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treaclefingers

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Nate
Masks at concerts almost as ridiculous as the two people I saw in the street last night trying to kiss each other with masks on.

Nate

Why, unless maybe you're the singer?

People want to attend concerts with masks on that’s fine but count me out until this nonsense is over and if it doesn’t end then I’ve seen my final concert.
I am absolutely convinced that some people will now be walking around in these things for the rest of their lives but I will never attend a concert where the majority of people are wearing masks.

Nate

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Nate

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treaclefingers

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Nate
Masks at concerts almost as ridiculous as the two people I saw in the street last night trying to kiss each other with masks on.

Nate

Why, unless maybe you're the singer?

People want to attend concerts with masks on that’s fine but count me out until this nonsense is over and if it doesn’t end then I’ve seen my final concert.
I am absolutely convinced that some people will now be walking around in these things for the rest of their lives but I will never attend a concert where the majority of people are wearing masks.

Nate

Just go to shows in the southern part of the US. You can hit St.Louis, Dallas, Atlanta, NOLA and Tampa on this tour. No vax required and no mask required. Like the Rolling Loud festival.

Three major music venues in New Orleans will require vaccination cards or negative Covid tests for entry

July 28, 2021
by: OffBeat Staff

[www.offbeat.com]

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Nate

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treaclefingers

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Nate
Masks at concerts almost as ridiculous as the two people I saw in the street last night trying to kiss each other with masks on.

Nate

Why, unless maybe you're the singer?

People want to attend concerts with masks on that’s fine but count me out until this nonsense is over and if it doesn’t end then I’ve seen my final concert.
I am absolutely convinced that some people will now be walking around in these things for the rest of their lives but I will never attend a concert where the majority of people are wearing masks.

Nate

I don't get it, if other people are wearing masks at concert, how is that a bridge too far?

It bugs you that much that you couldn't enjoy a show?

Does that mean you won't go grocery shopping either?

Covid-19 status in Norway at the moment:

Approx 90% of adults above age 18+ have accepted and got their first vaccine shot in my area, just west of capital city Oslo. Everybody i.e. 90% age 18+ will have their 2nd dose of Pfeizer or Moderna within Aug/Sep. This seems to be the same for the rest of Norway, there is a very high trust in the vaccination program.

There are four phases of the reopening following close-down this winter, phase 4 was delayed by two weeks yesterday, due to the delta virus. This means we will still have a limitation of max 5,000 people at outdoor events like football, and everybody in these crowds have to be vaccinated, or have a negative covid-19 test from max 24 hours. There is an app where you may show proof of vaccination and/or negative covid-19 test.

We have had two peaks of covid-19 hospitalization, first April 2000, then April 2001, both times approx 300 people in hospital country wide. The number is now approx 25 people in hospitals with covid-19, and just five deaths from covid-19 in the month of July.

The age of people testing positive for covid-19 is now typically 0-29 years, i.e. those who are not vaccinated, and some with just one dose of vaccination.

From now on the pandemic is mainly a pandemic among the non-vaccinated in Norway, but we will not get rid of covid-19 until the rest of the world is vaccinated.

[www.regjeringen.no]

Bjornulf

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bv
Covid-19 status in Norway at the moment:

Approx 90% of adults above age 18+ have accepted and got their first vaccine shot in my area, just west of capital city Oslo. Everybody i.e. 90% age 18+ will have their 2nd dose of Pfeizer or Moderna within Aug/Sep. This seems to be the same for the rest of Norway, there is a very high trust in the vaccination program.

There are four phases of the reopening following close-down this winter, phase 4 was delayed by two weeks yesterday, due to the delta virus. This means we will still have a limitation of max 5,000 people at outdoor events like football, and everybody in these crowds have to be vaccinated, or have a negative covid-19 test from max 24 hours. There is an app where you may show proof of vaccination and/or negative covid-19 test.

We have had two peaks of covid-19 hospitalization, first April 2000, then April 2001, both times approx 300 people in hospital country wide. The number is now approx 25 people in hospitals with covid-19, and just five deaths from covid-19 in the month of July.

The age of people testing positive for covid-19 is now typically 0-29 years, i.e. those who are not vaccinated, and some with just one dose of vaccination.

From now on the pandemic is mainly a pandemic among the non-vaccinated in Norway, but we will not get rid of covid-19 until the rest of the world is vaccinated.

[www.regjeringen.no]

You're quoting 18+ and I was wondering if Pfizer has been approved for 12 and older?

In Canada we're quoted 12+ which is somewhere over 80% for jab 1.

^ Glad to see Norwegians are smarter than Americans. In America we have this,:


Some people in Missouri are getting vaccinated against Covid-19 in secret, doctor says. They fear backlash from loved ones who oppose the vaccines

[www.cnn.com]

(CNN)The Covid-19 vaccine has become so polarizing that some people in Missouri are getting inoculated in secret for fear of backlash from their friends and family who oppose vaccination, a doctor told CNN Wednesday.
"They've had some experience that's sort of changed their mind from the viewpoint of those in their family, those in their friendship circles or their work circles. And they came to their own decision that they wanted to get a vaccine," said Dr. Priscilla Frase, a hospitalist and chief medical information officer at Ozarks Healthcare in West Plains, Missouri.
"They did their own research on it, and they talked to people and made the decisions themselves," Frase told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "But even though they were able to make that decision themselves, they didn't want to have to deal with the peer pressure or the outbursts from other people about them ... 'giving in to everything.'"
In a hospital produced video, Frase said one pharmacist at her hospital told her "they've had several people come in to get vaccinated who have tried to sort of disguise their appearance and even went so far as to say, 'please, please, please don't let anybody know that I got this

Frase told CNN if a patient asks for privacy to get vaccinated, the hospital tries to accommodate the request -- whether at the drive-thru window or at their cars.
"Anything we can do to get people in a place that they're comfortable receiving the vaccine," Frase said. "It's not a large number, but every single person that we can reach who wants to get vaccinated and we can provide that for them, that's a win. And we take every win that we can get."
Missouri has 41% of its population fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state is one of 49 in the US experiencing at least a 10% surge in new Covid-19 cases over last week, data from Johns Hopkins University shows.
Unvaccinated patients are getting sicker quicker
Frase said her hospital had 33 patients admitted with Covid-19 as of Wednesday and she's expecting that number to rise.

"The patients that are coming in are generally younger than what we saw before. It's more people requiring a lot more oxygen, a lot quicker," Frase said.

"The majority of people we've admitted have not been vaccinated," she added.
"The biggest thing that I think has been shocking for us is, back in the fall, in the winter, it took us four months to get to our peak admitted patients, which is around 22. It's taken us 30 days to exceed that and be up to 33 today." Frase said.
And it's not just Frase's hospital that is dealing with an influx of patients in Missouri.
The CoxHealth health system said it's expanding morgue capacity in due to an increase in Covid-19 related deaths.
"We've actually brought in a portable piece of technology that allows bodies to be cooled and placed outside the morgue. We have had to expand that because the mortality has gone up so much lately," CoxHealth President and CEO Steve Edwards said during a news briefing in Springfield-Greene County Tuesday.
CNN's Raja Razek and Jennifer Feldman contributed to this report.

EU approved the Moderna vaccine for children age 12-17 last week.

I don't think Pfeizer has got that approval yet, it is a matter of testing that age group, I would expect an approval soon, as Moderna and Pfeizer are of the same technology.

European agency clears Moderna vaccine for children 12-17 (AP)

Bjornulf

Due to vaccine resistance in some Eastern EU countries, the rest of the EU countries are getting more vaccine supplies now from Pfeizer. Norway just got access to some 250,000 extra Pfeizer doses to be delivered by mid August, because countries like Romania and Bulgaria don't want them.

Bjornulf

The mask mandate was lifted from my area in Norway six weeks ago, on June 15. Most of us still had mask on in crowds through June, like in the grocery stores. For 2-3 weeks now I have not had any mask on anywhere, but I do still have a mask in my pocket, just in case. Also, I do always stay at least one meter, usually two meters, from other people.

I would have absolutely no problem wearing mask at a show, if that was needed, i.e. in an area where covid-19 is not under control. I have friends, family, grandchildren, I don't want to carry the virus to others.

Bjornulf

Thanks BV.

Curious that Moderna was approved before Pfizer in Europe...we've had Pfizer approved for that age group for a few months already, but not Moderna yet (which I received).

We've had the mask mandate dropped at the beginning of July, but at least 50% of people still wear them indoors in the area where I live...and cases are rising even though still really low at the moment.

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treaclefingers

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Nate

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treaclefingers

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Nate
Masks at concerts almost as ridiculous as the two people I saw in the street last night trying to kiss each other with masks on.

Nate

Why, unless maybe you're the singer?

People want to attend concerts with masks on that’s fine but count me out until this nonsense is over and if it doesn’t end then I’ve seen my final concert.
I am absolutely convinced that some people will now be walking around in these things for the rest of their lives but I will never attend a concert where the majority of people are wearing masks.

Nate

I don't get it, if other people are wearing masks at concert, how is that a bridge too far?

It bugs you that much that you couldn't enjoy a show?

Does that mean you won't go grocery shopping either?

I was using them earlier in the year when entering stores because the Covid situation was bad here in the U.K. and I hadn’t received the vaccine.Now the situation is much improved and I am fully vaccinated I won’t be wearing them in any situation.

Seeing a crowd of people wearing masks at a concert is NOT normal and not something that I would enjoy.

Nate

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Nate

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treaclefingers

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Nate

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treaclefingers

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Nate
Masks at concerts almost as ridiculous as the two people I saw in the street last night trying to kiss each other with masks on.

Nate

Why, unless maybe you're the singer?

People want to attend concerts with masks on that’s fine but count me out until this nonsense is over and if it doesn’t end then I’ve seen my final concert.
I am absolutely convinced that some people will now be walking around in these things for the rest of their lives but I will never attend a concert where the majority of people are wearing masks.

Nate

I don't get it, if other people are wearing masks at concert, how is that a bridge too far?

It bugs you that much that you couldn't enjoy a show?

Does that mean you won't go grocery shopping either?

I was using them earlier in the year when entering stores because the Covid situation was bad here in the U.K. and I hadn’t received the vaccine.Now the situation is much improved and I am fully vaccinated I won’t be wearing them in any situation.

Seeing a crowd of people wearing masks at a concert is NOT normal and not something that I would enjoy.

Nate

Fair enough, to each his own. I think that masks are here to stay for a segment of the population even after the pandemic is over. They were the norm for a long time in some Asian cultures and I think human nature will be that a certain percentage, 10-20-30%, whatever it is, are just going to be more comfortable.

I started wearing ear protection after a particularly bad AC/DC show...the band was fine, the girls shrieking behind us the entire show had my ears ringing for days. Don't know if I'll be a masker once this is over, probably not but who knows?

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Nate
Seeing a crowd of people wearing masks at a concert is NOT normal and not something that I would enjoy.

I don't understand the issue, when I'm at concerts, I only listen to, and look at the musicians on stage. The crowd could all be dressed up like Santa Claus for all I care. And the masks actually make some people look better.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-07-29 21:09 by Erik_Snow.

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Erik_Snow

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Nate
Seeing a crowd of people wearing masks at a concert is NOT normal and not something that I would enjoy.

I don't understand the issue, when I'm at concerts, I only listen to, and look at the musicians on stage. The crowd could all be dressed up like Santa Claus for all I care. And the masks actually make some people look better, actually.

For me and I suspect many others also one of the best things about concerts is seeing the smiles on people’s faces.I would also think that is something performers would want to see.

Nate

The logistics of enforcing this will be challenging:

Chicago’s top public health official concedes COVID transmission is likely at Lollapalooza music festival this weekend

CHICAGO (AP) — The hordes of people expected to descend on Chicago’s Grant Park for the Lollapalooza music festival this week will be required to show proof that they’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19 or tested negative for the disease within the three days previous to their entry.

The four-day festival starts Thursday and is expected to be back at full capacity, with roughly 100,000 daily attendees. After missing last summer because of the risk of coronavirus spread, it will easily be Chicago’s largest gathering since the pandemic started — and one of the country’s.

This year’s festival will look very different from past years. To gain entry, attendees will have to present their vaccination cards or a printed copy of a negative COVID-19 test that is no more than 72 hours old. That means that anyone with a four-day pass who isn’t vaccinated will have to get tested twice. Furthermore, anyone who isn’t vaccinated will have to wear a mask.

Public health officials and others have raised concerns that such a large gathering, even outdoors, risks turning into a super-spreader event. Officials in the Netherlands were shocked after a much smaller music festival attended by 20,000 people over two days early this month led to nearly 1,000 cases of COVID-19, CNBC reported. That festival had similar safeguards to Lollapalooza’s.

Despite the recent spike in cases caused by the highly contagious delta variant, Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said this week that she feels comfortable with Lollapalooza going ahead as planned because of the precautions organizers are taking, saying they have gone “above and beyond.” In addition to the entry requirements, organizers have looked at air ventilation for any indoor spaces, made sure backstage workers are vaccinated, will make masks available and will test ticket takers.

“I would not feel comfortable moving ahead with Lollapalooza without COVID protocols in place,” Arwady said. “I don’t think I would feel comfortable if this were an indoor event, either. And I frankly don’t think I would feel comfortable if we were sitting in Louisiana right now, where cases are looking like they’re looking.”

Although the number of new daily cases in Chicago has climbed, from 104 a week ago to 176 as of Wednesday, the city hasn’t had the kind of surge many other parts of the country have experienced in recent weeks, and its daily average number of deaths and hospitalizations have dropped slightly.

“We’re taking COVID seriously,” Arwady said. At the same time, “When you’re having this many folks who are coming through almost certainly there will be some cases. But I’m confident that the combination of what we know about limiting risk in outdoor settings, pairing that with vaccination and or testing and ideally mostly vaccination, which is what we expect, as well as all the other mitigation factors.

Lollapalooza officials did not immediately respond to a request for further information on its screening process, but on the festival’s website, they say that there will be people manning every entryway to search all bags that attendees are carrying as well as make sure nobody is allowed entry carrying anything other than small purses, totes and drawstring bags.

[www.marketwatch.com]

Pfizer says immunity drops to 83% within four months in people who got its COVID-19 shot, further bolstering the company case for a booster

“We will need a booster eight to 12 months from the second dose,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Wednesday, according to a FactSet transcript of the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

[www.marketwatch.com]

THE AGE --- 30 July 2021



ROCKMAN

19 relatives sick with coronavirus despite vaccinations
Coronavirus

PHOENIX — Nineteen family members are now in isolation after all of them contracted COVID-19 while visiting and memorializing a dying relative. Even more shocking, the majority of them had been vaccinated.
“I just wanted to go home and see my mother for the last time,” said 68-year-old Mary Vigil. Last weekend, Vigil flew to Texas from Arizona, joining a few dozen relatives to say goodbye to her 89-year-old mother. “Now all my mom's funeral, the burial, service, everything’s postponed,” said Vigil. That's because, after a few days of gathering and mourning together prior to the services, one by one, they began getting sick. “We just took our masks off, and we were hugging, kissing each other, you know how it is with large families that are close, and we wanted the comfort,” said Vigil through tears. Nearly all of them were vaccinated. Masking and social distancing was no longer required. Sadly, now 19 of them have the coronavirus anyway, one person as old as 87, another as young as 10. “I never thought that since I was vaccinated that maybe I would get it,” said Vigil who was received her second shot in March. The Delta variant continues to spread across the country, causing breakthrough cases and severely infecting those who’ve chosen not to get the vaccine. Vigil is now isolated in a room at her mother's home, providing this message for anyone who will listen. “Please wear your masks, this is not a joke, you do not want to get sick,” said Vigil.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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Nate

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Erik_Snow

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Nate
Seeing a crowd of people wearing masks at a concert is NOT normal and not something that I would enjoy.

I don't understand the issue, when I'm at concerts, I only listen to, and look at the musicians on stage. The crowd could all be dressed up like Santa Claus for all I care. And the masks actually make some people look better, actually.

For me and I suspect many others also one of the best things about concerts is seeing the smiles on people’s faces.I would also think that is something performers would want to see.

Nate

Sure, that sounds about right. But in a pandemic I'd think making an accommodation here and there is logical. Someone wise once said you can't always get what you want.

CDC mask decision followed stunning findings from Cape Cod beach outbreak

A week after the crowds descended upon Provincetown, Massachusetts, to celebrate the Fourth of July -- the holiday President Joe Biden hoped would mark the nation's liberation from COVID-19 -- the manager of the Cape Cod beach town said he was aware of "a handful of positive COVID cases among folks" who spent time there.

"We are in touch with the Health Department and Outer Cape Health Services and are closely monitoring the data," Alex Morse told reporters.

The announcement wasn't unusual with roughly half of the country still unvaccinated and flare-ups of the virus popping up in various states.

But within weeks, health officials seemed to be on to something much bigger. The outbreak quickly grew to the hundreds and most of them appeared to be vaccinated.

As of Thursday, 882 people were tied to the Provincetown outbreak. Among those living in Massachusetts, 74% of them were fully immunized, yet officials said the vast majority were also reporting symptoms. Seven people were reported hospitalized.

The initial findings of the investigation led by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seemed to have huge implications.

Before Provincetown, health officials had been operating under the assumption that it was extraordinarily rare for a vaccinated person to become infected with the virus. And if they did, they probably wouldn't end up passing it on to others, such as children too young to qualify for the vaccine or people who were medically vulnerable.

The idea that vaccines halt transmission of the virus was largely behind the CDC's decision in May suggesting vaccinated people could safely go without their masks indoors and in crowds, even if others were unvaccinated.
MORE: Biden to encourage vaccine incentives, announce requirements for federal workers

But that assumption had been based on studies of earlier versions of the virus. Delta was known for its "hyper-transmissibility," or as one former White House adviser put it "COVID on steroids."

"What has changed is the virus," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and Biden's chief medical adviser.

When a vaccinated person gets infected with delta -- called a "breakthrough infection" -- "the level of virus in their nasopharynx is about 1,000 times higher than with the alpha variant," Fauci said in an interview Wednesday with MSNBC.

All indications now are that the Provincetown outbreak investigation is among the pieces of new evidence behind the CDC's decision to ask Americans to once again put on their masks indoors, even if they are vaccinated.

[abcnews.go.com]

I heard the Delta variant called "COVID-21" today, saying it was different enough from the original that you could look at it as a newly evolved virus, related of course to the original.

I don't know if that's true, but looking at it from the perspective makes you realize that we're never going to get this right until everyone is on board with trying to get it under control.

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treaclefingers
I heard the Delta variant called "COVID-21" today, saying it was different enough from the original that you could look at it as a newly evolved virus, related of course to the original.

I don't know if that's true, but looking at it from the perspective makes you realize that we're never going to get this right until everyone is on board with trying to get it under control.

It's almost as if it was a bioweapon. Nah, never happen.

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bleedingman

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treaclefingers
I heard the Delta variant called "COVID-21" today, saying it was different enough from the original that you could look at it as a newly evolved virus, related of course to the original.

I don't know if that's true, but looking at it from the perspective makes you realize that we're never going to get this right until everyone is on board with trying to get it under control.

It's almost as if it was a bioweapon. Nah, never happen.

Of course it's a possibility.

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treaclefingers
I heard the Delta variant called "COVID-21" today, saying it was different enough from the original that you could look at it as a newly evolved virus, related of course to the original.

I don't know if that's true, but looking at it from the perspective makes you realize that we're never going to get this right until everyone is on board with trying to get it under control.

CDC reports it is as communicable as chicken pox. Disease affects younger people more than previous variants.

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bleedingman

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treaclefingers
I heard the Delta variant called "COVID-21" today, saying it was different enough from the original that you could look at it as a newly evolved virus, related of course to the original.

I don't know if that's true, but looking at it from the perspective makes you realize that we're never going to get this right until everyone is on board with trying to get it under control.

It's almost as if it was a bioweapon. Nah, never happen.

If it was a bioweapon, you really think it would take this long?

THE AUSTRALIAN ---- 30 July 2021



ROCKMAN

THE AUSTRALIAN -- 30 July 2021



ROCKMAN

THE AGE ---- 30 July 2021



ROCKMAN