Covid antibody treatment going unused in Canada

Canadian-made COVID-19 antibody treatment sitting on shelves due to lack of administration plan | CTV News - Avis Favaro, Elizabeth St. Philip, Brooklyn Neustaeter, Solarina Ho:

April 24, 2021 - "A Canadian-made COVID-19 antibody treatment is sitting on hospital and pharmacy shelves amid the country’s third wave of the pandemic because doctors say a plan on how to administer the drug was never made.... 

"Bamlanivimab is a monoclonal antibody directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The drug mimics the immune system’s ability to fight off the virus and was developed by AbCellera Biologics Inc. in Vancouver with the support of the federal government, which had committed up to $175.6 million to the company in May 2020 to develop antibody therapies.... The one-dose treatment, which is sold by Eli Lilly Canada, Inc., can be used in health-care facilities such as hospitals, as it is given by infusion into the veins of patients. As an antibody therapy, it is part of a major class of drugs normally used to treat diseases like cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, Sachdev Sidhu, a professor of molecular genetics at the University of Toronto, said in an interview....

"Health Canada authorized the drug in November 2020 under the interim order respecting the importation, sale and advertising of drugs for use in relation to COVID-19. According to Health Canada, 26,000 doses of the treatment were purchased for $40 million and distributed amongst the provinces. However, almost none of those doses have been used.

"Countries around the world have been using bamlanivimab to help keep COVID-19 patients out of hospital and reduce deaths for months. More than 400,000 COVID-19 patients worldwide have benefited from the drug, according to Michael McDougall, a spokesperson for Eli Lilly.... According to AbCellera Biologics, studies have shown the treatment is effective against SARS-CoV-2, and the variant first identified in the United Kingdom. Despite this, provincial health authorities have not yet made the treatment available to Canadians.

"AbCellera Biologics CEO Carl Hansen told CTV National News ... that provincial government[s] did not issue a plan on how to administer the treatment, causing doctors to leave it on shelves.... CTV News has reached out to provincial health units for comment, but did not hear back before this story was published....

"[T]he U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent revocation of bamlanivimab’s Emergency Use authorization could cause some confusion with the public. A Health Canada spokesperson told CTVNews.ca via email that ... 'There is no change to bamlanivimab authorization in Canada and Eli Lilly has not requested that Health Canada revoke its authorization. Bamlanivimab used by itself is effective against the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, which is the main variant circulating in Canada at this time.'" 

Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/canadian-made-covid-19-antibody-treatment-sitting-on-shelves-due-to-lack-of-administration-plan-1.5396804

No return to normal in UK

Why June 21 won't be as much of a return to normal as we thought | The Telegraph - Gordon Raymer: 

April 27, 2021 "June 21 is burned into the public consciousness as the day when life will finally return to normal.... But there are growing signs that Covid-19 restrictions will remain in place long after the summer solstice. The Government’s scientific advisers want 'baseline measures', including social distancing, to continue for another year, councils are hiring Covid Marshals to start work in July, and vaccine passports are already being trialled. Meanwhile, legal powers to impose domestic Covid-19 restrictions have been extended by Parliament until September.... The Prime Minister insists 'the end really is in sight', but it increasingly seems that may only apply to those who own a telescope....

"Ministers are conducting a review of the 'one metre-plus rule', which allows restaurant customers, office workers and others to sit one metre apart if mitigations such as screens and extra ventilation are in place. Pubs have warned that if the one metre-plus rule stays in place, it will be a disaster for them, because they need to be full to make a profit.... Theatres, cinemas, nightclubs and other venues that rely on full houses to turn a profit are also anxiously awaiting the results of the government review....

"The first major sporting event to take place after June 21 will be the Wimbledon tennis tournament, which starts on June 28, but its organisers have warned the public that ... crowds could be restricted to just 25 per cent of capacity, while players will have to stay in bio-secure hotels and will face fines of £14,000 if they breach Covid-19 security rules.... Football’s FA Cup final on May 15 will take place in front of just 20,000 fans, instead of Wembley’s 90,000 capacity, meaning trials of outdoor sporting events will still be at an early stage by June 21.

"If all legal restrictions are lifted on June 21, the one thing the country surely will not need from then on is Covid Marshals. Yet, councils around the country are advertising jobs for Covid Marshals that do not start until July and will continue until next year.... Their job will be to 'aid and encourage compliance' and to help the public and businesses 'understand regulations and guidance'.... The marshals do not have enforcement powers, and how the public reacts to being challenged by them after legal restrictions have lapsed remains to be seen.

"The Government’s pilots of indoor and outdoor events rely on Covid-19 status certification to allow crowds to return to sport and customers to return to restaurants, theatres and nightclubs. Early pilots of the so-called Events Research Programme are relying on pre-entry testing alone, while later pilots, starting at the end of next month, will attempt to incorporate data on vaccination and acquired immunity, so in other words, vaccine passports.

"The Government has also said it is 'committed to explore whether and how Covid-status certification might be used to reopen our economy', which 'could allow some freedoms to be restored more safely'.... Ministers are reluctant to ban businesses from requiring customers to demonstrate their Covid-19 status, meaning vaccine passports and test for entry are likely to be a feature of everyday life for some time to come.

"The most visible proof that restrictions are over will come when face coverings are finally consigned to history, but that is unlikely to happen on June 21. Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, has stated publicly that he expects face coverings to be necessary next winter, and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) believes 'baseline measures' such as mask wearing and social distancing might be necessary 'throughout winter 2021/22'.

"The use of face coverings is also the subject of a review. Regardless of whether it recommends that masks should be worn in crowded spaces such as train carriages, it seems likely that the public will either be advised to wear them, or will choose to do so, as the gradual return to normality leads to an increase in commuting, shopping and tightly-packed audiences."

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/27/june-21-wont-much-return-normal-thought/

Media report 10,000 at UK lockdown protest

Six arrested amid massive anti-lockdown protests in London | Euronews - Hannah Somerville:

April 25, 2021 - "At least six people have been arrested following a massive protest march against COVID-19 safety measures in London. The Metropolitan Police confirmed that two arrests came during the march itself and four during scuffles between protesters and police officers in London's Hyde Park.

"Up to 10,000 people are thought to have gathered in central London on Saturday for the so-called 'Unite for Freedom' event. Protesters marched through the streets chanting 'Freedom' and 'Take off your mask,' while some carried placards saying 'No to vaccine passports' and 'Lockdowns kill'.

"The demonstration took place amid the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions in England. After months of nationwide lockdown, pubs and restaurants resumed outdoor service on Monday, April 12 together with the re-opening of non-essential shops. Despite the progress, the process is not expected to fully conclude until mid-June at the earliest....  More than 45 million people in the UK have received their first dose of vaccine and 12 million are now fully inoculated.

"The event on Saturday drew crowds from all walks of life, many of whom had travelled to the capital from elsewhere in the UK to take part. Protesters danced and heckled shoppers wearing masks in Oxford Street, while a handful were involved in violent clashes with police. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said Saturday that no-one was thought to have been arrested, even though some participants had attacked police officers in Hyde Park and according to the force, eight officers were injured.

"In the aftermath, thousands of Britons took to the internet to castigate those who had taken part using the hashtag #IstandwithNHSstaff. Participants called the protests 'despicable' and 'shameful' in a country in which at least 130,000 people are known to have died from COVID-19.

"The divisive incident took place a week and a half before London’s Mayoral election. At least two of the candidates, political commentator Lawrence Fox and Piers Corbyn, the brother of former opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, are known lockdown sceptics.

"Despite the mass flouting of official restrictions and the injuries sustained by police, none of Britain’s most prominent politicians have so far commented on Saturday’s events."

Read more: https://www.euronews.com/2021/04/25/six-arrests-after-massive-anti-lockdown-protests-in-london

Questioning the Long Covid narrative

We need to start thinking more critically – and speaking more cautiously – about long Covid | Stat - Adam W. Gaffney: 

March 22, 2021 - "What media stories about long Covid ... describe is frightening. Ed Yong, a writer for The Atlantic, has been particularly influential in sculpting this narrative. In 'Long-Haulers Are Redefining Covid-19,' he describes a mysterious syndrome that strikes even those with mild Covid-19, people who never required hospitalization, oxygen, or ventilators, but who never seem to recover. One such individual, he noted, described some five months of 'extreme fatigue, bulging veins, excessive bruising, an erratic heartbeat, short-term memory loss, gynecological problems, sensitivity to light and sounds, and brain fog.' For some of these people, Yong noted, 'months of illness could turn into years of disability'....

"Almost everyone who dies of Covid-19 develops a condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a form of pneumonia.... ARDS can have myriad long-term effects, including physical and cognitive impairments, reduced lung function, mental health problems, and poorer quality of life.... Still, even if these ailments are sometimes acknowledged in media reports of long Covid, most narratives evoke something entirely different: a debilitating syndrome seemingly affecting multiple organ systems for months on end – and perhaps indefinitely – but without any specific diagnosis.... It is also notable that reports often suggest that even those with only mild acute symptoms – or no acute symptoms at all – are at risk....  

"Other reports describe something even more frightening. In October, a New York Times article described a dementia-like illness following a mild infection like this: 'It’s becoming known as Covid brain fog: troubling cognitive symptoms that can include memory loss, confusion, difficulty focusing, dizziness and grasping for everyday words.' Another Times story asserted that an entirely resolved mild infection could cause severe psychosis months later, even leading to thoughts of committing murder. 

"Reporting on long Covid needs to be more cautious for several reasons.

"First, consider that at least some people who identify themselves as having long Covid appear never to have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus....Yong ... cites a survey of Covid long-haulers in which some two-thirds of them had negative coronavirus antibody tests – blood tests that reveal prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Meanwhile, a survey organized by a group of self-identified long Covid patients that recruited participants from online support groups reported in late December 2020 that around two-thirds of those surveyed who had undergone blood testing reported negative results.... But ... study after study has found that antibodies remain positive in a majority of people with confirmed infections for many months. So it’s highly probable that some or many long-haulers who were never diagnosed using PCR testing in the acute phase and who also have negative antibody tests are 'true negatives'....

"[I]f some proportion of long Covid patients were never infected with SARS-COV-2, it shows that it’s possible for anyone to misattribute chronic symptoms to this virus.... But what’s more notable is that the late-December survey also found virtually no difference in the long-haul symptom burden between those with and without antibody evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (or any positive test), which undercuts the likelihood of a causative role for SARS-CoV-2 as the predominant driver of chronic symptoms in that cohort. After all, the symptoms reported as consistent with long Covid are associated with many conditions.... 

"Add to that the fact that the past year has produced skyrocketing levels of social anguish and mental emotional distress.... [T]here’s no question that mental suffering can produce physical suffering. A New England Journal of Medicine report showed that, across multiple continents, about half of people with depression also had unexplained physical symptoms, which often predominated over their mental ones. Sleeping problems, physical and mental slowing, persistent fatigue, and concentration problems (aka 'brain fog') are among the actual criteria for major depression in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).

"The sad truth is that we are living through a time of incredible trauma, sorrow, and hardship. The loved ones of more than 500,000 Americans who have died of Covid-19 are in mourning. Tens of millions have lost their jobs. This has been a period of prolonged social isolation with no obvious parallel in history. We should expect a surge in both mental anguish and physical suffering that, while connected to the once-in-a-century pandemic, will not always be directly connected to SARS-COV-2 itself....

"[T]he suffering described by long Covid patients is debilitating and real ... [and] every such patient deserves careful, empathetic evaluation and appropriate treatment and referrals.... And rigorous research into the long-term effects of Covid-19 must continue. But at the same time we need to start thinking more critically — and speaking a bit more cautiously — about long Covid."

Read more: https://www.statnews.com/2021/03/22/we-need-to-start-thinking-more-critically-speaking-cautiously-long-covid/ 

Adam Gaffney is a pulmonary and critical care physician at the Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge, Mass., and an assistant professor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The Free World Died of Covid-19

The Free World Died of Covid-19 | The Dossier, Substack - Jordan Schachtel:

April 13, 2021 - "The Free World is a term that was originally used to describe the Allied powers during WWII, but it is most applicable here when discussing what united the anti-Soviet bloc to the United States during the Cold War. It was ... 'Western world' values of free speech, free media, the freedom of assembly, and freedom of association that united our sovereign states against the evils of Communism.

"Covid Mania has turned the world’s sovereign states into one tyranny after another. And the authoritarian forces of the world won this second 'Cold War' against its citizens without firing a shot. Some appear to be under the impression that the ruling class, which just finished the fastest rollup of power in human history, will simply return these stolen liberties when the 'national emergency' comes to an end. I’m not particularly convinced that this is the case. As John Adams once said, 'But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.

"In the United States, our federalist system allows for pockets of freedom in places like Florida, Texas, South Dakota and the like. But dare to protest in the Nation’s Capital today and you’ll quickly find yourself on an FBI watchlist, and almost certainly, with a future date in our nation’s kangaroo court system.... Our nation is no longer united behind these “Free World” concepts, and they are now only considered virtuous ideas in the aforementioned pockets of freedom in America. In the rest of the country, it has been made crystal clear that your rights do not supersede a disease with a 99.8% recovery rate....

"The United Kingdom has placed its citizens under indefinite confinement. Their “Covid restrictions” have lasted well over a year, and there is no end in sight.

"Canada, which has also been under a strict lockdown for over a year, has mutilated the free press while simultaneously transforming into a Chinese state colony. Under the 'leadership' of Justin Trudeau, Canada has essentially outlawed freedom of movement, free speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly in the name of a virus.

"New Zealand, another nation that is cozying up to Beijing, is committed to a 'Zero Covid' self-siege that has blockaded the island nation from the world for over a year. Citizens who test positive for Covid-19 are forcibly sent to quarantine camps. The government has recently considered legislation punishing people for the act of acquiring Covid-19.

"States in Australia have implemented some of the most intrusive lockdowns in the world. In Victoria, lockdowns meant citizens were only allowed to leave their homes for one hour a day, and they were not allowed to travel outside of a certain radius from their homes. The act of protesting is illegal, and it will be met by riot police.... 

"Germany, France, and Italy just entered another round of rights-restricting lockdowns, and countless more “Free World” nations continue chipping away at personal freedoms....

"The Free World, as a united force, was indeed very sick for the better part of the 21st century, but it has finally died from Covid-19. The concept only lives on in our imaginations and memories. The Covid era has exposed that these values that supposedly united the West are nothing more than a facade."

Read more: https://dossier.substack.com/p/the-free-world-died-of-covid-19

NY patients win court battles to use ivermectin

Ivermectin Wins in Court Again: For Human Rights | Deseret News - Justus R. Hope, MD:

Apr 19, 2021 - "One dose of Ivermectin was all it took to get 81-year-old John Swanson off the ventilator. John’s wife Sandra could not believe it. His story is remarkably similar to other cases.... 

"Ralph Lorigo is the lawyer who now has won three court orders forcing New York hospitals to administer Ivermectin to dying patients. Incredibly, these three hospitals and their lawyers fought against the patients, arguing they did not have the right to receive the drug despite a valid prescription written by their doctors. In essence, the argument was that they did not have the right to try a potentially life-saving medication.

"In each of the three cases, the New York State Supreme Court Justices sided with the patient, and in each of the three cases, the patients made near-miraculous recoveries after the Ivermectin was given. In each case, these patients were in the Intensive Care Unit on ventilators, unable to breathe on their own, and universally, after the drug was given, they rapidly improved and were able to breathe on their own.

"Judith Smentkiewicz made national news in January when her family hired Lorigo after the hospital refused a fourth dose of Ivermectin..... Attorney Lorigo and his associate Jon F. Minear reported, 'This lady was on a ventilator, literally on her deathbed, before she was given this drug. As far as we’re concerned, the judge’s order saved this woman’s life.'

"The family of Glenna "Sue" Dickinson happened to see a newspaper article of Judith's remarkable story, and they decided to try Ivermectin as well. Sue Dickinson, 65, contracted COVID-19 on January 7, 2021 ...  and was placed on a ventilator on January 17. The hospital staff advised that her chances of survival were about 40 percent [but] refused to give Sue the Ivermectin. Lorigo and Minear  sought an injunction. State Supreme Court Justice Frank Caruso ordered the hospital to provide the Ivermectin. Dickinson, like Swanson, and Smentkiewicz, came off the ventilator and improved as well.... 

"Ivermectin is widely used by physicians, as there are now 51 studies from around the world, with 50 showing clear benefit and one showing neutral.... Experts worldwide have called for the global and systematic use of Ivermectin to prevent and treat COVID-19. Physicians have recently written about a profit motive by regulatory agencies and Big Pharma to block cheap, safe, and effective treatments like Ivermectin and HCQ [hydroxychloroquine] in favor of ... vaccines and medicines like Remdesivir.... Remdesivir cost[s] $3,100 per dose [while] Ivermectin costs about $2 per dose. It is safer than Tylenol or most vitamins, says Dr. Pierre Kory of the FLCCC Alliance, a group of expert physicians promoting access and information through a nonprofit organization. Dr. Kory and Mr. Lorigo have teamed up to help other hospitalized patients gain access to the life-saving drug....

"The big problem is that information promoting Ivermectin is often censored or silenced as quickly as it is provided. Facebook, Reddit, Change.org, YouTube, and others have recently taken down posts on Ivermectin citing violation of 'community standards.'  Physicians who employ good judgment and scientific studies are considered violators, as well as those who publish factual accounts of Ivermectin-based recovery stories. A recent article exposed the link between large pharmaceutical corporations and government regulatory agencies who have financial entanglements and massive conflicts of interest.

"The disinformation campaign is evident with the publication of articles attempting to cast Ivermectin in a false light, referring to it as an 'animal dewormer' that might be a 'bad idea' for humans to use. In reality, many drugs are common to both humans and animals for treatment, including antibiotics, antifungals, and antiparasitic agents....

"Satoshi Omura won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discoveries leading to the development of Ivermectin. In his praise for Ivermectin and its potential to help in the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Omura recently compared Ivermectin to Penicillin, 'one of the greatest discoveries of the twentieth century'.... Ivermectin has already been adopted by 25 percent of the world’s countries to prevent and treat COVID-19.... However, censorship, corruption, hospital lawyers, and disinformation campaigns have continued to stand in the way of its widespread acceptance in the United States. Many have never even heard of it.

"Ivermectin recently won in court in South Africa after a protracted legal battle. Ralph Lorigo has now won his third State Supreme Court Injunction in New York. Will legal strategies also be required in the US to gain FDA approval for Ivermectin to treat COVID-19?"

Read more: https://www.thedesertreview.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/ivermectin-wins-in-court-again-for-human-rights/article_98d26958-a13a-11eb-a698-37c06f632875.html

Can you catch Covid from an empty washroom?

by George J. Dance

Can you actually catch Covid from being alone in a public washroom? It could happen; at least, that is the newest scare story making the rounds in Canada. Here is a sample, which made it onto our national news: 

Don't linger after you flush: Public toilets may spread COVID-19 aerosols, study finds | CTV News - Nicole Bogart:

April 20, 2021 - "Though a public washroom isn’t typically the kind of place you want to spend a lot of time in, new research exploring COVID-19 transmission suggests you may not want to linger after flushing a public toilet. A team of scientists from Florida Atlantic University's College of Engineering and Computer Science conducted a series of tests investigating the spread of microbe-containing aerosol droplets generated from flushing a toilet or a urinal in a public restroom. Using a particle counter to measure the size and number of droplets generated upon flushing, researchers found that the droplets were detected at heights of up to five feet (1.5 metres) for 20 seconds or longer after flushing. Worse yet, researchers detected a smaller number of droplets in the air even when the toilet was flushed with a closed lid, suggesting that aerosol droplets can escape through small gaps between the cover and the seat.

"After about three hours of tests involving more than 100 flushes, we found a substantial increase in the measured aerosol levels in the ambient environment with the total number of droplets generated in each flushing test ranging up to the tens of thousands," study co-author Siddhartha Verma said in a press release issued Tuesday. Both the toilet and urinal generated large quantities of droplets smaller than three micrometers in size, posing a significant transmission risk if they contain infectious microorganisms. Due to their small size, these droplets can remain suspended for a long time."

Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/don-t-linger-after-you-flush-public-toilets-may-spread-covid-19-aerosols-study-finds-1.5395358

That is scary, especially for senior citizens such as myself. Not only are we more vulnerable to severe disease or even death from Covid, but we are also more likely, when we go to the mall, to have to use the public washroom. I cannot remember the last time that I went to the local mall and did not have to, What do I need to do to to protect myself from this new threat? Should I simply stop going (in either sense)? Should I start wearing adult diapers? Or is it enough to just never flush? 

Or is it even a risk worth worrying about? How likely is there to be Covid in the toilet? I am no virologist, so I can only try to estimate the risk; but I cannot see much of one. 

First, there is no risk to me of catching Covid if I already have it; and there is no way I could be depositing Covid in the toilet unless I already had it. Therefore the only danger to me is if an infected person had previously flushed. How long previously? We are told that the aerosols can be present for "a long time," but the only time actually given is "20 seconds or more." How much more? I actually doubt that it is more than a minute; if the aerosols persisted for at least 60 seconds, I suspect that the researchers would have used that higher figure instead.

But assuming the little devils last long enough in water to infect the next user: how could they get into it in the first place? They would have to be in feces and urine. They certainly couldn't reproduce). Before that, they had to have passed through someone's stomach; not the most hospitable environment for living things. Even if a few made it through, they could not have been reproducing at the same time; so the number out would always be smaller than the number going in. 

And how would they get in someone's stomach in the first place? Sars-Cov-2, remember, is a respiratory virus; and respiratory viruses do not live and reproduce in the stomach. There could be stray virus on some food that one ate, but normal sanitary procedures should eliminate that possibility. Without evidence to the contrary, I doubt that the coronavirus survives being cooked. 

Of course, I am simply using reason here; and reason is a weak tool, in the lack of sufficient data to form true premises. So let us look for more facts. 

The article does say that scientists have discovered "small numbers of viruses in urine and stool samples." That is good to learn; a small amount of virus may survive a trip in feces as well as in water (though it may not actually be live virus; not enough information is given). But, again, it cannot reproduce there. So we are talking about a small number of viruses in urine or feces, of which a smaller number transfer to the toilet water, of which an even smaller number are ejected into the air in the form of aerosols. The all-important question, is: are these small amounts enough to infect someone in the few minutes it takes to use a washroom? Just how much of the virus is there in those aerosols? Surprisingly, the study does not say; because, it turns out, the scientists did not look for coronavirus:       

However, researchers did not analyze the aerosol droplets found in the restroom. Therefore, it is unclear whether COVID-19 aerosols were found in the sampling.

Wait, what? The researchers did not look for Covid aerosols. Therefore they did not find any. It is unclear whether there were any; but it is certainly clear enough that none were found. 

And that is enough to form an opinion on the article. The study on which it was based seems sound enough, but that study proved only that there are aerosols in washrooms; which may be a problem in public schools, where the children have to use the washroom en masse at recess. But the idea behind the news report, that anyone whomsoever is at risk of contacting Covid and possibly dying just from using an otherwise empty washroom, sounds full of – well, of whatever toilets get full of. 

Read study here: https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0040310