Next Gen & CoVid - Still the Talk of the Town

This Report Provides an Update on Why the Downward Trend in CoVid Infections Swung Back Up, the Science Behind the Vaccine Breakthrough Infections, the Lamda & Delta Variants, the Precautionary Wisdom of Continuing to Wear Masks & the Impact of Murdoch Controlled News Outlets Continuous Stream of Mass Media Disinformation

Is it the Patriotic Duty of Every Eligible American to Get Vaccinated?

August 9, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC during the CoVid Pandemic / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

I reckon we all wish it weren't so, but CoVid 19 has been resurging with a vengeance these past couple of months, fueled largely by the Delta variant, which at the beginning of May 2021, accounted for less than 10% of U.S. new cases, while today it accounts for more than 90% of all new U.S. CoVid infections. What's most disturbing about this new trend is that even fully vaccinated people can catch the Delta variant, which was largely NOT the case with the original strain [alpha] of CoVid. The infections that are picked up by fully vaccinated people are called 'breakthrough' infections, because they have broken through the immunity protection provided by the vaccines.

In the graphic at right, note the large light blue at the right of the graphic, which denoted the Delta variant of CoVid which grew from almost nothing in May, to almost every new CoVid case in the U.S. in August.

The Delta Variant has Changed So Significantly, Hence the New CoVid Reign of Terror

I found a chart that I found of great interest in an August 5, 2021 story in the Gothamist, which was acquired by NPR in 2018. The chart shows how the original CoVid is almost non-existent in the U.S. today, while the Delta variant has risen to represent over 90% of all new cases.

The vaccines were developed to address the original CoVid stain, as the Delta variant - as noted above - didn't become a real factor until about May of this year. Thus, the vaccines efficacy in preventing CoVid has been significantly reduced, but thankfully the vaccines are still very effective in preventing the worst possible outcomes which are hospitalizations and death.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about the science of the CoVid Delta and Lamda variants, vaccine breakthrough infections, the impact on kids of the new variant, and the importance of masking up and practicing social distancing again.

Current Vaccines are Less Effective in Stopping CoVid Infections & Spread, but Still Very Effective in Preventing Hospitalizations & Death

An August 4, 2021 report in Yale Medicine took a look at the effectiveness of the three major vaccines against the new Delta, as well as other, variants. The studies are early indicators of what to expect as the studies have not yet been peer reviewed and both the variant and the data is new. But the directional trendline shows that the vaccines aren't as effective in preventing people from catching the Delta variant, as they were in preventing contagion against the orginal CoVid. The original strain of CoVid is sometimes referred to as alpha [Greek for A the first letter of the alphabet].

While the statistics vary widely in how much vaccine efficacy is lost in contracting the virus [39% effective vs 88% effective], the vaccine efficacy against severe illness resulting in hospitalizations remained strong [about 90%]. These results apply to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, with the J&J vaccine lagging behind by a bit less than 10%, as it has generally.

It's worth noting that at least one of these studies also measured how much vaccine efficacy was lost after the first six months of receiving the vaccination. The efficacy loss was about 11%, meaning that the vaccine was only 84% effective in preventing one from contracting the original CoVid six months after infection, vs it being 95% effective in preventing contagion during the first six months. This provides the basis for suggesting people get a 'booster shot' to supplement the original vaccination, to extend the vaccine effectiveness against infection, but more importantly against severe health issues, hospitalization and / or death.

The graph above shows CoVid vaccinations in the U.S., while the chart below shows CoVid new cases in the U.S. You can see that as the vaccinations increased, the new cases fell, and that as the vaccinations declined, the new cases rose.

The Delta Variant has Characteristics that Require a Return to CoVid Combatant Basics

So, over the past three months, as the Delta variant has grown to become the reigninig champion of CoVid virus variants, the government and CDC have changed guidance on the wearing of masks, the maintaining of social distancing, and a stepped up urgency for all eligible Americans to get vaccinated.

While hospitalizations have bounced back up generally, as have deaths, both remain well below the crisis levels of the 2020 new CoVid cases waves. That said, in the less vaccinated red states, the people in those states find themselves once again in the midst of a public health crisis, because they and their leadership failed to act in time to prevent the current disasters. Nonetheless, the overall the increases in hospitalizations and deaths have occurred at significantly reduced amounts to prior pandemic levels, because members of the most vulnerable segments of the population (meaning the elderly) have protected themselves by getting vaccinated.

Viral Loads - Is the Lamda Variant the Next CoVid Mutation on the Horizon?

The alpha CoVid orginated in dictator President Xi Jinping's China, and swept its way around the world. The variants are mutations of the alpha CoVid, and originate whereever the mutation occurs and succeeds in replicating itself. The Delta variant was first deteced in India, and also quickly swept its way around the world. The most recent variant of interest is the Lamda variant which was first detected in Peru in December of 2020. In Peru the Lamda variant has grown to represent about 90% of all CoVid cases in that nation, according to Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease expert, who was interviewed in an August 9, 2021 report by TribLive.com in Greenburg, Pennsylvania. Dr. Adalja told them,

"... The lambda variant ... isn’t having an easy time establishing itself in a country that is basically bathed in the delta variant... What we’ve seen so far with the variants is that, when vaccinated people have breakthrough infections, they’re very mild and highly unlikely to result in hospitalization or death. I think it’s very hard for a variant to develop the ability to nullify everything that a vaccine does ..."

Dr. Adalja talked about how viral loads enable a virus to infect someone, even breaking through the protection offered by the vaccines, to make the infected people carriers. He told them that,

"...Viral load is the quantity of virus present in a person which can be used to predict their infectiousness ... Certain variants do have the ability to create more viral load in the host. That delta variant is associated with higher viral loads ..."

Thus unvaccinated people are more likely to get infected, but so are vaccinated people. The higher viral loads and changing characteristics of the new variant have enabled the Delta variant to 'break through' the protection offered by the current vaccines. The difference is that the vaccinated arelikely to carry smaller viral loads than the unvaccinated, and thus have less severe symptoms and impact. So while the Lamda variant is a potential concern, the real concern remains focused on the current devastation being caused by the Delta variant with its high viral loads.

Increasing Risk for Kids - The Changing Dynamics NOT the Changing Science - of CoVid Mutations

Mutations are what cause evolution. A newer and [arguably] better version comes along which replaces the previously existing variant because it is better at surviving and replicating. Survival of the Fittest, so says Darwin.

In a prior report I did, scientists found that kids were more than 50% less likely to become infected with CoVid. The reason, the study found, was that children under age 12 have relatively underdeveloped sinuses, which is one of the primary binding sites of the CoVid virus.

But viruses mutate, and based on the increasing infections in kids. It's possible that as more adults become vaccinated, the virus evolves, finding its way to the unvaccinated kids. The pharmaceutical companies tested vaccinations on kids, only after they had been tested safely on adults. During the 2020 CoVid pandemic, during which time the alpha version of CoVid reigned supreme, about 8% of new CoVid infections were found in kids. Again, while the evidence is just coming in, this may have changed. According to an August 5, 2021 report by NPR informed us that,

" ... In the last week alone, according to the report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association, nearly 72,000 cases were reported in children, roughly 19% of the total number of new cases nationwide... "

And that's an increase after weeks of declines. Children's hospitalizations were also up.

Responsible Government Officials Tell Us to Play it Safe, Return to Wearing Masks, Continue Social Distancing & For God's Sakes Get Vaccinated

So where are we today? As the economy is rebounding, and schools prepare to return to in person learning, responsible government officials are urging vaccine-hesitant New Yorkers and Americans to do their patriotic duty and get vaccinated. Many are also reinstituting mask mandates and asking people to socially distance themselves so they don't have to return to the draconian measures implemented last year which hurt so many workers and school children as for public health and safety, things were largely curtailed - even shut down.

These things are just common sense. They are precautions to protect family, friends and loved ones.

People don't pee in their pants, because that's just common sense. So why must we debate things that are common sense?

Enter Rupert Murdoch and his overwhelming share of America's nationally branded mass media [Fox News, the Wall St Journal, the NY Post and now the largest meddling shareholder in ABC News].

America's Champion of Ignorance - Rupert Murdoch

Murdoch's Mass Media Disinformation Campaign on CoVid

Rupert Murdoch is reportedly a Libertarian. He appears to think that he should be able to do whatever he wants to do, without being held responsible for the impact that his actions have on others. He's like a drunk aat the bar who insists he can drive himself home and who dares to try to stop him.

He and his highly paid deceivers take the words of government officials trying to do the right thing and as Rudyard Kipling warned,

" ... twists them to make a trap for fools ... "

And he's very good at it, as are his barn full of very well paid liars, propagandists and former government officials who promote current government officials like Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida and Governor Greg Abbott of Texas on the course to divide our nation, like the iceberg that hit the Titanic.

Since the beginning of the CoVid pandemic, Murdoch's Fox, NY Post and Wall St Journal have all appeared - to varying degrees - to undermine government officials and efforts to construct and implement effective public policy. Fox News 'fake anchorman' Sean Hannity appeared to tell or imply to his viewers that CoVid was a hoax. Fox phony 'doctor' Tucker Carlson questions the efficacy of masks and vaccines. Fox News 'phony pharmacist' Laura Ingraham was forced to delete her tweets about unproven drugs to combat CoVid in March 2020. These deceitful narratives are designed to confuse the public so that Murdoch's Fox Nation - like Adolph Hitler's Nazi Nation - can take control of the governance of our nation, like he has in Australia and the nation once called 'Great' Britain.

Fox Fake News & the Fox Nation - Nazis and the Titanic

Quite honestly, those few lines of Fox News disinformation is just the tip of the Murdoch fake news iceberg. Let's hope the passengers, the captain and crew of the good ship America don't ignore the danger signs of this sort of Goebbels and Hitler inspired propaganda and (Fox Nation) building, like the captain of the Titanic and the Weimar Republic did.

Murdoch and his propagandists are using our airwaves to confuse, disinform and divide our nation. People across the nation need to challenge their FCC licenses, which can be done at a state and local level, as they are using the TV stations to provide legitimacy to their like-branded propaganda cable network. Each Fox station TV license can be challenged separately at the local level. And you can search the FCC license renewal dates to find out when their license in your area comes up for renewal.

Isn't it Every Eligible Americans' Patriotic Duty to Get Vaccinated?

Lastly, I posed the question is it the patriotic duty of every eligible American to get vaccinated? The definition of patriotism is,

" ... the quality of being patriotic; devotion to and vigorous support for one's country ..."

and duty is defined as,

" ... a moral or legal obligation; a responsibility ..."

I would argue that if you want the American economy to keep humming along, and to keep our nation strong; and you don't want to get infected, nor to infect others with a potentially deadly virus - either out of respect or in keeping a moral obligation to your fellowman - then yes, it is the patriotic duty of every eligible person in this country to get vaccinated.

Anyhow, best wishes for a good week.