Get Vaccinated Against the Covid Delta Variant

[bhobba]

The US passes 40 million positive cases and nearly 650 K deaths due to coronavirus. Daily average hospitalizations = 101,510.

And here in Aus, some news outlets are spruiking how great it is in the US with people going to sports matches etc. and life essentially returning to normal. They compare it to here in Aus, where most are locked down and, on occasion, police overstepping how they should handle infringements. Some even call Australia a 'banana republic' because the Armed Forces are helping out. BTW they do it all the time when we have emergencies like bush fires etc. What they forget to mention is we have only had about 1050 deaths. Yes, it is blowing up our economy; we are coming across to others like scared rats when Australians were thought, rugged individualists. Large debt will burden future generations. And yes, the overstepping of police needs to be called out - it has far too many times been cringeworthy and unnecessary. The same with many unnecessary rules. One Chief Medical Officer (CMO) even admitted a rule was unnecessary - it was there so people understood how serious this was. It is for the elected government to make choices like that. But how successful we are/were at controlling the virus needs to be included in any assessment. There is also significant political shenanigans happening, but that is off-topic here. And opening up with 80% over 12 years old vaccinated is a very laudable aim (some even want it to include under 12's) as per our plan agreed by the federal government and all the states:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07...ur-phase-plan-out-of-covid-pandemic/100339314

There are no easy answers to this pandemic. You take the good with the bad. Did Aus do the right thing? I really do not know.

If others have a view interested in hearing it. We might even need a separate thread.

Thanks
Bill

 

[artis]

Well if one wants to see how a country looks like where public trusts their government and their government is forthcoming and doesn't overstep their bounds one should look at Denmark. They obey rules and are as vaccinated as it gets. They have now opened up and no problems so far.
As for countries that don't want to vaccinate that much well nature will vaccinate them one way or the other. The US is being vaccinated right now as we speak...

But then again if I am vaccinated and healthy do I really care about someone who will rather sell his house than get a shot? I guess not, allowing people to die is part of the human rights that we hold so dear isn't it?I got infected before vaccines were available so back then it was basically every man for himself.

 

[artis]

Interesting story, someone who has had a previous infection and a double moderna dose should have been really well protected given natural infection presents the full genetic material of the virus to the immune system + the two dose moderna vaccine is a strong vaccine (higher dose per shot than pfizer) and also I read from clinical trials that moderna offers even better immunity for Delta than pfizer.

Could it simple be that those who have a very mild first infection as the man in the video don't develop a good immune response? Although I guess it depends from person to person.Anyway I am wondering when Covid could maybe mutate out of existence. Can't be that a virus can hit the jackpot multiple times in a row?
I understand natural selection is pushing it such that only the more antibody resistant variants can survive as well as the more infectious ones, but and this is the important part that I want to know, isn't there just a limited number of possible "states" or configurations the individual proteins and parts of a virus can assemble into and still be functioning ?
In other words I guess I am asking when will this "son of a B..." run out of options and reach it's career top after which there is only downhill.
Someone please correct me but IIRC for any organism the ratio of bad mutations to beneficial is something like 100:1 ?
Does this differ from larger organisms like animals vs small RNA viruses ?
The mutation rate is much higher for viruses but how about the ratio of beneficial vs deleterious?

 

[PeroK]

The US passes 40 million positive cases and nearly 650 K deaths due to coronavirus. Daily average hospitalizations = 101,510.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Texas pediatric COVID hospitalizations mark a record over this past weekend with 345 admissions on Saturday and 307 on Sunday. There were 51,904 positive COVID cases among Texas students since August 29.

Edit/update: Washington Post reports "Miami-Dade County Public Schools are reporting at least 13 employee deaths from Covid-19 since mid-August, . . . ." That's only three weeks!

It's difficult to see how the US can emerge from the COVID pandemic without being able to progress the vaccination programme in line with other developed countries. Death by freedom?

 

[nsaspook]

It's difficult to see how the US can emerge from the COVID pandemic without being able to progress the vaccination programme in line with other developed countries. Death by freedom?

Eventually the unvaccinated will acquire immunity the dangerous way.

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035157226/miami-covid-19-deaths-schools-district

According to the president of United Teachers of Dade, Karla Hernandez-Mats, all of those who died were African American and unvaccinated.

Get the shot please.

 

[bhobba]

It's difficult to see how the US can emerge from the COVID pandemic without being able to progress the vaccination programme in line with other developed countries. Death by freedom?

Well, that's the experience in Aus. Where the virus is and people are dying the vaccine takeup rates are spectacular - in many places over 90%. One place of a few thousand people virtually 100%. But in places that have kept it out - much less. Where I am in Queensland 52% last I heard. I will let others draw the obvious conclusion about the psychology involved.

Thanks
Bill

 

[Astronuc]

It's difficult to see how the US can emerge from the COVID pandemic without being able to progress the vaccination programme in line with other developed countries. Death by freedom?

Yes, it is very sad and troublesome to see the many preventable hospitalizations and deaths.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/a...ors-fear-a-covid-peak-may-still-be-weeks-away
As overrun Idaho hospitals ration care, doctors fear a COVID peak may still be weeks away. The Idaho Hospital Association believes the case load will peak in October! It means that some patients may die so that others might survive. Idaho has sent some patients out of state, likely to Oregon (Portland) and Washington (Seattle), and some might go to Utah (Salt Lake City), which is having its own challenges.

The situation has been predictable and preventable.

Elsewhere, too many decide too late that they should get the vaccination.
https://www.npr.org/sections/corona...ovid-vaccination-megan-blankenbiller-hospital

Megan Alexandra Blankenbiller "first announced that she'd gotten COVID-19 on Aug. 13 with a video of herself in the hospital. Blankenbiller died nine days after her last video was posted Aug. 15, CNN reported. She was 31. Before her death, she'd made appointments to get vaccinated with her mother and sisters, but she became sick before she was able to get the vaccine, . . ."

Imagine if the next variant, or next virus, is more virulent (contagious) and deadlier. I'm thinking in the context of a recent case of Nipah virus in Kerala state, India.
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035137211/nipah-virus-india-death-kerala
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nipah-virus-outbreak-india-kerala/Edit/update - More than 252,000 children were diagnosed with COVID-19 last week nationwide in the US. ABC states that on average, 365 children are hospitalized with COVID every day.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/officials-health-care-rationing-spread-idaho-79895419

https://abcnews.go.com/US/mississip...on-significant-number-covid/story?id=79931539

 

[morrobay]

Eventually the unvaccinated will acquire immunity the dangerous way.

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035157226/miami-covid-19-deaths-schools-district



Get the shot please.

And get to your high school weight. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/08/cov...le-hospitalized-were-overweight-or-obese.html

 

[Laroxe]

Interesting story, someone who has had a previous infection and a double moderna dose should have been really well protected given natural infection presents the full genetic material of the virus to the immune system + the two dose moderna vaccine is a strong vaccine (higher dose per shot than pfizer) and also I read from clinical trials that moderna offers even better immunity for Delta than pfizer.

Could it simple be that those who have a very mild first infection as the man in the video don't develop a good immune response? Although I guess it depends from person to person.Anyway I am wondering when Covid could maybe mutate out of existence. Can't be that a virus can hit the jackpot multiple times in a row?
I understand natural selection is pushing it such that only the more antibody resistant variants can survive as well as the more infectious ones, but and this is the important part that I want to know, isn't there just a limited number of possible "states" or configurations the individual proteins and parts of a virus can assemble into and still be functioning ?
In other words I guess I am asking when will this "son of a B..." run out of options and reach it's career top after which there is only downhill.
Someone please correct me but IIRC for any organism the ratio of bad mutations to beneficial is something like 100:1 ?
Does this differ from larger organisms like animals vs small RNA viruses ?
The mutation rate is much higher for viruses but how about the ratio of beneficial vs deleterious?

It is an interesting case but one of the problems in relying on natural infection is the variability in the response, people respond very differently. In people who have very severe disease the virus actually attacks the immune system, destroying the germinal centres responsible for producing the T and B cells. This wouldn't be the case here, and so far the severity of the disease doesn't seem a good indicator of the immune response, apart from in the very severely ill. The variability however remains, and vaccines do produce a more predictable response.

It's really not a very reassuring story and there seemed to be a note of desperation in the attempts to support vaccination. I'm not sure it helped, we really have to learn to tolerate some uncertainty in the outcomes, we still don't have definitive answers, sometimes, I don't know works.

You're actually right about evolutionary change having limits, in fact RNA viruses do live on the edge of possibilities, with few mutations actually being compatible with survival. They make up for this with having very high rates of reproduction and not investing many resources in error checking the genetic material. This increases the risk to their offspring from mutations, but you only need a few to survive when you reproduce so quickly. I don't think you can expect natural selection to come to our aid to wipe out an organism, the selection is for variants that increase reproductive fitness. However while antibody avoidance does clearly offer fitness advantages its unlikely to be a good long term solution, our immune system, also the product of evolution, alters and refines its response to changes in the virus. So, for both us and the virus we need to consider all the other factors or at least those we know, that can change the nature of a disease.

While many biological organisms seem to have developed a sort of fetish for being unpredictable, we can still try. The virus needs a victim to reproduce, it needs time and then it needs to be transmitted to others in a viable form. We often fear diseases which strike people down suddenly, causing severe disease and rapid death, consider Ebola. However, from the virus's perspective this isn't a good strategy, the fact that people automatically limit their contacts when they are ill and the speed of death simply doesn't give the virus time to spread easily. The disease, because of what it does, has so far been restricted to relatively local outbreaks. Rather worryingly, the early outbreaks had a case fatality rate @ 80%, during the more recent outbreaks it was around 60%, it may be getting milder and that's not good. However, in principle a mild disease is less likely to alter people's behaviour or even evoke wider treatment or containment methods, Ebola might have missed its chance.

Remember, we have other Coronavirus diseases that have jumped species in the past and the ones that adapted well to their human hosts, spread globally and are still with us, they cause colds. We don't know much about what happened after the disease became established in humans, but it may be that what we are seeing now is a re-run of similar events in the past. The most recent was in the 1890's according to genetic studies and occurred alongside a pandemic of an unknown disease that killed around a million people, they described it as Russian flu. Now, children tend to be exposed to this virus when they are young and tend to avoid harm and with continuing exposure there is a very high level of population immunity and the disease it causes is usually mild. Note the qualifiers in that sentence "tend" and "usually", I expect we will have to learn to live with each other. This is quite a common view among virologists, but it is still a form of informed crystal ball reading and there are some viral diseases in which none of this actually happened.

 

[Astronuc]

AP, Perth ‘Paradise’: Australian states free of COVID resist opening
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyl...nd-australia-4a799c79f8226d7eef23a5ddc37a4e6c

PERTH, Australia (AP) — It can seem like Australia’s west coast has almost entirely avoided COVID-19.

A mask-free nightlife is thriving and huge crowds are turning out for sporting events, including 53,000 rugby fans who crammed into a Perth stadium to watch New Zealand’s All Blacks defeat Australia’s Wallabies on a recent sunny Sunday.

“We are in paradise,” said one of those fans, Andrea Williams, who is all for the region continuing to defy the federal government and maintain strict border restrictions that keep it separated from the pandemic raging in large parts of the rest of Australia.

Sydney and Melbourne are doing lockdowns - again.

While the cities of Sydney and Melbourne in the east have been in strict lockdown with a surge of virus cases, the Western Australia state capital of Perth has largely remained open for business — behind its shut borders.

 

[nsaspook]

AP, Perth ‘Paradise’: Australian states free of COVID resist opening
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyl...nd-australia-4a799c79f8226d7eef23a5ddc37a4e6cSydney and Melbourne are doing lockdowns - again.

A lack of concern about the virus in Western Australia is reflected in the lowest vaccination rate in the country, at 36.3%, followed by Queensland at 36.4%. The national vaccination rate is 40.4%.

I wish them well but do they really think their border isolation will stop the Delta virus for much longer?

https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/co...d-border-cold-stay-until-april-ng-b881999362z

Mark McGowan has dropped a border bombshell, revealing WA could remain closed to COVID-stricken eastern States until April.

While he has acknowledged he “can’t keep the State locked forever”, the Premier told The West Australian that WA’s reopening date could still be seven months away.

 

[bhobba]

AP, Perth ‘Paradise’: Australian states free of COVID resist opening
Sydney and Melbourne are doing lockdowns - again.

Probably a psychological reason for it, but as an Aussi, it is CRAZY. I am in one of those states that are continuing lockdowns with no cases. The premier (same as a US state governor) knows and has publically stated; the virus will breach the lockdown. But she wants the time free of the virus to allow as many as possible to be vaccinated before it happens. It, however, is working in reverse - states free of the virus do not have high vaccine rates. Those that have the virus, and deaths, have, as I mentioned, sky-high vaccination rates in those areas where it is bad.

As I said, CRAZY.

Just as an aside, there is a lot of discussion in Aus about vaccine passports within Australia. That is not necessary if we get 90% or more vaccinated. I am hopeful that will happen, and we do not possibly encroach on peoples rights. Only the courts can really decide if vaccine passports encroach on your rights because your right to do what you want must be balanced against other rights such as freedom from people recklessly endangering your life. I have no idea what the courts will decide, but best if it never comes to that.

You can see the vaccination figures here:
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...ule-tracking-chart-percentage-new-cases-today

But remember, in those areas hardest hit, vaccination rates are sky-high.

Thanks
Bill

 

[Ivan Seeking]

All of the counties in dark blue are at, near, or beyond 100% ICU capacity.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map

 

[PeroK]

Eventually the unvaccinated will acquire immunity the dangerous way.

That method may be too slow. The US vaccinated 50-60% of the population in a couple of months. It may take a year or more for the remaining 40% to get COVID, by which time everyone may be vulnerable again.

The risk is that you can never escape the cycle.

That said, the UK is also in desperate straits as our government lost its way regarding vaccinations and anti-COVID measures about two months ago and we're as almost as bad as anywhere in the world again. Despite the high vaccination rates we have in the adult population.

 

[bhobba]

The situation has been predictable and preventable.

Indeed. I have been reading the details of several models being used in Aus, e.g.:
https://burnet.edu.au/system/asset/...ination_and_intermittent_control_measures.pdf

They are not taking into account some recent knowledge, such as the 22% reduction in Phizer efficacy every 30 days against Delta and the third dose having 95% efficacy (how long that lasts is unknown).

Here is the one Australia is currently using for policy decisions:
https://www.doherty.edu.au/news-events/news/doherty-institute-modelling-report-for-national-cabinet

My back of the envelope calculations suggests a 90% vaccination rate is what is needed for opening. We can begin at 70% but need at least continuous light restrictions until the 90% third dose is achieved.

90% can be done but likely will not be easy. But then again, some areas have already achieved it (one now has 100%), so I may be too pessimistic. We will see.

Thanks
Bill

 

[atyy]

My back of the envelope calculations suggests a 90% vaccination rate is what is needed for opening. We can begin at 80%, but starting at 70% is a bit risky.

I think it could be ok if it is the right 70%. For example, if that means that 100% of ages 60 and up are vaccinated.

Denmark is opening up.
https://www.politico.eu/article/denmark-first-eu-lift-coronavirus-restrictions/
They have only 70% of adults 18+ fully vaccinated (double jabbed). However, their coverage is distributed towards the age groups at highest risk.
https://vaccinetracker.ecdc.europa.eu/public/extensions/COVID-19/vaccine-tracker.html#age-group-tab
70+: >99%
60-69: 97%
50-59: 94%

 

[pinball1970]

That method may be too slow. The US vaccinated 50-60% of the population in a couple of months. It may take a year or more for the remaining 40% to get COVID, by which time everyone may be vulnerable again.

The risk is that you can never escape the cycle.

That said, the UK is also in desperate straits as our government lost its way regarding vaccinations and anti-COVID measures about two months ago and we're as almost as bad as anywhere in the world again. Despite the high vaccination rates we have in the adult population.

I think dire straits is putting it a little strong.

Yes 40,000 cases per day now is very high but it has been a fairly steady not exponential rise since end of July.

Out of lock down since June should we not have expected cases to rise and stay high? Until everyone has either had it and recovered or died?

These cases per day we are getting now are not translating to deaths we were getting in previous waves 150-200 per day now compared to 4000 per day in Jan.

We are also at a quarter of the hospital cases per day compared to January.

 

[PeroK]

I think dire straits is putting it a little strong.

Yes 40,000 cases per day now is very high but it has been a fairly steady not exponential rise since end of July.

Out of lock down since June should we not have expected cases to rise and stay high? Until everyone has either had it and recovered or died?

These cases per day we are getting now are not translating to deaths we were getting in previous waves 150-200 per day now compared to 4000 per day in Jan.

We are also at a quarter of the hospital cases per day compared to January.

Scotland, where the schools went back early, is now as bad as anywhere in the world. Another lockdown is on the cards. And there's a risk that the UK goes on the red list of other countries.

True, it's not as bad as it might have been. But, it doesn't look good.

The other problem is how to keep the schools open.

PS and the 5th test against India was canceled today. Things are definitely out of control if cricket is a casualty.

 

[pinball1970]

That method may be too slow. The US vaccinated 50-60% of the population in a couple of months. It may take a year or more for the remaining 40% to get COVID, by which time everyone may be vulnerable again.

The risk is that you can never escape the cycle.

That said, the UK is also in desperate straits as our government lost its way regarding vaccinations and anti-COVID measures about two months ago and we're as almost as bad as anywhere in the world again. Despite the high vaccination rates we have in the adult population.

Do we keep kids out of school until everyone left to be vaccinated is vaccinated and/or numbers come right down again?

2 weeks full lockdown?

My understanding is they will not be vaccinating (healthy) children so they will all get it eventually.

Between 800-900,000 per age in the UK so abut 15 million kids 16 and under plus those who could not get it and those who refused it.

About 23M people in total.

Long Covid is a concern but the link below says kids do tend to recover after a couple of months.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(21)00198-X/fulltext

23M is a fairly large reservoir for hostile mutations too, would four or five million vaccinations stop that process though?

It will be a pain for parents, teachers, sports cancelled, music venues, hospitals will be busier but not overrun, there will be a lot of sick days and people will die but in lower numbers.

It is just an opinion but at some point we have to function with covid, then in about 12 months everyone will be jabbed or have had it or both.

 

[PeroK]

It's just my opinion but we've been hit by a combination of cowardice and vacillation by the government's scientific advisers and a lack of decisive government.

Realistically, we had to vaccinate secondary school children over the summer and speed up the second round of vaccinations. This is not with hindsight.

If you look at the stats, many countries like Spain have now overtaken us on total vaccinations. Every week we fall further behind what other countries are doing.

Objectively we should lockdown and close the schools and vaccinate everyone who wants it, but that's a last resort now. We've thrown it all away.

Instead I fear we will endure a severe autumn and winter of COVID. Living with COVID at European levels and living with COVID at UK levels are two different things.

 

[pinball1970]

It's just my opinion but we've been hit by a combination of cowardice and vacillation by the government's scientific advisers and a lack of decisive government.

Realistically, we had to vaccinate secondary school children over the summer and speed up the second round of vaccinations. This is not with hindsight.

If you look at the stats, many countries like Spain have now overtaken us on total vaccinations. Every week we fall further behind what other countries are doing.

Objectively we should lockdown and close the schools and vaccinate everyone who wants it, but that's a last resort now. We've thrown it all away.

Instead I fear we will endure a severe autumn and winter of COVID. Living with COVID at European levels and living with COVID at UK levels are two different things.the Summer is gone Pero...

The summer has already gone Pero...
Also should we vaccinate kids? All of 11-16? So about 5 million?
In terms of possible vaccine accidents we are looking at 1/100,000 so from 5 million from that age range 50 accidents.
Compared to expected Covid deaths in that age range?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

That method may be too slow. The US vaccinated 50-60% of the population in a couple of months. It may take a year or more for the remaining 40% to get COVID, by which time everyone may be vulnerable again.

The risk is that you can never escape the cycle.

So like the "common cold" [other Corona viruses] you can catch it again and again. And each time you get it you may suffer neurological, vascular, lung, or heart damage, making you more vulnerable the next time you get it. And slowly but surely it continues to degrade your health year after year until eventually you die the all too predictable, inevitable, miserable death on a respirator.

Or not. Just thinking... :)

 

[PeroK]

The summer has already gone Pero...
Also should we vaccinate kids? All of 11-16? So about 5 million?
In terms of possible vaccine accidents we are looking at 1/100,000 so from 5 million from that age range 50 accidents.
Compared to expected Covid deaths in that age range?

There's no other way out for the country as a whole. I don't know that we are talking about 50 deaths (*), but certainly the overall impact of 5 million unvaccinated children attending school (or trying to) and spreading COVID is the problem.

Let's say that you really don't want to vaccinate children, then I suggest you need a lockdown for all children and close the schools.

If you don't do either, then the risk is that several million of those children get COVID for real - and infect several million adults. And, by a lack of courage to actually do something, we condemn ourselves to another grim six months for the entire country with no prospect of getting COVID under control. That carries its own risks of undermining what we have achieved.

And, if we lose another 10,000 people of all ages between now and next April, then you can hardly complain.

(*) PS There were 147 deaths in the UK just today. And, the full impact of the school's returning hasn't hit England yet.

 

[Evo]

And get to your high school weight. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/08/cov...le-hospitalized-were-overweight-or-obese.html

It didn't help that they were not allowed to wear masks in school due to Florida's Governor's NO masks in school mandate. Masks in school may have saved their lives.

EDIT: My mistake, according to this article

Carvalho said that among the 13 deaths, the majority of people contracted COVID-19 and died before the beginning of the school year. One person had direct contact with students, he said.

Miami-Dade students returned to the classroom on Aug. 23 with a requirement that they wear masks as a spike in infections and deaths has continued to plague Florida.

The mask mandate was a violation of an order signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis barring schools from requiring that students wear face coverings and leaving that decision to their parents.

DeSantis has withheld funding from two school districts that violated his order

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035157226/miami-covid-19-deaths-schools-district

 

[bhobba]

I think it could be ok if it is the right 70%. For example, if that means that 100% of ages 60 and up are vaccinated.

I am sorry for not being clear. That is exactly what I was suggesting as per the Burnett model and a 60% vaccine effectiveness. On average, it is likely higher than that and will get better as more get three doses.

Thanks
Bill

 

[bhobba]

My understanding is they will not be vaccinating (healthy) children so they will all get it eventually.

In Aus, at the moment, they are doing anyone 12 and over and waiting for safety data on those under 12. Strangely for those under 20, the government will not implement any no jab, no pay rule for Covid. I would judge Delta to be as bad as Whooping Cough, for example.

Please have a look at the Burnett modelling I posted for what they call light measures. At 60% average vaccine effectiveness, 95% vaccinated over 60, the rest 70% plus light measures are what they think will control it. As 90% vaccination rates and third doses happen even light measures will not be necessary. You can see the report for various measures at various vaccination levels in the report.

Thanks
Bill

 

[bhobba]

It didn't help that they were not allowed to wear masks in school due to Florida's Governor's NO masks in school mandate. Masks in school may have saved their lives.

In the Burnett modelling, which, if I remember correctly, is done in conjunction with the US Department Defence, their light restriction includes school masks. Amazing. Until we get something like 90% third doses, it's virtually mandatory.

Thanks
Bill

 

[Evo]

In the Burnett modelling, which, if I remember correctly, is done in conjunction with the US Department Defence, their light restriction includes school masks. Amazing. Until we get something like 90% third doses, it's virtually mandatory.

Thanks
Bill

My mistake, their school district was one that violated the Governor's No mask mandate, and required masks. It has gone to court, and the Governor has just won the right to stop masks in schools.

Also -

State to issue $5,000 fines for those asking for COVID vaccine proof​

The state of Florida will start issuing $5,000 fines to businesses, schools and government agencies that require people to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination.

https://nbc-2.com/news/state/2021/0...nes-for-those-asking-for-covid-vaccine-proof/

 

[phinds]

The US has gone from one of the most-vaccinated countries in the world (as a % of population) to somewhere between #40+ (documented in the link) and #55 (saw that on the news this morning)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html\

I would comment further but it would require making statements that would violate the rules on political discussions.

 

[Astronuc]

According to the Houston Chronicle, Texas pediatric COVID hospitalizations mark a record over this past weekend with 345 admissions on Saturday and 307 on Sunday. There were 51,904 positive COVID cases among Texas students since August 29.

I checked these number again because they are close to the average number nationwide (see below), which didn't make sense to me.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/08/health/delta-variant-in-kids/index.html

-- A record-high 2,396 children were hospitalized with Covid-19 as of Tuesday, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
-- An average of 369 pediatric Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospitals every day during the week ending September 6, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
-- More than 55,000 children have been hospitalized with Covid-19 since August 2020, according to CDC data. Many of those children had no known preexisting conditions.
-- While childhood Covid-19 deaths are still rare, that number is increasing. As of Wednesday, at least 520 children have died, according to CDC data.

But the number of pediatric hospitalizations due to COVID-19 is increasing.
August 20, 2021 - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/child-covid-19-hospitalizations-new-high-august-2021-n1277119

Two weeks earlier (August 6), "only two or three children a day would come into Dr. Nick Hysmith’s hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, with Covid-19, usually ones who were admitted for other reasons, like broken bones."

During the week of August 20, Dr. Nick Hysmith is seeing as many as 28 children under 18 a day, some of them landing in the intensive care unit.

The pediatric hospitalization numbers seem to be lagging, except for a few reports from particular news organizations or state departments of health.