Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[JoeCamel]

Checking in for the first time today here.. wow this thread has gone off the rails.
Didn’t your parents teach you never bring up politics or religion? Wait, I think that was for thanksgiving dinner. Never mind.

You only bring those up at the table if you want to run to catch a movie or go play on your phone, real buzzkill and it works wonderfully every time.

 

[GoofGoof]

Correct, it would be highly unethical and possibly illegal to require a vaccination that is not approved by the FDA for employment status.

However, full FDA approval will come later this year which will pave the way for companies to require employees to get vaccinated (whether they agree to wear a mask or not). Question is, will COVID be enough of an issue by then for companies to still be motivated to do so. All things, in the United States, point to no. Thankfully, we have the luxury of unlimited Pfizer/Moderna shots which are likely to set us apart long term from other countries using less efficacious vaccines.

Additionally, COVID appears to be endemic in the United States right now from a true epidemiology perspective (the CDC's "you're responsible for your health messaging" along with widespread use of the honor system regarding masks supports this). From a cultural perspective, endemic status is a ways away. Probably not for a year.

Re: WDW, remember, it's Florida. WDW has shown they are already willing to divorce the domestic parks on COVID-19 policies (among other things), due to varying political and cultural ideologies; and they will continue to do so.

Full FDA approval for Pfizer could be less than a month away. It’s highly likely to come before the end of June.

There’s no way to know if Covid will become endemic or not right now. It’s possible it will and possible it won’t. If enough people are vaccinated it is possible it would be eliminated similar to measles today in the United States. If community spread continues it‘s possible that vaccination is mandated (similar to MMR vaccines) and it eventually could reach elimination status.

 

[DisneyFan32]

Full FDA approval for Pfizer could be less than a month away. It’s highly likely to come before the end of June.

There’s no way to know if Covid will become endemic or not right now. It’s possible it will and possible it won’t. If enough people are vaccinated it is possible it would be eliminated similar to measles today in the United States. If community spread continues it‘s possible that vaccination is mandated (similar to MMR vaccines) and it eventually could reach elimination status.

Then future vaccines will create faster than COVID-19 vaccine during COVID-19 pandemic then future pandemics won't be happen soon in the future.

 

[GoofGoof]

The concern is that removing masks and all other COVID mitigation strategies, while the vaccination process is ongoing and still in the 50% range, is that there's still potential for COVID to spike again amongst the unvaccinated portion of the population.

Hence the concern things could be moving a bit too quickly.

On that topic it’s a bit disturbing to see both the hospitalization and death numbers not coming down more. The numbers are way down compared to the peak, but we have also given 63% of adults and 86% of 65+ at least one dose of vaccine making them much more unlikely to get seriously ill or die. So the hospitalizations and deaths we are seeing are mostly in the remaining 37% of the adult population and in very rare cases in kids. We thought all along that once we got the elderly and high risk population vaccinated hospitalizations and deaths would drop off a cliff. 500 deaths a day still seems really not great and probably 5X what would be considered acceptable. So basically Covid is still ripping through the unvaccinated population uncontrolled.

So some people would say who cares, they had their shot and they chose not to get the vaccine. That may be a valid point, but it‘s still disappointing to me that we aren’t a lot closer to under 100 deaths a day before removimg the rest of the mitigations.

 

[Epcotbob]

On that topic it’s a bit disturbing to see both the hospitalization and death numbers not coming down more. The numbers are way down compared to the peak, but we have also given 63% of adults and 86% of 65+ at least one dose of vaccine making them much more unlikely to get seriously ill or die. So the hospitalizations and deaths we are seeing are mostly in the remaining 37% of the adult population and in very rare cases in kids. We thought all along that once we got the elderly and high risk population vaccinated hospitalizations and deaths would drop off a cliff. 500 deaths a day still seems really not great and probably 5X what would be considered acceptable. So basically Covid is still ripping through the unvaccinated population uncontrolled.

So some people would say who cares, they had their shot and they chose not to get the vaccine. That may be a valid point, but it‘s still disappointing to me that we aren’t a lot closer to under 100 deaths a day before removimg the rest of the mitigations.

Is it confirmed the covid is “ripping thru the unvaxxed population uncontrolled” ?

Is there real data to support that claim?

 

[GoofGoof]

Is it confirmed the covid is “ripping thru the unvaxxed population uncontrolled” ?

Is there real data to support that claim?

If the vaccine is nearly 100% effective at preventing death and more than half of adults are vaccinated but we are still seeing 500 deaths a day from Covid, who exactly is dying? 500 deaths a day is the equivalent of almost 200,000 deaths in a year, but the pool of people impacted is cut roughly in half so actually makes it more like double that on a per person basis. I’d say it’s pretty concerning right now. Many people assumed that once the elderly and high risk population was vaccinated we’d see deaths go way down. It’s concerning to see the number plateau.

 

[Chomama]

On that topic it’s a bit disturbing to see both the hospitalization and death numbers not coming down more. The numbers are way down compared to the peak, but we have also given 63% of adults and 86% of 65+ at least one dose of vaccine making them much more unlikely to get seriously ill or die. So the hospitalizations and deaths we are seeing are mostly in the remaining 37% of the adult population and in very rare cases in kids. We thought all along that once we got the elderly and high risk population vaccinated hospitalizations and deaths would drop off a cliff. 500 deaths a day still seems really not great and probably 5X what would be considered acceptable. So basically Covid is still ripping through the unvaccinated population uncontrolled.

So some people would say who cares, they had their shot and they chose not to get the vaccine. That may be a valid point, but it‘s still disappointing to me that we aren’t a lot closer to under 100 deaths a day before removimg the rest of the mitigations.

I am curious about this as well the new cases number is super low the past week but hospitalizations remain in the 26k range. If hospitalizations aren’t common in the under 45 set why are there still so many? Anyone have age info on the current hospitalizations? I am not sure where to find that

 

[GoofGoof]

I am curious about this as well the new cases number is super low the past week but hospitalizations remain in the 26k range. If hospitalizations aren’t common in the under 45 set why are there still so many? Anyone have age info on the current hospitalizations? I am not sure where to find that

I don’t. It’s difficult to find anywhere. I am hopeful that possibly deaths are just a lagging stat and once we “catch up” the number drops way off, but 500 a day is no place to plateau at. I know that people have had every chance to be vaccinated and have just chosen not to, but that’s still a lot of death to just accept.

 

[Jrb1979]

I am curious about this as well the new cases number is super low the past week but hospitalizations remain in the 26k range. If hospitalizations aren’t common in the under 45 set why are there still so many? Anyone have age info on the current hospitalizations? I am not sure where to find that

Variants are driving rise in younger, sicker patients needing specialized care to receive oxygen: doctors

Coronavirus variants are believed to be behind an increase in younger and sicker COVID-19 patients in the ICU, who are in need of specialized care only available at a handful of hospitals.

beta.ctvnews.ca

I know it's a couple of months old but that might give you an idea on why hospitalizations are slow to go down.

 

[GimpYancIent]

I don’t. It’s difficult to find anywhere. I am hopeful that possibly deaths are just a lagging stat and once we “catch up” the number drops way off, but 500 a day is no place to plateau at. I know that people have had every chance to be vaccinated and have just chosen not to, but that’s still a lot of death to just accept.

Just looked up the CDC COVID tracker and the last 7 day average reflects 438 deaths where does this 500 a day stuff come from? You are generally on it GoofGoof what's up?

 

[GoofGoof]

Just looked up the CDC COVID tracker and the last 7 day average reflects 438 deaths where does this 500 a day stuff come from? You are generally on it GoofGoof what's up?

Even 438 a day is an annual equivalent of 160,000 deaths in a year. Way more than is acceptable to me.

 

[Epcotbob]

If the vaccine is nearly 100% effective at preventing death and more than half of adults are vaccinated but we are still seeing 500 deaths a day from Covid, who exactly is dying? 500 deaths a day is the equivalent of almost 200,000 deaths in a year, but the pool of people impacted is cut roughly in half so actually makes it more like double that on a per person basis. I’d say it’s pretty concerning right now. Many people assumed that once the elderly and high risk population was vaccinated we’d see deaths go way down. It’s concerning to see the number plateau.

Is it also possible the vaccine is not as effective as they hoped?

 

[Chomama]

Is it also possible the vaccine is not as effective as they hoped?

I don’t think that’s the case. Look at Israel and the Uk, as well as the dramatic decline in cases in the US. There is something to younger people being in the hospital

 

[GoofGoof]

Is it also possible the vaccine is not as effective as they hoped?

There have only been 160 deaths from breakthrough infections:

COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections Reported to CDC ...

COVID-19 vaccines are a critical tool for controlling the ongoing global pandemic.

www.cdc.gov

 

[Epcotbob]

There have only been 160 deaths from breakthrough infections:

COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections Reported to CDC ...

COVID-19 vaccines are a critical tool for controlling the ongoing global pandemic.

www.cdc.gov

Ok, that’s fair. Just looking for real data....

 

[GoofGoof]

Ok, that’s fair. Just looking for real data....

Yeah, it’s perplexing to see the death rate where it is. I have no idea why this is the case, but it is unexpected to me. I held off for a while even bringing it up here because I kept thinking it would drop off soon due to the lag in reporting, but by now it seems like that would have happened already, especially with over 85% of 65+ vaccinated.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

So some people would say who cares, they had their shot and they chose not to get the vaccine. That may be a valid point, but it‘s still disappointing to me that we aren’t a lot closer to under 100 deaths a day before removimg the rest of the mitigations.

It seems a bit early to say that. People are still getting their first dose in some areas because it’s not always easy to schedule a shot around existing work / family schedules.

I’m not sure why the cdc jumped ahead the way they did but this whole thing has confused me from day 1.

 

[Jrb1979]

Yeah, it’s perplexing to see the death rate where it is. I have no idea why this is the case, but it is unexpected to me. I held off for a while even bringing it up here because I kept thinking it would drop off soon due to the lag in reporting, but by now it seems like that would have happened already, especially with over 85% of 65+ vaccinated.

I personally believe it has to do with the variants and it's affect on younger people. Here most of our recent hospitalizations have been mostly younger people. It makes the most sense as they are the ones not vaccinated. It's no longer an older persons sickness.

 

[GoofGoof]

I personally believe it has to do with the variants and it's affect on younger people. Here most of our recent hospitalizations have been mostly younger people. It makes the most sense as they are the ones not vaccinated. It's no longer an older persons sickness.

Could be. It’s hard to say for sure without the stats. We know for sure that younger people make up a higher percent of people hospitalized with Covid recently and that makes sense since a higher percent of people 65+ are vaccinated. It would be really interesting to see Covid hospitalizations by age demographic.

 

[jlhwdw]

It was such a great change from our trip to WDW a few weeks ago where servers in Disney-owned restaurants were required to wear both masks and shields. (DS restaurants required only masks). It will take awhile for people to adjust, but I definitely see them becoming more comfortable going without them.

It would have driven me crazy to be a WDW Cast Member having to do the mask and the face shield all these months when we have long had the science that the face shields are essentially useless in preventing COVID-19 transmission,