Slack / Private Message Drop — page 907

[Andrew Rambaut] Sorry - I have been out of the loop working on B.1.617.2. But I agree Eddie - it is got quite far from what we were thinking it should be. Everyone keeps saying 'keep it tight' and then adding more stuff in. I think we should not mention manipulation - no furin site, no passaging, nothing - that is all dumb and has been dealt with. I think it should just address how implausible it is for it ever to get to the lab to escape in the first place and how plausible the animal route is. The one thing we need to nail is the 'lab escape is plausible' shit that serious scientists are signing up to. [2021-06-02 15:32:56] [Robert Garry] Agreed! - that's where your capture-escape definition is helpful. Capturing the next pandemic virus, then getting infected is hard [and much less likely than 1 of 14M wildlife traders getting infected]. Escape also rare, but not impossible - that is why the Lab leakers focus on that. Throw in capture-manipulate-escape (still being pushed by the likes of eDim, Yuri etc) and its a slam dun it didn't happen. [shared file(s): What Did Fauci Tell Trump About Wuhan_ - WSJ.pdf] [2021-06-02 15:36:02] [Robert Garry] eDim - might be feeling a little overly cocky these days. [shared file(s): image.png] [2021-06-02 15:36:31] [Robert Garry] He's talking about Fauci and Collins here. [2021-06-02 15:36:56] [Eddie Holmes] Jon Cohen's story had nothing to do it for me - I don't even remember seeing it [2021-06-02 15:59:03] [Kristian Andersen] [thread - ID: 2021-06-02 15:59:03] Jon Cohen's story is brought up because that's the story Tony forwarded to me in his email - Eddie, we're both quoted in it, but yeah, it had nothing to do with any of this. Andrew, what's the skinny on B.1.617.2? I don't see anything I particularly like when it comes to that variant. [2021-06-02 15:59:54] [Kristian Andersen] Warning or Wanted? I'm confused. [shared file(s): image.png] [2021-06-02 16:05:19] [Eddie Holmes] I think it should read "Warning: avoid this man at all costs" [2021-06-02 16:05:57] [Kristian Andersen] Better than "Wanted", I guess... [2021-06-02 16:07:58] [Eddie Holmes] What a mess. Fauci did everything right. [2021-06-02 16:09:01] [Kristian Andersen] We all did - and do. Doesn't matter - too good a conspiracy.