Tag: coronavirus

The pandemic could continue for seven years under current vaccination rate

It’ll be a long, seven years before the COVID-19 pandemic is over worldwide, if vaccine distribution continues at its current rate, a calculation from Bloomberg shows. 

The media outlet, which said it built the “biggest database” of COVID-19 inoculations given across the globe, crunched the numbers and found it could take most of a decade to reach herd immunity if distribution doesn’t ramp up for two-dose vaccines. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci has said 70-85 percent of the population will need the vaccine in order to achieve herd immunity and while the US is on track to reach that goal by the New Year in 2022, it could take countries like Canada ten years at their current pace. 

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Justices: California can’t enforce indoor church service ban

The Supreme Court is telling California that it can’t bar indoor church services because of the coronavirus pandemic, but it can keep for now a ban on singing and chanting indoors.

The high court issued orders late Friday in two cases where churches had sued over coronavirus-related restrictions in the state. The high court said that for now, California can’t ban indoor worship as it had in almost all of the state because virus cases are high.

The justices said the state can cap indoor services at 25% of a building’s capacity. The justices also declined to stop California from enforcing a ban put in place last summer on indoor singing and chanting. California had put the restrictions in place because the virus is more easily transmitted indoors and singing releases tiny droplets that can carry the disease.

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Walgreens, CVS beef up protections against threat of ‘bot’ attacks on vaccine program

For over a decade, the retail industry has battled so-called “scalper bots,” programmed to cut digital lines and snap up limited-supply products within milliseconds of their release, that are resold at significant mark-ups.

The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the problem because the boom in online shopping expanded scalpers’ sights to new categories from fitness equipment to essential goods like toilet paper and detergents. In Britain, scalpers using bots have also snatched online grocery delivery slots reserved for at-risk senior citizens.

The Joe Biden administration said this week that it will soon start distributing about 1 million doses per week directly to about 6,500 pharmacies in the first phase of a federal program that aims to expand access to vaccines.

Security companies that track this activity now warn that U.S. retailers and pharmacies enlisted to play a big role in COVID-19 vaccine dissemination could be the next target of bot attacks as they begin distributing as early as Feb. 11.

These fears stem from problems retailers have faced this past holiday shopping season, when the latest PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox consoles were nearly impossible to find because scalpers attacked major retailers.

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COVID Detainment Facilities Go From “Conspiracy Theory” to Official Govt Policy in 3 Months

“Unfortunately there is a tremendous amount of noise and harmful misinformation about [the pandemic] on the Internet,” Trudeau said. “I had to explain that as we consume increasing amounts and various sources of information on line and around us, we need to continue to be attentive to source, we need to continue to be attentive to comparing various reports and looking for trusted sources.”

“The answer is no, we’re not building containment or internment camps,” the Health Minister spokesperson said in a statement.

That was in October and, over the months, the government has moved the goal post on how travelers are treated. Now, even travelers with negative tests will be forced to quarantine at their home under government surveillance. While this is only for those engaging in international travel, as we’ve seen, the goal post moves.

“Those with negative test results will then be able to quarantine at home under significantly increased surveillance and enforcement,” Trudeau said in a press conference last week. In regards to the “increased surveillance,” this will include home visits from private covid security personnel.

“There will be increased security contractors that will do more, I would say, ‘door knocking’, to check on people who are in quarantine,” said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, on Friday, adding that the contractors would start in 35 Canadian cities and would expand farther in the coming weeks.

But it gets worse for those who test positive. Remember, three months ago, a positive test would mean a “voluntary” quarantine at a government facility. “Mandatory” confinement was a “conspiracy theory.” But it is not anymore.

“Those with positive tests will be immediately required to quarantine in designated government facilities to make sure they’re not carrying variants of potential concern,” Trudeau said of the new measures.

“Immediately required” does not mean “voluntarily.” It means that citizens will be forced into these facilities. Calling them “mandatory government facilities” instead of “internment camps” is a matter of semantics. Internment is defined as the state of being confined as a prisoner, especially for political or military reasons. Does that not sound like what Trudeau said in the statement above? See the shift in policy happen in the video below.

Indeed, according to the government’s own website, violators will be imprisoned.

Violating any instructions provided to you when you entered Canada is an offence under the Quarantine Act and could lead to up to:

  • 6 months in prison and/or
  • $750,000 in fines

If you break your mandatory quarantine or isolation requirements and you cause the death or serious bodily harm to another person, you could face:

  • a fine of up to $1,000,000 or
  • imprisonment of up to 3 years or
  • both

The Contraventions Act provides police (including RCMP, provincial and local police) more power to enforce the Contraventions Act. They can now issue tickets to people who do not comply with the Act. Fines range from $275 to $1000.

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