VSS Scientific Updates During Pandemic Times #44
COVID Vaccine Ambassador Training: How to Talk to Parents?
From Geert: "Nice try but what kind of background does this lady have in immunology, virology, vaccinology, evolutionary biology etc.? How can you have any credibility as a so-called 'expert in vaccine decision' without profound knowledge in any of these fields? OMG‼
Here comes her bio:
Rupali Limaye, PhD, MPH, MA, studies how health information can best be communicated to individuals in different contexts and through different channels. Widely seen as an expert in vaccine decision-making, she started her career working in advertising and is a health communication scholar. She received her PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, her MPH in global health and MA in foreign policy from The George Washington University, and her BA in political science and BS in journalism from the University of Kansas"
https://www.coursera.org/learn/covid-vaccine-ambassador
2. So Far This Flu Season is More Severe Than It Has Been in 13 Years
“While flu season is usually between October and May, peaking in December and January, it’s arrived about six weeks earlier this year with uncharacteristically high illness. There have already been at least 880,000 cases of influenza illness, 6,900 hospitalizations and 360 flu-related deaths nationally, including one child, according to estimates released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
3. Don’t Look Up” Your Science—Herd Immunity or Herd Mentality?
“This analysis piece will attempt to examine some of the critical pandemic-related measures implemented in the United States from an immunological perspective and pinpoint caveats that should have been considered before their implementation. I also discuss alternative measures grounded in scientific data that were not thoroughly explored and likely could have helped fight the pandemic.”
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/7/1463
4. The Legacy of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Childhood Vaccination in the USA
“However, the effects of the pandemic on childhood vaccination have the potential to extend beyond disruptions in vaccine delivery. What will be the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic for childhood vaccination? In this Viewpoint, we discuss how the pandemic might affect trust, risk perception, mandates, and health equity in the context of childhood vaccination.”
https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2822%2901693-2
5. Bird Flu Infects Iowa Egg Farm With 1 Million Chickens
“Iowa has had 15 commercial farms infected this year, including turkeys, egg-laying hens and other chickens. In addition, five backyard flocks have been infected. Because the virus is highly contagious, all birds on an infected farm are killed and disposed of to avoid the spread of the disease.”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/bird-flu-infects-iowa-egg-farm-million-chickens-92447622
6. Why Everybody You Know is Sick Right Now
“For hospitals that have spent the past two years struggling to maintain capacity in the face of surging Covid-19 cases, this year has not brought any relief. The opposite, in fact. “We are very busy,” Kristina Bryant, an epidemiologist at Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, told me. “It’s different this year. ... It’s not even Halloween, and many children’s hospitals are operating at or above capacity.”
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/10/27/23421344/covid-19-flu-rsv-symptoms-vaccines-2022
I work overnight in a large retail pharmacy chain and we are getting decimated. This week has been the worst in my career spanning almost 40 years dealing with seasonal illness and prescription demand. We are out of children's liquid motrin, tylenol, and all strengths of amoxicillin liquid. All of these products are currently on allocation meaning we will only get a portion of what we need to fill prescriptions or take care of sick kids. The good news is that maybe some of the kids who are not so over-injected might actually be able to cure themselves with the natural mechanism of high fever that is never allowed to proceed. The BAD news is that the reason WE are suffering so much is that there are NO EMPLOYEES--we are 3 full time technicians short this fall--NO ONE IS APPLYING. Either nobody wants to work or there are no people to work. Either way it is terrifying as we can NOT get this work done in any way that resembles what you all should expect from your pharmacy---expect LONG lines, LONGER waits for that prescription to go from called in to ready and frustration from everyone. Also please keep this in mind before you scream at the pharmacy personnel that your prescription is VERY IMPORTANT and you are SICK and need it *right now*---we would love to have it ready if it were humanly possible trust me. It's a lot easier to grab it and do it now if you show just a bit of compassion for the chaos /process. (Remember, not all of us played a role in injecting people with these bioweapons--some of us are even unvaccinated)
Regarding "Doctor" Limaye: this is exactly how we got Ashish Jha, that bastion of corrupted mediocrity.