Tag: coronavirus

Your Immune System Evolves to Fight Coronavirus Variants

A lot of worry has been triggered by discoveries that variants of the pandemic-causing coronavirus can be more infectious than the original. But now scientists are starting to find some signs of hope on the human side of this microbe-host interaction. By studying the blood of COVID survivors and people who have been vaccinated, immunologists are learning that some of our immune system cells—which remember past infections and react to them—might have their own abilities to change, countering mutations in the virus. What this means, scientists think, is that the immune system might have evolved its own way of dealing with variants.

“Essentially, the immune system is trying to get ahead of the virus,” says Michel Nussenzweig, an immunologist at the Rockefeller University, who conducted some recent studies that tracked this phenomenon. The emerging idea is that the body maintains reserve armies of antibody-producing cells in addition to the original cells that responded to the initial invasion by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Over time some reserve cells mutate and produce antibodies that are better able to recognize new viral versions. “It’s really elegant mechanism that that we’ve evolved, basically, to be able to handle things like variants,” says Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington, who was not involved in Nussenzweig’s research. Whether there are enough of these cells, and their antibodies, to confer protection against a shape-shifting SARS-CoV-2 is still being figured out.

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Hawaii Unveils COVID Passports For Inter-Island Travel

Vaccination passports are being pitched as the new “golden ticket” in a dystopic post-COVID world if you want to travel – now that the recovery is on its way. 

Countries in Europe are already requiring travelers to use vaccine passports – usually taking the form of certificates or digital cards of past COVID tests and vaccination history – an idea catching on in tourist nations like Thailand and the Caribbean. But also, much closer to home, Hawaii state officials are considering steps to implement vaccine passports for inter-island travel and likely one day require, to some degree, out of state travelers to have a health passport to revive the local economy that has sustained severe economic damage in its tourism and travel industry. 

Local news KHON2 said state officials could soon roll out a health passport app that details vaccination history. Lt. Gov. Josh Green confirmed an app is in development called “First Vitals.” Officials have discouraged inter-island travel as the U.S.’s only archipelago state composed of eight islands in the North Pacific Ocean was forced to deal with a massive influx of travelers from outside the state during the pandemic. Many folks who flocked to Hawaii were escaping the pandemic or took advantage of cheap flights. 

Like existing COVID passes issued by other countries, Hawaii’s vaccine passport will provide officials with a QR code to authenticate the users’ vaccination history. 

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FBI Promises To Hunt Down Anyone Who Lies About Taking COVID Vax As Vaccine Passports Loom

After it was confirmed that the Biden regime is working with major corporations to develop a country-wide vaccine passport, and after New York began the rollout of its own vaccine passport system, the FBI is warning people against fake vaccine passports or COVID-19 vaccination cards.

“We’ve all seen friends posting their #COVID19 vaccination cards on social media,” wrote the Minneapolis branch of the FBI on social medial. “If you make or buy a fake one to misrepresent your vaccination status, you endanger other people and may also be breaking the law.”

The FBI linked to a press release from the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which reveals that federal law enforcement, including the FBI, is “advising the public to be aware of individuals selling fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards and encouraging others to print fake cards at home” and notes that “Fake vaccination record cards have been advertised on social media websites, as well as e-commerce platforms and blogs.”

“If you did not receive the vaccine, do not buy fake vaccine cards, do not make your own vaccine cards, and do not fill-in blank vaccination record cards with false information,” the press release explains, “By misrepresenting yourself as vaccinated when entering schools, mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or places of worship, you put yourself and others around you at risk of contracting COVID-19.”

“Additionally, the unauthorized use of an official government agency’s seal (such as HHS or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) is a crime, and may be punishable under Title 18 United States Code, Section 1017, and other applicable laws.”

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COVID ‘Relief’ Spending Was Enough to ‘Put Every Home in the US on Solar Power — for Life’

It is now April 2021 — thirteen months into “two weeks to flatten the curve.” Since March of last year, Americans and the world alike have watched from the sidelines as power hungry politicians have ushered in draconian lockdowns, shutdowns, police state measures, and brought the economy to its knees. While governments around the planet used their central banks to devalue their currencies by printing money to fund their tyranny, the US led the way down this road fiscal horror.

Here we are, over a year later and thousands of businesses have closed down forever, many states continuing to refuse to reopen schools, tyrannical policies still implemented from coast to coast and we’ve added over $6 TRILLION to the national debt in the name of COVID-19 “relief.”

To put this number into context, the COVID spending over the last year is at least eight times larger than the price tag of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal.”

Government spending has reached historical levels and the already-unsustainable nature of such irresponsible fiscal policy has been fast tracked to complete meltdown. So, last month, the feds announced they are coming after more of your paycheck.

Someone has to pay the piper for the $6 trillion, right? Also, where, exactly, did all that money go? It certainly did not go out to Americans who needed it most.

For the same $6 trillion in expenditure, the government could have given every federal taxpayer a $41,870 check. Or, to think about it a bit differently, it could have written every American roughly an $18,181 check.

Or, as Congressman Thomas Massie put it, it could have put solar rooftops on every household in America and “the United States could be running on solar panels… for the rest of our lifetimes.”

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Potentially toxic masks distributed in schools and daycares in Quebec

One model of mask distributed to Quebec schools and daycares may be dangerous for the lungs as they could contain a potentially toxic material, according to a directive sent out by the provincial government on Friday.

Radio-Canada has obtained documents showing Health Canada warned of the potential for “early pulmonary toxicity” from the SNN200642 masks which are made in China and sold and distributed by Métallifer, a Quebec-based manufacturer.

“If you have this type of mask in stock, we ask that you stop distributing them and keep them in a safe place now,” the provincial government says in the directive that was sent by three ministries: education, families and higher education.

Some daycare educators had been suspicious of these grey and blue masks for a while because they felt like they were swallowing cat hair while wearing them, Radio-Canada has learned.

Health Canada conducted a preliminary risk assessment which revealed a potential for early lung damage associated with inhalation of microscopic graphene particles. Graphene is a strong, very thin material that is used in fabrication, but it can be harmful to lungs when inhaled and can cause long-term health problems.

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Spain Passes Law Mandating Face Masks Even While Swimming in the Sea

Spain has passed a new law forcing people to wear face masks everywhere outside and even while swimming in the sea.

Yes, really.

The legislation, which came into effect on Wednesday, mandates face coverings for children as young as six, with refusniks facing fines of €100 euros.

The only exemption to the rule is adults playing sports outside, but people tanning outside or swimming in a pool or the ocean are still required to cover up.

“This will apply to people who are sunbathing or even swimming in the sea,” confirms the London Evening Standard.

The utter stupidity and real danger of having to wear a face mask while swimming in the sea goes without saying.

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Biden administration offering $500k in contest for improved mask designs

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that the agency “launched an innovation challenge competition today encouraging American inventors to aid the nation’s COVID-19 response by designing effective, comfortable face masks for personal use that resolve the common concerns people have about wearing masks” such as “fogged glasses” and “difficulty speaking through face coverings.”

Submissions for the contest are due by April 21, and up to 10 winners will be eligible to receive $10,000 prizes in the first phase. Up to “5 winners will be selected to split a total $400,000 prize purse” in the second phase.

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Over 100 fully vaccinated people contract COVID-19 in Washington state, officials say

Over 100 people in Washington state have tested positive for COVID-19 more than two weeks after becoming fully vaccinated against the disease, officials said.

The Washington State Department of Health is investigating reports of the so-called breakthrough cases, which it said are expected with any vaccine.

Out of the 1.2 million people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in Washington, epidemiologists have reported evidence of 102 breakthrough cases in 18 counties since Feb. 1, representing less than 0.01% of all fully vaccinated individuals in the northwestern U.S. state. Most cases were patients who experienced only mild symptoms, if any, according to a press release from the Washington State Department of Health.

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