Do people think before they type? Late summer was a disaster in FL. You have wonderful vaccines and they managed their worst wave of the pandemic. Congratulations?
About a month ago I did an analysis of state-by-state data to figure out metrics from June 1, 2020 and beyond. I took out March, April, and May of 2020 because at that time, we had no idea how to treat the disease. In those 3 months we learned that some thigns we were doing were killing patients (e.g. intubating them too early, etc.). Here's what I found:
From June 2020 onwards, the states with the top 5 death rates per capita have been:
Mississippi
Alabama
Louisiana
Arizona
Florida
Enough to stop surges that still occur in states deemed to have a high vax rate? Not sure what that is yet, however. I’m not making any direct comparisons to Florida here. I just think we have lowered our expectations as to what is considered a high vax rate. Or we need to readjust our expectations because even states that have the highest rates isn’t a good enough.
No high vax state has had a surge comparable to the low-vax states. The curves have been a lot smaller, the hospitalization and death rates have been far, far lower. Vaccines work, even at the 65-75% range. I imagine once we get to 80-85% it will crater.
I really do think its the perceived double standard about the mandate. Before the mandate, these folks were valued public servants, after the mandate, vaccinate or leave, you can be easily replaced.
Cities with the mandate will lose folks, but its a small percentage.
People can be heroic and then do something unheroic. Heroism isn't a permanent marker. A person is heroic because they do heroic things. There are many examples in history of heros who have made unheroic decisions.
Not getting a vaccine as a first responder is an unheroic decision. As would a Army Ranger with a congressional medal of honor for heroism who deserted his unit or sold secrets to an enemy.
There is no ending. It is going to be around forever. Live with it. Get vaccinated every other week if you desire. Buy a biohazard suit if you want and wear it whenever you leave home.
Come to grips with the fact that COVID will be around for the rest of your life. Stop wanting people who can deal with the "risk" to alter thier lives for a false sense of security.
There is an ending. When enough people get vaccinated. (And no one said every other week). It's people who are not getting vaccinated who are keeping this damn thing going.
Disagree 100%. We're at the point where vaccines are available to all and you can choose to do whatever you feel is necessary to hide from COVID. Those of us who don't care about the risk and want to live our short lives to the fullest shouldn't be asked to alter our lives at all anymore.
No, because your decision not to get vaccinated impacts others and prevents this damn pandemic from ending.
Those who refuse vaccines *and are sick* should stay home, just like people *who are sick* should have always stayed home. "Don't go into crowds of people when you're ill" is not a new standard of social behavior that started in March 2020. People always should have been doing that.
Presymptomatic transmission (as opposed to asymptomatic) is actually a pretty large thing among unvaccinated individuals. For vaccinated breakthroughs the time of transmission tends to correlate with symptoms.
Our healthcare system is not overstretched.
It was overstretched in many areas of the south this summer.
No, transmission from mild and asymptomatic cases is not precisely zero, that's true. But it mitigates risk to a level that I'm perfectly comfortable with as we pivot to the endemic phase of this virus.
It would be great if 100% of people were vaccinated. It would be great if vaccines were 100% effective. But neither of those are true and never will be. Zero-COVID is not a viable path forward, and we need to stop rejecting every proposed return to normal scenario with "BUT THERE WILL BE TRANSMISSION!" Yeah. There will be. We're just going to have to deal with it.
Why are we accepting that as a society? There's a multiplier effect on vaccinations, even with less than perfect vaccines (which none are).
Everything you just said is true of the flu, common cold, and ten thousand other communicable diseases that are endemic in the population. COVID is not unique in that regard, it's just the next thing to add to the list.
The flu, common cold are not nearly as deadly or damaging. And other communicable diseases we mandate vaccines for.
The virus might not disappear completely but we can severely limit it's impact if we get enough of the population vaccinated.
. Isn't that what we're supposed to do?
www.nature.com
www.cdc.gov
