More evidence that Delta was spreading first among the vaccinated populations in Israel, leading to somewhat innacurate estimates about vaccine efficacy. Now it's beginning to spread somewhat more homogeneously in the population as a whole:

The not-so-great news, of course, is that if Delta was able to spread (somewhat) in very well-vaccinated populations, there's nothing stopping Israel from following a UK-like trajectory in cases now that is present among less vaccinated populations.

CDC new guidelines is stupid. Feels like they’re giving in to those that are refusing to get vaccinated.

Action bias, perhaps? In cognitive science: "action bias is the tendency to think that value can only be realized through action. In other words, we feel compelled to do something in new or shaky circumstances rather than wait and make a more rationalized decision."

But if states begin to peak now, as data from places like Missouri is beginning to suggest, the CDC will end up looking like idiots again. Because folks on one camp will consider the recommendation to have arrived too late and the other will mock it as ineffective.

People are subject to the bias above but expect perfect foresight to come with it...

Why covid is probably here to stay in the states:

It’s just very irritating. We’re at a point where you can go into any vaccination site and get a shot. The only people dying right now besides some rare cases are those who are unvaccinated adults. It’s frustrating because we have what we need to get over this phase of the pandemic but we still need to hold back a bit longer because of selfish people. 

I'm so sick of our government. Couple weeks ago, not all that useful to vaccinate youth, not really needed, guaranteed there won't be any restrictions and no distinction will be made between students. Videos online backing it up with kids Q&A with doctors, basically saying, it's up to you and only giving reasons not to...

Today
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/now-is-the-time-for-students-aged-12-to-17-to-get-vaccinated-before-school-expert-says-1.5525444
with the province’s top doctor warning that vaccinated and unvaccinated students will have different sets of rules when schools starts up again.


Fucking experts, I've had it with the conflicting information.

“parents and people will hopefully look at good data and high quality information and think about the benefits, the risks, the context of where they live and hopefully they choose to get vaccinated.”

I give up, can't find high quality information that doesn't flip flop on a weekly basis. Anyway we live in a rural area, risks are minimal and schools were safe right? Or not? Does it matter when we have two kids and only one is eligible to get vaccinated (going to the same school, on the same bus). Will schools have preventative measures or is ventilation still inadequate. Is the extra cleaning over? (local supermarket stopped cleaning the carts, left a couple wipes out to diy)


Oh, another comforting study
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/covid-19-linked-to-significant-drop-in-intelligence-research-1.5524877
The study said those who had been placed on a ventilator during the pandemic exhibited the greatest cognitive deficits, so much so that it equated to a seven-point drop in IQ in a classic intelligence test.

How long you think before covid papers are deemed necessary in many locations, considering not long ago the Premier said not a chance here in ON?

Tick tock, flip flop...

If it consoles you, this study is not capable of showing what some people suggested it shows: it is cross-sectional and heavily confounded by pre-existing conditions, e.g. an up to ~ 40-fold (!) difference in lung, liver, kidney conditions, and up to 30-fold difference in ADHD, etc., depending on severity.

The more pre-existing conditions the severer Covid-19. What the study likely shows is that ill have worse cognition, and the more ill people are, the worse they fare on cognitive tests...

Yeah I figured, the usual implying causation when all there is is some correlation to show.

There are other studies showing Covid can effect the brain yet any long term effects is too early to tell. Besides that, 2 years of stress, closed schools, messy online learning etc.

I wouldn't be surprised to find some cases of that happening given the systemic inflammation that can happen in severe cases, but true neuroinvasive properties would probably require entry receptor compatibility, as seen in influenza and human coronavirus OC43.