Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[DisneyCane]

honesty

If the vaccine manufacturers deliver as promised there will be enough to vaccinate 300 million people by June (or mid 2021). That is more than enough for every adult in the US.

 

[DCBaker]

Numbers are out - there were 129 new reported deaths, along with 3 Non-Florida Resident deaths.

(Apologies if the graphs are wonky, I will be able to fix them in a bit).

 

[Chi84]

I don’t want to get into this discussion to much.. most of the things from both sides has been said.. but your last sentence says when masks are no longer required.. or just recommended.. you say you won’t wear one. There’s a huge difference between not longer needed and recommended. I’m thinking if they are still recommended then that would be science saying it’s still not safe for some or all? Just trying to figure out the distinction you are making comparing the two. They are hugely different.

That’s a valid question. For me, personally, wearing a mask is very difficult. I struggle with it. I won’t get into the reasons because no good would come of it.

For most of the people still left posting on this thread, wearing a mask is no big deal or a minor inconvenience and because it’s that way for them, it’s that way for everyone. People are often unable or unwilling to understand anything outside their own experience.

For the past year I’ve joined the vast majority in doing what needed to be done - canceled travel, including two trips to WDW, replaced all gatherings with Zoom calls, got pickup or delivery from stores and restaurants etc. I can’t count the number of times I decided to just stay home instead of going out wearing a mask. After I’m fully vaccinated and masks are no longer required, I won’t wear them. Others will decide differently.

 

[GoofGoof]

If the vaccine manufacturers deliver as promised there will be enough to vaccinate 300 million people by June (or mid 2021). That is more than enough for every adult in the US.

Depending on if/when JnJ and/or AstraZeneca get approved we should have enough doses for anyone who wants one by July 1. Pfizer and Moderna have been contracted to deliver 100M doses in Q1 and 100M doses in Q2 (Pfizer may leak into July). That’s enough for 200M people to each get 2 doses. JnJ has committed to 100M doses and in a recent interview a board member stated they would have them delivered by end of April if they get approval so even if that slips a month or 2 that’s still in by the end of June. Since that’s a one dose vaccine that’s another 100M people. At that point we have enough for 300M people (over 90% of the population or more than 100% of all adults). AstraZeneca is a safety net in case any of the manufacturing slips on others. Novavax is also in the mix to be approved in April timeframe. Without a 3rd vaccine it will take until the end of summer to get to everyone who wants one.

If we ramp up to 3M to 3.5M doses a day in people’s arms by the end of Feb we should be on pace to vaccinate 300M people by the end of June. That’s seems like a lot, but the last 4 days averaged 1.4M including 1.3M yesterday on a weekend. CVS alone says when they are authorized to be used nationwide they can ramp up to 1M shots a day alone. Add in other chain pharmacies and we should be able to hit 3-4M shots a day.

 

[Incomudro]

Actually the flu season is down 98% this year which is nice. International travel is down of course but the hand washing and mostly masks seems to be the big reason for it. Maybe we should keep this up.. so many lives could be saved. I kid because of course it wouldn’t happen but imagine the results.
Let’s keep hoping the vast majority get this vaccine when they can.

The possibility of this becoming a thing scares me - and has been a point of contention with me when it comes to mask wearing, and particularly those who virtue signal mask wearing.
Seasonal flue kills tens of thousands in this country annually.
Why not wear masks to bring that number down?
What's an acceptable death rate for the staunchest of mask wearing advocates?
Do we don them at a death rate of 10k a year?
20k?

 

[Touchdown]

The possibility of this becoming a thing scares me - and has been a point of contention with me when it comes to mask wearing, and particularly those who virtue signal mask wearing.
Seasonal flue kills tens of thousands in this country annually.
Why not wear masks to bring that number down?
What's an acceptable death rate for the staunchest of mask wearing advocates?
Do we don them at a death rate of 10k a year?
20k?

What’s so scary about a mask? Seriously? I sincerely hope it becomes the norm to wear one when sick from here on out.

 

[Incomudro]

That’s a valid question. For me, personally, wearing a mask is very difficult. I struggle with it. I won’t get into the reasons because no good would come of it.

For most of the people still left posting on this thread, wearing a mask is no big deal or a minor inconvenience and because it’s that way for them, it’s that way for everyone. People are often unable or unwilling to understand anything outside their own experience.

For the past year I’ve joined the vast majority in doing what needed to be done - canceled travel, including two trips to WDW, replaced all gatherings with Zoom calls, got pickup or delivery from stores and restaurants etc. I can’t count the number of times I decided to just stay home instead of going out wearing a mask. After I’m fully vaccinated and masks are no longer required, I won’t wear them. Others will decide differently.

Mine is off after I'm fully vaccinated as well.
As it's whipped off the second I exit a store right now.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Fauci said it would take a year to 18 months to get a vaccine, that's about where it is - and not everybody can get a vaccine. By the time we can vaccinate everyone, it will be over the 12 months minimum Fauci predicted.

I don't think we know just how *lucky* we are that two companies had mRNA vaccines nearly ready to go, and that this never-before-used technology works as well as it does. JnJ won't be ready until close to the 1 year anniversary of the shutdown and still others are in the pipeline.

I don't know what the earliest models were predicting a year ago, but so far, they've been bang on for deaths the last six months or so.

We were at 300,000 deaths in November, hurtled right on to 400,000, are well on our way to 500,000 and there is no reason to think the predictions of 600,000 dead before this is brought in check won't happen.

I think you equate "wrong" with "using the best information available at the time," which, in a novel pandemic, is always changing. You may or may not have noticed that, once you sift through the noise of media chatterboxes, the experts do refine their predictions and recommendations based on new information coming in.

Isn’t Fauci great! Let’s hope the experts are wrong at that high end of 1.4 million dead in the US. Personally I am rooting for the experts to be wrong on that one... it’s ok I am rooting against the death count, right?

 

[Incomudro]

What’s so scary about a mask? Seriously? I sincerely hope it becomes the norm to wear one when sick from here on out.

Freedom.
My body, my face.
Force me to wear something on my face... Get the h*%# out of here with that as soon as a good portion of the population is vaccinated.
I'm done.
As for the rest of you - you can wear an N95 for the rest of your lives if it makes you feel safe.

 

[GoofGoof]

The possibility of this becoming a thing scares me - and has been a point of contention with me when it comes to mask wearing, and particularly those who virtue signal mask wearing.
Seasonal flue kills tens of thousands in this country annually.
Why not wear masks to bring that number down?
What's an acceptable death rate for the staunchest of mask wearing advocates?
Do we don them at a death rate of 10k a year?
20k?

People have natural Immunity to the flu. We’ve all been exposed to it. There’s also a flu vaccine for higher risk people, so it’s possible to get vaccinated. In addition flu has some pretty good treatments that reduce the number of severe infections. We have a history of the illness to know who is most vulnerable. I know this is not new news to anyone. I thought we’d done the flu vs Covid thing to death.

Masks don’t prevent all deaths. They just reduce the spread.

 

[GoofGoof]

Mine is off after I'm fully vaccinated as well.
As it's whipped off the second I exit a store right now.

Not at WDW...or many retail stores or on Federal land now. Businesses still have every right to mandate masks

 

[Disstevefan1]

Because there were (and remain) many unknowns. You initially claimed that the estimates “were way off”, whereas you’re now saying they were too broad.

Hopefully they remain way off for that high end. We can only hope...

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Freedom.
My body, my face.
Force me to wear something on my face... Get the h*%# out of here with that as soon as a good portion of the population is vaccinated.
I'm done.
As for the rest of you - you can wear an N95 for the rest of your lives if it makes you feel safe.

Great post. Chock full of information. Thanks.

 

[Tom P.]

I see what you're trying to say, but the vaccines achieved that incredible effectiveness by following a protocol. Deviate from it too much, and you really play with fire in losing effectiveness. There were early signs of success in Israel, but a number of "delayed" second dose recipients have been infected.

The other side of the coin, while frustrating, is to have a lower number of correctly vaccinated people by cancelling or postponing first shot patients when shipments fall short. The second dose should be scheduled either before or when you show up for your first appointment, best case scenario.

Not much of a choice...

You complete the cycles per specs and wait for more.

This is all the same nonsense as the last 11 months...do things the right way and stop trying to “rig” anything.

That means be smart, don’t ease the precautions...and stay the hell out the magic kingdom.

Same spot as last week, month, season, admin, etc.

I understand what both of you are saying, but that's not the way the system is working right now. Maybe the Biden administration will change it. But, so far, that's just not where we're at. So you either get your first dose and have some uncertainty around getting the second dose, or you don't get vaccinated at all. Those are the only two choices people have right now.

 

[matt9112]

Not much of a choice...

You complete the cycles per specs and wait for more.

This is all the same nonsense as the last 11 months...do things the right way and stop trying to “rig” anything.

That means be smart, don’t ease the precautions...and stay the hell out the magic kingdom.

Same spot as last week, month, season, admin, etc.

I mean i have been avoiding the magic kingdom for a few years...all those crying children. The other parks are far more enjoyable. Thanks for the tip though.

 

[Lilofan]

Freedom.
My body, my face.
Force me to wear something on my face... Get the h*%# out of here with that as soon as a good portion of the population is vaccinated.
I'm done.
As for the rest of you - you can wear an N95 for the rest of your lives if it makes you feel safe.

You would perhaps sing a different tune if and when private employers in the future legally can require current staff or incoming new staff required to get covid19 vaccinated or look for alternative employment elsewhere.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

As well as school. It would be nice if kids didn’t feel the need to tough out a sick day or two because they couldn’t make up the work in a timely fashion. Now that the infrastructure has been put in place, it shouldn’t be too much to ask for a student to make up the work online. Even if they stayed home and kept their classmates safe, they might be able to tough out a couple hours’ homework time.

Schools don't operate this way. By law, students must be allowed to make up missed work if they have an excused absence. Illness = excused absence, as does attending a funeral, and other civic responsibilities, like being called to testify in court. Vacations to WDW are not typically a valid reason to miss school, unless they are part of a field trip. Disney actually holds a number of educational programs (called the Disney Youth Education Program).

The FAR more prevalent problem is that students don't do the work they missed.

Generally, teachers WANT their students to succeed, so they do just about everything they can to get students to make up missed work: extending deadlines, reminding the student, calling parents, and talking to counselors if the student has missed any important grades.

No teacher wants to be exposed to puke, snot, diarrhea, blood, or pus. Does anyone?

More often than not, symptoms develop over a period of time. A mild runny nose could be allergies. A headache could be simple dehydration. Dismissing symptoms is easier than arranging to keep one's child home from school.

If anything, the fault lies in the other direction. Employers don't make it easy for parents and teachers to take a day off from work. Employers, including schools, penalize employees who take too many sick days.

Think about it. When a teacher takes a sick day, they turn their whole workspace over to a complete stranger. Again, is anyone comfortable doing that?

Teachers generally care a good deal about their students, and their students' success. Student success = teacher success.

That said, I agree mostly with your last sentiment. Education has evolved. Online lessons are likely here to stay!

 

[correcaminos]

Freedom.
My body, my face.
Force me to wear something on my face... Get the h*%# out of here with that as soon as a good portion of the population is vaccinated.
I'm done.
As for the rest of you - you can wear an N95 for the rest of your lives if it makes you feel safe.

This is blunt but I have to ask? Do you care about anyone other than yourself?

 

[Chi84]

You would perhaps sing a different tune if and when private employers in the future legally can require current staff or incoming new staff required to get covid19 vaccinated or look for alternative employment elsewhere.

Maybe it's just me, but I find a vaccination requirement far less intrusive than the current COVID restrictions. You do it and it's done. I don't see any difference between someone telling me to get a vaccination and telling me I have to wear a mask every time I'm in public.

 

[JAKECOTCenter]

Johnson and Johnson vaccine may be the miracle that the distribution needs because whatever is working right now isn't enough to achieve herd immunity this year or even next year.