Sehen wir einmal davon ab, dass sich in der Regel im Zuge mutationsbedingter Virenentwicklung tatsächlich die „leichteren Varianten“ durchsetzen, weil ihre Wirte sich besserer Gesundheit erfreuen und sie deshalb weitergeben können – „ausschließen“ kann man üblicherweise gar nichts, keine unangenehmen Varianten und auch keine aufschlagenden Kometen. Aber deshalb laufen wir nicht auf Jahre hinaus mit einem Helm auf dem Kopf durch die Welt und deshalb müssen wir auch nicht zu Maßnahmen greifen, die man nur noch mit Begriffen des Strafrechts oder – bei unterstellter Schuldunfähigkeit – der Psychiatrie charakterisieren kann.
Archiv: SARS II variants (incomplete list): D614D / D614G / 20A.EU1 / VUI 202012/01 (B.1.1.7 / B.1.351) / 501.V2.
RNA for Moderna’s Omicron Booster Manufactured by CIA-Linked Company
The firm only acquired its first commercial manufacturing plant in March 2021, located in Boston, MA and purchased from Sanofi, followed shortly thereafter by the acquisition of another separate plant located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Makeovers were announced for the plants, but little is publicly known about their progress. Prior to the acquisitions, the company had been subleasing a Bay area facility in Fremont, California. Reporters were puzzled at the time as to why a company with roughly 700 employees at the time had acquired a total of 599,00 square feet of manufacturing space after having only emerged from stealth less than 6 months prior.
In April 2021, National Resilience acquired Ology Bioservices Inc., which had received a $37 million contract from the US military the previous November to develop an advanced anti-COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment. This acquisition also provided National Resilience with its first Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory and the ability to manufacture cell and gene therapies, live viral vaccines and vectors and oncolytic viruses.
Despite being in the earliest stages of developing its “revolutionary” manufacturing capabilities, National Resilience entered into a partnership with the Government of Canada in July of last year.
What Is the Origin of COVID-19 Variants Like Omicron?
(July 2, 2022)
According to recent research from Tel Aviv University, immunosuppressed chronic COVID-19 patients are thought to be the source of several SARS-CoV-2 variants. The researchers hypothesize that a compromised immune reaction, particularly in the lower airways of these chronic patients, may delay complete recovery from the virus and cause the virus to evolve often during the course of prolonged infection.
Südafrika: Neuinfektions-, Hospiz- und Todesraten bisher weit unter Werten voran gegangener Wellen
Nach Johns Hopkins Daten liegt am 4. Dezember die Tagesinzidenz von Deutschland bei 676, von Südafrika bei 109 und der Mittelwert der afrikanischen Länder bei 8 täglichen Neuinfektionen je 1.000.000 Einwohner.
Comparing SARS-CoV-2 natural immunity to vaccine-induced immunity: reinfections versus breakthrough infections
(August 25, 2021)
Results:
SARS-CoV-2-naïve vaccinees had a 13.06-fold (95% CI, 8.08 to 21.11) increased risk for breakthrough infection with the Delta variant compared to those previously infected, when the first event (infection or vaccination) occurred during January and February of 2021. The increased risk was significant (P<0.001) for symptomatic disease as well. When allowing the infection to occur at any time before vaccination (from March 2020 to February 2021), evidence of waning natural immunity was demonstrated, though SARS-CoV-2 naïve vaccinees had a 5.96-fold (95% CI, 4.85 to 7.33) increased risk for breakthrough infection and a 7.13-fold (95% CI, 5.51 to 9.21) increased risk for symptomatic disease. SARS-CoV-2-naïve vaccinees were also at a greater risk for COVID-19-related-hospitalizations compared to those that were previously infected.
Necessity of COVID-19 vaccination in previously infected individuals
(19.06.2021)
Results Among the 52238 included employees, 1359 (53%) of 2579 previously infected subjects remained unvaccinated, compared with 20804 (42%) of 49659 not previously infected. The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection remained almost zero among previously infected unvaccinated subjects, previously infected subjects who were vaccinated, and previously uninfected subjects who were vaccinated, compared with a steady increase in cumulative incidence among previously uninfected subjects who remained unvaccinated. Not one of the 1359 previously infected subjects who remained unvaccinated had a SARS-CoV-2 infection over the duration of the study.
A 1 to 1000 SARS-CoV-2 reinfection proportion in members of a large healthcare provider in Israel: a preliminary report
(March 8, 2021)
In this descriptive preliminary report, we conducted a large-scale assessment on the country level of the possible occurrence of COVID-19 reinfection within the members of a large healthcare provider in Israel. Out of 149,735 individuals with a documented positive PCR test between March 2020 and January 2021, 154 had two positive PCR tests at least 100 days apart, reflecting a reinfection proportion of 1 per 1000.
81 Research Studies Confirm Natural Immunity to COVID ‘Equal’ or ‘Superior’ to Vaccine Immunity
(19.10.2021)
I’ve benefited from the input of many to put this together, especially my co-authors:
Dr. Harvey Risch, M.D., Ph.D. (Yale School of Public Health)
Dr. Howard Tenenbaum, Ph.D. ( Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto)
Dr. Ramin Oskoui, M.D. (Foxhall Cardiology, Washington)
Dr. Peter McCullough, M.D. (Truth for Health Foundation, Texas)
Dr. Parvez Dara, M.D. (consultant, Medical Hematologist and Oncologist)
Evidence on natural immunity versus COVID-19 vaccine induced immunity as of Oct. 15:
New Covid variant vaccine in trials to act as booster against ‘all new strains’
(10.06.2021)
Although the new vaccine variants shows considerable promise, Prof Gilbert said there was no guarantee it would be mass-produced since existing jabs are proving effective against new strains – so it may make more sense to carry on producing those rather than manufacturing different ones.
Covid Cases Are Soaring in Britain Again. Why?
The country’s full-speed approach to lifting restrictions has certainly contributed to a spike in infections. But that’s only part of the picture.
New Covid variant vaccine in trials to act as booster against ‘all new strains’
(10.06.2021)
Although the new vaccine variants shows considerable promise, Prof Gilbert said there was no guarantee it would be mass-produced since existing jabs are proving effective against new strains – so it may make more sense to carry on producing those rather than manufacturing different ones.
PM Boris Johnson: The Oxford vaccine shows why we and the world need Britain to be global
(16.03.2021)
The objective of Global Britain is not to swagger or strike attitudes on the world stage. It is to use the full spectrum of our abilities, now amplified by record spending on both defence and science, to engage with and help the rest of the world. That is how we serve the British interest, and I mean the economic interest of people up and down the country. And as the vaccine programme begins to inspire a new global hope, we want to use this moment to heal, both literally and figuratively.
New Covid vaccines could be made in 40 DAYS if they need updating to tackle mutated variants, taskforce chief says
(17.02.2021)
Dr Dix added: ‚I think 40 days would be a real stretch but we would aim for something as good as that.
‚But certainly within 60 days and then, after that, we would start the manufacturing.‘
Manufacturing vaccines takes different amounts of time depending on the type of jab.
But the Oxford/AstraZeneca team, which uses more traditional viral vector technology, says that while it can make a new formulation in days, it takes much longer to produce.
(09.02.2021)
It expects to have a vaccine designed to address the variant discovered in South Africa ready by autumn.
Covid vaccines can be ‘tweaked’ to deal with new variants of virus, says Oxford prof
(30.12.2020)
Professor Andrew Pollard said it was „entirely possible“ to adapt the jab to protect people from other strains.
But he added that there is no evidence so far to suggest that the vaccines won’t work against a new mutation.
It comes as a variant in the South East has been blamed for a rise in cases, with scientists warning it’s more contagious and can spread more rapidly.
Oxford vaccine: How did they make it so quickly?
(23 November 2020)
The virus from chimps is genetically modified so it cannot cause an infection in people. It can then be modified again to contain the genetic blueprints for whatever you want to train the immune system to attack. This target is known is an antigen.
ChAdOx1 is in essence a sophisticated, microscopic postman. All the scientists have to do is change the package.
„We drop it in and off we go,“ said Prof Gilbert.
All theories on origins of Covid-19 outbreak still ‘on the table’, says WHO
(25.08.2021)
“The current situation is that all of the hypotheses regarding to the origins of the virus are still on the table,” Michael Ryan, the head of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, in response to a question about the laboratory leak theory. “Some are more likely than others based on the current analysis, but all of those hypotheses require further elucidation and further inquiry and we will go and look where all of those leads take the WHO.”
Biden receives inconclusive intelligence report on covid origins
The report falls short of concluding whether the coronavirus jumped from animal to human, or might have accidentally escaped from a lab in China
Bericht der US-Geheimdienste: Corona-Ursprung bleibt ungeklärt
Rund drei Monate lang hatten US-Geheimdienste im Auftrag von US-Präsident Joe Biden zum Ursprung des Coronavirus recherchiert. Jetzt liegt ihr Bericht vor – doch zu einem eindeutigen Ergebnis sind sie nicht gekommen. Ob das Virus aus einem Labor stamme oder von einem Tier auf den Menschen übergesprungen sei, sei offen, hieß es. Beides seien „plausible Hypothesen“.
Angeblicher Experte in China: Der mysteriöse Wilson Edwards
Der Fall zeigt, wie hoch politisiert die Suche nach dem Ursprung des Corona-Virus gerade auf chinesischer Seite ist. Für die USA und die Weltgesundheitsorganisation ist die Laborthese nicht vom Tisch. Solange diese These aber weiter im Spiel ist, blockt China weitere Untersuchungen ab – und sucht Unterstützung notfalls auch bei Phantom-Forschern.
Israeli Data Suggests Possible Waning in Effectiveness of Pfizer Vaccine
(today)
The new numbers still show overwhelmingly strong protection against severe disease but diminished effectiveness against infection.
Covid-19: Wie Massenhysterie in Wohlfahrtsstaaten entsteht
Hinsichtlich der Covid-19-Krise gibt es mehrere Studien, welche die negativen psychologischen Auswirkungen von staatlich verordneten Lockdowns untersuchen (1) (2) (3) (4). Es gibt auch Studien, die den Beitrag digitaler Medien und des Internets zu Angst (5) (6), emotionaler Ansteckung (7) (8), Angstübertragungen (9) (10) und Nocebo-Effekten (11) (12) untersuchen. Nach unserem Wissen gibt es jedoch keine Studie, die analysiert, wie verschiedene politische Institutionen und der Staat die Entstehung und Ausbreitung von Massenhysterien beeinflussen. Das Zusammenspiel von Medien, Wissenschaft, Politik und Öffentlichkeit ist eine wesentliche Forschungslücke (13). Aufbauend auf der Psychologie im Zusammenhang mit dem Phänomen der kollektiven Panik entwickeln wir eine politische Ökonomie der Massenhysterie.
Up to 40% of ‚Covid hospital patients‘ infected with Delta variant may have been admitted for a different illness, official figures suggest
Four out of 10 patients hospitalised with the Indian Covid variant in England may have been admitted for something else, MailOnline analysis of official data suggests.
Public Health England’s fortnightly report on the ‚Delta‘ strain showed a total of 1,904 people had spent at least one night in hospital with the mutant virus by June 21.
But the agency admits 739 (39 per cent) of these patients may have gone to hospital for a different condition or injury and tested positive through routine NHS testing.
Delta-Ausbreitung: Regierung hält an Öffnungen fest
Nach einer langen Phase des Rückgangs steigt die Zahl der CoV-Neuinfektionen in Österreich und vielen anderen EU-Ländern wieder. Die Ampelkommission und das CoV-Prognosekonsortium orten aufgrund der Verbreitung der hochansteckenden Delta-Variante eine „hohe Wahrscheinlichkeit“ für eine vierte Welle in Österreich.
Sack him Boris! ‚Useless‘ Hancock told to go after claim he withheld positive vaccine news
(20.06.2021)
A study by Public Health England (PHE) was released on June 14 and concluded the vaccines offered “significant protection against hospitalisation from the delta variant”. The Health Secretary is alleged to have known about the findings on June 10 – three days before the Prime Minister ultimately decided to delay the June 21 “Freedom Day” by four weeks.
Exclusive: Matt Hancock kept Boris Johnson in dark over Covid vaccines success
(19.06.2021)
Matt Hancock failed to tell Boris Johnson about a major Public Health England (PHE) study showing the effectiveness of vaccines against the Indian or delta variant during a key meeting to decide whether to extend Covid restrictions, The Telegraph can disclose.
The Telegraph understands that the Health Secretary had known about the PHE data three days before the „quad“ of four senior ministers, led by the Prime Minister, met last Sunday to decide whether to postpone the planned June 21 reopening until July 19.
Ursprung von Sars-CoV-2: Nach 18 Monaten immer noch im Dunkeln
Auch bei dem in der kommenden Woche in Brüssel anstehenden EU-USA-Gipfel wird eine entsprechende Erklärung dieses Inhalts erwartet. Im Entwurf der Erklärung heißt es, eine „transparente, faktengestützte und von Experten geleitete“ Untersuchung unter Leitung der WHO sei notwendig. Diese müsse „frei von Beeinflussungen“ stattfinden.
Oxford vaccine: How did they make it so quickly?
(23 November 2020)
The virus from chimps is genetically modified so it cannot cause an infection in people. It can then be modified again to contain the genetic blueprints for whatever you want to train the immune system to attack. This target is known is an antigen.
ChAdOx1 is in essence a sophisticated, microscopic postman. All the scientists have to do is change the package.
„We drop it in and off we go,“ said Prof Gilbert.
New Covid variant vaccine in trials to act as booster against ‘all new strains’
(10.06.2021)
Although the new vaccine variants shows considerable promise, Prof Gilbert said there was no guarantee it would be mass-produced since existing jabs are proving effective against new strains – so it may make more sense to carry on producing those rather than manufacturing different ones.
Johnson will wegen Mutante Beschränkungen später aufheben
Bei einer niedrigen Zahl von Krankenhausfällen könne es auch eine Öffnung bereits am 5. Juli geben, hieß es.
Johnson soll am Montag eine Entscheidung über ein Ende der Maßnahmen bekanntgeben.
Anthony Fauci and the Wuhan Lab
(03.06.2021)
Of particular interest: From 2014-19, the National Institutes of Health sent $3.4 million to the WIV through the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance. “I just wanted to say a personal thankyou on behalf of our staff and collaborators, for publicly standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin,” EcoHealth Alliance chief Peter Daszak gushed to Dr. Fauci in a partly redacted April 2020 email.
Fact-checking the Paul-Fauci flap over Wuhan lab funding
(May 18, 2021)
Juicing up super viruses is not new. Scientists in the U.S. have long known how to mutate animal viruses to infect humans. For years, Dr. Ralph Baric, a virologist in the U.S., has been collaborating with Dr. Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Virology Institute, sharing his discoveries about how to create super viruses. This gain-of-function research has been funded by the NIH. … Dr. Fauci, do you still support funding of the NIH funding of the lab in Wuhan?”
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), remarks at a Senate hearing, May 11
“Senator Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect that the NIH has not never and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
— Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in response.
Wuhan-Affäre: “Die Weltbevölkerung in die Irre geführt”
Nun aber ist auch in der Presse und dem Rundfunk ein starker Stimmungsumschwung wahrnehmbar. Wodurch wurde der ausgelöst?
Es gab zunächst einmal einen großen Stimmungsumschwung in den USA, das war das Wesentliche. Ich war selbst in viele Gespräche mit amerikanischen Kollegen involviert. In den USA einen Stimmungsumschwung zu erreichen, war sehr wichtig, gerade wegen der besonderen Situation dort. Wir wissen, dass eine Unterabteilung der National Institutes of Health (NIH), die von [dem medizinischen Chefberater des Weißen Hauses; S.F.] Anthony Fauci geleitet wird, mehrere hochriskante Gain-of-function-Forschungsprojekte mit Coronaviren [Experimente, die darauf abzielen, die Übertragbarkeit und/oder Virulenz von Krankheitserregern zu erhöhen; S.F.] in Wuhan jahrelang gefördert hat.
Secret report by respected US government laboratory concluded in May last year that it was plausible coronavirus LEAKED from Wuhan lab – and said theory deserved further investigation
Scientists at the the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, near Berkeley, analyzed the genetic makeup of the virus to try to understand how it evolved.
They passed their May 27, 2020 findings on to the State Department in October. The five-month delay was not explained.
On January 15 the State Department published a fact sheet about COVID-19, which said that ‚circumstantial‘ evidence suggested a lab leak theory was possible.
The secret document the California lab produced was not known about until Monday, when The Wall Street Journal reported on its existence.
Coronavirus: Einen kleinen Staatsstreich spielen
(21. März 2020)
Ein denkbares Szenario ist: nach einer unauffälligen Schamfrist und nach Einschätzung der „strategischen Lage“ durch den geheimdienstlichen Komplex (fügt sich die Bevölkerung? Wer widerspricht noch? Wer meckert, wo wohnt der, welche Freunde hat der? Welche Multiplikatoren und Influenzer, äh, dings, berichten noch nicht auf Befehl? Wer liest die Meckerer? Wo wohnen die, was verdienen die? etc, etc) erfolgt ein Umschwenken des organisierten Wahrheitsmanagements seitens Massenmedien und Regierungen hin zu einer Gefahr durch Biowaffen, Biotechnologie und „Bioterrorismus“, natürlich immer durch die Anderen.
UK intelligence reassesses COVID lab leak theory, now says its ‘feasible’
British intelligence services are now reportedly reassessing their position on the theory that COVID-19 leaked from a lab in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.
A Sunday report from the Sunday Times of London quotes British spies who initially dismissed the lab leak theory, but now say it is „feasible.“
We can’t let them cancel Freedom Day because of another ’scariant‘
(18.05.2021)
How blissfully everyone slipped back into near-normality on Monday, and with such a huge sigh of relief. Lunch with friends in a restaurant, holding your mother’s hand without fear, tickets for a show. Small pleasures, but how sweet they taste. Just as our long hibernation felt almost at an end and we began to believe we could slough off that lockdown lassitude and banish the gnawing worm of anxiety, here comes the… Indian variant. Bwa-hah-hah-hah!
The pattern should be familiar by now
EXCLUSIVE: COVID-19 ‚has NO credible natural ancestor‘ and WAS created by Chinese scientists who then tried to cover their tracks with ‚retro-engineering‘ to make it seem like it naturally arose from bats, explosive new study claims
– An explosive new study claims researchers found ‚unique fingerprints‚ in COVID-19 samples that they say could only have arisen from manipulation in a laboratory
– DailyMail.com exclusively obtained the new 22-page paper authored by British Professor Angus Dalgleish and Norwegian scientist Dr. Birger Sørensen set to be published in the Quarterly Review of Biophysics Discovery
– The study showed there’s evidence to suggest Chinese scientists created the virus while working on a Gain of Function project in a Wuhan lab
– Gain of Function research, which was temporarily outlawed in the US, involves altering naturally-occurring viruses to make them more infectious in order to study their potential effects on humans
According to the paper, Chinese scientists took a natural coronavirus ‚backbone‘ found in Chinese cave bats and spliced onto it a new ’spike‘, turning it into the deadly and highly transmissible COVID-19
– The researchers, who concluded that COVID-19 ‚has no credible natural ancestor‚, also believe scientists reverse-engineered versions of the virus to cover up their tracks.
‚We think that there have been retro-engineered viruses created,‘ Dalgleish told DailyMail.com. ‚They’ve changed the virus, then tried to make out it was in a sequence years ago.‘
Die Hinweise auf die Labor-These verdichten sich – Rätsel um den Ausbruch der Pandemie
Gut drei Monate später gibt es immer mehr ernstzunehmende Diskussionsbeiträge, die Wiesendanger rehabilitieren. Seine meist als Verschwörungstheorie gebrandmarkte These wird nun zunehmend aus der Schmuddelecke der Verschwörungstheorien befreit. Das Coronavirus könnte theoretisch das Ergebnis eines Laborunfalls sein, schreiben etwa 18 Top-Wissenschaftler im renommierten Fachmagazin „Science.“
Sie fordern, diese Möglichkeit eingehender zu untersuchen.
Investigate the origins of COVID-19
(14.05.2021)
Finally, in this time of unfortunate anti-Asian sentiment in some countries, we note that at the beginning of the pandemic, it was Chinese doctors, scientists, journalists, and citizens who shared with the world crucial information about the spread of the virus—often at great personal cost (8, 9). We should show the same determination in promoting a dispassionate science-based discourse on this difficult but important issue.
Coronavirus ‘lab leak’ theory jumps from mocked to maybe as Biden orders intelligence review
Far from dismissing the lab-leak theory, however, President Biden has told his spies to see if the previous administration’s officials, whose work some of his own skeptical aides have called tendentious and overreaching, may have been right to question the lab and conduct a thorough investigation. The White House recently was told that a large amount of information remained to be examined that could shed light on the question, according to a senior administration official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Untersuchung angeordnet – Biden lässt nach Corona-Ursprung forschen
Woher kommt das Coronavirus? Hartnäckig halten sich Mutmaßungen über einen Laborunfall. Der US-Präsident fordert von seinen Geheimdiensten Aufklärung.
Wuhan lab director says US intelligence report is „a complete lie“
The director of the Wuhan National Biosafety Lab told Chinese state media Monday the claim in a new United States intelligence report that several researchers at the lab were hospitalized in November 2019, was „a complete lie.“
„Those claims are groundless,“ lab director Yuan Zhiming told nationalist tabloid Global Times. „The lab has not been aware of this situation, and I don’t even know where such information came from.“
Worrying new clues about the origins of Covid: How scientists at Wuhan lab helped Chinese army in secret project to find animal viruses, writes IAN BIRRELL
An update in 2018 said that the scientific teams – who published many of their findings in international journals – had found four new pathogens and ten new bacteria while ‚more than 1,640 new viruses were discovered using metagenomics technology‘. Such research is based on extraction of genetic material from samples such as those collected by Prof Shi from bat faeces and blood in the cave networks of southern China.
Such extensive sampling led to Prof Shi’s rapid revelation last year of RaTG13, the closest known relative to the new strain of coronavirus that causes Covid.
It was stored at the Wuhan lab, the biggest repository of bat coronaviruses in Asia.
Nach wochenlanger Angstmache: Briten-Mutante nun doch nicht tödlicher
„CORONAVIRUS – Briten-Mutation ist ansteckender UND tödlicher“, titelte etwa die „Bild“ in riesigen Lettern am 22. Januar. Weiter hieß es in dem Text: „Die erstmals in England nachgewiesene Coronavirus-Mutante B.1.1.7 ist nach britischen Erkenntnissen offenbar tödlicher als frühere Virus-Varianten. Es gebe mittlerweile ‘Hinweise‘, dass die Mutante nicht nur ansteckender sei, sondern auch „mit einer höheren Sterblichkeitsrate in Verbindung gebracht werden“ könne, sagte Premierminister Boris Johnson am Freitagabend in London.“ All das verfestigte sich dann noch: „STUDIE ZU B.1.1.7 – Corona-Mutante ist um 64 Prozent tödlicher“, hieß es ebenfalls in der Bild am 10. März in Großbuchstaben. …
B.1.1.7 doch nicht tödlicher?
Die zunächst in Großbritannien entdeckte Corona-Variante B.1.1.7 ist aktuellen Studien zufolge ansteckender als die ursprüngliche Form, allerdings nicht tödlicher. Zu diesem Schluss kommen Forscher in zwei separaten Studien, die in den Fachmagazinen „The Lancet Infectious Diseases“ und „The Lancet Public Health“ veröffentlicht wurden.
State of fear: how ministers ‘used covert tactics’ to keep scared public at home
The same document presented a grid of 14 options for increasing compliance which included “use media to increase sense of personal threat”, a tactic which was seen as having a “high” effectiveness though spill-over effects “could be negative”.
Some Sage participants now admit to feeling “embarrassed” by such advice.
One regular Sage attendee said: “The British people have been subjected to an unevaluated psychological experiment without being told that is what’s happening.
The ‚covert tactics‘ used to scare Britons into staying at home: How SAGE document called for increase in ‚perceived threat‘ of Covid using ‚hard hitting emotional messages‘
Psychologists have accused Downing Street of using ‚covert psychological strategies‘ to emphasise the threat from Covid-19 without contextualising the risks, the Telegraph reported.
It was said this created ‚a state of heightened anxiety‘, adding many people became ‚too frightened to attend hospital‘.
Experts fear Britons have been the subject of an experiment in the use of tactics which operate ‚below their level of awareness,‘ it was said.
WHO-Chef will Laborthese weiter untersuchen
Die Möglichkeit einer absichtlichen Freisetzung von SARS-CoV-2 wurde nicht untersucht.
Kritik aus Italien an Impfstoff-Plänen: „Kurz begeht einen Fehler“
Die Kurz-Aussagen in Sachen Impfstoff-Lieferungen sorgen für Debatten im Nachbarland. Lob kommt von der rechten Lega, harte Kritik von der Fünf-Sterne-Bewegung: Die Probleme mit der Impfstoff-Beschaffung solle man besser EU-intern lösen.
Österreich, Dänemark und Israel arbeiten gemeinsam an Impfstoff-Produktion
Im Vorfeld der Israel-Reise (4.3.) trifft Bundeskanzler Sebastian Kurz bereits am Dienstag mit Vertretern führender heimischer Pharmaunternehmen (z.B. Pfizer, Novartis, Polymun oder Böhringer Ingelheim) sowie führenden Wissenschaftlern und Medizinern (Rektor Markus Müller oder Josef Penninger) zusammen.
Österreich plant neue Impfstoff-Allianz: „Die EMA ist zu langsam“
„Israel wird die Möglichkeit einer Covid-19-Allianz mit Österreich und Dänemark erörtern“, sagte Netanyahu.
Im Vorfeld der Israel-Reise will Kurz Vertreter von Pharmaunternehmen, wie etwa Pfizer, Novartis, Polymun oder Böhringer-Ingelheim, sowie Wissenschaftler und Mediziner treffen.
Only 50 people are known to have contracted COVID-19 more than once — but new strains have medical experts on high alert
There are about 60 confirmed cases of reinfection globally.
Studie zum Ursprung der Coronavirus-Pandemie
Zusammenfassend kann festgehalten werden, dass es sehr viele Indizien gibt, die einen Laborunfall im „Wuhan Institute of Virology“ als die mit Abstand wahrscheinlichste Ursache für die Corona-Pandemie erscheinen lassen. In diesem Fall würde es sich nicht um eine „Naturkatastrophe“ handeln, sondern um eine von Menschen selbst herbeigeführte Tragödie. Es besteht eine sehr große Gefahr darin, die Frage nach der Ursache für die gegenwärtige Pandemie „als geklärt“ zu deklarieren, wie etwa in dem Statement [III.4] einiger Virologen. Für politische Entscheidungsträger macht es unbestreitbar einen Unterschied, ob sie Wildtiermärkte oder Hochrisikoforschung mit gentechnisch manipulierten Viren weltweit verbieten sollen. Diese Frage muss verstärkt in den Vordergrund rücken, ansonsten könnten Corona- und andere Virenarten noch ein viel größeres Gefahrenpotential entwickeln, nicht nur in der Gegenwart, sondern auch in der Zukunft.
(…)
Auffallend bei der gegenwärtigen Pandemie im Vergleich zu früheren Ausbrüchen von Coronavirus-bedingten Erkrankungen ist:
1) Wir haben es in der gegenwärtigen Pandemie mit einem Erreger zu tun, der mit einer bislang nicht bekannten Effizienz menschliche Zellen angreift.
2) Dabei werden nicht nur die (oberen) Atemwege, sondern auch innere Organe angegriffen und in ihrer Funktion teilweise schwer geschädigt.
Man muss sich daher notwendigerweise die Frage stellen, wie eine solche nahezu perfekte Adaption von Coronaviren an menschliche Zellrezeptoren zustande kommen konnte, um zukünftige Pandemie-Gefahrenpotentiale identifizieren zu können.
Dokumentation zu Virusherkunft: Kaum Belege für Labortheorie
Der Professor scheint seit Langem kursierende Vermutungen wissenschaftlich zu bestätigen. Doch nicht das Ergebnis steht nun im Mittelpunkt, stattdessen löste die Pressemitteilung eine Debatte über die Qualität seiner Arbeit aus. So distanzierten sich Studierende der Universität Hamburg und der Studierendenausschuss von der Veröffentlichung. Sie entspreche nicht den wissenschaftlichen Standards, die von einer Universität erwartet würden.
Spahn gibt neue Daten bekannt: Anteil britischer Mutante in Deutschland bei mehr als 20 Prozent
Die ansteckendere Corona-Variante aus Großbritannien macht bei den Neuinfektionen in Deutschland mittlerweile einen deutlich größeren Anteil aus. Laut Gesundheitsminister Spahn könnte sie bald dominierend sein.
But the Oxford/AstraZeneca team, which uses more traditional viral vector technology, says that while it can make a new formulation in days, it takes much longer to produce.
(09.02.2021)
It expects to have a vaccine designed to address the variant discovered in South Africa ready by autumn.
AstraZeneca expects updated COVID-19 vaccine by autumn
(14.02.2021)
The Anglo-Swedish company, which makes a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, said it is working with the university’s scientists to adapt the shot to combat new variants.
Masks and social distancing could stay until AUTUMN at earliest – sources
(12.02.2021)
SAGE member Professor John Edmunds painted a darker picture and suggested the measures could last even longer.
He told ITV’s Peston face masks could be required „probably forever“ if COVID-19 becomes endemic in the UK.
New Covid vaccines could be made in 40 DAYS if they need updating to tackle mutated variants, taskforce chief says
Dr Dix added: ‚I think 40 days would be a real stretch but we would aim for something as good as that.
‚But certainly within 60 days and then, after that, we would start the manufacturing.‘
Manufacturing vaccines takes different amounts of time depending on the type of jab.
Thanks @kakape for the opportunity to clarify our findings. One of the misunderstanding has been about the nature of our work in the past month. It was a joint @WHO – #China mission to review the July agreed phase 1 studies and plan a series of new studies. Work in progress.
This was NOT my experience on @WHO mission. As lead of animal/environment working group I found trust & openness w/ my China counterparts. We DID get access to critical new data throughout. We DID increase our understanding of likely spillover pathways.
(13.02.2021)
WHO-Experten fordern mehr Daten von China
Aus chinesischer Sicht war es gut gelaufen: Bei der Abschlusspressekonferenz der WHO-Mission vergangene Woche in Wuhan gab es keine Kritik an China. Allerdings auch keine wirklich dramatisch neuen Erkenntnisse über den Ursprung der Pandemie. Jetzt aber kommen aus dem Kreis der WHO-Experten Forderungen nach Zugang zu mehr chinesischen Daten, um die Spur der Pandemie weiter zurückverfolgen zu können.
Belgian plant blamed for AstraZeneca vaccine shortage says it met all deliveries
(10.02.2021)
AstraZeneca subcontracted the plant — previously owned by Novasep — to produce the drug substance of its vaccine. Volanti would not say how many doses the plant was contracted to provide. He said the plant sends its drug substance to an Italian company to be put into vials and packaged for distribution.
AstraZeneca declined to comment on Thermo Fisher’s remarks, according to Reuters.
But the Oxford/AstraZeneca team, which uses more traditional viral vector technology, says that while it can make a new formulation in days, it takes much longer to produce.
(09.02.2021)
AstraZeneca says vaccine against new Covid variants may take six months
AstraZeneca has said it could take between six and nine months to produce Covid-19 vaccines that are effective against new variants of the coronavirus, and begin administering them to the public.
But the Oxford/AstraZeneca team, which uses more traditional viral vector technology, says that while it can make a new formulation in days, it takes much longer to produce.
It expects to have a vaccine designed to address the variant discovered in South Africa ready by autumn.
How can Covid vaccines be tweaked to tackle new variants?
Production BioNTech has said it can produce a fresh vaccine within six weeks of a decision being made. But the Oxford/AstraZeneca team, which uses more traditional viral vector technology, says that while it can make a new formulation in days, it takes much longer to produce
Why bad news for AstraZeneca’s vaccine is a roadblock on the way out of the pandemic
The study from South Africa suggested that two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine provided „substantially reduced“ protection against mild to moderate Covid-19 disease from the new virus variant first identified there, known as B.1.351.
The study has not yet been peer reviewed or published in full, so many unknowns remain. What we do know is that it included a relatively small number of volunteers who were predominantly young and healthy and therefore not likely to suffer from severe Covid-19 disease.
Tories savage Matt Hancock over ’never-ending lockdown‘ as UK’s Covid second wave continues to shrink: Cases and deaths drop 27% with 12,364 infections and 1,052 victims – but Health Secretary warns border restrictions may still be in place until AUTUMN
But hopes the world-beating vaccine roll-out will mean lockdown curbs can be significantly eased any time soon were shot down today by Mr Hancock, who unveiled the latest suite of border curbs and warned they could last until the Autumn when booster vaccines will be available.
Bundesregierung bestellte Schock-Gutachten statt Impfstoff
Der deutschen Bundesregierung wird derzeit vorgeworfen, viel zu wenig erfolgversprechenden Sars-CoV-2-Impfstoff bestellt zu haben. Das heißt aber nicht, dass die Bundesregierung, die diese Impfstoffbestellungen an die EU-Kommissionspräsidentin Ursula von der Leyen delegierte, gar nichts bestellte: Staatssekretär Markus Kerber zum Beispiel bestellte im Frühjahr 2020 beim Robert-Koch-Institut und mehreren anderen Bundeseinrichtungen ein Gutachten, mit denen das von Horst Seehofer geführte Bundesinnenministerium „mental und planerisch […] ‚vor die Lage‘ […] kommen“ wollte, um „Maßnahmen präventiver und repressiver Natur“ vorzubereiten.
Vor Corona-Gipfel am Mittwoch – Lauterbach warnt vor „Turbo-Virus“
Grund sind die um sich greifenden, wahrscheinlich deutlich ansteckenderen Virusmutanten, wie der SPD-Gesundheitsexperte auf Twitter schrieb.
In eigenen Berechnungen komme er zu dem Ergebnis, dass bei derzeitiger Ausbreitung der Mutanten die Fallzahlen nur noch bis Ende Februar sinken dürften, dann komme eine dritte Welle der Pandemie.
Britain could be trapped in lockdown cycles for several YEARS in fight with Covid variants – but staying in tougher measures for longer now will prevent new vaccine-resistant strains, SAGE scientists warn
Evidence suggests the Oxford University vaccine – the main weapon in Britain’s arsenal to combat the virus – does not stop people falling ill with the South African variant, which is feared to be spreading in the community already.
LIVE from Wuhan : Media briefing on #COVID19 origin mission
WHO: Ursache für Ausbruch in Wuhan noch nicht geklärt
Die Forschung müsse sich aber darauf konzentrieren, wie das Virus in Tieren zirkuliert, bevor Menschen infiziert werden, sagte der Experte. Ein Virus, das eine Pandemie auslösen kann, müsse bereits an den menschlichen Kontakt angepasst sein, sagte Liang.
Did the Covid-19 virus really escape from a Wuhan lab?
Chan and her colleague Dr Shing Hei Zhan scrutinised the evolutions of SARS-CoV-1 (the cause of the 2003 SARS epidemic) and SARS-CoV-2 (the cause of the current pandemic) in the early months of their respective outbreaks and found that while the former mutated rapidly in early human cases, as the virus adapted to its new host, the latter did not. This implies that the virus causing Covid-19 was already well adapted to infecting human beings, a point that was also suggested by the World Health Organization in its global study on the origins of Covid-19, published in November.
There are three possible explanations for this. The first is that the virus had circulated, undetected, in people for months. The second is that the virus was already highly adept at human-to-human transmission, even while it was still in bats or other animals. The third is that it had become adapted in human cells, or humanised animals, in a laboratory.
New COVID-19 variant defeats plasma treatment, may reduce vaccine efficacy
(20.01.2021)
“This lineage exhibits complete escape from three classes of therapeutically relevant monoclonal antibodies,” the team of scientists from three South African universities working with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) wrote in a paper in bioRxiv, a website that publishes scientific research prior to its being peer-reviewed and submitted to journals.
AstraZeneca is working on Covid vaccine booster ‚that will be ready by autumn‘ to beat South African strain after research showed its current version had ‚minimal‘ effect on stopping it
Professor Gilbert earlier told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that her team currently has ‚a version with the South African spike sequence in the works‘ with hopes it will be ready to administer by the autumn.
‚It’s not quite ready to vaccinate people with yet, but, as all of the developers are using platform technologies, these are ways of making a vaccine that are very quick to adapt,‘ she added.
Exclusive: Alarming new evidence on coronavirus mutation could bring tougher restrictions
(18.12.2020)
Government scientists at the Porton Down laboratory in Wiltshire have been conducting experiments on the new strain, and have confirmed ministers‘ fears about it being far more infectious than the original strain of the virus.
South Africa switches to J&J’s ‘silver bullet’ as AstraZeneca vaccine falters against local variant of coronavirus
“Unfortunately, viruses mutate. Sometimes this is by accident. But often the reason is that the virus wants to become more adept to infect the host.”
This, Madhi explained, was what had happened with the South African variant as well as another variant that was first identified in the United Kingdom.
The Coronavirus Is a Master of Mixing Its Genome, Worrying Scientists
(05.02.2021)
In recent weeks, scientists have sounded the alarm about new variants of the coronavirus that carry a handful of tiny mutations, some of which seem to make vaccines less effective.
But it is not just these small genetic changes that are raising concerns. The novel coronavirus has a propensity to mix large chunks of its genome when it makes copies of itself. Unlike small mutations, which are like typos in the sequence, a phenomenon called recombination resembles a major copy-and-paste error in which the second half of a sentence is completely overwritten with a slightly different version.
Oxford coronavirus vaccine shows sustained protection of 76% during the 3-month interval until the second dose
(02.02.2021)
The authors also report further on the potential for the vaccine to reduce transmission of the virus, based on swabs obtained from volunteers in the UK arms of the trial with a 67% reduction after the first dose of the vaccine.
LOCKED IN: Restrictions can’t ease until NEXT YEAR due to aggressive mutant Covid strains, warns Sage
They came to their conclusions by modelling what could happen in the next few months under the vaccine rollout, presenting their findings to Sage on January 14.
Researchers at Warwick University wrote in the document, published today: “With the new aggressive covid strain, likely transmission efficacies prove insufficient to prevent further infection outbreaks across the population.
Single dose administration, and the influence of the timing of the booster dose on immunogenicity and efficacy of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine
If there was no impact of a vaccine on asymptomatic infection, it would be expected that an efficacious vaccine would simply convert severe cases to mild cases and mild cases to asymptomatic, with overall PCR positivity unchanged. A measure of overall PCR positivity is appropriate to assess whether there is a reduction in the burden of infection. Analyses presented here show that a single standard dose of the vaccine reduced PCR positivity by 67%, and that, after the second dose, the SD/SD schedule reduced PCR positivity by 49.5% overall. These data indicate that ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, used in the authorised schedules, may have a substantial impact on transmission by reducing the number of infected individuals in the population.
Single shot of Oxford University’s Covid jab ‚is 76% effective for 12 weeks and may block seven in 10 people from spreading the disease‘
Meanwhile, analysis of PCR positive swabs carried out on nearly 7,000 patients in the UK arm of Oxford’s trial suggests the vaccine may reduce transmission by 67 per cent.
Why Vaccines Might Not Be Able to Eliminate Covid-19
There’s good evidence that the shots made by Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. are very effective — as much as 95% — at preventing recipients from developing Covid-19 itself. However, data haven’t been released on their ability to prevent people from developing asymptomatic infections or transmitting the virus to others. The gold standard in vaccinology is to stop infection as well as disease, providing so-called sterilizing immunity.
Von der Mutation zur Transformation
Wer die Einlassungen von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel auf dem Davos-Gipfel aufmerksam anhört, kann nicht behaupten, er hätte von nichts gewusst.
EU postpones issuing ‘vaccination passports’
The EU decided Thursday to postpone the issuing of vaccination certificates to people immunized against COVID-19 and opted to strongly deter all unnecessary travel within the bloc and with third countries to curb the spread of the virus.
Leaders of the EU met via videoconference to discuss the novel coronavirus pandemic and vaccination efforts in member states.
Travel latest news: Vaccine passports for travellers ‘unavoidable’
Vaccine passports for holidaymakers will soon be ‘unavoidable’ as more countries make Covid immunity a condition of entry, a leading travel health expert has claimed.
Dr Richard Dawood, a specialist in travel medicine at the Fleet Street Clinic in London, also suggested that tight border controls will remain in place while countries feel ‘insecure’ about the risks posed by the virus.
European Commission Working On Standard COVID Passports
(20.01.2021)
The European Commission is exploring proposals to introduce vaccine passports, a move that will facilitate greater travel across borders within the EU. Member states will discuss the idea at a summit this week, with many already signaling their approval for a passport-style document.
European leaders to discuss vaccination speed and immunity passports
Amid rising infections and new strains of COVID-19, EU leaders will meet on Thursday (January 21) to discuss how best to tackle the pandemic. It comes amid continued criticism that the vaccination drive has been too sluggish.
Urlaubsländer fordern Reise-Impfpass
Weil die gesamte Tourismusbranche nicht nur in Deutschland, sondern europaweit mit schweren Umsatzeinbrüchen zu kämpfen hat, setzen sich erste EU-Staaten für einen einheitlichen europäischen Impfpass ein. Vor dem heutigen Corona-Gipfel der EU sagte Maltas Regierungschef Robert Abela, solche Ausweise seien ein wichtiges Instrument mit Blick auf grenzüberschreitendes Reisen.
Mutation verbreitet sich in Portugal
In Portugal breitet sich die ansteckendere britische Variante des Coronavirus rasch aus. Etwa 20 Prozent aller neuen Infektionsfälle gingen auf diese Variante zurück, sagte Gesundheitsministerin Marta Temido dem Sender RTP. Der Anteil könne bereits nächste Woche auf 60 Prozent steigen.
Corona: Merkel warnt eindringlich vor Mutation
Experte: Mutation „wird sich durchsetzen“
Das erläuterten Experten bei einer Pressekonferenz am Donnerstag im Gesundheitsministerium. Die britische Variante B.1.1.7 werde sich aber auch hierzulande durchsetzen. „Wir gehen davon aus, dass sie im Februar, spätestens im März die Oberhand gewinnen wird“, sagte Simulationsforscher Niki Popper. Das bedeute aber nicht, „dass die Welt untergeht“.
Denkt Boris Johnson mit?
Wir berichteten am 4. Dezember, dass der bereits im Frühjahr 2020 von der Oxford Universität entwickelte Impfstoff ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (später AZD1222 oder Covishield) „jederzeit allen weiteren Varianten“ von SARS II angepasst werden kann. Wie der britische „Telegaph“ nun berichtet, geschieht dies jetzt.
Premierminister Boris Johnson, ansonsten umflutet von Myraden von Experten und sicherlich auch privat als Daddy gefordert, soll sich nun ausnahmsweise mit den Wissenschaftler.innen der Oxford Universität „intensiv“ unterhalten.
Es wurde auch Zeit.
Bericht: AstraZeneca-Impfstoff wird überarbeitet
Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler der Universität Oxford überarbeiten den zusammen mit dem Konzern AstraZeneca entwickelten CoV-Impfstoff, damit dieser gezielt gegen die neuen, hochansteckenden Coronavirus-Mutationen eingesetzt werden kann, die in Großbritannien, Südafrika und Brasilien entdeckt wurden.
Oxford scientists preparing new vaccine versions to combat emerging Covid strains
A laboratory study found that the 501Y.V2 variant achieved „complete escape“ from monoclonal antibodies, the man-made proteins that act like the antibodies produced by jabs.
Boris Johnson said he was holding „intensive talks“ with scientists about the new variants. The Prime Minister told MPs he was confident that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was capable of approving new vaccine modifications as quickly as necessary.
To rebuild the economy, UK govt has set-up a Build Back Better Council. It is full of grandees from companies not paying the minimum wage, dodging taxes, engaged in illicit financial flows and anti-worker practices. No union reps. What could go wrong?
388 people aged under 60 with ‚NO underlying health conditions‘ have died of Covid in England’s hospitals
(27.12.2020)
Just 388 people aged under 60 with no underlying health conditions have died of Covid-19 in England’s hospitals since the start of the pandemic, NHS data has showed.
The figures show that 1,979 previously healthy people died in hospitals in England after testing positive for Covid-19 between April 2 and December 23.
Derbyshire health chiefs warn that vaccines alone will not mean an end to restrictions
“We don’t know yet whether an individual can, although not becoming ill from the virus because they have been vaccinated, still catch it and spread it on to others.
Vaccinated Brits told not to hug kids amid fears millions will ignore Covid rules once they have jab
Asked whether people who had received the jab could hug their children, Janet Lord, director of Birmingham University’s Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, said: “I would certainly advise not to do that at the moment because as you probably know with the vaccines they take several weeks before they are maximally effective.“
The COVID Vaccine May Not Protect You From This One Thing, Experts Warn
(05.12.2020)
In order to halt the spread of coronavirus completely, a vaccine would need to produce antibodies that stop the virus from replicating. „To prevent asymptomatic infection and transmission, you need what’s called sterilizing immunity,“ Greg Poland, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, explained to USA Today. While it’s possible that one or more of the vaccines could produce sterilizing immunity, it currently remains unproven.
Anschober will Kontrolloffensive gegen B.1.1.7 starten
Alle Experten seien sich aber einig, dass sich die Variante durchsetzen wird, wenn sie nicht von noch besser angepassten Nachfolgern überholt wird. Die Studien, die B.1.1.7 eine höhere Infektiösität bescheinigen, seien „sehr sauber gemacht“, man hoffe aber auf zusätzliche Evidenz aus dem Labor.
Mehr Kontrolle über Mutationen – Spahn verordnet „Coronavirus-Surveillance“
Bundesgesundheitsminister Jens Spahn verpflichtet Labore, gezielt nach hochansteckenden Coronavirus-Mutationen zu suchen. Das sieht eine von Spahn am Montag vorgestellte Verordnung zur Gen-Sequenzierung vor, die er noch am Tag unterschreiben will. Ziel ist es demnach, künftig mindestens fünf Prozent der Positivproben auf Gen-Mutationen zu untersuchen.
Why Palantir Stock Is Up Today
On the one hand, nothing’s really changed about Palantir’s business except that one market participant (albeit a very influential one) expressed a change in opinion on the stock.
How well does the Oxford vaccine work? What we know so far
(30.12.2020)
And while there are some early signs the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine might not only prevent people becoming seriously ill with Covid but also prevent asymptomatic infections, more data is needed to confirm such protection.
Study identifies genetic changes likely to have enabled SARS-CoV-2 to jump from bats to humans
A new study, involving the University of Cambridge and led by the Pirbright Institute, has identified key genetic changes in SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—that may be responsible for the jump from bats to humans, and established which animals have cellular receptors that allow the virus to enter their cells most effectively.
The genetic adaptions identified were similar to those made by SARS-CoV—which caused the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic—when it adapted from bats to infect humans.
Can’t wait for the ‚Tier 19 Annual Hunger Games‘ where all districts battle it out for visiting Greggs privileges. #lockdownthoughts #lockdown
‚What I’ll look like when we FINALLY get out of lockdown‘: Brits wearily take to social media to ponder how long it will be before they are free again
– Britons have taken to social media to mock the prospect of a third lockdown
– Boris Johnson unveiled a new set of restrictions in his address to nation last night
England geht in nächsten harten Lockdown
„Wir müssen in England einen Lockdown verhängen, um die neue Corona-Variante in den Griff zu bekommen“, sagte Premierminister Boris Johnson heute Abend in einer TV-Ansprache.
„Das bedeutet, dass Sie zu Hause bleiben müssen“, so Johnson.
• @ECDC_EU assesses that the probability of #SARSCoV2 VOC 202012/01 and 501.V2 being introduced and further spread in the EU/EEA is currently ????. 1/4
(29.12.2020)
(…)
Therefore, the overall risk of an increased impact on health systems in the coming weeks is assessed as ????. 4/4
ECDC releases report on new COVID-19 strain
(22 Dec 2020)
Noting that the ECDC’s report on the new strain was published last night, Balik said “this mutant variant has been named SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01 [Variant Under Investigation, year 2020, month 12, variant 01] for now.”
Balik said the report points out the importance of a comprehensive examination of the new strain.
WATCH LIVE: My update on coronavirus. (4 January 2021)
Covid updates: Boris Johnson plunges England into third lockdown with schools shut
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the weeks ahead would be the „hardest yet“ but added that he believed the country was entering „the last phase of the struggle“ with coronavirus
Matt Hancock blames Covid spread on public as government under pressure for new lockdown
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said that Boris Johnson’s tier system is “no longer strong enough” to deal with the new more virulent variant of coronavirus.
England goes BACK into full lockdown: Boris will plunge country into March-style curbs in 8pm TV address tonight – with fears schools will be shut and households banned from mixing for MONTHS as COVID alert is raised to top level
– Boris Johnson is set to announce a dramatic new national lockdown for England amid mutant Covid crisis
– Ex-health secretary Jeremy Hunt urged immediate closure of schools, borders with household mixing ban
– Matt Hancock said the tiers were no longer strong enough to deal with the mutant version of coronavirus
– Suggested public’s failure to comply with all the rules was to blame for inability to control outbreaks in Tier 4
– PM warned that curbs are about to get ‚tougher‘ – and admitted he is considering further closures of schools
– Government’s core ‚Covid-O‘ committee has met this morning to decide on the next steps in the response
Die Vertuschungsaktion
(22.12.2020)
Laut Alina Chan, Molekularbiologin am Broad Institute of Harvard und am MIT, kann man die Evolution von SARS-CoV-2 nicht mit der These eines zoonotischen Ursprungs in Einklang bringen, denn das Virus war bereits vollständig für die Mensch-zu-Mensch-Übertragung angepasst, als es zum ersten Mal auftrat.
Die renommierte medizinische Fachzeitschrift „Nature“ erlaubte anscheinend einigen Autoren, ihre Daten heimlich zu ändern, ohne auf diese Korrekturen in den Artikeln hinzuweisen.
Chans Untersuchungen zeigen, dass die Autoren ihre Proben umbenannt, falsch zugeordnet und ein Genomprofil generiert haben, das mit keiner ihrer Proben übereinstimmt. In anderen Papers fehlen Daten.
Das Coronavirus RaTG13, zu 96 Prozent mit SARS-CoV-2 identisch und somit der engste Verwandte, ist in Wirklichkeit btCoV-4991. Dieses Genom wurde schon 2013 in Proben nachgewiesen und 2016 veröffentlicht.
Boris’s lockdown D-Day: PM will decide TODAY whether to plunge ALL of England back into full lockdown – potentially for MONTHS – after Keir Starmer demanded tougher restrictions to stop ‚out of control‘ mutant Covid virus
Professor Sir Mark Walport, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said it would be difficult to keep the new, faster-spreading strain of the virus under control without ‚much tighter‘ social-distancing measures.
Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, the former chief scientific adviser said: ‚It’s clear that this variant is transmitting more readily – it’s transmitting more readily in younger age groups as well.
Coronavirus: Scientists cast doubt on WHO’S China mission to find COVID-19 origin in Wuhan
(today)
Daszak was a frequent traveller to Wuhan and the bat colonies of Yunnan with WIV scientists on projects funded by EcoHealth with US grants — until the Trump administration abruptly severed support, citing bio-security concerns.
The British scientist has forcefully dismissed the scenario of a laboratory leak as “baloney” and a “conspiracy theory”, and praised the work of his Chinese counterparts, notably Shi Zhengli, the “bat woman” of Wuhan, who traced the origins of the earlier Sars coronavirus outbreak to a colony of horseshoe bats in Yunnan.
The world must investigate all the mounting evidence Covid leaked from a Wuhan lab, writes IAN BIRRELL
(2 January 2021 | Updated: 12:06 GMT, 3 January 2021)
Now there is growing clamour from experts around the world that no stone should be left unturned during this inquiry – and that it must include one key element of a hunt which has all the hallmarks of a thriller novel.
This centres on a cave filled with bats, a clutch of mysterious deaths, some brilliant scientists carrying out futuristic experiments in a secretive laboratory – and a cover-up of epic proportions that, if proven, would have huge consequences for the Chinese Communist Party and the global practice of science.
Did Top Medical Journal Help Cover Up Origins of SARS-CoV-2?
(11.09.2020)
– According to Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, SARS-CoV-2 did not evolve in a manner you’d expect, had it jumped from an animal to a human. It sprang into action fully evolved for human transmission
– It appears Nature, a top medical journal, has allowed authors to secretly alter data sets in their papers without publishing notices of correction
– Chan’s investigation reveals authors have renamed samples, failed to attribute them properly, and produced a genomic profile that doesn’t match the samples in their paper. Others are missing data
– RaTG13 — the coronavirus that most resembles SARS-CoV-2, being 96% identical — is actually btCoV-4991, a virus found in samples collected in 2013 and published in 2016
– If SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 and the subsequent response to it, came from a lab, then we need to reassess the future of gain-of-function research that allows for the weaponization of viruses
Get ready. This is going to be an important thread. Election season will be over soon and hopefully more people will devote some attention to this… I’m going to walk through a timeline of SARS2-related virus data published in the months after the outbreak. (1/30)
(25 Oct 20)
Since the outbreak in late 2019, events have been unfolding at such a fast pace that it is difficult to keep track of what happened and in what order.
I use visualizations of the timeline to follow key events relating to the search for the animal host of SARS2. (2/30)
Even today, I still hear people saying that SARS-CoV-2 came from pangolins and a Seafood market in Wuhan. I hope this analysis will help to clear things up. It will refresh us on significant early pandemic events and major publications discussing the origins of the virus (3/30).
SARS-CoV-2: lab-origin hypothesis gains traction
(October 12, 2020)
– Researchers say there’s evidence within the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that suggests the virus is a product of genetic manipulation.
– Exiled Chinese scientist Li-Meng Yan says SARS-CoV-2 is an “unrestricted bioweapon” and there’s been “large-scale, organised scientific fraud”.
– Six miners in Yunnan, who were removing bat faeces from a cave, suffered a severe pneumonia-like illness in 2012 and three of them died. They had a high fever, dry cough, sore limbs, and headaches – all symptoms associated with Covid-19.
– A database containing information about the sequencing of samples collected from the Yunnan mine by researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been taken offline.
– There are said to be sequences of HIV-1 in the SARS-CoV-2 genome.
American and Chinese scientists have collaborated for decades on gain-of-function research.
– There have been numerous ‘leaks’ of viruses from laboratories, including during the SARS outbreak in 2003–2004.
THE AUSTRALIAN | RaBtCoV/4991 | Out of the bat cave: China’s deadly maze Deep in China, three men entered a cave and died with a mystery illness. Why was it kept under wraps for years?
(July 6th, 2020)
Ebright believes an even more controversial theory should not be ruled out. “It also, of course, is a distinct possibility that work done in the laboratory on RaTG13 may have resulted in artificial in-laboratory adaptation that erased those three to five decades of evolutionary distance.”
It is a view Hibberd does not believe is possible. “Sars-Cov-2 and RaTG13 are not the same virus and I don’t think you can easily manipulate one into the other. It seems exceptionally difficult.”
Ebright alleges, however, that the type of work required to create COVID-19 from RaTG13 was “identical” to work the laboratory had done in the past. “The very same techniques, the very same experimental strategies using RaTG13 as the starting point, would yield a virus essentially identical to Sars-Cov-2.”
Scientific history of RaTG13
(Jul 07, 2020)
In early February 2019, Dr. Shi’s team suddenly tossed a brand new genome online and published a paper, citing that hCoV-2019 must come from (horseshoe) Bats because it is so similar to this other sample obtained from Bats in July 2013.
*If an existing genome was already in the system and the new data was uploaded we would expect to see reference notes and that the previous listing had been removed or updated.
*The scientists were forcing an argument that this newly published genome (RaTG13) came from a Bat and is the closest relative to hCoV-2019, therefore our pandemic virus more than likely came from a bat.
At the time of this publication, there is quite literally zero record or publication referencing this sudden new virus that they designated as Bat SL-CoV RaTG13 (Ra being Rhinolophus affinis, 13 being sampling year). How could this new virus have been just ABSENT from the scientific community for SEVEN YEARS?!
In fact, there are (comparatively) barely any Rhinolophus Affinis Samples in our databases. Meaning there is a small pool or Bat viruses from this specific species. The team simply renamed the sample and maybe forgot that 4991 was already in GenBank?! Because 4991 is actually RaTG13, yet this super important publication which was read by all of the top scientists in the world makes zero mention of this important fact.
SARS-CoV-2 is well adapted for humans. What does this mean for re-emergence?
(May 02, 2020)
Abstract: In a side-by-side comparison of evolutionary dynamics between the 2019/2020 SARS-CoV-2 and the 2003 SARS-CoV, we were surprised to find that SARS-CoV-2 resembles SARS-CoV in the late phase of the 2003 epidemic after SARS-CoV had developed several advantageous adaptations for human transmission. Our observations suggest that by the time SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in late 2019, it was already pre-adapted to human transmission to an extent similar to late epidemic SARS-CoV. However, no precursors or branches of evolution stemming from a less human-adapted SARS-CoV-2-like virus have been detected. The sudden appearance of a highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 presents a major cause for concern that should motivate stronger international efforts to identify the source and prevent near future re-emergence.
PROFESSOR ANGUS DALGLEISH: The Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is as close to a miracle as medicine ever gets
Everyone can see what a serious emergency this is. We have to act. Bin the bureaucracy, and get this miracle vaccine to work right now.
How well does the Oxford vaccine work? What we know so far
And while there are some early signs the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine might not only prevent people becoming seriously ill with Covid but also prevent asymptomatic infections, more data is needed to confirm such protection.
Will the Vaccine End the Pandemic? This Question Must Be Answered First
One key to these successes is that these vaccines provide sterilizing immunity — recipients are not infected by the viruses that cause the diseases and don’t pass it on. When a sufficiently large percentage of the population is immunized, it reaches herd immunity: the pathogen can’t find enough new hosts to keep propagating, and outbreaks peter out.
Millions more face being placed in Tier 4 in bid to control mutant coronavirus strain
Dr Zubaida Haque, who sits on Independent Sage, has questioned why the government haven’t placed the whole country in the harshest tier of restrictions to save lives.
What Every Vaccine Skeptic Should Know About The New Coronavirus Vaccines
What hasn’t been demonstrated, at least so far, is that these vaccines prevent you from getting infected entirely. We’ve shown that these vaccines provide neutralizing immunity, where the virus will no longer severely harm you, but not necessarily sterilizing immunity, where you cannot pass the virus onto others. Additionally, it isn’t known how long your immunity will persist. This, very importantly, means that you still need to wear a mask, wash/sanitize your hands, and practice social distancing — and to be rigorous about doing them all — for now.
Österreich im 3. Lockdown – Kurz: Normalität wieder im Sommer 2021
Er rechnet Anfang 2021 in ganz Europa mit einer dritten Infektionswelle. Dank der Impfungen und Tests sei danach Entspannung zu erwarten, sagte er.
Coronavirus Live: Four People Test Positive for New Strain of Coronavirus in Israel
(today)
A fourth case had been discovered in an Israeli who had not been abroad recently. The Health Ministry said they are investigating the case and will update accordingly.
„Over the past few days we are making a concerted effort to check that the mutation from Britain has not infiltrated [Israel]. Until several minutes ago, we had been optimistic, and now we are less optimistic,“ Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said.
Netanyahu Uses New COVID-19 Strain to Scare the Public at the Best Possible Time for Him
(22.12.2020)
The coronavirus pandemic is dangerous enough on its own – but adding the considerations of a prime minister who is a criminal defendant trying to escape justice, the result is systematic disregard for the population
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told a Downing Street briefing the old tiering system was not enough to control the new variant of the Covid virus, as he announced stricter curbs for Sussex and part of Surrey.
The UK has detected two cases of another „more transmissible“ variant of coronavirus, the health secretary Matt Hancock says.
Oxford vaccine: How did they make it so quickly?
(23.11.2020)
Scientists took a common cold virus that infected chimpanzees and engineered it to become the building block of a vaccine against almost anything.
Before Covid, 330 people had been given ChAdOx1 based-vaccines for diseases ranging from flu to Zika virus, and prostate cancer to the tropical disease chikungunya.
The virus from chimps is genetically modified so it cannot cause an infection in people. It can then be modified again to contain the genetic blueprints for whatever you want to train the immune system to attack.
Nach Reisebeschränkungen: Der Verkehr rollt wieder an
Frankreich hat die wegen der neuen Coronavirus-Variante verhängte Beschränkung für Reisen aus Großbritannien wieder gelockert. EU-Bürger sowie Briten dürfen ab heute wieder einreisen. Das teilte die französische Regierung in Paris mit – zwei Tage nachdem die Reisebeschränkung verhängt worden war. Voraussetzung ist aber ein negativer Corona-Test.
TRUCK OFF, MACRON: Stranded Brit truckers on the move again as shamed Emmanuel Macron is forced to reopen French border
STRANDED truckers were ready to roll again last night after shamed French leader Emmanuel Macron was forced to reopen his country’s border with the UK.
He caved in after pressure from Britain and the EU to end a 48-hour blockade imposed amid fears over the new Covid strain.
Thousands of truckers in Dover will have controversial rapid Covid test today after Macron gives way and says lorry drivers CAN now enter France if they have negative result – but freight backlog will take days to clear
The agreement requires every driver to have been tested for coronavirus, using controversial lateral flow tests, which are able to turn around results in under an hour but have had their effectiveness questioned.
Those who come back negative will be told by text message in as little as 20 minutes, and be given the green light to hit the road and head over to the continent, but positive cases will be sent to a hotel to isolate.
Von der Leyen takes control of Brexit talks in attempt to strike deal
Von der Leyen spoke by telephone to Johnson on Monday night to discuss a way forward and further calls are expected in the next 24 hours, but the commission refused to offer details.
Barnier said as he went into a meeting with EU ambassadors: “We are really in the crucial moment. We are giving it the final push. In 10 days the UK will leave the single market and we continue to work in total transparency with the member states right now and with the parliament.”
Brexit poses grave risks to UK health and care sector, report finds
The Nuffield Trust thinktank stated: “The perilously uncertain future facing the UK at the end of the Brexit transition period could put the UK’s health and care system at risk.”
The report said new migration rules, possible disruption to medicines and devices, an ongoing economic slowdown and barriers to science investment would hit the health sector.
NHS leaders call for Brexit talks extension warning no-deal risks adding to health crisis amid pandemic
The warning came as a negotiated Brexit deal looks increasingly unlikely and Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the new variant of coronavirus as being „out of control“.
Britischer Gesundheitsdienst – NHS bittet Johnson um Brexit-Aufschub
Der NHS befürchtet zudem, dass Rettungswagen aufgrund von Lastwagenstaus vor allem in der südostenglischen Grafschaft Kent am Ärmelkanal, einem Zentrum der Corona-Infektionen, nicht rechtzeitig die Patienten erreichen könnten. Johnsons Regierung hat eine Verlängerung der Übergangsphase bisher strikt abgelehnt.
Who knew what and when about Britain’s Covid mutation? PHE first discovered the fast-spreading variant in October but didn’t raise the alarm until last week – amid claims scientists held back discovery to bounce No10 into Tier Four
At the start of the month information about VUI-202012/01 was passed to the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Advisory Group (NERVTAG) committee, which advises England’s Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty. The group first discussed the strain at a December 11 meeting and began modelling its severity on the UK’s epidemic.
Ministers were not made aware of the variant until last Monday, almost two months after its initial discovery, when they were told it was more infectious and probably behind the continued rise in cases in London and the South East.
Boris blusters his way through pointless press conference without giving a single answer about when truckers will be allowed into France: Port chaos could continue until Xmas after Macron insists on Covid tests or no travel
– Port of Dover in Kent was dramatically closed to all freight vehicles leaving the UK for the next 48 hours
– Hauliers coming to UK will still be allowed but there are fears drivers won’t travel to avoid being ‚marooned‘
– Countries including France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Poland have announced restrictions on UK travel
– Comes after emergence of mutant strain of coronavirus in England which spreads quicker than predecessor
– PM Boris Johnson held a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee this afternoon to discuss travel ban
– Port of Dover later confirmed inbound freights were still arriving and France said movement would resume
– But Mr Johnson was unable to say exactly when the travel ban will be lifted as he expressed his frustrations
Europe blockade pushes UK closer to food shortages at Christmas
Responding to yesterday evening’s suspension of accompanied freight traffic from the UK to France, FDF CEO Ian Wright told Yahoo Finance UK: “Yesterday’s suspension of accompanied freight traffic from the UK to France has the potential to cause serious disruption to UK post-Christmas fresh food supplies – and exports of UK food and drink.
The genetic structure of SARS‐CoV‐2 does not rule out a laboratory origin
(17.11.2020)
We here describe how the two main SARS‐CoV‐2 features, (1) the presence of a furin cleavage site missing in other CoVs of the same group and (2) an receptor binding domain (RBD) optimized to bind to human cells[2] might be the result of lab manipulation techniques such as site‐directed mutagenesis. The acquisition of both unique features by SARS‐CoV‐2 more or less simultaneously is less likely to be natural or caused only by cell/animal serial passage.
Heathrow chaos as hundreds try to cram onto last plane to Dublin after more than a dozen countries ban ALL flights from Britain, Eurotunnel closes and French BLOCK UK lorries for 48 hours after discovery of ‚70% more infectious‘ mutant Covid strain
– France, Germany, Israel, El Salvador, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Italy, Finland, Denmark, Turkey, Morocco, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Ireland have banned all flights from Britain
– Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of the Government’s Cobra civil contingencies committee on Monday after a series of countries announced they were stopping flights from the UK, Downing Street has said
What’s the deal with the “New UK Variant”?
The Govt aren’t going to tell you, so here’s what you need to know about the new SARS CoV2 “variant”
It felt like a meeting of horror movie scriptwriters: GLEN OWEN tells the inside story of how a libertarian PM ended up feeling he had no choice but to cancel Christmas
The grim countenances of Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance told the story before they even started talking – Christmas was off. As Boris Johnson sat in the Cabinet Room at 5pm on Friday, Whitty and Vallance appeared on the Zoom monitors and started reeling off increasingly alarming data about the new mutant strain of the coronavirus…
‚We’re not going to be knocking on people doors on Christmas Day‘: Police officers say new Tier 4 restrictions ‚don’t make sense‘ as thousands vow to IGNORE the rules
At an emergency press conference, Boris Johnson announced a third of England, including London and swathes of the home counties, will be shifted up to the brutal new tier from midnight.
Mr Marsh told MailOnline the new rules – which close non-essential retail and ban overnight stays in infection spots – meant little, because Mr Johnson has ‚lost the good will of the people‘ over the festive period.
Prime Minister announces Tier 4: ‚Stay At Home‘ Alert Level in response to new COVID variant
The Prime Minister has announced tougher restrictions for large parts of South East England with a new Tier 4: ‘Stay at Home’ alert level.
The decision follows a rapid rise in infections attributed to the rapid spread of a new variant of COVID-19.
Based on preliminary modelling data, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) now consider that the new strain can spread significantly more quickly and could increase R by 0.4 or more. New and existing data will continue to be analysed as we learn more about the variant.
Exclusive: Alarming new evidence on coronavirus mutation could bring tougher restrictions
Government scientists at the Porton Down laboratory in Wiltshire have been conducting experiments on the new strain, and have confirmed ministers‘ fears about it being far more infectious than the original strain of the virus.
(…)
The meeting of ministers was expected to continue late into the night, with Whitehall sources refusing to rule out a press conference on Saturday to announce additional restrictions.
Researchers looking at new coronavirus strain, says health minister
Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, told a press conference that London was being moved to more stringent Tier 3 restrictions because cases were surging in and around the capital — and not directly in response to the discovery of the new variant.
Spread of a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant across Europe in summer 2020
(29.10.2020)
Currently, 20A.EU1 accounts for 90% of sequences from the UK, 60% of sequences from Ireland, and between 30 and 40% of sequences in Switzerland and the Netherlands. This makes this variant currently one of the most prevalent in Europe. It has also been identified in France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway, and Sweden.
90% of UK Covid cases came from Spanish strain, study shows
(30.10.2020)
Research showed that the Spanish strain accounted for 90 percent of sequences from the UK, 60 percent from Ireland, 40 percent from the Netherlands, 30 percent from Switzerland and has been identified in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway, and Sweden.
Coronavirus D614G mutation found in 99.9% of cases at US hospital
(02.11.2020)
The finding adds credence to the theory the mutation, which accounts for 85 per cent of global cases, is more contagious than the original strain.
D614G is by far the most common strain of coronavirus affecting humans worldwide and first appeared in February in Europe.
What is ‚VUI – 202012/01‘? Matt Hancock reveals new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus could be behind surging cases in London and the South East – but it has ‚only been found in 1,000 people and isn’t more deadly‘
However, there have been three that have caught scientists‘ attention:
D614G
D614G is by far the most common strain of coronavirus affecting humans worldwide and first appeared in February in Germany.
It is thought to account for 85 per cent of global cases.
The D614G mutation sprung up at one specific location, position 614, on the spike protein of the virus, in a European patient.
This viral spike hijacks the human receptor ACE2 and this is how it infects human cells.