nudge

A legend of Nürburgring and an extremely lovely human being. RIP... Such sad news. Hope they will rename a part of the circuit in her honour. Legends never die

Looks like it would go well with beer!

If it is indeed disseminated intravascular coagulation, as suspected, then the incidence in general population outside of hospitals is almost 0. It's a condition that is generally caused by major trauma, sepsis, cancer or extreme pregnancy complications, that's why it caused such concern when it suddenly happened in young and healthy people without any apparent reason, and is also the reason why it is being investigated. It is important to find out why it is happening and what triggered it, regardless if it vaccine-related or not. I honestly don't think that suspending the use of one vaccine for two weeks while investigation is ongoing will have a massive impact, especially considering that a) other vaccines are still in use b) partial lockdown & social distancing measures are still in place c) AstraZeneca hasn't delivered that many doses to the EU anyway. Also, the so-called third wave is already there in some countries anyway. One could argue that they could just stop using the two "suspicious" batches and keep on using the other ones, though.

It's not the regular thromboembolism events (i.e. single clot) that is the main cause of concern here though, it's the multiple clotting in unusual places in combination with low platelet count, which together led to brain haemorrhaging and is a very rare condition in general population, and also the fact that it suddenly occured in young(ish), otherwise healthy people in at least 3 different countries in a very short time frame (2-3 weeks).

Well, you have to understand though that those potential side effects that are being reported in numerous countries are extremely unusual in general population and therefore need to be properly investigated, as if it's indeed related to the vaccine in any way and if it keeps on happening, then you'll end up with more healthy people dying or in serious, life threatening condition which is unacceptable and could be avoided. Also, unfounded inferences? I don't know, nothing has been proven or denied yet. It could be a set of weird coincidences, some unrelated event that caused excess activation of coagulation system, some issue with the procedure of delivering the vaccine, a contaminated batch or equipment, some other issue in AstraZeneca's EU production line, some specific genetic marker that triggers the reaction, an issue with the vaccine itself, or something entirely different. But it's definitely worrying that there have been at least 40 documented cases in multiple countries within a short timeframe with the same severe symptoms that normally aren't observed in relatively young and healthy people, and so far the only thing linking all those cases is the AstraZeneca vaccine, so for me, stopping the use of it for two weeks until it is properly investigated sounds like a very reasonable thing to do. In fact, that's a pretty standard procedure to take precautionary measures when such severe events occure, regardless if it's a testing phase or a real-life scenario. Straight out rejecting the idea that there might be a potential link of the vaccine and severe side effects is just as bad as being anti-vax, to be honest.

He just did a 140 miles triathlon-inspired-challenge for Red Nose Day a while ago, too. Incredible resilience and strength of character.

I really hope this is the season where Max wins his first title. Would love it to be a close battle until the very last race, really miss the excitement of that. Other than that, midfield looks even better and potentially more competitive than it was last season, so hope for some juicy battles there too.

It's a combination of both - it seems to effectively decrease the risk of both infection and severe disease. Studies of effectiveness using real data: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2101765 https://github.com/ChronicDiseaseEpi/hcw/blob/master/vaccine_manuscript.pdf https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00448-7/fulltext

Hmm no, I don't think you have

For those unsure what to do tonight: 25 Jahre Alarm für Cobra 11 series marathon will start in a few moments on RTL Nitro and will go on until 5 o'clock in the morning...

Just keep in mind that it's not instant protection, it takes some time to build full immunity after vaccination. Approx. two weeks after the second dose.

New data suggests high effectiveness in preventing transmissions, too. Real-world data from Israel says 94% for asymptomatic and 97% for symptomatic transmissions, I think.

I'm not a lawmaker in Peru, so don't know what the regulations are there for vaccinated people. As for the Brazilian variant - as @Stan said already, first lab studies suggest that Pfizer does neutralise it. There's no real world data yet, but everything suggests it will be effective.

I'll donate a tenner just to keep it locked.

That looks tasty... Not a big fan of sweet potatoes, but I love lentils!

It really is great. I was a bit skeptical at first, thought it would be too silly, but it is so well written... The balance is just right - you have an interesting concept and story, some silly gags, some clever humour, plenty of subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) satire and critique of our society. Pretty lighthearted while also dealing with some serious issues; a really good watch. @Bluewolf can confirm

Upload on Prime Video. Such an unexpectedly great series... Interesting concept, good humour, great writing. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7826376/ Can't wait for Season 2...

If there were serious issues with the vaccine in general, you would have surely had plenty of deaths and cases of severe side effects in the UK already, given the sheer amount of people who received their 1st dose... So I wouldn't sweat it, but safety precautions like that is a standard procedure when deaths/severe cases are reported, and it's a good thing it is... There's a possibility that manufacturing/quality control of that specific batch could have been compromised.

No, that's still under investigation. The overall reported number of thromboembolic issues does not exceed the occurrence rate observed in general population, but there are questions raised about one particular batch of the vaccine (ABV5300 which has been delivered to 17 European countries). It all started in Austria, where a 49 year old nurse suddenly developed multiple thrombosis and died shortly after receiving her jab, and her 35 year old colleague nurse from the same clinic was hospitalised with pulmonary embolism (which is usually caused by thrombosis) after receiving her vaccine from the same batch. Denmark reported numerous cases with serious thromboembolic issues as well (including one death, reportedly - but not officially confirmed, I think), and several other countries reported similar isolated severe side effects too, so this is a precaution until it is being investigated.

I know, just messing about I'm a loyal ORF and Hausleitner/Wurz fan anyway

Relax, I just found it slightly amusing

Well that settles it, no Sky for me this season

And in case that doesn't work out, there's always other planets for potential relationships. I'd recommend Neptunian ones, personally.

Denmark has just suspended use of AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution due to numerous cases of serious blood coagulation problems. Austria stopped using a specific batch of the vaccine due to the same issues (multiple thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) a few days ago. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Luxembourg suspended use of the same batch of the vaccine as well.