SARS-2-CoV (COVID-19)

[MacGyver]

There are diseases that have been eradicated in our lifetimes that killed millions of people because of vaccines.

It’s late, so I won’t try to rank them - but if you were to make a list of scientific achievements that have most improved the human condition in the last 500 years - vaccines are in the top 5. 

[bubbadavis]

8 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

There are diseases that have been eradicated in our lifetimes that killed millions of people because of vaccines.

It’s late, so I won’t try to rank them - but if you were to make a list of scientific achievements that have most improved the human condition in the last 500 years - vaccines are in the top 5. 

Where would "social media" be on the list? 

[MacGyver]

26 minutes ago, bubbadavis said:

Where would "social media" be on the list? 

In 50 years, our grandchildren will look at  our use of social media and it’s balkanizing effects in the same way we look at our grandparents who smoked 18 hours a day - sort of a “how could you not have known that stuff was terrible for you?”

Hopefully its not preceded by “back before the war.”

[Chucktshoes]

23 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

In 50 years, our grandchildren will look at  our use of social media and it’s balkanizing effects in the same way we look at our grandparents who smoked 18 hours a day - sort of a “how could you not have known that stuff was terrible for you?”

Hopefully its not preceded by “back before the war.”

Maybe I’m not always the optimist. 
 

I don’t like the odds on your last sentence. 

[MacGyver]

2 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

Maybe I’m not always the optimist. 
 

I don’t like the odds on your last sentence. 

Me either.

But, by the same token literally billions of people have been brought out of extreme poverty in the last 2 generations - in your and my lifetime.

Some of the post WWII structures that are so popular to hate on right now have largely kept the continent of Europe largely peaceful for the last 75 years. Parts of it had basically been at war for the 500 years previous to that.

So many diseases are treatable that would have been deadly or terribly debilitating only 75 years ago.

Many of us have traveled farther in a day than our forefathers did in their entire lives.

I could go on - but there’s reason for hope, too.

The world and the people in it really are quite amazing.

 

[Snaveba]

Hopefully it my daughter’s grand kids asking her about overuse of social media. Then at least the country will be here in 45-50 years. 

[Chucktshoes]

2 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Me either.

But, by the same token literally billions of people have been brought out of extreme poverty in the last 2 generations - in your and my lifetime.

Some of the post WWII structures that are so popular to hate on right now have largely kept the continent of Europe largely peaceful for the last 75 years. Parts of it had basically been at war for the 500 years previous to that.

So many diseases are treatable that would have been deadly or terribly debilitating only 75 years ago.

Many of us have traveled farther in a day than our forefathers did in their entire lives.

I could go on - but there’s reason for hope, too.

The world and the people in it really are quite amazing.

 

Isn’t that always the way of it? Despair and hope come skipping up the road hand in hand? Impossible to separate one from the other. 

[Omega]

1 hour ago, Oh Shoot said:

The flu vaccine has been around for almost 75 years, and is no more effective than around 60-70% at best, usually less, sometimes far less.

AIDS virus was first identified 37 years ago, and there is still no vaccine at all.  Not mention the common cold.

So I'd opine that the Covid vaccine is quite the success.

- OS

I predict that in 5, 10 years, there will be some lawyer commercial saying "If you received the Covid vaccine in 2021, you may have a case" call 1-800-COVID21.

Oh, and according to the freaking tv commercials every 5 minutes, HIV does have a cure...ish. 

https://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/aids-hiv-medication

Flu?  Tamiflu and Xofluza come to mind, you know, for those times they guessed the wrong strain for the year.

As to the cold, well, that's left to the Theraflu, Nyquil  bunch...they got to eat too.

Point is, if there is money to be made, they will get something out there, wether it works or not.  But keep this in mind, there is more money in treatments, then there is in cures.

[RED333]

6 hours ago, Omega said:

But keep this in mind, there is more money in treatments, then there is in cures.

Very true!

[deerslayer]

On 1/13/2021 at 8:02 AM, Erik88 said:

The fear of the vaccine is strange when I see the comments come from people that haven't really cared about their health in years(Not addressing anyone on TGO as I have no idea what your health situation is). We are a horribly unhealthy country. We eat the worst possible things, we don't exercise, and have one of the highest rates of obesity in the world and suddenly we're so concerned about our health that we won't get a vaccine because "there's no telling what's in it". 

This is an excellent point.  One could possibly argue that maintaining health and fitness is patriotic, since it’s good for the well being of the country and can reduce an individual’s impact on society when a pandemic arrives by being less likely to get it and/or more likely to recover quickly.  
 

I’m no fitness fanatic or health guru, but I try not abandon common sense when eating and I can run five miles in less than 45 minutes.  My blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol are good.  I’ve had the virus and fully recovered without issues.  I like my unvaccinated odds, but would probably have a different attitude if I were a 70 year old obese diabetic.  I’m trying not to become that, however, and I wish more Americans would do the same.  

[ReeferMac]

9 hours ago, Omega said:

I predict that in 5, 10 years, there will be some lawyer commercial saying "If you received the Covid vaccine in 2021, you may have a case" call 1-800-COVID21.

Actually......

 

.... the drug companies demanded the fedgov indemnify them from all lawsuits related to the vaccine (due to rushing the approval process, which normally takes years). 

It could simply be a smart lawyer, or something else. Regardless, its one reason this body won't be getting the jab any time soon. 

If the manufacturer is demanding a free pass, there must be a good reason. I prefer to let other people stride into the unknown. Talk to me in a few years when there is more data.

 

[ReeferMac]

10 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Hopefully its not preceded by “back before the war.”

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't on my mind 5 years ago when I moved down here..... if you study history, you saw this coming. Those that don't think it will turn hot, are in for a surprise, IMHO. Human nature hasn't changed, thats why we always repeat the same mistakes. Why history has regular cycles.

[btq96r]

On 1/13/2021 at 9:41 AM, Lumber_Jack said:

Your post

+π

[Oh Shoot]

TN average daily Covid deaths:

(2020)
March      0.7  (first death 3/21/20)
April         5.8
May         5.3
June        8.0
July       14.7
Aug      22.5
Sept     23.2
Oct       29.0
Nov      41.9
Dec      74.3
(2021)
Jan        94.6       (thru 14th) 

total TN deaths: 8,232
IHME projection based on current projection scenario by April 1, 2021: 13,936

- OS

[gregintenn]

12 hours ago, RED333 said:

Very true!

No kidding! Where’s that cancer vaccine?

[Lumber_Jack]

1 hour ago, gregintenn said:

No kidding! Where’s that cancer vaccine?

Is this a serious question? Ever heard of HPV vaccine? It’s gonna save millions of women from cervical cancer in the coming generations. “Cancer” isn’t just one thing. It’s hundreds or thousands. 
 

As the husband of a physician it’s pretty offensive (not really I don’t care what y’all do or do not believe)  that people think that cures would be suppressed for money. They amount  of universal collusion it would require to keep that farce going is virtually impossible.  Much like the idea that Covid-19 is a ploy to manipulate humanity. I just don’t believe that many people can all agree to follow the same plan for such a thing to be successful 

[Quavodus]

14 hours ago, RED333 said:

Very true!

So very true. My wife is about to start Chemo in a little while. They make way to much money on some things.

[Grayfox54]

[gregintenn]

11 hours ago, Lumber_Jack said:

Is this a serious question? Ever heard of HPV vaccine? It’s gonna save millions of women from cervical cancer in the coming generations. “Cancer” isn’t just one thing. It’s hundreds or thousands. 
 

As the husband of a physician it’s pretty offensive (not really I don’t care what y’all do or do not believe)  that people think that cures would be suppressed for money. They amount  of universal collusion it would require to keep that farce going is virtually impossible.  Much like the idea that Covid-19 is a ploy to manipulate humanity. I just don’t believe that many people can all agree to follow the same plan for such a thing to be successful 

The medical industry is like amy other. It exists to make money. I would not have it any other way, but that’s how it is.

 

[Lumber_Jack]

1 hour ago, gregintenn said:

The medical industry is like amy other. It exists to make money. I would not have it any other way, but that’s how it is.

 

I never said it wasn't.  I just said the idea that doctors and researchers would withhold viable medical treatments to make more money is laughable.  Our advancement in cancer treatments alone in the last 20 years is a herculean effort.  Have you seen this country lately? No one needs to withhold anything to ensure high demand for medical care is sustained, we eat, drink, and drug our way into plenty of need.  

[peejman]

3 hours ago, Lumber_Jack said:

I never said it wasn't.  I just said the idea that doctors and researchers would withhold viable medical treatments to make more money is laughable.  Our advancement in cancer treatments alone in the last 20 years is a herculean effort.  Have you seen this country lately? No one needs to withhold anything to ensure high demand for medical care is sustained, we eat, drink, and drug our way into plenty of need.  

Doctors and researchers, no. The bean counters who run the business that employs them, possibly (Martin Shrekli, Heather Bresch, ).   It's an argument against privately funded medical research. The .gov doesn't care about ROI.  

[Darrell]

I read today that the mayors of New York and Chicago are now both in favor of immediately re-opening their economies.  I have no doubt that Covid is a serious problem, but I also have no doubt that a large part of the government response was political.  Now that DJT is about to be out of office, it's suddenly okay to get the economy running again? Wouldn't it be nice to trust government to do what's right for the people instead of for their party?

[btq96r]

42 minutes ago, Darrell said:

I read today that the mayors of New York and Chicago are now both in favor of immediately re-opening their economies.  I have no doubt that Covid is a serious problem, but I also have no doubt that a large part of the government response was political.  Now that DJT is about to be out of office, it's suddenly okay to get the economy running again? Wouldn't it be nice to trust government to do what's right for the people instead of for their party?

I wouldn't underestimate the budget deficits they're under.  Both those cities are probably approaching junk bond status, so unless the Fed is buying, they're SOL.  With offices closing or reducing size to allow work from home to become a permanent thing, and vacations, conventions, and all other forms of travel down to a trickle, a lot of commerce that kept a city budget in good order just isn't happening in big cities anymore.  McCormick Place in Chicago being a ghosttown has to be a sucking chest wound in the budget right about now.  Add to that the costs of turning a brick and mortar school system into a virtual classroom had to have been staggering for school systems those size.  It all comes out to a lot of red ink.

[Darrell]

1 hour ago, btq96r said:

I wouldn't underestimate the budget deficits they're under. 

Eggs Zacktly!  The mayors of those cities were willing to drive their economies into the ground, and now that the political reason for a shutdown no longer exists, they want their economies running again. The conditions you cited existed months ago, right? But the timing of the desire to reopen the economies is suspect in my eyes. There appears to have been a political reason for keeping the economies down. The stated reason for shutting down, Covid, still exists and isn't showing any sign of going away. Why reopen now? If the people were in so much danger from the virus six months ago that the economy had do be sacrificed, why not now? What suddenly changed?

[Moped]

On 1/6/2021 at 12:28 PM, Moped said:

Well, it's not been a kind week for COVID patients in area hospitals.  Since last Monday there have been 47 deaths attributed to COVID.  the new  death toll is now 353.  Daily postive cases have declined from previous weeks.  Since I last reported here, there have been 2,317 new positive cases.

Stat's taken from the daily report by the Knox County Health Department.

Haven't reported in a while.  Honestly the news has been mostly better.  We did not see a Christmas/New Years Bump in new cases.  The curve has been flattening out  for the most part.  Today saw only 85 new cases reported, after a week of of hovering around 200 per day range. We were in the 300's the week before. That might have been the Christmas/New Years bump.  If so, I was no where near as bad as the Thanksgiving Bump.  

The bad news, (and there is bad news) is that since my last report, 14 days ago, has seen the number of deaths rise to 423.  That's an increase 70 over a two week period.

Stats taken from the Daily Report by the Knox County Health Department.