I'll add that just my personal experience is that while nobody likes wearing masks, even me. That in my small circle of family/friends with youngsters that I haven't observed all the negative things that people claim that masks cause for children. Nor have I heard their parents complain about problems that have cropped up either behavioral or otherwise. Now again that's an extremely small sample so not really fair to conclude that what's good for my nephew and niece's kids is good for everybody.
Of course there is. I didn't expect everyone (anyone?) to agree. Like I said, "IMO it's a worthwhile read". I saw a tom-a-to. You and Scott saw a tom-ah-to. No problem on this end.
A good read on our situation here in Houston. From an interview of the Texas Medical Center Chief. Could we start with an overview of what is going on now with COVID-19? What are you seeing at the Texas Medical Center? What we’re seeing, sadly, is more of the same, only with more intense numbers. The number of people who are testing positive in our community continues to escalate month over month. The test positivity rate is now at 15.1 percent. But probably the most accurate reflection is our hospitalizations. We just reached an all-time high: 421 people were admitted to our hospitals for COVID yesterday. Step back for a second and look at that relative to the entire pandemic. Back in June and July, we had two weeks where the average number of hospital admissions was over 300. That was in the second wave. Fast forward to wave three: We had four weeks that averaged over 300. Now we are into our second week with no slowing the pace. At 421 today, we are seeing the highest peak of all of the pandemic going back 18 months now. It’s largely a pandemic of the unwilling — people unwilling to be vaccinated. Now 44% of Houstonians are unvaccinated. Those are the vast majority of the people that are showing up in our emergency rooms and and in our ICUs. They’re very sick. Many people thought that they were young, and therefore their immune system would be strong enough to protect them. That is not the case with this deadly delta variant, which is three times more transmissible than the earlier alpha variant. Our hospitals’ staffs are 18 months into this. They’re exhausted. And we have far fewer nurses than we used to have. They’re being recruited to other states, like Florida, that are even worse off than Texas. The saddest fact is, 18 percent of all the new cases so far in August are children. With the alpha variant, everyone thought, “OK, it’s 65 and older.” So we went after the nursing homes, and we did a brilliant job at protecting the elderly population and those who are immunocompromised. But now, that vulnerable population is children under 12, who are not able to be vaccinated. We are predicting a mess in our schools. With nearly 20 percent of new cases being children, now we’re going to huddle them together in schools? Some may have masks. Some may not. It’s a recipe for disaster. 'A recipe for disaster': TMC president says 18% of new COVID cases are kids This link might be paywalled.
Sid, as predictable as I may be, I wasn't saying she's unilaterally wrong. What's happened for me is I've seen SO much raw data being interpreted as this or that, I no longer take it as presented. I want to see controlled studies that rule out extraneous factors and if they don't, I'm skeptical. I have admitted that masks have SOME value, but what I see says they are NOT close to a full solution, especially one that should be continued for a child's career in school. Unless I'm reading it wrong, that's exactly the place her conclusions would lead you.
Scott, it seems to me the problem is that how do you conduct the type of scientific studies that can lead to data verified conclusions. It's not really feasible to say take one elementary school and have all the children masked and another elementary school and have them just wear masks if they want and if they don't want to don't wear them. Then compare them. But even if you could do that you can't control outside of school and their exposures and other variables. I am with you on that masks aren't the ultimate solution. But I do believe that they are extremely helpful in reducing the spread of the disease, not eliminating, but reducing. But again, we don't have the controlled studies to prove that definitively. The numbers are clearly increasing with children and teenagers, and with schools opening back up I fear those numbers are going to trend in the wrong direction. Could masks mandates help control it, if you only want to do that if you can be shown hard scientific data with controlled studies, well that's not available. So I'm going with masks will be helpful and I don't want any kids I know to end up in a hospital with Covid. I'm also hopeful that sometime soon under 12 will be able to be vaccinated.
Scott, I might have been just a bit too smug with my "predictable" comment. It wouldn't be the first time. I'm sorry. We both agree that masks are not the be-all, end-all solution. I tend to be trustful of the medical professionals' opinions based on the combination of front-line experience and anecdotal evidence. You want to see controlled studies. I also want to see controlled studies, but because of the time necessary to obtain results, I want to see them after-the-fact. In the present, I just want to see everyone do what's necessary to diminish, control, or even wipe out the virus (although I don't believe it's going away in the near future). I can speak only for myself and hope that articles like the one I posted above will sway the opinions of those who are hesitant to get vaccinated or who are resistant to wearing a mask. What I don't want to do is offend anyone with my tone. Unfortunately, I don't always follow my own advice.
As I've said before I'm for vaccine mandates. Washington State has a new mandate and unlike some state mandates where there is an alternative that allows you to be tested multiple times a week if you don't get the vaccine, Washington State is all or nothing. Washington State Head Football Coach is included in that mandate. PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich said Thursday that he intends to follow a new state mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for all those working at the state's colleges and universities, including coaches. Rolovich had said previously that he was not going to get the vaccine for personal reasons and did not explicitly say Thursday that he would receive a shot. "I'm just going to follow his mandate," he said. The mandate announced this week by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee also covers public, charter and private school teachers and staff. It allows for religious or medical exemptions but does not allow for a weekly testing alternative, and those who are not fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 risk losing their jobs.
I think we can all take a little jabbing here and there. I wasn't offended, just wanted to clarify. My distrust "of the science" has been sewn moslty in the last 18 months. With "experts" tossing anything they can think of at the media and media taking pieces of what the want to add to their narrative it's hard to find good data. I think I've said in the past I'm pro vaccination, but I worry about the bigger picture when we talk mandates. Suggest, encourage, implore, but I don't support forcing people to do things like this. If you go down that road you end up banning cigars, cheeseburgers and beer. Is that an exaggeration? Maybe, but with the folks in power I want to leave nothing to chance...
I went to the grocery this morning. I decided to wear a mask. I was more than surprised to see the number of shoppers of all ages wearing masks. My "eyeball" estimate would be about 40-50%. A lot of folks apparently are taking seriously the warnings.
Same here Sid. Last week at mass there was only about 10% previously almost nobody. I'll be curious to see what it is this week.
Pfizer was granted full FDA approval, I don't really expect that to change the minds of very many who have been resisting the vaccine. Maybe some fence sitters will go ahead, if they aren't afraid of the delta virus and think that this is unlikely to infect them and if it does it's 99% survivable so why bother then it's not likely to change their minds. They would likely feel that the possibility of long term side effects from the vaccine ( highly unlikely) vs the long term side effects of Covid (long haulers) or even death make it a good decision. I do imagine though that we'll see more and more employer mandates with full FDA approval.
I was thinking these monoclonal antibody treatments were hard to come by, but that is apparently not true at this point. They are readily available in Texas and you don't have to be the Governor to qualify. ___________ New criteria mean more people qualify for therapy In May, the FDA expanded the criteria for who can receive it, dropping the qualifying age from 55 to 12, which gave more discretion to the doctors who would be writing the prescriptions. The changes also included new weight guidelines that allow some 75% of Texans to qualify to receive it; the majority of Texans are overweight, which increases the risk of hospitalization for COVID patients. Regeneron is most effective on people with COVID-19 who have had symptoms for less than 10 days, but the FDA’s broad guidelines largely leave the decision of who should receive it up to physicians, health officials say. In an email to staff at Houston Methodist hospital system on Wednesday, Dr. Robert A. Phillips, executive vice president and chief physician executive, said the hospital has scheduled 867 infusions for this week — more than double the highest number for a single week during the last surge. The Texas Department of State Health Services sent Houston Methodist 17 nurses to help administer the treatment, he said in the email. They arrived last week. “As you may know, Gov. Abbott is receiving monoclonal antibody treatment after testing positive for COVID-19. This likely will bring more attention to this treatment, which has proven to cut down on hospitalizations,” he wrote. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said he’s glad to see the enthusiasm. “We’ve been trying to push these therapies for all Texans, all along,” he said. “They work. I’m a 100% believer in that [treatment], personally.” Doctors and state leaders point out that the benefits of the infusion last only about three months and that it should not be used as a substitute for vaccines. Desperate Texas doctors turn to antibody treatments to slow down surging COVID-19 hospitalizations
Mandates are going to be rolling out all across the country. The University of Minnesota System, with five campuses and 60,000 students, announced on Monday that the coronavirus vaccine would be added to the university’s list of mandatory immunizations. And the president of Louisiana State University told reporters that his school would also require vaccination. Each institution had previously said it would do so once the F.D.A. gave a coronavirus vaccine final approval. Vaccine Mandates Move Ahead After F.D.A. Approval of Pfizer Shot
I saw a post on Facebook by sometimes Skyboxer, Terry Spencer, that Ohio State has mandated that all students must be vaccinated.
Aren't Delta employees unionized? Where in their contract does it say that Delta can force some employees to pay more for their health insurance than others? Why can't they make people with diabetes pay more? How about those that have unprotected sex? The same folks who lied about Georgia's new voting law are now playing to part of the economic bully.
J&J Booster is apparently really effective. NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Booster doses of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot coronavirus vaccine generated a big spike in antibodies, the frontline immune system defenses against infection, the company reported Wednesday. People who received a booster six to eight months after their initial J&J shots saw antibodies increase nine-fold higher than 28 days after the first shot, Johnson & Johnson said. Johnson & Johnson booster shot generates huge spike in COVID antibodies, company says
Yeah, the unionized workers will have their health costs fully spelled out in their contracts. Delta can only hit the non-union folks with that sucker punch. And as gip says, why not folks with other items? This could open a huge can of worms.