If the vaccine(s) doesn't prevent a very high percentage from being a carrier and spreader then herd immunity can never be reached and this virus will be around forever in various mutations like the flu.
I agree with everything you said, but mitigation efforts depend heavily on public support. Sure, the government can mandate masks on planes and federal property, but in other places its ability to enforce restrictions is very limited. In Illinois, we pretty much had a rebellion by the restaurant industry - too many restaurants to count were open for indoor dining in defiance of the governor's order. Businesses that used to enforce mask-wearing are becoming lax. Grocery store employees are wearing masks but congregating in close groups. I know of other employers that are also no longer enforcing social distancing among employees. The end is in sight, but that last mile seems to be the hardest for people.
Israel and Iceland both. Most experts seem to think it prevents the shed of the virus. Hopefully that does turn out to be the case.
It's also found in lab research so it's not just a hopeful guess but a researched with animals in labs based idea.
I hope that is the last of it for her
My cluster of symptoms was similar (not identical), but the duration was about the same.
Amen. We’ve been talking about this for a little while now. I don’t want to get too over confident, but it appears this wave is finally starting to trend down. I also agree that at least for the US, UK and several other places the vaccinations are ramping up. Worldwide there‘s still some work to do. If we continue to practice good mitigation and hang on for a few more months I think we could see a really positive change in statistics. I also agree that if the vaccine production hits targets there‘s a good chance there is no next wave which would be amazing news
I wonder what combination of factors are at work here. Probably we're seeing the end of the holiday effect. By now, most nursing home residents who opted in should have received at least their first dose of the vaccination, and many will have completed their series, so I wonder if we have started to benefit from the first cohort of immunizations.
I’m guessing it’s the end of holidays. So many people were traveling and gathering for the thanksgiving - Christmas season all the way through New Years.
I wonder what happened in Illinois. Numbers went up after Halloween, but there were no spikes after Thanksgiving or Christmas. Everyone was worried, especially about Chicago, but the numbers have been going down pretty steadily since November 10, I think. I'd like to believe people here were more responsible in terms of holiday gatherings, but I sincerely doubt that was the case. We are on the more restrictive side with mitigation efforts, but compliance has started to slide in the last few months. Surprising, but certainly welcome.
Right...
Right...
But all that “defiance” is intellectually wrong and frankly dumb.
I’m just never going to shrug my shoulders and say “people are gonna do what they’re gonna do”
...Not in this overprivileged/pampered land.
This isn’t Bangladesh.
Shut up and mask up.
Sad, but probably true. People will put themselves and their family at risk just to show up some anonymous person on a social media site.
