Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

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LuvtheGoof

LuvtheGoof

DVC Guru
Premium Member
DisneyCane said:
That's pretty much exactly what I will say. I'd also add that even with Omicron, the passengers are not in close proximity to the gate agent for long enough for it to be a high risk of transmission. The person sitting in the back to back seat in the terminal waiting area is just as likely as the gate agent to be unvaccinated and/or infected and is a much higher risk to you.
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I have to completely disagree with you on this about the gate agent. You may have to spend several minutes talking with them, and the powers that be seem to think that is more than enough time to pass it along.

I will agree that the people sitting around you at the gate might be higher risk, but that still doesn't excuse the airline worker.
 
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Lilofan

Well-Known Member
LuvtheGoof said:
My point is that you are cherry picking one field. This is NOT a widespread requirement for employees.
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Your statement " if you know of one company " and your comment of cherry picking is hypocritical and now you change your stance to include widespread. Which is it or will you make up another reason?
 
LuvtheGoof

LuvtheGoof

DVC Guru
Premium Member
maui2k7 said:
Our recent experience with COVID.

To give a little context, my wife is a labor and delivery nurse who is fully vaxxed and boosted in September (Pfizer). I am fully vaxxed and boosted in October (Moderna). My 13 yo was fully vaxxed in July (Pfizer). My 11 yo was fully vaxxed in December (Pfizer).

Fast forward to this past week.

Our oldest came down with a low grade fever last Thursday and started to have a mild cough. We kept her home and conducted 3 at home tests Thursday, Friday, Saturday, a PCR test for her and I Thursday and all came back negative. She still had a low grade fever on Sunday so we took her to the urgent care to be checked out by a doctor. The urgent care ran another rapid antigen test which was again negative and they also sent off another PCR test which was also negative.

On Monday, our youngest started to exhibit cold like symptoms (mild sore throat, slight cough, a little stuffy) and we gave her an at home test which was negative. On Tuesday she still had symptoms so I gave her another at home test which came back positive. She and I then went to the local testing location and both got PCR tested. While we were awaiting the results, my wife got rapid PCR tested on Wednesday, which was negative. Today we received the PCR results for my daughter which was positive for COVID and mine was negative.

This all leads me to wonder if the tests that are used today, both PCR and rapid antigen, are sensitive enough to detect Omicron or should testing be done in another way such as swabbing the throat.

In the end, my oldest has recovered and is back to normal and our youngest has only had very mild cold like symptoms and is already better. My wife and I have not experienced any symptoms.
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Glad to hear that everyone is doing OK, and it is quite obvious that the vaccines worked.
 
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maui2k7

Well-Known Member
LuvtheGoof said:
Glad to hear that everyone is doing OK, and it is quite obvious that the vaccines worked.
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Yes, I agree vaccines have worked for us, but the tests I think need to be improved in some way. I am very skeptical that my oldest was actually negative (even after 4 at home and two PCR tests) and very surprised my wife and I are negative (even being asymptomatic) when you hear just how many breakthrough cases there are.
 
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mmascari

Well-Known Member
TrainChasers said:
At one point weren’t the experts saying 70%? I’m not crying out “the goalposts are moving” cause I get it. This thing has evolved and changed. But if 70% isn’t enough that’s concerning. Would 80%? 90%?

I’m not trying to start a fight only have a discussion. But I will point out when I feel something is unrealistic.
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I said this earlier:

mmascari said:
It needs to increase enough to crest the inflection point of the curve and have a meaningful impact. A point we once hoped was 70% but was probably higher, a point that was probably close to 85% with Delta, and a point that's definitely even higher with Omicron somewhere over 90% or 95% now.
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We will not know the actual required amount until we get there, but those are some rough targets to aim for, and we're not at them.
 
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Chip Chipperson

Well-Known Member
DisneyCane said:
That's pretty much exactly what I will say. I'd also add that even with Omicron, the passengers are not in close proximity to the gate agent for long enough for it to be a high risk of transmission. The person sitting in the back to back seat in the terminal waiting area is just as likely as the gate agent to be unvaccinated and/or infected and is a much higher risk to you.
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There are plenty of times when passengers are dealing with a gate agent for long enough to catch the virus from them. People have questions about seat assignments, flying standby, boarding times, how to handle strollers/car seats, or if their luggage is too big for the overhead bin (which they should have figured out before going through security, but now it's the gate agent's problem). I've seen it many times. Then there are the "We're looking for volunteers to get bumped to a later flight because this flight was overbooked" announcements, so whoever volunteers then has to stand at the counter to make new arrangements and get whatever reward is being offered for giving up their spot on the flight.
 
sullyinMT

sullyinMT

Well-Known Member
All the talk of who puts you at more risk in the airport firms up my personal belief that the international vaccine requirement needs to be extended to domestic air travel. If you (nebulous you) don’t like it, drive. I’m sure the various security clearance programs could be extended for free vaccine or medical exemption verification.
 
AEfx

AEfx

Well-Known Member
maui2k7 said:
This all leads me to wonder if the tests that are used today, both PCR and rapid antigen, are sensitive enough to detect Omicron or should testing be done in another way such as swabbing the throat.
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I have not mentioned it because it is completely anecdotal, and I have not done any research into it myself to see if it is a commonly held belief...but I know several people who have tested negative with the rapid tests doing the nose-thing as instructed, who got positive results when they re-tested and swabbed their throats instead.
 
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mmascari

Well-Known Member
DisneyCane said:
That's pretty much exactly what I will say.
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Which leaves the rest of us with 2 options:
  1. Find a way to internalize those external costs. That would bring them in line with the personal responsibility. Someone would take action, like getting vaccinated or using mitigations, to avoid a personal cost of COVID instead of to avoid creating a social cost. Not dying feels like an easy one, but it hasn't been enough for some.
  2. Find some other reason for an entity/company/person to vaccinate or mitigate that aligns with their other goals so that it doesn't matter what the COVID impact of the decision is. This type of aligned reason for an action would create a reason for the action to happen completely independent from any COVID benefit.
Vaccine passports and restrictions on availability of things without being vaccinated is an attempt at the first. Want to go to a concert, the vaccine passport requirement turns the external social cost into a personal cost. With a testing option, perhaps a very easy to measure dollar cost.

In the United example, my argument is the second, that United determined that the vaccine requirement provided a smaller business cost than not having the vaccine impact. That it doesn't matter if it's good for public health or not. It was good for business to have the mandate.

I'll refrain from any debate on dealing with the social cost and group dynamic part of vaccination as a public health response. I think you're wrong, but I'm not going to change your mind.
 
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Chip Chipperson

Well-Known Member
sullyinMT said:
All the talk of who puts you at more risk in the airport firms up my personal belief that the international vaccine requirement needs to be extended to domestic air travel. If you (nebulous you) don’t like it, drive. I’m sure the various security clearance programs could be extended for free vaccine or medical exemption verification.
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I would be good with that. People start lining up to board a flight so far ahead of when it actually boards that you'd think they were giving out Figment popcorn buckets to the first 25 passengers. People's minds tend to operate like, "I'm in Boarding Group 4 and the flight doesn't start boarding for another 45 minutes. I'd better go stand near the gate and block up the walkway so nobody going to or from any other gates can get by if they have any luggage bigger than a Loungefly backpack." Then you have a congested walkway with no social distancing for the next 30 minutes and people have their masks only covering their mouths as they "comply" with the federal mask requirement.
 
T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
TrainChasers said:
Is that your personal goal? I don’t feel like that’s realistic.
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1. You asked for a goal I can assure you that any health professional would say the same.

2. Why isn’t it realistic? The vaccine is free and widely available. And even if it isn’t a goal is an aspiration, and something you strive to get. The work isn’t done until you reach your goal. Until then there is more work to do.
 
disneygeek90

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
AEfx said:
I have not mentioned it because it is completely anecdotal, and I have not done any research into it myself to see if it is a commonly held belief...but I know several people who have tested negative with the rapid tests doing the nose-thing as instructed, who got positive results when they re-tested and swabbed their throats instead.
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I also have limited info.. but from what I've heard Omicron "lives" more in your throat, especially in the earlier days of onset.
 
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Purduevian

Well-Known Member
On employee rights and benefits...
I work for a very large company. We have always had 2 health insurance rates, one for smokers and one for non-smokers.
We also have access to a 3rd party app that the company pays for that incentives health goals. Points for taking enough steps in a day, tracking eating, sleeping, a one time bonus for a yearly physical, one time bonus for flu shot, ect. I can then exchange these points for gift cards.

One last note, my employer did put a vaccine mandate in place at the end of last year. I have not heard of anyone not complying with it.
 
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