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Stocks
Feb 25, 2021 16:57:59 GMT
Post by dan1 on Feb 25, 2021 16:57:59 GMT
Inflation has been running at near or over 2% for the past six months if you ignore changes in indirect taxes (i.e. CPIY). CPI is below 1% but a large part of that is because of stuff like the stamp duty break and cut in VAT for hospitality etc.
Must be difficult to disentangle what's because of brexit and/or covid.
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Post by dan1 on Feb 25, 2021 10:05:35 GMT
I haven't a clue what the Y axis means there but I really hope it doesn't mean the pfizer is in some way 3.5 times better ?? I very much look forward to you or someone else telling me that is wrong. The only things I got from skimming the paper are that the new strains are all similar to each other (in some complicated way of development) which may make it easier to counter them. New strains may be resistant to current vaccines, but current vaccines may reduce serious disease and that the Pfizer and AZ both give good initial protection against the ordinary strains after one dose, ie, 89% and 76% respectively. Everything needs a lot more research and we need to keep a careful watch on it all. Most of it was in a language I don't understand although odd words reminded me of English! I think this is very important because the variants appear to share many of the same mutations, i.e. they are converging. I guess it's much easier to adapt vaccines to common mutations than if all these variants had different mutations (think branches on a tree). That could be viewed as somewhat fortunate for vaccine development, i.e. we've perhaps been lucky.
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Post by dan1 on Feb 25, 2021 9:02:51 GMT
I haven't a clue what the Y axis means there but I really hope it doesn't mean the pfizer is in some way 3.5 times better ?? I very much look forward to you or someone else telling me that is wrong. The y-axis is a measurement of antibody titers, I believe. Wikipedia here. It's obviously a lot more complicated than 3.5 times better. I guess once you reach a certain threshold then you're considered to have a sufficient immune response. I guess it matters more in the context of a variant which appears to lower the immune response for the current vaccines, which would imply a reduction in efficacy (i.e. the higher the immune response and efficacy for the current UK strain will protect you better against the SA strain unless I'm mistaken). I'll remind you that I know nothing!
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Post by dan1 on Feb 24, 2021 23:11:10 GMT
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Post by dan1 on Feb 24, 2021 22:24:53 GMT
A post from a "Professor of Vaccinology" (seems well respected in the twittersphere FWIW): ["Victoria" = wild strain or at least an early Wuhan one] ["LOD" = Limit Of Detection..... I think] This is also extracted from the paper.... What does it all mean? Well for a start it's a direct comparison between Pfizer/BioNTech and AZN/Ox, have we seen that before? It certainly seems Pfizer has the edge over AZN but both are dramatically reduced by the SA variant (B.1.351). Seems like prior infection of UK variant (B.1.1.7) gives as good neutralisation as Pfizer. <--- that's probably all BS Important reply in the thread from him "But of course, neutralization cannot explain everything." Also, importantly this work has been supported by PHE/DHSC, i.e. it's not anti-AZN (I felt I needed to say that even though I shouldn't have to). Direct link to the paper.... Evidence of escape of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.351 from natural and vaccine induced serawww.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(21)00226-9.pdf
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Jokes
Feb 24, 2021 14:32:21 GMT
Post by dan1 on Feb 24, 2021 14:32:21 GMT
What's the difference between a scam and the FCA?
*Jokes Thread*
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Post by dan1 on Feb 24, 2021 9:45:13 GMT
When the solicitor drew up the will in 2000 I included him as an executor because the only relative with sufficient nous to be one was in a very high-pressure job and unlikely to find the time; he's now retired, though my estate has become more complex.
Recently I ran a thread about the wisdom of doing this, and Dan1's comment now prompts the no-doubt unworthy thought that the solicitor might have had an eye to the possibility of generating work for his firm.
I think part of the problem asking on this forum is that many of the old timers remember pretty disastrous loans to some of those in the legal profession. I'm sure it's not reflective but you never know!
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Post by dan1 on Feb 24, 2021 8:41:06 GMT
I know little of wills or probate but isn't one of the risks that it could be contested and locked in legal wranglings for months if not years? I'd of thought the more clauses the greater the risk?
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Post by dan1 on Feb 22, 2021 13:25:13 GMT
This is very good news. But, AIUI it's not a measure of efficacy, for that you require a double blind randomised trial (such as the recent phase 3 trials). Remember the Pfizer/BioNTech was rolled out before the AZN/Ox and that probably means different cohorts (Pfizer/BioNTech may have a higher median age of recipients than AZN/Ox).It's worth remembering that vaccinated people may have caught the virus in hospital, i.e. they went into hospital for other reasons and were exposed. That probably happened to a family member of mine who thankfully had mild symptoms... I do wonder what would have happened if they hadn't had the vaccine. Did you have to say that? I was in a great mood until I read that ! Still at the very least it would seem they are both in the same ballpark so the propoganda information on the BBC is probably correct. It's very good news! The data coming out from Israel is very good too (the country most advanced in their vaccination programme). However, you can't beat a proper trial and that's why the results from the AZN/Ox trials in the Americas due to come out in a few weeks is so important.
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Post by dan1 on Feb 22, 2021 12:47:52 GMT
If so then that will (literally) never end. There will ALWAYS be a possibility of importing the next vaccine resistant strain. Exactly. If that is the reason, then why August? Why not 2023, when the whole of Africa might be done? I'm not advocating carte blanche on all travel by the way, but this strikes me as crossing the line between appropriate criteria-based restrictions and a noticeable loss of freedom of movement with insufficient reason - as it (apparently) stands. Because all adults in the UK would have been offered their first jab. Btw I'm not justifying the UK govt policy (129,498 deaths with Covid on the death certificate attest to that) but just explaining the implied logic.
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Post by dan1 on Feb 22, 2021 12:18:41 GMT
Guardian reporting a Scottish study that shows "By the fourth week after receiving the initial dose, the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines were shown to reduce the risk of hospital admission from Covid-19 by up to 85% and 94%, respectively, they found" A rare victory for AZN in efficacy... I wonder what accounts for the discrepancy between phase 3 trials (100% avoidance of hospitalisation) and the 94%? Did they not control for haggis consumption? This is very good news. But, AIUI it's not a measure of efficacy, for that you require a double blind randomised trial (such as the recent phase 3 trials). Remember the Pfizer/BioNTech was rolled out before the AZN/Ox and that probably means different cohorts (Pfizer/BioNTech may have a higher median age of recipients than AZN/Ox). It's worth remembering that vaccinated people may have caught the virus in hospital, i.e. they went into hospital for other reasons and were exposed. That probably happened to a family member of mine who thankfully had mild symptoms... I do wonder what would have happened if they hadn't had the vaccine.
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Post by dan1 on Feb 22, 2021 12:03:49 GMT
<mounts hobby horse> Ref this: I have to say that if this transpires, I'll be peeved. Given that last July we were seeing <30 deaths a day with zero vaccines, why would now be subject to more restrictions rather than less this year? Unless I'm missing something, by May/June we should be seeing vanishingly few serious cases and deaths. I'll point out also that I'm fortunate enough to currently be in what is a holiday spot in Spain. People are permitted and very much are flying in from Germany and other countries right fricking now for holidays. I don't think this is an entirely good idea at present, mind, but how we can have one (generally pretty conservative) country saying that travel is permitted now, but the UK reckoning that even the Summer is too soon? B.1.1.7 perhaps? Or EeeeK!
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Post by dan1 on Feb 22, 2021 10:14:43 GMT
I had the AZ vaccine on Tuesday. It was followed by a sleepless night of shivering and then sweating, and two days of aching body and fatigue. I can quite understand why many people would prefer a vaccine with fewer side effects, especially if they have to work or care for others. I was vaccinated at the NHS vaccination centre in Southampton. It was all very well run, but I was shocked by how few of the NHS staff were wearing PPE properly. The most common fault is not using the wire inserts to shape the mask around the nose. As a result people are breathing around their masks instead of through them, which greatly reduces the effectiveness. In related news I see that a study reports glasses wearers are up to three times less likely to catch caronavirus. See: www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/glasses-coronavirus-covid-contacts-study-b1805314.html where it suggests that this is because glasses wearers touch their eyes less often. I don’t think it’s just that. I think it’s mainly because glasses wearers have to fit their masks to their noses properly (a) so the glasses can fit, and (b) so the glasses don’t steam up. A non peer reviewed study from India featuring 60 people wearing glasses? Think I'll give that one a miss.
As a matter of interest, how does touching your eyes get you infected. I thought it was a respiratory issue and you had to touch your mouth or nose.
Ever been able to taste eye drops?
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Post by dan1 on Feb 22, 2021 10:12:10 GMT
A study that may shed some light on why infection acquired immunity may be inferior to that acquired through vaccination... Depends on definition of inferior. Innate immunity might be inferior against the specific spike protein that the vaccine utilises but it might not be inferior against future vaccine resistant variants. Anyway enough immunological pontificating from me. EeeeK!
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Post by dan1 on Feb 21, 2021 22:39:24 GMT
A study that may shed some light on why infection acquired immunity may be inferior to that acquired through vaccination... Discrete SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers track with functional humoral stabilitywww.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21336-8#Sec6I think that means not all infections are sufficient to develop longer term T cell derived immunity. Probably not a great surprise given recurrent coronavirus infections pre SARS-CoV-2. Check out the author list, a one "Elon R. Musk" appears:
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