Wow Ralph, that's crazy. Terry... I always thought the mask mandate was an overreach... but we can agree to disagree. The biggest thing to save folks would be KEEP THE SICK AWAY from the gen population. I doubt you'll see another climb in cases. The folks who are likely to get it are in the younger ranges (having not been vaccinated) and will probably just ride it out without being tested. I watched a vid of a research virologist from Stanford who said it's likely at this point far more than 50% of the population has already had it, and while that does not impart complete immunity to them, it makes them far better equipped to deal with a re-exposure. Add to that the growing numbers of the at risk population getting vaccinated... and you get a much better situation going forward.
Today is the 1st day that all Texans over the age of 16 are eligible for the vaccine. The supply is ramping up, but still will be difficult to get appointments to receive the shot. They are getting a million doses this week and it's expected the supply will be ramping up as we go forward. Texas has reportedly administered 10 million doses, which I assume is somewhere around 5 million people. We have about 25M people in Texas, and about 30% are under age 18. So we've got a ways to go to get all those who are willing, vaccinated.
Flu is way down this year, likely due to masks, people staying home/working from home and washing their hands a lot. A study released this month in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, led by researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, found that across 44 children's hospitals, the number of pediatric patients hospitalized for respiratory illnesses is down 62%. Deaths have dropped dramatically, too, compared to the last ten years: The number of flu deaths among children is usually between 100 and 200 per year, but so far only one child has died from the disease in the U.S. during the 2020-2021 flu "season." Should Masking Last Beyond The Pandemic? Flu And Colds Are Down, Spurring A Debate
NO... they can recommend all the want, and I have no prob if folks WANT to wear a mask, but just like with smoking and drinking, you can't force-nanny me into what you think are good decisions. People staying HOME when they are sick is probably the single biggest factor. In my profession it's very common for dumb-ass coworkers to use up their 2 weeks of sick leave doing things they want, and have no qualms about coming to work sick so they still get paid.
"Vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don't get sick, and that is not just in the clinical trials but it's also in real world data," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky said on The Rachel Maddow Show on Tuesday. So if we're "following the science" why is it necessary for vaccinated individuals to wear a mask? Meanwhile the pandemic shows no signs of abating in Europe. Compared to the US they are far behind in vaccinating their populations. This comes from a number of reasons including their commitment to Astra Zeneca for their vaccine. The US through it's operation Warp Speed supported a number of pharmaceutical companies and we are now receiving hundreds of millions of doses from 3 companies. Thanks to measured economic restrictions, our economy is also in much better shape than Europe's which as been severely crippled by their draconian lockdowns.
Both Notre Dame and Purdue students will all have the opportunity to be vaccinated before the end of the semester. I haven't seen anything about IU or other colleges, but it's hard to imagine if Indiana is providing vaccine for Notre Dame and Purdue students that it's not available to all college students in the state.
Why getting a vaccine is a "political" thing is really hard to explain. For me and I'm sure for those of you who are also fully vaccinated it's more "freedom" than I have experienced since a year ago March. You want your freedom? Get the damned vaccine!!!!! "There were people who were not wearing masks because of a political statement," Fauci said on CNN last week, speaking to the national debate over masks. "That is really, you know, inexplicable, because it's not a political thing. It's a public health measure." And now parts of the country could be making the same mistake with vaccinations. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS released last month showed large political divisions over vaccines: While 92% of Democrats said they had gotten a dose of the vaccine or planned to get one, that fell to 50% among Republicans.
Lancaster has lowest per-capita rate of COVID-19 among largest Nebraska counties, Lincoln mayor says Nebraska.....the Good Life....just not for everyone.....
"A CNN poll conducted by SSRS released last month showed large political divisions over vaccines: While 92% of Democrats said they had gotten a dose of the vaccine or planned to get one, that fell to 50% among Republicans." Pollsters admit they were 'egregiously' wrong about 2020 | Daily Mail Online
This is good news for those of us who have been vaccinated. A CDC release. A small proportion of Americans — about 5,800 out of nearly 77 million — have contracted COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated against the infection, CDC officials told CNN. Of the 5,800 people, 396 required hospitalization and 74 died, according to data submitted to the CDC. As of April 14, more than 76.7 million Americans are fully vaccinated. Reports on breakthrough cases lag and may not reflect the most current events. "To date, no unexpected patterns have been identified in case demographics or vaccine characteristics," the CDC told CNN via email. 5,800 COVID-19 infections detected among 77 million fully vaccinated people: CDC
So if my math (ie. calculator) is correct there is a .0075% chance of someone vaccinated contracting the virus. And that's a reason to continue to require vaccinated people to wear masks?
No doubt the mask issue has been and will continue to be an issue for some. It's not really an issue for me, I wear one all day at work and I don't really mind wearing one into the super market, or to Lowe's/Home Depot or other businesses that I go into during the week. I'm not sure what will be the trigger for somebody like the CDC to say we don't need to wear a mask vaxed or not. I imagine that many businesses (like me) who continue to ask people to wear a mask will continue to do so and again I'm not exactly sure what it will take to take that sign down.
Last week the head of the CDC stated that a recent study (4000 vaccinated first responders) showed that vaccinated individuals didn't get sick and didn't carry the virus. The CDC then walked that back (oh no, that means there's no reason to wear a mask.) I keep hearing people complaining about those that choose not to get vaccinated. Perhaps there's not incentive enough. If they were told that they would no longer need to wear a mask, I'm sure that it would have a positive effect. We seem to be doing a good job at vaccinating our population. We'd be in a much better place if thousands weren't coming over our southern border and disbursing throughout our country.
A lot of places here have made masks optional. Some still have the same signs up... I got my first Pfizer shot today. Since it was offered, I didn't see a reason not to. So far I haven't started favoring socialism, and changing my gender.
Trump himself got Covid...... and he quietly with zero fanfare received the Covid vaccine in Jan. and yet his self-serving campaign for a year to politicize the virus has led to a significant portion of Republicans refusing to get vaccinated..... which is ultimately a threat to all of the rest of us if it's allowed to continue to flourish and develop variants. Least Vaccinated U.S. Counties Have Something in Common: Trump Voters
Maybe I live on another planet but I seem to recall proud of operation warp speed and the quick way the vaccine was developed. I also remember both Biden and Harris questioning the vaccine labeling it "Trump's vaccine." I also recall the time and again the Democrats "politicized" the virus claiming it somehow was Trump's fault that Americans were dying from it. Trump stated at one point that the majority of the population could be vaccinated by the end of April and of course the lying media especially CNN trotted out "experts" "seriously doubting" that would happen. Compare the US to Europe and realize that both our economy and our vaccine program are far superior to the results of their government response to the pandemic. It took a lot of media ******** to downplay how effective our response was. If it hadn't been for governors like Cuomo, Murphy and Whitmer our death count would have been far less.
Trump was so wrapped up in his "stolen election" lie that he neglected much of his duties during the last few weeks of his presidency and Biden discovered when he took office that the vaccination program that was needed didn't exist in the Trump administration. You are kidding yourself if you think Trump pushed hard for a vaccine out of his concern for his fellow humans.... he was solely and completely consumed by his re-election chances and how an effective vaccine development before the election could bolster his cause. "Compare the US to Europe and realize that both our economy and our vaccine program are far superior to the results of their government response to the pandemic".... yes Biden has done a helluva job getting the nation vaccinated..... well a good percentage of non-politicized democrats anyway. You can honestly look in the mirror and say to yourself that Trump did not politicize Covid-19? Seriously? We do live on different planets.
We are now 6 months past Trumps loss, and Biden is the President. While I am not critical of Biden and his effort to get the nation vaccinated, it's not happening as fast as it should. Even with virtually everybody now eligible I'm reading that there is a glut of vaccine available now. While I can't say why it's beyond the pale to say it's Trumps fault. I do have some personal friends who just think that it was developed too fast and we don't know enough about the long term effects/dangers. None of these people claim that they are doing it because Trump influenced them. When the J&J vaccine was paused, one of them emailed me with "I told you we didn't know enough". I do however know, and I say that loosely because i'm not really good friends with the guy as he's a IMHO a nut case lib. But he vowed he wouldn't get the Vax that was developed by Trump (you know operation Warp Speed). Then after the election and Biden won, he went ahead and got the Vax because Biden said it was safe.
So far I can see that the Biden administration has had 2 accomplishments. First, they have been able to spend trillions of dollars that we don't have to pay off co conspirators in ruining the Trump economy and they've also created a complete cluster **** at the Southern border.