Yesterday, I put together a pdf on everything I know about my mother’s relatives, for my second cousin, the amateur genealogist. Much of it is family lore, and there are a lot of gaps when it comes to actual information, like names and dates. But he’ll be insterested. He recently passed on (through his sister) that my great-grandfather August, who served the Union in the Civi War (a fact which he, and I, had known for over 20 years) only enlisted after getting drunk with some old army buddies (I assume from some German army – “Germany” didn’t exist as a unified state at that time.) But that’s OK. He served honorably, and did it on the right side. I also did some shopping, including making a grocery delivery order for today.
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Short Takes –
The Guardian – Tennessee woman drowns seconds after filming rising floodwaters
Quote – Victoria Almond said her brother and mother held on to a utility pole but let go when they saw a house floating towards them. When her brother emerged after being pulled briefly under the water, she said, their mother was gone. Click through for story. It’s also a story, in a way, that it’s not American media in which I found this. (Apparently the Washington Post did carry it.)
Common Dreams – 63% of US Veterans Support Afghanistan Withdrawal: Poll
Quote – “Veterans know the cost of war, so it should come as no surprise that they strongly back President Biden’s decision to end the war in Afghanistan,” Mary Kaszynski, director of government relations for VoteVets, said in a statement. “Veterans strongly believe President Biden is right—it is time to go.” Click through for details. There is also a link to VoteVets own coverage.
Vox – What full FDA approval for Covid-19 vaccines really means
Quote – Full approval grants the vaccine manufacturers permission to advertise their products and allow them to continue selling them after the public health emergency around Covid-19 ends. For doctors, full approval also allows them to use vaccines off-label, potentially as booster shots. Click through for other technicalities, implications, and hopes.
I have a technician appointment for tomorrow for the phone. The computer seems to stay connected better when it is not quite as hot. News from Carrie’s appointment yesterday: “Both growths removed and sent off to lab. They are probably benign, but a little concern about one that was changing.”
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Short Takes –
Oxfam Denounces OECD Global Tax Deal as ‘Skewed-to-the-Rich and Completely Unfair’
Quote – While some tax equity campaigners applauded the agreement as a good start, Oxfam International executive director Gabriela Bucher slammed the deal as “no more than a G7 money grab,” referring to the seven wealthy nations that have helped spearhead the talks. Click through for story. to Mitch.
Crooks and Liars – Biden Quickly Nominates Diverse Slate Of Federal Judges
Quote – Thus far, Biden has tapped 32 judicial nominees, maintaining a rapid pace for both nominations and confirmations that is putting even what Sen. Mitch McConnell did on behalf of the Federalist Society and Donald Trump to shame. “That number is notable for its historical context: It puts Biden on the fastest pace for judicial confirmations in a first presidential term in more than 50 years. The last president to have seven confirmations by this point was Richard Nixon in 1969, according to a White House official,” CNN reports Click through for details. Yes, it isn’t the Supreme Court. But it is a pool from which future justice will be drawn.and it’s a sign of a good attitude toward the Judicial Branch.
Wonkette – GOP Rep Pretty Sure Soldiers Can Just Quit Over Vaccine Requirements
Quote – There’s a wee bit of a problem with all of that though — as many people were happy to point out to Massie on Twitter, you can’t just “quit” the military, because when you sign up to join the military, you sign a contract and you are required, by actual law, to serve out your time unless otherwise dismissed by the Department of Defense. If you “quit,” that is called “going AWOL” or “desertion” and could result in “dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a one-year confinement.” Click through for more of Wonkette’s inimitable style. Beau also has something to say on this topic in the video thread.
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
It would appear to be time for us and the Furies to join the conversation about vaccines. I know some here have been fully vaccinated, and some partially. I have not really even looked yet, because it’s no hardship for me to stay isolated (no family that need hugs, a dependable routine, etc.), it’s still pretty cold (it warms up for a few days and then gets cold again), and I have had other things to think about. I certainly intend to get vaccinated (during out window of warmth) and will pursue it aggressively as soon as that happens. And it will most likely be with an mRNA vaccine, since those are the ones in greatest supply – and I expect everyone here who has been vaccinated has had one of those also. But probably without being aware of how revolutionary they are.
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How do mRNA vaccines work – and why do you need a second dose? 5 essential reads
MRNA vaccines are proving to be more effective than anyone had hoped, but as with any new medical advancement, people have a lot of questions. How do they work? Are they safe? Do I really need two shots? Why do they need to be kept so cold? And will this be the vaccine technology of the future? Below, we highlight five articles from The Conversation that will help answer your questions about mRNA vaccines.
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are proof that mRNA vaccines are ready for prime time – and far surpass their predecessors. “The hopes that gene-based vaccines could one day provide a vaccine for malaria or HIV, cure cancer, replace less effective traditional vaccines or be ready to stop the next pandemic before it gets started are no longer far-fetched,” explains Fuller.
2. How does an mRNA vaccine work?
These vaccines are not only effective, they work in a fundamentally different way from traditional vaccines, explains Sanjay Mishra, a staff scientist at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Traditional vaccines use an entire dead virus – or just a piece of one – to generate immunity. “But an mRNA vaccine is different,” writes Mishra, “because rather than having the viral protein injected, a person receives genetic material – mRNA – that encodes the viral protein. When these genetic instructions are injected into the upper arm, the muscle cells translate them to make the viral protein directly in the body.”
“Safety is the first and foremost goal for a vaccine,” says William Petri, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia. A lot of people have expressed safety concerns based on how fast these vaccines were developed, approved and distributed.
According to Petri, the vaccines still went through every normal step – they just did them simultaneously.
“In my opinion, safety is not compromised by the speed of vaccine development and emergency use authorization. The reason that vaccines may be approved so quickly is that the large clinical trials to assess vaccine efficacy and safety are happening at the same time as the large-scale manufacturing preparation, funded by the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed program.”
4. Why it’s important to get your second shot
You got your first vaccine shot. But with shortages and supply problems, getting the second dose might be becoming a hassle. Does it really matter? Yes, explains William Petri in another article.
“The first dose primes the immune system and introduces the body to the germ of interest. This allows the immune system to prepare its defense. The second dose, or booster, provides the opportunity for the immune system to ramp up the quality and quantity of the antibodies used to fight the virus.”
Immunity is a complex process, and “if the booster isn’t given within the appropriate window, lower quantities of antibodies will be produced that may not provide as powerful protection from the virus,” writes Petri. So go get your second shot if you can, even if you have to get it a bit later than expected.
For all of their amazing attributes, mRNA vaccines do have at least one weakness: “If they get too warm or too cold they spoil. And, just like fish, a spoiled vaccine must be thrown away,” explains Anna Nagurney, Professor of Operations Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who studies medical supply chains.
The mRNA molecule is very fragile, so vaccines need to be kept at extremely cold, very specific temperatures – a challenge for distribution. “The answer is something called the vaccine cold chain – a supply chain that can keep vaccines in tightly controlled temperatures from the moment they are made to the moment that they are administered to a person,” explains Nagurney. This cold supply chain is critical to getting vaccines where they need to go, and without it, no matter how good the vaccines are, they can’t make much of a difference.
Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.
Daniel Merino, Assistant Editor: Science, Health, Environment; Co-Host: The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation
================================================================ Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone as scary as the pandemic has been, and still is, and sadly will continue to be, not through the fault of health care providers exactly, but primarily due to the unwillingness of so many people to get vaccinated (and I grant that, particular for certain groups underserved for decades, some distrust is justified) – as scary as it is, there is hope coming out of it, not only in how to handle this virus, but how to deal with future pandemics better than we did with this one. Of course that will require us to keep electing, and in increasing numbers, intelligent, knowledgeable, and caring leaders. I wish I knew what to do about that being so difficult.
to Mitch.
