Article in the NYT says that studies suggest that those who got the mRNA vax (moderna or pfizer) could have very long lasting immunity. Those who got covid, survived and then got the mRNA might have even stronger immunity. The findings add to growing evidence that most people immunized with the mRNA vaccines may not need boosters, so long as the virus and its variants do not evolve much beyond their current forms — which is not guaranteed. People who recovered from Covid-19 before being vaccinated may not need boosters even if the virus does make a significant transformation. Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Likely to Produce Lasting Immunity, Study Finds
I also read that the Biden Admin is going to ramp up community based efforts for vaccinations. Going to churches, having mobile Vax buses, pop-up locations etc. I think they should have done this sooner but I understand that availability was an issue and it was easier to do the massive vax events at places like stadiums or other big venue's where there was a large parking lot to set things up. I imagine there were people who just didn't have the transportation available to get to some of these events. That said I'm guessing that increasing the # of vaxed individuals is going to be tough. The availability for most of us is so easy now. I see it available for walk up a lot of places. If you haven't been vaxed you probably don't want to be vaxed for what ever the reason.
I think a large portion of the unvaxed are the young who for whatever reason don't have much fear of Covid. If only they could vax by mail, we'd have 125% vaxed in no time at all.
OpEd Columnist in the Houston Chronicle today came out and said basically screw you if you haven't got the vaccine. He's tired of wearing a mask to protect the unvaccinated. I'd post a link but it's a paywall site. I think he's responding to the WHO recommendation that we go back to Masking even if vaccinated, L.A.County has also returned to asking for people to be masked. Fear of the variants. Experts are telling us that 1) if we are vaccinated that we are highly unlikly to get the virus and if we do it will be a mild case or no symptoms at all 2) if we do get it we aren't at risk to transmit to others. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Public health officials, though, are worried about the 30 percent of American adults who have not received their first dose. They are why public health officials want to keep mask requirements in place. In other words, the vaccine-hesitant are holding the rest of us back. If there was ever a time to force people to take some personal responsibility, this is it. Since half of Texas Republicans told Quinnipiac University pollsters they do not intend to get vaccinated, they should embrace this high-stakes chance to live their values. Let’s strike a balance between personal liberty and government regulation. I dare you. If the unvaccinated want to wander around without a mask and expose themselves to the virus, then let them. Infection, after all, is one path to immunity — if it doesn’t kill you. If you’re unlucky and suffer a permanent disability, well, you were warned. Here’s the kicker, though. Anti-vaxxers should have to pay their COVID-related health expenses. Insurance plans, Medicare and Medicaid should not have to pay for someone whose feckless behavior leads them to fall ill.
Well if we're going with that guy's take then smokers get no cancer coverage, and drinkers get no liver coverage etc. Worry about your damn self, and not everyone else. They say 30% haven't been vaccinated. How many of those ALREADY HAD THE VIRUS? My boss had it... verified by testing. He see's no need for the vaccine and I agree with him. Should people be punished because they have natural immunity? I mean we've had cold and viruses around as long as we've been here... amazing to me that people want to change EVERYTHING for this one.
Yeah it's stupid, he's a liberal democrat and made a comment in the article about the # of Republicans who aren't getting vaxed. I'll bet if the stats were reversed and democrats where skewing unvaxed then he'd be horrified that somebody would want to deny them coverage if they got the disease. Film at 9, hospitals turning away patients with covid due to lack of insurance coverage.
PGA Tour changing it's testing policy. The PGA Tour is set to end its COVID-19 weekly testing program at the end of July, regardless of vaccination status. Starting with the 3M Open in Minneapolis, players will no longer need to produce a negative test before being able to compete. Only players who are unvaccinated and have come in contact with a person who contracted COVID-19 will be required to be tested. "We are pleased to announce, after consultation with PGA Tour medical advisors, that due to the high rate of vaccination among all constituents on the PGA Tour, as well as other positively trending factors across the country, testing for COVID-19 will no longer be required as a condition of competition beginning with the 3M Open," PGA Tour senior vice president Tyler Dennis wrote in a memo to players.
Of course, a full discussion would carry a lot more nuance, but his point is not completely without merit. Unfortunately, the discussion is not as cut and dry as stating that all unvaccinated have chosen so eff them. There are segments of the population for which the vaccine is higher risk than the virus itself, including a significant portion of the population that are not approved for the vaccination (everyone <12, even those with existing conditions to start). A counterpoint is that children have not to this point been at elevated risk to the base virus or its variants, but there is some data suggesting that the Delta variant may change that. Although, with the lack of full, transparent data it's hard to tickle out if the rise in younger cases is due to a higher virulence for younger individuals, or if people just getting sick of masks and distancing, combined with everything opening up, is just exposing more of them to this particular variant as compared to previous variants. On top of all this, the chance of additional viable variants created rises as the number of infected rise. Each variant then is a roll of the dice as to how protective existing immunoprotection remains (both from vaccinations and an infected's developed immunity). Currently, all known variants are well protected against, but that isn't guaranteed to continue. As usual, the "experts" and "news" concentrate on the sensational portion of the narrative drum they wish to beat and include no additional food for thought, because thoughts are no longer what they try to engender; preaching, lecturing, persuading, compliance are.
I took 6 anthrax shots while on active duty. I don't give a **** anymore. What else you got for me big pharma?....bring it.
Awhile back I advocated that it was time to change strategy for getting more American's vaccinated. I felt like they needed to have a go to the people strategy, forget the massive events where you drive through. Go to community centers, churches, set up Pop-Up vaccination kiosks in neighborhoods, etc. So Biden got on board with my suggestion. He added one more thing that has fired up some people and politicians. Going door to door, I don't see anything wrong with it personally. But I don't think it's very practical. But he put it out there and that's all anybody can talk about. I'm embarassed at the number of Texas politicians that have come out vocally against it in a way that they think it's not the business of the govt to promote vaccination at that level. I'll bet all of them who are doing it are vaccinated, sadly the majority of these guys/gals are Republicans. As I said I don't think it's practical to have an army of people ringing doorbells around the country. I wish they would up the volume on various leaders/politicians/sports and entertainment people/ etc doing community service type of announcements. Combine that with the push to get the vaccine even more easily available in your neighborhood or your church or a community center and those pop up kiosks everywhere. We are not getting to 90% no matter what we do of that I'm convinced but maybe we can move that needle closer to 70%.
They're predicting another surge of Covid in the fall. Looks like we'll be getting more post infection immunity than vaccine protection in the future.
Those damn variants! They keep saying we're good with the current ones, but of course the problem is that each new variant seems to be more transmissible and that puts the unvaccinated at risk. I hope we don't see that fall surge, and maybe due to the number of vaccinated people this year vs no vaccinated people last year it won't be as bad. No booster shot is currently being talked about other and in the 'maybe' kind way. I have read that some people are showing up and getting their own booster program by getting a Pfizer shot if they've had the moderna and vice versa. No way to prevent people from trying it. If somebody asks you have you had a jab and you want it anyway just lie I would assume and they'll give it to you.
I have been guided solely by the first hand accounts of nurses who worked in the covid wards at the height of the pandemic. Their stories are harrowing. The worst are the people who died of cardiac arrest fighting for a breath. I know six people who died of it. I got vaccinated.
Biden should give Trump credit; https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/06/how-biden-can-win-over-vaccine-hesitant/
Meanwhile here's another short video from Ivor Cummins. I've posted a couple others but not gotten much reaction so don't know what anybody thought about them (if they watched them.) I'm having a little trouble catching all of the nuance of his data, but the gist of it seems to be that, as before, the world is overreacting to a virus that does what new viruses do...going from pandemic to epidemic to sporadic nuisance...that places that missed the first big waves are now getting a late first wave...and that the Delta variant does not seem to be the bogeyman at this point as even where it is breaking out overall death rates (due to all causes not just the virus) are not affected much, if at all.
Stu, I agree 100% with the Post Op-ed about Trump. He should get out there on his own and ask people to do what he and his family did, Get Vaccinated! Biden does not want to give Trump any role or credit because they still fear him in the 2024 election and any impact it can have on the Senate in the 2022 cycle.
Interesting article on the Covid risk for children. Basically, it says that they are at little risk and we don't need to have toddlers wearing masks. Of course, I'm not so sure that the New York Magazine is a definitive source on this stuff. The kids are safe. They always have been. It may sound strange, given a year of panic over school closures and reopening's, a year of masking toddlers and closing playgrounds and huddling in pandemic pods, that among children the mortality risk from COVID-19 is actually lower than from the flu. The risk of severe disease or hospitalization is about the same. This is true for the much-worried-over Delta variant. It is also true for all the other variants, and for the original strain. Most remarkably, it has been known to be true since the very earliest days of the pandemic — indeed it was among the very first things we did know about the disease. The preliminary mortality data from China was very clear: To children, COVID-19 represented only a vanishingly tiny threat of death, hospitalization, or severe disease. The Kids Were Safe the Whole Time