Northern Europe during Pandemic -- Summers 2020 & 2021 & onwards

[Buster Brown]

Originally Posted by Zippee

Oh my.

This newbie poster really can't distinguish a general observation of "so many people" from calling specific forum members "shills"? Really? To the contrary, he can, but doesn't seem to care. Montanan politely requested that he be more civil, and to avoid calling out specific members as "shills".

Our newbie did indeed call specific members "shills" - Mr. Brown, you should apologize, period.

Instead your diversionary response completely ignored Montanan, but rather diverted to some pretzel logic in order to further label Montanon a "hater". Do you really think the intelligent readers here will buy such unapologetic and uncivil commentary?

They won't. Is your goal to foment engagement by attacking and deprecating others? To create controversy? To create chaos? Seems so. Going to apologize? Why do I think not?

Ahh, the newbie poster insult. One used by others in this board when they don’t like the message. Rather funny and pathetic.

At no point did I say Montanan was wrong in what he posted about Greg K’s post so no, I won’t apologize. I was rather pointing out the hypocrisy by ‘hating’ ( his word) on others while being offended when directed at him.

Talk about convoluted pretzel logic…

[Greg K]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Greg:

My stated growing intolerance for the unvaccinated and diminishing empathy for unvaccinated person that become ill from Covid is not hating on people or directing hostility.

Whereas calling a forum member a shill would be hating on a person and directing hostility towards them.

Please try to remain civil with your posts and on point.

Three words for you, Montanan. Shamelessly plagiarized from one of the best wordsmiths on this forum who likes to post in large comic sans...

Pot kettle black

[Montanan]

FYI:

To place my remark in proper context:

"To this day, I find it hard to accept the reality that so many people can be so damned stupid and belligerent."

That was directed towards the gun nut Freedumb individuals, dressed in camouflage, wearing tactical gear waving flags, and who brought assault guns to a virus fight. They were and mostly remain "damned stupid and beligerant."

As to being called a "shill".

The definition is:

Shill.

NOUN
shill (noun) · shills (plural noun)

1. an accomplice of a hawker, gambler, or swindler who acts as an enthusiastic customer to entice or encourage others.

"I used to be a shill in a Reno gambling club" · "the agency is a shill for the nuclear power industry"

2. a person who pretends to give an impartial endorsement of something in which they themselves have an interest.

I have no shilling conflict of interests, other than perhaps the desire for protection of the health and safety of myself and others.

So I perceive the term Shill is an inappropriate / incorrect choice of word.

Let's move on, shall we.

Reference to an interesting article regarding Denmark's easing of Covid restrictions and outcome. The country seems to be progressing towards managing the disease as being endemic. Seeimngly: "Seeing a light at the end of a long tunnel."

EXPLAINED: Are deaths from Covid-19 in Denmark increasing?

Denmark's national infectious disease agency on Thursday published reports and information which addressed claims circulating on social media and elsewhere that the country is seeing increased deaths due to Covid-19.

https://www.thelocal.dk/20220217/exp...rk-increasing/

Looking forward to the day we get past this harsh tunnel.

[goboatingnow]

Given I was the one called a vaccine shrill, I find the last few posts amusing.

[Montanan]

The early response to a new disease is likely to determine whether the disease becomes pandemic or is localized. It is very hard to get control if the horses have bolted from the barn, especially with highly transmissible diseases that can run rampant once community spread.

"If every country does what Australia did, then you wouldn't be calling [the next outbreak] a pandemic," Gates, a health philanthropist who has dedicated billions of dollars to vaccine research and to the production of Covid vaccines, said at the annual Munich Security Conference


Is it possible to prevent the next pandemic? If every country does what Australia did, says Bill Gates
Keeping a new outbreak from becoming a pandemic would almost certainly prevent many of the global consequences caused by Covid-19. But, Gates noted, it'll likely require much stricter policies in a future outbreak's early days than how most of the world enacted against Covid. And countries will need to maintain those policies for a sustained period of time, even potentially against public pressure.

Gates cited Australia's Covid response as the gold standard to follow. The country reopened its international borders this week for the first time since March 2020. Over the course of the pandemic, returning citizens and approved international travelers have been required to quarantine in hotels guarded by police and military members. Australia's federal government even periodically locked down the borders between its own states.

Thousands of Australians protested those lockdowns, but the measures seem to have worked: Since the beginning of the pandemic, only 20 per 100,000 Australians have died from Covid, according to a New York Times analysis of John Hopkins University data. That's a significantly lower figure than the 283 per 100,000 Americans who have died from Covid, according to the same analysis.

I recall my business associates were in China in January 2020 and were told by our consortium partners to return to the USA because of a health concern, shortly before the Wuhan news broke out. Americans were allowed to repatriate back to the USA from everywhere without imposed quarantines. Returns trips from China were the first to be curtailed but that was with a considerable lag, and the back door of travel through Europe remained for an extended period of time. If border closures are going to be invoked they have to be invoked quickly and completely, there being no room for partial closures and exemptions. Recalling how the land border between USA and Canada was closed to non-essential travel but air travel remained open from Canada into the USA, but NOT from the USA to Canada. And of course, there was a huge amount of so-called "essential" travel across the land border which degree of essentiality is questionable. The inconsistencies in policy led to much confusion but also likely ineffectiveness as to curtailment of the disease, especially after the virus was basically completely community spread on either side of the Canadian / USA border such that there was really no distinction as to the pandemic on either side of the 49th parallel. Seemingly, it is one of those situations where one goes either all in, or not at all. Not any easy decision, but a decision that has to be made urgently and assertively, because the virus can skip across a border with ease if it is allowed a means to.

All the best, hope y'all stay healthy and have a great 2022 and that it will not be 2020 too.

[Zippee]

Great post M, and food for thought. Of course Australia is not alone and we can surely look to others too, including New Zealand, China, South Korea. Think about it - China was able to even control the ultimate challenge of the Olympics.

I agree with Gates and the fact that we will be facing something like this again. This means having the world cooperate in fast response teams, and stockpiles of necessary testing, equipment, etc. It can be done: a great example is China whose ability to contain even a pandemic virus is amazing. I read that they require their largest cities to be able to perform up to 6 million tests in..... one day. You read that right. In one day they identify, track, trace and strictly quarantine - food delivered, etc.

This can be triggered by just a couple of positives. It can be done. Back to Northern Europe I recently got the latest issue of Dockhead's excellent find - "Your Local Epidemiologist" - Katelyn Jetelina. Jetelina, like Campbell is terrific, unbiased and able to explain the mountain of data, studies, etc. in laymen's terms. A real gift. She took a two week break, but is back...


Covering Denmark (both sides), O2 vs Omicron-1, boosters and fading (or not) of resistance. A must read:
https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/
(Click on "Let me read it first" to get to the articles..

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Montanan

......
Gates cited Australia's Covid response as the gold standard to follow. The country reopened its international borders this week for the first time since March 2020. Over the course of the pandemic, returning citizens and approved international travelers have been required to quarantine in hotels guarded by police and military members. Australia's federal government even periodically locked down the borders between its own states.
........
All the best, hope y'all stay healthy and have a great 2022 and that it will not be 2020 too.

No - the state governments closed their own state borders whenever the fancy took them - nothing to do with the federal government. WA's border is still closed to the rest of Australia and the world.
https://www.theguardian.com/australi...ted-travellers

Ecuador - which was well and truly hammered in the early days - has also had international border closures together with internal closures between cantons. Like Australia restricting it to Melbourne and Sydney they managed to restrict the worst of it to Quito and Guayaquil - their two largest cities..

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Zippee

Great post M, and food for thought. Of course Australia is not alone and we can surely look to others too, including New Zealand, China, South Korea. Think about it - China was able to even control the ultimate challenge of the Olympics.

I agree with Gates and the fact that we will be facing something like this again. This means having the world cooperate in fast response teams, and stockpiles of necessary testing, equipment, etc. It can be done: a great example is China whose ability to contain even a pandemic virus is amazing. I read that they require their largest cities to be able to perform up to 6 million tests in..... one day. You read that right. In one day they identify, track, trace and strictly quarantine - food delivered, etc.

This can be triggered by just a couple of positives. It can be done. Back to Northern Europe I recently got the latest issue of Dockhead's excellent find - "Your Local Epidemiologist" - Katelyn Jetelina. Jetelina, like Campbell is terrific, unbiased and able to explain the mountain of data, studies, etc. in laymen's terms. A real gift. She took a two week break, but is back...

Covering Denmark (both sides), O2 vs Omicron-1, boosters and fading (or not) of resistance. A must read:
https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/
(Click on "Let me read it first" to get to the articles..

"Your Local Epidemiologist" highly recommended; a much deeper dive than you can find almost anywhere.

Denmark is much discussed -- Denmark is the new Sweden, holding firm with a light touch in the face of a serious spike in cases. Your Local Epidemiologist drills into the data to see how bad it really is.

Denmark has been since the autumn of 2020 the most affected Nordic country, with horrendous infection rates at various times, including today. But the cumulative death rate, and cumulative excess death, is lower than any other non-Nordic country, in Europe, and a small fraction of the corresponding figures for the U.S. or the large countries of Europe.



One really interesting fact from this report, is that reinfection rates are far lower among vaccinated people, than unvaccinated. This is now proven with data. I think this confirms that vaxxed plus previously infected provides a significantly higher level of immunity than just previously infected. Really important with these new immunity-evading variants.


My yacht is in Denmark and I spent the first part of the pandemic there. I'll be back there next week. I've experienced their light touch pandemic measures and respect them. I think they have done a pretty good job. I hope it works out during this phase.

[Montanan]

EU to allow fully vaccinated international travelers from March 1st.
Member states should permit entry for non-essential travelers vaccinated with jabs approved by EMA or WHO

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/latest-on-c...-march/2510227

Agnes Szucs |
22.02.2022

EU countries updated on Tuesday the bloc’s travel recommendations, allowing as of March 1 the entry of fully vaccinated international travelers and those who recovered from COVID-19 within six months.

The amendment to the temporary restriction of non-essential travel to the EU is based on the recent evolution of the pandemic and the increase in vaccination rates, the Council of the European Union, representing EU member states, announced in a statement. Under the rules, member states should allow the entry of people vaccinated with an EU- or WHO-approved jab, recovered from the illness within 180 days, and those whose country is on the bloc’s travel list.

The World Health Organizations' emergency list features Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, also approved by the European Medicines Agency, as well as the Covovax, Covishield, Covaxin, Sinopharm, and Sinovac jabs.

The rules are the same for children between 6 and 18 years, who can enter the bloc if they have a negative PCR test made within 72 hours before departure.

The amendment is an important step towards the abolishment of the travel list system that has been criticized for prioritizing political relations over scientific opinions since it allows entry based on nationality and not immunity status. The EU imposed travel restrictions in March 2020 to stem the spread of COVID-19.

The travel list, updated every two weeks, grants access to 27 EU states and non-EU members of the Schengen zone (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland). The recommendations, however, are not legally binding and EU countries are allowed to demand additional measures, such as PCR test or quarantine from international travelers.

[Montanan]

Omicron's spread is certainly running rampant in other places of the world.



South Korea's virus cases hit new high as omicron wave heads for peak
Over 171,000 new infections, 99 deaths reported, authorities fear daily count may jump as high as 270,000 by early March


Turkiye reports over 86,000 new COVID-19 cases
Nearly 145M vaccine shots have been given in Turkiye so far, and over 52.74M people have gotten 2 jabs

[Montanan]

UN health body names 6 African nations set to receive COVID vaccine technology

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/latest-on-c...nology/2506269

Preparing for a more resilient response and capacity for the next pandemic and to facilitate better equity in the production and delivery of vaccines.

The World Health Organization on Friday announced the first six African countries that will receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccines used to fight diseases like COVID-19. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia all applied and have been selected as recipients of the technology.
"No other event like the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that reliance on a few companies to supply global public goods is limiting and dangerous," said Tedros. "In the mid-to-long term, the best way to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage is to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to manufacture the health products they need, with equitable access as their primary endpoint,"



Depending on the infrastructure, workforce and clinical research, and regulatory capacity, WHO said it will work with its partners for the beneficiary countries to develop a roadmap. To ensure that all countries build the necessary capacity to produce their own vaccines and other health technologies, WHO has worked to establish a biomanufacturing workforce training hub. It will train people from all interested countries in scientific and clinical research and production capacity. The training hub will be announced in the coming weeks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "We have been talking a lot about producing mRNA vaccines in Africa.
“But this goes even beyond. This is mRNA technology designed in Africa, led by Africa and owned by Africa, with the support of Team Europe."

. . .

“Although Africa still lags behind on vaccination, with only 11% of the adult population fully vaccinated, we now have a steady supply of doses flowing in,” . . . Moeti said that testing is key to controlling the spread of COVID-19, and since the start of the pandemic 95 million tests have been conducted across Africa. Testing has gradually improved, with 21 out of 47 countries now testing within the WHO recommended benchmark of 10 tests performed for every 10 000 people a week, up from 15 countries a year earlier.

[Zippee]

Originally Posted by Montanan

UN health body names 6 African nations set to receive COVID vaccine technology

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/latest-on-c...nology/2506269

Preparing for a more resilient response and capacity for the next pandemic and to facilitate better equity in the production and delivery of vaccines.

The World Health Organization on Friday announced the first six African countries that will receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccines used to fight diseases like COVID-19. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia all applied and have been selected as recipients of the technology.
"No other event like the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that reliance on a few companies to supply global public goods is limiting and dangerous," said Tedros. "In the mid-to-long term, the best way to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage is to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to manufacture the health products they need, with equitable access as their primary endpoint,"

Depending on the infrastructure, workforce and clinical research, and regulatory capacity, WHO said it will work with its partners for the beneficiary countries to develop a roadmap. To ensure that all countries build the necessary capacity to produce their own vaccines and other health technologies, WHO has worked to establish a biomanufacturing workforce training hub. It will train people from all interested countries in scientific and clinical research and production capacity. The training hub will be announced in the coming weeks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "We have been talking a lot about producing mRNA vaccines in Africa.



“But this goes even beyond. This is mRNA technology designed in Africa, led by Africa and owned by Africa, with the support of Team Europe."

. . .

“Although Africa still lags behind on vaccination, with only 11% of the adult population fully vaccinated, we now have a steady supply of doses flowing in,” . . . Moeti said that testing is key to controlling the spread of COVID-19, and since the start of the pandemic 95 million tests have been conducted across Africa. Testing has gradually improved, with 21 out of 47 countries now testing within the WHO recommended benchmark of 10 tests performed for every 10 000 people a week, up from 15 countries a year earlier.

Another important post, thank you.


Kudo's to Africa's achievement. Bricks to Moderna, et al, for refusing to license and assist, despite the fact that they have made record profits, or that the licensing would cost them nothing. Bricks too to our US government, which had the authority to order the licensing.


As a result the virus has more time and victims to claim, not to mention the opportunity for continuing and risky further mutation.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Montanan

The early response to a new disease is likely to determine whether the disease becomes pandemic or is localized. It is very hard to get control if the horses have bolted from the barn, especially with highly transmissible diseases that can run rampant once community spread....
... Seemingly, it is one of those situations where one goes either all in, or not at all. Not any easy decision, but a decision that has to be made urgently and assertively, because the virus can skip across a border with ease if it is allowed a means to.

All the best, hope y'all stay healthy and have a great 2022 and that it will not be 2020 too.

Indeed!
Hit early, and hit hard.
None of us will be 'safe', until all of us are safe [from anything].

[Greg K]

Denmark officials see no reason to continue COVID vaccine program
Health authorities in Denmark announced Friday they are considering “winding down the entire general vaccination program later in the spring.”
According to the Associated Press, officials see no reason to administer a booster dose to children or a fourth shot to residents at risk of severe COVID.
The Danish Health Authority said in a statement the third wave of COVID was waning “due to the large population immunity,” and the country can cope with increasing infection without getting serious illness.
The agency said it would continue to follow the epidemic closely should there be a fourth spring wave or new worrying variants.
Denmark ended most of its pandemic restrictions earlier this month after officials said they no longer considered COVID “a socially critical disease.”

Source: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/d...aths-injuries/

[Zippee]

Originally Posted by Greg K

Denmark officials see no reason to continue COVID vaccine program
Health authorities in Denmark announced Friday they are considering “winding down the entire general vaccination program later in the spring.”
According to the Associated Press, officials see no reason to administer a booster dose to children or a fourth shot to residents at risk of severe COVID.
The Danish Health Authority said in a statement the third wave of COVID was waning “due to the large population immunity,” and the country can cope with increasing infection without getting serious illness.
The agency said it would continue to follow the epidemic closely should there be a fourth spring wave or new worrying variants.
Denmark ended most of its pandemic restrictions earlier this month after officials said they no longer considered COVID “a socially critical disease.”

Source: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/d...aths-injuries/

It's clear that Denmark will be a bit of a test case, for better or worse. This is definitely a two-sided issue: See a great presentation of both views, scientifically, at:
https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/
(Click on "Let me read it first") But well worth subscribing...