
We shall see.
Courtesy of Business Insider:
Bill Gates is feeling optimistic that, with all the work being done to develop COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, there is an end to the pandemic in sight.
Unfortunately, that end is still at least a year away, he told Wired’s Steven Levy.
“The innovation pipeline on scaling up diagnostics, on new therapeutics, on vaccines is actually quite impressive. And that makes me feel like, for the rich world, we should largely be able to end this thing by the end of 2021, and for the world at large by the end of 2022,” Gates said.
Gates says that he fears that in nations like Russia and China, the pressure to have a vaccine is so high that regulators may be allowing shots to be given to humans before the vaccines are known to be safe and effective.
But the US FDA is not allowing such short-cuts, he said.
“We probably need three or four months — no matter what — of phase 3 data, just to look for side effects,” Gates said. “The FDA, to their credit, at least so far, is sticking to requiring proof of efficacy.”
Last month, Gates told Business Insider’s Hilary Brueck that he’s confident that scientists will develop a vaccine that’s “very effective and very safe” in part because there are so many vaccines currently in development: more than 160 worldwide. Two of the four speediest trials that are testing vaccines in humans right now are US-based, too: Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.
Gates also told Brueck if the best vaccines are not shared worldwide, that COVID-19 will “just keep coming back.”
In the meantime, Gates predicts we’re in for a rough fall and winter with the virus, even though this virus does not appear to be seasonal.
I am really gratified to hear Gates say that FDA is not allowing vaccines that are not safe and effective to be pushed through because I really worry about Trump trying to get some poisonous totally ineffective concoction out into the market place to help with his reelection.
This means I am going to keep an eye on the FDA to make sure that Trump does not pull the same shit there that he is pulling with the US Postal Service and Justice Department.
As for the end of this pandemic, I think that Gates is likely being a little optimistic here, but I also think that it is possible to have under control in a year’s time but only if Trump is no longer in office.
If Trump does somehow manage to remain in office I think we should all start preparing for the End Times.
For the rich world???
Alrighty then.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/mnuchin-threatens-to-make-taxpayers-pay-back-money-unless-trump-is-reelected/
“You just have a transfer from the general fund,” Mnuchin insisted. “We’ll deal with the budget deficit when we get the economy back to where it was before.”
Essentially, robbing Peter to pay Paul and I do NOT believe for one nth of a second that Social Security and Medicare funds are off limits. I have already decided to sock away any payroll tax cuts because nothing, and I mean nothing, is free to any of us regular folk. They’ll want it back and then some. As far as getting the economy back to where it was before, good luck with that. At least he’s admitting the hit, which is more than I can say for his blob of a boss.
Let’s all just wait a minute.
We must wait for Meghan McCain to weigh in.
She is a senator’s daughter, and therefore is our orientation, and the final say.
Any given day on The View, “you can’t talk to me like that, I’m pregnant!”
Oh, you poor little THANG. The epitome of white privilege.
Yeah, you can’t mess with the princess.
She also exits the stage crying, claiming it was just to fix her make up.
To reach herd immunity, 92-95% of the population needs to be vaccinated (or gotten Covid-19 and developed antibodies). A recent CNN poll shows that about 30-33% of Americans said that they will not get the vaccine. We need a national law that states that you must get the vaccine unless you have a valid medical reason. Anyone who refuses should not be allowed to attend school or any group function. Businesses should be allowed to fire any employee that does not get the vaccine, and the employee would not be eligible for unemployment compensation. In addition, they should lose any social security, medicare, and food stamp benefits. If these people do not want to be responsible citizens, then they should not receive the benefits of belonging to a functioning society.
I will not get a vaccine until it’s been proven to be effective, and I am functioning member of society.
The guidelines of mask wearing and distancing have served me well thus far.
“You are hereby commanded to get the vaccine.” -Moses
Is that better?
HAH! Nope.
Thanks for the laugh!
K. Just checking. So you’re not a nut, nor a compliant object. Have a good day.
Here, here.
They shouldn’t be allowed to own guns, drink booze, get medication, go to church, buy fast food, or go to wal Mart. All these things would require proof of vaccination.
A plane to Guantanamo would be standing by loading up with belligerent retards to be flown away for an extended island vacation.
https://www.facebook.com/Stonekettle/posts/3236629749705739
Sturgis, South Dakota.
250,000 bikers, maybe more. Maybe a LOT more.
Jim Knows^the truth.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kodak-loan-hold-up-trump-administration_n_5f2f7944c5b64d7a55f471a2
“A massive $765 million federal government loan to help Eastman Kodak Co. retool to speed production of ingredients for COVID-19 drugs — including controversial hydroxychloroquine — has been held up over “serious concerns” following allegations of “wrongdoing,” a federal agency announced.”
“The Wall Street Journal first reported Tuesday that the SEC was investigating Kodak stock purchases by company board members and stock options granted to them before the deal was announced July 28. Company shares jumped more than 2,000% in the days after the deal was reported, according to Bloomberg.”
“The development bank loan was the first of its kind under the Defense Production Act in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense. When President Donald Trump announced the massive loan, he called the arrangement “one of the most important deals in the history of U.S. pharmaceutical industries.” But after news broke of an SEC review of Kodak stock trading, Trump said of the deal at a news conference: “I wasn’t involved in it.”
The money was intended to transform Kodak into a pharmaceutical operation to produce ingredients for drugs in short supply — including those to treat COVID-19.
According to the Journal, one of those drugs was to be hydroxychloroquine, the controversial anti-malarial drug frequently pitched by Trump. A number of recent studies have shown the drug is ineffective in treating COVID-19 and can cause fatal heart arrhythmia. ”
There. Fixed it for you.
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-sign-order-ohio-requiring-090044698.html
“Warning that the United States should not rely on other countries to supply needed medicines, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday requiring the federal government to purchase certain drugs from American manufacturers rather than from overseas companies.”
“The order, which Trump signed while visiting a Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Clyde, Ohio, instructs the government to develop a list of “essential” medicines, then buy them and other medical supplies from U.S. manufacturers instead of from companies around the world.
The order removes regulatory barriers that the Trump administration said give pharmaceutical manufacturers in other countries an unfair competitive advantage over U.S. companies.”
“Navarro said the order “establishes Buy American rules for our government agencies, strips away regulatory barriers to domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing” and serves as a catalyst for manufacturing technologies needed to keep drug prices low and medicine production onshore.”
So the government is going to subsidize Big Pharma. Because they need more profits and competition is bad for the Republican bottom line. They also love to strip away those regulations. Otherwise known as PROTECTIONS. You know, so the medicine you take isn’t adulterated or something else. Regulations protect PEOPLE. But I guess the People-corporations don’t like anything protecting the people-citizens from them turning a big, fat profit.
You know what happens when you have a captive customer base. Just ask Martin Shkreli.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-gates-coronavirus-tests_n_5f309c84c5b6b9cff7f391f8
“Bill Gates continued his unbridled criticism of the United States’ response to the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday, calling America’s testing system “insanity” and stressing that the country was now facing “a pretty dramatic price” both in human death and wasted money.
Speaking with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Gates said it takes far too long to receive coronavirus test results in the U.S.
“You can’t get the federal government to improve the testing because they just want to say how great it is,” the Microsoft co-founder-turned-philanthropist said. “I’ve said to them, look, have a CDC website that prioritizes who gets tested. That’s trivial to do. They won’t pay attention to that. I’ve said don’t reimburse any tests where the result goes back after three days. You’re paying billions of dollars in this very inequitable way to get the most worthless test results of any country in the world.” ”
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/britain-to-roll-out-5-million-90-min-coronavirus-tests/
“Millions of “ground-breaking” rapid coronavirus tests will be rolled out to hospitals, care homes and labs across the UK to increase testing capacity ahead of winter. The tests will enable clinicians and the NHS to quickly test and trace to stop any future spread of the virus.”
“The two new tests—both able to detect the virus in just 90 minutes—will be made available to NHS hospitals, care homes and labs. The 2 tests will be able to detect both COVID-19 and other winter viruses such as flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), yet do not require a trained health professional to operate—meaning they can be rolled out in more non-clinical settings.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-gates-coronavirus-tests_n_5f309c84c5b6b9cff7f391f8