Is anyone apposed to me closing the thread? I will still answer questions by PM as a service to our community.
Coronavirus: What questions do you have?
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Sounds reasonable to me. You have retired, haven't you? 
NateB
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This thread was quite helpful and seems to have served its purpose. Covid will remain with us, but we know quite a bit more now.
I have to agree. No matter the criticism, I am so glad for the research and treatment our Docs, Nurses, and First responders have provided. I remember so many patient have been teetering on death, and we have save their lives. It is time to focus on the patients and avoid the .......
Maybe, time till tell.
No objections here. Thank you for your all the ways you've served your country and your communities.
Thank you and get on with your life.
Go for it. I think the education mission is complete, the ones who have been left unreached by the truth were clearly avoiding it. We can deal with them individually.
There’s nothing preventing the re-opening of the thread if another global wave surges, either.
There’s nothing preventing the re-opening of the thread if another global wave surges, either.
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I'm good either way. It has been helpful for sure and I appreciate the effort you've put in helping us online and for the real people you helped through it.
Sandy.
Sandy.
I am going to close the thread in about two weeks. On Wednesday, I can give you my personal professlonal beliefs.
Seems reasonable. As noted, we can reopen if the need arises.
blackwing94
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I would love to hear what you have to say, as a way to close out the thread.
I am sorry for the delay. Personal issues have gotten in the way. I hope to have it up by 8 March.
This post will be a three-part post starting tomorrow through Friday.
- The origin of Covid and the initial preparation (2019 and 2020)
- The middle includes the start of vaccinations (2020-2021)
- Where we went wrong
Funkworks
Low Earth Orbit, obstructing Earth's view of Venus
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I (and most people) survived until I got the first vaccine. That was my first concern.
Now that the lab folks have shown mRNA vaccines work, I'm not concerned about the future.
Now that the lab folks have shown mRNA vaccines work, I'm not concerned about the future.
To remind everyone, I served as the chief physician for the largest military medical center in the southeast.
I am commonly asked two questions by the public about this phase. Should have we shut down and where did COVID come from? I intend to share my educated opinion on both.
At this time, we thought COVID would not make it to the US. In hindsight, that was wishful thinking by the experts. If anything, we acted too slowly to ban travel. I am not sure it would have made a difference because COVID was probably already here, but it certainly would have slowed the spread.
Did we need to restrict nonessential travel and shut things down? The answer is a resounding yes, but there is significant revisionist history going on in this area. People like to say that the lockdowns do nothing (common statement on the talkshows). That is 100% incorrect. They did slow infections to allow the medical community to catch up. The lock downs gave us time to react and prepare for the July and October peaks.
When we started the pandemic in March to April of 2020, you have to remember that we could not even test for COVID. My facility could test for about 60 cases of COVID on an old machine that could test for 5 dozen cases of COVID, Influenza, or STDs. It was slow and old. We could admit 80 patients and most of those were not infectious. My facility is just one of many that could handle the onslaught of sick patients. We need time to gather reouces to meet the demand.
In 3-4 months, we expanded testing nearly 25000% and admission space by nearly 300%. We created additional clinical space from just about any usable space we could find and we added testing oeprations outside the facility to protect our staff. Worldwide, it was pretty amazing what we able to accomplish. We shared successes and failures and improved as a national and world wide community.
Where did COVID come from?
I have pruposely waited for the news to come out on this topic. For 3 three years, I have kept somewhat quite on this topic. I have always thought this was a lab leak. It is still possible that it came from animals and not the lab. I think it is very prudent that we should invesitgate this. The most plausible answer based on the initial clusters from China is that this was a lab leak. It leaked to the wet market and not vice versa.
This educated opinion is shared by other and is growing steam. It has more credibility now knowing that Fauci and other doctored several article to meet their narative. I have never trusted or like the statement "trust the science".
I will discuss the vaccination and where we went wrong tomorrow.
I am commonly asked two questions by the public about this phase. Should have we shut down and where did COVID come from? I intend to share my educated opinion on both.
At this time, we thought COVID would not make it to the US. In hindsight, that was wishful thinking by the experts. If anything, we acted too slowly to ban travel. I am not sure it would have made a difference because COVID was probably already here, but it certainly would have slowed the spread.
Did we need to restrict nonessential travel and shut things down? The answer is a resounding yes, but there is significant revisionist history going on in this area. People like to say that the lockdowns do nothing (common statement on the talkshows). That is 100% incorrect. They did slow infections to allow the medical community to catch up. The lock downs gave us time to react and prepare for the July and October peaks.
When we started the pandemic in March to April of 2020, you have to remember that we could not even test for COVID. My facility could test for about 60 cases of COVID on an old machine that could test for 5 dozen cases of COVID, Influenza, or STDs. It was slow and old. We could admit 80 patients and most of those were not infectious. My facility is just one of many that could handle the onslaught of sick patients. We need time to gather reouces to meet the demand.
In 3-4 months, we expanded testing nearly 25000% and admission space by nearly 300%. We created additional clinical space from just about any usable space we could find and we added testing oeprations outside the facility to protect our staff. Worldwide, it was pretty amazing what we able to accomplish. We shared successes and failures and improved as a national and world wide community.
Where did COVID come from?
I have pruposely waited for the news to come out on this topic. For 3 three years, I have kept somewhat quite on this topic. I have always thought this was a lab leak. It is still possible that it came from animals and not the lab. I think it is very prudent that we should invesitgate this. The most plausible answer based on the initial clusters from China is that this was a lab leak. It leaked to the wet market and not vice versa.
This educated opinion is shared by other and is growing steam. It has more credibility now knowing that Fauci and other doctored several article to meet their narative. I have never trusted or like the statement "trust the science".
I will discuss the vaccination and where we went wrong tomorrow.
Does anyone have any questions about the planning or onset of the pandemic?
Thanks.
Regarding "lab leak" I think it is important to distinguish "a leak of a natural virus under study" from "a leak of an engineered virus."
Media often don't clarify the distinction; some outlets purposefully leave the ambiguity in there to stoke a particular narrative.
So, Chuck, from your educated perspective, do you consider this most likely to be a natural virus that may have leaked, or an engineered/ weaponized virus?
Media often don't clarify the distinction; some outlets purposefully leave the ambiguity in there to stoke a particular narrative.
So, Chuck, from your educated perspective, do you consider this most likely to be a natural virus that may have leaked, or an engineered/ weaponized virus?
There are features that indicate this might be engineered. It has some features that were seen in animals in China prior to the wet market.
My opinion based on the evidence provided is that this is a lab leak of an engineered virus. I think it is an accidental release. I would like to see more research to prove or disprove this. I just want the truth to prevent or help avoid future pandemics.
by pm said:
My professional opinion on masks is tied to the evidence on masking and social distancing. Reducing the spread of COVID requires a mix of both (they do not prevent 100% of infections, but they reduce the risk). I think it is a personal decision until it gets to country-wide spread at a high level. In that case, it makes sense for all to wear masks. Since the middle of 2022, the spread has been low to moderate, so I do not think they are needed as much. I cannot see a reason to wear one in the car alone or outdoors. Outdoors I might wear one if someone is ill.
I quit wearing marks in public in late 2022 unless I am around someone ill. I still socially distance myself. Tegh latter may be a permanent change for me. I rarely shake hands anymore, and I am an avid sanitizer.
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What is your take on recent studies which may suggest a synergistic effect of vaccines + natural immunity. It seems that pure natural immunity has weak effects compared to vaccines, but prior infection + vaccine is better than vacines+boosters alone.
This is a great question. I am going to answer it in parts. I am not militant about immunization for the general public. Vaccinations all have risks, and for all vaccines that I know of, outside of BCG, the benefits outweigh the risks. I provide the information and respect a patient's decision. It is a little different for medical staff and the military because it is a readiness issue.
I have long been troubled by people saying that natural immunity does protect at all. Natural immunity does have an effect, but it differs from the vaccine. In some ways, the vaccine is superior, while the prior infection is superior in others. Either way, natural immunity is not a reason to avoid immunization or to catch the virus to try to get natural immunity. That would not be very intelligent.
Natural immunity delivers a much wider antibody response to multiple proteins, and immunization is a much concentrated and narrower band of antibodies. If the virus you are fighting has the protein, immunization is superior. Against a virus that has a mutation to that protein or those proteins covered by the vaccine, prior infection or natural immunity appears to be superior.
Newer research clearly shows a combined immunity caused by natural immunity and vaccination is superior to either by itself. I still would not use this as an excuse to not protect myself and risk exposure. Infections are a roll of the dice and you might catch a deadly mutation.
I hope this answers your question.
Taken literally and at face value, I don’t like that statement either. Science is a process and a body of collected data drawn from it and a set of conclusions drawn from the data. Trusting the conclusions without scrutinizing the data and process is fallacious.
So too, however, is rejecting the conclusions without scrutinizing the data and the process, especially when one does not have the background knowledge and expertise to draw sound conclusions.
In the more connotative sense, where “trust the science” actually means “put appropriate stock in expert opinion, recognize the limits of your qualifications, and confront your biases”, it’s spot-on. Too few did this and many people died unnecessarily as a direct consequence.
Perhaps this is confusing...
Smstachwick directly engaged Chuck in response to Chuck's post.
Speed posted an article with no comment, randomly bolding sentences. No commentary was added, no questions were asked. It appears to be implying some kind of statement without the associated fortitude to -actually- make one.
Smstachwick directly engaged Chuck in response to Chuck's post.
Speed posted an article with no comment, randomly bolding sentences. No commentary was added, no questions were asked. It appears to be implying some kind of statement without the associated fortitude to -actually- make one.
We should always question the science even if we have a consensus opinion.
On the other hand, we need to avoid mass hysteria and we have to trust and verify. There has to be a middle ground.
I did not respond because I did not see it has a COVID related question. Espionage happens all over the place. We owe our citizens the ability to safeguard secrets. I have not released anything that is secret nor would I have do so. I would and have reported multiple cases of suspicious behavior in my life. We should all take secrecy seriously.
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