Topic: New, more deadly Covid variant [split topic]

[Beagle 2]

Really thought this news conference was to say something positive about the rate declining slightly.

Nah. Turns out the new variant kills more people.

Have a great weekend, fuckdownfans!

[jobotic]

And the vaccine might not work with the new new variant!

Good work Bozza!

[Cuellar]

Cuh, this virus eh. This old virus.

[bgmnts]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-cases-deaths-mutate-covid-19-herd-immunity-latest-b1227029.html

But this guy said it won't become more deadly!

He also pointed to the example of Spanish Flu, which devastated the world population in a series of waves from 1918 to 1920 before eventually dying out. By 1957, it had "completely disappeared".

This doesn't fill me with optimism to be fair.

[Alberon]

Come on! In forty years none of us will have to worry about Covid-19 ever again.

[Pranet]

Every time I allow myself a glimmer of a sliver of hope.

[Pranet]

I'm beginning to think it would just be easier if they got the army to go door to door to finish us all off then turn the guns on themselves. Just get it over with.

[jobotic]

Quite

[Fambo Number Mive]

The Kent variant has mutated again, with the E484k mutation spotted in this strain as well.

Sage are saying the variant could be "partially resistant to vaccines"

[drummersaredeaf]

Fuck it. Just give it to me now.

[Cuellar]

End the lockdown NOW

[Fabian Thomsett]

Despite all the mutations
You know, you could just dance to a rock and roll station

[Cuellar]

The child's blood based treatments that they pumped Trump full of don't seem to work against these variants either: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/02/monoclonal-antibodies-great-hope-in-covid-treatments-fails-against-variants

OPEN THE PUBS

[Cuellar]

Was feeling reasonably optimistic yesterday - partner's mum has had her first vaccination, my mum has hers booked - and now this. Up in smoke.

[bgmnts]

Seriously, what if this THE plague that ends us? Mutates to absolute fuck and kills enough of us to turn humanity on itself. 

[Cuellar]

I dunno, even things like the Black Death couldn't do away with EVERYONE and that got rid of about half of Europe.

[bgmnts]

Yeah but they were hardier folk back then, you lost half your family and went back to milling the next morning.

Nowadays though...

[Fambo Number Mive]

Seriously, what if this THE plague that ends us? Mutates to absolute fuck and kills enough of us to turn humanity on itself.

I think the different responses by countries will make this unlikely even if it does mutate to absolute fuck. Countries like New Zealand and China will manage to deal with it by totally closing the borders while less sensible countries like the UK and USA will become like the Middle Ages or Mad Max 2. 

[ajsmith2]

I do, no hyperbole think this will be the thing that decisively ends the global dominance of western civilization.

[Rainbow Moses]

Good work Bozza!

I do, no hyperbole think this will be the thing that decisively ends the global dominance of western civilization.

If there's one thing these new variants will never diminish, it's people's ability to take tragic events in order to score lame political points.

[Cuellar]

Don't think ajsmith's comment was point scoring, doesn't seem to be any judgement of the value of the end of the dominance of western civilization.

[jobotic]

If there's one thing these new variants will never diminish, it's people's ability to take tragic events in order to score lame political points.

Nothing political about any of the events of the last year is there? 100,000+ deaths was unavoidable.

[Mister Six]

Don't think ajsmith's comment was point scoring, doesn't seem to be any judgement of the value of the end of the dominance of western civilization.

And possibly not wrong, either. Although it was already on the wane. I'd argue it's mostly exacerbating pre-existing conditions (ho ho ho) created by neoliberalism chewing away at the stability of the West, though.

[Bence Fekete]

There's nothing political about my end of the world fantasy. It starts with a flash like the movies do, then you look out the window and there's just a giant mile-high sea wave of carbon digesting nanobots munching their way towards you and eviscerating everything in sight. Everyone's screaming. That's it.

[Rainbow Moses]

Nothing political about any of the events of the last year is there? 100,000+ deaths was unavoidable.

Wasn't your point that the appearance of a new variant, one that the vaccine may not work with, is somehow on Johnson ("And the vaccine might not work with the new new variant! Good work Bozza!")? As if (a) he can control mutations and (b) he was the one solely responsible for developing the vaccine (might as well blame pharmaceutical companies for that, while you're at it).

There are plenty of things you can criticise Johnson and the government for, but it's pretty stupid to do it for this.

[Zetetic]

He does have some control over mutations.

[Cuellar]

Yeah, the folks here:
https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-document-from-phe-about-the-b-1-1-7-variant-including-reference-to-detection-of-the-e484k-mutation-in-some-b-1-1-7-genomes/

point out that because we've got such a huge number of people infected, these variations are probably going to crop up without the need for them being imported from abroad. So we're our own mutation factory now, which is nice.

[jobotic]

Wasn't your point that the appearance of a new variant, one that the vaccine may not work with, is somehow on Johnson ("And the vaccine might not work with the new new variant! Good work Bozza!")? As if (a) he can control mutations and (b) he was the one solely responsible for developing the vaccine (might as well blame pharmaceutical companies for that, while you're at it).

There are plenty of things you can criticise Johnson and the government for, but it's pretty stupid to do it for this.

What Cuellar says above. Notice how these mutations appear in countries that have stupidly high cases, because they have room to do so?

The size of this wave as an awful lot to do with the political choices made by Johnson

[Bence Fekete]

Don't blame the people in charge of our response strategy for the new variants - they can't have known they'd have fucked it up this badly. We've never even had big viruses before now. 

[BlodwynPig]

Virologists know about mutations. Epidemiologists know that mutations will increase as transmission increases. Didn't see much chat last year about this - although at work we were all muttering about the potential. Only human I guess (or those trying to take the plunge finding no foothold in the chamber of echoes).