What began as a short term shut down is beginning to look like a
social transformation.
Under capitalism, our government fears financial loss far worse than
human loss.
But I am unwilling to return to my old comings and goings, testing to
see if I am one of the "fittest" in the human herd. The long term
damage many are suffering from even after an apparent recovery,
suggests that this is far more than a stronger version of the Flu.
On the Fourth Friday of September, our Chapter, the Jefferson County
Council of the Blind is scheduled to meet in the banquet room at the
Road House Restaurant in Port Townsend. But since all our members are
well up in years, and our youngest is 68, we are very reluctant to run
the risk of contacting COVID-19. All the officials in the nation can
order us to resume "normal activities", but we know that for most of
us catching this virus could well be a death sentence.
I'm at a loss as to what to do.
We used to have 25 members, about 8 or 10 of them were movers and
shakers. But one by one they have died or moved into Assisted Living.
When Sue Ammeter died, the active members now stand at 2...Cathy and
myself.
I'm going to suggest to the members that we pay dues for anyone
wanting to continue belonging for the next year, but that we continue
keeping in contact via email and telephone. At least we need to stay
shuttered until after the First of the year.
Carl Jarvis
On 9/4/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Published on
Friday, September 04, 2020
byCommon Dreams
WHO Official Warns No Widespread Covid-19 Vaccine Expected Until Mid-2021
The sobering comments from a spokesperson for the global health agency come
on the heels of the CDC asking states to prepare for potential distribution
of a Covid-19 vaccine by November 1.
byBrett Wilkins, staff writer
A scientist at work in the mAbxience laboratory in Garin, Argentina, where
an experimental coronavirus vaccine for Latin America is being developed.
(Photo: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images)
A scientist works at the mAbxience biosimilar monoclonal antibody
laboratory
plant in Garin, Buenos Aires province, on August 14, 2020, where an
experimental coronavirus vaccine will be produced for Latin America.
(Photo:
Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images)
A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Friday that widespread
vaccination against Covid-19 is not expected until mid-2021, a statement
that stood in stark contrast with President Donald Trump's recent claim
that
a vaccine could be ready by the November general election.
Speaking at a United Nations briefing in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Margaret
Harris said that none of the candidate vaccines currently in advanced
clinical trials has shown "a clear signal" of being at least 50% effective,
the minimum level of acceptability according to many scientists.
"We are really not expecting to see widespread vaccination until the middle
of next year," said Harris, who explained that "phase three [clinical
trials] must take longer because we need to see how truly protective the
vaccine is and we also need to see how safe it is."
"A lot of people have been vaccinated and what we don't know is whether the
vaccine works," she added. "At this stage we do not have the clear signal
of
whether or not it has the level of worthwhile efficacy and safety."
Harris' remarks stood in contrast to an August 6 claim by Trump that a
Covid-19 vaccine could be available by early November. Experts have
repeatedly countered that an effective vaccine would take until at least
the
middle of next year to develop, produce and distribute. Dr. Walter
Orenstein, associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta, said
that vaccine development in less than a year would be a "miracle."
On Thursday, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the administration's own chief vaccine
adviser, told NPR that it was "extremely unlikely" that a vaccine would be
available as the "October surprise" Trump seeks to boost his reelection
chances.
Medical experts and health officials have warned that the administration's
politically motivated push to rush a Covid-19 vaccine to production before
the presidential election, and its stated willingness to fast-track
unproven
experimental vaccines, poses serious public health risks.
On August 27, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director
Robert Redfield sent a letter to state governors urging them to select and
prepare locations for potential Covid-19 vaccine distribution on November
1.
Officials in at least three states-California, New York, and
Washington-have
suggested they would refuse to distribute vaccines they deemed to be
inadequately vetted or politically motivated
"If the U.S. FDA were to proceed with an abbreviated process and approve a
vaccine through the Emergency Use Authorization I think that would raise
concern," said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease
Control and Prevention, on Thursday.
More than 170 nations are currently in talks to join the Covid-19 Vaccines
Global Access (Covax) Facility, a WHO-led global initiative to fast-track
development, production, and equitable worldwide distribution of a
coronavirus vaccine. Covax aims to deliver two billion doses of vaccines by
the end of 2021.
Conspicuously absent from the list of participating countries is the United
States, as the Trump administration claimed on Tuesday that it "will not be
constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World
Health Organization and China."
Trump-who has been widely criticized for his handling of the pandemic in a
nation that has by far suffered the most Covid-19 cases and deaths in the
world-has long been at odds with the WHO. The president has called the
agency "a puppet of China" and has claimed without evidence that it caved
to
pressure from Beijing "to mislead the world" about the nascent pandemic.
In July, Trump followed through on an earlier threat to withdraw from the
WHO by formally notifying the agency that the U.S. would leave it in July
2021. The American Medical Association strongly opposed the move, calling
it
a "major setback to science, public health, and the global coordination of
efforts needed to defeat Covid-19" and warning that it "puts the health of
our country at grave risk."
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden responded to Trump's WHO
withdrawal announcement by saying the U.S. would rejoin the the
organization
on his first day in office.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced it will not pay $80
million
in WHO dues owed for 2019 and 2020 and will instead redirect the money to
help pay its United Nations bill. Georgetown Law professor Lawrence Gostin
slammed the move as "unethical... and patently unlawful."
