Rona and the Yankees
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FYI: the CDC is about to remove the recommendation for the vaccinated to mask in all outdoor settings and most indoor settings. That will help with the vaccination rates.
In the real world, you can't control what others do, therefore, it doesn't matter whether you know who has been vaccinated or not.
I didn't get the vaccine to keep from putting others at risk. You are responsible for you. I'm not responsible for you. I took the vaccine to keep myself from getting sick if I catch the virus, precisely because I can't control what decisions others make. I'm taking matters into my own hands. And you know what? That's fine - it's someone's individual right to choose to forego the vaccine, or not wear a mask. They aren't putting me in danger by making those choices, because I am responsible for myself.
That's how it works.
Using the term "vaccine" gives a sense of false confidence that you will never get the virus again. It should be labeled a medical treatment or something else like a preventative.
Who is "they" that have said it from the beginning?
Except that's not how contagions, vaccinations, and other precautions work. What others do affects you as much or more than what you do. The view you expressed is exactly why we have had such a bad time with this in the West and in the US in particular. Fighting contagion is not and never will be an individual exercise.
I did everything they asked. I worked from home. I wore a mask. I socially distanced. When the time came, I took the vaccine.
It's all about individual choice. I can only control myself. So I can determine how much of a risk I want to take by masking or not, distancing or not, and vaccinating or not. It has no impact on you, because you also have choices. You can keep distance from me, you can wear your mask, or you can stay home.
Here's some friendly advice for you: when you basically call someone selfish because you don't agree with decisions they make regarding how they live their lives, it's time you stop and take a long look at yourself and reassess your viewpoint. The more that people with your viewpoint shame others and criticize them because they don't agree, the more they dig in and push back.
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I will not wear it even if everybody else wears it. I'm not in the business of accommodating other people's delusions. I will wear one if I need to for business. I will wear one if a private establishment has something I really want or need and they ask for them to be worn.
But for the most part, at this point, if you don't care enough to get the vaccine, you don't care enough to ask other people to wear masks. For people that don't have an effective immune response to the vaccine, it's terrible, but at the same time, that's not a new issue.
Not the same as flu. The reason the flu vaccine is not that effective is because of the nature of the flu virus. Due to its segmented genome there are so many variants around that even if we guess right and produce a vaccine that is effective against the primary strains in any given year there are lots of others out there that you can catch but thankfully the vaccine tends to make those cases less severe. Covid does not have a segmented genome. It might shift a bit but nothing like the flu.
No vaccine is 100% effective so there are always going to be breakthrough infections but people are talking about Covid as if even if you are vaccinated you will still get it and pass it if you are exposed. Well, if the breakthrough infection rate is so high that we have to continue to wear masks to keep vaccinated people from spreading it then we are wasting our time with vaccine and will NEVER get away from wearing masks. I think the continued mask recommendation has more to do with the government's reluctance to give up control of people than control of a virus.
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I agree and disagree with both of y'all.
Fighting contagion is both an individual and community exercise. After all, if individuals aren't vested, communities aren't.
As I've commented in previous posts, I'm vested in the process because I've got octogenarian parents-- one of whom had pneumonia for a few weeks this past fall. But I've gotten my shots and they've gotten theirs. I've read findings as far as what the vaccines do and am impressed with what they do when it comes to preventing hospitalization.
People don't just control themselves though. Actions influence others as we've all seen.
And there is push back as we've noticed.
For what it's worth, some colleagues at another college were really upset at restrictions loosening there. One has a family member I think that because of some health issues cannot be vaccinated at the moment. The other person makes Bill look like Drebin.
"Fighting the contagion" as a community stops as soon as it negatively impacts my family. I'm self employed. I'm going to keep working as I need to give my family the quality of life I feel they deserve. I will to whatever it takes for my tribe to continue their lives comfortably. I would hope everyone else would do the same. If sheltering in place and wearing a mask everywhere is part of your survival, rock on. I totally respect that. Just know it's not part of mine.
Let me be clear. I'm not downplaying the pandemic. But this "it's takes a village" angle is pipedream ****. Our lives and livelihoods as Americans vastly differ. There is NO WAY to appease everyone. There are no standards in this country. We are too diverse. It's every man for himself.
IMO, this mentality of "what you do impacts me, so YOU need to be the one that stops" is a sickness in this country. And I'm not just talking about the pandemic. I'm talking about every aspect of life.
Let me be clear. I'm not downplaying the pandemic. But this "it's takes a village" angle is pipedream ****. Our lives and livelihoods as Americans vastly differ. There is NO WAY to appease everyone. There are no standards in this country. We are too diverse. It's every man for himself.
IMO, this mentality of "what you do impacts me, so YOU need to be the one that stops" is a sickness in this country. And I'm not just talking about the pandemic. I'm talking about every aspect of life.
I'm vested both because of what I do, it has had an enormous impact there, my wife is a type one diabetic, and we still have three octogenarian parents. For the record I think what the CDC did today is reasonable given the real world experience with the vaccines we now have. No vaccine is perfect but the Moderna and Pfizer ones are about as close as it gets. Our whole family, except for one that isn't 90 days passed having COVID yet, has had one of those two shots. Hopefully what the CDC did today will encourage many of the hesitant ones. Another thing I think you are going to see down the road is that some of the absolutely over the top antivaxx people are going to be required to prove what they say in court. It is high past time and should have happened long before COVID.
Its a question of degree. You are responsible for your own safety, but you should not be allowed to put others at risk. There is an old saying that your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. You have a right to own and operate a gun, but you are not allowed to walk down the street randomly firing your weapon.
Every single person who gers infected provides the virus an opportunity to mutate and potentially render the existing vaccines ineffective. That is why we all have an interest in your actions. If someone doesn't want to get vaccinated that's fine, but they should conduct themselves as though they are infected.
FTR, the Supreme Court ruled in 1905 that local governments can require vaccines under the auspices of public safety. (Smallpox vaccine was required in Massachusetts). The current Court might rule differently, but don't be so quick to argue about individual rights when it comes to infectious diseases.
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