Word on the Street

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Why some people don't want a Covid-19 vaccine

There should be no doubt about it: Covid-19 vaccines are saving lives. Consider some recent statistics from the UK. In a study tracking more than 200,000 people, nearly every single participant had developed antibodies against the virus within two weeks of their second dose. And despite initial worries that the current vaccines may be less effective against the Delta variant, analyses suggest that both the AstraZeneca and the Pfizer-BioNTech jabs reduce hospitalisation rates by 92-96%.

 As many health practitioners have repeated, the risks of severe side effects from a vaccine are tiny in comparison to the risk of the disease itself. Yet a sizeable number of people are still reluctant to get the shots. According to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund, that ranges from around 10-20% of people in the UK to around 50% in Japan and 60% in France.

 The result is becoming something of a culture war on social media, with many online commentators claiming that the vaccine hesitant are simply ignorant or selfish. 

But psychologists who specialise in medical decision-making argue these choices are often the result of many complicating factors that need to be addressed sensitively, if we are to have any hope of reaching population-level immunity.

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Rebecca Hendin on the continuing spread of Covid variants

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Moderna says Covid-19 vaccine immunity to stay at least a year

Immunity from Moderna Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine should last at least a year, the company said on Monday at the JP Morgan Healthcare conference. The drugmaker said it was confident that the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology it used was well suited to deploy a vaccine based on the new variant of the coronavirus which has emerged in a handful of countries. The company’s vaccine, mRNA-1273, uses synthetic mRNA to mimic the surface of the coronavirus and teach the immune system to recognize and neutralize it.

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“The vaccines are on the way, guys. I’m telling you—2045 is our year!”

 By Lars Kenseth

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Croatia reports 4,396 new cases, 64 deaths in the last 24 hours.

A total of 2,802 patients are hospitalised, including 304 who are on ventilators. 

 The number of active cases is 25,006 and 62,370 people are currently self-isolating. Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in the country, 168,388 people have been infected with the novel virus. The death toll now stands at 2,484. A total of 140,898 people have recovered, including 4,177 in the last 24 hours. To date, a total of 861,401 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 11,687 in the last 24 hours.

 The head of the national Covid-19 response team, Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic, on Friday called on citizens to refrain from visiting their friends and relatives during the coming holidays. 

Asked why, for the sake of the nation's mental state, the Covid-19 response team was not announcing in advance when restrictions would be tightened or relaxed, Bozinovic said that it was difficult to predict a favourable or bad course of the epidemic. Bozinovic said that the impact of all existing restrictions was carefully considered, announcing talks with church officials for this weekend. He recalled that the new, tighter epidemiological measures for shops and shopping centres would go into force on Saturday. 

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Santa Claus bubble

A Santa Claus performer meets children while sitting in a ‘Santa Claus bubble’ amid the coronavirus pandemic in Aalborg, Denmark.

 Photograph: Ritzau Scanpix/Reuters 

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Europe wrestles with festive Covid rules

It will have to be, Emmanuel Macron said this week, “a Christmas not like others”.

 Across Europe, governments are grappling with the same question: how to allow a little much-needed seasonal celebration without further fuelling the pandemic?

 Some countries have yet to announce their plans, but several have already said tight restrictions can be eased for a short time over the festive period – providing people are responsible, and prepared to put up with tight measures before and after. 

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Autumn Traditions: COVID-19 Edition By Jonathan Muroya

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There are three main symptoms of coronavirus. If you get just one of them, you should get a test.

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Croatia reports record number of 542 new coronavirus infections

Croatia on Thursday registered a record number of 542 new cases of the coronavirus infection, as well as one fatality, and the number of active cases now stands at 2,206, the national Covid-19 management team said on Thursday.

 There are 361 Covid-19 patients in hospitals, including 27 who are on ventilators. Since February 25, when Croatia registered its first case of the coronavirus infection, 18,989 people have contracted the disease, and 310 of them have died, while 16,473 people have recovered, including 165 in the last 24 hours. Currently, 10,908 people are self-isolating. To date, a total of 344,533 people have been tested for the virus, 5,939 of whom have been tested over the past 24 hours. Until now, the record daily high in Croatia was 369 new cases of the infection, registered on September 3. 

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For Anyone Who Still Believes Covid-19 Isn’t Real

Bored Panda has collected some of the most inspiring photos of these brave Covid-19 survivors.

Sniffer dogs as Covid-19 detectors

Dogs specially trained to detect Covid-19 have this week started sniffing passengers as part of a trial at Finland's Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Volunteers are training a team of 15 dogs and 10 instructors for the research programme.The dogs can detect coronavirus in humans five days before they develop symptoms, Anna Hielm-Bjorkman, the University of Helsinki professor who is running the trial, told Reuters news agency.

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Croatia experienced the biggest spike in coronavirus cases.

Since the outbreak the epidemic of the coronavirus on 25 February, 8,889 people in Croatia have been diagnosed with this infectious disease, and 157,387 people have been tested for it. Currently, there are 2,352 active cases, Beros said. Of those active cases, 174 are receiving hospital treatment, and this is 7.4% of all those currently infected. There are 10 patients on ventilators or 0.4% of the infected, Beros said. Responsible behaviour can markedly reduce the spread of the infection, and the minister called on Croatians to strictly comply with epidemiological measures.

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Uses for Your COVID-19 Supplies After the Pandemic By Maya Henderson

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Lexicon for a Pandemic by Jay Martel

Maskhole: An individual who wears a mask in a way that makes it completely ineffective—e.g., below the nose, under the chin, on the back of the head.
 Face naked: The state of facial exposure that occurs when an individual declines to wear a mask in public. For example, “Pence went all face naked to the Mayo Clinic.”
 Body mullet: What most people wear on Zoom calls: a nice top and, below the waist, underwear or less. (“Business up top, party down below.”)
 The novid-19: The nineteen minutes after a too-close interaction with a maskless stranger during which you experience a thickness in your throat and a certainty that you’re dying. This sometimes lasts longer if frantic hand washing, antiseptic gargling, and estate planning are not readily available. Overdistancing: When the guy in front of you in line has a metric understanding of the six in six feet, allowing twenty feet to open up between him and the next person in line, which then allows others to interpret that next person as the end of the line and to cut in front of you.
 Domino distancing: When the person behind you in line stands too close, causing you to crowd the person in front of you, and on and on until everyone dies.
 Emotional distancing: Deciding that now really isn’t the time to make big decisions about a relationship or, for that matter, to have a conversation about it.

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Jokes About The Pandemic To Make You Laugh Or Cry

Bored Panda’s compilation of corona jokes.

 

Croatia confirms 95 new Covid-19 cases today

There were 95 new COVID-19 cases reported in Croatia in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 2,483, the national crisis management team said in a statement on Thursday.
 The current death toll stands at 107. There have been 2,149 recoveries to date, four more than yesterday. Currently, there are 227 active cases in Croatia. There are 42 people in hospital with no patients currently on a ventilator. Since late February, Croatia has conducted 74,657 tests, including 919 in the last 24 hours.Most new cases are ‘imports’, mostly from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, as well as cases of virus spreading in indoor spaces, which is why decisions on a new border regime and compulsory wearing of masks in public transport have been made.
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Studies Estimate That Lockdowns Slowed COVID-19 Spread and Saved Lives

Two studies published on June 8 in the journal Nature show the importance of lockdown measures on slowing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 One study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley examined interventions taken by six countries and found that about 531 million cases of COVID-19 were prevented or delayed. And the other study, conducted by Imperial College London, found that in 11 European countries, the virus transmission was extremely reduced and about 3.1 million lives were saved.
 But the researchers note that the pandemic is still ongoing, so these successes are contingent on people continuing to be careful.
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Dexamethasone proves first life-saving drug

A cheap and widely available drug can help save the lives of patients seriously ill with coronavirus. The low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone is a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus, UK experts say. The drug is part of the world's biggest trial testing existing treatments to see if they also work for coronavirus. It cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators.
 For those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth.
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