Only ~14% Of U.S. Adults Have Gotten Latest Covid-19 Vaccine Update

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only ~14% Of U.S. Adults Have Gotten Latest Covid-19 Vaccine Update
What are we in for???

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/11/18/only-14-of-us-adults-have-gotten-latest-updated-covid-19-vaccine/

I'll be honest, this is the first one my family hasn't gotten. And the reason is simple. Every one of these vaccinations have made me (and some of the other family members) really sick for about 24-48 hours. I seem to get it the worst. I can't take a day or two off work every time I"m vaccinated. (I don't get that way with flu shot, fwiw. But these COVID vaccinations really cause me grief).

Get it on a Friday. Find a 3-day weekend (there have been a few since the new shot came out, and there's one coming up soon).

I get crappy vax reactions, too. But I still get my shot. If the vax is that rough, how awful is the disease without it gonna be?

DP, but for me, every shot except for the first one has been far worse than my two cases of COVID. It's pretty hard to justify getting it with that track record.

People continue to have this rationalisation that if the shot is this bad, imagine if they had COVID and that just isn't statistically true for most people. Anecdotal sure, but I know people unvaccinated who had no idea they were infected and people vaccinated out the wazoo who were on death's door and lots in-between on both sides of the vaccination status. I guess it's one of those things people tell themselves to convince themselves they should continue to get vaccinated? I don't know. Its impossible to prove or disapprove because every individual is different and you can't prove a what-if scenario in this case but its just a weird argument that isn't really routed in anything other than someone's belief or feelings.

I"m the "I'll be honest poster . . . " i have no problem getting a vaccination, no problems with vaccinations in general, and my family gets all the recommended ones. But we are super busy right now and we just can't be sidelined for 1-2 days.

So if you get sidelined with covid for 5 days of isolation and 5 days of masking you just... won't, right? Because you're so busy? And then you and yours will pass it all around, and everyone else will just go to work/school sick because you're all just so busy? Too busy to test?

👏No👏One👏Is👏Doing👏This👏Any👏More👏

Except maybe you.

You wish, because it would justify your lazy-ass approach to not giving a fsck about anyone/anything but your stupid self, but plenty of people can read and follow simple instructions, and also care about others. You're not alone in your clownass approach to life, but you're far from the majority, dipshit.

Actually, this ignorant type is the majority. Most smarter people are getting the vaccines, much like the yearly flu vaccine, and masking in crowded places or when there is a surge. The people I know who want to pretend everything is "normal"...well, they are getting Covid right about now..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things still surging?

According to wastewater and hospital admissions, yes.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

According to DCUM, no. It's just a cold.

Choose wisely!

Wastewater data suggests there's an increase, but it doesn't speak to the magnitude of the increase.

I mean, what’s your theory here? While in the past wastewater has been tracking other measurements of infection—in magnitude as well as existence—somewhere along the way the link broke and now wastewater doesn’t do that anymore?

You think people with COVID are shedding more of it now per person and somehow driving the wastewater numbers up?

Do tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The cdc has completely lost respect and the public isn’t listening to recommendations after all the broken promises and lies. The pure bloods appear to have won the science debate

It's pretty hard to respect a public health agency that gives teachers' unions veto power over their recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things still surging?

According to wastewater and hospital admissions, yes.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

According to DCUM, no. It's just a cold.

Choose wisely!

Wastewater data suggests there's an increase, but it doesn't speak to the magnitude of the increase.

Hospitalizations suggests there's an increase, but not a surge. Hospitalizations of patients with COVID are up 14% from last week. But both the overall number of hospitalized patients and the sustained rate of increase are far below previous surges.

Agreed. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/a-new-coronavirus-variant-has-become-dominant-but-fewer-people-are-being-hospitalized-this-winter-than-last/ar-AA1mwHsL

“ “Measures of severe disease and hospitalizations are about 30% lower than they were at the same time last year. This basically means each infection is less likely to result in illness that requires medical care, which is welcoming news for our hospital systems and individuals alike,” said Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist and scientific adviser to the CDC. ... Wastewater data suggests that this winter’s Covid activity has surpassed last winter’s, according to preliminary CDC estimates. But the data comes with caveats: It only measures activity among people connected to a municipal sewer system and who are participating in the program. By the CDC’s count, this comes out to about 40% of the U.S. population.”

So there’s something dramatically different about participating municipal sewer systems that makes their numbers be up, but perhaps people on septic or in nonparticipating municipal systems are actually experiencing dramatically lower numbers and it averages out? That’s the theory here?

You do understand that wastewater measurements are not opted into on a household basis, right?

Y’all crazy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things still surging?

According to wastewater and hospital admissions, yes.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

According to DCUM, no. It's just a cold.

Choose wisely!

Wastewater data suggests there's an increase, but it doesn't speak to the magnitude of the increase.

I mean, what’s your theory here? While in the past wastewater has been tracking other measurements of infection—in magnitude as well as existence—somewhere along the way the link broke and now wastewater doesn’t do that anymore?

You think people with COVID are shedding more of it now per person and somehow driving the wastewater numbers up?

Do tell.

No, the data shows that wastewater data is correlated with other indicators of case rates. But correlation does not suggest a direct, linear relationship. That is, there isn't data showing that a doubling of wastewater measurements implied a doubling of case rates. There are too many other factors that influence the measurements. If you bothered to read the caveats around the wastewater data, you would know this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things still surging?

According to wastewater and hospital admissions, yes.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

According to DCUM, no. It's just a cold.

Choose wisely!

Wastewater data suggests there's an increase, but it doesn't speak to the magnitude of the increase.

Hospitalizations suggests there's an increase, but not a surge. Hospitalizations of patients with COVID are up 14% from last week. But both the overall number of hospitalized patients and the sustained rate of increase are far below previous surges.

+1. Wastewater may reflect infections, but that doesn't equate to disease.

The last two winters (2022 and 2023) the peak of infections came around Jan. 15. No reason to think it won’t be the same this winter as Covid seasonality grows more predictable.

Right. Everybody saying "it's not as high as it has been" doesn't seem to understand there's a warning phase as things ramp up. People aren't taking it seriously, nobody masks anymore, the wastewater is already showing the levels, but it's not bad yet. And then some idiot trolls want to talk about people pointing that out and claim they're "mentally ill". No, they're just aware, in as much as anyone can be in a country that decided not to care about the impact to people so that we could prioritize corporate wants. It's hard to stay reliably informed because that would make people want things we don't want to give them (meaningful sick leave policies, funding for vaccine studies, continued coverage for Paxlovid and other treatments...)

It's not tragically awful right now. And no, trolls, nobody wants it to be. That's why people are trying to point out what's going on. Stick your head in the sand (or somewhere else) if that's what you're into, but the numbers are ramping up. The next few weeks are going to show higher numbers, hopefully not exponentially.

Some people are vaxxed, which will hopefully keep the hospitals from being overcrowded. Some people mask, which can keep the virus from finding a new host. But an awful lot of people have simply chosen to not do either anymore, because it's "too uncomfortable", or not trendy, or painful, or doesn't fit their schedule... Smart people realize this is a setup for a mess.

How messy you're content to let it be seems to depend on your perception of health/health care. The current strains seem to have a more mild effect for healthy people, but even if that's true, long covid seems to impact otherwise healthy people just fine. Disabled people sounded the alarms before Thanksgiving. Able-bodied (and for those using "mentally ill" as an insult, ableist) people are probably used to getting care when they need it and not really needing much.

Some of y'all are about to get a rude awakening.

Even if you project two or four weeks out from current conditions, assuming current trends continue, we'll still be fine. More likely, we're probably very close to whatever local peak this winter will have.

Please measure "fine" in lives lost, assuming current trends continue. You do-nothing types are a trip.

A very small fraction of total deaths. Or are you forgetting that people die of things other than covid, too?

How many lives? You're "fine" with how many lives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The cdc has completely lost respect and the public isn’t listening to recommendations after all the broken promises and lies. The pure bloods appear to have won the science debate

Citation(s), please

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things still surging?

According to wastewater and hospital admissions, yes.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

According to DCUM, no. It's just a cold.

Choose wisely!

Wastewater data suggests there's an increase, but it doesn't speak to the magnitude of the increase.

I mean, what’s your theory here? While in the past wastewater has been tracking other measurements of infection—in magnitude as well as existence—somewhere along the way the link broke and now wastewater doesn’t do that anymore?

You think people with COVID are shedding more of it now per person and somehow driving the wastewater numbers up?

Do tell.

+1 It's magical covid in the wastewater. It doesn't count. There's no surge here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things still surging?

According to wastewater and hospital admissions, yes.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

According to DCUM, no. It's just a cold.

Choose wisely!

Wastewater data suggests there's an increase, but it doesn't speak to the magnitude of the increase.

I mean, what’s your theory here? While in the past wastewater has been tracking other measurements of infection—in magnitude as well as existence—somewhere along the way the link broke and now wastewater doesn’t do that anymore?

You think people with COVID are shedding more of it now per person and somehow driving the wastewater numbers up?

Do tell.

No, the data shows that wastewater data is correlated with other indicators of case rates. But correlation does not suggest a direct, linear relationship. That is, there isn't data showing that a doubling of wastewater measurements implied a doubling of case rates. There are too many other factors that influence the measurements. If you bothered to read the caveats around the wastewater data, you would know this.

Case rates at this point aren't reported/monitored the way wastewater is. The sh*t's there, the test results may not be. At this point, the 💩 is the better indicator; even hospitalizations lag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things still surging?

According to wastewater and hospital admissions, yes.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

According to DCUM, no. It's just a cold.

Choose wisely!

Wastewater data suggests there's an increase, but it doesn't speak to the magnitude of the increase.

Hospitalizations suggests there's an increase, but not a surge. Hospitalizations of patients with COVID are up 14% from last week. But both the overall number of hospitalized patients and the sustained rate of increase are far below previous surges.

+1. Wastewater may reflect infections, but that doesn't equate to disease.

The last two winters (2022 and 2023) the peak of infections came around Jan. 15. No reason to think it won’t be the same this winter as Covid seasonality grows more predictable.

Right. Everybody saying "it's not as high as it has been" doesn't seem to understand there's a warning phase as things ramp up. People aren't taking it seriously, nobody masks anymore, the wastewater is already showing the levels, but it's not bad yet. And then some idiot trolls want to talk about people pointing that out and claim they're "mentally ill". No, they're just aware, in as much as anyone can be in a country that decided not to care about the impact to people so that we could prioritize corporate wants. It's hard to stay reliably informed because that would make people want things we don't want to give them (meaningful sick leave policies, funding for vaccine studies, continued coverage for Paxlovid and other treatments...)

It's not tragically awful right now. And no, trolls, nobody wants it to be. That's why people are trying to point out what's going on. Stick your head in the sand (or somewhere else) if that's what you're into, but the numbers are ramping up. The next few weeks are going to show higher numbers, hopefully not exponentially.

Some people are vaxxed, which will hopefully keep the hospitals from being overcrowded. Some people mask, which can keep the virus from finding a new host. But an awful lot of people have simply chosen to not do either anymore, because it's "too uncomfortable", or not trendy, or painful, or doesn't fit their schedule... Smart people realize this is a setup for a mess.

How messy you're content to let it be seems to depend on your perception of health/health care. The current strains seem to have a more mild effect for healthy people, but even if that's true, long covid seems to impact otherwise healthy people just fine. Disabled people sounded the alarms before Thanksgiving. Able-bodied (and for those using "mentally ill" as an insult, ableist) people are probably used to getting care when they need it and not really needing much.

Some of y'all are about to get a rude awakening.

Even if you project two or four weeks out from current conditions, assuming current trends continue, we'll still be fine. More likely, we're probably very close to whatever local peak this winter will have.

Please measure "fine" in lives lost, assuming current trends continue. You do-nothing types are a trip.

A very small fraction of total deaths. Or are you forgetting that people die of things other than covid, too?

How many lives? You're "fine" with how many lives?

Well, about 52,000 people died of the flu during the 2017-2018 season without most people batting an eye, so that gives us a lower bound on what's broadly considered acceptable. And small changes in risk generally don't have a significant impact on behavior or perception of risk, so I wouldn't expect views to start to change until an order of magnitude increase (10x) in deaths above that number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things still surging?

According to wastewater and hospital admissions, yes.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

According to DCUM, no. It's just a cold.

Choose wisely!

Wastewater data suggests there's an increase, but it doesn't speak to the magnitude of the increase.

I mean, what’s your theory here? While in the past wastewater has been tracking other measurements of infection—in magnitude as well as existence—somewhere along the way the link broke and now wastewater doesn’t do that anymore?

You think people with COVID are shedding more of it now per person and somehow driving the wastewater numbers up?

Do tell.

No, the data shows that wastewater data is correlated with other indicators of case rates. But correlation does not suggest a direct, linear relationship. That is, there isn't data showing that a doubling of wastewater measurements implied a doubling of case rates. There are too many other factors that influence the measurements. If you bothered to read the caveats around the wastewater data, you would know this.

Case rates at this point aren't reported/monitored the way wastewater is. The sh*t's there, the test results may not be. At this point, the 💩 is the better indicator; even hospitalizations lag.

Regardless, you're making a claim that the researchers are not. In fact, you're making a claim that the researchers explicitly caution against. You cannot infer or estimate overall case numbers from wastewater data-- you can only infer localized trends. Things like water temperature and flow rates have a significant affect on wastewater measurements.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:There is a large increase in wastewater for the entire US including VA a large increase in hospitalizations and an increase in deaths from covid right now. This is the second largest wave since 2020. "You need the updated XBB.1.5 vaccine to be better protected against JN.1. A new study this week from Kaiser Permanente of Southern California and Pfizer shows that prior vaccinations do nothing to protect you against hospitalization with JN.1; only the updated XBB.1.5 vaccine does." This is an updated vaccine and NOT called a booster. It's an entire new shot.


https://drruth.substack.com/p/covid-news-and-more-123023


CDC COVID Wasterwater results broken down by local watershed locations. Much easier to read in this format:
https://www.reddit.com/r/coronavirusVA/commen...a_as_of_dec_29_2023/

The first set of citations are not from neutral sources:
1) The substack author is affiliated with a non-profit centered on "providing solutions for the prevention, diagnostics and treatment of the novel coronavirus". She is not a disinterested party. https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/ruth-crysta...ab=cap-profiles-home https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/202003...-COVID-19-Task-Force
2) The booster study was done by Pfizer and Kaiser and funded by Pfizer. Kaiser works closely with the CDC on covid policy and its Vaccine Study Center director presents at CDC ACIP covid meetings. https://divisionofresearch.kaiserpermanente.o...accine-study-center/

Covid hospitalizations and deaths remain at their lowest winter levels since covid emerged despite minimal uptake of the new booster.

Thank you for pointing this out. There are many who have a vested interest in keeping the covid hysteria going.

Add in Pfizer's interest in pushing testing. While they don't manufacture tests, they do have a stake in increased testing so they can try to offset slumping sales of Paxlovid.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-swings-quarterly-loss-due-paxlovid-write-off-2023-10-31/

Who? Who are these mythical beings who just love the drama. Oh, wait...

Unless you're implying everyone here asking folx to vax and mask is a pfizer shill, you're the one who seems invested in the drama. If you see covid precautions as "hysteria", log off and go suck air indoors for a bit. Unmasked. For science.

So breathe while indoors? Surely you jest. I never breathe when I am inside.

Do you sleep and eat in a mask in your own home? Because if you ever take your mask off anywhere, include your own home, YOU ARE SUCKING AIR INDOORS.

People invested in drama continue to post drama instead of acknowledging point, while calling others the drama. Typical DCUM.

PP's point was basically "catch something", but you didn't even catch the point.

I mean, the point kind of is the mentally ill minority who seem to believe that BREATHING inside without a mask is akin to raw-dogging a stranger. It’s very hard to believe we gave these types any sort of influence during covid.

That’s honestly what they think. They’re calling it airborne HIV.

"They" again? cite it, PP. Otherwise "they" is just you, and the same 4-5 nutters on this board, acting like masks will kill you.

By “they,” I mean the Covid cautious brigade on X/Twitter. I’m completely fascinated by these people because someone I know in real life has gotten sucked in and has essentially blown up her life and cut off all friends and family in the name of staying “safe.” Nutters for sure. But there are way more than 4-5 of them.

Yes, I know people like this too. It's health anxiety that's morphed into full blown mental illness. I feel terrible for their children that have had a normal childhood and childhood experiences taken from them.

My kids travel, play sports, and have several extracurriculars each. They wear masks indoors. Nothing has been taken from them, unless you zealots make minding my kids' faces your business somehow and start some nonsense drama irl like you try here. They're fine. Leave them alone and you will be too.

DP. Your kids have been wearing masks indoors since march 2020? Like everywhere they go indoors, for almost 4 years? I’m actually curious because I had no idea people were doing that. In my world of working in person and sending kids to school, dcum is the only place Covid still exists.

I run HEPA filter Dyson fans in my house, and we don't usually mask at home. And yes, if we're indoors anywhere else, we mask, unless everyone has tested and the airflow is good. When my kid got covid, probably at public school, we all masked at home, and nobody else got it. We followed CDC protocol and masked everywhere, indoors and out, for the specified time. We only experienced this once (so far). I watch the numbers, and when there are surges/spikes, we mask more carefully, even outdoors. It's not a burden.

Nearly half my family is medically sensitive, and covid/long covid could really hurt me personally. I run more careful than most, but I don't think it's unreasonable (though I'm sure it seems that way to the "shrug, whatever" crowd). People calling caution a mental illness and being sad for people like me and my family... are probably a bit unwell themselves, IMO. Nothing about what we do harms anyone, and it may help protect the people mocking us.

Shrug. Whatever.

Masking outdoors? No, that's not necessary.

When my kid was positive, we considered it a kindness/courtesy that cost us nearly nothing, and could keep others safe. Do you, PP. Leave us alone.

Do you mean that you sent your kid to school????? And felt like it was OK because you sent her/they/him with a mask?

Better than keeping her home.

OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!

I know. It's crazy that some people think you should keep kids locked up at home over a cold.

No, I meant it was outrageous that the previous poster sent her child to school with Covid thinking a mask was enough

What do you mean? It's extremely rare for kids to get seriously ill. For most, it's asymptomatic. For every kid in school that knows they have covid, there are probably 3 or 4 others that unknowingly have it.

This. Nobody's testing anymore, and only a handful of people mask. Hopefully nobody at home is young/old/ill/otherwise susceptible.

This board reminds me how much people suck.

Yeah, so I don't understand why some people freak out over people continuing their activities after testing positive, or venturing out without masks. Those people aren't meaningfully changing your exposure to covid because they are dwarfed by the number of people that don't know they have covid.

Realistically, all you can do is protect yourself according to own level of concern.

Indeed. It’s because people have little rational ability to understand risk. Also a subset of people adopted an identity related to covid as opposed to treating it like any other health risk. Pretty classic cognitive errors.

Yes, but it is unusual for people to continue to be so bad at understanding risk. It's a well- known phenomenon for people to grossly overestimate new risks, but we're going on 4 years now.

I think it has to do with pre-existing mental illness to be honest. At first people all went overboard. I remember cases of custody being taken away from doctor parents because of covid risk! The majority of people have a strong drive to adapt and that is what we did. I myself was forced to adapt by seeing how much my kid needed to socialize and a DH who refused to cater to my fears. Also I physically despise wearing masks! That helped. But there are still a small subset who have what probably amounts to a mental illness about it.

Your kid didn't NEED to socialize. You and they wanted to. You can spend time as a family. It sounds like there is mental health issues going on with you if you struggled that much. We had no problem with it and I will not take a shot to make someone like you happy to give you a false sense of security given the reaction I had, and when I always mask and still very careful. If you aren't careful, stop complaining already. You will get it and you will selfishly give it to someone like me.

"my kid needed to socialize" is the same nonsense as "we needed the holidays to be the way they always are" and "I needed to travel". It's "I want" masquerading as a need.

But if you're not getting your shot, you can't yell at other people about being "very careful". Get your damned shot if you're concerned about it.

The shots don’t stop Covid. My parent died last fall and had the most recent shot. I mask, rarely go indoors anywhere except doctors appointments and don’t travel. Most of my shopping is online. I am as careful as you can get. If it does not stop transmission, then it’s not very helpful. Covid was far easier when I go it over the side effects for months from the shot. You want others to take the shot to justify your unwillingness to take any precautions even when sick. Masking, handwashing, staying home when sick is far more important.

How does my taking the shot help me and my family? If I get sick for month's from the shot like I did before and cannot cook, clean, work, drive, are you willing to step in and help? No, of course not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things still surging?

According to wastewater and hospital admissions, yes.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

According to DCUM, no. It's just a cold.

Choose wisely!

Wastewater data suggests there's an increase, but it doesn't speak to the magnitude of the increase.

Hospitalizations suggests there's an increase, but not a surge. Hospitalizations of patients with COVID are up 14% from last week. But both the overall number of hospitalized patients and the sustained rate of increase are far below previous surges.

+1. Wastewater may reflect infections, but that doesn't equate to disease.

The last two winters (2022 and 2023) the peak of infections came around Jan. 15. No reason to think it won’t be the same this winter as Covid seasonality grows more predictable.

Right. Everybody saying "it's not as high as it has been" doesn't seem to understand there's a warning phase as things ramp up. People aren't taking it seriously, nobody masks anymore, the wastewater is already showing the levels, but it's not bad yet. And then some idiot trolls want to talk about people pointing that out and claim they're "mentally ill". No, they're just aware, in as much as anyone can be in a country that decided not to care about the impact to people so that we could prioritize corporate wants. It's hard to stay reliably informed because that would make people want things we don't want to give them (meaningful sick leave policies, funding for vaccine studies, continued coverage for Paxlovid and other treatments...)

It's not tragically awful right now. And no, trolls, nobody wants it to be. That's why people are trying to point out what's going on. Stick your head in the sand (or somewhere else) if that's what you're into, but the numbers are ramping up. The next few weeks are going to show higher numbers, hopefully not exponentially.

Some people are vaxxed, which will hopefully keep the hospitals from being overcrowded. Some people mask, which can keep the virus from finding a new host. But an awful lot of people have simply chosen to not do either anymore, because it's "too uncomfortable", or not trendy, or painful, or doesn't fit their schedule... Smart people realize this is a setup for a mess.

How messy you're content to let it be seems to depend on your perception of health/health care. The current strains seem to have a more mild effect for healthy people, but even if that's true, long covid seems to impact otherwise healthy people just fine. Disabled people sounded the alarms before Thanksgiving. Able-bodied (and for those using "mentally ill" as an insult, ableist) people are probably used to getting care when they need it and not really needing much.

Some of y'all are about to get a rude awakening.

Even if you project two or four weeks out from current conditions, assuming current trends continue, we'll still be fine. More likely, we're probably very close to whatever local peak this winter will have.

Please measure "fine" in lives lost, assuming current trends continue. You do-nothing types are a trip.

DP, but I’d actually like to know what your personal measure is for “fine.” Is it zero deaths? Is it eradicating COVID? Do you track any other viruses (like flu, norovirus, RSV) as closely as you seem to monitor COVID levels and did you have this same level of concern about communicable diseases prior to 2020?

Also I’ll add my anecdote to this mix for every person talking about how their extreme measures are working: we are a family of 5 and despite no longer masking or even taking meaningful measures to avoid it, we have 1 family member who has still never tested positive. And the 2 times we know someone in the house was positive, only 3/5 and then 2/5 of us ended up catching it at a time. My kids do all sorts of indoor activities all winter, play dates, travel, etc. so I’m sure they’re exposed a ton and this virus has barely registered as a blip in our lives. I think some people are massively overestimating how much their precautions are working and don’t appreciate that the majority of us not bothering with all those precautions are also not catching it or becoming symptomatic.

At this point I’d feel more guilty generating a bunch of medical trash from N95s and test swabs than I do just living my life like it’s 2019.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only ~14% Of U.S. Adults Have Gotten Latest Covid-19 Vaccine Update
What are we in for???

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/11/18/only-14-of-us-adults-have-gotten-latest-updated-covid-19-vaccine/

I'll be honest, this is the first one my family hasn't gotten. And the reason is simple. Every one of these vaccinations have made me (and some of the other family members) really sick for about 24-48 hours. I seem to get it the worst. I can't take a day or two off work every time I"m vaccinated. (I don't get that way with flu shot, fwiw. But these COVID vaccinations really cause me grief).

Get it on a Friday. Find a 3-day weekend (there have been a few since the new shot came out, and there's one coming up soon).

I get crappy vax reactions, too. But I still get my shot. If the vax is that rough, how awful is the disease without it gonna be?

DP, but for me, every shot except for the first one has been far worse than my two cases of COVID. It's pretty hard to justify getting it with that track record.

People continue to have this rationalisation that if the shot is this bad, imagine if they had COVID and that just isn't statistically true for most people. Anecdotal sure, but I know people unvaccinated who had no idea they were infected and people vaccinated out the wazoo who were on death's door and lots in-between on both sides of the vaccination status. I guess it's one of those things people tell themselves to convince themselves they should continue to get vaccinated? I don't know. Its impossible to prove or disapprove because every individual is different and you can't prove a what-if scenario in this case but its just a weird argument that isn't really routed in anything other than someone's belief or feelings.

I"m the "I'll be honest poster . . . " i have no problem getting a vaccination, no problems with vaccinations in general, and my family gets all the recommended ones. But we are super busy right now and we just can't be sidelined for 1-2 days.

So if you get sidelined with covid for 5 days of isolation and 5 days of masking you just... won't, right? Because you're so busy? And then you and yours will pass it all around, and everyone else will just go to work/school sick because you're all just so busy? Too busy to test?

👏No👏One👏Is👏Doing👏This👏Any👏More👏

Except maybe you.

You wish, because it would justify your lazy-ass approach to not giving a fsck about anyone/anything but your stupid self, but plenty of people can read and follow simple instructions, and also care about others. You're not alone in your clownass approach to life, but you're far from the majority, dipshit.

Actually, this ignorant type is the majority. Most smarter people are getting the vaccines, much like the yearly flu vaccine, and masking in crowded places or when there is a surge. The people I know who want to pretend everything is "normal"...well, they are getting Covid right about now..

Okay and … ?

Has the world stopped turning? Are they dropping dead left and right?

Have you considered that some of us don’t think it’s some huge deal to catch COVID? And I guarantee the people living life as normal are event testing so they probably don’t even know they have it if they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only ~14% Of U.S. Adults Have Gotten Latest Covid-19 Vaccine Update
What are we in for???

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/11/18/only-14-of-us-adults-have-gotten-latest-updated-covid-19-vaccine/

I'll be honest, this is the first one my family hasn't gotten. And the reason is simple. Every one of these vaccinations have made me (and some of the other family members) really sick for about 24-48 hours. I seem to get it the worst. I can't take a day or two off work every time I"m vaccinated. (I don't get that way with flu shot, fwiw. But these COVID vaccinations really cause me grief).

Get it on a Friday. Find a 3-day weekend (there have been a few since the new shot came out, and there's one coming up soon).

I get crappy vax reactions, too. But I still get my shot. If the vax is that rough, how awful is the disease without it gonna be?

DP, but for me, every shot except for the first one has been far worse than my two cases of COVID. It's pretty hard to justify getting it with that track record.

People continue to have this rationalisation that if the shot is this bad, imagine if they had COVID and that just isn't statistically true for most people. Anecdotal sure, but I know people unvaccinated who had no idea they were infected and people vaccinated out the wazoo who were on death's door and lots in-between on both sides of the vaccination status. I guess it's one of those things people tell themselves to convince themselves they should continue to get vaccinated? I don't know. Its impossible to prove or disapprove because every individual is different and you can't prove a what-if scenario in this case but its just a weird argument that isn't really routed in anything other than someone's belief or feelings.

I"m the "I'll be honest poster . . . " i have no problem getting a vaccination, no problems with vaccinations in general, and my family gets all the recommended ones. But we are super busy right now and we just can't be sidelined for 1-2 days.

So if you get sidelined with covid for 5 days of isolation and 5 days of masking you just... won't, right? Because you're so busy? And then you and yours will pass it all around, and everyone else will just go to work/school sick because you're all just so busy? Too busy to test?

👏No👏One👏Is👏Doing👏This👏Any👏More👏

Except maybe you.

You wish, because it would justify your lazy-ass approach to not giving a fsck about anyone/anything but your stupid self, but plenty of people can read and follow simple instructions, and also care about others. You're not alone in your clownass approach to life, but you're far from the majority, dipshit.

Actually, this ignorant type is the majority. Most smarter people are getting the vaccines, much like the yearly flu vaccine, and masking in crowded places or when there is a surge. The people I know who want to pretend everything is "normal"...well, they are getting Covid right about now..

Okay and … ?

Has the world stopped turning? Are they dropping dead left and right?

Have you considered that some of us don’t think it’s some huge deal to catch COVID? And I guarantee the people living life as normal are event testing so they probably don’t even know they have it if they do.

*aren’t even