Categories Government
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"Given the even greater importance of energy exports, Canada should not stand idly by now." - @jackmintz discusses Canada's reaction to Biden's potential decision to cancel Keystone with @financialpost -https://t.co/9Mr68imG3P
— Policy School (@policy_school) January 20, 2021
First, Dr Mintz cites numbers for direct and indirect jobs created by KXL for both Canada and USA. It isn’t clear where these numbers came from or if they are permanent jobs. Methods for calculating induced jobs are notorious for their unreliable and non-robust methodology.
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Second, Dr Mintz proposes that Canada retaliate with duties and other trade restrictions, as what happened with aluminum. However, KXL is very different, and this changes the scope of available responses, especially under our trade agreements.
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Canada viewed the US duties on aluminum and steel as violating trade agreements. The retaliatory duties were permitted under those agreements as a response to those violations. They are not permitted in response to cancelling KXL.
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It is also somewhat odd to see an economist arguing for a trade war in any event, especially one tat would be initiated by a small, trade-exposed economy against a much larger economy. No one wins in a trade war.
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Members of the State Duma to ask international organizations to analyze the situation with freedom of speech in the United States. Chairman of the State Duma gave relevant instructions to the Committee on International Affairs.
— State Duma (@state_duma) January 19, 2021
\U0001f517https://t.co/q2Sx1C5GkS pic.twitter.com/56tMKb3gA9
Amnesty is petitioning the media and the government to silence campaigners like me who are concerned about gender self-identification. Trans ideology has become the new theocracy, and we are cast out like witches, says @anliathluachrahttps://t.co/pTmqRVNU8V
— spiked (@spikedonline) December 17, 2020
"If any man can fill out a form, as is the case in Ireland, and legally become a woman ‘for all purposes’, that is not a legal fiction. That is an access-all-areas pass for predators...
...This is not to say that trans-identified people are predators. But it is to say, if predators went through the seminary to gain access to victims, are we to believe they would not fill out an A4 form?"
"That is the essence of self-ID: it affirms the wishes of the trans-identified person. Even if they are a rapist..Or a man who wants access to female-only spaces for the buzz of the transgression. This system is harmful to all of society – including genuine transsexuals."
"We do not accept that males, regardless of how they identify, should have access to female toilets, changing rooms, hospital wards or refuges. This is not a conservative viewpoint. This is the fundamental basis on which we order society."
There’s much debate around the UK's recommended use of the AZ vaccine with a two-dose schedule and flexible timing of second dose. Some thoughts on the AZ recommendation (not Pfizer) based on available data with refs to some excellent threads.
1. It's a real pity the UK drug regulator, MHRA, doesn't hold public advisory committee meetings to assess #Covid vaccines, in the way @US_FDA does. Would have been fascinating to listen to a detailed analysis of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine's emergency use application.
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) December 30, 2020
Thread
UK’s MHRA and JCVI are highly-experienced in vaccine assessments and recommendations, and they've surely weighed the benefits & risks of this recommendation carefully. That said, it would be good to see all the data underpinning their recommendation.
AZ\u2019s new claim is that they achieve 95% efficacy by increasing dose interval to 3 months. I see no efficacy data to support it in the new UK approval but it appears true that immunogenicity is much higher with that regimen (antibody titer nearly 3x higher than short interval) pic.twitter.com/ZtxSPjHUot
— Ed MD (@notdred) December 30, 2020
In general, vaccines should be taken on a schedule tested in an efficacy trial. But it wasn’t possible to conduct the typical dose and schedule optimization prior to these Ph3 trials, and those trials provided valuable data to inform these recommendations. 3/
The UK recommends a two-dose schedule, with the second dose between 4-12 weeks. This *is not* a single dose schedule. Given the data provided, and in the setting of limited supply, overstretched hospitals, and emergence of a more transmissible variant, this seems justifiable. 4/
The UK has important data on the AZ Vx that wasn’t available for Pfizer & Moderna at FDA's VRBPAC, including:
* single-dose efficacy through 4+ months; and
* single-dose immunogenicity (12+ weeks).
I've been seeing a lot of discussion around the dosage gaps recommended by government for the Astra/Oxford & Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines. My thoughts on the potential benefits & risks of such an approach, and the need for much greater transparency around these decisions. Thread. pic.twitter.com/mclqMDeMQ1
— Deepti Gurdasani (@dgurdasani1) December 31, 2020
Short cut to JCVI rationale behind extending interval between doses of #covidvaccine (thanks @mgtmccartney)
— Dr Mark Porter (@drmarkporter) January 1, 2021
Note efficacy is "calculated" rather than proven at this stage.https://t.co/EbZWcJYkFt
For the Ox/AZ vaccine, it's fairly simple. The trial demonstrated efficacy at a range of dose intervals. Antibody responses after the boost were significantly stronger with longer intervals - see table
(so in response to @drmarkporter's point, higher immune responses with a longer interval is proven & now public. I haven't seen a similar analysis for efficacy against disease but the data exists and I suspect the regulators & JCVI committee have)
For Pfizer, there isn't direct evidence of efficacy with a >3wk interval. But as widely publicised, efficacy in the period from 14 days after first dose to 21 days is high.
Can we extrapolate from this to a longer interval? It's a judgment call. On one hand is evidence-based medicine's scepticism of anything not directly proven 'beyond reasonable doubt' in an RCT; on the other is a 'balance of probabilities' approach based upon the biology.
Thank goodness The President golfs regularly.
We should all golf, or walk, or run, or bike, or climb, or roll more regularly.
#ExerciseIsAn8LetterWord
Trump golfs in Florida as COVID relief hangs in the balance https://t.co/SCuc0cpr6d
— L.A. Times Politics (@latimespolitics) December 25, 2020
https://t.co/EpNGv0dVEz
#TheresAnEchoInHere
#CIAtactics
Donald Trump golfs in Florida as Covid relief hangs in the balancehttps://t.co/aGgAXR8XZA
— Hindustan Times (@HindustanTimes) December 25, 2020
#https://www.rawstory.com/ =
TrumpDerangementSyndrome on steroids
Rockin the deep state
#MerryChristmas from the Republicans.
— Raw Story (@RawStory) December 24, 2020
Americans 'steaming' with rage as @realDonaldTrump golfs and the #GOP leaves the country to diehttps://t.co/PpzfrDEz1B
The #Failed #LuceFamilyCon
President Trump golfs as COVID-19 relief and government shutdown hang in the balance https://t.co/B1YgnV0eaP
— TIME (@TIME) December 25, 2020
Another East Indian #rag hating on The President. For exercising, while he contemplates and converses with trusted friends. #LunaticLeft
Trump golfs in Florida as Covid relief hangs in the balance https://t.co/dhp7plbYYA
— TOI World News (@TOIWorld) December 25, 2020