Covid, Phase II. Commonsense is the order of the day.

[Spursex]

That’s the defence argument...since then, one of Hunter Biden’s business associates who was a recipient on some of the damaging emails has come forward to validate their authenticity and provide text messages from Hunter about the China investment fund scam that was being set up between Hunter and a Chinese conglomerate with connections to the CCP, none of which is mentioned in the article.

In one of the emails there is discussion regarding the appropriation of incoming funds between the new company’s directors, with a sum reserved for “The Big Guy” who the business associate identifies as Joe Biden...he also gave details in a press conference, ignored by all MSM outlets that he had been told that Joe Biden should never be mentioned in name in emails and any policy decisions involving him had to be face to face.....there’s much more to come...

The reference to the intelligence community warning about Russian interference and connecting these revelations to that warning came from Adam Schiff the Democratic leader of one of the House Committees who was the main liar in both the Russia hoax and the Impeachment hoax...his information alleged came from 50 retired security agents...nice one Adam.

Anyway, there’s little doubt according to the polls that this will all disappear after Biden wins, as will the Durham report, the Swamp survives and one party rule takes control using the media as their propaganda arm.

Personally, I don’t think America and it’s founding principles will survive and the real Russian intervention which has been taking place for decades in Universities across the States will have won the day.

Politics in the states has always been a very dirty game, perhaps in respects of western democracy, the dirtest. Election after election for decades has had allegations of dirty tricks.

Who was Biden's business associate who's come forward; afraid what is true the influence of anti-western interests are all pervasive now, which is why I fully supported Trump on his anti China stance; democracy in the west is in a bad state, almost as bad as the dependency it has on everything Chinese related and their investments go deep, far deeper than the average person understands.

Biden was always going to win, Trump has said too many stupid things, done too many stupid things to survive his own personality cultism. It's a shame because in some policy area's he's been a force for change and good.

Afraid I don't think much of Biden either.

 

[Spursex]

Russians using willing idiots yet again:


Coronavirus: Russia used British journalist to help plant ‘chimp vaccine’ smear

Manveen Rana, Sean O’Neill
Monday October 26 2020, 12.00pm, The Times
Brexit
Europe
Russia

Chimp images were created in Russia to undermine confidence in the development of a vaccine
Share
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...t-to-help-plant-chimp-vaccine-smear-zcmbdbpqs



A British journalist has been involved in spreading inaccurate stories about the Oxford coronavirus vaccine as part of a Russian misinformation campaign, The Times has learnt.
James Wilson, 68, who works in Brussels and is a contributor to various news websites, published articles and blog posts that claimed the “public are concerned about scientific backing” for the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine.

He illustrated his arguments using images created in Russia as part of a social media campaign to undermine confidence in the vaccine., and to feed conspiracy theories. They showed chimpanzees in lab coats wielding syringes, labelled “Astrazeneca”.

James Wilson used a Russian image with his blog posts
The images, discovered by the Stories of our Times podcast, were designed to raise fears about the use of a modified chimpanzee virus as a carrier in the Oxford vaccine. Each of the images featured the caption: “Memes like this have started to pop up on social media, reflecting public anxiety about experimental drugs.”

The articles were published before the social media campaign was launched, however, raising questions about how the author came to possess the images developed by Russia.

Renée DiResta, research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, who tracks Russian disinformation, confirmed that the pictures had not been disseminated online at that time. She said: “I wasn’t seeing them anywhere . . . not on any western social media platforms.”
When asked about the origin of the images he had published in online articles as well as on his blog, Wilson claimed that they were “all over social media, just Google them”.
When this was proved not to be the case, he declined to explain how he had access to them and whether he was paid to publish them.
The Russian campaign was designed to “seed” images and video clips across social media in more than a dozen countries. The second stage of the campaign intended to use Russian state media with articles and blogs in other countries to report on the unrest, repeating these images as evidence of global fears about the Oxford vaccine.
The Vesti programme, the main nightly news on Russian state television, described as the country’s equivalent of Newsnight, has already featured some of the pictures.
Coverage about the popularity of the memes around the world was premature, however. The Times uncovered the campaign while the images were still being touted around influencers in the hope of spreading them online. As a result of the investigation, the social media campaign was halted before the images had been published.
The websites that ran the articles are owned by Colin Stevens, a British businessman. He told The Times that the articles had been taken down after they realised they had “unwittingly published Russian disinformation”.


He said that the articles and images were provided free by Wilson, who was not paid for his contributions. He added: “We have informed James Wilson that we can no longer accept stories from him, as we suspect he is being used as a channel for Russian disinformation.” Wilson, a Cambridge graduate, describes himself on LinkedIn as “an experienced international communications professional”.
He has worked extensively across eastern Europe and is a member of the EU Ukraine Business Council. Wilson declined to answer questions from The Times. There is no evidence that he knew his services were being used by Russia but his articles appear to have become a cog in a global campaign.
The Times investigation has revealed some of the new tactics Russia is using to spread fake news. Troll factories that churned out fake news are being replaced with “authentic” western voices.
Jacob Wallis, an expert in disinformation at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the social media campaigns manned by bots were losing favour “because social media platforms are getting better at identifying inauthentic, co-ordinated networks”.
Instead, he said: “Freelance journalists in the West are being hired to produce content that promotes pro-Russian messaging.”
Similar tactics were used in America last month, when Peace Data, a fake news website run by the Russian Internet Research Agency, hired freelance American journalists for $200 a day to write pieces. Ms DiResta said: “These were real people with real bylines . . . so it makes it a lot more difficult for the platforms to decide to take it down.”

 

[Spursex]

I take your point EX but the detail behind some of these studies appears to me to be competent, both positive and negative and shouldn’t be just dismissed....the fact that there are both positive and negative supports the point of view that it is not a silver bullet cure and therefore shouldn’t be touted as such, but it would appear it may still be being used in conjunction with other drugs in some locations in treating early symptom patients....agree that there is no conspiracy about this.

Well the FDA have and let's be sensible here - they are generally the Worlds leading authority on these matters:


After issuing an emergency use authorization for physicians to use the drug to treat hospitalized people with severe COVID-19 infection, the US Food and Drug Administration withdrew the authorization in June after finding hydroxychloroquine was unlikely to be effective and had serious side effects.[50] During ensuing months, additional studies found the drug was not effective,[51] and in late July, Anthony Fauci stated, "We know that every single good study — and by good study I mean randomized controlled study in which the data are firm and believable — has shown that hydroxychloroquine is not effective in the treatment of COVID-19."[6]

 

[Spursex]

Just released the results of the WHO authorised trials of repurposed drugs including of course Hydrox....a huge disappointment, and they will now have their findings peer reviewed, but any other conclusion based on the data looks to be a non-starter, unless you're a conspiracy theorist of course, in which case you can add the WHO to the FDA and every pharma in the World to this incredible conspiracy...

"little or no effect..."

https://www.who.int/news/item/15-10...-repurposed-drugs-for-covid-19-in-record-time

 

[Nick Real Deal]

A report today suggests antibody levels after infection are declining in a significant % of people . This raises some questions. Does this scupper the herd immunity theory and would a vaccine work ?

 

[Spursex]

A report today suggests antibody levels after infection are declining in a significant % of people . This raises some questions. Does this scupper the herd immunity theory and would a vaccine work ?

It may actually bolster how a vaccine might work (i.e. a booster shot 6 months or so after the first one), but this kills stone dead all thoughts of herd immunity for good - and does actually validates the governments precautionary principle approach for the original lockdown.

No one sensible no believes they can use a disease led herd immunity approach, but in combinaton with a vaccine it might eventually achieve the same thing, precautions may well last long after the initial vaccines are avaialble - that might change with the new rna based ones being developed.

As always, all we can do is stay smart and stay safe until these options are available.

Nottingham (where my daughters uni is) is now Tier 3 and the virus is now claiming victims from the student body - and they're all largely fit and healthy with no underlying conditions.

 

[Nick Real Deal]

So potentially we may have to be vaccinateded every few months for the foreseeable future ?

 

[Nick Real Deal]

I saw that Nottinghan is struggling , not what you want to hear Ex when your daughter is in the midst of it. She might be immune for a while after already catching it though .

 

[Spursex]

So potentially we may have to be vaccinateded every few months for the foreseeable future ?

I believe the current vaccine may demand a second shot after 6 months from the first - I guess we will only know as real-world responses to a second or third infection are tracked for impact on teh immune response.

 

[Spursex]

I saw that Nottinghan is struggling , not what you want to hear Ex when your daughter is in the midst of it. She might be immune for a while after already catching it though .

I suspect she is, but it's not going to burn out fast there, so have urged her to up her precautions and socialing - it will probably fall on deaf ears - despite all her reassurances!

Buut from little we know of repeat infections it seems to be worse second time around.

 

[Spursex]

Fresh coronavirus vaccine hope as elderly respond well

Tom Whipple, Science Editor
Tuesday October 27 2020, 12.01am, The Times
Science
Companies

Older people often respond poorly to vaccines, but scientists are encouraged by results among over-70s



Older people have a strong immune response to Oxford’s vaccine, raising hopes that it will protect all sectors of society.
Although the research cannot prove that the vaccine protects against disease, it did show that even in people over 70 it elicited a robust antibody and T-cell immune response. The findings come from a previously unreleased analysis of early-stage human trials, looking specifically at volunteers aged 56 and over.
“This marks a key milestone and reassures us that the vaccine is safe for use and induces strong immune responses in both parts of the immune system in all adult groups,” said Andrew Pollard, from Oxford University, who announced the findings. The elderly are most at risk of suffering from severe Covid but there has been concern that they may be among those least likely to be protected by a vaccine. Older immune systems often respond poorly to vaccines.


The findings have been submitted for publication and other scientists said that they would wait for the full data before making a full assessment. Robert Read, from the University of Southampton, said that the results were “very encouraging” but emphasised it had not been shown that the vaccine protected against infection.

“We still need to wait a little longer for information on protection from natural disease and overall safety in field trials,” he said.

Health authorities stepped up preparations to introduce a vaccine as soon as possible after approval. Care homes have been asked to provide lists of staff to receive the first shots, and plans are in place to train an army of midwives, physiotherapists and health professionals to administer the millions of doses that will be required.
Scientists and health chiefs in Britain and the United States have suggested it is possible that vaccines could be ready for key workers before Christmas. It is still unknown which, if any, vaccine will be successful.


Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease specialist in the US, has said that “we will know whether a vaccine is safe and effective by the end of November, the beginning of December”.
The Oxford vaccine is well advanced in phase 3 trials, the final stage of testing before approval. As many as 50,000 volunteers are taking part in trials in Britain, the US, South Africa and Brazil.
The pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna have a vaccine that is similarly advanced and undergoing trials in 40,000 people.
Both vaccines are waiting for a set number of infections — probably 100 to 200 — to occur in volunteers. At that stage they will “unblind” the studies and examine who got infected. The hope is that all of those susceptible to coronavirus will have received the control injection, while none of those who received the vaccine will have picked up the virus. In reality, most scientists would consider it a good result if a vaccine prevented 70 per cent of infections.
Pfizer and Oxford each believe it is possible that they could be in a position to have results before Christmas, and maybe within a few weeks.

 

[Spursex]

So potentially we may have to be vaccinateded every few months for the foreseeable future ?

What does the Imperial antibody study mean for a Covid-19 vaccine?

new
Tom Whipple
, Science Editor

Tuesday October 27 2020, 12.00pm, The Times


A study from Imperial College London has found that a quarter of those who had antibodies against coronavirus in the first wave no longer test positive.
Does this mean antibodies are waning?
In one sense, the finding is unremarkable. It means the immune system is doing what would be expected in response to a virus. It makes protection and then, once the threat has receded, so too does the protection.
Antibodies are little Y-shaped bits of protein designed to lock on to the outside of invaders, flagging them for destruction. Keeping them topped up continually is costly, and it is very rare that an infection protects you completely for life. Virologists had hoped antibodies might last longer in this case but, given what we know about coronaviruses, this is largely the trajectory they would have predicted.

Does this mean these people are not immune?
The immune system is fantastically complex: probably only the brain is harder to understand. This means the only way we can be sure if people have immunity is to see if they get infected. All we can say is that their visible signs of immunity have gone.
If they haven’t got antibodies, why might they still be immune?
Tests have a threshold below which they don’t spot antibodies. So a negative result doesn’t mean they are absent. They may still be circulating in the blood, ready to provide a first response while the body steps up production — and that may be enough. They are also only one part of what is known as the adaptive immune system. Another part, known as T-cell immunity, is harder to test for but can provide a separate and often powerful line of defence.

What are T-cells?
T-cells are different from antibodies. Rather than being floating bits of protein that latch on to a virus, they are cells that spot other cells after they have been infected and then get to work. There are two kinds of T-cell: one kind, helper T-cells, alert the immune system to the infection and help roll out antibodies; another kind, killer T-cells, attack the infected cells directly, stopping them churning out copies of the virus.
T-cells are more than just an alternative to antibodies. They can be less specific and can hang around longer. Scientists have found clues that T-cells made in response to other coronaviruses may also protect against this one. They have shown that people infected with Sars Cov-1, back in 2003, retain T-cells against the virus even though it hasn’t existed for 17 years.
How likely is it that this will be enough to protect people against reinfection?
So far reinfections are extremely rare. There have been a handful of verified cases logged around the world. This tells us that, in practice, people are generally protected for at least six months. With the arrival of a second wave in the northern hemisphere we should start to get a good idea of whether immunity lasts longer.
So we could still have long-term protection?
Anything is possible. But, scientists caution, so far these antibody results are what we would expect from a seasonal coronavirus, and what we know about seasonal coronaviruses is we get the same ones every year. At this stage if they had to place bets most virologists would guess that after 6-24 months people will be ready for reinfection.
That’s depressing.
Yes, though there is a caveat. We often think of immunity as binary — you catch it or you don’t. It’s not like that. Between low levels of antibodies and circulating T-cells, we may not have enough immunity to prevent infection but we could still have enough to fight off the virus more effectively. Second infections could well be less severe, and this protection could last for years.
What does this mean for the vaccine?
Vaccines are a way of imitating infection without causing illness. They do this by showing the body something that looks like the virus, but which isn’t the virus. This means that the protection you gain from a virus is likely to be similar — though not exactly the same — to the protection you gain from a vaccine.
That is not the whole story. Vaccinologists have a suite of tricks to try to improve upon the natural response, convincing the body to react more strongly, and make more T-cells and antibodies. Even so pharmaceutical companies (and their shareholders) are working on the assumption that we are likely to need a booster every winter.

 

[Spursex]

We're still said to be only two weeks behind the French....



CORONAVIRUS
French Covid cases ‘twice those being officially reported’

Charles Bremner, Paris
Tuesday October 27 2020, 12.01am, The Times
Global politics
Coronavirus



President Macron is expected to tighten restrictions after the government’s chief adviser estimated there were 100,000 new infections a day as a “brutal” second wave hit the country.

Jean-Francois Delfraissy, head of a scientific council handling the epidemic, said the second wave would probably be fiercer than the first in the spring. “We are surprised by the brutality of what has been happening for the past ten days,” he told RTL radio.

The country is in a “very difficult, even critical situation”, with probably 100,000 new cases a day, double the 50,000 that are being officially reported, Dr Delfraissy said. “Between those who aren’t tested and asymptomatic patients, we’re close to that number of cases. This means the virus is spreading extremely fast.”

Beds are filling up, with 2,700 Covid-19 patients in intensive care wards. The peak in the first wave in April was 7,000 but doctors fear that units could be full in big cities within three weeks. The death toll is rising above 150 per day. There were 500 a day in early April.

The scientific council has told the government to extend the curfew, imposed last week, which covers 70 per cent of the population, so it applies to the whole country. The curfew should also be brought forward from 9pm, the council added. “After two weeks we can look at the graph of new infections and if it is not in the right direction, we go to lockdown,” Dr Delfraissy said.

Mr Macron had ruled out a return to lockdown because of the psychological and economic damage it would create, but aides said he was reviewing the options. The government hopes the first signs that the curfew is helping will appear by the weekend, Elisabeth Borne, the labour minister, said.

 

[xvausch]

A report today suggests antibody levels after infection are declining in a significant % of people . This raises some questions. Does this scupper the herd immunity theory and would a vaccine work ?

I had it over Valentines Day, got the first antibody test on June 27, and my results were "low immunity" anti-body levels. Second test on Sept 13, antibody levels had dropped another 50%+ to "near undetectable".

So, in theory, I could prolly now get it again 7 months later.

More in depth understanding of particularly the response of Memory T Cells to the TrumpVirus, is really necessary at this point. Simple anti-body testing of the general public, particularly in the US now that the virus has completely permeated the society, is pretty pointless. This would have had value, if any kind of rational quarantining/contact tracing policies had been implemented from the start.

Herd immunity is bunk.

.

 

[Spursex]

SAGE are remodelling their prediction of impact for the second wave of covid.

So far, the outcome looks far worse than the first wave and they are predicting that by mid-December the whole country will likely be in Tier 3 restrictions.

So that what harder, tougher measures taken now.

My local NHS trust is already struggling, many of the NHS staff who went through the first wave have withdrawn and saying they won't be available.

There are few ICU beds left and all covid patients with Covid are being planned into a mass evacuation to a Nightigale hospital (highly dangerous).

IF you are over 55, or have an underlying condition you should now act as if you are in lockdown as the number of younger asymptomatic carriers has absolutely rocketed and are driving the new infections.

Basically chaps, for your own sakes and those of your loved ones think twice, three times and then again about carrying on with such light restrictions.

I thought I'd seen seriously worried faces at my NHS trust before, but have never seen so many infection Specialists and doctors and management as scared as they are now.

This isn't official, but a group of planners I was discussing this second wave with yesterday have their own model for deaths and it is absolutely huge = 10x what the total is now.

 

[Spursex]

Germany and France go into lockdown.

Given the surge in cases here, I simply can't see how we can avoid one now too.

A friend works in France and merrily drives back and forth with absolutely no restrictions - makes no sense to me at all.

 

[Nick Real Deal]

Clever by Boris. He has waited until other Countries lockdown and repeatedly said he doesn't want to do it. He cant be blamed or criticised now. Thousands have died in the process of delaying it though.

 

[Gary Onedaysoon]

Germany and France go into lockdown.

Given the surge in cases here, I simply can't see how we can avoid one now too.

A friend works in France and merrily drives back and forth with absolutely no restrictions - makes no sense to me at all.

It seems inevitable now.

The Times is leading with an article saying that the government believes that a German vaccine backed by Pfizer could be ready to distribute before Christmas, with the first doses earmarked for the elderly and vulnerable.

It goes on to say that Britain has already bought enough doses for 20 million people and is anticipating that some will be available for use immediately if the drug is shown to be successful.

 

[Spursex]

It seems inevitable now.

The Times is leading with an article saying that the government believes that a German vaccine backed by Pfizer could be ready to distribute before Christmas, with the first doses earmarked for the elderly and vulnerable.

It goes on to say that Britain has already bought enough doses for 20 million people and is anticipating that some will be available for use immediately if the drug is shown to be successful.

The vaccines are our only hope, I've read the story and I've been told privately that we can expect the Oxford vaccine blind data to be unveiled in the next two weeks at which point that too could be a go - we have a round another 20 milion ready of them too.

So, if we can get 40 mill out there by the end of december, we might just avoid the scenario's that now looks so dire.

 

[Spursex]

October 29, 20203:31 PMUpdated 18 hours ago
Scientists identify prolific coronavirus strain which started in Spain and spread across Europe
By Ludwig Burger
3 Min Read

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A coronavirus strain that emerged in Spain in June has spread across Europe and now makes up a large proportion of infections in several countries, researchers said, highlighting the role of travel in the pandemic and the need to track mutations.
The variant, which has not been found to be inherently more dangerous, was first identified among farm workers in the eastern Spanish regions of Aragon and Catalonia.
Over the last two months, it has accounted for close to 90% of new infections in Spain, according to the research paper, authored by seven researchers with backing by Swiss and Spanish public-sector science institutions.
It was posted on a so-called preprint server here and is yet to be peer reviewed for publication in a scientific journal.

The strain has crossed European borders and accounted for 40-70% of new infections in Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom in September, they found.
The scientists said the strain’s characteristic mutation did not give it any apparent edge and its success may be down to the people who caught it first being particularly mobile and sociable.
But in some places outside Spain the variant’s journey developed a dynamic of its own, indicating it may have a transmission advantage.
“Its frequency in the UK has continued to increase even after quarantine-free travel was discontinued and the main summer travel period ended. Thus this variant might transmit faster than competing variants,” the researchers wrote.

Efforts to sequence viral genomes differ widely across Europe, limiting their research, they said.
“The rapid rise of these variants in Europe highlights the importance of genomic surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic... it is imperative to understand whether novel variants impact the severity of the disease.”The World Health Organisation said in July that there was no evidence mutations of the virus had led to more severe disease. It formed a working group to better understand how mutations behave.
All viruses make only imperfect copies of themselves when they infect a host but the tendency for this random drift varies between classes of viruses.
Coronaviruses, which were also behind the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak, are known to be more stable than, for instance, the seasonal flu, which requires a new vaccine every year.