Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
November 26, 2021

The New Virus Variant Has Lots Of Mutations - That Does Not (Yet) Mean It's 'Very Bad'

Yesterday the chief of the World Health Organzation warned about a 'false sense of security' around Covid-19 vaccines:

In a news briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said many vaccinated people were wrongly thinking receiving the COVID shot meant they no longer needed to take any other precautions.

“In many countries and communities, we are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions,” Tedros told reporters.
...
“We cannot say this clearly enough: even if you are vaccinated, continue to take precautions to prevent becoming infected yourself, and infecting someone else who could die.”

“That means wearing a mask, maintaining distance, avoiding crowds and meeting others outside if you can, or in a well-ventilated space inside.

The warning was a shot against the Biden administration which has done away with all non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) measures. These will be again needed if the news from South Africa of a new variance of concern turns out to be as bad as it sounds:

Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the variant was linked to an “exponential rise” of cases in the last few days, although experts are still trying to determine if the new variant, named B.1.1.529, is actually responsible.

From just over 200 new confirmed cases per day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number of new daily cases rocket to 2,465 on Thursday. Struggling to explain the sudden rise in cases, scientists studied virus samples from the outbreak and discovered the new variant.
...
It appears to have a high number of mutations — about 30 — in the coronavirus’ spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people.

Sharon Peacock, who has led genetic sequencing of COVID-19 in Britain at the University of Cambridge, said the data so far suggest the new variant has mutations “consistent with enhanced transmissibility,” but said that “the significance of many of the mutations is still not known.”

A presentation by the Health Ministry of South Africa can be viewed here. The slide show at 5:10 forward is the interesting part.


bigger

This (blue) variant seems to out-compete others very fast.

Yves Smith has a good but scary thread about the potential dangers this new variant may bring. The details she presents look pretty dire.

Then again:

Dr. Angela Rasmussen @angie_rasmussen - 14:17 UTC · Nov 25, 2021
Friendly reminder that new variants are just that: new. We can’t know if they will be bad or just meh based on sequence alone, nor guess at their provenance. Lots of mutations ≠ very bad.

The variants name is B.1.1.529 and the WHO has given it the Greek alphabet letter 'Omicron' i.e. O.

The virus type was only found last week and then only in a cluster of younger people in South Africa. But it may well have come from elsewhere.

There are several mutations visible within this new variant strain which likely means that it must have evolved some months ago:

Prof Francois Balloux @BallouxFrancois - 10:36 UTC · Nov 26, 2021
For that genetic diversity to have accumulated, B.1.1.529 must have been in circulation for at least 2-3 months (i.e. SARS-CoV-2 lineages 'click' at ~2 mutations/month).

In recent days more cases with this variant were already found in Malawi, Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong. There are likely many more all around the world. The horse has clearly left the barn and the travel stops, which were today again implemented, will only slow down the spread.

We already know that some of the monoclonal antibody therapeutics that can be used against previous variants will not work against this one as some specifically targeted  gene regions have changed in it. There is also the possibility that the protection that current vaccines give us will not work as well against the new variant as they do against previous ones.

It means that we will again need non-pharmaceutical interventions to slow the spread. As Yves writes:

By letting business drive public health policy with its quest for a “return to normal,” the entire last year was squandered, not just NPIs, but testing, contact tracing, international infection control standards, everything. We said this amounted operational to “Let ‘er rip.” B.1.1.529 may show us the true cost of that recklessness. And where did the recent rounds of bad variants come from? This is three times – Kent, India, now South Africa – where the Anglo incubation reservoirs that capitalism creates have spilled over into waves of world-wide infection. China would be fully justified in never “opening up,” with obvious consequences for a “return to normal” in the supply chain.

Consider GM’s cheery advice (emphasis his):

Consider yourself fully unvaccinated from now on and go back to March 2020 precautions.

There are many open question about the new variant of concern:

  • How fast does this variant really spread?
  • Is it more infectious?
  • Does it cause a more severe illness?
  • Is it more deadly?
  • How well do the vaccines hold up against it?

From the current data none of those questions can yet be answered. It will take two to four weeks to find out.

Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape - 13:58 UTC · Nov 26, 2021
So as usual: Beware of anyone who is overly confident on anything about this variant right now. There is a lot we need to find out.

If you have not be vaccinated yet please get a shot as soon as possible. You may want to (re-)read the last Moon of Alabama thread on that:

Why You Should Get Vaccinated But Do Not Need A Third Shot

Until we do have more information about this new variant we should probably all follow GM's advice at least as much as we can.

---
Note:

I will police the comments in this thread. Any hyping of unproven medications and other not science based speculations will be removed and might get you banned.

Posted by b on November 26, 2021 at 18:43 UTC | Permalink

Comments
next page »

I'll pass on getting a shot and I've the first virus. I wear a mask when inside stores.

Posted by: jo6pac | Nov 26 2021 19:03 utc | 1

I will be interested to see how the highly vaccinated Japanese get troubled by this outbreak. Seems they had a very rapid recovery from their most recent nightmare after a major but unreported policy change.

Japan Ivermectin policy change YT

Posted by: Dim sim | Nov 26 2021 19:06 utc | 2

So damn funny you know. That's what viruses do. Simple Darwinism(which we studied in school under Communism). They mutate as fast as they can to stay ahead of vaxines and medications. And of course, the vaxx doesn't work on the new variant. Surprise surprise! And corona viruses are the fastest mutating viruses around. All well known simple facts. Funny how all those scientists who keep on telling us to vaxx don't know this simple factS, yet I know them. So now all those idiots who vaxxed must feel like fools cuz they are as venerable as us, the unvaxxed. And of course, now people will need a new vaxx to fight the new variant.
What a clown world.

Posted by: Hoyeru | Nov 26 2021 19:19 utc | 3

I never got any of the existing shots, am I right in thinking the last 18 months have been a complete waste of time?

Posted by: Matt | Nov 26 2021 19:21 utc | 4

The WHO is a criminally irresponsible body with an agenda. They just claimed there could be as many as 2 million deaths in Europe this winter and then suddenly a new "variant" appears to make the fear porn rounds! You need to keep some facts foremost in your head as this new hysteria spreads. Covid is a virus that is dangerous to the very old and infirm. All government interventions have failed precisely because they have ignored that one simple fact. Whether it is useless masks, useless shutdowns or useless vaccines, it all boils down to the idiocy of the "one size fits all" approach. If they had been honest from the start and offered directed protections to vulnerable groups, for example patients in nursing homes, they could have prevented the mass psychosis that still cripples so many millions and has cost countless lives.

Posted by: norb | Nov 26 2021 19:21 utc | 5

If the goal of TPTB were to render us speechless by wearing us down with the ever-changing COVID narrative, they are doing an admirable job.

I understand that with any pandemic, past or future, variations and mutations exist and so we must remain vigilant with regards to making any bold assumptions. That is why, b, I believe it fair that you continue to police the COVID threads and trash anything resembling unfounded speculation.

However, what remains apparent is that the Overton Window of COVID has not allowed us Plebians to exchange ideas, thoughts, and anecdotal evidence on the open-market in the same degree that TPTB have been able to enforce measures upon the public to contain COVID. In other words, the might of the state has had the upper-hand all throughout COVID and this is something that you have neglected to discuss in your role here. This is quite curious to me, as you have been such an exemplar of anti-establishment sentiment throughout my time reading your thoughts over the years.

My plea to you would be to acknowledge not only the demonstrations in the streets currently in the west as a sign that the healthier side of the Body Politik is making itself known, but also that the vaccines that the states are utilizing are probably incurring more damage than its lack thereof.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Nov 26 2021 19:35 utc | 6

@Posted by: Hoyeru | Nov 26 2021 19:19 utc | 3

"What a clown world."

I agree, but dissing scientists for not continually reminding people of previous contagion statements isn't particularly fair, as it needs to be remembered that nerds are not known for repeating themselves unnecessarily, as they generally assume everyone is as smart as they and are onto more interesting details, as they live in the weeds.

They very early on stated if this thing wasn't locked down in six months, it was going to be endemic. IMHO, it's the politicians and media, who have memories < inch worms that are to blamed and are the influencers, and have a vested interest in bs.

I live in a family of scientists and medical types and they have been straight up from the get go. They were never optimistic.

Posted by: Michael.j | Nov 26 2021 19:37 utc | 7

b warned,
"Any hyping of unproven medications and other not science based speculations will be removed and might get you banned"

The Pfizer Covid vaccine is science based and proven safe.
The data will be released in 55 years to show you doubters.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/wait-what-fda-wants-55-years-process-foia-request-over-vaccine-data-2021-11-18/

/S

Posted by: librul | Nov 26 2021 19:38 utc | 8

At this point, I found only one website with surprisingly accurate description of how this covid reaction fiasco will develop (both medically and politically, socially etc.), but I can't post link to it here because it is considered "right-wing" and banned from this place. It's estimate is far more accurate than information here.

Also, I find very it disturbing that b's usual analytical skills show severe lacking once topic of covid is covered.

Posted by: Abe | Nov 26 2021 19:43 utc | 9

I don`t share Dr. Rasmussen`s view.

Biological evolution is characterized by mutation and selection. Mutation might be random but selection is not. The fact that Omicron spreads and gradually replaces Delta means that it must have some kind of evolutionary advantage over Delta.

The lots of mutations in it`s spike protein suggest that Omicron differs in it`s transmissibility. If it is more transissable in general remains to be seen. But while lot`s of mutations doesn`t necessarily means "bad" it certainly means lot`s of differences. It seems likely that immunity against Delta (either acquired by vaccine or by previous infection) won`t be effective to the same degree against the vastly different Omicron.

The only silver lining I see is that Omicron might be less deadly. Because not killing it`s host is also a form of evolutionary advantage. Hence there is evolutionary preassure for a virus to evolve into that direction.

Posted by: m | Nov 26 2021 19:43 utc | 10

The British Medical Journal

https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2635

Covid-19: Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer’s vaccine trial


But, for researchers who were testing Pfizer’s vaccine at several sites in Texas during that autumn, speed may have come at the cost of data integrity and patient safety. A regional director who was employed at the research organisation Ventavia Research Group has told The BMJ that the company falsified data, unblinded patients, employed inadequately trained vaccinators, and was slow to follow up on adverse events reported in Pfizer’s pivotal phase III trial. Staff who conducted quality control checks were overwhelmed by the volume of problems they were finding. After repeatedly notifying Ventavia of these problems, the regional director, Brook Jackson, emailed a complaint to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ventavia fired her later the same day. Jackson has provided The BMJ with dozens of internal company documents, photos, audio recordings, and emails.

Posted by: librul | Nov 26 2021 19:45 utc | 11

Most viruses do not even exist as a single genotype. Smallpox is a single variant virus and is the exception that proves the rule. Easiest way to come up with variants is to look for them. Predominant variant in an infected persons nose is not the same as predominant variant in same persons gut.

Without a great deal of additional information there is nothing to be excited about. The way in which this small drip of information has been promulgated says it is on the newsfeed simply to amplify ambient fear.

Posted by: Oldhippie | Nov 26 2021 19:51 utc | 12

The health issues that may be connected to the vaccines is certainly something we should be concerned about. But the bigger, more immediate, issue is that they are over selling them. The majority of the millions who have received the jab are at best getting no benefit from it. When you are pushing jabs on young people and healthy working age adults, it is like flushing the vaccine down the toilet. These are people who were in no danger of hospitalization or death. They would at worst have some flue like symptoms and them move on with their lives. But when they insist, sometimes in the most draconian way, that everyone gets jabbed...they are spreading fear. As the vaccines does not prevent the spread of the virus, it becomes just a tally mark to support the regime. And when the virus doesn't go away even then? More panic! They are even horny to stab children as young as five years old!! Madness!

Posted by: norb | Nov 26 2021 19:58 utc | 13

Why people continue to believe anything spouted by the WHO, CDC, FDA etc. etc. is beyond this critical thinker. Now, just in time for Xmas Season (flu season) we have the Super Duper Variant to End All Variants that's bound to ratchet up the pressure for control, compliance and demonization of Narrative Resisters. So much BS, so little time.

Posted by: gottlieb | Nov 26 2021 20:01 utc | 14

Here in the UK some experts are saying the more variants there are from the new virus the better, as generally the more they divide the less potent they become, and that its a natural process in which the virus mutates multiple times to protect itself.

Alternatively there might not be a new virus, and its all a campaign to make loads of cash by making us get more vaccinations, possibly one or two yearly for years to come.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Nov 26 2021 20:02 utc | 15

@ Oldhippie | Nov 26 2021 19:51 utc | 12... i agree with you - last paragraph in particular..

Posted by: james | Nov 26 2021 20:03 utc | 16

@4 Matt: Short answer Yes. It's the flu and nothing but the flu. Over a year ago I named it 'The Capitalist Swine Flu' instead of covid-19 because TPTB are using it to try the 'Great Reset'.

Posted by: par4 | Nov 26 2021 20:12 utc | 17

I would be interested in having opinions on the efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine on the different COVID variants.

Posted by: Mauel | Nov 26 2021 20:12 utc | 18

Just think of other people and musk up, why not have the decency? and people do need to look at that horse de wormer as it seems to work and we need medication that works no matter what the origin.

Posted by: A.z | Nov 26 2021 20:14 utc | 19

I'm with old hippie @12. you should re-link the cardiology journal
link you shared the other day. How many footballers have
been falling on the pitch clutching their chest? What a joke.

Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 26 2021 20:15 utc | 20

Pepe Escobar reviews RFK Jr's book, "Fauci as Darth Vader of the Covid wars: A rollicking review of RF Kennedy Jr's The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health."

Pepe wastes little time or space as he digs right in:

"Robert F Kennedy Jr’s The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health should be front-page news in all the news media in the US. Instead, it has been met with the proverbial thundering silence.

"Critics seeking to have Kennedy dismissed as a kook trading on a famous name had scored a hit in February, when Instagram permanently deleted his account, allegedly for making false claims about coronavirus and vaccines. Nevertheless, the book, published only a few days ago, is already a certified pop hit on Amazon.

"RFK Jr, chairman of the board of and chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, sets out to deconstruct a New Normal, encroaching upon all of us since early 2020. In my early 2021 book Raging Twenties I have termed this force techno-feudalism. Kennedy describes it as 'rising totalitarianism,' complete with 'mass propaganda and censorship, the orchestrated promotion of terror, the manipulation of science, the suppression of debate, the vilification of dissent and use of force to prevent protest.'"

Pepe asks the central question:

"Why Fauci? RFK Jr argues that for five decades, he has been essentially a Big Pharma agent, nurturing 'a complex web of financial entanglements among pharmaceutical companies and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and its employees that have transformed NIAID into a seamless subsidiary of the pharmaceutical industry. Fauci unabashedly promotes his sweetheart relationship with Pharma as a ‘public-private partnership.’

"Arguably the full contours of this very convoluted story have never before been examined along these lines, extensively documented and with a wealth of links. Fauci may not be a household name outside of the US and especially across the Global South. And yet it’s this global audience that should be particularly interested in his story."

Interesting Pepe sees this as important for the "global audience." We know why Africa has escaped mostly unscathed by Covid because of their centuries long resistance to malaria plus the presence of many anti-malarial drugs and the fact the Big Pharma doesn't view Africa as a profit center, although it does carry out very unethical to illegal trials on unknowing populations, a fact brought to light by John le Carre over 20 years ago in The Constant Gardener. Pepe documents many of our complaints barflies will discover as they read. It's clear our host was a member of the millions fooled that lead to this unfortunate happening:

"Frontline Covid specialists Kory and McCullough are quoted as charging that Fauci’s suppression of early treatment and off-patent medication was responsible for up to 80% of deaths attributed to Covid in the US."

The current death count within the Outlaw US Empire is just shy of 800,000--that's 640,000 needless deaths that might be termed manslaughter at the very least; and then there's the multi-Trillion dollar monetary cost just within the Empire.

Kennedy clearly wants the world to read what he's written as the Kindle edition is only $3 and the article's first link takes you to the publisher where a hard copy can be bought for under $10. And since there are a number of well known and very rich public figures named by Kennedy, we'll likely see litigation, or perhaps not since the plan seems to be to ignore the book's existence. But with reporters like Escobar with millions of followers writing reviews and the book already topping Amazon's sales chart, I'm certain we'll be discussing this book more than once.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 26 2021 20:18 utc | 21

Just read some of the comments, get the freaking vaccine and mask up.
Like global warming is real vaccine works.
90% of the scientific professionals must in on it for the conspiracy theories to have any basis in reality and no they r no all replaced by robots in an attempt to depopulate the earth make gates a demigod.
Wonder if what I just made up is an actual theory percolating on the internet somewhere.

Posted by: A.z | Nov 26 2021 20:24 utc | 22

Karlof1 @ 21

Thanks for posting this important subject, because it's you in particular to this commentariat, it carries more weight.

Yesterday I saw something that this book was #1 at Amazon and I was skeptical and checked it out and it's true. It's currently in my shopping cart, but they're out of stock. It's a #1 bestseller, and has a complete media blackout.

Nothing to see here, move along.

Posted by: gottlieb | Nov 26 2021 20:27 utc | 23

As Robert Kennedy details in his new book The Real Anthony Fauci, the purported vaccines against covid, by aiming the immune system against a particular strain of covid, render the supposedly vaccinated more vulnerable to other strains, as well as to other viral diseases, like cancer. I wonder how many of the people now suffering from this new nu variant are truly unvaccinated, even though this morning's Washington Post claims many unvaccinated people are suffering from it. The medical authorities have been playing fast and loose with how they define "vaccinated" and "unvaccinated," like classifying people who have been vaccinated within the past two weeks as "unvaccinated".

Posted by: lysias | Nov 26 2021 20:28 utc | 24

As for what's a proven and unproven treatment for the covid viruses, this excerpt from Pepe's article ought to be noted:

"Kennedy says that Bill Gates by 2020 virtually controlled the whole WHO apparatus, as the largest funder after the US government (before Trump pulled the US out of the WHO) and used the agency to fully discredit HCQ – a sweeping if not incendiary claim.

"The book also addresses Lancetgate – when the world’s top two scientific journals, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine – published fraudulent studies from a nonexistent database owned by a previously unknown company.

"Only a few weeks later both journals – deeply embarrassed and with their hard-earned credibility challenged – withdrew the studies. There was never any explanation as to why they got involved in what could be interpreted as one of the most serious frauds in the history of scientific publishing.

"But it all served a purpose. For Big Pharma, says Kennedy, killing HCQ and, later, Ivermectin (IVM) were top priorities. Ivermectin happens to be a low-profit competitor to a Merck product, molnupiravir, which is essentially a copycat but capable of being retailed at a profitable $700 per course [course being an individual pill].' [My Emphasis]

It becomes clearer why astute writers like Escobar, Crooke and others are focusing on the undeserved power technocrats wield, Escobar's term "techno-feudalism" becoming more correct daily.

This article about vaccine efficacy directly relates to what's reported by Escobar about vaccines being a longterm Big Pharma cash cow.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 26 2021 20:39 utc | 25

I dived into that Yves Smith link in B's post. The cases involving the new variant found in HK and Israel were of travellers from RSA and Malawi. All travellers had been vaccinated and all apparently with the Pfizer jabs.

I have seen online speculation that the current vaccines may be driving selection pressure on the SARS-COV-2 virus to mutate, as predicted by Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. But from what B presents on his blog and the links he gives, we cannot know. The mutations in the Omicron variant would have to be in the regions of the spike protein targeted by the vaccines and the tests demonstrating this have to be consistent and transparent, and made available to the general public without the bias and obfuscation we have been experiencing so far.

It is likely that the 32 mutations observed in the Omicron variant aid in its becoming more transmissible (more infectious) but less dangerous to health but if it turns out that vaccination is driving the virus's evolution then the possibility that the variant is less deadly becomes doubtful and that has to be a worry.

Posted by: Jen | Nov 26 2021 20:39 utc | 26

"It is likely that the 32 mutations observed in the Omicron variant aid in its becoming more transmissible (more infectious) but less dangerous to health but if it turns out that vaccination is driving the virus's evolution then the possibility that the variant is less deadly becomes doubtful and that has to be a worry."

It is wrong to think of "evolutionary pressure" in a positive sense. The process is passive and random. But if you want to think in terms, hypothetically, of what a virus's ideal condition would be, then unfettered transmission and zero health impact on the host would be the direction of choice.

Posted by: norb | Nov 26 2021 20:47 utc | 27

@Posted by: Matt | Nov 26 2021 19:21 utc | 4

Not only the past 18 months, but the estratospheric ammount of money we have spent in this, and will continue doing, due that the number of super dangerous variants ( as qualified by the media at unison...)grow proportionally to Big Pharma benefits...

Then, if lockdown proved futil before, why is that the solution offered again, why not to reinforce the hospital beds and personel and health systems?
Officials have had two years to do it, but that is not on the planning, eventhough we are allegedly in the middle of a public hekath crisis, Next Generation EU funds are being distributed helycopter like, amongts the media and unions which now are dedicated to promote pharma industry products, the most strange you could find it, instead of denfending labor rughts...They are being sent by the governments now to convince the workers on strike to cese on their intend...

This is how much our countries have chnaged through this...

Posted by: Black bread | Nov 26 2021 20:50 utc | 28

It was dumb of the South African government to announce the detection of a new variant without having properly analysed it. They can’t really tell us anything about it but the damage is done as it has spread fear panic without any justification.

"This variant … surprised us … [it] has a big jump on evolution," said Professor Tulio de Oliveira who is the director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (Krisp).

South Africa has a large collaborative genomic surveillance network, which involves detecting and researching variants and controlling outbreaks.

Krisp is the principal investigative institute of this network.

De Oliveira added it had many more mutations than scientists expected, especially after a severe third wave, which was driven by the Delta variant.

Much to learn about new Covid-19 virus variant detected in SA: It surprised us, scientists say

Posted by: Down South | Nov 26 2021 20:50 utc | 29

Well,

I think this proves, once and for all, that Fauci's circumvention of US law on the development of "gain of function" virus's was definitely worth it...

Oh c'mon now, surely it was, just as Zbigniew Brzezinski's cultivation/funding/training/arming of radical Islamists back in the late 70's, an action that led to 3,000 New Yorkers being killed on 11SEP01, was certainly worth it...after all, it shortened the USSR's demise by days...maybe weeks...who knows, maybe a few months. What's a few million lives when big money is waiting.

While some try to build a better world, a worldly man knows that "the ends justifies any means". Take a bow Fauci, take a bow Brzezinski, you have brought untold death and destruction; by body count alone, two of the most evil men in US history. Brzezinski is now with his dark master but Fauci still lives. Not to worry, Mephistopheles has readied Fauci's eternal place, why it will right next to Dr. Mengele...the two have so much in common, they're bound to never run out of conversation.

Posted by: S Brennan | Nov 26 2021 20:52 utc | 30

According to the German pravda, the median age of people dying from covid is still 83, like last year.
https://www.dw.com/en/why-is-the-covid-mortality-rate-spiking-in-germany/a-59927617

Posted by: Julie | Nov 26 2021 20:52 utc | 31

"the protection that current vaccines give us will not work as well"

this sounds familiar, no? what of South Africa having to stop with Astra-Zeneca six months ago because it did not work with Beta.
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-uk-government-negotiating-with-astrazeneca-to-secure-south-african-variant-vaccine-12323385

what of all the people vaccinated with AZ since this has been known? why no stats about their fate in countries that have been using mainly AZ (e.g., the UK).

Posted by: Julie | Nov 26 2021 20:58 utc | 32

@Dim sim #2

The Japanese are NOT highly vaccinated and in fact are quite anti vaxxers. They don't trust vaccines. And also no, they don't take ivermectin.
My friend has a sister working in Japan and she said the govt DON'T test and that accounts for the low case numbers. Also their hospitals reject people with COVID symptoms.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1239927/japan-covid-19-vaccination-rate/

Posted by: Surferket | Nov 26 2021 20:59 utc | 33

They renamed the flu and used it to implement fascism.

This is ridiculous

Posted by: Norwegian | Nov 26 2021 21:00 utc | 34

Spike proteins? I nearly choked on my Dandelion tea. My herb garden is coming along fine. Soon my andrographis seedlings will be out in the real world with the artemisian.

The combination of supremacist mindsets of doctors, pharmacy, politics is a very malign conjunction. Witch hunts become mandatory.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Nov 26 2021 21:00 utc | 35

To be complete, we already know boosters won't work, and that is according to the live Israeli trial
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/experts-vaccine-immunity-waning-signs-israel-facing-fifth-covid-wave-1.10410409

Posted by: Julie | Nov 26 2021 21:01 utc | 36

lex talionus @ 20

Thanks for paying attention. Mostly I am tired of posting links that no one will read. Study that I posted has been getting large amounts of attention. Instead of re-posting will note that both John Campbell and Mo Been Syed have discussed this study and tightly related studies at length. For those who dislike the style of those presenters will say that I don’t like them either. In this case there is a lot of material to cover so they bth come much closer than usual to straightforward lectures. And do well in that format.

The overriding issue is damage the vax has done to immune system of vaccines. Vaccinees are a large population, enough to drive every aspect of the ongoing drama. We know that it is not a sterilizing vaccine, that the vaccinated population is very much in play as the epidemic continues. What selective vector does that introduce? It gets complicated real quick.

Posted by: oldhippie | Nov 26 2021 21:03 utc | 37

I am so tired of this.

Flu pandemic song

Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 26 2021 21:04 utc | 38

Of the four cases discovered in Botswana the people who tested positive were fully vaccinated

The four cases were detected among travelers who tested SARS-COV-2 positive on routine pre-travel testing, the Coordinator of Botswana's Presidential COVID-19 Task Force Kereng Masupu said in a statement.

"The variant tests were carried out as part of the routine genomic surveillance of SARS-COV-2, as prescribed in our COVID-19 response plan," said Masupu, adding that the preliminary report revealed that all of the four persons had been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.


Botswana confirms four cases of new COVID-19 variant

Posted by: Down South | Nov 26 2021 21:05 utc | 39

Wasn't NC promoting IVM recently?
And why can't EU media mention the fact that Sinovac is accepted in a good number of EU countries (which also means that travellers who flew to these countries are allowed to roam freely within the EU).

Why then can't EU citizens get Sinovac as well?

Posted by: Julie | Nov 26 2021 21:19 utc | 40

The traveller who tested positive for the new variant in Hong Kong is also fully vaccinated

Authorities in Hong Kong blamed a South African traveller who was allegedly wearing a “selfish” mask with a valve for bringing the new variant of coronavirus to the city.

Health officials had earlier confirmed cross-infection between two guests on the same floor of the Regal Airport Hotel in Hong Kong after they both tested positive for the virus. The South African and another guest were quarantined in opposite rooms. Officials said both persons were fully vaccinated.


Hong Kong blames passenger with ‘selfish mask’ for first case of new Covid variant

Posted by: Down South | Nov 26 2021 21:21 utc | 41

Another thought pursuant to #20 above. A coronavirus that infects a cell will make 10,000 copies of itself. Minimum. And then moves on to neighboring cells for more reproduction. A coronavirus generation is about ten hours. RNA is notoriously inaccurate at making copies. Mutations are continuous. Of course most mutations are not viable or are meaningless. OTOH a single host means trillions of virions. Good chance any single host will produce something new and viable. If there is something new and viable a good chance it will find other hosts. Now throw into the mix that each host was likely infected by a swarm of not-identical virions.

Discussion about variant X or Y obscures the fact there are nearly infinite extant variants. New and successful variants can arise anywhere anytime. Which variants arise is about architecture of the virus and history of the disease as much as it is about place. It does happen that the same variant shows up in multiple geographic locations at once. Not because of contact and transmissions but because the virus was good and ready to make that particular gambit. At which point quarantine is without meaning. Words have meanings. Pandemic means it is everywhere. Half of this crazy exercise has been about a vaccine is whatever we say it is, lockdown means anything we want it to mean, case means anything at all, etc. etc. It is pandemic.Try to understand the word pandemic.

Posted by: Oldhippie | Nov 26 2021 21:22 utc | 42

MIA: Contact tracing

Vaccines are to make Contact tracing more effective, not to replace it.
Contact tracing stops the spread of infections but it's easier to believe that technology alone solves everything.

S.E. Asia does contact tracing, the west does not. SE Asia = winners; west = Losers

What is contact tracing?
1. After diagnosing someone w/Covid, you create a list of people they came in close contact with during the incubation phase (most recent days).

2. You self-isolate those people in their homes for 3 days and test them again.
if negative they resume normal schedule
if positive they remain isolated until they recover

If you do 1 and 2, the spread of Covid will end regardless of the XYZ variant.

What good are vaccinations / masks?
It reduces the number of people that need to self-isolate in step 2.

What about work?
This is where big govt, aka big govt, helps. You make it illegal to fire people that the health authorities contacted for self-isolation and you pay them for missed wages.

Why aren't we doing this?
Because it requires a functioning health system to implement and it's much easier to start a Cold War against China and say that vaccinations alone will work.

Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Nov 26 2021 21:31 utc | 43

I am not sure if masks and contact reduction will help much if the new variant really does have a similar reproduction rate as measles.
First it should be clarified if the combination of vaccinees antibodies and Omikron do not result in antibody-dependent enhancement, probably everyones worst nightmare.
As long as this is not completely clear, maybe we should postpone inoculating children?

Posted by: BelleDelphine | Nov 26 2021 21:47 utc | 44

@Posted by: lysias | Nov 26 2021 20:28 utc | 25

Indeed, there is total cooking up of data related to whom really are those crowding the hospitals, ER, and ICUs.

The data shouted to the four winds by the media at unison ( we already know under Gates´payroll in their majority, including Der Spiegel.....), plus health ministers in Europe, plus Javier Solana at the head of the ISGlobal ( Instituto de Salud Global...), is that it is the unvaccinated whom overcrowd the hospitals´ beds, but, the people working in the terrain, nurses and medical doctors we know, asure us that that is not true, that the number of people who never got a jab is insignificant, adding to the account of unvaccinated hospitalized all those whose last jab has six months of antiquity, and those whose third dose have not occurred more than 14 days ago..

This way it is easy for Solana ( not known precisely for his honesty and care for human lives, the least about his country, as European burocrat..), there are people in the net throwing the theory that his succint Twitt in this sense acted as a callsign and that it was just after he twitted that that the wave on demonizing the unvaccinated started...

IMO, this "super mutant strain" comes to cover the real wave of cardiovascular complications which are provoking a necessity for doubling of cardiologic hospital beds, in the outcome of vaccine complications especially amongst young people, plus other many pathology which is flooding the hospitals along with the usual flu and its usual complications like yearly Neumonia.

The question is for how much time the governments will be able to cover for all the harm they have produced, their continued lies, and the obvious failure of these "vaccines"...

Just saw a Twitter on a young woman who had her cancer latent for years, got vaccinated and died a few later by a fulminant cancer, with the mother shouting and crying at the morgue, "the vaccine, the vaccine has killed her!"..It´s pure common sense of the salt of the earth...they could have not careers, nor high burocratic positions, but can connect cause and effect or add 2+2....

These evidence is not possible to cover for much longer...the truth is out there...

Posted by: Black bread | Nov 26 2021 21:48 utc | 45

@Posted by: Jen | Nov 26 2021 20:39 utc | 28

In fact I just saw in Telegram a note issued by the government of Botswana stating all the patients infected with the new strain were fully vaccinated.

Can not post it here.

Posted by: Black bread | Nov 26 2021 22:04 utc | 46

jo6pac @1. I'm with you. I had this crap in November 2019. I was ill for about 5 weeks. Coughing hacking. Rib rattling cough. The only time it was actually miserable was the coughing. I've had worse. F their clot shot shenanigans. I no longer believe this stuff at all. I am a retiree. I will die soon anyway. Sitting around and being afraid because of Uncle Schmuel telling me to be afraid no longer works for me. I'm jaded. Fuck them. First let me say that I have not left my property since November 2019. I go nowhere. No one comes here. I'm on a farm. I need nothing from anyone. There is a long way between my place and the road so I can see anyone coming. Sometimes people get lost and come up my driveway, find there is no turn around except behind my locked gate. They will yell and honk (they are Americans) demanding I let them on my property, which they already on when they come up the driveway past the large no trespassing sign. Some get belligerent but the sight of my friend, Mr. Mossberg, they back up, like I told them. Even at 2am, Americans honk for me to open up. Whole point? I can see them coming for a half mile. It's camera'd. If they come to vaxx someone, they'll talk with Mr. Mossberg first.

If this is getting worse click your ruby slippers together and repeat 3 times, Gain of Function. Maybe you'll wake up in Kansas with Toto.

Posted by: Jimmy Flies By | Nov 26 2021 22:13 utc | 47

They did a great job. Oops, I meant jab.
Strange

No, but seriously, as someone who has read all of Goebbels diahorrea-s, They did a super great job. I am uber scared. Thank god I have no friends and work for a company with 3 employees. Super sad

Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 26 2021 22:14 utc | 48

Are you reading this, b?

There is some pretty clear consensus amongst people that call each other names every other day.

The smell is so overpowering at this point. And humans of all types and training and backgrounds and whatever are all good at smelling shit. It’s instinctive, even without the knack to properly describe it - people smell something bad.

Posted by: Rae | Nov 26 2021 22:14 utc | 49

It is normal that all the allegedly infected with the new strain are fully vaccinated since we, unvaccinated, do not travel at all since two years ago...

Could it be happened to justify the third shot, which increasing number people is hesitant to take, especialy the young who have seen dying many of their sports stars?

Posted by: Black bread | Nov 26 2021 22:14 utc | 50

@Posted by: Black bread | Nov 26 2021 22:04 utc | 49

Which vaccine? I wonder if the chinese Sinopharm/Coronavac will show better performance than Pfizer due to total virus epitopes. Its crazy that our specialists put all eggs in one basket - the highly mutable spike.

Posted by: BelleDelphine | Nov 26 2021 22:17 utc | 51

Manuel @ 18:

The Omicron variant has not yet reached Russia or other countries that use Sputnik V.

You should try looking up and reading Riley Waggaman's posts at his Edward Slavsquat blog at edwardslavsquat.substack.com and see what he has to say about Sputnik V and the Gamaleya Institute. Waggaman is an American journalist living in Moscow, I believe.

Sputnik V is a viral vector jab like the Oxford / AstraZeneca jab. The main difference is in the adenovirus vectors they use: Sputnik V uses two human a/virus vectors in its 2 shots, the AZ jab uses 1 chimp a/virus vector in its 2 shots.

Posted by: Jen | Nov 26 2021 22:21 utc | 52

Today's topic brings up a puzzlement I've had for quite a while. I've been checking out the site on a regular basis for 15 years or so because b and the various commenters (excluding the many mockingbirds) discuss important issues of the day from point of view I find reasonable. The commenters whom I respect are in approximate agreement with b on almost everything; the notable exception being" the covid” in which case the commentariat goes on in its anti-establishment direction and b goes opposite. It's a little bit like seeing Noam Chomsky become a “moderate rebel” and champion of universal surveillance and identification. So I have a question: does anyone including b know what b’s opinion is on the “great reset” and on trans-humanism and contemporary eugenics in general? Is this something that is known to everyone else and I just have selective amnesia?

Posted by: NOBTS | Nov 26 2021 22:25 utc | 53

Julie@42

When commenting a few months ago, after mentioning how Ilarg at the Automatic Earth .. via his copious link .. had been showing Ivermectin (about the time or shortly after Hydroxycloroquine was being vilified in by the various 'establishment naysayers') to be of cheap and efficacious use in the early treatment of Covid .. basically asking what took her and her salon so long to grok .. rather that the constant push towards submitting to getting the janky jab, my comment went into moderation purgatory - never to be seen!
That's how they generally roll over there. They've for the most part become their own sealed silo. Granted, they're not the only site that do so, but still ..

Posted by: polecat | Nov 26 2021 22:26 utc | 54

'links'

Posted by: polecat | Nov 26 2021 22:27 utc | 55

@Posted by: BelleDelphine | Nov 26 2021 22:17 utc | 54

No idea of the vaccine they got,

Yeah they put all the eggs in the same basket to mayor glory of BlackRock anf Gates who have huge shares in Pfizer and Moderna.

The new pharma-dollar is the labor we are assisting here...That the vaccines do not work is part of the business, obviously.

Posted by: Black bread | Nov 26 2021 22:34 utc | 56

@Posted by: Jen | Nov 26 2021 22:21 utc | 55

But the Spuntik V is also based on the Spike protein, which, according to not so few well renowned medical doctors is the real problem with the vaccines.

Why Putin has had a booster?

Posted by: Black bread | Nov 26 2021 22:39 utc | 57

(There is something weird going on with the site. Posting with this link was rather diffictult. Just to let you know.)

I'm sorry, I am not a scientist, but I do play one on television.

What's to be made of this!

rona

Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 26 2021 22:43 utc | 58

Posted by: Julie | Nov 26 2021 21:19 utc | 42

NC doesn't promote it but if read IM DR commentor there he has used it for his patience's. He is not been jab and neither are his children.

osted by: polecat | Nov 26 2021 22:26 utc | 57

True I've almost been banned there. I've used Ivermectin and it works. I bought it from India if you to FLCC site there some Dr. that will write a note to your drug store.

Time for me to drink some Whine;-)

Posted by: jo6pac | Nov 26 2021 22:44 utc | 59

This is a one-time post to crow about the situation.

From one of the referenced articles: "South Africa has high levels of HIV and is thus an obvious hot spot for variant generation."

I've been thinking since early this year that would happen. Any time you have masses of unprotected people - like the morons in this country and large populations in India, Malaysia, and especially Africa - there is the potential for rapid mutation.

God, I love being right! And isn't it wonderful that we got the news on *Thanksgiving Day*! Hope you're all appropriately thankful! Our gift is delivered just in time for the Christmas rush!

The Trump Cult scum are ripe for another culling. There are still morons who doubt the very existence of this virus. Hopefully they'll all die in the new surge (if it happens). Looking forward to it. I'll be getting a booster shot soon since I'm still a member of the at risk population, but my self-isolation and use of hand washing, sanitizer, and package washing have kept me safe for the last year and a half and I fully expect that to continue.

The morons - including the usually non-moronic Greenwald and Jimmy Dore - are spending all their time denouncing the vaccines, not realizing that the only function a vaccine has is to keep you from getting sick enough to be hospitalized or dead by fighting and encouraging the immune system to fight the virus until the viral load is reduced in the body. It can't keep you from being infected and it can't keep you from transmitting the virus depending on how the virus is transmitted. I knew this last year. It takes days for the immune system to clear the body and the coronavirus is transmitted most effectively in the first few days, so it's a candidate for transmission even by the vaccinated, which is what we're seeing. With so many un-vaccinated in absolute numbers, and so many vaccinated not taking precautions, it's no surprise cases are surging.

Since this new variant is likely, as one person called it, the "kiss-your-vaccine goodbye" version, it's likely new methods, such as the University of San Francisco llama nano-antibody spray, will have to be developed. But it will all have to be re-calibrated for new variants periodically just like the regular flu.

As an aside, I usually get a common cold at least twice or three times a year. Haven't had one since early 2020. All the hand washing, sanitizer and mask wearing really works. But the best thing is simply staying away from moron humans. Which is why I now take my leave again.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Nov 26 2021 22:46 utc | 60

...from CDC. . .. .Deaths among the unvaccinated peaked the week starting August 8, at 13.23 per 100,000 population, while deaths among those who had been vaccinated with one of the three products remained under four per 100,000 that week. For the vaccinated, deaths were numerically highest among Johnson & Johnson recipients, at 3.14 per 100,000, followed by Pfizer at 1.43, and Moderna at 0.73.
Cases were similarly highest among the unvaccinated, peaking at about 736 per 100,000 for the week starting August 15. Again, there were numeric differences between vaccine groups, with Johnson & Johnson being the highest (172), followed by Pfizer (135), and Moderna (86).
Despite those differences, the overall message is clear: the unvaccinated were at far higher risk of being infected with and dying from COVID-19.
"The vaccines are extremely effective, and showing the data are key," said Leana Wen, MD, MSc, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at George Washington University. "This tool continues to emphasize the key point that vaccines prevent infections and, critically, dramatically reduce hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19." . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Nov 26 2021 22:50 utc | 61

Delta variant emerges complete with pictures of gangrene limbs from India just in time to force mandates...

Nu variant complete with horror, emerges just in time to force child vaccination

Right... Will the next one be called the 'fu' variant as they launch forced detention?

Posted by: Les7 | Nov 26 2021 22:57 utc | 62

Anybody who believes CDC statistics really ought to read Robert Kennedy's book.

Posted by: Lysias | Nov 26 2021 22:59 utc | 63

@b

"I will police the comments in this thread. Any hyping of unproven medications and other not science based speculations will be removed and might get you banned."

The one person who was consistently behind you on this topic was vk.

Just sayin.

Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 26 2021 23:00 utc | 64

The variant that people, jumping the gun (including me), have been calling the "nu variant" has now been given the official name of "omicron variant". By jumping from mu (the last variant) to omicron, they have for some reason left out two intervening letters in the Greek alphabet, nu and xi. They have thereby hastened the day when they reach the final letter, omega. What will they do after that?

Posted by: Lysias | Nov 26 2021 23:09 utc | 65

Contact tracing in the west was said to have been abandoned due to concerns with privacy/civil rights, yet the eventual policy became coercive vaccine mandates which literally steamrolls over both.

Posted by: jayc | Nov 26 2021 23:11 utc | 66

The vaccine still protects against the virus because it elicits more than just antibody production. The variant has at least one mutation to the spike protein that allows it to invade cells even if one has innate or acquired immunity.

The bad news is that there are so many people with HIV that the vaccine's immunity wears off in a faster time, the carrier stays infected for a longer period of time, and the virus has more opportunities to mutate.

Posted by: Les | Nov 26 2021 23:11 utc | 67

It all could be summarized very shortly like this – we, the people would have never survived until now, unless Pfizer and Moderna hadn't invented mRNA vaccines for a type of coronavirus in 2019/20. Imagine all history wasted, all civilization gone. Like nothing had ever happened.

Ideals of freedom and human dignity were born in dirt and tragedy with occasional glimpse of happiness. Freedom brings health, and freedom to choose is precursor of health. Tyranny can only bring famine, disease and war.

It is hubris to think somebody should or could singehandedly feed the world, heal the world, or give shelter from weather.

Posted by: js | Nov 26 2021 23:15 utc | 68

@Posted by: NOBTS | Nov 26 2021 22:25 utc | 56
Seems like b has the same opinion about this theatre as the Saker.
Whoever believes in Great Reset, Gates, pharma conspiracy, is a complete loonie.
They both follow the science and I think especially the german top virologist C. Drosten.
I for myself mostly agree with them but its getting harder and harder to not believe in f conspiracies sometimes.
Just my two cents.

Posted by: BelleDelphine | Nov 26 2021 23:16 utc | 69

b: You must be so proud of this comment section.

Posted by: Michael Weddington | Nov 26 2021 23:19 utc | 70

jo6pak@62

I haven't been cast out from NC as such, but I've had posted comments that went poof often enough, so I don't post as often these days. They are of a social-liberal bent, where as I've changed my views politically, especially since the left went off the rails since at least 2016 .. actually since about 2008 when Nancy Pelosi swiped the House brunch table of the supposed impeachment of uncurious George II, and did the conjurer's switch with Othat dreadful corporate giveaway aka Obama no'care'. Not that the Republicants, save for a few, are any better. As Private Hudson intoned to former 1st officer Ripley on landing approach down to Hadley's Hope: "We're on the Express Elevator to HELL - GOING DOWN!".

If I may paraphrase rather badly, There really ARE Monsters coming outta the goddamn walls .. The Medlab Walls of less! Their eggcases are littered by the Thousands with face hugging authoritarians spouting acrid nonsoothing words, whilst dripping acid for bloodsport. But I digress..

Posted by: polecat | Nov 27 2021 0:01 utc | 71

Black bread @60--

Putin took the new nose spray vaccine to demonstrate to Russians its safety and effectiveness since such a woefully small percentage of Russians are vaccinated despite having free access to the world's best vaccine in Sputnik-V. Putin's policy is to reason with his fellow Russians as to the wisdom of being vaccinated versus coercing his public like other nations are doing illegally by breaking the Nuremburg Code. All mRNA vaccines and some others only received certification due to the supposed severity of the situation and then only by noting their experimental nature. Thus, most of humanity's been subjected to an experiment that's being performed without their consent, which is a direct violation of Point 1 of the Nuremburg Code. Whether this extremely important point will appear in the mass of litigation now in motion versus the Biden and Corporate mandates is unknown, but all efforts must be made to ensure it gets included which would invalidate the mandates since they violate the Code.

Just to be clear, Sputnik-V isn't an mRNA-based experimental vaccine and is based on well recognized vaccine methodology, meaning that it doesn't come under the Nuremburg Code. One of the very important points raised by RFK Jr's book and noted by Escobar in his review follows:

"The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation happens to have a large equity stake in Gilead. A key point for Kennedy is that vaccines were Big Pharma’s Holy Grail.

"He details how what could be construed as a Fauci-Gates alliance put 'billions of taxpayer and tax-deducted dollars into developing' an mRNA 'platform for vaccines that, in theory, would allow them to quickly produce new ‘boosters’ to combat each ‘escape variant.'

"Vaccines, he writes, 'are one of the rare commercial products that multiply profits by failing … The good news for pharma was that all of humanity would be permanently dependent on biannual or even triannual booster shots.'"

"Any similarities with our current 'booster' reality are not mere coincidence.

"The final summary of Pfizer’s clinical trial data [Link at Original] will raise countless eyebrows. Peter McCullough: 'Because the clinical trial showed that vaccines reduce absolute risk less than 1%, those vaccines can’t possibly influence epidemic curves. It’s mathematically impossible.'" [My Emphasis]

Our many suspicions that a plot existed behind the pandemic's façade to pad Big Pharma's profits seems to be correct. Unfortunately, it certainly appears that the federal government and Big Pharma are in collusion will make it difficult to get Smoking Gun documents. And we shouldn't expect any help from the grossly corrupted, fraud infested FBI or Justice Department. Looks like we'll need another January 6 with quadruple the numbers to get any satisfaction. And that's just for the Outlaw US Empire. Every other nation will need to demand the same.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 27 2021 0:05 utc | 72

Posted by: Norwegian | Nov 26 2021 21:00 utc | 36

It's less ideological and more archaic: they renamed the flu and made a packet. Don Draper couldn't have mounted a better marketing campaign.

@karlof

Thanks for drawing attention to RFK Jnr's book. War (and health) is a racket.

Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 27 2021 0:10 utc | 73

@Oldhippy, thanks for the tip the other day. I found Nigella Sativa seeds labelled "kalonji" at the same pakistani store where I found Peganum Harmala seeds (labelled "espand") years ago. Funny that.

Some personal accounts of recent coronavirus cases in my personal sphere.

A friend caught it from her son who caught it at his elementary school (main vector in .nl right now.) Double-vaxxed. She lost smell and was exhausted for weeks. She's doing well again by now.

Grandmother of 101 years of age contracted it. She was not vaccinated on religious grounds. Her health had been declining for years already. She gently passed away in her sleep on the third day of illness, a passage for which she was ready. Her life was fulfilled and her physical condition had made life progressively less comfortable.

Cousin got corona last week, she thinks she caught it at work (child daycare centre). Double vaxxed. When I videochat with her, she looked quite a bit afflicted, had trouble focussing for more than a few minutes due to fatigue. I hear she's doing better now. Her husband went to Belgium for work around the time she fell ill, and when he returned at the end of the week, he also had the virus. Also double vaxxed. It sounds like he got it from her, and was likely spreading it for a few days before he came home sick.

A couple of friends of my parents' (70-somethings) went on a 5-day holiday trip to Portugal. Both double-vaxxed. She fell ill on arrival, bedridden with headaches and diarrhea. She managed to go on one sight-seeing tour, despite the abdominal discomforts. After arriving back home, he fell ill with corona. Note that they, knowing that she had corona, did not quarantine and likely infected a lot of fellow travellers.

The media here are tirelessly pushing the message that the unvaxxed are to blame for the latest surge.

PS uncle tungsten, I was busy and uninspired. I will come back to the other topic in due time.

Posted by: Lurk | Nov 27 2021 0:12 utc | 74

This article is poor and just unquestioningly falls for a reworking of the Delta variant scam.

And, after all the banning of commentators, we end up with a load of dross comments; I probably wasn't expecting that? Reinstate VK, Jackrabbit, Donkeytale, and others that may have been banned. Some of these commentators where spending too much time on the blog but cutting them off like this is really callous.

---oOo---

Here's some research from the University of Sweden which gives you all a good reason not to accept any of these spike protein "vaccines" into your life.

SARS–CoV–2 Spike Impairs DNA Damage Repair and Inhibits V(D)J Recombination In Vitro (Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner–Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden & Department of Clinical Microbiology, Virology, Umeå University, Sweden, published 13th October 2021)

"Abstract

"Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV–2) has led to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic, severely affecting public health and the global economy. Adaptive immunity plays a crucial role in fighting against SARS–CoV–2 infection and directly influences the clinical outcomes of patients. Clinical studies have indicated that patients with severe COVID–19 exhibit delayed and weak adaptive immune responses; however, the mechanism by which SARS–CoV–2 impedes adaptive immunity remains unclear. Here, by using an in vitro cell line, we report that the SARS–CoV–2 spike protein significantly inhibits DNA damage repair, which is required for effective V(D)J recombination in adaptive immunity. Mechanistically, we found that the spike protein localizes in the nucleus and inhibits DNA damage repair by impeding key DNA repair protein BRCA1 and 53BP1 recruitment to the damage site. Our findings reveal a potential molecular mechanism by which the spike protein might impede adaptive immunity and underscore the potential side effects of full-length spike-based vaccines."

Posted by: ADKC | Nov 27 2021 0:22 utc | 75

Christian J. Chuba #46

Thank you for that concise summary of the value of contact tracing.

Well said and I might add: The state should provide those with positive test and active observable symptoms a broad range of medications to ease their suffering and enable a prompt recovery.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Nov 27 2021 0:27 utc | 76

@RSH ".. self-isolation and use of hand washing, sanitizer, and package washing have kept me safe for the last year and a half and I fully expect that to continue"

"Why are you trailing a piece of string on the ground?"
"It keeps the elephants away."
"There are no elephants here"
"See, it works!"

Posted by: Ubs | Nov 27 2021 0:27 utc | 77

I haven’t gotten a single shot.
Now, if there was a brand new shot that was focused on the latest greatest virus mutation, I’d think about it.
But simple logistical common sense tells me that NO shot will ever be up to date on the latest mutations.
In light of what I understand about mRNA therapies, I’ll continue to pass if that’s the options that I have.

(I’ve never had a flu shot. I’ve worked with some of the cruddiest/germy people one can work with over the course of my life. I’m talking about young kids, developmentally disabled, and correction facilities)

Posted by: Cadence Calls | Nov 27 2021 0:30 utc | 78

@63
Someone’s been lurking and saw his name mentioned.
God help us, he’s back.

Posted by: Cadence calls | Nov 27 2021 0:35 utc | 79

Cadence calls #82

He dropped in to piss.


Ubs #80

Thank you, much laughter here.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Nov 27 2021 0:54 utc | 80

Cadence Calls @81--

What if it wasn't a shot but a nasal spray? Putin leads by example and refuses to coerce his citizenry.

The influenza virus has existed within human populations long enough for a high degree of natural immunity to develop. The very large family of coronaviruses has existed for @55 Million years, well before the dawn of humans and might very well outlast us. The common cold is caused by coronaviruses as well as others as are rather lethal variants like MERS. You're correct about no vaccine being capable of confronting the newest mutation perfectly; however, a vaccine will enable advantages to the immune system regardless the variant encountered. It's a travesty that the best vaccines aren't allowed here in the Outlaw US Empire; but as we're seeing, that's the result of illegal collusion between the federal government and Big Pharma.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 27 2021 0:57 utc | 81

@Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 27 2021 0:05 utc | 75

We can never know whether the heads of nations are really jabbed in the first place. I for one very doubt it has happened, due the situation in the world already before "the pandemic", that Putin would venture with any new med, is uncoeibable, it is simply a matter of national security. That he could have taken it after almost two years of trials, may be...

I forgot to mention in my diatribe against unestimable collaboration to enforce vaccine mandates by this Putin´s adminsitrations, that, for one, the Russians at least seems to not be intending to harm their people, if not because they have still demographic unbalance, although past day I was reading about certain monument, the Georgia Guidestones, in which it is advised that even Russia with its vast territory do not surpass a certain number of people...

After reading and hearing about that speech by Margaret Thatcher at the Oil Industry Meeting in Houston, Novemebr 1991, we already know that the account by Putin and his associates on that the USSR was unsustainable and thus the good ole Gorby conspired with the US Harvard University to dinamite it from inside, was not true,
They simply took over from those at first taking advantage, these just care a bit more about the people but just so that they can continue working, with the ultimate goal of stablishing a new feudal order, perhaps a bit more human, but very similar to the one intended to establish in the West.

Why can not you conceive Putin is no saint, that he can lie as every other?

When I visited Russia, not so long ago, I could see very humble people travelling in the Metro in Moscow, while in the surface there was an scandalous luxury. I will not say I liked it...

20 years is enough, the Chinese managed to erradicate poverty in less time..

Posted by: Black bread | Nov 27 2021 1:07 utc | 82

"I will police the comments in this thread. Any hyping of unproven medications and other not science based speculations will be removed and might get you banned."
Well, good luck B, because it looks like there's a couple dozens full retards just begging to be banned in this thread.

Posted by: Clueless Joe | Nov 27 2021 1:13 utc | 83


Kaj Jakobsson
@KajJakobsson

When was Israel made aware of Omicron?

Israel holds ‘war game’ in case of lethal new coronavirus strain https://scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3155763/israel-holds-war-game-case-lethal-new-coronavirus-strain?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=share_widget&utm_campaign=3155763 via
@scmpnews

#COVID19 #Omicron

Published: 1:49am, 12 Nov, 2021

https://twitter.com/KajJakobsson/status/1464408989509296128?s=20

Posted by: Kaj Jakobsson | Nov 27 2021 1:47 utc | 84

Wonderful, another Covid thread, so far, my favorite thought expressed is from RSH @ 63.

I know, let's all do nothing, and the virus will disappear..

Posted by: vetinLA | Nov 27 2021 1:51 utc | 85

(At the risk of getting banned by b for promoting quackery without any basis in science, or worse, being ridiculed by that handful of posters whose cumulative eloquence amounts to inarticulate slurring and screeching "censorship now!":)

Effects of a 2-Week 5000 IU versus 1000 IU Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Recovery of Symptoms in Patients with Mild to Moderate Covid-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8308273/

In summary, a 2-week oral supplementation of 5000 IU vitamin D3 was superior to 1000 IU in resolving cough and gustatory sensory loss among COVID-19 patients with sub-optimal vitamin D presenting with mild to moderate symptoms. The present findings add to the growing body of evidence on the beneficial effects of vitamin D supplementation against COVID-19, particularly among those with suboptimal levels.

Vitamin K & D Deficiencies Are Independently Associated With COVID-19 Disease Severity
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8344499/

Conclusions: Early in acute COVID-19, both vitamin K and vitamin D deficiency were independently associated with worse COVID-19 disease severity, suggesting a potential synergistic interplay between these 2 vitamins in COVID-19.

Thromboembolic Complications of SARS-CoV-2 and Metabolic Derangements: Suggestions from Clinical Practice Evidence to Causative Agents
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8229698/

5. Meta-Inflammation: Alterations of Metabolism Leading to Thrombus Generation
5.1. Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome and Dysregulated Lipid Metabolism
5.2. Hyperinsulinemia Contributes to Both Impaired Fibrinolysis and Hypercoagulable States
5.3. Vitamin D Metabolism and Its Interference in the Inflammatory Pathway
5.4. Extrahepatic Vitamin K Insufficiency and Dependency of Coagulation Factors
5.5. Hormonal Factors Contributing to Covid-19 Thrombotic Complications

Consumption of Food Supplements during the Three COVID-19 Waves in Poland—Focus on Zinc and Vitamin D
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8538476/

To sum up, we showed the highest consumption of vitamin and mineral supplements, and preparations containing zinc and vitamin D were taken significantly more often by people with higher medical and related education. This indicates a high awareness of health aspects and the need for preventive measures in these groups.

Posted by: Lurk | Nov 27 2021 2:04 utc | 86

BelleDelphine 72
Have your read something from b that expresses that opinion or are you guessing? I'd be interested to know what he thinks of being described (along w/Saker) as "following the science." He appears to be somewhat educated so I'm sure he knows there's no "the science." He, being german, probably knows that there are a number highly credentialed virologists and epidemiologists in Germany who regard C. Drosten as a total fraud.
It seems that aviation and to some extent geopolitical theorizing are strong suits in this blog. i don't see any convincing expertise in the area of medicine that makes b's opinion any more impressive that of any of the commenters whom he presumes to censor. Maybe it's a subject he should avoid.
BTW in recent months it's getting really hard to tell the mockingbirds from the barflies in this joint.

Posted by: NOBTS | Nov 27 2021 2:20 utc | 87

I did a quick ctrl for the name Geert Vanden Bossche. But no one mentioned him Why! According to him while the virus is mutating it is not a good idea to start vaccinations as this will give virus more pressure to mutate. Especially the vaccinated people become the spreaders as the vaccine forces the virus to mutate.

B must know about him...B a good authority on geo political stuff but I think on this subject you have been wrong...I wish you are right but it seems you are wrong and Dr Geert is right.

Posted by: Baumanskevich | Nov 27 2021 2:40 utc | 88

Have you thought about what this all means from a Chinese perspective ?

1. The truth conveyed by these words is rather enlightening. "From the current data none of those questions can yet be answered. It will take two to four weeks to find out". Yes things take time to be worked out...
But do you still remember how China was accused since the end of January 2020 about "having messed up so badly" and thus being responsible for a worldwide pandemic ? Some were even talking about trillions in compensation...

2. Now add Yves Smith's words to that : "And where did the recent rounds of bad variants come from? This is three times – Kent, India, now South Africa – where the Anglo incubation reservoirs that capitalism creates have spilled over into waves of world-wide infection. China would be fully justified in never “opening up,” with obvious consequences for a “return to normal” in the supply chain".
To understand just how serious Chinese governance really is check how they manage the Winter Olympics in complete isolation from Chinese society. Beijing has been cut off from the rest of the country since 2 weeks already and will stay so until the Olympics are over ! This means those wanting to enter Beijing from the rest of China are strictly controlled and must undergo a 3 weeks quarantine... Foreign athletes are in complete isolation in the Olympic village bubble...

3. What about Yves' following words "...Anglo incubation reservoirs that capitalism creates have spilled over into waves of world-wide infection" ?
Think about these words for a second.
What these words mean is that the Western model of society prioritizes the interests of the 1% over the interests of the 99%. And so these words mean that the Western decision making process is owned by big capital holders... and they don't give a damn about the citizens of their societies. Now compare that with China where state institutions control the actions of big capital holders. Jack Ma was merely the most visible case recently... And all that while the state protects its citizens from the virus and from Western propaganda. Ha ha ha.

I'm watching the unfolding of Western societal atomization into its natural destination... in the comfort of complete freedom in Beijing. How is it for you in the entrails of the beast ?

Posted by: laodan | Nov 27 2021 2:47 utc | 89

@ NOBTS | Nov 27 2021 2:20 utc | 92... why not go back and read the archives?? it can be informative.. b has never come out and openly answered the questions you pose to people here, but you could do some sleuthing.. i was curious to see what you had said and did so, i did what i am suggesting you can do.. if you've been around moa for so long, you must have been using a different name... your handle only goes back to 2019...

@ laodan | Nov 27 2021 2:47 utc | 95... good post.. thanks for a different and enlightening perspective..

Posted by: james | Nov 27 2021 2:56 utc | 90

I posted the link below to a story at the Mises Institute web site over at the last Open thread but it belongs here as well

With Low Vaccination Rates, Africa's Covid Deaths Remain Far below Europe and the US

The point I want to make on this thread is that given this latest variant outbreak being identified in South Africa, the effect this variant has on the neighboring countries to the north that have had low report of Covid problems will tell me whether to keep taking Ivermectin or develop another strategy to stay away from mRNA vaccines but still respond to the Covid threat to my life.

YMMV

The point I made on the Open Thread is that if Mises and the Red team own the outing of Covid and the savior of Ivermectin, the next US (s)election will belong to them

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 27 2021 2:59 utc | 91

My most favorite smartypants academia person, Kees van der Pijl has a new book out. My copy will hopefully arrive in my mailbox soon. Unless a particularly erudite homeless individual in my neighborhood reaches my mailbox and steals it.
STATES OF EMERGENCY: Keeping the Global Population in Check


Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 27 2021 3:00 utc | 92

Thank you, karlof1 @ 21, very good news. I have great respect for Robert Kennedy Jr., as I did for his father. And thanks to Pepe also.

Your reference to John Le Carre's The Constant Gardener is an appropriate one. A very readable page-turner that one, if I can still remember it after reading our library's copy years before its premise becomes salient today. (I found the movie too confusing to recommend, though that might simply be my own inability to translate the fastmoving scenes into the context of the book.)

Posted by: juliania | Nov 27 2021 3:15 utc | 93

Oops, sorry for the carried-on italics.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 27 2021 3:16 utc | 94

James,
I don't recall when I first commented; I do so very rarely as there a plenty of comments. I was introduced to MofA by an old friend, who was a partner at Fulbright and Jaworski, in the early 2000s; he subsequently shifted his interest to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then he died

Posted by: NOBTS | Nov 27 2021 3:18 utc | 95

@NOBTS

Specifically, I have asked b to consider and comment upon the scientific studies that point out dissonant facts wrt the prevailing narrative about the origins of the coronavirus:

Serologic testing of U.S. blood donations to identify SARS-CoV-2-reactive antibodies: December 2019-January 2020
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7799215/

Unexpected detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the prepandemic period in Italy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8529295/

(for the latter link hat tip to cirsium)

Posted by: Lurk | Nov 27 2021 3:43 utc | 96

uncle tungsten @ 37, thank you for mentioning artemesien. I have a lot of artemesia in my garden, and just as an anecdote, when it was mentioned in somebody's comment a while back I remembered the comment when I found I had rather a congested upper throat sensation. I chewed on a leaf for a few minutes, found it to be quite astringent and it did relieve the sensation. A very small anecdote to be sure, but this is a common plant and easy to grow in my garden at least. I don't find it to be invasive as the root system is shallow, and it is easy to propagate, attractive as well. So, thanks also to the person who mentioned it earlier.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 27 2021 3:44 utc | 97

So far I have been passed over by covid and have had the two Moderna shots. They have had two shots at me and there won't be a third. No boosters for me. If I get covid, my plan is to follow the FLCC protocol, Ivermectin etc and I don't care who knows it. Btw, I have never in my life had a flu shot, 67 years young.

Posted by: Morongobill | Nov 27 2021 3:45 utc | 98

There is division within Australian federal government ranks on the issue of state government mandatory vaccinations. Federal government law overrides state law.

The senators have pointed to adverse reactions and death figures published on the Therapeutic Goods Administration [TGA] website.

From the AFR report:

"Senator Rennick, who is not up for election next year, and Senator Antic catalysed a week of disunity and division in the Coalition by refusing to support any government bills unless Scott Morrison legislated to overturn state government-imposed vaccine mandates.

The TGA website says there have been 83,000 adverse reactions out of 38 million doses administered. The majority of the reactions have been minor, such as chest pain or headaches. There have been nine attributed deaths.

In a torrid week for the government, senators Rennick and Antic were among five Coalition senators who crossed the floor to support a One Nation bill opposing vaccine mandates. After Nationals renegade George Christensen went on strike in support of the two senators...."

Search for "Comirnaty (BTN162b2)mRNA'

https://search.tga.gov.au/s/search.html?collection=tga-websites-web&query=Pfizer+mRNA&op=Search&f.Date%7Cd=d%3E26May2021%3C28Nov2021+%3A%3A+Past+6+months

Posted by: Paul | Nov 27 2021 3:56 utc | 99

B:

Note:

I will police the comments in this thread. Any hyping of unproven medications and other not science based speculations will be removed and might get you banned.

Your prerogative, but do realize that medical science's twin is BigPharma of which combo Fauci is the pinnacle since many decades. Big power and money lure put stock prices over health case.
https://www.unz.com/pescobar/fauci-as-darth-vader-of-the-covid-wars/

Can you equally police calls for 100% authoritarianism justified now by using Covid19?

Posted by: Antonym | Nov 27 2021 4:40 utc | 100

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