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Amazing news. Our team @JennerInstitute are so pleased to see this!
A few quick responses to some pointing out it could be even better (more/cheaper/single-dose) 1/
The Ox/AZ/SerumInst deal is incredibly radical- Ox opted out of £££ to make a brand new product available around the world not-for-profit. Please judge imperfections by comparison to Pfizer/Moderna, not vs an imaginary ideal or a company which hasn’t yet delivered any doses.
Quibble #1: ‘It needs 2 doses’. Ox/AZ haven’t done as good a PR job on this as J&J, but the vaccines are similar. Published Ox data shows substantial single dose efficacy if you read tables carefully. Further analysis will be done soon. 2/
And I think all vaccines incl J&J will need boost for optimal long-term effect. 3/
Quibble #2: ‘But Serum Inst are charging more to SA than AZ are charging others’. Firstly, the product remains cheaper, I think, than anything else in market, or many older vaccines which haven’t had the recent R&D costs. 4/
A few quick responses to some pointing out it could be even better (more/cheaper/single-dose) 1/
The first shipment of 1 million doses of the #OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine from the @SerumInstIndia is on the way to @ortambo_int
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) January 31, 2021
The shipment left the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai today and will arrive in South Africa on 1 February 2021.#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/lTw1EtGi0d
The Ox/AZ/SerumInst deal is incredibly radical- Ox opted out of £££ to make a brand new product available around the world not-for-profit. Please judge imperfections by comparison to Pfizer/Moderna, not vs an imaginary ideal or a company which hasn’t yet delivered any doses.
Quibble #1: ‘It needs 2 doses’. Ox/AZ haven’t done as good a PR job on this as J&J, but the vaccines are similar. Published Ox data shows substantial single dose efficacy if you read tables carefully. Further analysis will be done soon. 2/
And I think all vaccines incl J&J will need boost for optimal long-term effect. 3/
Quibble #2: ‘But Serum Inst are charging more to SA than AZ are charging others’. Firstly, the product remains cheaper, I think, than anything else in market, or many older vaccines which haven’t had the recent R&D costs. 4/
Dear @theSNP,
If you are serious about tackling transphobia within your party, perhaps you should begin by talking to actual trans people, and the organisations who represent them.
Your own NEC is really not the place to start, it's part of the problem.
I mean your Conduct Committee is a joke. Here is a small sample of tweets from Neale Hanvey's campaign guy. This is what is going on in the name of the SNP.
https://t.co/RRuwNAAeUB
Hanvey appears to have deleted his own tweets equating trans people with paedophiles, but the damage is already done.
You will never regain trust, members, or member subs, until you tackle this effectively.
Hanvey deleted his tweet, but here's a quote of the tweet, where he conflated paedophilia with GRA reform, and perpetuates the far-right conspiracy theory about paedophiles "adding letters" to the LGBTQ+ grouping.
If you are serious about tackling transphobia within your party, perhaps you should begin by talking to actual trans people, and the organisations who represent them.
Your own NEC is really not the place to start, it's part of the problem.
I mean your Conduct Committee is a joke. Here is a small sample of tweets from Neale Hanvey's campaign guy. This is what is going on in the name of the SNP.
https://t.co/RRuwNAAeUB
Hanvey appears to have deleted his own tweets equating trans people with paedophiles, but the damage is already done.
You will never regain trust, members, or member subs, until you tackle this effectively.
Hanvey deleted his tweet, but here's a quote of the tweet, where he conflated paedophilia with GRA reform, and perpetuates the far-right conspiracy theory about paedophiles "adding letters" to the LGBTQ+ grouping.
In September 2020, the USPS sent American households a mailer with instructions for requesting vote-by-mail ballots, but the information was inaccurate in many states.
Records we obtained show some state officials were “absolutely apoplectic” about the mailer.
#FOIAFriday
The mailers told voters to "request your mail in ballot... at least 15 days before Election Day." But that’s inaccurate for Americans living in the nine states and District of Columbia that automatically mail ballots to registered voters.
https://t.co/40sz60kqyF
Colorado Sec. of State Jena Griswold sued USPS, arguing the mailer attempted to disenfranchise voters with misleading information. We asked the Colorado State Dept. for emails with USPS in anticipation of widespread use of mail-in ballots in the election.
Here’s what the records we uncovered show:
Colorado’s state election director Judd Choate told USPS Director of Election and Political Mail Justin Glass that he was “absolutely apoplectic about the pre-election postcard I just learned about...”
”How could this be sent without someone considering that several states don’t have absentee voters? How could it be sent without consulting even one election official? Please pass along that this mailing will generate literally thousands of calls, emails, and texts...”
Records we obtained show some state officials were “absolutely apoplectic” about the mailer.
#FOIAFriday
The mailers told voters to "request your mail in ballot... at least 15 days before Election Day." But that’s inaccurate for Americans living in the nine states and District of Columbia that automatically mail ballots to registered voters.
https://t.co/40sz60kqyF
Colorado Sec. of State Jena Griswold sued USPS, arguing the mailer attempted to disenfranchise voters with misleading information. We asked the Colorado State Dept. for emails with USPS in anticipation of widespread use of mail-in ballots in the election.
Here’s what the records we uncovered show:
Colorado’s state election director Judd Choate told USPS Director of Election and Political Mail Justin Glass that he was “absolutely apoplectic about the pre-election postcard I just learned about...”
”How could this be sent without someone considering that several states don’t have absentee voters? How could it be sent without consulting even one election official? Please pass along that this mailing will generate literally thousands of calls, emails, and texts...”
KENNEY & TRUDEAU: GLOBALISTS
1) How about we view everything from a higher perspective and get some better context on the situation?
1) How about we view everything from a higher perspective and get some better context on the situation?
The retroactive cancellation of the Keystone XL permit creates a dangerous precedent.
— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) January 30, 2021
Enbridge Line 5, which supplies Alberta energy to Midwest US & eastern Canada, is also under attack.
Canada must stand up & defend this critical energy infrastructure.https://t.co/UbjYWNa4Mf
Whatever the other merits of this proposal, funneling another ~$30B to hospitals is the antithesis of "targeted relief."
A dozen hospital chains just presented at #JPM21, two weeks ago.
General theme: Financially speaking, hospitals are doing quite well. 1/n
We have, for example, Community Health Systems, which operates 89 hospitals in 16 states, many of them in smaller towns / metro areas.
Through the pandemic, CHS's EBITDA margin never even fell into single digits, and profitability actually *increased* in 2020.
Meanwhile, Lifepoint Health (84 hospitals, 30 states) also saw profits increase in 2020, while its cash-to-debt ratio fell. Pretty solid year.
ProMedica Health (non-profit, 13 Midwestern hospitals) actually saw profits increase even in *the first half of 2020,* when hospitals were supposedly facing catastrophe.
They finished the year with ~$440M of EBITDA, and $2.3B of cash on hand.
Baylor Scott & White (52 hospitals) saw its profit margin *more than double* during the pandemic year, and ended September with $7.8 billion of cash and portfolio investments.
That's about $600M more than they had pre-pandemic.
A dozen hospital chains just presented at #JPM21, two weeks ago.
General theme: Financially speaking, hospitals are doing quite well. 1/n
The new GOP Covid-19 relief offer includes the $20B that Biden asked for on vaccine distribution, and also calls for $35 billion in new grants for hospitals and health providers that wasn't included in Biden's plan pic.twitter.com/DMjVPahc64
— Rachel Cohrs (@rachelcohrs) February 1, 2021
We have, for example, Community Health Systems, which operates 89 hospitals in 16 states, many of them in smaller towns / metro areas.
Through the pandemic, CHS's EBITDA margin never even fell into single digits, and profitability actually *increased* in 2020.
Meanwhile, Lifepoint Health (84 hospitals, 30 states) also saw profits increase in 2020, while its cash-to-debt ratio fell. Pretty solid year.
ProMedica Health (non-profit, 13 Midwestern hospitals) actually saw profits increase even in *the first half of 2020,* when hospitals were supposedly facing catastrophe.
They finished the year with ~$440M of EBITDA, and $2.3B of cash on hand.
Baylor Scott & White (52 hospitals) saw its profit margin *more than double* during the pandemic year, and ended September with $7.8 billion of cash and portfolio investments.
That's about $600M more than they had pre-pandemic.
Still confused about the 2nd dose vaccine supply? Me too, but I think this is what happened: 🧵
Let’s go chronologically. Last Thursday, governors wrote a letter to @SecAzar requesting second doses not be held in reserve and instead immediately be made available:
2. Friday, CNN reported the Biden team planned to do just that:
3. Tuesday @SecAzar said OWS would make the change as well.
Azar: "We can now ship all of the doses, that had been held in physical reserve with second doses being supplied by doses coming off of manufacturing lines with quality control going
4. @SecAzar also noted in that announcement:
"Each week, doses available would be released to first cover the needed second doses, and then cover additional first vaccinations." (4)
5. There was an expectation that with release of 2nd doses would come an immediate increase in # of doses states could order.
That... didn't happen:
Let’s go chronologically. Last Thursday, governors wrote a letter to @SecAzar requesting second doses not be held in reserve and instead immediately be made available:
Coalition of 8 governors writes to HHS @SecAzar & General Gustave Perna to request they release second doses of #covid19 vaccine immediately & trust manufacturing supply will come through: https://t.co/jIjAwSqApp pic.twitter.com/y5YOSqoEb1
— Meg Tirrell (@megtirrell) January 7, 2021
2. Friday, CNN reported the Biden team planned to do just that:
CNN reports Biden administration won't hold back second doses of #covid19 vaccine: https://t.co/TS0XJENudf
— Meg Tirrell (@megtirrell) January 8, 2021
3. Tuesday @SecAzar said OWS would make the change as well.
Azar: "We can now ship all of the doses, that had been held in physical reserve with second doses being supplied by doses coming off of manufacturing lines with quality control going
Operation Warp Speed is now releasing entire supply of #covid19 vaccines instead of holding second doses in reserve, @SecAzar says https://t.co/Vv88EheIaJ
— Meg Tirrell (@megtirrell) January 12, 2021
4. @SecAzar also noted in that announcement:
"Each week, doses available would be released to first cover the needed second doses, and then cover additional first vaccinations." (4)
5. There was an expectation that with release of 2nd doses would come an immediate increase in # of doses states could order.
That... didn't happen:
Black dc, you think gentrification is bad,
Once they get statehood this city taxes will be higher than California and New York combined. You know what that means? Redistricting back to md/va.
This will be a disaster for black DC and the mayor will not care.
Ps the only thing mayor bowser wants is to be governor. She will sweep the homeless out to md/va faster than she does now. Oh ps she also dumps her problems in va when it comes to vaccines and gave under age children the right to inoculations w/o parents consent.
Once they get statehood this city taxes will be higher than California and New York combined. You know what that means? Redistricting back to md/va.
This will be a disaster for black DC and the mayor will not care.
Today, we\u2019re introducing #S51 in the United States Senate because it is past time to make #DCStatehood a reality. https://t.co/XM5AcpR5gz
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 27, 2021
Ps the only thing mayor bowser wants is to be governor. She will sweep the homeless out to md/va faster than she does now. Oh ps she also dumps her problems in va when it comes to vaccines and gave under age children the right to inoculations w/o parents consent.
This is an interesting review and a good intro to new municipalism (or what @davidjmadden calls 'socialist municipalism')
But it misses some key aspects of what makes the movement distinctive, and distinct from London's municipal socialism.
So here’s a thread on municipalism...
Municipalism is not simply “a political stance as well as an approach to shaping the built environment” (as @davidjmadden puts it) – it’s a distinctive strategic approach to democratising the local state and transforming urban economies using urban spaces as a platform…
1/
Municipalism adopts a ‘dual power’ strategy: 1) supporting commons and practices of commoning through which a more democratic, cooperative (and potentially prefiguratively postcapitalist) ‘solidarity economy’ can be instituted;
2/
...and 2) seeking to take hold of the political institutions of the local state through mobilising social movements for winning electoral office, to reimagine and transform the state from within, through guerrilla occupation of bureaucracies, in order to support 1) above.
3/
Means and ends are intertwined in a prefigurative politics that ‘feminises’ the state’s decision-making processes and subverts technocratic managerialism in favour of 'collective theory-building' and open-source, crowdsourced deliberative-democratic policy-making.
4/
But it misses some key aspects of what makes the movement distinctive, and distinct from London's municipal socialism.
So here’s a thread on municipalism...
"Politically, socialist municipalism is fundamentally different than the elitist, real-estate-allied stance toward urban development that has come to be known as \u2018urbanism'."@owenhatherley's Red Metropolis reviewed by @davidjmadden for @jacobinmag. \U0001f3d7\ufe0f https://t.co/yF5IZa0FmD
— Repeater Books (@RepeaterBooks) January 26, 2021
Municipalism is not simply “a political stance as well as an approach to shaping the built environment” (as @davidjmadden puts it) – it’s a distinctive strategic approach to democratising the local state and transforming urban economies using urban spaces as a platform…
1/
Municipalism adopts a ‘dual power’ strategy: 1) supporting commons and practices of commoning through which a more democratic, cooperative (and potentially prefiguratively postcapitalist) ‘solidarity economy’ can be instituted;
2/
...and 2) seeking to take hold of the political institutions of the local state through mobilising social movements for winning electoral office, to reimagine and transform the state from within, through guerrilla occupation of bureaucracies, in order to support 1) above.
3/
Means and ends are intertwined in a prefigurative politics that ‘feminises’ the state’s decision-making processes and subverts technocratic managerialism in favour of 'collective theory-building' and open-source, crowdsourced deliberative-democratic policy-making.
4/
1/11 A real problem is the notion that there is something called 'objectivity.' This is a myth. There is no theory--not a single one--of truth that withstands scrutiny. We don't know what truth is and can never know.
2/11 Qualitative scholars, including critical theorists, acknowledge their own social locations relative to the subjects at hand, empowering readers to ferret out not so much bias as the perspective from which authors perceive their topics. It's a necessary honesty.
3/11 We should note here further that quantitative scholars do not escape bias. They are merely excused from the requirement to talk or even think about that bias.
Numbers *never* tell a whole story. Statistics are about aggregates.
4/11 Indeed #neoliberalism's failing lies in a presumption that even if a rising tide fails to lift all boats, it lifts *most* of them, and therefore it adopts a prescription on utilitarian grounds.
5/11 But #neoliberalism turns out to sink far too many other boats, in actuality, a majority of boats while mistaking the extreme lifting of a few outlying boats for the lifting of most or all.
Economists are coming to understand this even if politicians choose not to.
Survey Says: Never Tweet https://t.co/DhnPgWPGWh
— Ben Smith (@benyt) February 1, 2021
2/11 Qualitative scholars, including critical theorists, acknowledge their own social locations relative to the subjects at hand, empowering readers to ferret out not so much bias as the perspective from which authors perceive their topics. It's a necessary honesty.
3/11 We should note here further that quantitative scholars do not escape bias. They are merely excused from the requirement to talk or even think about that bias.
Numbers *never* tell a whole story. Statistics are about aggregates.
4/11 Indeed #neoliberalism's failing lies in a presumption that even if a rising tide fails to lift all boats, it lifts *most* of them, and therefore it adopts a prescription on utilitarian grounds.
5/11 But #neoliberalism turns out to sink far too many other boats, in actuality, a majority of boats while mistaking the extreme lifting of a few outlying boats for the lifting of most or all.
Economists are coming to understand this even if politicians choose not to.