Will Variants and Ill-Health Continue to Plague Economic Outlooks?

[Eyes Wide Open + 3,554]

1 hour ago, turbguy said:

A suggested link, from real people, that might be of interest on this topic:

https://www.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/

It's over old hippie. The dream finally fades. Turb I too once believed in fairly tale dreams. Life's a bitch then you die...until that time, Live Love and Laugh...and when that is gone.....Cry Havoc!

[TailingsPond + 874]

7 hours ago, Eyes Wide Open said:

 Life's a bitch then you die...until that time, Live Love and Laugh

Agreed.

Merry Christmas.

Stay Lit - life is short.

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

https://thehighwire.com/news/pandemic-of-the-vaccinated-cdc-says-79-of-omicron-cases-in-vaccinated-14-had-boosters/

CDC investigation says 79% of US Omicron cases in vaccinated, 14 had boosters

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

https://thehighwire.com/editorial/continued-mass-vaccination-will-only-push-the-evolutionary-capacity-of-sars-cov-2-spike-protein-beyond-the-omicron-version/

Continued mass vaccination will only push the evolutionary capacity of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein beyond the Omicron version

By G. Vanden Bossche, DVM, PhD

‘Omicron is more infectious!’ ‘Omicron causes a milder course of disease!’ ‘Omicron escapes vaccine-mediated immunity!’ ‘Omicron has an astonishing number of mutations within the spike (S) protein!’ ‘Omicron will kill itself since it has too many mutations; these will end up incapacitating viral replication!’ ‘Omicron is ominous.’ ‘Omicron is harmless.’ ‘Omicron was bred by an HIV patient.’ ‘South-Africa is to be blamed for spreading Omicron!’ ‘Regardless of all the above, we need new vaccines: anti-Omicron vaccines! Such vaccines will tame Omicron, put a halt to the pandemic and force Omicron into
endemicity!’

Neither Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) nor public health (PH) understand anything related to the evolutionary kinetics of this pandemic; this hasn’t changed at all with the appearance of Omicron. Hardcore scientists spend much time on the molecular stamp collection of a plethora of steadily arising SARS-CoV-2 variants but can’t see the forest for the trees. Clinicians are puzzled by the different manifestations of the disease. The vaccine industry doesn’t care about any of the above as long as they can sell a product carrying a name (‘vaccine’) that will soon be banned from the medical vade mecum.

Scientific naivete combined with arrogant megalomania has led the mighty alliance of PH-KOL and Industry to dramatically underestimate the evolutionary capacity of SARS-CoV-2 when it is put under widespread immune pressure. There can be no doubt that Omicron is only one such example of this and that other variants harboring a similar panoply of S-directed mutations will soon emerge in other countries. There is, indeed, no reason to believe that identical conditions of suboptimal population-level immune pressure on SARS-CoV-2 infectiousness combined with widespread infectious pressure would lead to different results. Alternatively, countries which – thanks to mass vaccination – have prepared their populations to serve as an excellent breeding ground for more infectious variants will exhibit a high level of hospitality to Omicron and its peers.

As the scientifically perverse narrative continues to add fuel to the fire, it is difficult to believe that Omicron will be the end station of the pandemic train that’s out of control. Omicron is likely to start out as a mild disease because short-lived, poorly functional anti-S antibodies (Abs) that resulted from previous asymptomatic infection (e.g., with another previously dominant variant) will no longer recognize Omicron. It is, indeed, highly likely that resistance of Omicron will not be limited to vaccinal Abs but also to naturally induced low affinity Abs that result from asymptomatic/ mild infection. Consequently, Abs from such previous infection would no longer compete with relevant innate Abs for binding to the virus. Individuals who previously contracted asymptomatic/ mild infection will, therefore, be able to fully rely on their first line of immune defense to deal with Omicron. This will leave our ‘experts’ with the impression that the virus (in fact Omicron) is becoming less virulent (than Delta) and is on its way to transit into endemicity. However, the overall pattern of ‘mild’ disease would only prevail until Omicron becomes dominant and causes high infection rates. When this happens, short-lived, low affinity anti-S Abs will start to compete with innate Abs in an increasing part of the population as a direct result of the enhanced likelihood of re-exposure shortly after previous infection. High Omicron infection rates will prevent short-lived, poorly functional anti-S Abs from declining in large parts of the population. This, combined with continued mass vaccination with (inevitable?) anti-Omicron vaccines, will enable large populations to exert immune pressure on Omicron’s infectiousness. None of these immune responses is, however, capable of curtailing viral transmission (it’s now widely acknowledged that the type of C-19 vaccines used by the industry is not capable of blocking transmission).

Mass vaccination promotes viral resistance to C-19 vaccines. Viral resistance drives enhanced infectiousness of SARS-CoV-2 (e.g., Omicron) and may ultimately enable SARS-CoV-2 to utilize alternative cell surface determinants to enter permissive cells.

I am convinced that sustained suboptimal immune pressure will ultimately lead to allosteric mutations1 of S protein. Such mutation(s) would not prevent neutralizing Abs from binding to S protein but alter the receptor-binding domain (RBD) in ways that enable domains not recognized by these neutralizing Abs to bind to alternative receptor molecules on permissive host cells. Would such allosteric mutation prevent the virus from binding to ACE2? Maybe, or maybe not. It has been well documented that receptor mediated entry of SARS-CoV-2 is not limited to ACE2 ⁽¹⁾. At any rate, this mechanism would no longer allow previously neutralizing Abs acquired upon vaccination or recovery from natural disease to neutralize the virus, but still enable their binding to it. Abs that are still capable of binding to the virus without neutralizing it are at risk of causing Ab-dependent enhancement of disease (ADE). Even though the intrinsic virulence of the virus is unlikely to change (as there is no evidence of immune pressure being placed on virulence genes), the occurrence of ADE would have the same effect because it enhances and accelerates viral pathogenicity. When this happens, we’re likely to generate a situation that resembles the one described for Marek’s disease, although using a different pathway to cause devastating disease ⁽²⁾. Whereas Marek’s virus is so virulent that it breaks through the innate immune defense of the host (poultry) and stays ahead of protective adaptive immunity in unvaccinated chicken, an allosteric SARS-CoV-2 variant would not only break through the innate immune response of vaccinees (due to vaccine-mediated suppression of relevant innate Abs) and resist vaccinal Abs (by bypassing traditional receptor domains within ACE2), but also become more pathogenic due to ADE.

It is undeniable that mass vaccination will only drive the virus to fully exploit its evolutionary capacity, including – if needed – its ability to use alternate receptor domains on permissive cells. The fitness cost that may come with such a dramatic mutation is likely to be rewarded with enhanced pathogenicity. I am truly afraid that these dynamics will eventually allow for the natural selection of individuals with uncompromised innate immunity while eliminating those without it. While such natural selection would lead to an eradication of SARS-CoV-2 as innate immunity sterilizes the virus and blocks transmission, the consequences would be unimaginable – the price paid for ending the pandemic by virus eradication is not comparable to the one paid for by generating herd immunity and allowing the virus to enter an endemic state. Those who are enforcing mass vaccination are opting for the former instead of the latter, an act that will be remembered as the deadliest sin ever.

References: 

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC7883063/ 
2. https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002198&type=printable
   
   ______________________________________________
   ^1. For the purpose of this article, allosteric mutation is defined as a change in an immunogenic, S-associated domain that is situated outside of the RBD and the recognition of which by antiviral Abs leads to a conformational change in the RBD, thereby preventing binding of neutralizing Abs and enabling binding of the RBD to cell surface expressed determinants that are different from those mediating ACE-2-mediated cell entry of the original Wuhan strain and classical variants (e.g., α, β, γ, δ)

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/800-us-flights-canceled-christmas-day-due-staffing-shortages

More Than 800 US Flights Canceled On Christmas Morning Due To Staffing Shortages

by Tyler Durden

Saturday, Dec 25, 2021 - 10:05 AM

Airlines canceled more than 1,600 flights for one of the busiest travel holiday weekends of the year as the omicron variant resulted in staffing shortages -- stranding thousands of passengers at airports, according to Bloomberg. 

Delta Air Lines Inc. canceled 523 flights between Friday and Sunday are the highest among US airlines so far, FlightAware data showed, followed by United Airlines Holdings Inc with 484 through the weekend. 

FlightAware shows the brunt of the cancellations will be seen on Christmas day. So far, 871 flights have been canceled "within, into, or out of the US." That number has been steadily increasing this morning. 

FlightAware said the number of cancellations worldwide totaled more than 5,650 for the holiday weekend. 

Delta and United have both said flight cancellations were due to staffing shortages linked to COVID-19 cases.

"The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation," a United memo said Friday, which CNN obtained. 

The holidays are among the busiest times for travel. Many travelers who had their flights canceled or delayed vented on social media. 

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

On 12/20/2021 at 7:02 AM, Tomasz said:

Two, come on, it's pure gold.

There is such a thing as the right to free assembly and protest.

There is, but now you are not allowed to protest because mass gatherings violate pandemic laws.

And this is a patent used not only by the autocratic Putin. Also by Kaczynski in Poland and Orban in Hungary, Macron smashed the Yellow Vests in France with it.

They apply this patent in full democratic Australia, possibly also in Canada and damn knows where else.

And who is really bothered by not being allowing people to protest?

Autocratic Putin actually scores much lower on police brutality than democratic West. No tear gas, water throwers or rubber bullets have been used in Russia in over 20 years. Not to mention the US, where the police shoot with live ammo and enjoy statutory immunity (are always in the right)

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

On 12/22/2021 at 2:03 PM, frankfurter said:

People who took mRNA jabs are complete fools. The new variants are defeating the mRNA jabs. No mRNA can protect against an RNA virus. The mRNA weakens the immune system. People will need mRNA jabs forever now, as the mRNA genome can be synthesized only AFTER a new mutation is discovered. The entire purpose of this scamdemic is to make every person on Earth entirely drug dependent upon big pharma.

No mRNA or any vaccine can eradicate a virus. A vaccine can only prevent death, and even then not assuredly. The virus will mutate in the body and be shed, to create ever more mutations.

Fauci and others say the covid virus will eventually mutate to a lesser variant. This is a complete lie. All pathogens will mutate to strengthen, to ensure the virus survives. If this were not true, then why are hospitals inundated with drug resistant pathogens, like Staph, TB, and hundreds of others?

An RNA virus is recombinant. This means it will recombine with itself AND with other viruses to form new viruses. Covid is SARS-CoV-2, a corona virus. MERS is a corona virus. Swine and Bird flus are corona viruses. In TEM images, they are indistinguishable from each other. When, not If, the SARS combines with MERS, we will have a virus that will kill in 3 days, and will defeat all treatments. And, Covid will combine with Bird flu, to create a new virus in a new reservoir with a new vector to cross over to humans, very deadly.

Covid must be eradicated. No vaccine can eradicate a pathogen. People need to awaken and rebel.

A new tech has been developed that can kill the Covid before it infects the host. Should the host shed the virus, only a dead virus will be shed. If everybody used the tech, this will eradicate the virus from Earth completely.  The covid needs a host to replicate. make the host a killing machine, and the virus will be eliminated.

The tech is blocked by big pharma and corrupt govts with every means they have, including arrests and incarceration.  Care to guess why?

 

The general mutation direction for new viruses tends to be towards more contagious, but less damaging to the host. Which, I believe, is the case with Omicron. It is, so to say, not in the viruses interest to kill the host, especially not very quickly.

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

On 12/23/2021 at 2:42 AM, El Gato said:

You can take the guy out of the communist bloc, but you can't take the communist bloc out of the guy

China is largely COVID-free.

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

On 12/11/2021 at 5:37 AM, ronwagn said:

https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=RUB&view=10Y  Why is the ruble so low in value if they hold so much gold?

 

Went down to about half its previous value in 2014, with onset of Western "sanctions" With Russia running a trade surplus with nearly every country there is (including the US), not necessarily a bad thing. You ended up punishing individual Russian's savings but benefiting major exporting companies, which sell for dollars but pay their salaries in rubles. Also, pretty much created the Russian agricultural miracle, displacing the US from #1 position as worldwide exporter of grain.

[ronwagn + 6,290]

1 hour ago, Andrei Moutchkine said:

Went down to about half its previous value in 2014, with onset of Western "sanctions" With Russia running a trade surplus with nearly every country there is (including the US), not necessarily a bad thing. You ended up punishing individual Russian's savings but benefiting major exporting companies, which sell for dollars but pay their salaries in rubles. Also, pretty much created the Russian agricultural miracle, displacing the US from #1 position as worldwide exporter of grain.

I think Crimea and the Donbass had a lot to do with that. 

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

1 hour ago, ronwagn said:

I think Crimea and the Donbass had a lot to do with that. 

None of your business, especially considering that you instigated the Maidan coup which led to those.

Edited December 25, 2021 by Andrei Moutchkine

[frankfurter + 562]

10 hours ago, Andrei Moutchkine said:

The general mutation direction for new viruses tends to be towards more contagious, but less damaging to the host. Which, I believe, is the case with Omicron. It is, so to say, not in the viruses interest to kill the host, especially not very quickly.

RNA is recombinant. This is vastly different from any DNA pathogen. Just wait until SARS combines with MERS. When, not if.

[frankfurter + 562]

8 hours ago, ronwagn said:

I think Crimea and the Donbass had a lot to do with that. 

Forsooth how doth thou profess thine ignorance.

[RichieRich216 + 454]

On 12/8/2021 at 12:21 AM, ronwagn said:

I watch the death rate averages since the beginning of the pandemic to now. They have not changed much. The elderly and those with comorbidities will suffer as will those who have bad reactions to all the jabs. 

Please consider all helpful vitamin and mineral supplements, plus Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine for early treatment. Wash your hands as needed and do not touch your eyes or mouth.  My advice is to take the jabs if you are old and or infirm. 

This virus will continue to lose strength, but the government's of the world now realize that it was a good tool to manage population actions! After the first BULLSHIT year nobody is going to believe what any government says.

I don’t trust the vaccines and all the talking about the mutation of this has taken away the real question!

“Did China knowingly release a military-grade bioweapon on the world?”
 

I would like that answered but its topic has more or less been swept under the rug. China should be hit for all the financial damage to the world it caused.
 

Dr. Fucknuts, Braindead Biden has given this asshole more than his 15 minutes of fame! He needs to be Indicted for crimes against humanity and lying to Congress.
 

Rant OVER....

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

21 hours ago, Andrei Moutchkine said:

China is largely COVID-free.

December 22nd - AP NEWS

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-orders-lockdown-13-million-150211208.html

China orders lockdown of up to 13 million people in Xi'an

 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Sunday Dec 26th

Data tracker FlightAware.com shows US flight cancellations exceeded 2,400 in just the past 48 hours.

Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. were the carriers most affected by labor shortages. Both airlines acknowledged cancellations were due to an outbreak of the omicron variant. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/2400-flights-canceled-christmas-eve-crew-shortage

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/uk-mulls-door-door-vaccination-squads

[turbguy + 1,540]

I find it very questionable why some "statistics" are to be beleived by some, over other , actually quite valid, statistics...

For instance:

 

[ronwagn + 6,290]

17 hours ago, frankfurter said:

Forsooth how doth thou profess thine ignorance.

You are a real blind hypocrite. Goodbye

[ronwagn + 6,290]

On 12/25/2021 at 5:52 PM, Andrei Moutchkine said:

None of your business, especially considering that you instigated the Maidan coup which led to those.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020–2021_Belarusian_protests

Europeans are not fond of the Russian Bear unless they are already socialists, fascists, or crony capitalists. 

Edited December 27, 2021 by ronwagn

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

9 minutes ago, ronwagn said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020–2021_Belarusian_protests

Europeans are not fond of the Russian Bear unless they are already socialists, fascists, or crony capitalists. 

What do Belorussian protests have to do with Russia? They don't even have much to do with US, but mostly local Polish/Lithuanian destabilization efforts. Russian trade accounts for over half of Belorussian business, so they are generally OK with Russia. The plan to turn anti-Lukashenko protests into anti-Russian ones according to Ukrainian Maidan-inspired plan obviously failed in Belarus. Nobody is interested in that.

[turbguy + 1,540]

The rules about being unvaccinated for COVID-19 in the USA:

 

1-Loudly proclaim you're never getting vaxxed.

2-Flaunt your ignorance to friends and family.

3-Catch covid but claim it's just a cold.

4-Buy "horse dewormer", take it,  but don't get better.

5-Get admitted to hospital and be a jerk to the nurses and staff.

6-Have an epiphany right before you're about to be intubated.

7-Make a tearful video asking people to get vaccinated.

8-Pass away

9-Family starts a go fund me for your hospital costs because you didn't believe in "socialized medicine" either.

 

[Boat + 1,323]

On 12/26/2021 at 8:04 AM, RichieRich216 said:

This virus will continue to lose strength, but the government's of the world now realize that it was a good tool to manage population actions! After the first BULLSHIT year nobody is going to believe what any government says.

I don’t trust the vaccines and all the talking about the mutation of this has taken away the real question!

“Did China knowingly release a military-grade bioweapon on the world?”
 

I would like that answered but its topic has more or less been swept under the rug. China should be hit for all the financial damage to the world it caused.
 

Dr. Fucknuts, Braindead Biden has given this asshole more than his 15 minutes of fame! He needs to be Indicted for crimes against humanity and lying to Congress.
 

Rant OVER....

Or the question should be is why Trump did little to nothing for months as Covid swept the world. Blaming the Dems for over reacting.  Even today there are not nearly enough testing facilities and testing infracture. Planes fly around the world spreading disruption while governments play stupid. Where are the thousands of tracking teams getting the infected imbeciles in quarantine. We’ll get to herd immunity one way or another. Your right Biden is brain dead, like you Trump and the rednecks. I’ll be talking with the survivors when it’s over.

[QuarterCenturyVet + 312]

18 hours ago, turbguy said:

The rules about being unvaccinated for COVID-19 in the USA:

 

1-Loudly proclaim you're never getting vaxxed.

2-Flaunt your ignorance to friends and family.

3-Catch covid but claim it's just a cold.

4-Buy "horse dewormer", take it,  but don't get better.

5-Get admitted to hospital and be a jerk to the nurses and staff.

6-Have an epiphany right before you're about to be intubated.

7-Make a tearful video asking people to get vaccinated.

8-Pass away

9-Family starts a go fund me for your hospital costs because you didn't believe in "socialized medicine" either.

 

You want socialized medicine? 

You want managed Healthcare where administrators decide whether it's worth it or not whether you can receive the best treatment available? 

You're an idiot. 

You do realize ivermectin has been administered billions of times to PEOPLE, and the inventor was awarded a Nobel Prize, right? 

No. You listen to CNN and think treating the symptoms of this cold/flu is for fools. 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/italy-reports-202-coronavirus-deaths-163607330.html

REUTERS

Tuesday Dec 28th

Italy reports 202 coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, 78,313 new cases

MILAN, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Italy reported 202 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday against 142 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 78,313 from 30,810, hitting a fresh record in terms of new cases since the start of the pandemic.

Italy has registered 136,955 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 5.76 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 10,089 on Tuesday, up from 9,723 a day earlier.

There were 119 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 100 on Monday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,145 from a previous 1,126.

Some 1.03 million tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 343,968, the health ministry said. (Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Gianluca Semeraro)