#covid uk live

[halorvic]

The danger is clear and present: COVID isn’t merely a respiratory illness; it’s a multi-dimensional threat impacting brain function, attacking almost all of the body’s organs, producing elevated risks of all kinds, and weakening our ability to fight off other diseases. Reinfections are thought to produce cumulative risks, and Long COVID is on the rise. Unfortunately, Long COVID is now being considered a long-term chronic illness — something many people will never fully recover from. Dr. Phillip Alvelda, a former program manager in DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office that pioneered the synthetic biology industry and the development of mRNA vaccine technology, is the founder of Medio Labs, a COVID diagnostic testing company. He has stepped forward as a strong critic of government COVID management, accusing health agencies of inadequacy and even deception. Alvelda is pushing for accountability and immediate action to tackle Long COVID and fend off future pandemics with stronger public health strategies. Contrary to public belief, he warns, COVID is not like the flu. New variants evolve much faster, making annual shots inadequate. He believes that if things continue as they are, with new COVID variants emerging and reinfections happening rapidly, the majority of Americans may eventually grapple with some form of Long COVID. Let’s repeat that: At the current rate of infection, most Americans may get Long COVID.

[...]

LP: A recent JAMA study found that US adults with Long COVID are more prone to depression and anxiety – and they’re struggling to afford treatment. Given the virus’s impact on the brain, I guess the link to mental health issues isn’t surprising. PA: There are all kinds of weird things going on that could be related to COVID’s cognitive effects. I’ll give you an example. We’ve noticed since the start of the pandemic that accidents are increasing. A report published by TRIP, a transportation research nonprofit, found that traffic fatalities in California increased by 22% from 2019 to 2022. They also found the likelihood of being killed in a traffic crash increased by 28% over that period. Other data, like studies from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, came to similar conclusions, reporting that traffic fatalities hit a 16-year high across the country in 2021. The TRIP report also looked at traffic fatalities on a national level and found that traffic fatalities increased by 19%. LP: What role might COVID play? PA: Research points to the various ways COVID attacks the brain. Some people who have been infected have suffered motor control damage, and that could be a factor in car crashes. News is beginning to emerge about other ways COVID impacts driving. For example, in Ireland, a driver’s COVID-related brain fog was linked to a crash that killed an elderly couple. Damage from COVID could be affecting people who are flying our planes, too. We’ve had pilots that had to quit because they couldn’t control the airplanes anymore. We know that medical events among U.S. military pilots were shown to have risen over 1,700% from 2019 to 2022, which the Pentagon attributes to the virus.

[...]

LP: You’ve criticized the track record of the CDC and the WHO – particularly their stubborn denial that COVID is airborne. PA: They knew the dangers of airborne transmission but refused to admit it for too long. They were warned repeatedly by scientists who studied aerosols. They instituted protections for themselves and for their kids against airborne transmission, but they didn’t tell the rest of us to do that.

[...]

LP: How would you grade Biden on how he’s handled the pandemic? PA: I’d give him an F. In some ways, he fails worse than Trump because more people have actually died from COVID on his watch than on Trump’s, though blame has to be shared with Republican governors and legislators who picked ideological fights opposing things like responsible masking, testing, vaccination, and ventilation improvements for partisan reasons. Biden’s administration has continued to promote the false idea that the vaccine is all that is needed, perpetuating the notion that the pandemic is over and you don’t need to do anything about it. Biden stopped the funding for surveillance and he stopped the funding for renewing vaccine advancement research. Trump allowed 400,000 people to die unnecessarily. The Biden administration policies have allowed more than 800,000 to 900,000 and counting.

[...]

LP: The situation with bird flu is certainly getting more concerning with the CDC confirming that a third person in the U.S. has tested positive after being exposed to infected cows. PA: Unfortunately, we’re repeating many of the same mistakes because we now know that the bird flu has made the jump to several species. The most important one now, of course, is the dairy cows. The dairy farmers have been refusing to let the government come in and inspect and test the cows. A team from Ohio State tested milk from a supermarket and found that 50% of the milk they tested was positive for bird flu viral particles.

[...]

PA: There’s a serious risk now in allowing the virus to freely evolve within the cow population. Each cow acts as a breeding ground for countless genetic mutations, potentially leading to strains capable of jumping to other species. If any of those countless genetic experiments within each cow prove successful in developing a strain transmissible to humans, we could face another pandemic – only this one could have a 58% death rate. Did you see the movie “Contagion?” It was remarkably accurate in its apocalyptic nature. And that virus only had a 20% death rate. If the bird flu makes the jump to human-to-human transition with even half of its current lethality, that would be disastrous.

[peepsdraws]

I've been doing dumb lil doodles in my mental health journal to offset the depressing contents but I'm afraid I've peaked early with this one

[weedle-testaburger]

i swear whoever named the whole 'grant for going to restaurants to stimulate the economy' thing we had in the uk during covid came up with the name as a bet

[thelandofbritain]

Scientists not consulted on Eat Out to Help Out - Sir Patrick Vallance - BBC News

Read this article to see how Johnson. Sunak and the other idiot, Hancock, who was Health Minister at the time, did not have a clue during the pandemic in Britain.

Far from managing and containing the spread of Covid, they made it worse by imposing Tory political dogma and sheer callousness ("let them die, they've had their time anyway" with regard to the elderly).

These men are guilty of lies, incompetence and sheer ignorance... and then covering up their appalling actions afterwards. They effectively committed crimes against the British public at large through their misdeeds and wrong decision-making. This cost people's lives.

They should all be prosecuted and jailed... but instead we allow them to get away with their callous crimes as if nothing happened, and then let them go on to make more stinking money on the back of it from tacky TV game shows and public speaking tours, as if they were heroes.

Britain is one messed-up country, and these political chancers have made fools of us.

[averlym]

hi, i see you are on hiatus, but thought at some point you might like to hear that january 28th is henry’s deathday ~ holiday anon

another one bites the dust (haha because you hoover dust)

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

Its bittersweet walking and driving around the area I went to university. I never imagined I'd be wealthy. To be honest, by chance I've actually been MORE successful by certain metrics than I imagined. I always figured I would just work for charities and creatively, I didn't really expect to develop skills or even the drive (or to face the necessity!) to work at a more commercial level.

But I always thought privately to myself when I was younger, "when I'm earning I'll buy that", or "when I'm a proper adult I'll get myself those all the time". Not even big things. Coffees and lunches from certain cafes. A top or some homewares from a certain shop. Dinner out at that particular restaurant. And so on.

I never anticipated quite the extent to which things would SOAR in price while incomes didn't keep up within only 5 or 10 years all in. Particularly post covid. The UK government has done next to nothing to prevent essentially what feels like everyone but the very wealthy 'levelling down' a tier or two, with the result that businesses that used to serve everyone have been forced to pivot to mainly serving the rich in order to get enough sales to keep affording their rent & keeping the lights on.

As such when I walk around the areas I knew as a student, on the cusp of gaining access to the parts I was then only just financially closed off from, now, despite having about double the purchasing power I did then, and the experience and confidence to carry myself like I belong - I'm even now frozen out. Perhaps even deeper than I was before. And meanwhile it feels like those who do now use those businesses and services are completely oblivious that people not like them, or without their advantages, also exist.

It certainly makes you question what you do it all for if working hard, putting your best foot forward, going all out and successfully getting more income only gains you the ability to keep up with the ever-increasing cost of the things you already have to pay for, and no more.

[mostofthingsmostofthetime]

The rescent riots in the UK are despicable (but sadly not surprising).

Yes, what happened to those little girls is a tradgey, but the person who was responsible wasn't an asylum seeker, and even if he was, that would NOT excuse the racism displayed these past few weeks.

The people taking part clearly don't care about the safety of children as they're, scaring other people's & indoctrinationating their own into perpetuating racist acts.

Seven years is a lot, though! Then don't fucking join a hate group.

But the non white people are being violent too! Yeah, well, that tends to happen when you attack people. I'm not going to hate on people for standing up for themselves.

They're taking our jobs! Why do you believe that those jobs are YOURS? Are you actually qualified & able to make a good impression on bosses, or do you think just being white should be enough.

They don't work! Well Asylum seekers litrually aren't allowed to until their case gose through but plenty of other POC have jobs (I know you've seen them though it must be hard to make them out through that fog of hatred) & I've met plenty of white people who don't want to (no hate to those who can't because of disability or mental health issues) or loose jobs because they're just overall terrible employees (some of the shit I've seen middle aged white people do at their jobs is crazy).

They're all criminals! Well, that's just not true now is it plus it's been proven multiple times that the biggest factor in crime is poverty, NOT race & again I've encountered plenty of white people who've broken the law yet most didn't seem to get more than a slap on the wrist (if that). Strange, that isn't it?

Well, "those kinds" of men hate women! Ahh, yes, because there's never been white rapists, woman killers, stalkers or harrasers. Its been proven that hating women is a problem in all races & and sadly, the biggest threat to us is usually our own partners or family, not some random aylsum seeker (who if they do hurt women tend to go after the ones from their own community).

They're not from here! Ok, so I don't know if anyone told you, but you can actually be born here without being white and you can't ban people from a country just because of the colour of their skin. Also, neither was half my family, yet we never get told to go back to our own country. Hmm, I wonder if our white skin could possibly have anything to do with that.

They can't speak English! A lot of them are multilingual, actually (& you make fun of their accents) & for the ones who can't well you seem to hate them getting anything (such as English lessons) for free. Also, how many Brits go abroad despite refusing to learn absolutely anything about other countries (there's a reason we're known as disrespectful, violent, sex obsessed, drunks by most of the world).

Also sooner or later we are going to have to accept that a lot of the issues that make immigrants flee their home countries are caused (or at least made worse) by ours & other Western governments.

This country definitely has problems, but we should be taking them up with politicians & their rich mates. Who are the ones actually hording wealth made from the exploitation of the poor, not random people of colour who are just trying to live their lives.

[qvietspvce]

do you ever get overwhelmed by how many parts of your life you've already lived so far or am i just needlessly anxious about everything i've ever done in my life

[convertgrapeling]

Big events in ableism in 2022:- worldwide efforts to sweep the COVID-19 pandemic under the rug whilst another 1.2 million people died, a cost of living crisis that left many disabled people unable to afford basic costs like food and energy bills, further demonstrations of how climate change will endanger disabled people's lives and the continuing impact of an inhumane and murderous welfare system in the UK.

What online ableism discourse chose to focus on in 2022 instead:- arguing with a union cat on Twitter over the right to exploit low-paid workers in companies that were never designed to serve our needs, making excuses for not reading beyond social media and why disabled people working for bomb factories is good actually.

[eaglesnick]

“I don't believe that economic equality is possible; indeed some measure of inequality is essential for the spirit of envy and keeping up with the Joneses that is, like greed, a valuable spur to economic activity.” – Boris Johnson

28th August 2020 the Guardian carried this headline:

Covid-19 death toll kept secret ‘to protect care home providers…Covid-19 death tolls at individual care homes are being kept secret by regulators in part to protect providers’ commercial interests.”

The governments own figures tell us that:

 “…Covid accounted for 24.3% of all deaths of care home residents."  (ons.gov.uk: Deaths involving COVID-19 in the care sector, England and Wales: deaths registered between week ending 20 March and week ending 2 April 2021)

According to the Nuffield Trust (17/02/21) over 19,000 elderly care home residents who died had COVID-19 mentioned on their death certificate. This figure, according to the Trust was a gross underestimation as there were a total of 35,067 excess deaths of care home residents registered for the same period.

While our elderly and vulnerable citizens were laterally dying in there tens of thousands, what was the response of the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson?

More concerned with the economy and making money than with the safety of  English and Welsh citizens:

Boris Johnson said he “would rather let bodies pile high’ than impose third lockdown, report claims.” (Independent: 26/04/21)

Needless to say, Johnson and his Tory supporters denied he made this incendiary remark, Johnson himself claiming such accusations were “total, total rubbish".

But Johnson is a proven liar and this week we learn the truth. In a meeting with the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak, another man who values  money more than  human life, Johnson’s former private secretary told the Covid enquiry committee that:

“ ...the PM, in a meeting, asked why they should "destroy" the economy during the pandemic for people who "will die anyway soon". (International Business Times: 31/10/23)

Johnson is reported to have said this in March 2020 and I take it to mean he is callously referring to the sick and the vulnerable elderly residents of care homes. We know from the governments own figures that tens of thousands of elderly people in care homes perished because of Covid infection.  I leave you to determine how culpable Boris Johnson was for many of these deaths.

[kittykatinabag]

I'll spare my usual "I liked them before they became famous" hipster music rant about the alt-indie bands I come across but my god boygenius' newest album fucks so hard I wish I still had my car just to be able to drive around screaming the lyrics to Not Strong Enough.

[indizombie]

The ingredients of pet foods include meat, grains and micronutrients - all of which have become more expensive in recent months. It's a global problem. The cost of pet food is up by 10.3% in the US, 8.8% in the European Union, and 8.4% in the UK. Helping to drive up food prices is the soaring cost of energy used in their production, says Prof William Chen from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. "The uncertainties on food production remain as a result of climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions. Together with the perception that pet food may be seen as less critical as compared with consumer food, prices for pet food may not fall any time soon."

‘Cost of living: Why more Australians are giving up their pets‘, BBC

[janedances]

reblog this and tell me which past queen you miss the most (by past queen, their last show has to be before december 2021, not counting e/c’s, so you can still say courtney b, but not hana if you get me?)

[birdsongvelvet]

look in local newspaper from 10 years ago

don't look at the classifieds, don't look at the classifieds

look at the classifieds

apartments really were $850 a month

the same ones are $2000 now

fucking hell why didn't I move out back then

oh right because I couldn't afford it on minimum wage then, assuming if i waited a few more years I'd have a job where I could afford it, like is supposed to happen when you get out of university, but now that I do have a solid middle class salary (in a range that really hasn't changed much since back then) I can't afford shit because housing is out of control

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Dolly Parton - Jolene 1973

Dolly Parton is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist. With a career spanning over fifty years, Parton has been described as a country legend and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She has had 25 singles reach no. 1 on the Billboard country music charts, a record for a female artist (tied with Reba McEntire). She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. She has composed over 3,000 songs. She has founded a number of charitable and philanthropic organizations, chief among them is the Dollywood Foundation, which manages a number of projects to bring education and poverty relief to East Tennessee where she grew up. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Parton donated $1 million towards research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which funded the critical early stages of development of the Moderna vaccine.

"Jolene" was released on October 15, 1973, as the first single and title track from her the thirteenth solo studio album Jolene, and became Parton's second solo number one single on the country charts. "Jolene" became Parton's first top ten hit song in the UK, reaching number seven in the UK Singles Chart in 1976. It also re-entered the chart when Parton performed at the Glastonbury festival in 2014.

According to Parton, the song was inspired by a red-headed bank clerk who flirted with her husband, Carl Dean, at his local bank branch around the time they were newly married. In an interview, she also revealed that Jolene's name and appearance are based on that of a young fan who came on stage for her autograph.

During an interview on The Bobby Bones Show in 2018, Parton revealed that she wrote "Jolene" on the same day that she wrote "I Will Always Love You".

"Jolene" was nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance twice, in 1975 and 1976. The first nomination was for the original recording, and the second was for a live recording from the TV series In Concert. It did not win either time, but in 2017, a cover by the a cappella group Pentatonix which featured Parton as a guest singer won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

In 2023 she released her forty-ninth solo studio album, Rockstar, a collaborative project with a variety of rock musicians and where "Jolene" is sung by Italian rockband Måneskin, listen to it here!

"Jolene" received a total of 94,3% yes votes!

[reasonsforhope]

"Doctors have begun trialling the world’s first mRNA lung cancer vaccine in patients, as experts hailed its “groundbreaking” potential to save thousands of lives.

Lung cancer is the world’s leading cause of cancer death, accounting for about 1.8m deaths every year. Survival rates in those with advanced forms of the disease, where tumours have spread, are particularly poor.

Now experts are testing a new jab that instructs the body to hunt down and kill cancer cells – then prevents them ever coming back. Known as BNT116 and made by BioNTech, the vaccine is designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of the disease.

The phase 1 clinical trial, the first human study of BNT116, has launched across 34 research sites in seven countries: the UK, US, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey.

The UK has six sites, located in England and Wales, with the first UK patient to receive the vaccine having their initial dose on Tuesday [August 20, 2024].

Overall, about 130 patients – from early-stage before surgery or radiotherapy, to late-stage disease or recurrent cancer – will be enrolled to have the jab alongside immunotherapy. About 20 will be from the UK.

The jab uses messenger RNA (mRNA), similar to Covid-19 vaccines, and works by presenting the immune system with tumour markers from NSCLC to prime the body to fight cancer cells expressing these markers.

The aim is to strengthen a person’s immune response to cancer while leaving healthy cells untouched, unlike chemotherapy.

“We are now entering this very exciting new era of mRNA-based immunotherapy clinical trials to investigate the treatment of lung cancer,” said Prof Siow Ming Lee, a consultant medical oncologist at University College London hospitals NHS foundation trust (UCLH), which is leading the trial in the UK.

“It’s simple to deliver, and you can select specific antigens in the cancer cell, and then you target them. This technology is the next big phase of cancer treatment.”

Janusz Racz, 67, from London, was the first person to have the vaccine in the UK. He was diagnosed in May and soon after started chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The scientist, who specialises in AI, said his profession inspired him to take part in the trial. “I am a scientist too, and I understand that the progress of science – especially in medicine – lies in people agreeing to be involved in such investigations,” he said...

“And also, I can be a part of the team that can provide proof of concept for this new methodology, and the faster it would be implemented across the world, more people will be saved.”

Racz received six consecutive injections five minutes apart over 30 minutes at the National Institute for Health Research UCLH Clinical Research Facility on Tuesday.

Each jab contained different RNA strands. He will get the vaccine every week for six consecutive weeks, and then every three weeks for 54 weeks.

Lee said: “We hope adding this additional treatment will stop the cancer coming back because a lot of time for lung cancer patients, even after surgery and radiation, it does come back.” ...

“We hope to go on to phase 2, phase 3, and then hope it becomes standard of care worldwide and saves lots of lung cancer patients.”

The Guardian revealed in May that thousands of patients in England were to be fast-tracked into groundbreaking trials of cancer vaccines in a revolutionary world-first NHS “matchmaking” scheme to save lives.

Under the scheme, patients who meet the eligibility criteria will gain access to clinical trials for the vaccines that experts say represent a new dawn in cancer treatment."

-via The Guardian, May 30, 2024