#Vaccine Policies

[bitcoinversus]

FDA Employees May Quit Over RFK Jr Leadership

Reports indicate that some employees at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are contemplating resignation in response to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anticipated role in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Kennedy, known for his critical views on vaccines and the pharmaceutical industry, has expressed intentions to overhaul the FDA, including the potential elimination of entire…

[trendynewsnow]

European Lawmakers Delay Decision on Olivér Várhelyi's Nomination as EU Commissioner for Health

European Lawmakers Postpone Decision on Olivér Várhelyi’s EU Commissioner Nomination Following a three-hour hearing, European lawmakers decided on Wednesday night to postpone their decision regarding Olivér Várhelyi’s nomination as the EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare. The lawmakers expressed concerns over his reluctance to recognize women’s health as a competence of the European…

[harriswalz4usabybr]

Response to RFK Jr Endorsing Trump

~BR~

[unopenablebox]

important part of my relationship is that my girlfriend isn't subscribed to money stuff, so when we walk to work together i can just describe really good money stuff bits to them

[ofmdee]

😫

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

G20: Brazil aims to create coalition for regional vaccine production

Health ministers from the G20 countries are meeting this week in Rio de Janeiro. The assembly should see the nations reach a consensus on the production of vaccines and medicines. The group’s summit will be held on November 18 and 19, also in Rio, under the presidency of Brazil.

At a press conference Tuesday (Oct. 29), Brazilian Minister Nísia Trindade said the greatest contribution the G20 can make to global health will be to support the creation of a coalition for the local and regional production of vaccines and medicines in countries and regions that have difficulty accessing them.

“This will be unprecedented. We have been working to reduce inequality between countries and to increase access. This is the main measure we hope will be approved. We cannot continue with the dependency seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many countries took a long time to administer the first dose of the vaccine,” she went on to say.

The minister further said Brazil will also defend the expansion of digital health strategies, measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, and the creation of an instrument to deal with new pandemics.

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[desertsportshipping]

Actually, while I'm thinking about Orre and the logistics of the extinction event, what if the reason that there are no wild Pokemon is because of a rabies outbreak?

[originalleftist]

A sad fact of humanity is that a lot of people won't do something, even if they know it's right, unless they have to.

Take organ donations- an overwhelming majority of those polled, at least here in Canada, support them. But only a distinct minority actually register to be donors.

This is also why the idea bandied about, when they started lifting Covid restrictions, that people would just be responsible for themselves now, was so obviously unworkable. Because most people are not going to prioritize getting vaccinated or wearing a mask or staying home when sick if they don't have to, and most businesses aren't either. Even if they theoretically think its a good idea (I speak from experience- there are precautions I know I probably should do that I've put off and neglected).

Not all of this is shear laziness. Some of it is hypocrisy- I think this is a good idea, but want other people to bear the burden (see NIMBYs). But also... people are often really busy, overworked, overstressed, with limited resources, and, if it's not something they're passionate about or something they have to do to avoid death, imprisonment, or destitution, most people will, often, ignore it. So requiring people to do more isn't necessarily helping if you don't put supports in place to make it possible for them to do something.

BUT, the fact remains that if you really want to get people to do something, even something popular, the best way to do that is probably to mandate it. Or, if you want to take peoples' freedom of choice into account, and minimize backlash from the "Don't Tread On Me" dipshits, make it opt out rather than opt in, like some places are currently doing with organ donations. That way, the people who really don't want to still have a choice, but the people who aren't strongly opposed in theory, but just won't be arsed to do it if they don't have to, will go along.

Basically, making something opt in means only those passionate about it do it.

Making it opt out means that the passionate people and the undecideds/indifferent do it.

I would also argue that it follows from this that if a government ever proposes a solution to a long-term major problem, but makes it rely on voluntary participation, the effort is like performative and not expected or intended to actually succeed.

[fiftysevenacademics]

As long as I'm complaining about things on the Complaining About Life website, I'd like to give a little shout out to my workplace, where our only covid precaution consists of the office manager spraying Lysol in the air every morning. I haven't seen any sign that our ventilation system even works and every time someone gets covid it sweeps through the department because people come to work sick* and no one wears a mask. So now I have to experience eye irritation from the Lysol but at least my mask (I am literally the only one) spares me somewhat from breathing it in.

*all our work can be done remotely, we wfh 3 days a week, are not "essential workers," and have strong protections for using our sick leave. People just...don't.

[panicinthestudio]

COVID rapidly spreads in China as government eases strict quarantine rules, December 27, 2022

China is grappling with the rapid spread of COVID-19 after the government began rolling back its zero-COVID restrictions earlier this month. Now, cases are spiraling across towns and cities, hospitals are overburdened, medical staff are outnumbered and crematoriums are running out of space. Judy Woodruff reports.

PBS NewsHour

There is no nuance left in politics or public health policy when there is either an absolute and strict inflexibility of zero COVID or wholesale dismantling of safeguards before the healthcare or support systems are prepared for the waves that have been forcibly suppressed. The political insistence on using their own less effective, non-mRNA vaccines based on the original strains rather than Delta or Omicron, coupled with a low vaccination rate of the vulnerable and elderly is not helping easing the transition at all.

The way they’ve been counting mortality from COVID diverged from nearly every other country since early 2020. A death had to be directly attributable to SARS-CoV-2 eliminating cases of many preexisting or undiagnosed conditions, chronic illnesses, and other high risk factors that may have been exacerbated by the virus which became listed as the direct cause or if they simply tested negative in the few days before dying. The policy as of this week will further limit the count only to deaths caused by pneumonia or respiratory failure after contracting COVID, in addition to dropping much of the remaining inbound quarantines and regular case counts becoming even more inconsistent with lived reality.

It appears the PRC was prepared to stay in suspended animation within an onionskin of self-isolation layers indefinitely, maintaining the appearance of control and adherence to policy that was left to different local officials to execute. Downgrading the classification removes the local, emergency-style powers to lockdown and quarantine which were used capriciously. Residential buildings, offices and commercial areas such as malls, and even theme parks could be suddenly cordoned without warning, causing panic due to the stringency of testing and knock-on effects if a positive case was found rather than fear of having contacted or contracted the virus. Becoming listed as a close contact or a complete stranger’s positive result could mean further quarantining and repeated testing, as well any change in one’s COVID passport status severely restricting mobility for work or education, travel, or even basic necessities. The protests spread because “dynamic zero” was anything but dynamic, refusing to change or amend course in preparation for a transition to an endemic or post-epidemic state. People were simply fed up and the building momentum was becoming a potential danger to a regime that had just renewed its own political mandates.

These things aren’t happening in isolation, China is also changing tact on its travel restrictions domestically and internationally. The Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau have been trying to reopen ports and travel with the Mainland for years now for travel and economic reasons. Both were forced into accepting one-way policies where it was difficult for their citizens to enter China or even between one another, while rules were softened for travelers and politicians entering from and returning to the Mainland for short trips with the reason that the pandemic was less well-contained than within the Mainland.

As news of the highly visible current outbreak within China is continuing to emerge, the Hong Kong SAR is now proudly announcing agreements have been made with the Mainland to drop their travel restrictions posthaste. It’s being reported that many are travelling specifically for mRNA vaccines which are approved in Macau and Hong Kong.

[trendynewsnow]

The Potential Impact of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Public Health Policy

For many years, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has utilized his renowned family legacy, extensive celebrity connections, and his organization, Children’s Health Defense, to disseminate misinformation regarding vaccines, casting doubt on their safety and effectiveness. As he stands on the brink of potentially being appointed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the implications of his…

[canichangemyblogname]

Hey, so— leave random Jewish people alone. They have nothing to do with the Israeli Occupying Force or the Israeli Government.

The only reason you’re demanding their opinions on what’s happening in Palestine is anti-semitism. These interactions are built on the assumption that if you’re Jewish, then you’re a Zionist, and that is false. The random Jewish people you’re harassing aren’t experts on foreign policy in the war on terror and why it has failed. Going up to random Jewish people and demanding to know if they condemn Israel’s treatment of Palestinians would be like walking up to a random Muslim person and demanding to know if they condemn Iran’s treatment of pro-democracy protesters. They have nothing to do with the actions of a foreign government.

Stop assuming that Jewish = Israeli or Jewish = Zionist.

[realasslesbian]

Idc who this upsets, but I actually hated the whole forced mask wearing era with a burning passion. As someone with epilepsy which is aggravated by heat, it was absolute hell to have to wear that shit because (and fuck what y’all abled-bodies wanna say) it DOES impact my breathing and make me overheat. And I actually cannot just ‘go get a medical exemption’ because a) they don’t give that shit out like free candy, I had to go pay $500 to a neurologist to get that lil note, and b) I could staple that med cert to my fucking forehead and still get people losing their minds every time I went anywhere without a mask. Everyone like ‘oh disabled people are so terrified of COVID-19 so you should think of them before ragging on masks like this’ as though everyone ain’t already spent the last three decades of my life not giving a singular shit about my disability, but now suddenly want to act like they care about disabled people? Why tf should I care about giving anyone the spicy cough when no one has ever given a fuck how many seizures their actions cause me? Y’all want me to put my own health at risk by wearing this mask, so you don’t get a lil sore throat, when y’all will remain deliberately oblivious to epilepsy and other heat-related illnesses, right up until someone dies, and then you’ll still have a giggle about that too? Way more people be dying every day from heat-related illnesses than from COVID-19, so where’s my mandatory air-conditioning and icepack stations at every street corner? Fuck hand sanitizer stations, provide me a free cold drink. Additionally, mask wearing was the ONLY thing people got this fucking turnt about too. It’s not like any of y’all were social distancing (something which would have actually helped me with my disability lmao). No one was getting booted out of stores for standing on my damn heels every time I had to get in a queue. Anyway, after the first twenty times I got asked to leave a store for not wearing a mask (despite having that magical medical certificate) I made up my own mask by getting four of those ‘valves’, absolutely gutting the inside of them to allow unrestricted airflow, and then stitching them into a linen mask. Still uncomfortable, fo sure, but a lot better than having to deal with hot air on my face and under my sunglasses while already struggling not to pass out in the middle of the Australian summer. 

[chrismcshell]

what if i went to a furry convention in 2 weeks. i probably won't but what if i did

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

São Paulo Funds “Cocaine Vaccine,” Setting Sights on Human Trials

In early June, São Paulo Mayor Ricardo Nunes signed an agreement with the researchers behind Calixcoca, a “cocaine vaccine” in development since 2015. A team at the Federal University of Minas Gerais had previously used public funding to demonstrate the vaccine’s safety and efficacy in rats. Now, with over $800,000 USD from São Paulo, it’s expected to advance to human trials.

Calixcoca is not intended to reverse cocaine overamps. Like other so-called vaccines for illicit drugs, it proposes to block euphoric or other psychoactive effects. If approved for humans, it would target cocaine in the bloodstream with antibodies that bind to it and prevent its absorption. In addition to crack cocaine, researchers have suggested an applicability for other illicit drugs. There is not yet a timeline for the proposed human trials.

There has been much fanfare about Calixcoca being a finalist for the Euro Innovation in Health award. But officials don’t appear be similarly interested in any harm reduction-minded questions about how the vaccine would work in the real world. How long it would be intended to last; how it might be affected by the consumption of other substances alongside cocaine; how the scale of harms it proposes to protect against measures up to the harms it has the potential to cause.

One particular area of concern is that being “immunized” to cocaine’s effects might push some people to use larger and larger quantities in order to feel those effects—and as a result increase their risk of criminalization, which may already have been very high, and their risk of fatal overamps, which was likely very low.

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