Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Vegas Disney Fan]

We know how herd immunity comes about. It's the goal of medical science.

But in this case of COVID, the anti-vaxxer have been *misusing* herd immunity as a way to get us all to stop using masks or getting vaccinated.

We want herd immunity. I want herd immunity. But in the face of a contagious disease which just got a whole lot more contagious, then herd immunity is going to be harder to get.

Just like with bubonic plague, and small pox, and measles, and polio... unless there is significantly more vaccinations taking place and significant protocols of slowing the contagion (like the use of masks).

So, when we talk about getting people vaccinated and wearing masks and people pipe up about 'herd immunity' as a given to let our guard down... to get us letting up on mask usage or vaccine mandates, that's the talking point of anti-vaxxers.

But, when we talk about getting people vaccinated and wearing masks in order to get to 'herd immunity,' then that's science.

I think this is where you and I differ in our thinking towards herd immunity, when I talk about herd immunity it has nothing to do with letting our guard down, stopping vaccines, or wearing masks… Herd immunity is the ultimate goal, for most people it should encourage vaccines and precautions because it’ll bring the end about faster.

You see Herd immunity as an anti-vax talking point, I see it as a carrot that encourages people to keep trudging along and taking the precautions because there’s light at the end of the tunnel, in spite of things that are beyond our control. All I can do is take care of myself and encourage people to get vaccinated, herd immunity gives me hope though that there’s an end to this regardless of whether we get to 70%, 80%, or 90%.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I think this is where you and I differ in our thinking towards herd immunity, when I talk about herd immunity it has nothing to do with letting our guard down, stopping vaccines, or wearing masks… Herd immunity is the ultimate goal, for most people it should encourage vaccines and precautions because it’ll bring the end about faster.

You see Herd immunity as an anti-vax talking point, I see it as a carrot that encourages people to keep trudging along and taking the precautions because there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

I see it as an anti-vaxxer talking point when they talk about not having to wear masks or get vaccinated because of 'inevitable herd immunity.'

If you're position is: "We need to get to herd immunity, and so, we need to get everyone vaccinated, even if it means a mandate, and people should still wear masks in crowded indoor environments until we reach herd immunity;" then we are on the same page.

 

[hopemax]

We know how herd immunity comes about. It's the goal of medical science.

But in this case of COVID, the anti-vaxxer have been *misusing* herd immunity as a way to get us all to stop using masks or getting vaccinated.

And the next word that is and will be misused is "endemic."

One of the Tweet threads I read last week mentioned this, but I didn't post because I don't think people want to hear it. People are using endemic as meaning something reaches the point of it being "not harmful" and also means "we can stop thinking about it." When endemic means the opposite. Endemic means that someone is ALWAYS thinking about it, monitoring it. Just not you, everyday people. And harm while endemic is on a spectrum. On one hand you have something like the virus that causes cold sores for which public health takes little action towards, except for infants. While on the other end you have a host of things that when one case shows up, Health Departments jump into action. Also, discussion about flu, and while to some people, "we do nothing about flu", there are actually thousands of people whose job is monitoring flu and trying to mitigate the impacts. You may not see it everywhere, but go in places with small children, or elderly and immunocompromised, hospitals, public health offices and you will see plenty of people working on flu, because those are the places where intervention has the greatest impact at minimizing bad outcomes. And finally, the point @mmascari has brought up several times, "What's the acceptable number." That will determine where on that spectrum how much harm COVID continues to cause. And when we finally declare this pandemic "over."

 

[Rescue Ranger]

Have they added the scents back to Soarin yet?

 

[DisneyFan32]

When Skittles original return of Lime favor will start rolling to stores this month?

 

[DCBaker]

“Pfizer and BioNTech said on Thursday morning that they had asked federal regulators to authorize emergency use of their coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, a move that could help protect more than 28 million people in the United States.

The companies have said they were submitting data supporting the change to the Food and Drug Administration. The agency has promised to move quickly on the request and has tentatively scheduled a meeting on Oct. 26 to consider it. A ruling is expected between Halloween and Thanksgiving.”

Pfizer Asks F.D.A. to Authorize Its Covid-19 Vaccine for Children 5 to 11

The agency has promised to move quickly on the request and tentatively plans to meet on Oct. 26 to consider it. A decision could come soon after Halloween.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Andrew C]

A ruling is expected between Halloween and Thanksgiving.”

That’s quite a gap. And they said this is quickly?

 

[Ayla]

Have they added the scents back to Soarin yet?

Yes.

 

[dreday3]

A touch of good news for the world.

COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to decline

The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths has continued to decline globally, with 3.1 million new cases and just over 54,000 new deaths, reported over the last week, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

news.un.org

 

[Heppenheimer]

And the next word that is and will be misused is "endemic."

One of the Tweet threads I read last week mentioned this, but I didn't post because I don't think people want to hear it. People are using endemic as meaning something reaches the point of it being "not harmful" and also means "we can stop thinking about it." When endemic means the opposite. Endemic means that someone is ALWAYS thinking about it, monitoring it. Just not you, everyday people. And harm while endemic is on a spectrum. On one hand you have something like the virus that causes cold sores for which public health takes little action towards, except for infants. While on the other end you have a host of things that when one case shows up, Health Departments jump into action. Also, discussion about flu, and while to some people, "we do nothing about flu", there are actually thousands of people whose job is monitoring flu and trying to mitigate the impacts. You may not see it everywhere, but go in places with small children, or elderly and immunocompromised, hospitals, public health offices and you will see plenty of people working on flu, because those are the places where intervention has the greatest impact at minimizing bad outcomes. And finally, the point @mmascari has brought up several times, "What's the acceptable number." That will determine where on that spectrum how much harm COVID continues to cause. And when we finally declare this pandemic "over."

Yes, "endemic" does not mean that we learn to live with the disease, as some are implying. Actually, what they really mean is "do nothing" from a public health perspective, especially if these steps causes them any inconvenience.

Malaria, yellow fever, river blindness, filariasis, Q fever, polio, cholera, measles, diptheria, Chaga's disease, rubella, pertussis, hepatitis A, B, and C, typhoid fever, dengue fever, tuberculosis and many other infectious diseases with significant mortality and morbidity are "endemic" in many parts of the world, and I don't think anybody would argue that this is an acceptable situation. In the developed world, we've eliminated, measles, mumps, rubella, diptheria, and polio and made pertussis, hep A and B very rare, all through vaccines. We've also either wiped out or made very rare malaria, cholera, typhoid and TB through vigorous public health efforts. We've even turned HIV from an inevitable slide into AIDS and certain death to a very manageable chronic disease. And of course, we've completely eradicated smallpox and rinderpest worldwide. These didn't happen by "learning to live with the virus/bacteria/parasite".

 

[mmascari]

In the developed world, we've eliminated polio, measles, mumps, rubella, diptheria, and polio and made pertussis, hep A and B very rare, all through vaccines. We've also either wiped out or made very rare malaria, cholera, typhoid and TB through vigorous public health efforts.

With luck, you'll have to update this post in a few years to move malaria into the first contained by vaccine category.

 

[Heppenheimer]

With luck, you'll have to update this post in a few years to move malaria into the first contained by vaccine category.

Yes, that was some good news I saw the other day. Hopefully, people in malaria-stricken countries have a more sensible approach to vaccination than some in the US have demonstrated.

 

[correcaminos]

Just read this article

Faced with losing their jobs, even the most hesitant are getting vaccinated

Workplaces with vaccine mandates are seeing vaccination rates of 90% or higher. A complex mix of factors, including job security, is driving most workers to get the shots.

www.npr.org

If you went for J&J and then touting hope you're healthy in 10 years... religious exemption my

 

[DisneyFan32]

is NJ Transit will removing mask mandate as masks and social distancing for trains and buses as Amtrak does too in next year by Spring 2022?

 

[Heppenheimer]

This isn't quite new, but I saw the report for the first time yesterday:

Large Study Finds Convalescent Plasma Doesn’t Help Seriously Ill COVID-19 Patients

Convalescent plasma did not reduce the risk of intubation or death for hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a large, international clinical trial conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators in collaboration with lead investigators at McMaster University.

news.weill.cornell.edu

To summarize, not only does convalescent plasma not help reduce the risk of intubation and death in hospitalized patients, but in some cases it may actually prove harmful. So, beyond corticosteroids and maximizing standard treatments for sepsis, we still don't have any targeted therapeutics for severe COVID cases.

There was another discussion I read on another website (behind a paywall) that noted some of the antibodies present in the convalescent plasma did not strongly bind to the Sars-Cov-2 virus and may have actually negatively interfered with the patients' own immune response. This may have implications for why protection from a prior COVID-19 infection may not be completely adequate in a fairly large subset of those who have recovered. And why prior infection should not carry the same weight as full vaccination.

 

[Heppenheimer]

And in other news, I received my Pfizer booster yesterday. I'm feeling quite a bit more muscle aches with this dose compared to my second. Last time, I got hit pretty hard with fevers and chills around mid-morning the day after, so crossing my fingers that doesn't happen again.

 

[Heelz2315]

“Pfizer and BioNTech said on Thursday morning that they had asked federal regulators to authorize emergency use of their coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, a move that could help protect more than 28 million people in the United States.

The companies have said they were submitting data supporting the change to the Food and Drug Administration. The agency has promised to move quickly on the request and has tentatively scheduled a meeting on Oct. 26 to consider it. A ruling is expected between Halloween and Thanksgiving.”

Pfizer Asks F.D.A. to Authorize Its Covid-19 Vaccine for Children 5 to 11

The agency has promised to move quickly on the request and tentatively plans to meet on Oct. 26 to consider it. A decision could come soon after Halloween.

www.nytimes.com

If I had to guess I'd say they'd rule on that quickly. This is the health of our kids we're talking about. I would like to think they'd move pretty quick on that one.

 

[JoeCamel]

If I had to guess I'd say they'd rule on that quickly. This is the health of our kids we're talking about. I would like to think they'd move pretty quick on that one.

Because it is the health of our kids I hope they move with safety first in mind. Speed is wanted but they have to be sure about safety and dose as well.

 

[correcaminos]

And in other news, I received my Pfizer booster yesterday. I'm feeling quite a bit more muscle aches with this dose compared to my second. Last time, I got hit pretty hard with fevers and chills around mid-morning the day after, so crossing my fingers that doesn't happen again.

Hope that holds true for you. So far all but one severely immune compromised in a study who didn't really make antibodies with 1st dose felt worse for 2. Most of us said more like one than 2nd. I'm harder to explain as mine was more about when the sore arm his vs anything else. So positive thoughts that you're not any worse later today.

If I had to guess I'd say they'd rule on that quickly. This is the health of our kids we're talking about. I would like to think they'd move pretty quick on that one.

They didn't for 12+ I had hoped for early May for first dose based on timing, but they took longer. Safety first.

 

[Timmay]

And in other news, I received my Pfizer booster yesterday. I'm feeling quite a bit more muscle aches with this dose compared to my second. Last time, I got hit pretty hard with fevers and chills around mid-morning the day after, so crossing my fingers that doesn't happen again.

I’m getting my booster this afternoon. The only thing I had was an arm that felt like it had been Hulk smashed, much more so with the first dose. Here’s hoping for smooth sailing to both of us.