Yep.

Just like the last civil war perpetrated by democrats in an effort to protect slave ownership, the current democrat party is ginning up a civil war to keep blacks ignorant and under their thumb.

Unlike the GOP, most of whom in the South are the descendants of the former Dixiecrats.  They just want to keep blacks in their place, like all good White Supremacists.  Yeah, the KKK use dot be Democrat.  Now it's very solidly Republican.

Just got back from my first day. It was fun. A little history, it started off in an airline Mexico, then was used for flights between Florida and Cuba, it was then part of Island Airlines in Put-in-Bay from 1946-1952. It made it's way to Idaho, where it crashed, then it was bought and went to Michigan. It sat in Michigan for a long while when it was given to the foundation to be restored. The goal is to have it flight ready in 5 years. They are trying to knock off 1,000 pounds off the gross weight, so it can be flown single pilot only. I practiced riveting, drilling, and made a bracket to mount the ground power to the frame. It wasn't too pretty, but it will work. I've never really worked with sheet metal before.

Pics as soon as I can figure out how to make them smaller.

Congrats.  That sounds really cool.  Hopefully I'll stop up and visit one of these days.

I voted absentee.  Didn't feel like risking getting the 'rona.  Dropped our ballots off the other day.  Place was busy too, good to see.  I told my students to get registered and vote.  Didn't tell them who to vote for, just told them that absentee ballots were really easy to get, and that they should make their voices heard.  They're the future.

I think if someone really wanted to murder the POTUS there are far better ways of doing so than infecting him with the 'rona.  Hinkley nearly got Reagan, for example.  He came far closer than we were told at the time.

I hope Trump stays well, I honestly do, even though he's still peddling the wrong message about the virus.  A relapse could be really disastrous for him.

I remember this.  Guy's engine went TU just after take off.  Dude did a great job, kept it under control and put it down in a field under control.  If memory serves everyone walked away.  Lots of times engine dies after takeoff and the outcome isn't anywhere near so good.

And here it is in a nutshell.   You agree risk is personal, and should be considered as such.

 So does everyone else here.   So why not let us, as individuals, make the determination of the risk we are willing to take, whether it be flying, driving, scuba diving, skydiving, etc and even how we want to deal with Covid19?

 For those who want to mask up, do so.  For those who want to avoid groups and socializing, go right ahead.   But please don't force everyone else to go along with it.  Personal choice, right?

Your right to liberty ends where you can infect me with a deadly virus.  What you still don't seem to understand is masks don't protect you, at least the ones you are most likely wearing.  I suspect the mask Mrs. Steingar made me is somewhat protective, but I've no proof.  Might just be emotional on my part.

Masks protect those around you.  You wear them as a courtesy to those with whom you come into contact.  If everyone masked up and maintained social distance the virus would have a really hard time of it.

Sure you do you and I'll do me, but that's because (thankfully) you live far away from me.  A pity you'll potentially spread the virus to those around you, but there's naught I can do about it. I'm just thankful that those who live and work around me are more considerate of the others in their community.

You have a greater chance of dying riding your motorbike or driving your car, and even flying your airplane.   Are you cutting that activity out as well?

My risk on my bike and in my aircraft are controlled.  You might stand a greater risk of dying riding your motorcycle or flying your airplane, but I do not.

Going to a large gathering I can't control where the other participants have been.  I can't control where the air is flowing and can't accurately gauge it either, so if there are viral-laden aerosols I can't avoid them.  Personally, I honestly think having a giant wedding right now is the height of irresponsibility.  That said, it is a free country and people are entitled to be irresponsible.

Interesting. What’s the mechanism about the Oxford one that will do that?

I mean neither to be pedantic nor long-winded. It can be very difficult to distill the nuances of biotechnology into layman’s terms. I will endeavor to do so.

Legacy vaccines are either killed or weakened viruses that can prime the immune system without causing disease. Most of the vaccines you’ve encountered fit into this paradigm.

About a decade ago a new type of vaccine came on the market from Merck. Human Pappilomavirus (HPV) was difficult to culture, so a part of the virus, one of its coat proteins, was cloned, expressed in yeast, purified and used as a vaccine. This was the first subunit vaccine, and has been wildly successful.

Some of the vaccines in Phase 3 trials are so-called mRNA vaccines. Like the HPV vaccine they rely on the expression of a coat protein of the virus. However, these vaccines trick your cells into producing the viral protein to prime the immune system. They deliver an mRNA.

The instructions to make your are encoded in your DNA. When it comes time for the DNA to direct production of a protein (which is one of the main things your DNA does) an mRNA is produced. The mRNA is taken to the site of protein production and directs assembly of the protein.

The mRNA vaccines deliver an artificial mRNA into cells that encodes a viral protein. The idea is the cell makes the viral protein and secretes it. Once in the bloodstream the immune system can react to it and you get your immunity.

It really isn’t as simple as that, since mRNAs are delicate things that are both easily destroyed and unable to enter cells. The mRNAs themselves have been strengthened and packaged into bodies that can penetrate cell membranes. They’ve been working on this a LONG time, but might have at last achieved success. If this works you’re going to see a host of therapeutics based on the concept.

The Oxford vaccine is similar in that it tricks cells to make viral proteins. However, the Oxford vaccine uses a virus to do the delivery. Called Adeno Associated Virus (AAV) it is a gene therapy delivery vector. AAV can persist in cells for a long time, so it can deliver needed proteins stably.  And there’s the rub.

I don’t know how long the mRNA’s from mRNA vaccines will persist in cells, I don’t think those data are even available, given that they’re proprietary. I’m willing to bet money not that long, just long enough to make some protein.  I suspect the mRNA vaccines are just good enough based on the infancy of the technology.

AAV sticks around, that’s why it works for gene therapy. So you have a cell making a viral proteins for a long time, probably after serum IgM and IgG levels have peaked. Meaning that you have an active immune response against a protein actively being made by cells in the body. The immune system is likely to mistake the cells making that protein as a foreign invader at that point, and react against them. That’s autoimmunity, a Pandora’s box I don’t want to see opened. Moreover, it will take long enough to develop that it could be missed by Phase 3 trials.

I’m by no means an expert virologist, nor will I lay claim to immunological expertise. But the last time I had misgivings about a new therapeutic people died. I hope I’m wrong about this one, in the meantime I won’t be taking it.