PA Counties locked down

[father-of-five]

There was a Hoss' near me, there's also a diner. One defied the orders, one didn't. Guess which one is still here and which one is going to become a daycare center

Didn't Wolf later withhold funding from Lebanon county back in 2020 when they were defying the governor's lockdown orders?

[ImminentDanger]

The following report regards a MAYBE LINK - For those directly affected, they should carefully monitor further developments.

This report highlights that there are often unintended consequences that follow after hasty decisions. The use of medication, that is untested for long-term affects, as a wide-spread prophelactic can be a dangerous decision. While it may have applications where it's risks outweigh it's potential undesirable consequences, too often the pharmaceutical community is willing to promote wide-spread drug use with no liability for the results. Taking medication (that is a supposed prophelactic to some dreaded condition or disease) is often swallowed by the patient without sufficient precaution or discussion with their doctor.


Merck Covid Drug Linked to New Virus Mutations, Study Says
John Lauerman - 02 February 2023
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/othe...ys/ar-AA170cuh

Merck Covid Drug Linked to New Virus Mutations, Study Says
John Lauerman - 02 February 2023
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/othe...ys/ar-AA170cuh

(Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co.'s Covid-19 pill is giving rise to new mutations of the virus in some patients, according to a study that underscores the risk of trying to intentionally alter the pathogen's genetic code.

Some researchers worry the drug may create more contagious or health-threatening variations of Covid, which has killed more than 6.8 million people globally over the past three years.

Mutations linked to the use of Merck's pill, Lagevrio, have been identified in viral samples taken from dozens of patients, according to a preprint study from researchers in the US and at the Francis Crick Institute, Imperial College London and other UK institutions.

The drug-linked mutations of the virus haven't been shown to be more immune-evasive or lethal yet, according to the study published Friday without peer review on the medRxiv website. But their very existence highlights what some scientists say are potential risks in wider use of the drug, which was recently cleared in China.

Lagevrio works by creating mutations in the Covid genome that prevent the virus from replicating in the body, reducing the chances it will cause severe illness. Some scientists had warned before it was authorized in late 2021 that by virtue of how it works, the drug could give rise to mutations that could turn out to be problematic. The preprint paper has reawakened those worries about the Merck drug.

"There's always been this underlying concern that it could contribute to a problem generating new variants," said Jonathan Li, a virologist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "This has largely been hypothetical, but this preprint validates a lot of those concerns."

Merck Response

Merck disputes the view that its drug is causing problematic variants.

"There is no evidence to indicate that any antiviral agent has contributed to the emergence of circulating variants," Merck spokesman Robert Josephson said in an email in response to questions about the study. "Based on available data we do not believe that Lagevrio (molnupiravir) is likely to contribute to the development of new meaningful coronavirus variants."

He said new mutations have emerged over the course of the pandemic due to the virus spreading uncontrollably and Lagevrio can form an important part of the solution, he said. Merck pointed to research done in animals that showed its drug didn't cause mutations.

The study authors assume the mutations were associated with molnupiravir treatment, but don't have direct proof that the mutations arose in patients who took their drug, Josephson said in a follow-up email. Instead, the researchers drew their conclusions from "circumstantial associations between viral sequence origin and timeframe of sequence collection in countries where molnupiravir is available," Josephson said.

Merck fell as much as 1.2% in New York Wednesday, recovering some losses to close down 0.4%.

The US Food and Drug Administration, which authorized Lagevrio in late 2021, said it doesn't comment on third-party research and works with Covid drugmakers to assess their products' activity against variants.

Preprint

Major scientific journals don't publish studies until the completion of a "peer review" process in which the research is scrutinized by outside experts. During the pandemic, scientists increasingly started publishing their research on what are known as "preprint servers" prior to exhaustive reviews, in attempt to advance the science more quickly and share urgent findings.

Researchers found Lagevrio-induced mutations in small patient clusters, indicating the new versions were spreading among them. While the biggest group they found with similar mutations was 21 people, that may not fully represent the true scope of the problem as viral samples of many patients aren't analyzed, according to Ryan Hisner, an independent researcher from Indiana who helped write the paper.

The researchers looked at some 13 million viral genomes in databases around the world. The drug-linked mutations were proportionally more common in countries and groups where Lagevrio was likely to be used, especially the US and Australia, where it was introduced early. The signature mutations are less frequent in Canada, France, and other countries where the drug isn't used.

"These effects are visible in these databases," said Theo Sanderson, a Crick Institute geneticist who led the study. "It appears that people are being treated, some of them aren't clearing their infections, and some are passing them on."

The risk of drug-linked mutations is too great to continue using Merck's drug, Hisner said. The US should explore authorizing drugs used in other countries to control Covid, like Xocova from Japan-based Shionogi & Co., and discontinue use of Lagevrio, said Michael Lin, a Stanford University antiviral drug researcher who said he consulted with the authors but wasn't involved in the study. China cleared Lagevrio late last year and Shionogi said it's in the final stages of discussions with the country's regulators over its
Covid drug.

"It's a very distressing situation," said Lin. "There's no evidence that any of these mutants is worse in any way — not yet — but it's well agreed that you're playing with fire if you're creating random mutations and hoping nothing bad will come of it."

Sanderson declined to comment on whether doctors should continue using Merck's drug, saying the study doesn't address the issue.

Lingering concerns

Concerns about Lagevrio's safety and effectiveness are longstanding. Health officials recommend against its use in pregnant women. In general, the drug shouldn't be used when alternatives are available, according to the US National Institutes of Health.

Merck was encouraged by former Warp Speed science czar Moncef Slaoui to team up with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP to get the much-needed oral Covid pill ready for widespread use. Early results showed it cut the risk of hospitalization and death by about 50% in non-immunized people.

Subsequent studies have indicated it's actually less effective than those early trials indicated. A study released in December showed that adding Lagevrio to standard care didn't reduce hospitalizations or deaths in high-risk adults, although the time to recovery from symptoms was shortened by several days.

However, Covid treatment options are dwindling. Variants have mutated to evade Covid antibodies made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Eli Lilly & Co. and Vir Biotechnology Inc. The last one to retain effectiveness, AstraZeneca Plc's Evusheld, was just removed from the US market. That leaves few alternatives for Americans: just Paxlovid and Gilead Sciences Inc.'s remdesivir, which must be infused in three daily sessions as soon as someone is diagnosed.

Some patients aren't eligible to take Paxlovid because it contains a component, called ritonavir, that has adverse interactions with therapies for other conditions like heart disease, that are common in people vulnerable to severe Covid.

Raymond Schinazi, an Emory University researcher, raised concerns about Merck's drug early on in its development. He'd done his own research into it years ago before abandoning it.

He called for more monitoring to investigate whether the viruses with drug-linked mutations are having any impact after learning about the new study.

The preprint study is "an orange flag, not a red flag yet," Schinazi said. "Proceed with caution."

[ImminentDanger]

California Not Requiring COVID-19 Vaccines for Schoolchildren
By Nick Koutsobinas | Saturday, 04 February 2023 12:20 PM EST
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/co...04/id/1107297/

California will no longer require children to get a COVID-19 vaccine to attend school, state public health officials said Friday, according to ABC News.

"[The California Department of Public Health] is not currently exploring emergency rulemaking to add COVID-19 to the list of required school vaccinations, but we continue to strongly recommend COVID-19 immunization for students and staff to keep everyone safer in the classroom," the agency said in a statement. "Any changes to required K-12 immunizations are properly addressed through the legislative process."

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., decreed the policy in 2021 under the agency's recommendation for a mandate, indicating it would eventually apply to all 6.7 million schoolchildren in the state.

When asked by ABC via email about the matter, Newsom's representatives did not respond.

The majority of the state's restrictions have ended. And Newsom will not be able to issue any new ones after Feb. 28, when California's COVID-19 emergency declaration officially ends.

The announcement from state health officials that they are not "exploring" more mandates comes roughly one week after a California judge blocked a law passed last year that would punish physicians for spreading "misinformation or disinformation" about COVID-19.

According to Reuters, last Wednesday, Senior U.S. District Judge William Shubb of Sacramento deemed Assembly Bill 2098, signed by Newsom last October, as overly ambiguous, leaving the medical community uncertain of what statements could potentially result in penalties. Such penalties could result in a physician losing their license.

It's good to see that some freedom is being restored - but, really, if it is only available at the whim of the government, it is privilege - not freedom!

The fact that the USSC did not protect the people from the government, by smacking down these edicts nationwide, means we will see them again - in some form!

...

[bogey1]

California Not Requiring COVID-19 Vaccines for Schoolchildren
By Nick Koutsobinas | Saturday, 04 February 2023 12:20 PM EST
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/co...04/id/1107297/



It's good to see that some freedom is being restored - but, really, if it is only available at the whim of the government, it is privilege - not freedom!

The fact that the USSC did not protect the people from the government, by smacking down these edicts nationwide, means we will see them again - in some form!

...

The reason is, there are no more children left that haven't already taken the jab. Illegals are another thing.
They are probably exempt.

[ImminentDanger]

Bend Over! - Biden is at it again!

Biden Admin Negotiates Deal to Give WHO Authority Over US Pandemic Policies
By Brian Freeman - 20 February 2023
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/wh...20/id/1109356/

The Biden administration is readying to sign a "legally binding" agreement with the World Health Organization that would permit it the authority to dictate U.S. policies during a pandemic, The Epoch Times has reported.

The "zero draft" of a pandemic treaty was published earlier this month and the final terms are scheduled to be worked out next week so that all members can then sign.

This came on the heels of a meeting in September, where a joint announcement put out by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that a platform has been developed "to maximize the longstanding U.S. government-WHO partnership, and to protect and promote the health of all people around the globe, including the American people."

Despite widespread criticism of the organization for its actions during the coronavirus pandemic, the zero draft grants the organization the power to declare and manage a global pandemic emergency.

If a health emergency is declared, all signatories would have to submit to the authority of the WHO regarding treatments, government regulations such as lockdowns and vaccine mandates, global supply chains, and monitoring and surveillance of populations, according to The Epoch Times report over the weekend.

David Bell, a public health physician and former WHO staffer specializing in epidemic policy, warned The Epoch Times that "they want to see a centralized, vaccine-and-medication-based response, and a very restrictive response in terms of controlling populations.

"They get to decide what is a health emergency, and they are putting in place a surveillance mechanism that will ensure that there are potential emergencies to declare."

The WHO pandemic treaty is part of a two-track attempt, coinciding with an initiative by the World Health Assembly, the rule-making body of the WHO, to create new global pandemic regulations that would also supersede the laws of member states.

Francis Boyle, professor of international law at Illinois University, told The Epoch Times that "both [initiatives] are fatally dangerous. Either one or both would set up a worldwide medical police state under the control of the WHO, and in particular WHO Director-General Tedros.

"If either one or both of these go through, Tedros or his successor will be able to issue orders that will go all the way down the pipe to your primary care physicians."

A key question is whether the Biden administration can bind the U.S. to treaties and agreements without the consent of the Senate, which is required under the Constitution.

The zero draft states that, per international law, treaties between countries must be ratified by national legislatures, but the draft also includes a clause that the deal will go into effect on a "provisional" basis, as soon as it is signed by delegates to the WHO, and therefore it will be legally binding on members without being ratified by legislatures.

Republican lawmakers are attempting to revive the attempt to take the U.S. out of the WHO, which former President Donald Trump did, but President Joe Biden reversed upon entering the White House.

Last month, GOP House members introduced the "No Taxpayer Funding for the World Health Organization Act."

Texas Rep. Chip Roy, lead sponsor of the bill, stated that "the WHO * praised China for their 'leadership' at the beginning of COVID-19 and has done nothing to hold the CCP accountable for the spread of COVID-19."

(bolding mine)


We will never Return To Freedom as long as we (as a nation) continue to elect those who Hate The United States, Declaration of Independence & US Constitution!

...

[streaker69]

What color helmets does the WHO wear?

[JaySmith]

https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_fi.../A75_18-en.pdf

it looks like that's what they're doing...

[JaySmith]

What color helmets does the WHO wear?

Clay-pigeon orange I hope.

[cdi]

Never going to happen.

[Emptymag]

What color helmets does the WHO wear?

I see what you did there.