Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (nCoV-2019)

[Admiral Beez]

North Denmark in lockdown over mutated virus in mink farms

November 6, 2020

More than a quarter million Danes went into lockdown Friday in a northern region of the country where a mutated variation of the coronavirus has infected minks being farmed for their fur, leading to an order to kill millions of the animals.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the move was meant to contain the virus, and it came two days after the government ordered the cull of all 15 million minks bred at Denmark’s 1,139 mink farms.

The coronavirus evolves constantly and, to date, there is no evidence that any of the mutations pose an increased danger to people. But Danish authorities were not taking any chances.

In seven northern Denmark municipalities with some 280,000 residents sport and cultural activities have been suspended, public transportation has been stopped and regional borders have been closed. Only people with so-called “critical functions” such as police and health officials and different authorities are being permitted to cross municipal boundaries.

People in the region have been urged to to be tested. As of Saturday, restaurants must close, and school students from fifth grade and up will switch to remote learning Monday.

“We must knock down completely this virus variant,” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said Thursday, adding that the mutated virus had been found in 12 people - 11 in northern Denmark and one in western Denmark.

North Denmark in lockdown over mutated virus in mink farms

COPENHAGEN — More than a quarter million Danes went into lockdown Friday in a northern region of the country where a mutated variation of the coronavirus has infected minks being farmed for their fur, leading to an order to kill millions of the animals.Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the...

ca.finance.yahoo.com

Back in 2004 - 2007 I lived in Atlantic Canada. My job was animal feed sales, including to Newfoundland‘s mink farms. The mink industry was started as an employment scheme and as a market for fish offals...but then the cod fishery was closed and thus the mink needed agricultural feed, which brought me to the Rock. With Denmark out of the business, and the Russians and Chinese wanting mink coats, I expect this will be boon times for the Canadian industry....unless Covid.

It is gruesome work that I’d rather see stopped entirely. They die through poison gas chambers and then are manually skinned on big tables by seasonal workers, their carcasses being tossed into a big pile and then buried or burned. Maybe Covid will close it down for good.

 

[TrickyRicky]

That initial Pfizer vaccine effectiveness claim is incredibly encouraging.

While there are logistic concerns it shows vaccination is so effective it validates our public health measure response.

The really important data though is vaccine effectiveness for the elderly. If you can effectively vaccinate the elderly you reduce mortality to a fraction of todays rate.

 

[Richard White]

Covid vaccine: First vaccine offers 90% protection

Nov 9, 2020

The first coronavirus vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19, a preliminary analysis shows.

The developers - Pfizer and BioNTech - described it as a "great day for science and humanity".

Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been raised.

The companies plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of the month.

A vaccine - alongside better treatments - is seen as the best way of getting out of the restrictions that have been imposed on all our lives.

There are around a dozen in the final stages of testing, but this is the first to show any results.

It uses a completely experimental approach - that involves injecting part of the virus's genetic code - in order to train the immune system.

Two doses, three weeks apart, are needed. The trials - in US, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and Turkey - show 90% protection is achieved seven days after the second dose.

Pfizer believes it will be able to supply 50 million doses by the end of this year, and around 1.3 billion by the end of 2021.

However, there are logistical challenges as the vaccine has to be kept in ultra-cold storage at below minus 80C.

There are also questions about how long immunity lasts.

Covid vaccine: First 'milestone' vaccine offers 90% protection

The vaccine is a "significant step" forward for getting life back to normal, but challenges remain.

www.bbc.com

The key thing here is that it must be kept at -80. Even Dr Njoo said a few days ago that this presents a challenge.

Pharmacies and doctor offices don't have the capability to keep things that cold currently.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The key thing here is that it must be kept at -80. Even Dr Njoo said a few days ago that this presents a challenge.

Pharmacies and doctor offices don't have the capability to keep things that cold currently.

Deployment and execution can’t be left to Shoppers Drug Mart and the like. This has to be on the level of a military exercise.

 

[Richard White]

Deployment and execution can’t be left to Shoppers Drug Mart and the like. This has to be on the level of a military exercise.

Yes but even still..

The feds don't currently have the cold storage resources for such a task as they made clear last week.

That said, at 2 doses to be effective plus having to be stored at -80 I can't really see how this is a practical vaccine.

Me personally, I can't be bothered to line up in a massive line twice in a month with thousands of other people for a vaccine.

They need to get this so that it is one dose and can be stored at a reasonable temperature to make it viable.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Yes but even still..

The feds don't currently have the cold storage resources for such a task as they made clear last week.

That said, at 2 doses to be effective plus having to be stored at -80 I can't really see how this is a practical vaccine.

Get it done - I am not interested in hearing excuses anymore.

AoD

 

[Admiral Beez]

Me personally, I can't be bothered...

Then you've become everyone else's problem, no better than the inevitable anti-vaxxers we're soon to see.

 

[PinkLucy]

I would expect that the initial doses will be restricted to specific groups of people, not publicly available

 

[Richard White]

Then you've become everyone else's problem, no better than the inevitable anti-vaxxers we're soon to see.

I'm not saying I don't want to get vaccinated. I do.

I am however saying that I am not too keen on going back twice because it really is impractical schedule wise for alot of people.

In order for it to be practical for the masses it needs to be like other vaccines where it can be stored easily enough and requires only one injection.

Polio, Smallpox, Yellow Fever, Influenza, Hepatitis, HPV .. all one injection.

Dukoral is the only one that comes to mind where you need to go back a second time and people aren't exactly lining up for it even when they need it. They tend to go for the faster options.

That said I get my vaccines and I am happy to it's just that if you make the rollout complicated alot of people will not bother.

 

[PinkLucy]

Shingles is a two-dose vaccine

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I'm not saying I don't want to get vaccinated. I do.

I am however saying that I am not too keen on going back twice because it really is impractical schedule wise for alot of people.

In order for it to be practical for the masses it needs to be like other vaccines where it can be stored easily enough and requires only one injection.

Polio, Smallpox, Yellow Fever, Influenza, Hepatitis, HPV .. all one injection.

Dukoral is the only one that comes to mind where you need to go back a second time and people aren't exactly lining up for it even when they need it. They tend to go for the faster options.

That said I get my vaccines and I am happy to it's just that if you make the rollout complicated alot of people will not bother.

Make it mandatory, subject to the pain of the law. Don't bother isn't good enough.

AoD

 

[Richard White]

Make it mandatory, subject to the pain of the law. Don't bother isn't good enough.

AoD

In order to do that and ensure a reliable delivery you would need to withstand a charter challenge and require military assistance.

I don't see Trudeau invoking the emergency measures act to mandate a vaccine.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

In order to do that and ensure a reliable delivery you would need to withstand a charter challenge and require military assistance.

I don't see Trudeau invoking the emergency measures act to mandate a vaccine.

He need to learn something from his father.

AoD

 

[ttk77]

Shingles is a two-dose vaccine

The Hep B vaccine, at least the one I had, was also a two dose vaccine. Even vaccines sold as single dose aren't always that, and sometimes require a second dose after they test for immunity.

 

[afransen]

The challenge with be a -80 cold chain. That simply does not exist at this scale. I think we might be waiting for a vaccine that does not have such requirement.