![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(Originally posted to my GoFundMe earlier today, so I didn't bother to change the timestamp. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Link to the fundraiser will be provided in the comments and upon request.)
Let's try some more semi-random Links From All Over to share in this week's installment of "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging meets the usual begging post", again covering a very wide range of topics that all relate to the pandemic but are otherwise not necessarily related at all.
First up, a report on an odd side effect of the existing vaccines...
COVID-19 vaccine update: Radiologists report side effects mimicking breast cancer on mammograms
The SA variant of the virus does seem to be the nastiest one so far, so I'm not surprised at this next article. However, friends in the biz have pointed out that "in lab settings" is terribly vague, that "reduced" might simply mean that the effectiveness goes from "kicks viral ass" to "provides good protection", and that "depending on the 'lab settings' it might not be even be as bad as that. It might be 'serum for patients vaccinated with X worked less'. That doesn't account for epitope spreading in vivo."
Pfizer, Moderna vaccines have reduced effectiveness against South African variant, studies show
Sanofi, who already agreed to do "finish and fill" for Pfizer/BioNTech in Germany to up vaccine production, has agreed to another production-increasing deal with a different competitor. This while they still have two vaccine candidates of their own in development/testing.
Sanofi to produce 12M vaccines a month for rival Johnson & Johnson
This next video sheds some light on a casualty of the pandemic that many people haven't thought about (or the costs of dealing with the ramifications): guide dogs who are no longer going out in public, or working regularly, and are thus losing their training and will either have to be replaced (at tens of thousands of dollars each) or their partners will have to find a different accommodation...
My Guide Dog Retirement Plan + My Next Dog… *very emotional*
And, lastly but rather depressingly, the recent statistics.
U.S. life expectancy falls by a year, biggest drop since WWII
"To Me He's Not A Number": Families Reflect As U.S. Passes 500,000 COVID-19 Deaths
And now for something completely dif^H^H^H expected by now: the usual PSA-and-begging part of this post. Most of you have been reading these posts for quite some time and can thus guess what comes next: the plea for those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. Some businesses were essential and never closed during the lockdowns. Others, after having opened back up, are now trying to stay open to what extent they can as the semi-lockdown is being tightened back up in response to pandemic surges. What these businesses have in common is that locally owned and operated businesses give better "bang for the buck" when it comes to keeping the local economy moving. So please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to survive and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.
( Rest of the begging stuff is behind the cut. )
Let's try some more semi-random Links From All Over to share in this week's installment of "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging meets the usual begging post", again covering a very wide range of topics that all relate to the pandemic but are otherwise not necessarily related at all.
First up, a report on an odd side effect of the existing vaccines...
COVID-19 vaccine update: Radiologists report side effects mimicking breast cancer on mammograms
The SA variant of the virus does seem to be the nastiest one so far, so I'm not surprised at this next article. However, friends in the biz have pointed out that "in lab settings" is terribly vague, that "reduced" might simply mean that the effectiveness goes from "kicks viral ass" to "provides good protection", and that "depending on the 'lab settings' it might not be even be as bad as that. It might be 'serum for patients vaccinated with X worked less'. That doesn't account for epitope spreading in vivo."
Pfizer, Moderna vaccines have reduced effectiveness against South African variant, studies show
Sanofi, who already agreed to do "finish and fill" for Pfizer/BioNTech in Germany to up vaccine production, has agreed to another production-increasing deal with a different competitor. This while they still have two vaccine candidates of their own in development/testing.
Sanofi to produce 12M vaccines a month for rival Johnson & Johnson
This next video sheds some light on a casualty of the pandemic that many people haven't thought about (or the costs of dealing with the ramifications): guide dogs who are no longer going out in public, or working regularly, and are thus losing their training and will either have to be replaced (at tens of thousands of dollars each) or their partners will have to find a different accommodation...
My Guide Dog Retirement Plan + My Next Dog… *very emotional*
And, lastly but rather depressingly, the recent statistics.
U.S. life expectancy falls by a year, biggest drop since WWII
"To Me He's Not A Number": Families Reflect As U.S. Passes 500,000 COVID-19 Deaths
And now for something completely dif^H^H^H expected by now: the usual PSA-and-begging part of this post. Most of you have been reading these posts for quite some time and can thus guess what comes next: the plea for those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. Some businesses were essential and never closed during the lockdowns. Others, after having opened back up, are now trying to stay open to what extent they can as the semi-lockdown is being tightened back up in response to pandemic surges. What these businesses have in common is that locally owned and operated businesses give better "bang for the buck" when it comes to keeping the local economy moving. So please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to survive and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.
( Rest of the begging stuff is behind the cut. )
