Slightly off topic, but I feel pretty certain that all who remain on the Skybox at this time could have a snot-flinging, spit-flying, knock-down, drag-out argument on an issue, then agree to disagree and with a handshake and move along with no hard feelings. (unless you were in favor of letting the douche-bag longhorns into the SEC!)
They're the yellow footprints painted on the walkway right outside the receiving barracks at MCRD. that's the very first time the recruits are in a platoon formation and standing at the position of attention. GET OFF MY BUS AND GET ON THE YELLOW FOOTPRINTS MAGGOTS!
The other big hospital systems in Houston have instituted the manditory vaccine. I'm guessing that like the 1st one to do this it only affected 1 percent of their employees, that it's similar for the new systems instituting this policy.
I suspect Big Pharma's immunity from damages is a big reason for a lot of folks who are avoiding the shot. Seeing a company bring out a new product that has ZERO repercussions if it goes sideways should make everyone a little cautious...
There is an uptick in the vaccinations, the current "surge" with the Delta variant seems to be a factor. Doesn't matter to me, just want to see more people get the jab. C) data from the last three weeks, every state has reported an increase in its average number of first doses administered, with the national rate of Americans receiving their first dose up by more than 73%. Similarly, in the last week alone, vaccination rates have increased by nearly 20% in young Americans, ages 12-17, and by more than 25% in adults. And on Sunday, the White House reported more than 800,000 vaccine doses administered, including first and second doses, marking the fifth consecutive day with more than 700,000 doses were reported administered. The uptick pushed the national vaccination average to more than 637,000 doses administered each day -- up by more than 24% in the last two weeks. Slowly but surely, officials have started to see their public urgings translate into shots in arms, data shows -- a sobering silver lining to the immeasurable grief that has accompanied the virus. All 50 states report rising vaccination rates as COVID infections surge, data shows
I haven't seen that as a reason. But I wonder if the average person even knows that fact. Back in early 2020 when we were struggling with getting PPE, Respirators, etc. The Govt made a deal with a lot of MFG to give them that immunity from product liability in exchange for ramping things up. I think they invoked some wartime emergency law. On a personal level, it doesn't bother me in the least. We were in dire straits, I can't imagine where we would be if research and development had been bogged down in a lot of worries about product liability. No EUA, FDA standing firm on needing several years of studies before the vaccine could be released for general use. More people would have died. I know Big Pharma gets its fair share of criticism, but to me they stepped up to the plate and did it in a big way.
I did consider the fact that it was not approved, and I knew about the protections given to the developers. I doubt I'm that much more informed than the regular Joe. I figured it was close enough to a flu shot that the side effects for me would be manageable if I had some so I went on and got it.
Houston numbers continue to go up in the Delta Surge. Fueled by the delta variant, a surge in Houston COVID-19 hospitalizations is growing as fast as at any time during the pandemic so far, and is projected to pass previous records by mid-August — even though roughly half of all eligible Houstonians are fully vaccinated. “We’re heading into dark times,” said Texas Medical Center CEO Bill McKeon. Already, he said, “our ICUs are filled with unvaccinated people.” On Tuesday, Texas Medical Center hospitals listed 1,372 people in intensive care — more than the number of regular ICU beds. The hospitals are now in Phase II of the medical center’s surge plan, opening unused wards to accommodate the gravely ill patients expected to need them.
I've read some reports that herd immunity could be as high as 90% for the Delta variant (one Austin-Travis County stated 80%-89%). The most common reports are that unvaccinated make up 10%-15% (some as high as 20%) of the current hospitalizations (Austin-Travis County was between 16% and 20% last week). - I have still not found consistent and definitive data that defines a "COVID hospitalization" as "requiring hospitalization BECAUSE of COVID". For purposes of my data evaluation, I am assuming this is the case, but leaves a huge door for data inconsistency, if not manipulation, if untrue. - It seems "unvaccinated" includes four population groups: 1) are not eligible to receive the vaccine, due to age, allergies to compounds in the vaccine, other medical conditions that make the vaccine a higher risk for an individual than the population at large 2) those that are eligible, but choose not to get vaccinated 3) those that have received a single dose of a 2-dose regimen 4) those that have received their final dose but aren't yet beyond the 2-week window I am also aware there is a fifth, "unknown", that should be explicitly removed from evaluation but likely ends up in the "unvaccinated" column. Although the reporting is accurate when lumping the four populations together, since all of them ARE "unvaccinated individuals" once you remove the unknown, does that reporting really tell a contextualized and useful story of what is going on? The (I assume) intended impression is that 80% or more of those that ended up in the hospital are anti-vaxxers. However, the data is not available to explicitly state or support that theory. At least acknowledge that lack of data if the data is not available. (Why is it still not available?) Finally, if it is true that herd immunity will not be reached until 80%, 85%, or 90%, I think it highly unlikely the general population as a whole can get there unless you count immunity developed through infection. And we still are not provided the data that shows how effective, or long lasting, that immunity is or isn't. Considering all of this, can we even say preventing a large number of infections is even a viable option anymore? The vaccine does not in large part prevent infection or transmission. (What % protection against reinfection does recovery provide? Don't know!) It would seem at this point we are left with trying to prevent hospitalizations and deaths. To that end, why do we continue only getting bits and pieces, rather than the full picture, of how that can be achieved? Perhaps all this information has been provided and I've missed?
Works for me, I always understood that when I got vaxed that I wasn't going to be 100% immune from Covid. That has proven to be true as vaxed up individuals have experienced break through infections which have been mostly either asymptomatic or mild symptoms. Very few cases have ended up in hospitals. I have read a report of a elderly local woman with a lot of co-morbidities who was vaxed up but got a breakthrough infection and died. We have the tools that we have, the vaccine works. We should all get the vaccine except those who for legitimate medical reason can't take it. If we followed the logic of those who oppose getting the vaccine then how many people would have died by now? We're already at over 600K, would a million deaths or more been worth it so that the vaccine could have been tested and evaluated longer, how long? A poster on another board wondered what it might do to his body 10 years down the road, but the same poster was willing to take the chance of getting Covid and dying.
Kes being a stats junkie, have you come across any comparison of the age groups who were hospitalized/ICU last summer vs this summer? Did we burn through all the old people and now see a younger group in the hospital/ICU?
The CDC does have some data on natural immunity (I watched a vid on it, but didn't save it at the time)... they found that good immune system factors remain at least 8 months for "most" people. I didn't see that they had data beyond that far.
This is not a natural immunity question, since that assumes you got Covid and afterwards you should have some protection at least from re-infection. But while millions of people got Covid there are many more who didn't get covid. So why didn't they get Covid. You could say that they were good at staying away and isolating, maybe they were terrific hand washers, wore their masks, stayed away from crowds, etc. But there are no doubt millions who weren't all that concerned and didn't follow the recommendations and yet they didn't get Covid, why? Did they already have antibodies? Are their other unknown immune factors that are protecting them?
Sanjay Gupta MD on CNN, a regular contributor or to some a shill for the establishment! His reflection on the vaccine and what he was thinking Dec 2020. Unfortunately, this "miracle" has in itself become controversial. This mRNA would prompt each of us to manufacture a little piece of the coronavirus (the spike protein) which would in turn prompt our immune system (our body's defense mechanism) to create antibodies and other immune cells in response. While the vaccines seemed to be created within months, whereas they normally take years, the technology behind this vaccine was actually the culmination of a couple of decades of work by some of the most brilliant minds in science and medicine. It quickly became clear the vaccines worked extraordinarily well and have the potential to truly revolutionize medicine beyond this pandemic. I kept reflecting how this moment could be a turning point -- the beginning of the end of the pandemic; light at the end of a very long, devastating tunnel. Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Think you don't want to get vaccinated? Think again - CNN