A Covid Update 新冠病毒最新資料 We have the latest on the Delta variant. 我們有最新Delta變型病毒有關的資訊。 By David Leonhardt Published June 14, 2021Updated June 15, 2021 It’s time for one of this newsletter’s occasional updates on the state of the pandemic. The brief version: The situation continues to look reassuring for anybody who is vaccinated — but has become more worrisome for anybody who is not, largely because of the Delta variant. 新聞簡報在這個時間點，要提供有關最新流行病的訊息：由於Delta變型病毒的緣故，目前的情境，對接種過疫苗者可以安心，但是對尚未施打疫苗者就要格外小心應對了。 Here are three more detailed points: 有三個重要的細節： 1. Cases are no longer falling 確診數不再下降 The news about Covid-19 has been mostly positive in the U.S. over recent months. The vaccines continue to work well against every variant, and the number of Americans who have gotten a shot continues to rise. 最近幾個月，美國面對新冠病毒流行病疫情的消息，是非常正面的。各種疫苗持續對抗每一種變型病毒，是有效的，同時美國施打疫苗的人數不斷上升。 But the U.S. still faces two problems. First, the pace of vaccinations has slowed, and a substantial share of Americans — close to one third — remains hesitant about getting a shot. These unvaccinated Americans will remain vulnerable to Covid outbreaks and to serious symptoms, or even death. 但美國仍要面對兩個問題，第一，接種疫苗的速度已減緩，美國人重要的施打人數的比例-將近1/3的美國人，對疫苗接種的遲疑猶豫，這些未接種的美國人，對新冠病毒的再度爆發，是最易受到攻擊和產生嚴重的症狀，甚至死亡。 Second, the Delta variant — which appears to be both more contagious and more severe than earlier versions of the virus — is spreading rapidly within the U.S., after having first been identified in India. It now accounts for about 10 percent of cases, according to Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former F.D.A. commissioner. 第二，Delta變型病毒，較先前的病毒更易傳染和嚴重，在印度首次被認定後，在美國很快的傳播，目前有10%的確診數，依據美國前食藥局局長Dr. Scott Gottlieb表示。 Together, these two forces help explain why new cases have stopped falling: 上述兩種原因可以解釋為什麼新的確診數沒有停止下降：如圖 Many experts are concerned that cases will eventually start to rise as Delta becomes the dominant form of the virus. “We are vulnerable,” Dr. Kavita Patel of the Brookings Institution told Yahoo News. On Twitter yesterday, Dr. Robert Wachter of the University of California, San Francisco, wrote: “I’ll now bet we’ll see significant (incl. many hospitalizations/deaths) surges this fall in low-vaccine populations due to combo of seasonality, Delta’s nastiness, & ‘back to normal’ behavior.” 很多專家開始擔心，確診數將開始上升，當Delta成為主要的病毒形式漫延，我們會很容易受到攻擊，Brookings Institution的Dr. Kavita Patel告訴Yahoo新聞社，另外加州舊金山大學Dr. Robert Wachter昨天(6/15)在推特寫到：我敢打賭，今年秋天我們會看到在疫苗施打率低的地區，會有很多住院和死亡的案例飆升，由於季節的變化、Delta變型病毒的危險性和恢復正常生活習慣等因素所造成。 2. But the vaccines work 各種疫苗是有效的 In addition to being more contagious, Delta also appears to be more severe. As my colleague Keith Bradsher reports about southeastern China, where the variant has been spreading: “Patients are becoming sicker and their conditions are worsening much more quickly.” (China has more detailed data than many other countries, because it conducts rapid, widespread testing.) Delta除了傳染力強之外，它更為嚴峻，作者的同事Keith Bradsher報導了這類病毒在中國東南部的地方擴散：患者感覺不適而且很快的惡化。(中國比其它國家有更細節的資料，因為中國有實施快速普篩檢測) But there is still one very big piece of encouraging news: The vaccines continue to work extremely well against the variants, based on the evidence so far. The best performing vaccines vastly reduce the number of Covid cases of any kind and virtually eliminate death. 但在此還是有一些令人興奮的重要消息：依目前的證據顯示：各種疫苗持續對不同的變體病毒，有很好的防護能力。疫苗最佳的功能在於能大量減少各種的確診數和最終排除死亡。 “The Delta variant is by far the most contagious variant of this virus we have seen in the entire pandemic,” Dr. Ashish Jha said yesterday. “The good news is the data suggests that, if you’ve been fully vaccinated, you remain protected, that the vaccines hold up.” 目前的Delta變型病毒是整個流行病中，最會傳播感染的病毒，Ashish Jha醫生昨天(6/15)表示，好的消息資料顯示:假如你接種過完全的疫苗，你就會受到充份的保護。 The clearest place to see this pattern is Britain, where the Delta variant has spread widely and where the vaccination rate is high. In Britain, there is “still no sign of increase in deaths, well after the strain has become dominant,” as Dr. Eric Topol of the Scripps Research Translational Institute noted. 最顯而易見的地方，就是英國的案例，Delta變型病毒在英國廣泛的傳播，由於它的疫苗施打率高，當這新的病毒株在英國橫行時，並無發現死亡上升的跡象， the Scripps Research Translational Institute的Dr. Eric Topol特別提到。 3. The lesson is clear 這課題非常清楚 Nothing is more important than vaccination. 萬事莫如施打疫苗急 Persuading more Americans to get vaccinated will save some of their lives. And a more rapid global vaccination program can save millions of lives around the world. Delta already appears to be at least partly responsible for rising case counts in several African countries, Russia and elsewhere. 說服更多的美國人接種疫苗，可以拯救更多的生命，加速全球接種疫苗計畫，能拯救全世界數以百萬人以上的生命。Delta在一些非洲國家、俄羅斯和其它地區，已造成了許多確診的事實。 “If you’re fully vaxxed, I wouldn’t be too worried, especially if you’re in a highly vaxxed region,” Wachter wrote. “If you’re not vaccinated: I’d be afraid. Maybe even very afraid.” 假如你完全的接種過疫苗，作者就不會太憂慮，特別是在疫苗施打率高的地區，Wachter寫到，假如你尚未施打疫苗，作者就會很擔憂，甚至會更害怕。 More on the virus: Novavax announced today that a clinical trial of its vaccine in the U.S. and Mexico found an efficacy rate of about 90 percent. Novavax疫苗今天宣佈在美國和墨西哥所作的臨床實驗，證明有效保護力達90%。

轉分享： 這是中研院生醫所所長郭沛恩院士 (他也是UCSF 教授）寫給前副總統陳健仁及時中部長，関於目前COVID-19 的一些建議，希望政府能夠接納。 Dear VP Chen, Hope that things are going well. I just completed my 9th quarantine after my 9th trip to Taipei during the pandemic and see that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is now firmly established in Taiwan. While the CECC is moving quickly to address the widening spread of COVID-Omicron and is heading in the right direction, I find that the current policy is unsustainable and the messaging can be much improved. Since I was told that the CECC would welcome my suggestions, I have decided to do so. Please forward this message to the CECC for their consideration. 1. It is now very clear that COVID-Omicron is a very different disease than COVID-ALPHA/BETA/DELTA. Current vaccines are developed from COVID-ALPHA and cannot prevent INFECTION by COVID-Omicron even though they lower significantly the risk of SEVERE DISEASE and DEATH for those who are fully vaccinated and received booster shots recently. In addition, COVID-Omicron is highly contagious and has a very short incubation time; but it causes a milder disease, including shortened disease course and contagious period. 2. Because of the above, contact tracing does not work and avoiding infection is futile except one is in strict isolation or wears a PROPERLY FITTED N95 mask around others (see a very nice article about this in the NYT attached). This means that COVID testing in asymptomatic people is a waste of resources and is justified only in a limited set of situations (such as someone who works closely with vulnerable populations - e.g., nursing home and hospital workers - who has been in close contact with a positive case and needs to test negative to return to work). 3. Although the rate of hospitalization and death due to COVID-Omicron is low, when large populations are infected, the number of severe cases and severe disease is still significant (0.4% of 23 million people hospitalized = 92,000 in the hospital; 0.04% of 23 million people can die = 9,200 deaths) so the key is to keep the vulnerable people from developing severe disease. Medications used for COVID-ALPHA/BETA/DELTA variants such as antibody treatments and Remdesivir, etc., do not work for COVID-Omicron but the oral antivirals from Pfizer and Merck work amazingly well for preventing death (>85% reduction) and hospitalization. Paxlovid has done better in clinical trials to prevent hospitalization but it has many drug-drug interactions so many elderly people cannot use it. Molnupiravir has the theoretical risk of mutagenesis in pregnant women but for the elderly who are past reproductive age, it is a very safe and effective drug to use. I encourage the CECC to contact their counterparts in Japan, Singapore, Israel and the UK to get their experience in using these two oral anti-virals in the recent COVID-Omicron surge. [Full Disclosure: Dr. Dean Li, President of Merck Research Laboratories, is my brother-in-law so I am not pushing the Merck pill for obvious conflict of interest reasons.] Based on the above, my suggestions on messaging are: 1. Tell the country that COVID-Omicron is an entirely different disease than the previous COVID variants so the whole country IS NOT IMMUNE to getting the infection. However, through the sacrifice and cooperation of everyone in Taiwan, the country succeeded in preventing disease and death during the previous waves of infection that caused a lot of problems around the world. This is shared success that the CECC and everyone in Taiwan should take credit, be proud of, and very relieved by. 2. Despite the fact that no one is protected from infection, but because COVID-Omicron is mild, public health policy needs to be adjusted to focus on treating the vulnerable rather than preventing infection of all. 3. Acknowledge that some segments of society have been severely affected by COVID policies so the recovery of these sectors is taken in consideration in updating the public health policy. 4. Acknowledge that some COVID policies were confusing to the public in the past so the new policies will be more consistent and logical. For example, the policy of requiring masking outdoors while people eating at restaurants indoors are not required to mask makes no sense. My suggestions for the new policy are geared towards lowering hospitalization and death rates while avoiding unnecessary disruptions in people's lives: 1. Push vaccination for vulnerable groups (the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions that make them more prone to severe disease). Send vaccination nurses to the nursing homes and neighborhoods with elderly people to get everyone fully vaccinated (including booster shots). Getting the 30% of those 65-75 and 44% of elderly >75 who have not been fully vaccinated and boosted should be a high priority 2. Use the "test positive and treat" strategy for those in vulnerable groups. As I mentioned before, Paxlovid for all but Molnupiravir for those who cannot take Paxlovid. Treat them before their symptoms get worse because it is cheaper to give them the medicine than risk their need for hospitalization. 3. No more putting those with mild disease in special facilities or hospitals so that there are plenty of capacity for those who need hospitalization. 4. Recommend (not mandate with threat of punishment) those who have close contact with COVID-Omicron patients to mask around others for 5 days (no need to do so with household members because they are already given it to them) if they are asymptomatic. 5. No testing of asymptomatic people unless their job requires it (nursing home, hospital, etc.). 6. No more closing schools, factories, or offices because of positive COVID-Omicron cases. 7. No more mandatory masking except for those described in #4 above. People here are so used to masking that many will still do so with the threat of punishment. 8. No more mandatory quarantine, even for those who test positive. Highly recommend those who test positive to wear a mask when around people and not eat with others but not make it a punishable offense. [Treat them like people who have a bad flu, not like criminals.] 9. No more testing or quarantine requirements for visitors from abroad. As the local infection rate is now higher than that many other countries, there is no reason to require new arrivals to do anything different when they are asymptomatic. It's confusing to many that I can go anywhere in the world without quarantine but have to do quarantine plus multiple tests when arriving in Taiwan (and a handful of Asian countries). The benefit of the policies listed above is that the resources of the country are directed toward saving lives rather than collecting lots of infection data. It will reclaim the international travel hub status of Taoyuan International Airport (and not let Singapore and Seoul dominate the air travel sector) and revive the tourism, convention, airline, hotel businesses. It will simplify everyone's life and reduce anxiety. It may be counter intuitive but if you look at the data from the US university campuses and European countries, it is better to get as many young people infected as quickly as possible to shorten the surge while building up herd immunity for COVID-Omicron without a lot of severe cases. The old policy for flattening the curve is to prevent overwhelming the hospitals but with oral antivirals and milder disease, there is no need to flatten the curve. It is better to get the whole surge completed in 2 months like in most countries that pursue a more open policy. I am convinced that when the messaging is clear and based on current understanding of the situation, the people will embrace it and praise the CECC's leadership. Best, Pui -- Pui-Yan Kwok, MD, PhD Director, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Academia Sinica

​​許多完全接種了covid疫苗的人現在都失明了 我們聽說了很多關於注射後心肌炎和心包炎的案例，以及接受者即使在註射後仍反複檢測出病毒“陽性”。但是，武漢冠狀病毒（COVID-19）的“完全接種疫苗”中還有另一個很少被提及的副作用：失明。 英國的最新數據表明，越來越多的人正在失去視力。藥品和保健品監管機構 (MHRA) 黃卡系統目前顯示，在被輝瑞-BioNTech 針刺傷的人群中，有 163 例完全失明，另外還有 6 例中心視力喪失和 4 例突然視力喪失。 據報導，現在還有 21 人患有由輝瑞注射液特別引起的“暫時性失明”。這種不良反應包括一次視覺障礙或一隻眼睛失明幾秒鐘甚至幾分鐘。 據報導，除此之外還有 20 人患有稱為“單側失明”的反應，即一個人僅一隻眼睛失明或視力模糊。 “截至 2022 年 4 月 6 日，總共有 8,016 例眼部疾病被報告為對輝瑞 (Pfizer) 疫苗的不良反應，”《每日曝光》報導。 僅僅為了感覺“受到保護”免於感冒而失明是否值得？ 阿斯利康（AstraZeneca）注射劑是目前英國可用的 COVID 刺針之一，它也與失明病例有關。 截至 4 月 6 日，MHRA 已收到 324 例失明報告，3 例中心視力喪失報告，5 例突發視力喪失報告，以及 14,895 例眼部疾病中的 29 例短暫失明報告，所有這些都與阿斯利康針頭有關。 Moderna 還在英國對人們進行了​​刺激，儘管速度比上述公司小得多。儘管如此，許多服用 Moderna 針的人現在也失明了。 MHRA 顯示，與 Moderna 注射劑一起，已有 34 例失明報告和 56 例視力障礙報告。總共有 1,519 例眼部疾病被報告為對 Moderna 刺拳的不良反應。 “總的來說，當包括未指定疫苗品牌的不良反應時，有 24,516 種眼部疾病報告為對 Covid-19 注射劑的不良反應，其中 525 種反應是完全失明，”Expose 報導。 “‘事實核查人員’與當局一道，一直在調查這些數據，並將其標記為不可靠。他們的理由是，‘僅僅因為有人在接種疫苗後報告了這一事件，並不一定意味著它是由於疫苗造成的。’” 一位名叫路易斯的人在推特上記錄了他妻子的故事，她在接受阿斯利康 (AstraZeneca) 刺戳後的幾周和幾個月內，左眼完全失明，右眼失明 30-60%。 治療這名婦女的神經科醫生警告她不要注射第二劑。 “正如你所看到的那樣，事實核查人員無視‘不一定是疫苗的錯’而忽視的痛苦，對於報告他們的人來說是非常真實的，”Exposé 補充道。 “但為什麼 COVID 疫苗會導致人們失明呢？” 答案可能與 COVID 疫苗也會引起包括中風在內的主要心血管問題有關。視力喪失通常伴隨著中風，所以這一切都開始變得有意義了。 加入並分享👉@NaturalNewsMedia ​​Many people fully vaccinated for covid are now going BLIND We have heard all about the many cases of myocarditis and pericarditis post-injection, as well as recipients repeatedly testing “positive” for the virus even after doing the deed. But there is another concerning side effect occurring in the “fully vaccinated” for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) that is rarely mentioned: blindness. The latest data out of the United Kingdom suggests that a growing number of fully jabbed people are losing their eyesight. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Yellow Card system currently shows 163 cases of total blindness among people who got jabbed with the Pfizer-BioNTech needle, along with an additional six cases of central vision loss and four cases of sudden visual loss. Twenty-one people also reportedly now suffer from “blindness transient” specifically caused by the Pfizer injection. This adverse reaction involves visual disturbance or loss of sight in one eye for a few seconds or even minutes at a time. Another 20 people beyond that are reported to have suffered from a reaction called “unilateral blindness,” which is when a person got blind or blurred vision in just one eye. “In total, there have been 8,016 eye disorders reported as adverse reactions to the Pfizer jab as of 6th April 2022,” reported the Daily Exposé. Is it worth possibly going blind just to feel “protected” against a cold? The AstraZeneca injection, which is one of the COVID jabs currently available in the U.K., is also linked to cases of blindness. As of April 6, the MHRA has received 324 reports of blindness, three reports of central vision loss, five reports of sudden visual loss, and 29 reports of blindness transient among 14,895 eye disorders, all specifically linked to the AstraZeneca needle. Moderna also jabs people in the UK, though at a much smaller rate than the aforementioned companies. Still, many people who take the Moderna needle are now blind as well. The MHRA shows that in conjunction with the Moderna injection, there have been 34 reports of blindness and 56 reports of visual impairment. In total, there have been 1,519 eye disorders reported as adverse reactions to the Moderna jab. “In all, when including adverse reactions reported where the brand of vaccine was not specified, there have been 24,516 eye disorders reported as adverse reactions to the Covid-19 injections, with 525 of these reactions being complete blindness,” the Exposé reported. “‘Fact-checkers’ alongside authorities have been on the case to sweep this data under the carpet and have labelled it as unreliable. Their reasoning is that ‘just because someone reports the event after having the vaccine, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is due to the vaccine.'” One person who goes by the name of Louis documented on Twitter the story of his wife, who in the weeks and months following her AstraZeneca jab went completely blind in her left eye and between 30-60 percent blind in her right eye. The neurologist who treated the woman warned her not to get the second dose of the shot. “As you can see the misery which the fact checkers are disregarding as ‘not necessarily the fault of the vaccine’ is very real for the people who are reporting them,” the Exposé added. “But why are the COVID vaccines causing people to go blind?” The answer could have to do with the fact that COVID vaccines also cause major cardiovascular problems, including stroke. Visual loss often accompanies stroke, so it is all starting to make sense. Join and share 👉@NaturalNewsMedia