Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

I'll listen to Gates rather the the sociopath and his enablers.

More than 100 potential treatments are being studied — but most of them won’t work, Gates says. He ranks the antiviral drug Remdesivir as one of the more promising prospects, along with plasma and antibodies from people who have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The Gates Foundation is funding trials on hydroxychloroquine, the drug often touted by President Donald Trump, but Gates says it appears its benefits will be modest, at best.

Since a miracle drug isn’t likely, the only long-term solution is a vaccine. With greatly accelerated research, it could take as little as nine months — or as long as two years — to develop one, Gates says. Then it will have to be approved by governments and mass-produced so the world’s 7 billion people can each get one or two doses, depending on the vaccine type.

‘It is impossible to overstate the pain’: Fight against coronavirus will define our era, Bill Gates says

 

"I don't even want one dose. And now you're talking about TWO?"
[/NovaxxDjokovic]

 

A NYT science and health writer, Donald G. McNeil Jr., laid out a scenario for the possibility of a coming class system on NPR a couple of days ago.

Immune or Non-Immune.

Edit: Link

The Next Year (or Two) of the Pandemic

 

He also said this is a matter of years. Said the most rapidly deployed vaccine in history, the one for polio, took four years from start to approval.

 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's oldest brother died from COVID-19 complications

 

The pandemic has been terrible for native american populations.

 

The world didn't shut down for polio.

This vaccine's gonna move fast. Scientists know it, too. "Eh, four years" isn't going to cut it. If we're going to fear/respect/whatever word you want to use the onus of death this much, finding a vaccine will be a worldwide race.

 

True. There is no way — with modern technology— that it takes that long this time. I heard that podcast and thought it was simply too apocalyptic to fathom.

 

It's my understanding the Vegas mayor has little to no control over what the casinos do, so why she's saying anything at all - about any of it - is a little baffling to me.

One thing worth watching, though, is how political leaders big and small race to see which one can seem the most doomsy and/or draconian with the media. They know it plays well with the press - for now.

We're a month and two weeks into this. Many of us are still kind of vibing off the lockdown, feeling a part of "doing our part," getting to be judge-y of those who aren't, enjoying more family time, meals at home, long looks into our navel about the meaning of it all while we quietly cheat here or there with seeing a friend, or letting a kid have a play date, or having a cocktail with the neighbor.

Small cheats turn into bigger yearnings. By June 1, the tide on doing this will have turned, and governors/public health officials will be looking down the barrel of that and weighing it against what science is saying might happen.

The conversation will shift. Hell, with Whitmer, it already has. She's ready to gear down her state's stay-at-home order - mind you, there were 1,000 new cases and 113 new deaths there yesterday - not because the science shifted, but sentiment has begun to shift, and will continue to shift, as people rightly wonder why liquor stores are essential and parts of Lowe's are not.

 

Doom's still pretty fashionable for now.

 

The local news for about the past week has shown panoramic video of a sparkling downtown L.A. and "reporting" that the city now has the cleanest air in the WORLD. Who to believe??

 

Hey, I'm getting as antsy as anyone to find ways to safely restart some things. I think we're still a couple of weeks away from that, and I'm going to trust our governor (who is a doctor) that the right steps are being taken. As I noted yesterday, we are 49th (!!!) in testing. We have no fucking clue how much it has spread in Virginia. I think May 8 is a perfectly reasonable time to take a hard look at what's next.*

*-caveat: I am not an essential worker and my pay has not been adversely affected by the virus. I understand that others have different stories.