Yeah the third wave wasn't so bad here.
Infections were on the same level during peak compared to the second wave but deaths were much much lower.
I guess vaccinating the elderly worked pretty well.

With a bit of luck I'll get my first shot at the end of May or in June at the latest. I probably would've already gotten an appointment if I still lived in my birth federal state.

Variant spread in the US up to mid April. It looks like the SA variant (B.1351) isn't as transmissible as the British variant (B.117), while the Brazilian variant (P.1) is more transmissible than both. As for the native US ones, the New York variant was matching or being just slightly outcompeted by the British one, while the Californian one is outcompeted by the three VoCs everywhere. Phew! That enough variants for you?

As a side note, that could potentially put South Africa in the awkward situation of having rejected a vaccine that works to great effect in the variant (B.117) that can potentially become the majority of cases there in a few months at most. On the flip side, that suggests that the VoCs serologically compete with one another and should respond to vaccination / natural infection as expected.

My wife got some discomfort in her lungs from Pfizer, harder to breathe, but it seems to be getting better already, not worsening at least. I got an email to book an appointment, and currently scheduled for Astrazeneca next Thursday. By the end of the month we should have some anti bodies.

Ma and Pa got their AZ jabs here too.

But... Bolsonaro's constant China provocations mean most of the under 60 won't have their jabs until Pfizer and Janssen's doses arrive in the second semester and the fully local AstraZeneca production kicks in (since we need to buy active ingredients from China for the locally produced AZ and Sinovac jabs for the time being).

Weekly update, globally cases and deaths are trending down again.

In total 5.53 million new cases were reported last week (down from 5.78 million) to a total of 157,526,965
Another 90,010 people lost their lives last week (down from 94,304) bringing the total reported casualties to 5,527,772

Europe is speeding up its downward trend, deaths in the USA are declining again.

The continents

Asia reported 3.47 million new cases (slightly up from 3.42 million) and 37,454 more deaths (up from 34,142)
South America reported 817K new cases (down from 861K) and 25,747 more deaths (down from 28,784)
Europe reported 743K new cases (down from 929K) and 16,974 more deaths (down from 20,796)
North America reported 432K new cases (down from 492K) and 7,697 more deaths (down from 8,384)
Africa reported 60.3K new cases (down from 72.1K) and 2,123 more deaths (2,188 last week)
Oceania reported 791 new cases (915 last week) and 15 deaths (10 last week)

Corners of the world


India reported 2.73 million new cases (slightly up from 2.55 million) and 26,430 more deaths (up from 22,286)
Brazil reported 421K new cases (slightly down from 428K) and 15,106 more deaths (down from 17,664)
The USA reported 315K new cases (down from 368K) and 4,856 more deaths (slightly down from 4,980)
Iran reported 128K new cases (down from 140K) and 2,483 more deaths (down from 3,012)
Canada reported 53.7K new cases (54.8K last week) and 310 deaths (336 last week)
Japan reported 34.2K new cases (32.9K last week) and 395 deaths (394 last week)
South Africa reported 11.1K new cases (up from 8,225) and 337 deaths (284 last week)
South Korea reported 4,037 new cases (down from 4,549) and 32 deaths (17 last week)
Australia reported 92 new cases (down from 175) no deaths

Europe in detail

It seems everyone is either flat or declining, except Denmark has some slight growth

Poland and Ukraine show an extra big drop, likely due to holidays (May 1 State holiday, May 3 constitution day in Poland, May 2 and 3 Orthodox Easter in Ukraine)

Its takeing foreeeeeever.... with the vaccinateing of the population.

40,3% only have had 1 or more jabs of the vaccine here in denmark.
If we have growth (daily cases) its because we re basically opening up everything.

But you could have had instead some FIVE cases of RARE blood clots from the J&J and AZ vaccine. Can you imagine the horror?

Good thing all that can happen now is more Covid-19...

The rate of vaccination is apparently slowing down in the US. Some states have resorted to bribes to get people to take the vaccine

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/no-doubt-u-s-has-undercounted-covid-19-deaths-fauci-1.5420491

President Joe Biden wants 70 per cent of adults in the US to have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine by the July 4 Independence Day holiday. But the rate peaked around April 10 and has been declining since then, with vaccine hold-outs slowing the race to population immunity.

Federal, state and local officials are partnering with pharmacies, restaurants, breweries, supermarkets and sports teams to come up with incentives to get people to get their shots.

In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy launched a "Shot and a Beer" program to encourage vaccination, while in West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced that the state will offer US$100 savings bonds to residents aged 16 to 35 who get inoculated.



And what the article started with

The country has officially lost over 581,000 people to the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus -- but a University of Washington study released Thursday estimated deaths at more than 900,000.

Which makes sense and explains the huge disparity between deaths/cases between Europe and the USA (2.3% fatality rate Europe vs 1.8% USA). No doubt Europe has some under counted deaths as well on top of the 1 million + official counted deaths in Europe.

No clue whether I'll get the vaccine on Thursday or not.
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-will-no-longer-offer-first-doses-of-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-1.5423379

Ontario will no longer offer first doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine due to an increase in reports of rare blood clots.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was being offered to individuals aged 40 and up at numerous pharmacies across the province.

According to Chief Health Protection and Emergency Preparedness Officer Dr. Jessica Hopkins, the risk of thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) associated with the vaccine in Ontario is one in 60,000.

Hopkins later clarified that as of May 8, eight Ontarians have developed blood clots related to the vaccine.

“At this point in time, and given that we're seeing the overall case numbers of COVID going down, and an increase in the safety signal at a population level, it makes sense to pause AstraZeneca, because the risk of severe outcomes with VITT shouldn't be underestimated.”

I haven't received any mail from the pharmacy yet, scheduled for Astrazeneca at 11AM on Thursday...


Couple hours earlier
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/pm-says-canada-will-have-enough-covid-19-vaccines-for-a-one-dose-summer-1.5423013

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Tuesday that there will be enough COVID-19 vaccines coming into the country to offer every eligible and willing Canadian their first shot by this summer, and enough doses for everyone to be fully vaccinated “by September.”

Guess not when Astrazeneca is now off the table again

Vaccines are steadily being rolled out, at least in Europe where I live, hopefully things will be OK by September.