Why aren’t schools with high COVID rates masking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

I love this arbitrary position. Why, exactly? Do you refuse to get a flu shot every year because you got it once? This is just so arbitrary.

DP. The Covid vaccine schedule is what is arbitrary so far. They’re making up the schedule as they go along, when immunity from the last shot starts to wane. I hope we can get to the point where it’s an annual vaccine like for the flu. I’m not super comfortable just getting a vax every few months until they figure it out.

DP. While I can somewhat understand this point of view (mostly because of how sick the vaccines make me), I think it's strange to draw the line at 2 shots. I recognize the public messaging was probably misleading, but in practical terms there was never an expectation that 2 shots spaced 2-3 weeks apart would be enough. Even if two shots could have been enough, spacing them so closely together was expected to decrease the efficacy and durability. But it was a good tradeoff at the beginning, because it meant they could complete the trials faster.

Adding a third shot about 6 months later brings the vaccine schedule closer to what you’d typically expect. And given there’s pretty good data on the benefits of a third shot, I don’t know why anyone would pass it up.

Now, 4th shots are a different story. I'd be looking for better data than simply higher antibody levels, or a couple months of better immunity against infection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

I love this arbitrary position. Why, exactly? Do you refuse to get a flu shot every year because you got it once? This is just so arbitrary.

DP. The Covid vaccine schedule is what is arbitrary so far. They’re making up the schedule as they go along, when immunity from the last shot starts to wane. I hope we can get to the point where it’s an annual vaccine like for the flu. I’m not super comfortable just getting a vax every few months until they figure it out.

DP. While I can somewhat understand this point of view (mostly because of how sick the vaccines make me), I think it's strange to draw the line at 2 shots. I recognize the public messaging was probably misleading, but in practical terms there was never an expectation that 2 shots spaced 2-3 weeks apart would be enough. Even if two shots could have been enough, spacing them so closely together was expected to decrease the efficacy and durability. But it was a good tradeoff at the beginning, because it meant they could complete the trials faster.

Adding a third shot about 6 months later brings the vaccine schedule closer to what you’d typically expect. And given there’s pretty good data on the benefits of a third shot, I don’t know why anyone would pass it up.

Now, 4th shots are a different story. I'd be looking for better data than simply higher antibody levels, or a couple months of better immunity against infection.

PP here and I don’t necessarily disagree- DH and I both got a booster but I’d like to see more evidence that another shot is needed before getting a second one. Or whether they start recommending yet another in a few months. And I just wish they had taken a more deliberate process for kids, even if it took longer. Covid has never been an emergency for kids and an EUA was probably not appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

I love this arbitrary position. Why, exactly? Do you refuse to get a flu shot every year because you got it once? This is just so arbitrary.

DP. The Covid vaccine schedule is what is arbitrary so far. They’re making up the schedule as they go along, when immunity from the last shot starts to wane. I hope we can get to the point where it’s an annual vaccine like for the flu. I’m not super comfortable just getting a vax every few months until they figure it out.

DP. While I can somewhat understand this point of view (mostly because of how sick the vaccines make me), I think it's strange to draw the line at 2 shots. I recognize the public messaging was probably misleading, but in practical terms there was never an expectation that 2 shots spaced 2-3 weeks apart would be enough. Even if two shots could have been enough, spacing them so closely together was expected to decrease the efficacy and durability. But it was a good tradeoff at the beginning, because it meant they could complete the trials faster.

Adding a third shot about 6 months later brings the vaccine schedule closer to what you’d typically expect. And given there’s pretty good data on the benefits of a third shot, I don’t know why anyone would pass it up.

Now, 4th shots are a different story. I'd be looking for better data than simply higher antibody levels, or a couple months of better immunity against infection.

PP here and I don’t necessarily disagree- DH and I both got a booster but I’d like to see more evidence that another shot is needed before getting a second one. Or whether they start recommending yet another in a few months. And I just wish they had taken a more deliberate process for kids, even if it took longer. Covid has never been an emergency for kids and an EUA was probably not appropriate.

Well, they created an emergency through their ridiculous quarantine policies for unvaccinated kids. Not that those make any sense.

I get where you’re coming from, although I don’t entirely agree. Covid is about as risky to kids as the flu, which we vaccinate kids against, and it’s occurring at higher rates. So whether it’s really an emergency is debatable, but it’s certainly serious enough to want a vaccine, even if it just reduces illness severity and duration (as the flu vaccine does).

The trials being done on kids are about the size that you’d expect for pediatric trials. Apples to apples comparisons there are a little hard, because trials for vaccines that originally come out for kids are going to be a bit bigger, but in this case we started with adults and worked our way down. The trials were completed faster, but that’s mostly because a pandemic is an ideal time to recruit test subjects and collect data. The pace/duration of the trials hasn’t really impacted the quality of the data meaningfully. At least, not from a safety perspective, since hidden, long-term side effects aren’t a thing with vaccinations.

The problem with these kinds of trials is that you need a massive number of subjects to be able to measure rare effects, whether you’re talking about rare negative effects like myocarditis, or the effect of the vaccine on rare events, like hospitalizations/deaths. You can’t create a trial big enough to be able to measure those things. All you can really do is look effects that occur at significant rates during the trial, and then monitor real-world reports after a vaccine is authorized or approved.

Early on, parents, consulting with their children’s doctors, would self-select before widespread vaccination would typically begin.

But in this case, the policies around quarantines effectively created a de facto mandate for vaccinations well before you’d typically expect to see one. That's where things went wrong-- not with the speed of the EUA process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

DP

Not arbitrary at all. I will not be getting any more shots.

We had our two, and also got Covid. As far as I’m concerned, that episode of Covid is as good as (if not better than) another dose.

I was hesitant to even get the first two. No chance I will get any more. And not interested in having my kids vaccinated either now that they have also had Covid.

It is VERY clear that vaccines do not prevent the transmission of Covid.

So, people are welcome to get as many shots as they please. Just don’t try to force these shots on my kid or me any longer. There is NO justification for that. Let parents make the choice that works best for their families.

I love this arbitrary position. Why, exactly? Do you refuse to get a flu shot every year because you got it once? This is just so arbitrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

I love this arbitrary position. Why, exactly? Do you refuse to get a flu shot every year because you got it once? This is just so arbitrary.

DP. The Covid vaccine schedule is what is arbitrary so far. They’re making up the schedule as they go along, when immunity from the last shot starts to wane. I hope we can get to the point where it’s an annual vaccine like for the flu. I’m not super comfortable just getting a vax every few months until they figure it out.

DP. While I can somewhat understand this point of view (mostly because of how sick the vaccines make me), I think it's strange to draw the line at 2 shots. I recognize the public messaging was probably misleading, but in practical terms there was never an expectation that 2 shots spaced 2-3 weeks apart would be enough. Even if two shots could have been enough, spacing them so closely together was expected to decrease the efficacy and durability. But it was a good tradeoff at the beginning, because it meant they could complete the trials faster.

Adding a third shot about 6 months later brings the vaccine schedule closer to what you’d typically expect. And given there’s pretty good data on the benefits of a third shot, I don’t know why anyone would pass it up.

Now, 4th shots are a different story. I'd be looking for better data than simply higher antibody levels, or a couple months of better immunity against infection.

PP here and I don’t necessarily disagree- DH and I both got a booster but I’d like to see more evidence that another shot is needed before getting a second one. Or whether they start recommending yet another in a few months. And I just wish they had taken a more deliberate process for kids, even if it took longer. Covid has never been an emergency for kids and an EUA was probably not appropriate.

Well, they created an emergency through their ridiculous quarantine policies for unvaccinated kids. Not that those make any sense.

I get where you’re coming from, although I don’t entirely agree. Covid is about as risky to kids as the flu, which we vaccinate kids against, and it’s occurring at higher rates. So whether it’s really an emergency is debatable, but it’s certainly serious enough to want a vaccine, even if it just reduces illness severity and duration (as the flu vaccine does).

The trials being done on kids are about the size that you’d expect for pediatric trials. Apples to apples comparisons there are a little hard, because trials for vaccines that originally come out for kids are going to be a bit bigger, but in this case we started with adults and worked our way down. The trials were completed faster, but that’s mostly because a pandemic is an ideal time to recruit test subjects and collect data. The pace/duration of the trials hasn’t really impacted the quality of the data meaningfully. At least, not from a safety perspective, since hidden, long-term side effects aren’t a thing with vaccinations.

The problem with these kinds of trials is that you need a massive number of subjects to be able to measure rare effects, whether you’re talking about rare negative effects like myocarditis, or the effect of the vaccine on rare events, like hospitalizations/deaths. You can’t create a trial big enough to be able to measure those things. All you can really do is look effects that occur at significant rates during the trial, and then monitor real-world reports after a vaccine is authorized or approved.

Early on, parents, consulting with their children’s doctors, would self-select before widespread vaccination would typically begin.

But in this case, the policies around quarantines effectively created a de facto mandate for vaccinations well before you’d typically expect to see one. That's where things went wrong-- not with the speed of the EUA process.

Then get your kids vaccinated. Majority of kids, except preschool are over age 5, so you can vaccinate. They are your kids. If they are quarantined, you keep them home. You figure it out like the rest of us do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

I love this arbitrary position. Why, exactly? Do you refuse to get a flu shot every year because you got it once? This is just so arbitrary.

DP. The Covid vaccine schedule is what is arbitrary so far. They’re making up the schedule as they go along, when immunity from the last shot starts to wane. I hope we can get to the point where it’s an annual vaccine like for the flu. I’m not super comfortable just getting a vax every few months until they figure it out.

So what do you propose? No vax at all until they figure it all out?

Most people are vaccinated with two shots. So, its really not necessary to mandate it. Any kids who aren't as folks say here have never been at high risk for hospitalization so its a parents choice on what they should do.

[Anonymous]

The comparison to the flu shot is dumb. Did you get a flu shot under emergency authorization? Did you have to go back for a flu shot booster 5 months later? And then another one 5 months after that? With no knowledge of when you'd need another one? And you really wouldn't have questioned this at all?

Our ped recommended we wait and get a booster for our kids at the end of the summer- he seemed to think anyone getting it now would need another late fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The comparison to the flu shot is dumb. Did you get a flu shot under emergency authorization? Did you have to go back for a flu shot booster 5 months later? And then another one 5 months after that? With no knowledge of when you'd need another one? And you really wouldn't have questioned this at all?

Our ped recommended we wait and get a booster for our kids at the end of the summer- he seemed to think anyone getting it now would need another late fall.

This. The flu shot has been around for 75+ years. When we all got our first mRNA shots we didn’t even know we’d require boosters. There is still no clue how many shots we will need and what the longer term effect is of repeated boosters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

I love this arbitrary position. Why, exactly? Do you refuse to get a flu shot every year because you got it once? This is just so arbitrary.

DP. The Covid vaccine schedule is what is arbitrary so far. They’re making up the schedule as they go along, when immunity from the last shot starts to wane. I hope we can get to the point where it’s an annual vaccine like for the flu. I’m not super comfortable just getting a vax every few months until they figure it out.

DP. While I can somewhat understand this point of view (mostly because of how sick the vaccines make me), I think it's strange to draw the line at 2 shots. I recognize the public messaging was probably misleading, but in practical terms there was never an expectation that 2 shots spaced 2-3 weeks apart would be enough. Even if two shots could have been enough, spacing them so closely together was expected to decrease the efficacy and durability. But it was a good tradeoff at the beginning, because it meant they could complete the trials faster.

Adding a third shot about 6 months later brings the vaccine schedule closer to what you’d typically expect. And given there’s pretty good data on the benefits of a third shot, I don’t know why anyone would pass it up.

Now, 4th shots are a different story. I'd be looking for better data than simply higher antibody levels, or a couple months of better immunity against infection.

PP here and I don’t necessarily disagree- DH and I both got a booster but I’d like to see more evidence that another shot is needed before getting a second one. Or whether they start recommending yet another in a few months. And I just wish they had taken a more deliberate process for kids, even if it took longer. Covid has never been an emergency for kids and an EUA was probably not appropriate.

Well, they created an emergency through their ridiculous quarantine policies for unvaccinated kids. Not that those make any sense.

I get where you’re coming from, although I don’t entirely agree. Covid is about as risky to kids as the flu, which we vaccinate kids against, and it’s occurring at higher rates. So whether it’s really an emergency is debatable, but it’s certainly serious enough to want a vaccine, even if it just reduces illness severity and duration (as the flu vaccine does).

The trials being done on kids are about the size that you’d expect for pediatric trials. Apples to apples comparisons there are a little hard, because trials for vaccines that originally come out for kids are going to be a bit bigger, but in this case we started with adults and worked our way down. The trials were completed faster, but that’s mostly because a pandemic is an ideal time to recruit test subjects and collect data. The pace/duration of the trials hasn’t really impacted the quality of the data meaningfully. At least, not from a safety perspective, since hidden, long-term side effects aren’t a thing with vaccinations.

The problem with these kinds of trials is that you need a massive number of subjects to be able to measure rare effects, whether you’re talking about rare negative effects like myocarditis, or the effect of the vaccine on rare events, like hospitalizations/deaths. You can’t create a trial big enough to be able to measure those things. All you can really do is look effects that occur at significant rates during the trial, and then monitor real-world reports after a vaccine is authorized or approved.

Early on, parents, consulting with their children’s doctors, would self-select before widespread vaccination would typically begin.

But in this case, the policies around quarantines effectively created a de facto mandate for vaccinations well before you’d typically expect to see one. That's where things went wrong-- not with the speed of the EUA process.

Then get your kids vaccinated. Majority of kids, except preschool are over age 5, so you can vaccinate. They are your kids. If they are quarantined, you keep them home. You figure it out like the rest of us do.

I’d love to get all my kids vaccinated, but my youngest still can’t. The policy changes for kids over 5 certainly helped, but the last 2 years of isolation and quarantine policies have not been sustainable. The way working parents will “figure it out” is simply going to be not to test.

But the pp was talking about being comfortable with the EUA process for the pediatric and adolescent vaccines. While I don’t entirely agree with the concern, I understand it. The FDA and CDC committees didn’t support vaccine mandates for kids, but that’s basically what we have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The comparison to the flu shot is dumb. Did you get a flu shot under emergency authorization? Did you have to go back for a flu shot booster 5 months later? And then another one 5 months after that? With no knowledge of when you'd need another one? And you really wouldn't have questioned this at all?

Our ped recommended we wait and get a booster for our kids at the end of the summer- he seemed to think anyone getting it now would need another late fall.

So, you’re saying you don’t know how vaccinations and the immune system work and you refuse to learn.

Vaccine schedules are spaced out because the immune system needs to respond to the first shot before getting the next. If you didn’t know the 2-3 week gap between the first and second shots in the primary schedule meant we’d almost certainly need a booster, then you weren’t paying attention.

You see some of this play out with the flu vaccines. While they are unusually annual, kids getting flu shots for the first time need two shots spaced apart.

And the flu vaccine wanes in efficacy over time as well, but we only need protection from the flu for about 6 months out of the year. If the flu was able to efficiently spread in the summer, you probably would see some people get two flu shots a year.

I don’t think we’re going to keep doing twice-a-year Covid shots. At least, not recommended for everyone. But you should have expected the booster shot would come up in the first year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

You do you. I don’t care if you wear a mask. I don’t care if you get the shots.

Clearly you care or you would not be posting here. You want to bully everyone into no precautions like you and pretend everything is ok. It’s sad the values people like you are teaching the next generation. No wonder so many kids have mental health issues. We can look to the parents in some cases, not all as some parents do care about their kids and get them help. You should learn from them.

I know it's not always clear which posts were made by which poster, but when has any poster "bullied" anyone into no precautions? The vast majority of people who are opposed to mask mandates or quarantines are perfectly fine with other people choosing to wear masks or deciding to keep their kids home. They're opposed to others trying to force different choices on them.

So really, I don't care if you wear mask. I also really don't care if you get vaccinated. I used to care about the latter, until vaccine efficacy against infection dropped substantially and until hospital capacity was no longer threatened. But that's not the case anymore. If you'd rather accept the increased risk of COVID than get a simple shot, that's your choice.

If you are perfectly fine with it, then why post about it here. Almost everyone in this area has had two shots. The risk of hospitalization with the new variants is pretty low regardless and its very low for kids so bullying others into taking repeated shots makes no sense. And, no matter how many you take, in order to control this we need multiple layers of mitigation. Vaccines alone aren't going to stop this and that's been proven. Regular mandatory testing would make more sense than quarantining especially during a surge.

You really don't care about anyone but yourself and even then its quesitonable if you even care about yourself.

I'm fine with people choosing to wear masks. I'm fine with people choosing to test themselves and isolate themselves when positive. I'm fine with people choosing to get or not get vaccinated.

But this thread, and several others on COVID, weren't predicated on allowing individuals to make personal choices. The OP here was proposing a mask mandate in MCPS schools, taking away personal choice. Even if your post, you were proposing mandatory testing, again removing personal choice.

And you're right that vaccines aren't going to stop the spread. Obviously nothing is going to stop the spread, so that's a ridiculous goal. The goal is reducing illness, and the vaccines are very good at that. If you're willing to get them. If you've rather roll the dice and go up against COVID without protection, that's fine too. You'd probably be fine.

"Personal choice" is a really odd frame-up to take about what is actually a public health issue.

For one thing, we don't typically give minor children a lot of personal choices. Do we let them choose whether to come to school armed?

We do not.

Do we let them choose whether to eat candy for breakfast or oatmeal?

Hopefully, we do not.

We also don't let them *choose* their classes, (beyond a few electives), we don't let them "choose" to shower, or brush their teeth--but apparently giving them the *choice* of spreading a virus or not is totes cool.

We don't give their teachers the *choice" to arm themselves, but we give them an option not to wear masks, and indeed, to say whatever they please about masks, to our kids.

It's so strange you think taking basic public health measures is a choice.
.

Very true but many of these deniers say one thing and do another. I think they're paid to post this bunk.

That explains why that poster that denies that Covid is here to stay is always posting in the middle of the night about how Covid would just "go away" if people just wore masks. How much do you think she's getting paid?

She's me, dude. And I'm paid a great deal. But not to post here..

Again, it's so strange you think taking public health measures are a " choice. "

It's even more strange that our elected officials make policy decisions based on how much people like you have threatened them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

You do you. I don’t care if you wear a mask. I don’t care if you get the shots.

Clearly you care or you would not be posting here. You want to bully everyone into no precautions like you and pretend everything is ok. It’s sad the values people like you are teaching the next generation. No wonder so many kids have mental health issues. We can look to the parents in some cases, not all as some parents do care about their kids and get them help. You should learn from them.

I know it's not always clear which posts were made by which poster, but when has any poster "bullied" anyone into no precautions? The vast majority of people who are opposed to mask mandates or quarantines are perfectly fine with other people choosing to wear masks or deciding to keep their kids home. They're opposed to others trying to force different choices on them.

So really, I don't care if you wear mask. I also really don't care if you get vaccinated. I used to care about the latter, until vaccine efficacy against infection dropped substantially and until hospital capacity was no longer threatened. But that's not the case anymore. If you'd rather accept the increased risk of COVID than get a simple shot, that's your choice.

If you are perfectly fine with it, then why post about it here. Almost everyone in this area has had two shots. The risk of hospitalization with the new variants is pretty low regardless and its very low for kids so bullying others into taking repeated shots makes no sense. And, no matter how many you take, in order to control this we need multiple layers of mitigation. Vaccines alone aren't going to stop this and that's been proven. Regular mandatory testing would make more sense than quarantining especially during a surge.

You really don't care about anyone but yourself and even then its quesitonable if you even care about yourself.

I'm fine with people choosing to wear masks. I'm fine with people choosing to test themselves and isolate themselves when positive. I'm fine with people choosing to get or not get vaccinated.

But this thread, and several others on COVID, weren't predicated on allowing individuals to make personal choices. The OP here was proposing a mask mandate in MCPS schools, taking away personal choice. Even if your post, you were proposing mandatory testing, again removing personal choice.

And you're right that vaccines aren't going to stop the spread. Obviously nothing is going to stop the spread, so that's a ridiculous goal. The goal is reducing illness, and the vaccines are very good at that. If you're willing to get them. If you've rather roll the dice and go up against COVID without protection, that's fine too. You'd probably be fine.

"Personal choice" is a really odd frame-up to take about what is actually a public health issue.

For one thing, we don't typically give minor children a lot of personal choices. Do we let them choose whether to come to school armed?

We do not.

Do we let them choose whether to eat candy for breakfast or oatmeal?

Hopefully, we do not.

We also don't let them *choose* their classes, (beyond a few electives), we don't let them "choose" to shower, or brush their teeth--but apparently giving them the *choice* of spreading a virus or not is totes cool.

We don't give their teachers the *choice" to arm themselves, but we give them an option not to wear masks, and indeed, to say whatever they please about masks, to our kids.

It's so strange you think taking basic public health measures is a choice.
.

Very true but many of these deniers say one thing and do another. I think they're paid to post this bunk.

That explains why that poster that denies that Covid is here to stay is always posting in the middle of the night about how Covid would just "go away" if people just wore masks. How much do you think she's getting paid?

She's me, dude. And I'm paid a great deal. But not to post here..

Again, it's so strange you think taking public health measures are a " choice. "

It's even more strange that our elected officials make policy decisions based on how much people like you have threatened them.

Watching everyone else move on with their lives is really taking a toll on your mental health.

You either watched or read reports from the State of the Union. Our elected officials were happy to move on all on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

You do you. I don’t care if you wear a mask. I don’t care if you get the shots.

Clearly you care or you would not be posting here. You want to bully everyone into no precautions like you and pretend everything is ok. It’s sad the values people like you are teaching the next generation. No wonder so many kids have mental health issues. We can look to the parents in some cases, not all as some parents do care about their kids and get them help. You should learn from them.

I know it's not always clear which posts were made by which poster, but when has any poster "bullied" anyone into no precautions? The vast majority of people who are opposed to mask mandates or quarantines are perfectly fine with other people choosing to wear masks or deciding to keep their kids home. They're opposed to others trying to force different choices on them.

So really, I don't care if you wear mask. I also really don't care if you get vaccinated. I used to care about the latter, until vaccine efficacy against infection dropped substantially and until hospital capacity was no longer threatened. But that's not the case anymore. If you'd rather accept the increased risk of COVID than get a simple shot, that's your choice.

If you are perfectly fine with it, then why post about it here. Almost everyone in this area has had two shots. The risk of hospitalization with the new variants is pretty low regardless and its very low for kids so bullying others into taking repeated shots makes no sense. And, no matter how many you take, in order to control this we need multiple layers of mitigation. Vaccines alone aren't going to stop this and that's been proven. Regular mandatory testing would make more sense than quarantining especially during a surge.

You really don't care about anyone but yourself and even then its quesitonable if you even care about yourself.

I'm fine with people choosing to wear masks. I'm fine with people choosing to test themselves and isolate themselves when positive. I'm fine with people choosing to get or not get vaccinated.

But this thread, and several others on COVID, weren't predicated on allowing individuals to make personal choices. The OP here was proposing a mask mandate in MCPS schools, taking away personal choice. Even if your post, you were proposing mandatory testing, again removing personal choice.

And you're right that vaccines aren't going to stop the spread. Obviously nothing is going to stop the spread, so that's a ridiculous goal. The goal is reducing illness, and the vaccines are very good at that. If you're willing to get them. If you've rather roll the dice and go up against COVID without protection, that's fine too. You'd probably be fine.

"Personal choice" is a really odd frame-up to take about what is actually a public health issue.

For one thing, we don't typically give minor children a lot of personal choices. Do we let them choose whether to come to school armed?

We do not.

Do we let them choose whether to eat candy for breakfast or oatmeal?

Hopefully, we do not.

We also don't let them *choose* their classes, (beyond a few electives), we don't let them "choose" to shower, or brush their teeth--but apparently giving them the *choice* of spreading a virus or not is totes cool.

We don't give their teachers the *choice" to arm themselves, but we give them an option not to wear masks, and indeed, to say whatever they please about masks, to our kids.

It's so strange you think taking basic public health measures is a choice.
.

Very true but many of these deniers say one thing and do another. I think they're paid to post this bunk.

That explains why that poster that denies that Covid is here to stay is always posting in the middle of the night about how Covid would just "go away" if people just wore masks. How much do you think she's getting paid?

She's me, dude. And I'm paid a great deal. But not to post here..

Again, it's so strange you think taking public health measures are a " choice. "

It's even more strange that our elected officials make policy decisions based on how much people like you have threatened them.

Obviously. Unless there is a significant market for scientifically illiterate posts, which I don’t think there is. Other than that, who cares how much you are paid. Only you think that is relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

You do you. I don’t care if you wear a mask. I don’t care if you get the shots.

Clearly you care or you would not be posting here. You want to bully everyone into no precautions like you and pretend everything is ok. It’s sad the values people like you are teaching the next generation. No wonder so many kids have mental health issues. We can look to the parents in some cases, not all as some parents do care about their kids and get them help. You should learn from them.

I know it's not always clear which posts were made by which poster, but when has any poster "bullied" anyone into no precautions? The vast majority of people who are opposed to mask mandates or quarantines are perfectly fine with other people choosing to wear masks or deciding to keep their kids home. They're opposed to others trying to force different choices on them.

So really, I don't care if you wear mask. I also really don't care if you get vaccinated. I used to care about the latter, until vaccine efficacy against infection dropped substantially and until hospital capacity was no longer threatened. But that's not the case anymore. If you'd rather accept the increased risk of COVID than get a simple shot, that's your choice.

If you are perfectly fine with it, then why post about it here. Almost everyone in this area has had two shots. The risk of hospitalization with the new variants is pretty low regardless and its very low for kids so bullying others into taking repeated shots makes no sense. And, no matter how many you take, in order to control this we need multiple layers of mitigation. Vaccines alone aren't going to stop this and that's been proven. Regular mandatory testing would make more sense than quarantining especially during a surge.

You really don't care about anyone but yourself and even then its quesitonable if you even care about yourself.

I'm fine with people choosing to wear masks. I'm fine with people choosing to test themselves and isolate themselves when positive. I'm fine with people choosing to get or not get vaccinated.

But this thread, and several others on COVID, weren't predicated on allowing individuals to make personal choices. The OP here was proposing a mask mandate in MCPS schools, taking away personal choice. Even if your post, you were proposing mandatory testing, again removing personal choice.

And you're right that vaccines aren't going to stop the spread. Obviously nothing is going to stop the spread, so that's a ridiculous goal. The goal is reducing illness, and the vaccines are very good at that. If you're willing to get them. If you've rather roll the dice and go up against COVID without protection, that's fine too. You'd probably be fine.

"Personal choice" is a really odd frame-up to take about what is actually a public health issue.

For one thing, we don't typically give minor children a lot of personal choices. Do we let them choose whether to come to school armed?

We do not.

Do we let them choose whether to eat candy for breakfast or oatmeal?

Hopefully, we do not.

We also don't let them *choose* their classes, (beyond a few electives), we don't let them "choose" to shower, or brush their teeth--but apparently giving them the *choice* of spreading a virus or not is totes cool.

We don't give their teachers the *choice" to arm themselves, but we give them an option not to wear masks, and indeed, to say whatever they please about masks, to our kids.

It's so strange you think taking basic public health measures is a choice.
.

Very true but many of these deniers say one thing and do another. I think they're paid to post this bunk.

That explains why that poster that denies that Covid is here to stay is always posting in the middle of the night about how Covid would just "go away" if people just wore masks. How much do you think she's getting paid?

She's me, dude. And I'm paid a great deal. But not to post here..

Again, it's so strange you think taking public health measures are a " choice. "

It's even more strange that our elected officials make policy decisions based on how much people like you have threatened them.

Nobody is being threatened (outside of the ballot box). You’re extraordinarily similar-minded. Public health officials are demonstrating flexibility so that if a mask mandate (or other) was truly needed again, they’d have the credibility to make the case. Keeping people unnecessarily masked now for this version of Covid would ruin any influence they have going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it.

Hmmm … citation for this?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021."

And now they're all getting the new strain. Immunity doesn't last. Vaccines don't seem to a great job in preventing longterm effects. Most sane people would therefore conclude that not getting a highly contagious virus that can have long-term effects is worth wearing a mask to do.

Meh. Just keep getting more shots. Two wasn’t good enough. Three didn’t cut it. Maybe four will do the trick?

You keep getting them. Hard no for us. Two and done.

You do you. I don’t care if you wear a mask. I don’t care if you get the shots.

Clearly you care or you would not be posting here. You want to bully everyone into no precautions like you and pretend everything is ok. It’s sad the values people like you are teaching the next generation. No wonder so many kids have mental health issues. We can look to the parents in some cases, not all as some parents do care about their kids and get them help. You should learn from them.

I know it's not always clear which posts were made by which poster, but when has any poster "bullied" anyone into no precautions? The vast majority of people who are opposed to mask mandates or quarantines are perfectly fine with other people choosing to wear masks or deciding to keep their kids home. They're opposed to others trying to force different choices on them.

So really, I don't care if you wear mask. I also really don't care if you get vaccinated. I used to care about the latter, until vaccine efficacy against infection dropped substantially and until hospital capacity was no longer threatened. But that's not the case anymore. If you'd rather accept the increased risk of COVID than get a simple shot, that's your choice.

If you are perfectly fine with it, then why post about it here. Almost everyone in this area has had two shots. The risk of hospitalization with the new variants is pretty low regardless and its very low for kids so bullying others into taking repeated shots makes no sense. And, no matter how many you take, in order to control this we need multiple layers of mitigation. Vaccines alone aren't going to stop this and that's been proven. Regular mandatory testing would make more sense than quarantining especially during a surge.

You really don't care about anyone but yourself and even then its quesitonable if you even care about yourself.

I'm fine with people choosing to wear masks. I'm fine with people choosing to test themselves and isolate themselves when positive. I'm fine with people choosing to get or not get vaccinated.

But this thread, and several others on COVID, weren't predicated on allowing individuals to make personal choices. The OP here was proposing a mask mandate in MCPS schools, taking away personal choice. Even if your post, you were proposing mandatory testing, again removing personal choice.

And you're right that vaccines aren't going to stop the spread. Obviously nothing is going to stop the spread, so that's a ridiculous goal. The goal is reducing illness, and the vaccines are very good at that. If you're willing to get them. If you've rather roll the dice and go up against COVID without protection, that's fine too. You'd probably be fine.

"Personal choice" is a really odd frame-up to take about what is actually a public health issue.

For one thing, we don't typically give minor children a lot of personal choices. Do we let them choose whether to come to school armed?

We do not.

Do we let them choose whether to eat candy for breakfast or oatmeal?

Hopefully, we do not.

We also don't let them *choose* their classes, (beyond a few electives), we don't let them "choose" to shower, or brush their teeth--but apparently giving them the *choice* of spreading a virus or not is totes cool.

We don't give their teachers the *choice" to arm themselves, but we give them an option not to wear masks, and indeed, to say whatever they please about masks, to our kids.

It's so strange you think taking basic public health measures is a choice.
.

Very true but many of these deniers say one thing and do another. I think they're paid to post this bunk.

That explains why that poster that denies that Covid is here to stay is always posting in the middle of the night about how Covid would just "go away" if people just wore masks. How much do you think she's getting paid?

She's me, dude. And I'm paid a great deal. But not to post here..

Again, it's so strange you think taking public health measures are a " choice. "

It's even more strange that our elected officials make policy decisions based on how much people like you have threatened them.

Nobody is being threatened (outside of the ballot box). You’re extraordinarily similar-minded. Public health officials are demonstrating flexibility so that if a mask mandate (or other) was truly needed again, they’d have the credibility to make the case. Keeping people unnecessarily masked now for this version of Covid would ruin any influence they have going forward.

Masks work, but mask mandates don't. Here's why. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/briefing/masks-mandates-us-covid.html

Basically if you need to mask, do it and do it consistently. One way masking works. But don't expect public policy for masking to make a difference. It doesn't for the reasons stated in the article.