There are reports that the Sinovac vaccine, that is most common in use in Chile, is only just over 50% effective.
It will be interesting to see if this had some effect on the problem now facing Chile.

And it is selective out-of-context quoting like that that fuels the anti-vax hysteria...


Adding the context from that article, we have for completeness:

... Data on the efficacy of the CoronaVac vaccine is varied. Brazilian trials suggested an efficacy rate of around 50.4% but results from late-stage trials in Indonesia and Turkey suggested a much higher rate - between 65% and 83%.

A study published by the University of Chile last week (in Spanish) looked at the level of protection the vaccine offered after the first and the second doses. It suggested CoronaVac was 56.5% effective in protecting people against infection two weeks after they had received their second dose, but the figure was only 3% in the timespan between the first and second doses...

... in the trial that showed an efficacy rate of around 50% many of those who got infected only had very mild symptoms or were asymptomatic. She stresses that the important thing is that no-one in the trial needed to go into intensive care.

She insists CoronaVac prevents deaths and severe illness and is also proving effective against the Brazilian variant...

So, to summarize the main points:

• Multiple studies are being done, early results from one study (Brazil) show 50.4% with two other longer studies showing between 65% and 83% effectiveness;
  
• The Brazil (50.4%) study saw mainly mild or no symptoms for those who suffered COVID infection and significantly noone needed any intensive care.
  

To me, that looks like a big win regardless of which vaccine someone might get - for the protection seen AFTER THE FULL COURSE OF TWO DOSES.


The bigger problems are, as is too often the case:

• the media sensationalizing and confusing the story;
  
• and then also the politics jumping the gun on claiming the pandemic is 'somehow over'.
  

Get vaccinated.

But still stay safe folks!
Martin

(Edit: Grammar)

---

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To add to the highly notable and influential who have been vaccinated, we at long last have His Holiness himself:


Covid: Dalai Lama urges others to get vaccinated as he receives first {dose}
wrote:

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine while urging others eligible to "take this injection".

"This is very very helpful, very good," he said as he was given the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab at a facility in the Indian city of Dharamsala on Saturday.

The Dalai Lama had enrolled himself to be vaccinated, officials said.

India launched its vaccination drive on 16 January, but it was limited to healthcare workers and frontline staff.

Since 1 March, however, the scheme has been extended to people aged over 60...

All very good!

(But why do the press have to cause alarm by suggesting in the title that His Holiness had been "shot"?)


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
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To me, that looks like a big win regardless of which vaccine someone might get - for the protection seen AFTER THE FULL COURSE OF TWO DOSES.
The bigger problem, as is too often the case, is the media sensationalism confusing the story and the politics jumping the gun on claiming the pandemic is 'somehow over'.

Also those implying that the jabs will stop one catching Covid.
They do not, they only "potentially" prevent hospitalisation & fatality, something which even doctors state.

The Turkish trial was only carried out on a very small number of people, in the tens, no more.

A real-world study of millions of Chileans finds CoronaVac vaccine has found it 67% effective against symptoms after both shots.

The Brazil 50.4% numbers come from Sao Paulo in a trial of 13,000 people.

For the moment I will go with the low efficiency numbers and say with that few people tested , that wasn't a trial in Turkey.

The last reporting period saw the world's total case tally pass 140.7 million while registering over 3,011,550 deaths. :-(

The only change at the top end of the death list was Bulgaria replacing Iran in 31st so let's see what's changed on the case list.

Thailand jumped over Malawi and Zimbabwe into 11th place, both Kyrgyzstan and Zambia passed China, but Cuba flew over the lot to claim 92nd, while North Macedonia replaced Myanmar in 81st, Guatemala slipped past Armenia into 69th as Lithuania displaced Slovenia from 65th, Paraguay leapt over Denmark and Ireland to take over 61st (I thought that they may have taken Moldova as well, but they havn't got their last day's figures in yet), Azerbaijan nudged past Georgia into 51st and rounding out the final changes is Lebanon taking 39th spot from Morocco and Argentina replacing Colombia in 12th.

BTW, Sweden didn't get to stop the Philippines from cementing 27th place, but they did become the 28th member of the 900,000+ clubhouse.

WMD's? No need, just use WMI's (weapon of mass infiltration).

Russia normally has to spend huge amounts of money on computer hacking and disinformation to spread discord and uncertainty in Europe. Now the vaccine appears to be achieving something similar without any effort.
Pierre Vimont of Carnegie says the Putin administration will be pleased. "I'm sure they are enjoying this," he said, "let's not be fooled. The use of vaccines by Russia and by China is a diplomatic instrument, a tool for soft power. Playing {EU} member states off against each other is naturally important to Russia."

Politicians at work
Also, the Jab does not stop you getting Covid.

Argentinian President Alberto Fernández tested positive for Covid-19 in April after receiving two doses of Sputnik in January and February. That's a reminder that even if the Gamaleya Institute's claimed efficacy rate of 91.6% turns out to be true, a small statistical risk remains among those who've been vaccinated.

Meanwhile elsewhere
What's wrong Canada?

Also, the Jab does not stop you getting Covid.

How do we get that message through to the
"We must be allowed to ............ crowds"
1. go down the pub
2. go to a restaurant
3. go on a foreign holiday
4. all of the above.

Have no idea.
We don't want to go this route though.
Zig Heil

"As such, this constitutes one of the most dangerous policy proposals ever to be made in the history of British politics."

Yep, very dangerous indeed.

It's the weekend, it's sunny, and the crowds have been told they can go out to play:


Pub and shop staff: 'Please be nice to us this weekend'
wrote:

"It's going to be a couple of manic days."

That's what [store] worker Hannah is expecting as pubs, shops and restaurants in England gear up for their first weekend since restrictions were eased...

... "Before the store reopened, we were going round making sure everything looked perfect," she says. "The state of the store after, it looked like there was a war in there. You just want to cry." She's hoping this weekend, her customers will be less "blunt" and "rude"...

Reopening verdict: 'It was 'buzzing, chaotic and crazy'
wrote:

On Monday morning, many business owners across the country nervously flipped signs from 'closed' to 'open'.

Non-essential shops in England and Wales, as well as gyms, theme parks and hairdressers, were allowed to welcome customers again, more than three months after being forced to shut...

... Michael says customers have been like "children getting to go outside for playtime", favouring traditional Greek dishes such as moussaka or souvlaki.

He adds it's been a "pleasure" to see the return of the four members of staff who spent 12 months on furlough. "We have missed seeing our staff and our customers' faces - that's why we're in the hospitality business."

Covid: Canada sounds the alarm as cases overtake US
wrote:

The rate of coronavirus infections in Canada's biggest province has reached an all-time high as hospitals warn they are close to being overwhelmed.

A panel of experts say infections in Ontario could increase by 600% by June if public health measures are weak and vaccination rates do not pick up...

... Ontario is now introducing strict new public measures, including:

• a six-week stay-at-home order;
  
• restrictions on non-essential travel, including checkpoints at the borders...
  

... Last week the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario warned doctors that they might have to start making decisions about who to admit to intensive care, because units were stretched almost to capacity. The co-chairman of Ontario's expert panel, Adalsteinn Brown, said Ontario's hospitals could no longer function normally.

"Our children's hospitals are admitting adults. This has never happened in Ontario before. It's never happened in Canada before."

A field hospital is now being set up in the car park of one of Toronto's main hospitals...

Here's hoping that the UK COVID infection rate really is low enough to allow such enthusiastic playtime without the repeat spike as was seen from the Christmas shopping spree.

Truly a game of shopping vs deaths?

More caution needd for a more cautious opening up?... We'll have to watch the numbers carefully. The real killer still, is the 3 or 4 week delay before any increase in infections is noticed...


Good luck for Canada to reverse their deadly infection surge...

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
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Well India didn't hang around to welcome Brazil into the 14 million case clubhouse as they're already in the 15 million clubhouse clearing out the over 4 months of cobwebs and dust build up from it, but it doesn't look like that they'll spend much time in there as their daily case numbers continue to grow towards 300,000. :-O

Meanwhile Honduras became the 71st member of the 200,000+ club as Azerbaijan became the 51st to join the 300,000+ club and Sweden is still collapsed in the doorway of the 900,000+ clubhouse, but they should recover soon enough to make it up to the bar eventually.

... it's sunny, and the crowds have been told they can go out to play:

[...]

Here's hoping that the UK COVID infection rate really is low enough to allow such enthusiastic playtime without the repeat spike as was seen from the Christmas shopping spree.

Truly a game of shopping vs deaths?

More caution needed for a more cautious opening up?... We'll have to watch the numbers carefully. The real killer still, is the 3 or 4 week delay before any increase in infections is noticed...

What is that fabled story about Cassandra?

And also Einstein's quote about repeating the same actions yet expecting/hoping for a different outcome?


Yet we have developing:

Covid-19: How India failed to prevent a deadly second wave
wrote:

In early March, India's health minister Harsh Vardhan declared the country was "in the endgame" of the Covid-19 pandemic...

Mr Vardhan's unbridled optimism was based on a sharp drop in reported infections. Since a peak of more than 93,000 cases per day on average in mid-September, infections had steadily declined. By mid-February, India was counting an average of 11,000 cases a day. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths from the disease had slid to below 100.

The euphoria at beating the virus had been building since late last year. Politicians, policy makers and parts of the media believed that India was truly ['cured']... Campaigning [for elections] had begun in full swing, with no safety protocols and social distancing. In mid-March, the cricket board allowed more than 130,000 fans, mostly unmasked, to watch two international cricket games...

... In less than a month, things began to unravel. India was in the grips of a devastating second wave of the virus ... Experts now say that crowing about India's exceptionalism in "beating" the epidemic ... and declaring victory on the virus turned out to be cruelly premature...

... India's second wave was fuelled by people letting their guard down, attending weddings and social gatherings, and by mixed messaging from the government, allowing political rallies and religious gatherings...

India coronavirus: Delhi announces lockdown as Covid cases surge
wrote:

... a week-long lockdown after a record spike in cases overwhelmed the city's healthcare system...

... India has been reporting more than 200,000 cases daily since 15 April - this is well past its peak last year, when it was averaging around 93,000 cases a day...

... Experts say the Indian government ignored warnings of a second wave and did little to prevent it or even contain it - they point to cricket matches attended by unmasked crowds, massive election rallies that appeared to flout basic Covid safety rules and a huge Hindu festival where millions congregated...

... Within weeks, India shot to the top of the world's Covid chart, recording more cases daily than any other country.

And now we have over here in the UK:

Shoppers making 'revenge purchases' flock back to High Street
wrote:

Shoppers flocked back to the High Street last week to treat themselves after non-essential stores reopened in England and Wales...

... people were making so called revenge purchases - splashing out after months of being unable to go shopping...

... "The reopening of indoor hospitality on 17 May will provide a further boost to retail destinations as many indoor venues are located in High Streets and shopping centres," she added...

And as we've repeatedly seen for this worldwide pandemic, the real killer is that the reported increases in infection rates only become apparent three or more weeks after the real world increase in the spreading of infections, with the politics then responding weeks later and deadly woefully too late...

More caution needed?

More gradual 'opening up' with smaller more cautious steps?...


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

The world's total case tally has now passed 142.7 million as deaths passed 3,043,200. :-(

By the end of the last reporting period the only change at the upper end of the death list was Hungary replacing Chile in 22nd place so let's get onto the case list.

P.N.G. has rocketed up to 150th place now (has anyone heard anything about those 1st million doses of that Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine that we redirected there yet? Me either), Mongolia has also been on a charge flying up to 122nd while Madagascar replaced Sudan in 114th, Thailand sprinted past Senegal and Uganda into 109th as Kyrgyzstan claimed 92nd from Ghana, but not before Cuba took 91st from them, Bahrain passed Nigeria and then Uruguay came along to snatch 77th from them both.

Ethiopia took 63rd spot from Denmark and now have Ireland within their sights, Paraguay relieved Moldova of 60th as even though Tunisia passed Nepal they remain in 55th because Kazakhstan passed both including Bolivia to take over 53rd, Malaysia dumped Slovakia from 44th while Canada swept past Chile into 22nd, Indonesia deprived Czechia of 18th and Argentina blew Poland out of 11th place.

Meanwhile things are doing ok here down under so far with quarantine free travel now happening both ways with our Kiwi cousins across the ditch and there's some more good news.

Australia's COVID-19 win to help fuel economic growth this year: Reuters poll.

... it's sunny, and the crowds have been told they can go out to play:

[...]

Here's hoping that the UK COVID infection rate really is low enough to allow such enthusiastic playtime without the repeat spike as was seen from the Christmas shopping spree.

Truly a game of shopping vs deaths?

More caution needed for a more cautious opening up?... We'll have to watch the numbers carefully. The real killer still, is the 3 or 4 week delay before any increase in infections is noticed...

What is that fabled story about Cassandra?
And also Einstein's quote about repeating the same actions yet expecting/hoping for a different outcome?

Yet we have developing: ...

How many 'Cassandras' are going to be ignored?...

Covid: Government scientist warns of summer surge in cases
wrote:

The UK is likely to see a "summer surge" in Covid cases as lockdown is relaxed, a government scientist says.

Prof Adam Finn, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, says modelling points to a rise in cases, as many adults are not immunised. He said the UK was still "vulnerable" and the dates for easing restrictions may need adjusting.

The PM has said there is nothing in the data to suggest the next step in easing lockdown cannot go ahead as planned.

But Boris Johnson said that most scientists were "firmly of the view" that there would be a third wave of the virus at some point this year...

So the UK politics are that we are going to blunder into another deadly surge/wave of our own making regardless?...

Except this time round, we have more than enough experience to know how to avoid any such further deadly 'surges'...


Instead, and far more healthy, go for a more gradual 'opening up' with smaller more cautious steps?...

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Well India has set a new daily case record of 315,728 as they're about to transition from the 15 million clubhouse to the 16 million job while Brazil has entered the 14 million club as Iraq became the 25th member 1 million club, Austria became the 37th to join the 600,000+ club and the U.A.E. was the 41st to enter the 500,000+ clubhouse.

Even though this reporting period isn't over as yet the world itself has now set a new daily case record of at least 854,030. :-O

Well India has set a new daily case record ...

And still developing deadly badly:

Covid: India sees world's highest daily cases amid oxygen shortage
wrote:

India has recorded the highest one-day tally of new Covid-19 cases anywhere in the world - and the country's highest number of deaths over 24 hours.

It has close to 16 million confirmed cases, second only to the US.

The country is in the grip of a second wave, raising more fears about its overwhelmed health care system. Crowds have formed outside hospitals in major cities which are filled to capacity. A number of people have died while waiting for oxygen...

... Delhi's highest court on Wednesday publicly criticised the central government for its handling of the oxygen crisis in the city. "This is ridiculous. We want to know what the centre is doing with regard to oxygen supply across India," the judges said while reading out the verdict in a petition by the owner of six private hospitals. It ordered the government to ensure safe passage of oxygen supplies from factories to hospitals across India. Delhi state government approached the high court again on Thursday when two of the city's hospitals reported they had only a few hours' oxygen supply left...

... Unlike last year, no national lockdown has been announced. Instead, regions are implementing their own rules...

... India has seen a rapid rise in case numbers over the past month driven by lax safety protocols, a Hindu festival attended by millions and variants of the virus, including a "double mutant" strain...

Huge election rallies - including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi - were also not halted in the state of West Bengal which has been holding elections in phases in recent weeks. Voters will be casting ballots on Thursday as well...

How can politics be pushed so rabidly when so deadly to healthy good sense?!


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
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Will the politics and the ignorant take heed?


Vaccines alone will not stop Covid spreading - here's why
wrote:

... scientists say jabs alone will not currently be enough and other measures are still needed.

Scroll down to find out why...

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
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India has yet again set another new daily case record with 332,503 this time as they charged into 16 million clubhouse. :-O

Ouch, mega ouch :-(

Edit to add:
I caught something on the radio today where a person working in India thought that the figures, bad as they are, are actually below the real situation as so many people in India are not actually registered, so they can't be ill or die because officially they haven't been born.

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

The world's total case tally has now passed 146.2 million as deaths pass 3.1 million. :-(

At the end of the last reporting period India had set a new daily case record of 345,147 and when Sweden wakes up to get their numbers in could see the world's daily case numbers pass 900,000 for the 1st time. :-O

The only change at the top end of the death list was the Netherlands replacing Portugal in 27th place so it's onto the case list.

Mongolia flew over Rwanda, Angola and the Maldives to land in 119th place, Madagascar nudged Malawi out of the way to claim 113th while Thailand put in a mighty leap to pass Jamaica, the Ivory Coast, Botswana and Namibia to take over 105th, Cyprus took 103rd from Afghanistan as Cuba knocked Montenegro out of 90th, Uruguay blasted Libya from 76th and Costa Rica replaced Slovenia in 66th spot.

Denmark passed Ireland to claim 63rd spot after Ethiopia jumped over Ireland and Moldova to take over 61st, Kuwait shoved the Dominican Republic out of 58th as Tunisia and Nepal both passed Bolivia to claim 54th and 55th respectively, Ecuador took 46th from Panama while the Philippines kicked Belgium from 26th, Iran took 14th from Mexico and Turkey blew the U.K. out of 6th place.

Meanwhile here down under we've cut back on the number of Australians returning from India by 30% due to the high numbers of them coming back infected with the virus and creating problems with our quarantine services. So much for our P.M.'s promise on having everyone home by last Xmas, but you can't expect much from a man who continually sits on his hands while towing the right wing line. :-(