It is a
well-established fact that the sales man-ager of any product, from any
company, will say anything in order to promote his sales and increase
his company's profits, by the US$Billions. Mind you, not by a few
thousand dollars or a few million dollars, but by the Billions of
Dollars!
Can you imagine, just 1% of the company's profits goes
to him, how much will he get for his Christmas gift? Would this
motivation not good enough to make him goes all out to paint the most
attraxtive, mind-mesmerising and rosy Micheangelo Painting to sell to
the highest bidder?
In our world, there are three categories / levels of fools:
1.
If you get fooled once (Vaccines efficacy is 90% to 95%), you were a
fool. But not your fault. It is the snake oil seller's intention to fool
you. You are an innocent fool.
2. If you were fooled the second
time (the vaccine cannot prevent infection but can reduce severity of
infection), then you are a very careless and willing fool. No more the
snake oil seller's fault. It's your fault. You are a willing fool.
3.
If you get fooled for the third time (despite proven unreliability in
the previous two instances, the vaccine can still do wonders!), then you
are not only careless and willing. You are a stubborn and idiotic fool
who deserves to be fooled by everyone throughout your whole life.
So, think and decide which category/level of a fool you want to belong to.
A-non-y-mouse.
Yushui Village in Lijiang, Yunnan, with snow mountain backdrop and cascading waterfalls.
Singapore has already attained all the three levels of fools. Bought the lie wholesale, bait hook and sinker.
ReplyDeleteNow even embarking on injecting the young, the future leaders of Singapore, to ensure that they be poisoned as well.
Desperate times produce desperate leaders.
Desperate leaders make desperate policies and take desperate actions.
Desperate policies and desperate actions make desperate mistakes.
Desperate mistakes result in desperate risks and desperate consequences.
Suspected Omicron cluster found at Anytime Fitness in Bukit Timah Shopping Centre
ReplyDeleteA suspected Omicron cluster has been detected at the Anytime Fitness gym in Bukit Timah Shopping Centre.
Two Covid-19 cases linked to the gym have tested preliminary positive for the Omicron variant while the test result of a third case is still pending, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement issued early on Tuesday morning (Dec 21).
All 3 cases are fully vaccinated and have mild symptoms.
MOH is ring-fencing the cases through contact tracing, it added.
The 3 cases are 2 men, aged 21 and 24, and an 18-year-old Ngee Ann Polytechnic student who was last in school on Dec 15.
The 21-year-old is a student at At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy but had not been to school recently, while the 24-year-old is unemployed.
MOH said that all 3 cases had no recent travel history.
The ministry added that its investigations found that they recently visited the gym between Dec 15 and Dec 17.
The ministry said staff and visitors to the gym who are identified to be close contacts of the cases will be placed under quarantine.
As a precautionary measure, other visitors to the gym between Dec 15 and Dec 17 will be issued health risk warnings (HRW).
They will also be contacted by MOH for a 1-time polymerase chain reaction test.
The ministry advises all visitors to the gym to monitor their health closely and minimise social interactions as far as possible for 14 days from their date of visit.
They are also encouraged to see a doctor immediately if they feel unwell.
MOH added that there are 71 confirmed Omicron cases detected in Singapore to date, with 65 imported cases and 6 local cases.
Said the ministry: "Given its high transmissibility and spread to many parts of the world, we should expect to find more Omicron cases at our borders and also within our community.
"It is important for everyone to continue to play their part and remain vigilant to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 and to come forward to receive your vaccination or booster dose when offered."
Separately, MOH announced 195 new Covid-19 infections and 2 deaths recorded in Singapore on its website on Monday (Dec 20). Among the new cases were 45 Omicron cases, comprising 3 local and 42 imported cases.
The number is down from the 255 cases and 3 deaths recorded on Sunday (Dec 19), and it is the 18th day in a row that the number of new coronavirus cases has fallen below 1,000, according to statistics published on the MOH website.
Overall, there were 141 cases in the community, 5 in migrant worker dormitories and and 49 imported cases reported on Monday.
The intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate was 52.8 per cent, up from 43.8 per cent on Sunday.
There are 506 cases in hospital, with 29 in critical condition, 7 under close monitoring and 57 requiring oxygen support.
The weekly infection growth rate was 0.56, holding steady from Sunday.
This figure refers to the ratio of community cases in the past week over the week before.
A weekly infection growth rate that is consistently below 1 shows that the number of weekly new Covid-19 cases is falling.
The growth rate has been below 1 since Nov 13.
The 2 deaths reported on Monday take Singapore's Covid-19 death toll to 815. MOH did not provide more details on the fatalities.
The total number of cases here now stands at 276,105.
Ong Ye Kung is with Ministry of Health, Singapore.
ReplyDelete#Throwback exactly a year ago, we were standing at the tarmac on the night of Winter Solstice (冬至) for the arrival of the first COVID-19 vaccine shipment from Brussels.
A year on, the first shipment of paediatric doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine is en route from Europe and will depart Germany today. This shipment is expected to arrive in #Singapore on 22 December.
This means that we will soon be ready to start COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 years. The full details on the rollout will be announced by Ministry of Education, Singapore later today.
With more Omicron variant cases detected locally and globally, vaccination is key to protect both the young and old.
I missed my gym training. But I would not step into the gym under this pandemic or endemic.
ReplyDeleteIt is foolhardy to allow a group of people training hard, breathing hard, sweating hard in the confined space of a gym.
Sad to say this, only the unthinking braves would train in the gym with a group of hard breathing people exchanging breath and thinking it is safe.
Covid-19 vaccine bookings for children in S'pore aged 5 to 11 to start on Dec 22; jabs from Dec 27
ReplyDeleteCovid-19 vaccination for children aged five to 11 will begin on Monday (Dec 27), with bookings opening from Dec 22 - first for Primary 4 to 6 pupils.
The vaccination exercise for more than 300,000 children will be done across 15 paediatric centres, which will be rolled out in batches.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) announced on Tuesday (Dec 21) details for the vaccination programme, which will be open to all children who are Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders.
Older children will go first, starting with Primary 4 to Primary 6 pupils attending MOE schools in 2022. Close to 120,000 SMS invitations will be sent on Dec 22 to their parents to book appointments. The text messages will include a unique link to book a vaccination appointment.
From Dec 27, parents of all other children born between 2009 and 2012, and who are not in MOE schools, can register their interest for the vaccination. They can do so at the MOH National Appointment System (NAS) at this website.
Primary 1 to Primary 3 pupils will be next, and their parents will receive booking invites from the week of Jan 3 next year.
This will be followed by all children aged five and above (born between 2013 and 2017), from the week of Jan 10. Their parents can also register their interest on NAS.
The 15 paediatric vaccination centres will be spread across Singapore and are mainly located with existing vaccination centres for adults and older children.
The MOE and ECDA said that there will be separate queues and spaces at the centres for younger children to ensure safe distancing and correct administration of the vaccine.
These centres will be manned by medical personnel trained in paediatric care, as well as staff trained in administering vaccination for children.
Seven centres will start operations from Dec 27, followed by seven more centres from Jan 3, 2022. Each centre has a capacity of up to 1,000 appointments a day.
An additional paediatric vaccination centre within Yusof Ishak Secondary School will also be set up to cater to families in the Punggol and Sengkang area, starting on Jan 11, 2022.
Special arrangements will be made for children in special education (Sped) schools and ECDA-funded EIPIC centres. EIPIC stands for Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children.
The Ministry of Health will deploy mobile vaccination teams to schools for all eligible Sped and EIPIC students from Jan 12, 2022.
For other children with special needs who do not attend Sped schools and EIPIC centres, such as those from private early intervention centres or who are home-schooled, their parents may register their interest on the NAS when their children's age bands are eligible for registration.
Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine is the only vaccine approved for children aged 5 to 11 in Singapore.
The first batch is expected to arrive here on Wednesday (Dec 22).
Earlier this month, the Health Sciences Authority approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine for use in children in this age group, following Phase 3 clinical trial results showing its safety and efficacy for them.
Locations of 15 designated paediatric vaccination centres (VCs)
Let us pray for the safety of these children.
ReplyDeleteMass murders!
ReplyDeleteOmicron dominates new US COVID cases; first known death reported.
ReplyDeleteOmicron cases account for 73.2 percent of new US infections over the past week as Texas reports first death linked to the variant.
Actually, across the 50 states, there are at least 12 deaths caused by Omicron, reported so far.
What is the real situation in Singapore regarding Omicron infections and deaths?
Israel losing its edge in fight against omicron as infections spike
ReplyDeleteIsrael is likely to face thousands of COVID cases caused by the new omicron variant within the next two to four weeks, according to a Health Ministry forecast presented to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett over the weekend.
Ministry officials expect that the new variant will lead to exponential spread given that it is three times as contagious as the delta variant which is currently dominant in Israel.
There have already been 175 cases of the omicron variant diagnosed in the country, but by the end of this week, ministry staffers expect that number to more than double to at least 400 cases. And there are already another 380 cases in which omicron is “highly suspected” and being investigated.
The numbers are still relatively small, but the increase in the number of confirmed COVID cases and the jump in the R number – which represents how many people the average infected person infects – has led some experts to believe that undetected omicron cases are already responsible for the rise in case numbers.
As a result of the spread of omicron around the world, Israel is preparing for a fifth COVID wave. In cabinet deliberations, Knesset committee meetings and among public health officials, the approaching fifth wave is considered a fact, echoing Bennett's declaration on Sunday that the "fifth wave has begun."Israel is likely to face thousands of COVID cases caused by the new omicron variant within the next two to four weeks, according to a Health Ministry forecast presented to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett over the weekend.
Ministry officials expect that the new variant will lead to exponential spread given that it is three times as contagious as the delta variant which is currently dominant in Israel.
There have already been 175 cases of the omicron variant diagnosed in the country, but by the end of this week, ministry staffers expect that number to more than double to at least 400 cases. And there are already another 380 cases in which omicron is “highly suspected” and being investigated.
The numbers are still relatively small, but the increase in the number of confirmed COVID cases and the jump in the R number – which represents how many people the average infected person infects – has led some experts to believe that undetected omicron cases are already responsible for the rise in case numbers.
As a result of the spread of omicron around the world, Israel is preparing for a fifth COVID wave. In cabinet deliberations, Knesset committee meetings and among public health officials, the approaching fifth wave is considered a fact, echoing Bennett's declaration on Sunday that the "fifth wave has begun."
In the meantime, the daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to swell, approaching 1,000 at a time when the R number has already climbed to 1.22, well above the 1.0 threshold, indicating the spread of the virus.
Ben-Gurion International Airport was a significant gateway for the virus into Israel until this week’s decision to expand the number of "red countries", out-of-bounds travel destinations other than under special circumstances.
Omicron could redefine ‘fully vaccinated’ to include a booster dose
ReplyDeleteHealth officials in the United States and around the world have signaled in recent days that the definition of being fully vaccinated could be expanded to include booster shots, as the omicron coronavirus variant’s spread alters the world’s path to recovery.
Rising cases, including large spikes in cities including New York and Washington, have further fueled concerns about whether the current full vaccination regimen provides enough protection against the omicron variant.
President Biden has for weeks urged all eligible Americans to get booster shots, as experts have warned that the new variant can evade the antibodies provided by the original doses of the vaccine. Getting boosted, early studies have shown, can raise the level of antibodies high enough to make it harder for the virus to take hold.
Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was open to changing the definition of fully vaccinated to include booster shots. The matter was “on the table,” he said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” though he said he was not sure “exactly when that will happen.”
“There’s no doubt — if you want to be optimally protected, you should get your booster,” Fauci said.
Health officials on Dec. 19 urged Americans to get vaccinated and take precautions against the omicron variant. (The Washington Post)
The CDC says on its website that “everyone is still considered fully vaccinated” even without a booster shot if it has been two weeks since the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, or the first dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
Changing that definition could leave many people shut out of venues requiring full vaccination. Fewer than 18 percent of Americans have received a booster shot as of Saturday, according to CDC data. More than 61 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated under the current CDC definition.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said last week on MSNBC that she was “working on” expanding the definition of being fully vaccinated to include booster shots in the state. “I believe that should happen, and we’ll make it happen in New York,” she said, while noting that her administration was seeking a way to accommodate people who were recently vaccinated and not yet eligible for a booster shot.
Jonathan Ball, a professor of virology at the University of Nottingham in Britain, cautioned against reliance on boosters as a means of trying to stop transmission. “Vaccines were rolled out to reduce disease, not stop infections,” he said. “At the moment, some places like the U.K. are using boosters to reduce cases,” he said.
“This might work in the short-term,” he said, adding that sterilizing immunity, which can prevent infection rather than just preventing severe illness, wanes quickly. “I think eventually policy will need to refocus on targeting vulnerable populations and trying to get vaccine uptake in those as high as possible," he said.
Booster requirements have already sprung up in some settings in the United States: New York University said that all eligible students and staff would be required to show proof of a booster shot by Jan. 18, and the NFL last week told teams it would require coaches and some staff to get booster shots. Starting Jan. 17, a booster shot for those who are eligible will be required for entry to the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Several countries have made the shift. Israel has begun requiring a booster shot to maintain a valid “Green Pass,” the country’s proof of vaccination, which is required for entry to restaurants and event venues. South Korea on Monday will begin a similar measure, requiring a booster shot within six months of the original regimen, and officials in other countries have indicated they could follow suit.
ReplyDeleteOmicron: 3 vaccine doses are not enough to stop the new COVID variant, warns BioNTech CEO
COVID-19 vaccines will not be enough to withstand the Omicron variant, warned the CEO of BioNTech, the German company behind the mRNA vaccine produced with Pfizer.
"We must be aware that even triple-vaccinated are likely to transmit the disease…It is obvious we are far from 95 per cent effectiveness that we obtained against the initial virus," Ugur Sahin told the French daily Le Monde in an interview published on Monday.
Despite this, Sahin said early data from Britain and South Africa is providing us with “reassuring information”.
The latest research from South Africa, where Omicron was first reported, suggested that two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine offered 70 per cent effectiveness in reducing the risk of hospitalisation.
“There will be a loss of effectiveness against Omicron over time, it's very likely, but it's still to be measured how quickly. I will not base predictions on preliminary laboratory data but on real-life data, which is much more appropriate,” the German immunologist said.
Sahin said testing for COVID-19 is important, especially for the elderly and during winter, as are other protective measures such as mask-wearing, adding, “otherwise we will not be able to control the rapid expansion of this new variant.”
The German company is already designing a coronavirus vaccine adapted to the new variant, using Omicron’s spike protein and its 32 mutations as an antigen. Sahin announced this should be ready by March.
A new Omicron vaccine
“We remain on track with our 100-day target, which means we should be able to deliver our first suitable vaccines to Omicron in March, subject to regulatory approval,” he said.
Some researchers have voiced concern about the effect of these new vaccines as instead of boosting new immune defences, they could risk boosting inadequate ones.
Pressed on this, Sahin said: "This principle is an unproven hypothesis, personally, I don't think this is a real problem. The immune system has high adaptability and plasticity, and should be able to activate both, strengthening existing immune responses while generating new antibodies.”
“But we will obviously have to assess it.”
The Omicron spread
The World Health Organization said on Saturday Omicron had been detected in 89 countries and is spreading rapidly even in places with high levels of population immunity.
The UN health agency said Omicron's “substantial growth advantage” over the Delta variant means it is likely to soon takeover Delta as the dominant variant in those countries.
It is still unclear how effective vaccines are against the new variant.
Moderna booster 'appears protective' against Omicron
Meanwhile, Moderna, which has also produced an mRNA vaccine, said on Monday that a booster dose of its vaccine appeared to be protective against Omicron.
Moderna said that its research so far showed that a 50 microgram dose of its vaccine, which is the current amount for a booster jab, increased the level of antibodies 37-fold, compared with two doses.
It also said a full dose of 100 micrograms boosted antibody levels 83-fold, it said.
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said that the data so far has been "reassuring" in a press statement on Monday.
The data was taken from laboratory tests from 20 people who received the booster vaccine.
It is clear that this Snake Oil Seller is speaking with a fork tongue. Heads he wins, tails we lose.
DeleteBasically, all the Snake Oils Sellers cannot be trusted any more. No matter how they twist and turn.
Lee Hsien Loong
ReplyDeletehttps://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=457056659113802&id=100044284156667
Children aged 5 to 11 can now get COVID-19 vaccinations, starting next week.
Those born between 2009 to 2012 can get their jabs starting from 27 December, while those born between 2013 and 2017 can get theirs subsequently. 15 paediatric vaccination centres will be progressively set up islandwide for this exercise.
The children will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty paediatric vaccine. SMS invitations will start going out to parents tomorrow.
Thanks to your cooperation, 96% of our eligible population have been fully vaccinated. Vaccinating younger children next will help to keep them, their families and the wider community safe, especially with the Omicron variant spreading everywhere.
I encourage parents/guardians to get your child or ward vaccinated if they are medically eligible. – LHL
#SGUnited
If something goes wrong to our children in the future, we must remind ourselves that he is responsible.
DeleteDrug Pushers who do not uphold responsibility, accountability and transparency, and are endangering our children carelessly and needlessly must one day face the music.
ReplyDeleteWhy still by invitation? Why not make it compulsory instead of encourage?
ReplyDeleteSomething is not right.
There's some untold, unrevealed risks to the heart and brain caused by the mRNA vaccines that they know but are deliberately hiding from the public.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a humongous conspiracy led by the Americans to get as many people jabbed by their vaccines as possible, including children. And they are coordinating the narratives.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand there is a growing group of scientists and medical professionals seeing a different set of data and crying foul, that something is grossly wrong about the push for the mRNA vaccines.
At this point in time it is not clear who is right or who is wrong, or partially right, partially wrong.
It is a gamble to take the side of either group. It is not a clean position. And the consequences or harm against the benefits could also be written that the risks outweigh the benefits instead of the benefits outweigh the risks.
Should this be the case when the verdict is still out there and the people, especially parents are forced to make a decision on the lives of their children? Can this decision be delayed until more clarity is available? Why the rush, why the coercion?
A wrong decision can be crippling or even fatal.
It is baffling to see how things are developing.