates are the highest they've been since the vaccines rolled out.

That's not true.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailydeaths -> click on the graph "Deaths total" at the top.

Just look at the numbers yourself and stop reading news sites or social media. Also, people like you should finally understand that numbers only mean something in context. Just because there were one or two days of high death rates says nothing about the current severity of the wave. At least if you're not CNN or others.

Gupta also warned that it might be possible for future variants to appear that are again more deadly. "The next variant could have combined characteristics, so I don't think we can be complacent," he said.

And he is right , just like I said yesterday , don’t let the suckers circulate..

The same is true for many common cold viruses or influenza.

And so what?

Immunity through vaccination or infection is excellent protection. This is even more true if you had both.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/ja...ign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=121621 (or article: https://news.ohsu.edu/2021/12/16/br...ate-super-immunity-to-covid-19-study-suggests)

Omicron gives the world a chance to get back to normal. Vaccination/infection also increases the protection against possible later mutations. Let's take the chance and stop permanently shitting in our pants.

 

[ManaByte]

COVID 0 people had better not be watching the Rose Bowl. That stadium is bursting at the seams.

 

[T8SC]

Happy New Year.

I'll bookmark this post so I can just quote myself in a years time when we're still here saying the same shit.

 

[caffeware]

dis will be taken down soon.

 

[xellos2099alpha]

"showing that vaccinated individuals were over 21 times as likely to contract the COVID-19 variant"

Nope, it doesn't show that at all.

It would show that if the underlying population sample had an equal number of vaccinated and unvaccinated people, but it doesn't. The figure of "21 times" is arrived at by dividing 4020 by 186, but that is not the right calculation to do.

Over 70% of the German population is fully vaccinated. That translates roughly to 83% of adults, (assuming similar demographics to the UK). It depends on what the underlying population for this survey is (it isn't really a survey, it is just a partial data gathering where the data is available, and it doesn't state what the underlying population is). Or about 90% of adults at least partially vaccinated.

From the report we have 6,788 cases of which 4020 (59%) are fully vaxxed, 2,582 (38%) partially vaxxed, and 186 (3%) unvaxxed. That's 97% at least partially vaccinated. So probably the underlying population we're talking about is adults (if it included children there would be a lot more unvaxxed).

So, what we are left with is 90% of the population generating 97% of the cases, and 10% of the population generating 3% of the cases. That's something like a 3 times advantage, not 21 times.

Even that probably isn't the whole story, since it is pretty obvious (from the UK MSOA local authority data) that people who care enough to get vaccinated are also more likely to get themselves tested if they have only mild symptoms. That's an extra bias which is showing up in stats only now that the test positivity rate is going up nearly everywhere.

The upshot is that this is exactly the sort of result we would expect to see if the vaccines are not very effective at preventing sympomatic infection. Which is what we know already from studies on AZ and Pfizer - the antibodies wane over time (while the T cell response doesn't, at least not so much).

So it's not 21 times anything, it's probably not even 3 times anything, it's not particularly good news for the unvaccinated.

It doesn't tell us anything either about the effectiveness of the vaccines against severe illness, because the data's not there.

It rather looks like the National Pulse has an agenda here, and is cherry-picking and misrepresenting data (it's only them, not the Koch Institut, making the 21 times claim).

Actually i think it made perfect sense. As people who are fully vaccinate are less careful about the social distance and washing hand as often. People who are not vaxxed knew they are in danger so they act in a more careful manner

 

[Malakhov]

I've started to get my scent and taste back, 3 days after they disappeared, im stocked!

 

[Punished Miku]

I've started to get my scent and taste back, 3 days after they disappeared, im stocked!

Still some spelling impairment though. COVID is hell. Best wishes bro.

 

[Malakhov]

Still some spelling impairment though. COVID is hell. Best wishes bro.

English isn't my first language, doubt that will ever come back lol

Thanks man!

 

[Punished Miku]

English isn't my first language, doubt that will ever come back lol

Thanks man!

Well you're way better than my 2nd language. I was just cracking some jokes lol.

 

[Rentahamster]

Actually i think it made perfect sense. As people who are fully vaccinate are less careful about the social distance and washing hand as often. People who are not vaxxed knew they are in danger so they act in a more careful manner

Don't do mental gymnastics when there's a perfectly valid math based explanation staring you in the face.

 

[funkygunther]

Actually i think it made perfect sense. As people who are fully vaccinate are less careful about the social distance and washing hand as often. People who are not vaxxed knew they are in danger so they act in a more careful manner

It's not that they're more careful, it's that they literally aren't allowed in a lot of places

 

[Rentahamster]

Hospital admissions in the USA are still rising, unfortunately. Hopefully it exhibits the same trend in the UK where a greater share of hospitalizations are incidental with COVID19 instead of primarily because of COVID19, but I don't know if that data is published anywhere. The key differentiating factors between the UK and the USA in this case would be that the UK has a larger vaccination percentage and a better healthcare system than the USA. We'll see how much of a difference that makes.

Unlike South Africa, whose omicron spike is already on a downward trend, our case counts are only going higher. Even with reduced severity of disease that seemingly accompanies an omicron infection, if we don't start attenuating this wave soon our hospitalizations will match what we saw back in the pre-vaccine days (which makes sense since I think the primary factor in the fast spread of Omicron is its immune escape characteristics). One can only hope that the majority of them are less severe hospitalizations. Fortunately, the ICU counts are not growing too high at the moment, but that could also just be lag.

During the summer of Delta, the USA peaked about a month and a half after South Africa. Assuming Omicron will do the same, South Africa peaked in the middle of December which means the USA won't see a downward trend until the end of January. I hope that doesn't happen and our downward trend starts a lot sooner.

Cases > hospitalizations > ICU > death

This sequence will always progress, but we're still learning what the relative proportions and lag times are for omicron, and how much those breaking points are decoupled from each other relative to previous variants. There are some promising signs that warrant optimism, but still a lot we don't know.

COVID-19 Data Explorer

Explore global data on COVID-19.

ourworldindata.org

 

[M. Crassus]

Hospital admissions in the USA are still rising, unfortunately. Hopefully it exhibits the same trend in the UK where a greater share of hospitalizations are incidental with COVID19 instead of primarily because of COVID19, but I don't know if that data is published anywhere. The key differentiating factors between the UK and the USA in this case would be that the UK has a larger vaccination percentage and a better healthcare system than the USA. We'll see how much of a difference that makes.

Unlike South Africa, whose omicron spike is already on a downward trend, our case counts are only going higher. Even with reduced severity of disease that seemingly accompanies an omicron infection, if we don't start attenuating this wave soon our hospitalizations will match what we saw back in the pre-vaccine days (which makes sense since I think the primary factor in the fast spread of Omicron is its immune escape characteristics). One can only hope that the majority of them are less severe hospitalizations. Fortunately, the ICU counts are not growing too high at the moment, but that could also just be lag.

During the summer of Delta, the USA peaked about a month and a half after South Africa. Assuming Omicron will do the same, South Africa peaked in the middle of December which means the USA won't see a downward trend until the end of January. I hope that doesn't happen and our downward trend starts a lot sooner.

Cases > hospitalizations > ICU > death

This sequence will always progress, but we're still learning what the relative proportions and lag times are for omicron, and how much those breaking points are decoupled from each other relative to previous variants. There are some promising signs that warrant optimism, but still a lot we don't know.

COVID-19 Data Explorer

Explore global data on COVID-19.

ourworldindata.org

U.S. CDC estimates Omicron variant to be 58.6% of cases, revises projection

The Omicron variant was estimated to be 58.6% of the coronavirus variants circulating in the United States as of Dec. 25, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday.

www.reuters.com

Omicron has only been dominant for a week, so I expect a significant part of this to be Delta overlap. Next week should start to look better.

 

[Rentahamster]

U.S. CDC estimates Omicron variant to be 58.6% of cases, revises projection

The Omicron variant was estimated to be 58.6% of the coronavirus variants circulating in the United States as of Dec. 25, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday.

www.reuters.com

Omicron has only been dominant for a week, so I expect a significant part of this to be Delta overlap. Next week should start to look better.

Possibly. I hope it does.

 

[BadBurger]

Regarding the above several posts ^^

We're getting an influx of emergency room patients across all regions for flulike symptoms. It's become apparent that a lot of people think omicron is more dangerous than it is, and flooding ER's not realizing that their symptoms will probably be gone in a day or two, especially if they're vaccinated. The agency that handles coordination between hospitals had to release statements in the local media across just about the entire state to inform people and try to get them to go to their primary care physician if they have one.

We personally launched a COVID dashboard that allows people to check the ICU bed usage and COVID patients currently being treated in our hospitals so people can see if it's even worth trying to seek a hospital stay as the wave really kicks into gear. So far it's still low. One hospital is at 24% ICU bed usage, the rest all between 10 - 19%.

 

[Rentahamster]

 

[95mellow]

Feeling really bad after my Moderna booster. I had no reaction to my first two Pfizer vaccines.

Bad leg pain, headache, sore throat, vomiting, cold and hot sweats, etc. Did anyone else have a rough time with it? I got it done on the 30th and I'm still absolutely out of it today.

Okay, so it wasn't the Moderna booster.

Turns out I have COVID. A nice one-two combo of the booster and COVID itself.

Nice.

 

[sinnergy]

Hospital admissions in the USA are still rising, unfortunately. Hopefully it exhibits the same trend in the UK where a greater share of hospitalizations are incidental with COVID19 instead of primarily because of COVID19, but I don't know if that data is published anywhere. The key differentiating factors between the UK and the USA in this case would be that the UK has a larger vaccination percentage and a better healthcare system than the USA. We'll see how much of a difference that makes.

Unlike South Africa, whose omicron spike is already on a downward trend, our case counts are only going higher. Even with reduced severity of disease that seemingly accompanies an omicron infection, if we don't start attenuating this wave soon our hospitalizations will match what we saw back in the pre-vaccine days (which makes sense since I think the primary factor in the fast spread of Omicron is its immune escape characteristics). One can only hope that the majority of them are less severe hospitalizations. Fortunately, the ICU counts are not growing too high at the moment, but that could also just be lag.

During the summer of Delta, the USA peaked about a month and a half after South Africa. Assuming Omicron will do the same, South Africa peaked in the middle of December which means the USA won't see a downward trend until the end of January. I hope that doesn't happen and our downward trend starts a lot sooner.

Cases > hospitalizations > ICU > death

This sequence will always progress, but we're still learning what the relative proportions and lag times are for omicron, and how much those breaking points are decoupled from each other relative to previous variants. There are some promising signs that warrant optimism, but still a lot we don't know.

COVID-19 Data Explorer

Explore global data on COVID-19.

ourworldindata.org

The thread that does circles , good thing USA doesn’t do lockdowns anymore , deaths are acceptable, only if it’s not in your family

 

[sinnergy]

Okay, so it wasn't the Moderna booster.

Turns out I have COVID. A nice one-two combo of the booster and COVID itself.

Nice.

Double immunity! You probably got it when in line for the booster

 

[funkygunther]

Okay, so it wasn't the Moderna booster.

Turns out I have COVID. A nice one-two combo of the booster and COVID itself.

Nice.

Ultra immunity

 

[Chaplain]

 

[sinnergy]

Fludelcron would even more mega

 

[celsowmbr]

NYC will consider race when distributing life-saving COVID treatments

New York City will take a patient’s race into account when distributing potentially life-saving COVID treatments, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed.

nypost.com

 

[funkygunther]

NYC will consider race when distributing life-saving COVID treatments

New York City will take a patient’s race into account when distributing potentially life-saving COVID treatments, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed.

nypost.com

this is so weird, I just don’t get it

 

[Chaplain]

 

[poppabk]

Actually i think it made perfect sense. As people who are fully vaccinate are less careful about the social distance and washing hand as often. People who are not vaxxed knew they are in danger so they act in a more careful manner

Same reason people in Florida are 80 times more likely to catch Covid than someone in North Dakota. Or why you are 1000 times more likely to die of Covid in the US today than Israel. /s

 

[Chaplain]

 

[Kilau]

this is so weird, I just don’t get it

Because punishment for the sins of the past should be leveled on the innocent of the present.

 

[Vicetrailia]

This is the dumbest tweet that i have read in a while.

 

[betrayal]

Bad news for all alarmists and people who cannot understand statistics without external assistance.

London, the hotspot in the UK, has already peaked and the number of cases is falling again while ventilated beds remain low.

So it's exactly the same as in South Africa or in Gauteng province, the biggest hotspot of Omicron.

Now the "we're all going to die soon" folks can take a moment to wonder how this could be and keep an eye out for the next variant (by pressing F5 while browsing CNN).

 

[pel1300]

This is the dumbest tweet that i have read in a while.

What's so dumb about it? You sound triggered.

 

[Chaplain]

Shortages of labor, raw materials and transportation are crimping the human food supply, from beverages to snacks. The challenge is the same for pet food, and is even more acute, supermarket executives say, because of the sudden high demand. More people have adopted pets during the Covid-19 pandemic, and pet owners are buying bigger volumes of food. Pet-food sales at supermarkets grew 6.9% over the past 52 weeks ended Nov. 27, compared with 2.3% for food overall, according to research firm NielsenIQ ... Many supermarkets, unable to find substitutes, are leaving pet-food shelves empty. Pet-food manufacturers, struggling to secure ingredients and expand production, have signaled that shortages could persist. J.M. Smucker Co. notified retailers in November that it would limit shipments of some pet-food products through January 2023, citing transportation challenges with the supply of wet food—which typically uses imported ingredients. Freshpet Inc., which makes refrigerated dog food and dry food for cats, is expanding its suppliers of turkey and plastic film, used in packaging, and has added production capacity, said Chief Executive Billy Cyr. But equipment for new production lines is getting held up at ports, and construction materials are running low, he said.

 

[Vicetrailia]

What's so dumb about it? You sound triggered.

We knew about no mask vs cloth vs double cloth vs n95 protection since the beginning. There’s nothing new being said.

 

[Rentahamster]

What's so dumb about it?

Because it shows that the person tweeting this "criticism" doesn't understand the issue and hasn't understood it from the beginning. Primarily that these "conspiracy theorists" were right all along. They weren't. They turn a complicated issue into a black and white issue either because it's easier to fit their narrative that way, or because they don't understand how fluid dynamics and viral transmission works. First of all, the "all or nothing" type of fallacy. Just because something doesn't work at 100%, doesn't mean it's useless. This is the same type of irresponsible thinking that puts off many people from the vaccine too. Masks work on a spectrum of effectiveness, with two primary factors - how well the material filters the air, and how well it disrupts of blocks the air coming from and entering your respiratory system.

At the bottom of the spectrum are loose fitting cloth or paper masks which filter out lots of droplets but probably not the smallest particles of water, while buffeting but not blocking the airflow. This traps a lot of the virus that are hitching a ride on droplets from your mouth, as well as reducing the distance your air is expelled and increasing the time it would take for your airborne fine droplets to spread around a given area.

At the top of the spectrum are well fitting N95 masks which filter out large to very fine droplets of water and airborne mists of water that could be harboring virus particles. It also has no gaps, so all outgoing and incoming air must be filtered through the material, which means the N95 mask wearer is contributing zero amounts of droplets and minimal amounts of airborne water particles to the outside air.

Therefore any mask is better than no mask, but of course N95 masks provide maximum protection. The trouble is, in the early days of the pandemic N95 masks were in short supply, which is why people were told to wear any mask (except for in the really early days when they fucked up and lied about not needing masks because they wanted to save the supply for healthcare workers). Now that the supply of N95 masks is not an issue anymore, the message is "wear a mask, and preferably an N95 mask if you want maximum protection).

Here are some quick sources to catch you up on how it works, as well as some background information about the term "airborne" which not even all scientists agreed upon, which further adds confusion to the issue. This is why so many authorities had such a muddled message about mask wearing. Even the science was messy. But there's one thing that shows this was limited to Western scientists. In Asia, mask wearing has been part of the normal culture for a very long time, even before COVID, and hardly anyone is confused about their efficacy. They didn't have this problem because they already knew their shit.

How well masks protect

A detailed study shows the maximum risks of being infected by the coronavirus for different scenarios with and without masks

www.mpg.de

The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill

All pandemic long, scientists brawled over how the virus spreads. Droplets! No, aerosols! At the heart of the fight was a teensy error with huge consequences.

www.wired.com

 

[prinz_valium]

Okay, so it wasn't the Moderna booster.

Turns out I have COVID. A nice one-two combo of the booster and COVID itself.

Nice.

3 vaccine shots and covid.
Should play the lottery.

What do you think where you probably got it?
Hope you're well again

 

[ManaByte]

And we're back to bitching about masks.

 

[95mellow]

3 vaccine shots and covid.
Should play the lottery.

What do you think where you probably got it?
Hope you're well again

Thank you! I'm feeling a bit better today, but the symptoms are rapidly changing: it's mostly lethargy and breathing pain right now.

I have no idea where I got it, really. My current thoughts are that I already had an asymptomatic case of COVID before the jab, then the booster caused symptoms to occur. Otherwise, I would have caught it from the vaccination centre in some ironic twist of fate.

 

[Chaplain]

You’re struggling to understand why some people are vaccine hesitant, TRIGGERnometry co-host Konstantin Kisin explains.

 

[Narasumas]

I just saw this on TV….so upsetting that this is the normalization of where we are.

 

[Clear]

I just saw this on TV….so upsetting that this is the normalization of where we are.

A derpa derp derp... derpa derp derp...

/facepalm

Note, no claims are made about its efficacy about preventing exposure to Covid or any other aerosolized pathogen, only comfort.

Seriously. How is this being allowed to happen? Its deranged.

 

[Malakhov]

Thank you! I'm feeling a bit better today, but the symptoms are rapidly changing: it's mostly lethargy and breathing pain right now.

I have no idea where I got it, really. My current thoughts are that I already had an asymptomatic case of COVID before the jab, then the booster caused symptoms to occur. Otherwise, I would have caught it from the vaccination centre in some ironic twist of fate.

Symptoms are random, I've had it since Wednesday and have nothing but a minor cold even though I have no vaccines at all

Maybe because I was exposed to it quite often while forced to work in COVID units without a mask, who knows

 

[poppabk]

Symptoms are random, I've had it since Wednesday and have nothing but a minor cold even though I have no vaccines at all

Maybe because I was exposed to it quite often while forced to work in COVID units without a mask, who knows

Just a normal 'curled up in the fetal position from pain, begging someone to put a bullet in your head' type cold or is it a really bad cold?

 

[Malakhov]

Just a normal 'curled up in the fetal position from pain, begging someone to put a bullet in your head' type cold or is it a really bad cold?

No just a minor cold ie: runny nose, headache when I'm due for Tylenol. Also lost taste for 3 days, that was the worst part of it, never happened to me besides when I had mononucleosis once, I know it happens sometimes to people with colds or the flu though.

I can still do stuff, I've been painting miniatures on and off trying to keep busy