2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic (Vaccination 2021 Edition)

CaitSeith

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Yes I know, but we've already got so many people defying the quarantine, it's practically pointless. Might as well give them the green light to go all say Yay Jesus together, and pray themselves into a grave. Yeah they're going to take people with them, but let's face it, that's already happening anyway.
Like I said I don't truly believe in giving up on social distancing but if so many people aren't then what's the point?
Are you saying if you can't save absolutely everyone, why bother saving anyone? The spread would be absuletly worst without any precautions, and the avoidable deaths would come from people who couldn't get medical attention from a bad accident or a sickness unrelated to the Covid and they couldn't get treated because of the overwhelmed medical services. A bunch of troublemakers don't make the whole thing pointless.
 

happyninja42

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Are you saying if you can't save absolutely everyone, why bother saving anyone? The spread would be absuletly worst without any precautions, and the avoidable deaths would come from people who couldn't get medical attention from a bad accident or a sickness unrelated to the Covid and they couldn't get treated because of the overwhelmed medical services. A bunch of troublemakers don't make the whole thing pointless.
yes I am aware it would be worse. I was frankly just venting because I'm fucking sick of the idiotic preferential treatment we give religious organizations in the US, and it pisses me off, and I felt like saying "fuck it, let them all die if they think their god will protect them so much. That it would be worth the loss if it meant they died too." Because you know, sometimes you have a bad day and a short tempter, and see a stupid fucking article on the news and it compels you to rant a bit.
 

Phoenixmgs

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Okay: why?

If you want to look at papers discussing the potential mechanism of action of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for covid-19, many of them fail to even mention it being a zinc ionophore. That is to me a huge warning sign that such a mechanism is not generally viewed favourably. I would again warn that this is peak season for a large number of low-rent scientists to flood the airwaves with their theories, padding out their publication records and egos.

A drug that's done the rounds forever. There are lots of these sorts of chemicals from plants that have been flagged up as useful for something somewhere, and structural analyses keep pointing them up as promising for things because they look good for binding to things, and then they repeatedly fail to pass muster. Someone's going to look at quercetin for covid-19 because it's the responsible thing to do, but for most people in the industry with years of experience of these things, it just causes their eyes to glaze over and think "Oh not that again".
I say there's more pointing to zinc working than hydroxy because I've seen 2 studies that have had positive results with zinc + a zinc ionophore (one being hydroxy, one being pyrithione) and no studies I've seen have had any positive results where they tested hydroxy by itself. It leads me to believe it's the zinc doing the work and the hydroxy opening the gate so-to-speak. If that's true, then any zinc ionophore would work, right? Unless I'm missing something here, as I'm not a medical expert or anything, but that seems to be what logical inference that can be made from the studies that I've seen.
 

Agema

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I say there's more pointing to zinc working than hydroxy because I've seen 2 studies that have had positive results with zinc + a zinc ionophore (one being hydroxy, one being pyrithione) and no studies I've seen have had any positive results where they tested hydroxy by itself. It leads me to believe it's the zinc doing the work and the hydroxy opening the gate so-to-speak. If that's true, then any zinc ionophore would work, right? Unless I'm missing something here, as I'm not a medical expert or anything, but that seems to be what logical inference that can be made from the studies that I've seen.
Drugs like chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and quercetin have been studied as antivirals for decades (not just against coronaviruses - HIV, influenza virus, etc.), with very limited success. The vast majority showing potential evidence of effectiveness don't include zinc supplements, and it's unlikely they make any significant difference to intracellular Zn2+ levels without more added (as so little Zn2+ is free-floating in biological systems).
 

Schadrach

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Drugs like chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and quercetin have been studied as antivirals for decades (not just against coronaviruses - HIV, influenza virus, etc.), with very limited success. The vast majority showing potential evidence of effectiveness don't include zinc supplements, and it's unlikely they make any significant difference to intracellular Zn2+ levels without more added (as so little Zn2+ is free-floating in biological systems).
At the same time, what's the worst case for adding a zinc supplement and more foods containing quercetin to your diet?

It either has some benefit (unlikely but possible) or it doesn't, either way it's not really going to hurt. It's one of those things that's probably wrong but generally harmless, and most of the foods that contain it are generally good for you for other reasons. Just don't try to dose yourself with it using only red wine, for obvious reasons unrelated to the quercetin.
 

Agema

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At the same time, what's the worst case for adding a zinc supplement and more foods containing quercetin to your diet?
Probably not much. Although if you start taking quercetin in very significant amounts (e.g. pills), I'd recommend consulting a physician if you're on other medication in case of drug-drug interactions.

I have no objection to such things, just so long as you don't expect it to achieve anything radical. That's the sort of way Steve Jobs managed to get himself killed.
 

Generals

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At the same time, what's the worst case for adding a zinc supplement and more foods containing quercetin to your diet?

It either has some benefit (unlikely but possible) or it doesn't, either way it's not really going to hurt. It's one of those things that's probably wrong but generally harmless, and most of the foods that contain it are generally good for you for other reasons. Just don't try to dose yourself with it using only red wine, for obvious reasons unrelated to the quercetin.
Actually the side effects of taking too many supplements are highly underestimated by most people. A lot of things people take can be relatively toxic in high doses and Zinc is no exception. Ironically taking too much zinc can lower your immunity.
 

Agema

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Actually the side effects of taking too many supplements are highly underestimated by most people. A lot of things people take can be relatively toxic in high doses and Zinc is no exception. Ironically taking too much zinc can lower your immunity.
I've not read into it much, but chronic Zn2+ in excess will likely interfere with biological processes involving other large divalent cations (i.e. probably not calcium or magnesium which are present in vastly higher concentrations and also much smaller in size) - stuff like iron, copper, etc.

Accidents aside, I think you'd have to be doing something pretty incredible to OD on zinc, though.
 

Generals

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I've not read into it much, but chronic Zn2+ in excess will likely interfere with biological processes involving other large divalent cations (i.e. probably not calcium or magnesium which are present in vastly higher concentrations and also much smaller in size) - stuff like iron, copper, etc.

Accidents aside, I think you'd have to be doing something pretty incredible to OD on zinc, though.
I concur that in order to OD on zinc you probably need to overdo it on an absurd level. But the problem often lies with prolonged exposure to too high levels of whatever you take as a supplement. And what makes this more likely to occur is the tendency of certain people to take "multivitamines" or other "broad spectrum" supplements (which when added up can lead to unhealthy doses of certain vitamines and/or minerals).

All in all, supplements are good if prescribed by your doctor because you have deficiencies, are useless but harmless if you don't have deficiencies and watch the dosage and are harmful when taken in too large quantities. An extreme example would be liver failures caused by green tea supplements.
 

Tiger King

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Are you saying if you can't save absolutely everyone, why bother saving anyone? The spread would be absuletly worst without any precautions, and the avoidable deaths would come from people who couldn't get medical attention from a bad accident or a sickness unrelated to the Covid and they couldn't get treated because of the overwhelmed medical services. A bunch of troublemakers don't make the whole thing pointless.
I do agree with you. as I said in my post I don't ACTUALLY believe in giving up on social distancing. I was in a bit of a downbeat mood when I wrote that because some of us are trying to obey the rules whilst others just flat out don't care. we had Memorial Day on Monday and all these people from out of town just invaded the beaches where I live, completely disregarding the rules put in place. It was like somebody had declared 'hey guys! the virus is gone now, you can all come back out and go back to normal!'
 

Tiger King

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yes I am aware it would be worse. I was frankly just venting because I'm fucking sick of the idiotic preferential treatment we give religious organizations in the US, and it pisses me off, and I felt like saying "fuck it, let them all die if they think their god will protect them so much. That it would be worth the loss if it meant they died too." Because you know, sometimes you have a bad day and a short tempter, and see a stupid fucking article on the news and it compels you to rant a bit.
This is how I was feeling when I made the post that CaitSeith quoted me on. I don't want anyone to get hurt or die but there are so many examples of people thinking this is all some big hoax/over exaggeration. It can all get rather depressing if you don't stop scrolling through news feeds and switch off the computer every now and then.
 

Fieldy409

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No new cases of Covid-19 here in Tasmania for 17 days now. Only five cases still exist. Our testing is in abundance before you ask no shortages here.

So I'm very blessed(or the atheist version of blessed) it seems to live in a place where Covid-19 may be eradicated entirely.

Soon my friend told me we might be able to use the weights at the gym again on a limited basis, where we book time for a limited amount of people, use the equipment and then they'll clean it after. Haven't confirmed that is true yet.

Our premier Peter Gutwein and our prime minister Scott Morrisson appear to be in somewhat of a conflict, despite being from the same party so they insist there isn't one. Scott Morrisson is calling for states to open their borders again to interstate travel in Australia, which would expose Tasmania to states still recording new cases, very small amounts but still new cases. So our premier refuses to do that, which makes me respect him a lot more. I'm surprised I can develop such respect for a Liberal Party member.


He's not the only premier standing up to Morrison on this issue either, most premiers are but we are the best suited to isolation being the only island state. Peter Gutwein has been saying many times that Tasmania will always 'march to the beat of its own drum'.

Now that I have prepped you, enjoy this fine locally sourced Tasmanian meme.
fuck off scott.jpg
 
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lil devils x

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No new cases of Covid-19 here in Tasmania for 17 days now. Only five cases still exist. Our testing is in abundance before you ask no shortages here.

So I'm very blessed(or the atheist version of blessed) it seems to live in a place where Covid-19 may be eradicated entirely.

Our premier Peter Gutwein and our prime minister Scott Morrisson appear to be in somewhat of a conflict, despite being from the same party so they insist there isn't one. Scott Morrisson is calling for states to open their borders again to interstate travel in Australia, which would expose Tasmania to states still recording new cases, very small amounts but still new cases. So our premier refuses to do that, which makes me respect him a lot more. I'm surprised I can develop such respect for a Liberal Party member.


He's not the only premier standing up to Morrison on this issue either, most premiers are but we are the best suited to isolation being the only island state. Peter Gutwein has been saying many times that Tasmania will always 'march to the beat of its own drum'.

Now that I have prepped you, enjoy this fine locally sourced Tasmanian meme.
Yea, you risk having people who have already been exposed thinking they are fleeing the pandemic in their area. This is how it was spread further in the US during the shutdown due to how unorganized it was here with wealthy people thinking they were "fleeing" infected areas to keep themselves safe, but were the the ones spreading it themselves. You are very lucky, I wish I was in a region where we only had 5 cases. I just hope I make it through this, as with is spreading so much, I am terribly worried about the odds of me being able to avoid it until there is a vaccine with my severe health issues and living in one of the highest immigration regions of North America, and a major population center. Not much place to hide out here safely really.
 

Fieldy409

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Yea, you risk having people who have already been exposed thinking they are fleeing the pandemic in their area. This is how it was spread further in the US during the shutdown due to how unorganized it was here with wealthy people thinking they were "fleeing" infected areas to keep themselves safe, but were the the ones spreading it themselves. You are very lucky, I wish I was in a region where we only had 5 cases. I just hope I make it through this, as with is spreading so much, I am terribly worried about the odds of me being able to avoid it until there is a vaccine with my severe health issues and living in one of the highest immigration regions of North America, and a major population center. Not much place to hide out here safely really.
Yeah if I recall correctly you're a nurse with damaged lungs who is also a Native American? Lot of boxes ticked there for danger statistically from what I hear Native Americans are being hit hard sadly.

I'm really proud of our community, people love to make fun of Tasmania as stupid but the vast majority of us took it seriously even before cases were in double digits, social distancing and accepting the lockdowns without much protest.

We had the panic rush for buying but I still posit the uptick in demand was less due to hoarding and more due to less meals being provided due to shut down restaurants and people reasonably thinking that they needed two weeks supplies in case they needed to self isolate for two weeks by law.

It got a little concerning when it spread through our hospital in Burnie. I believe we actually had a historic event using the Australian Defence Force(ADF) Australian Medical Assistance Teams (AUSMAT) I believe for the first time taking over an Australian hospital.



And for a while I remember reading we had the most deaths per capita out of Australian states even with our small numbers.

But things have become very good now.
 

lil devils x

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Yeah if I recall correctly you're a nurse with damaged lungs who is also a Native American? Lot of boxes ticked there for danger statistically from what I hear Native Americans are being hit hard sadly.

I'm really proud of our community, people love to make fun of Tasmania as stupid but the vast majority of us took it seriously even before cases were in double digits, social distancing and accepting the lockdowns without much protest.

We had the panic rush for buying but I still posit the uptick in demand was less due to hoarding and more due to less meals being provided due to shut down restaurants and people reasonably thinking that they needed two weeks supplies in case they needed to self isolate for two weeks by law.

It got a little concerning when it spread through our hospital in Burnie. I believe we actually had a historic event using the Australian Defence Force(ADF) Australian Medical Assistance Teams (AUSMAT) I believe for the first time taking over an Australian hospital.



And for a while I remember reading we had the most deaths per capita out of Australian states even with our small numbers.

But things have become very good now.
I am actually an MD, not a nurse. My degrees are in Immunology and Pediatric Medicine, and yes, I am Native American and yes, my lungs are permanently damaged after surviving another severe respiratory virus while working with MSF. I almost did not survive that one, so my probability of surviving COVID-19 is low if I get severe illness. The reservations in the US are being devastated right now, and not much at all being done to help tbh. The Hopi Nation I was born in is entirely surrounded by the Navajo Nation, which is greatly struggling with COVID-19 right now and everyone is afraid. I am very worried for my family and friends there. I have had difficulty talking about it at all really because sometimes it can be difficult to find the words when you feel overwhelming helplessness to stop it when I am not accustomed to feeling this helpless but instead every instinct I have is to go do something about it. I am having difficulty accepting that I am not able to go and do that right now in person, and would just become a problem rather than part of the solution. Being able to treat patients from home online for now, at least I am able to do something to help and am not totally sidelined since I cannot do so in person. I am still limited in what I can do via internet and phone, but at least I can help take some of the pressure off the front lines by doing so.


Trump's delay of Native American funding for COVID-19 has had devastating consequences.

EDIT: Having issues with my keyboard after my cat sat on it so I keep fixing errors, but then it causes more errors, so hopefully this time I got them all.
 
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lil devils x

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We are starting to see spikes again, and will likely result in more lockdowns, as the lower numbers previously predicted are likely to be impacted now due to the unpredictability of the protests and other super spreading events due to lack of PPE and other necessary measures to mitigate spread while reopening. The severe lack of central leadership in the US in this regard though is extremely worrisome, as no matter how bad this gets, it is likely Trump will just let Americans unnecessarily die and pretend it isn't a problem instead of actually listening to Fauci and other experts and resort to proper measures to protect the general public. In his mind, having superspreading campaign events is more important than trying to save the lives of his supporters that attend. If he really wants to be reelected, you would think he would care more about them being alive to do so in November than about him blowing his horn at some rally that really isn't going to impact whether or not people vote for him at this point anyways.
 

Satinavian

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To be fair, this "countries renew their restrictions" sounds more alarming than it has to be. A lot of countries who have started to reopen are very carefully monitoring the numbers and react as soon as it gets worse, The case numbers are still very low and there is no "second wave" that deserves this name. Having the restrictions back does not mean it got out of control again.

And of course every country is different. Worldwide daily new cases are still rising and many nations have a long way to go before "reopening" becomes sensible.
 

lil devils x

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To be fair, this "countries renew their restrictions" sounds more alarming than it has to be. A lot of countries who have started to reopen are very carefully monitoring the numbers and react as soon as it gets worse, The case numbers are still very low and there is no "second wave" that deserves this name. Having the restrictions back does not mean it got out of control again.

And of course every country is different. Worldwide daily new cases are still rising and many nations have a long way to go before "reopening" becomes sensible.
"Reopening" in the manner it is being done in the US is anything but sensible. Nations that are taking it slow and preventing new cases are the ones doing it properly. However, in the US this is likely to turn into a new nightmare all over again... as if the nightmare ever actually stopped. Due to the extremely poor handling of it here, I don;t think we even have accurate assessments at this point as those relied on people taking it slowly, using PPE while continuing to social distance and none of that is really happening here. Where it is and isn't being done well is so spotty and then the protests and Trump trying to start unrestricted campaign rallies.. This is likely to get ugly fast. My only hope is that most of the protesters were already exposed and hopefully have some sort of temporary immunity at least. I know that is unlikely, but I can at least hope that it isn't going to get as bad as it could be with this going on.
 
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Agema

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The case numbers are still very low and there is no "second wave" that deserves this name.
My wife works in the health service - the buzz she's heard is a second wave for the UK in September. One way or another, it might be a way off yet.