I’m sure you’ve all read that SARS-CoV-2 is mutating. That is no surprise. Some mutations likely transmit more efficiently. Unfortunate, but also not a big surprise as one would imagine some would transmit more and some less. Evolutionary pressure dictates that ones that transmit more would tend become more dominant.
Sadly, according to a study on biorxiv.org, it appears there is a mutation spreading in South Africa that may have mutated to be somewhat resistant to antibodies from the previous strain. Not. Good. News.
Here’s the abstract:
SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2, a novel lineage of the coronavirus causing COVID-19, contains multiple mutations within two immunodominant domains of the spike protein. Here we show that this lineage exhibits complete escape from three classes of therapeutically relevant monoclonal antibodies. Furthermore 501Y.V2 shows substantial or complete escape from neutralizing antibodies in COVID-19 convalescent plasma. These data highlight the prospect of reinfection with antigenically distinct variants and may foreshadow reduce defficacy of current spike-based vaccines.
Of course, mutations that get around pre-existing immunity spreading is not too surprising. The new mutations can infect those who have immunity to the old. So they have a fresh new pool of people to infect. Evolutionary advantage!
If the mutation has evolved to get around previous immunity, current vaccines based on the initial strain may give poor protection against new strains. Big Pharma may need to develop vaccines that give better protection against new strains. I’ll be happy to get annual vaccinations just as I do for flu. But I have to admit I’d hoped Corona would mutate slowly enough for the first tranche of vaccines to work well long enough to damp down cases and give us breathing room before we all need other vaccines. Maybe that will still happen. Or maybe not.
I guess I’ll have to double down on my (possibly) prophylactic carrageenan nasal spray. . . (which, of course, is untested and may be entirely ineffective.) I’ve promised to report a bit on this for others who feel the need to “do” something even if it might be pointless.
I read that Moderna’s vaccine stops the UK mutation.
MikeN,
I read that too. That mutation seems to be dubbed “B.1.1.7”. (Here https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-u-k-coronavirus-mutation-is-worrying-but-not-terrifying/ )
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As long as this is not gone, it will mutate. I think most virologists think the vaccines will protect against most mutations. Someone (who seemed informed) also said that at least in theory, too many mutations to the “spike” would tend to make the virus less infectious because that’s what it uses to enter the cells. The viruses create the proteins that look like the spike.
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But… of course… life forms have a way of adapting. So I doubt anyone can be certain of anything.
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Presumably, eventually a vaccine could be made that mimics a bunch of different “spikes”. But our testing cycle is slow.
There is so much covid out there (the actually number of virus particles has to be an enormous number) that it seems inevitable that it will mutate around the vaccine eventually. The vaccine makers need to be ready for this and knock out a variant in a quicker fashion to prevent another global pandemic. It apparently mutates much slower than the flu does, so hopefully it won’t be as much of an arms race.
Tom,
I think the vaccine makers can knock out new vaccines fast. It’s the testing that’s slow!!
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Yes, I think the reason for the large number of mutations is there are a large number of people infected.
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I also read that (sadly) when people with compromised immune systems get anti-virals, the patient can end up being a host a long time. Because their own body doesn’t make much in the way of antibodies, they can sort of be a nice little platform for allowing the variants that get around the anti-virals to preferentially evolve. Then they can be a source of the “new” virus.
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In contrast someone with a normal immune system will at least tend to generate antibodies to the mutated viruses if present. The mutated virus can “get out” from them, but it’s not quite like an a person whose body allowed these mutations to thrive while the one the antiviral drug knocks out got knocked out.
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Oh. Well… Maybe it’s good the anti-viral drugs are being ‘underused’ because they are cumbersom.
Lucia,
“I think the vaccine makers can knock out new vaccines fast. It’s the testing that’s slow!!”
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For sure, which is why the annual flu vaccines don’t go through the rigorous testing that a “new” vaccine does. The m-RNA platform is actually much easier to manipulate to catch up with a mutating strain of virus… but the FDA will not be able to force each “optimized” vaccine to go through multi-phase testing, just like they don’t for flu vaccines. Suck it up FDA!
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I am not at all worried about viral evolution. I am worried about getting enough injections into enough older people to reduce deaths and stop the crazy public policy nightmare.
Also remember that many mutations can make either no difference or can make it less deadly. Killing the host isn’t a prime directive for an effective virus. I suppose many vaccines are exactly that, effectively non-deadly forms of the same virus.
Tom,
I agree there isn’t an prime directive for an effective virus!
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In fact, I imagine that just like in humans, most mutations are not to the evolutionary advantage of the virus. Those will just die off. Others are neutral But those that have an evolutionary advantage will tend to thrive compared to their progenitors.
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When inside an infected body, a mutation that gets past the bodies existing antibodies will tend to thrive in the body. It might turn out that the same mutation made it hard to transmit… then it will still not propagate into a new host. But if it maintained it’s ability to transmit and gets around antibodies to the progenitor virus, this mutation even those who recovered from the “old” virus have no protection. (Or possibly very little. It depends how well the new virus gets around the antibodies or t-cells from the old virus!)
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If SteveF is right and the FDA won’t require the full testing for “tweaked” vaccines that just cover both the new and old virus types, then this is going to be managable. I mean… BIG PHARMA can clearly design these things quickly now. It’s the testing that’s been slow.
The trick is to get antibodies that react to a highly conserved part of the virus, such as the receptor binding domain that enables the virus to attach to particular sites on the cell membrane. Then mutations that enable the virus to evade antibodies also prevent the virus from entering cells.
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Poliovirus is an enterovirus; they mutate *very* rapidly. But the vaccines developed almost 70 years ago still work since they target a conserved part of the virus.
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Influenza virus has an outer layer that does not seem to do much but provide camouflage. The virus does not care how much that mutates, but the mutations confuse the immune system.
MikeM
That would be great if you can do it. But with a natural infection the host’s immune system ‘decides’ what part of the virus it makes antibodies to. To some extent that’s going to happen with a vaccine (although with these new ones where they pick a feature, it is a little different. )
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Still, it’s a bit difficult for Big Pharma to just pick a “conserved” feature. Certainly last January they didn’t have good data about which parts of Corona mutate fastest! They may be starting to.
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I suspect it may just end up being like flu viruses. The vaccine contains material to grant immunity to several strains and we each get a new one every now and then. I’ve always said I’d be fine with getting a shot every year. I still am!
Lucia,
“I suspect it may just end up being like flu viruses.”
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Maybe, but everything I have read suggests that the rate of mutation with covid-19 is relatively low compared to many RNA viruses. In addition, my understanding is that flu is unique in its variability because it also has a natural pool of flu viruses in swine and domesticated ducks… which can lead to rather larger genetic changes with ‘sudden’ emergence when there are jumps of a new strain to humans. It is true that there are lots of coronaviruses in bats which could potentially jump to people (bats are the most likely origin for covid-19) but the risk of a jump to people is not the same as with swine and domesticated ducks….. unless you happen to fancy eating bats.
I wonder if we should be seeing the vaccine effect on the death counts yet? It should start happening pretty soon I think. Not sure the best place to look, perhaps excess deaths in nursing homes. It will take months to get all the 65+ vaccinated.
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Vaccines should be very effective around a month after getting the first shot. Deaths occur around 17 days after showing symptoms. The numbers should start changing around 6 weeks after the vaccination program starts?
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Not obvious how one would isolate a vaccine effect from the ongoing surges and declines.
The least surprising thing I read all week. WP media columnist:
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“The commentary from TV broadcasters across the board, all day long, was at times embarrassingly complimentary.”
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/the-media-can-be-glad-for-the-biden-white-houses-return-to-normalcy-but-lets-not-be-lulled/2021/01/20/ea444ac6-5b81-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html
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She then goes on to champion a continuation of intentional partisan coverage.
Glenn Greenwald is a leftist that people need to listen to.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/01/20/glenn_greenwald_ruling_class_define_insurgency_as_anyone_who_has_an_ideology_other_than_neoliberalism.html
He says that a big part of the problem is people
At least I will give the Portland protesters kudos for having principles, they don’t care who is President.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/us/protests-portland-seattle-biden.html
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“Protesters in the Pacific Northwest smashed windows at a Democratic Party headquarters, marched through the streets and burned an American flag on Wednesday in a strident challenge by antifascist and racial-justice protesters to the new administration of President Biden, whose promised reforms, they declared, “won’t save us.â€â€
““A Democratic administration is not a victory for oppressed people,†said a flier handed out during the demonstrations, during which protesters also smashed windows at a shop often described as the original Starbucks in downtown Seattle. â€
“In Seattle, about 150 people marched through the streets. Some spray-painted buildings with an anarchist symbol and broke windows, including at a federal courthouse. They chanted both anti-Trump and anti-Biden slogans.â€
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The attack on symbols of power is somehow not a threat to ‘D’emocracy of course in this telling of the story. Reading the comments is an absolute hoot. The tone has changed dramatically.
More principled common sense from Greenwald:
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-new-domestic-war-on-terror-is
Tom Scharf,
Well of course those mostly peaceful protests aren’t a threat to ‘D’emocracy. You’re ignoring history and truth just by suggesting such a thing. [ SARC ]
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/comparing-blm-marches-capitol-riots-ignores-history-truth-n1254596?icid=msd_topgrid
Because the intent behind the violence makes all the difference, is what I seem to be reading.
I thought this was as choice a bit of doublespeak as any I remember seeing recently:
We’re not the Judean Peoples Front, we’re the People’s Front of Judea!
Tom,
Don’t tell me I’m going to have to clear history to read that. (I’m not going to subscribe to the NYT pay wall. Nothing in aprticular, but they just aren’t worth the monthly fee.)
mark bofill,
Monty Python will never die.
The BLM riots, the Capitol siege, and the ongoing antifa Starbucks smash-ups ( which really makes them look pathetic ) are common in that they’re probably all a direct result of the COVID lockdowns.
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Riots were both predictable and predicted as a result of the various ongoing states of lockdown.
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Unfortunately, vaccination is plodding along, leaving us still vulnerable to this madness.
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No doubt, there are real issues and BLM rioted pre-rona, antifa has been destructive for a while. But I think the numbers and intensity of riots will subside a lot when the pandemic subsides.
Turbulent Eddie,
I do think the lockdowns have made protests and demonstrations larger and more violent. I said so last summer. Lots of people have nothing to do. It’s not wrong to be a political junky. But ordinarily, most people have a job, school, some other hobbies, sports and so on. People end up spending too much time on politics and having time to demonstrate when they otherwise wouldn’t have.
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My husband’s theory is there are weird things going on in the stock market related to this too. Some people are developing the “habit” of trading. That will not work out well for them.
Turbulent Eddie,
My SWAG is that something like half of all people getting the vaccine have already been exposed to the disease. In North and South Dakota, it’s probably much higher as both states appear to be long past the herd immunity threshold. There are a number of other states that have likely passed the threshold as well, TN for example.
DeWitt,
In places like Florida, where elderly are supposed to get vaccinated first, vaccinations should cause a big drop in deaths per confirmed case before a big drop in confirmed cases. So far, that is not evident, but most of the early doses went to medical staff, not the elderly. We should begin to see a change very soon though.
Covid restrictions appear to work great for the flu. It’s down 50x according to some measures.
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Covid-19 Has Nearly Wiped Out the Flu—How Do We Keep It From Coming Back?
Mask-wearing and higher vaccination rates have contributed to historically low levels of seasonal influenza
https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-has-nearly-wiped-out-the-fluhow-do-we-keep-it-from-coming-back-11611230410
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“A similar monitoring network in the U.S. found 103 of 25,817 samples were positive for the flu in the week ended Jan. 9. That ratio, less than one-half of 1%, compares with a 23% positive rate on nearly 50,000 samples a year ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
I’m under the impression flu vaccines were dispensed at more than the average rate last fall. The nurse told me they were much busier than usual.
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Isolation probably helps on top of that!
Dewitt. September seriological study https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2773576 put North Dakoto at about 7% infected, upper bound 14%. Herd immunity seems a long shot to me. How would you explain absolute lack of any sign of HI in places with much higher infection rates? (eg UK). On the hand, you have sparsely populated state and google mobility data suggests reduced contact rates still applying. People are being sensible, and I would guess low import rate and low prevalence are big factors.
Very hard to work out how to get good data for hypothesis testing.
If I were vunerable in Dakota’s, I would still be very cautious.
“How do we keep it from coming back?”
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Ummm…. we probably don’t. The death rate from flu is far too low to justify the terrible disruption and economic damage covid-19 policies have caused. I shutter when such questions are even asked.
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Maybe the m-RNA vaccine technology will lead to far more effective flu vaccines that are cheaper to make, with the response to changing virus quicker and more accurate.
Phil Scadden,
Since September (when that work was done), the number of confirmed cases in the Dakota’s has increased by a factor of about 7. I rather suspect seropositivity has as well. DeWitt is probably right: with relatively sparse population, the Dakotas do look to be well past the HIT. Of course, constant re-introduction of the virus from elsewhere will ensure a continuing low background rate of infections. But that is a different issue. I note also that seropositivity tests likely underestimate the prevalence of resistance, since many people with known resistance do not show measurable antibodies, but do have clear T-cell mediated resistance.
Seropositive tests might underestimate, but Boris’s assumption of HIT based on declining cases did not work out well. The interesting question is whether those with resistance (whether from antibody or T-cell mediated) is proportional to those seriopositive.
I am intrigued with idea that HIT is related to sparseness (or rather underlying contact rate). I see support for that here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1635496/ in pre-covid study of vaccine coverage. It does make sense. If you are currently living in the Dakota’s then the message would be to stay there.
Hmmmm… Youtube decided, since yesterday, that the news stories of the day don’t need to feature quite so prominently in my home page feed anymore.
Phil Scadden,
Who is Boris?
Seropositive means circulating antibodies at a measurable level…. that usually means resistant. Not certain what distinction you are making.
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WRT the HIT, since the HIT depends on the rate of transmission, I am not sure how sparse population, which is clearly related to number of contacts, could not have a strong influence on the HIT.
Phil Scadden (Comment #197275): “September seriological study https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2773576 put North Dakoto at about 7% infected, upper bound 14%. Herd immunity seems a long shot to me.”
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According to that study, in early August (eTable 1) ND was up to 55K infections (upper bound twice that) in a population of 762K. 7% infected, upper bound 14%. At that time they were at 7K total cases; they are now at 96K. So if the ratio has stayed constant, they would now be at 96% infected. Definitely more than enough for herd immunity.
SteveF and Phil Scadden,
I’m assuming that Boris is Boris Johnson, PM of the UK. North and South Dakota have a the number of confirmed cases/million over twice that of the UK, 12.6% of ND (96,370/762,062), 12.0% for SD while it’s still only 5.2% for the UK. BoJo mischaracterized a low case rate during the summer(?) for herd immunity. But that was unlikely when confirmed cases were less than 1% of the total population at that time. It’s far more likely when more than 10% of the population has tested positive or other confirmation of infection. We are reasonably certain that confirmed cases are only a fraction of total infections.
I still think that closing K-12 schools or masking, social distancing and washing hands frequently at those that are still open is a large factor in reducing influenza infections. Influenza was also low in the Southern Hemisphere during its flu season, which means fewer people capable of spreading the infection to the Northern Hemisphere.
SteveF – I agree on HIT and sparseness. I had been thinking in purely model terms of probability that new contact of infected person has has immunity and its effect on R. I was neglecting the confounding probabilities on network.
DeWitt ” Influenza was also low in the Southern Hemisphere during its flu season, which means fewer people capable of spreading the infection to the Northern Hemisphere.”
Not to mention vastly fewer travelling between hemispheres.
DeWitt,
“We are reasonably certain that confirmed cases are only a fraction of total infections.”
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Sure, but the problem is the ratio between confirmed cases and total infections has certainly undergone big changes over time. Early on it is very likely a large majority of infections were mild and never confirmed, whereas now any symptoms at all usually lead to testing. The ratio of tests to confirmed cases has reached 20 in lots of places, so the recent confirmed case counts are much more likely to reflect any covid case with symptoms, even if mild. Which unfortunately makes cumulative case counts just about useless for gauging progress toward heard immunity.
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Boris Johnson was obviously too optimistic, but the shape of the death rate curves in the Dakotas (both with very few restrictions) does strongly suggest they are well past the HIT. Both states have relatively young populations, yet both approach 2,000 deaths per million. In states where the % of the population over 65 is much higher than the Dakotas, and population density also higher, that 2,000 deaths per million seems a lower plausible bound for the pandemic dying out, and it would probably take more like 3,000 deaths per million for the pandemic to die out in those places…… unless public policy focused on isolating people most at risk.
It is weird that measures which seem to have largely failed with regard to the Wuhan virus appear to be spectacularly effective with regard to influenza.
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My guess is that it is because there is a bifurcation in the spread. R>1 gives exponential growth; R<1 gives exponential decay. There is a lot of resistance to influenza in the population, from both prior infections and vaccines. Not so for Wuhan. So perhaps the control measures are enough to tip influenza, but not Wuhan, into R<1.
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The huge seasonality in influenza is evidence for that. That seasonality is largely unexplained; although there are many theories, none seem to be generally accepted. But just small shifts in R can suffice to produce large changes in incidence. Coronavirus is also seasonal, but susceptibility has been high enough to keep that seasonality from being dominant.
SteveF,
Illinois might be past herd immunity too.
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I still want a vaccine. Herd immunity means number of new cases won’t grow exponentially. But the number of cases is still high. Even if many are mild, I can still get it.
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Joe Biden’s goal for number of vaccines a day is so low I may not get vaccinated until June!
Mike M,
Yes. There is a huge difference between R>1 and R<1. Between the increase in vaccine acceptance this year, the masks, the social distancing, R tipping to <1 is not unlikely for circulating strains of influenza.
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This is sort of the first "big" outbreak of a corona variant. There's a halfway decent likelihood the population will develop a base of resistance to future mutations. Vaccines will help. In future, the case rate pattern may look similar to flu.
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Possibly, new corona vaccines will be available every September and we'll get the along with our flu shot.
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If so, the Corona virus experience may bump up the number of people getting their flu shot each fall. I was often lackadaisical and got my flu shot late. (Yes... often January.) I'm not going to do that with Corona if I can help it. If there is no contra-indication, I'll get both in the same visit. If others think similarly, influenza rates remain lower for a number of years going forward.
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Eventually, people will get lackdaisacal about Corona vaccines too. But at that point, many may have at least partial immunity to many variants. So my guess is we won't see what we saw with this outbreak.
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In the US, we may also see much better filtration systems and systems to bring in more fresh air. That might help too.
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Some habits may change permanently in ways that will knock down R for airborne diseases. I have a wide screen tv with a nice sound system. I already almost never went out to movies, but I suspect a fair number of people will have developed a habit of enjoying watching movies at home. They already were doing that increasingly. Some will still want to go out, but theaters may see a permanent hit.
Lucia,
Illinois may be past HIT with the many restrictions in place, but with only 1,600 deaths per million, and a population older than the Dakotas, I think there could be (would be?) yet another surge in deaths if restrictions were lifted. The pandemic dying out with 3,000 or more deaths per million seems a more likely endpoint for Illinois. Of course, with the vaccine, 3,000 per million seems unlikely to ever happen.
Lucia,
I agree theaters are going to suffer a lot, and most will disappear…. there is just no good reason for them to exist. Restaurants will not suffer so much as theaters long term, but take-out is likely to remain more popular for a very long time. Mass attendance events (sports, concerts, live theater) will also suffer, but should slowly return.
Encouraging people to get vaccinated I hope is the way we go with both the flu and Covid-19. I cringe though when I see that influenza cases are down precipitously and have these images of the power-to-the-states crowd rubbing their hands and contemplating ways that restrictions for Covid-19, or least some, can be kept in place in perpetuity. If the slogan “save just one life” can sell the restrictions with some of the population think of how well a selling job the average number of flu deaths per year could do it. Government restrictions used for emergencies have a tendency of not wanting to go away.
I have made an effort to determine what friends and relatives think about being vaccinated. I would have thought those who were more in line with restrictions and obeying them would also be the most in line with vaccinations – as in following the science. My anecdotal survey so far shows no clear patterns in this matter. I would be curious what a large sample poll would show if these two areas of enquiry were polled together.
Kenneth,
“Government restrictions used for emergencies have a tendency of not wanting to go away.”
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Got to be the understatement of the month. You can count of there being a strong push from the left for permanent extreme restrictions of individual behavior. Complete control is their wont.
The MSM is predictably drooling in happiness over the Biden administration. What renders me near sick to the stomach though are relatives and friends who have begun the hero worshipping of Biden and gang just as they did with Obama and his crowd. I saw some of this with Trump but at least a goodly number of that group would admit to his many flaws.
In my book in does not bode well for our democratic republic to defer from discussing ideas to hero worshipping of all people: politicians.
SteveF,
Agreed. Illinois being past HIT maybe conditional. It may be past HIT based on the “social distance/Mask wearing value of R”.
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I agree restaurants will resume with people relying on take out for some time.
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For the most part, the white-table cloth or even “Denny’s- level” dining out can’t be replaced by dining in. Denny’s level can be soemwhat replaced by take out, but white-table cloth not so much. Less “premium” food items often don’t suffer from the delivery process. But having a wonderful steak seared on the outside and medium rare on the inside isn’t quite the same after it’s taken time to be delivered to your door. Plus… just arranging it all at home is just not the same either!
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Yes, some of this can be cooked at home. But it’s just not quite the same and people will still go out.
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Mass attendance event may need to insist on 50% capacity to make non-vaccinated people feel safe. That gives you space between seats. Alternatively, some might require proof of having passed a Covid test taken on that day. (These exist now, but methods of proving you passed the test aren’t readily available. Or the could restrict attendance to the vaccinated — once again that would mean we need ways to prove we passed.
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Health passports will likely spring up. They will almost certainly be required for international travel. We were required to have them traveling between El Salvadoor and the US when I was a kid. But smart phones or other devices could replace the paper books with the raised seals I remember from my childhood.
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If these are on smartphones, they could be used by people screening customers too. If so, those running some activities will require them. I would want a ballroom dance competition to require them. The demographics skew “middle-aged, old”. It’s indoors. The activity will result in heavier breathing. Dance partners are in very close contact and it’s difficult to enforce any sort of distance between couples during a competition. Quite a few potential customers will not sign up for competition if they think the competition is not safe.
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Competing is very expensive, so the cost of even a $100 test would be fairly trivial compared to the rest of the costs for many competitors.
Many competitors are getting tested anyway. I friend of mine competed in Florida about a month ago. He paid for testing both before and after. After was entirely voluntary and he did it to reduce risk to his family. The cost of the tests was high but he was already willing to spend for air line tickets, hotel, entry fees (not trivial), covering part of travel, time, hotel and testing for his Pro partner who does it for a living.
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I would likely want a choir to require something until the risk of Covid is reduced quite a bit. Here costs of tests relative to cost of singing in a choir might not be trivial. So we can’t predict what they might do.
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At some point, people, especially those hosting events, concerts, sports events and so on will certainly decide to not monitor. The thinking will be those who prefer the risks of Covid to the perceived risk of vaccine can just chose their risk. We do that with measles. But it looks like we have until June before everyone can be vaccinated. Technologies have been rolling out, so we may well see “Health Passports” of some sort.
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“I have a wide screen tv with a nice sound system.”
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Do tell, let’s see who has the alpha system, ha ha. I built up my home theater system over 10 years ago and then upgrade a piece at a time. I had only been going to theaters for a release I really wanted to see in IMAX, otherwise I’d wait for access at home.
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I sure hope you follow “science” and get those $1,000 cables for your digital connections, snicker. Audiophiles can be quite humorous sometimes. The reality of room acoustics is so utterly complex that it renders a lot of audio component picking moot.
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I usually go through a room calibration process, and then just turn up the bass anyway because that’s the way I like it.
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I found this article quite illustrative. Back when I was growing up picking out stereo components was serious business.
https://www.audioholics.com/editorials/romance-high-fidelity
“The MSM is predictably drooling in happiness over the Biden administration.”
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Are you trying to trigger me into a 1,000 word rant? It’s working.
I believe the Jacobin magazine literally pictured him as Jesus on the front cover. I hope it was sarcasm, but I suspect it probably wasn’t.
And now for something completely depressing:
https://thefederalist.com/2021/01/22/the-fracturing-of-america-a-weak-government-complicit-media-and-radical-silicon-valley-might-have-finally-set-it-all-off/
This is why you have to have Fox News and Reason around. Reason noted today that the WP scrubbed it’s previous profile of Kamala Harris of unflattering remarks and added more gush.
https://reason.com/2021/01/22/the-washington-post-memory-holed-kamala-harris-bad-joke-about-inmates-begging-for-food-and-water/
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Fox News picked it up, and now the WP put the original remarks back up. If the legacy MSM had no checks like this they would be Pravda. It is ironic that they see themselves as a check on government when they have now become a biased cheerleader depending on who is in charge.
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Trust in media continues to be at an all time low. Strange that the people running this information are in the UK.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9173711/American-trust-media-hits-time-low.html
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Naturally the media thinks it is the readers who are the problem, incapable of separating fact from fiction.
Truly Bizarre. Facebook group Vaccines Exposed removed by the data overlords. However …
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-fights-over-the-covid-19-vaccine-are-everywhere-on-facebook/
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“It was so convincing, Facebook removed the group January 15 for violating the site’s community standards. But Vaccines Exposed was really a “honeypot†group run by vaccine advocates hoping to attract the attention of anti-vaxxers and people on the fence.”
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How … ummmm … clever?
I think it’s important to say for the record that while I appreciated many of President Trump’s policies, he never incited me to erection.
https://nypost.com/2021/01/22/schumer-says-senators-will-decide-if-trump-incited-erection/
Tom Scharf,
So, according to the DM article, the public now trusts more in CEO’s and business leaders than the media? I hope that doesn’t include Bezos, Zuckerberg, Dorsey and their ilk.
Tom:
A pro-Vax group running an anti-Vax Facebook page to have argument with anti-Vaxer thinking that could convince anti-Vaxers to drop their anti-Vax stance?! Truly bizzare. Also likely futile!
I keep hoping lots of over 65’s will decide they don’t want the vaccine. Alas, that seems nothing but a fantasy… Every opportunity to get one of the vaccines in Florida leads to overwhelmed phone lines and web sites. We need 25 times more vaccine than we have available. It will be months, unfortunately.r
Lucia,
“Yes, some of this can be cooked at home. But it’s just not quite the same and people will still go out.”
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It depends. Some of the most memorable meals I have ever had were what I prepared for a smallish group… 6 or 8, including me. You can select primo quality materials, perfectly matched wines, and eliminate all the hassles of going to a good restaurant, not the least of which is the need for a reservation on a Friday or Saturday. If reasonably planned and carefully prepared, it is not hard to make most white table-cloth meals seem second best. The only problem is the time invested….. I would normally start preparations 4 hours before dinner, not counting time to visit the grocery store and wine store. Like in most things, you get what you pay for, in money or time, but those dinners were worth it.
The question is how did 538 magically figure out the Facebook group was fake? They didn’t say. I suspect 538 wanted to “feature” this group as some sort of vaccine denier example and tried to interview them and then they fessed up so as not to embarrass 538.
SteveF,
Yes. The host can substitute for the kitchen staff. But then it’s definitely not as relaxing for the host!!
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My one (maternal) step-grandmother used to hire a cleaning lady and cooked herself. My paternal grandmother hired a cook for Sunday dinner! That made Sunday dinner relaxed for the family, while also being excellent. But the cook was busy getting stuff ready!
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I think people will still want the restaurant experience rather than have someone in the household spend all day pulling dinner together.
I’m not a good enough cook or have the equipment to prepare most of the memorable restaurant meals I’ve had. There’s no way I’m going to fix Thai whole crispy flounder at home. Nor could I do the tasting menu at the three Michelin star restaurant in Switzerland. And that’s just a few off the top of my head.
DeWitt,
Not having top knotch cooking skills is an issue for lots of people. The other issue is that when people to to a restaurant, each has a range of choices for what they order. If I want lamb and my husband wants fish, that’s possible at a restaurant. But we’d never offer a choice if we were hosting and wouldn’t expect a host to do so either.
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Similar things happen with salad, vegetables and desert. There is also a charm to being able to chose at almost the last minute.
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And of course, many people like to be waited on. While a host does that to some extent, there a certain point where the host is just going to be harried and exhausted if they try to mimic a wait staff too much. My mom always assigned the children to clear up tables when she had her adult guests. That allowed her to keep conversing with guests. We were assigned some elements of food prep and certainly dish-doing!. But many people don’t have that sort of in-house “staff” to enlist. So going to a restaurant definitely has its charms. People will resume going!
lucia,
Speaking of being waited on, the wait staff at the Swiss restaurant was a significant part of the whole experience. Each course would come out under a china cloche. When all four of us had been served, four waiters would simultaneously remove the cloches with a flourish.
My wife entered into the covid vaccine browser refresh Olympic trials this morning and sadly failed to qualify.
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They really just need to do a lottery system for everyone who is qualified for vaccination.
Tom,
Yes. A lottery would be better for everyone qualified. It would be both more convenient and approach “equity” because as it stands, only people with time and resources to do the browser refresh approach have any chance of getting a vaccine!
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If you had 10 grandchildren, maybe you could assign them all the task of refreshing their browsers and then sign up when one of them “hits”!
Lucia,
I would normally talk to the people I invited to get notice of any strong dislikes…. then stayed away from those.
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DeWitt,
My cooking never compared to 3-star restaurants, but the truth is most white table cloth meals are not close to a three-star restaurant. About 15 years ago I dined at a two star restaurant (by coincidence, also in Switzerland). Very nice, of course, but the longest lasting impression wast the absurd price….. about $750 plus tip for two…. just crazy. Cooking regional meals (Thai, Chinese, etc) does often require special cooking equipment. I stayed away from those dishes.
Yes. That makes sense. I enjoy eating in people’s homes. But there are still an element of restaurant dining that is attractive and different. So I think that will resume.
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Jim and I can make better food for Thanksgiving. His brothers and the two of us go out to a golf course that has a buffet and does a nice job. On Thanksgiving we like a little of all the sides and choice of deserts, we don’t want the hassle of pulling it all together and we don’t want the left overs!!
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The food is not bad. The place is packed. I’m relatively sure nearly everyone can actually make better pies, cookies, casseroles and so on. But it’s relaxing for everyone!
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No one can really just phone a friend and tell them to do all the work. Plus, if you did, dessert might be pumpkin pie. Oy! 🙂
SteveF
Ouch! Still, there are people who think that’s fine. I bet that level of restaurant will reopen after the pandemic!!
Lucia,
“dessert might be pumpkin pie”
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I tended more toward chocolate tort with vanilla Haagen-dazs, a raspberry tart, or bananas flambe (again over Haagen-dazs).
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I don’t believe we have ever had a pumpkin pie except at Thanksgiving…. my mother-in-law’s specialty, made always with indestructible (and nearly inedible) cardboard-like crust.
Chicago has some crazy expensive restaurants. I went to one ‘highly rated’ place 10+ years back, and sat with two business associates at the bar while waiting for our table. We ordered one draft beer and two glasses of the house Cabernet, and when the bar tender handed me the bar check, I thought there had to be a mistake: $79…. $15 for the draft and the rest for the house wine. I must be a cheapskate….. but I will never be comfortable with such crazy restaurant prices.
My wife and I felt we could prepare better meals than most of the restaurants that we frequented, but what kept us going back to some restaurants was a main entree or even a salad that the restaurant did very well or at least to our tastes. We very seldom zeroed in on the same food as our favorites.
Now that I live alone I mainly cook for myself and have to make meals that will appeal to me for more than one or two meals. When I cook for larger gatherings I usually email all of the guests a tentative menu I have planned. That way if someone really does not like an item on the menu they can say so. What usually happens is that the female member of the guest couple or family will reply by saying it sounds great and cannot wait to enjoy it.
I am a lonely cook who never liked any assistance in the kitchen and would have to make that perfectly clear to the aggressive female who might not accept a simple “no thanks”. My wife and I would cook together but I would be lying if I said we were a good team. She liked to cook and worry about the dishes piling up until later and I had to clean up as I cooked.
My biggest concern of late is being able to talk to guests and at the same time prepare the meal by myself, make sure the guests have drinks and that the table(s) are set and have a drink or two myself. I prepare as much of the meal ahead of time as I can and have a definite plan of action – which comes in handy after that second drink.
Actually my daughters-in-law now know where all the good dinnerware is stored better than I and they are a big help. In fact they have on a few occasions brought food over for a family gathering and fixed it themselves. That works for me – even if it might be a concession to aging.
Kennet
Saddly… My mother was that female member. She consistently would forget what people hated or even what people were allergic too. I remember visiting my Uncle near Annapolis. He specifically asked her if I would enjoy crab. (He had crab pots and caught them.)
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So he spent time preparing something elaborate. I am allergic to all crustaceans. I literally vomit if I eat them. Could be worse, I don’t get anaphalactic shock. But naturally, I had to tell him because this wasn’t something I could risk eating a little of to be polite.
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My mom never made us eat anything she cooked. And if every now and then, we happened to not eat the main thing and binged on everything else she didn’t mind. But she also really didn’t notice. So, sadly she is not a good source of what people don’t like because she doesn’t notice!!
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Crustaceans are hardly an every day thing in Illinois so she really didn’t remember.
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(Most of us in the family like most things. So it’s not a big thing. Mary Beth has celiac. I have the crustacean thing. That’s it.)
Lucia, crab fresh out of the water – maybe your mother did not forget.
My grand nephew’s wife is so allergic to shellfish that she ended up in ER when my sister brought a shrimp appetizer to her house. She did not eat any of it.
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Kenneth,
I might suspect she didn’t really forget except my mom wasn’t visiting. So she didn’t get to have any.
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Fortunately I’m not that allergic. My reactions came after eating a full serving. But having reacted badly, at this point, smelling shrimp is unpleasant for me.
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Naturally, I’m not going to do experiments to figure out just how much crustacean causes me a problem.
Lucia,
You can’t eat crabs, lobsters and shrimp, but can eat clams, right?
lucia,
I wouldn’t experiment. Allergic reactions can get worse with repeated exposure. OTOH, if you didn’t get a systemic reaction like hives, you may not have to worry about anaphylaxis. Whenever a phlebotomist drawing a blood sample asks me if I’m allergic to the antiseptic used, I usually reply “nor yet” because it could still happen.
SteveF,
Molluscs are fine. So I can eat oysters, clams and so on. Just not shrimp, lobster, crab. I haven’t tested with other crustaceans and plan not to.
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DeWitt,
I’ve heard they can get worse. Feeling like I have the flu for several hours and vomittng is bad enough. So I don’t push it by testing dose/response or anything else!
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As allergies go, it’s not to inconvenient. Those are currently fairly expensive ingredients so they usually aren’t hidden and also aren’t used as some sort of filler.
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In contrast, my sisters need to avoid gluten is very inconvenient. (She was gluten allergic before it was fashionable to be gluten intolerant. She’s happy it’s become fashionable because she gets more choices. But her’s is real. I’m not sure that’s true for at least 3/4 of people who way they are intolerant.)
SteveF: “Every opportunity to get one of the vaccines in Florida leads to overwhelmed phone lines and web sites.”
In Palm Beach County,the initial plan was a phone hotline to register for appointments. Immediately swamped when the over-65 group was allowed. (According to the governor, over 4 million over-65s in the state, so roughly 20%.) Then they said to send an email giving one’s name, date of birth, and phone number, and they would get in touch with an appointment; presumably some poor drones were responsible for transferring those into a spreadsheet. Kept hearing that they were developing a web portal for appointments…but nothing seemed to come of it. We sent in the email, got an auto-acknowledgment but little else. Complete clusterf***.
Finally the state partnered with Publix, the dominant supermarket chain here, to give injections in their pharmacies. Publix opened up a website at 6 am last Wednesday for appointment requests. I won’t say it was a great website, but after a while I got through, and last Thursday my fiancée and I got the first shot! Moderna vaccine. At the same time, the booster appointment was scheduled (4 weeks later).
Not sure what the moral is. The County health commissioner denied they were unprepared…
HaroldW,
I am please to see progress of any kind. But in Martin county it remains a complete cluster f**k. Really, the state health department does not have the required structure to handle this on a county-by-county basis. Publics supermarkets is an improvement, but the reality is that this should have beed set up in November, not now. With persistence and a bit of luck, I might get a vaccination in the next 60 days. Perhaps the next vaccine emergency distribution will be more efficient.