All things Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Wait now......method to the madness....."pics of empty streets everywhere".


"WE DID IT!!!!!"

 

[daftandbarmy]

Lol, yup. The geniuses scheduled a ‘shut down Ottawa” protest for a Sunday in January.

Maybe they've been infiltrated by CSIS

 

[PMedMoe]

Actually, 23 Jan is when they're leaving BC. I'd post a link but I don't feel like giving then any airtime.

 

[mariomike]

I don't see any support for this protest coming from the Teamsters union.

Until now, professional drivers have been exempted from the vaccination requirement, while marine, airline and railroad workers were required to be immunized against the virus.

The vast majority of Teamsters members who make deliveries south of the border are vaccinated.

Vaccination Will Be Mandatory for Professional Drivers Traveling to the U.S. in January 2022 | Teamsters Canada

The federal government will require professional drivers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to cross the border with the United States as early as January 15. The U.S. government made the same announcement recently.

teamsters.ca

 

[brihard]

Actually, 23 Jan is when they're leaving BC. I'd post a link but I don't feel like giving then any airtime.

That would make a bit more sense. Still, downtown Ottawa’s pretty quiet these days, most are working from home. The “United we roll” protest was a flash in the pan that achieved nothing- just an angsty Western alienation tantrum. I see no reason to think this will be different.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Meanwhile, in China (links to South China Morning Post - archive link here in case you don't trust their servers) ...

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus could have entered the Chinese capital Beijing via contaminated mail from Canada, the city’s centre for disease control said on Monday.

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said the city’s first Covid-19 patient to be diagnosed with the variant had received a letter mailed from Canada on January 7.

“We do not rule out the possibility that the person was infected through contacting an object from overseas,” she said ...

#MailAPlague

 

[McG]

Living for the moment: Study points to cognitive differences in people who are vaccine hesitant

Researchers concluded vaccine hesitancy is associated with being less oriented toward the future, and more likely to choose a smaller reward today than wait…

vancouversun.com

Interesting discoveries here. The best way to bring an end to lock-downs is for everyone to get vaccinated, but the people avoiding the vaccine are more motivated by the instant gratification and so this long term message is lost on them. This means getting greater uptake requires measures that mete out reward or punishment now. So we are on the right path when requiring proof of vaccination to access public & commercial spaces, but we are probably not going to achieve success with an unvaxed tax that gets collected once a year with income tax.

What are options for reward/punishments that are more real-time or "right now"? Make the vaccine mandatory for employment in all venues where patrons are already obliged to be vaccinated for access. Make the vaccine mandatory for in-classroom high school learning. Follow Quebec's example and make proof of vaccination required to access alcohol or marijuana stores.

 

[Quirky]

Interesting discoveries here. The best way to bring an end to lock-downs is for everyone to get vaccinated,

Is it? The goal posts of % vaccinated required to move on with life keeps moving to the right. First it was 70%, then 80%, now it's 100%? The only way to bring and end to lockdowns is to bring and end to lockdowns. It's a joke when some states in the US are moving on and some provinces in Canada are essentially obsessed with the same cycle expecting a different result.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Living for the moment: Study points to cognitive differences in people who are vaccine hesitant

Researchers concluded vaccine hesitancy is associated with being less oriented toward the future, and more likely to choose a smaller reward today than wait…

vancouversun.com

Interesting discoveries here. The best way to bring an end to lock-downs is for everyone to get vaccinated, but the people avoiding the vaccine are more motivated by the instant gratification and so this long term message is lost on them. This means getting greater uptake requires measures that mete out reward or punishment now. So we are on the right path when requiring proof of vaccination to access public & commercial spaces, but we are probably not going to achieve success with an unvaxed tax that gets collected once a year with income tax.

What are options for reward/punishments that are more real-time or "right now"? Make the vaccine mandatory for employment in all venues where patrons are already obliged to be vaccinated for access. Make the vaccine mandatory for in-classroom high school learning. Follow Quebec's example and make proof of vaccination required to access alcohol or marijuana stores.

Like any other modern marketing efforts, whether you're selling soap or Exocets, release the (AI) hounds...

This has not been done well, IIRC, up to this pojnt of course because: government sucks at marketing:

How Could Digital Tools Help Fight Against Anti-Vaccination?​

How can digital health tools outside the realm of communication and social media platforms help? Well, there are quite a few ways to bring health technology into the fight against anti-vaxxers; but we have a couple of ideas for the developers too.

Sophisticated algorithms could play a role in addressing vaccine hesitancy. Just as Amazon and Netflix are adept at suggesting products and movies that ‘people like you’ might enjoy, health systems could build individually tailored messages most likely to resonate with individuals.

Artificial intelligence could also bring a helping hand in determining vaccine side effects from those who have already received their jab. This is what A.I. company Genpact is doing in the U.K. Their machine learning algorithm screens patient reports for patterns that could show signs of a possible issue. This can subsequently allow healthcare authorities to further investigate the case. This could help clear any false claims while also raising awareness of the actual side effects that one could experience.

Alternatively, innovative solutions could provide new opportunities to inform those at risk that they should be vaccinated. This could be, for example, via SMS alerts and reminders of dedicated health apps. Others are crowdsourcing data to build reliable online resources to help those eligible find a vaccination centre.

How Could Digital Tools Help Fight Against Anti-Vaccination? - The Medical Futurist

Here’s our collection of the most recent steps and digital tools supporting the fight against anti-vaccination and its believers.

medicalfuturist.com

 

[McG]

The best way to bring an end to lock-downs is for everyone to get vaccinated

Is it?

Yes it is.

The goal posts of % vaccinated required to move on with life keeps moving to the right. First it was 70%, then 80%, now it's 100%?

The virus mutates and we continue to learn more about it. When the situation changes (or new information allows the situation to be understood as different) then the plan needs to adapt. If you've taken a CAF leadership course then you should know this. It is not moving goal posts; it is keeping up.

It's a joke when some states in the US are moving on and some provinces in Canada are essentially obsessed with the same cycle expecting a different result.

We are getting a very different result from US states where there seems to be a willingness to just let more people die so it doesn't affect me.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Its my understanding that overall death rates remain somewhat unchanged since before COVID.

I sit to be corrected though.

 

[Jarnhamar]

That would make a bit more sense. Still, downtown Ottawa’s pretty quiet these days, most are working from home. The “United we roll” protest was a flash in the pan that achieved nothing- just an angsty Western alienation tantrum. I see no reason to think this will be different.

No none cares about traffic in down town Ottawa.
Block off the Amazon distribution facility and watch out.

 

[McG]

Its my understanding that overall death rates remain somewhat unchanged since before COVID.

I sit to be corrected though.

Done: Provisional deaths and excess mortality in Canada dashboard

Highest lines on the chart are 2020 and 2021

 

[Halifax Tar]

Done: Provisional deaths and excess mortality in Canada dashboard

Highest lines on the chart are 2020 and 2021

Merci beaucoup mon ami!

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Done: Provisional deaths and excess mortality in Canada dashboard

Highest lines on the chart are 2020 and 2021

That spike in 2021 is likely the heat dome and the surge of OD deaths in BC. No data for the last month of the year, but it was trending below the predicted average. Of note that the ageing population of Canada is pushing the average death rate higher. I am not clear if the data represent the date of the death or the report date?

 

[McG]

That spike in 2021 is likely the heat dome and the surge of OD deaths in BC.

Maybe that explains the week of Canada Day, but it would be a pretty bold move to assume away the influence of COVID on a chart that exceeds the 95% expectations through so much of the year.

Of note that the ageing population of Canada is pushing the average death rate higher.

You don't think the people at StatsCan know this and consider it along with multiyear trends when developing their predictive curve?

I am not clear if the data represent the date of the death or the report date?

It does claim to show weekly deaths and not weekly reports but, even if there is a week of lag time, that is really not changing what these numbers show.

 

[Quirky]

The virus mutates and we continue to learn more about it. When the situation changes (or new information allows the situation to be understood as different) then the plan needs to adapt. If you've taken a CAF leadership course then you should know this. It is not moving goal posts; it is keeping up.

I don't care what the virus does, it's Canadas reaction to it. Moving on and accepting covid deaths as a part of life, just like OD deaths in BC which no one seems to care about anyway, is the only way forward. Most people are getting fed up with this crap of endless restrictions and useless boosters.

 

[brihard]

I don't care what the virus does, it's Canadas reaction to it. Moving on and accepting covid deaths as a part of life, just like OD deaths in BC which no one seems to care about anyway, is the only way forward. Most people are getting fed up with this crap of endless restrictions and useless boosters.

Some of us have lost family to OD deaths in BC. Some of us care.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I don't care what the virus does, it's Canadas reaction to it. Moving on and accepting covid deaths as a part of life, just like OD deaths in BC which no one seems to care about anyway, is the only way forward. Most people are getting fed up with this crap of endless restrictions and useless boosters.

"Most people" were fed up at the very start.....but "most people" are responsible enough to know the difference between what's good for society and what's good for that small percentage of whiny sniveling self-serving morons.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I would say that 50% of the people I know who are unvaccinated have personal health concerns about it and don't express their opinions publicly. If the health system was already doing a crappy job of treating your issues pre-covid, then your trust of the professionals is quite limited. Public health officials are even less trustworthy as they are concerned about the population in general and not individuals, people who get sick and die from complications are just a number to them. One of the quirks of social media is that nowadays people that do react to medicines and vaccines are no longer faceless numbers as their stories now get disseminated, I don't think Public Health officials have wrapped their head around that shift.