Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re so worried about Omicron we just spent days at a crowded indoor water park (Great Wolf Lodge).

We didn’t get a chance to see Spider Man yet but it sounds like half the country did, considering it was the 3rd highest box office weekend ever. COVID’s done (except for Branch COVIDians and unvaccinated obese or elderly adults).

Looking for a medal?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See more stupid calls by Teachers Union Man Child on AEM to test every child. Nope.

Are we surveillance testing everyone who goes into a grocery store, pharmacy, restaurant or bar?

No. These nuts on AEM are wanting a Zero COVID environment that is not being applied to anywhere else in our community. COVID will never be eradicated. Why should our children be the soldiers in a fruitless battle while the adults live normally?!?

Don't test your asymptomatic kids. COVID is never going away. The NFL is not testing asymptomatic people anymore either. Is your kids' education less important to you than professional football?

Hold the phone: is the standard what professional sports leagues are doing? Does that mean it's okay to stop school for a week like that NHL has done with its season? Good to know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My concern as that even those that experience “mild” COVID can end up with long-haul symptoms down the road. There’s still so much we don’t know about the new variant other than the fact that it’s highly contagious.

Not this again. Long covid is not a real thing for most people and/or the long term effects are themselves mild.

Anonymous wrote:We’re so worried about Omicron we just spent days at a crowded indoor water park (Great Wolf Lodge).

We didn’t get a chance to see Spider Man yet but it sounds like half the country did, considering it was the 3rd highest box office weekend ever. COVID’s done (except for Branch COVIDians and unvaccinated obese or elderly adults).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is OP an anti-vaxxer?

She seems to be implying vaccines don't work. They work very well. And I agree with one of the responders that everyone will get COVID. Adults in bars and restaurants aren't doing these things so no reason to put the burden on our children.

OMG no, no no no

I'm not "implying" anything, I'm stating facts. The efficacy of being "fully vaccinated" (2 mRNA shots or 1 J&J) has gone down significantly against the omicron variant. The efficacy rates were around 95% against symptoms against the wild variant, 75% against the Delta variant, and they drop to 30% against the Omicron variant (and if you have 1 J&J shot, they drop to 0% protection). ALSO, NO ONE AT THIS POINT HAS ESTABLISHED WHAT THE RATE OF HOSPITALIZATION IS. AT THIS MOMENT WE DO NOT KNOW IF OMICRON IS MILDER.

Everyone needs to get boosters but my point is that teachers are no longer as protected against this variant as they were back when they were required to be fully vaccinated (2 shots) and were only facing the Beta variant and could have in person schooling in April 2021 -- because most of them haven't gotten boosters yet and boosters haven't been mandated. So in person on January 3, 2022 is way more dangerous to the community as in person was on May 2021. And even if omicron is less lethal, it is still generating symptoms, which means people can't come into work. If everyone can't come into work at the same time, schools can't stay open. Put 2 and 2 together people!

I can't ... wrap my head ... around the complacency ....

Also a whole bunch of bars and restaurants just announced that they were shutting down to in-person service. Wake the F up! This isn't about your 2020 Heritage Foundation Talking Points anymore!

A whole bunch? Do you mean like 2 or 3? How many restaurants are in Arlington?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is OP an anti-vaxxer?

She seems to be implying vaccines don't work. They work very well. And I agree with one of the responders that everyone will get COVID. Adults in bars and restaurants aren't doing these things so no reason to put the burden on our children.

OMG no, no no no

I'm not "implying" anything, I'm stating facts. The efficacy of being "fully vaccinated" (2 mRNA shots or 1 J&J) has gone down significantly against the omicron variant. The efficacy rates were around 95% against symptoms against the wild variant, 75% against the Delta variant, and they drop to 30% against the Omicron variant (and if you have 1 J&J shot, they drop to 0% protection). ALSO, NO ONE AT THIS POINT HAS ESTABLISHED WHAT THE RATE OF HOSPITALIZATION IS. AT THIS MOMENT WE DO NOT KNOW IF OMICRON IS MILDER.

Everyone needs to get boosters but my point is that teachers are no longer as protected against this variant as they were back when they were required to be fully vaccinated (2 shots) and were only facing the Beta variant and could have in person schooling in April 2021 -- because most of them haven't gotten boosters yet and boosters haven't been mandated. So in person on January 3, 2022 is way more dangerous to the community as in person was on May 2021. And even if omicron is less lethal, it is still generating symptoms, which means people can't come into work. If everyone can't come into work at the same time, schools can't stay open. Put 2 and 2 together people!

I can't ... wrap my head ... around the complacency ....

Also a whole bunch of bars and restaurants just announced that they were shutting down to in-person service. Wake the F up! This isn't about your 2020 Heritage Foundation Talking Points anymore!

Anonymous wrote:See more stupid calls by Teachers Union Man Child on AEM to test every child. Nope.

Are we surveillance testing everyone who goes into a grocery store, pharmacy, restaurant or bar?

No. These nuts on AEM are wanting a Zero COVID environment that is not being applied to anywhere else in our community. COVID will never be eradicated. Why should our children be the soldiers in a fruitless battle while the adults live normally?!?

Don't test your asymptomatic kids. COVID is never going away. The NFL is not testing asymptomatic people anymore either. Is your kids' education less important to you than professional football?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is OP an anti-vaxxer?

She seems to be implying vaccines don't work. They work very well. And I agree with one of the responders that everyone will get COVID. Adults in bars and restaurants aren't doing these things so no reason to put the burden on our children.

OMG no, no no no

I'm not "implying" anything, I'm stating facts. The efficacy of being "fully vaccinated" (2 mRNA shots or 1 J&J) has gone down significantly against the omicron variant. The efficacy rates were around 95% against symptoms against the wild variant, 75% against the Delta variant, and they drop to 30% against the Omicron variant (and if you have 1 J&J shot, they drop to 0% protection). ALSO, NO ONE AT THIS POINT HAS ESTABLISHED WHAT THE RATE OF HOSPITALIZATION IS. AT THIS MOMENT WE DO NOT KNOW IF OMICRON IS MILDER.

Everyone needs to get boosters but my point is that teachers are no longer as protected against this variant as they were back when they were required to be fully vaccinated (2 shots) and were only facing the Beta variant and could have in person schooling in April 2021 -- because most of them haven't gotten boosters yet and boosters haven't been mandated. So in person on January 3, 2022 is way more dangerous to the community as in person was on May 2021. And even if omicron is less lethal, it is still generating symptoms, which means people can't come into work. If everyone can't come into work at the same time, schools can't stay open. Put 2 and 2 together people!

I can't ... wrap my head ... around the complacency ....

Also a whole bunch of bars and restaurants just announced that they were shutting down to in-person service. Wake the F up! This isn't about your 2020 Heritage Foundation Talking Points anymore!

Lots of teachers are boosted. My entire team is.

Teachers were in the first wave of people who were vaccinated so they should be eligible for a vaccine now. I was vaccinated in February and have been boosted. Teachers were eligible for the vaccine before I was, so there is no good reason for most teachers to not be boosted. Unless they waited to get the vaccine and then that was their choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why would anyone be taking the time right now to post on so many threads about how we should just accept that we're all going to get it and do nothing to prevent that? Who are you working for, Iran's psy-ops division? Or do you not realize how much your advice will lead to chaos at schools when everyone gets sick at once?

The insane part is thinking people can do anything to prevent the spread of an incredibly transmissible respiratory virus. It's actually completely mind-blowing people still believe this after 2 years.

People are not complying throughout the country and the world. Don't you get that? You seem to have 0 understanding of humans.

But you are so closed minded that you don't even know what the alternative is that I'm suggesting. There is literally a highly effective treatment pill -- Paxlovid -- that is going through emergency use approval and will be available within a month or two for the most vulnerable. There's only 200,000 doses already made, so that means 200,000 lives potentially saved, and they are planning to manufacture like 80 million doses in 2022 to expand availability to all. And what it does is actually reduce viral load which means even omicron will stop being so transmissible.

DID YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT THIS? COVID WILL NOT BE AS TRANSMISSIBLE OR DEADLY VERY SOON. BUT THE NEXT FEW MONTHS WILL BE BRUTAL IF WE STICK OUR HEADS IN THE SAND.

I'm not arguing with you one way or another about whether we will all get covid. Fine! Let's all get covid! But let's not all get it at the exact same time right before an effective treatment is finally available!

I will try to explain this in simpler terms.

YOU: "The insane part is thinking people can do anything to prevent people from farting. You have to accept that people are going to fart."
ME: "No one is arguing that a fart-free world is realistic, but can we at least aim for a world where not everyone is farting all at once in the elevator? Because our collective misery is going to be much higher if no one cares enough to take temporary steps to prevent that from happening."
YOU: "You seem to have 0 understanding of humans. Clearly it is too much to expect that people can keep from farting in an elevator for a whole minute and a half."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:😂😂😂😂😂

You were the one who was wrong OP. School should have opened. APS was wrong. You were wrong. Btw did you learn nothing from delta? You know when nothing happened and the schools were fine.

Teachers in other states died of COVID at alarming rates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP. I am politically liberal, with advanced degrees in STEM, and when I looked at your old thread, my first thought was that it was remarkable how wrong you turned out to be.

I will also note that you do not address the large and growing body of educational data that shows just how devastating DL was educationally, particularly among the most vulnerable children. Any discussion of public health needs to take a hard look at the impact of loss of education on the expected lifespans and wellbeing of children. Are you willing to accept that a sharply higher percentage of kids who lose 2+ years of education are going to eventually spend their lives in prison? Have you looked at the association between loss of education and life outcomes? You are so incredibly sheltered and privileged (it's obvious from your posts) that these kids probably don't even cross your mind, but they are there and suffering.

Nope. You may have advanced degrees in STEM but you lack reading comprehension. I never suggested any course of action. Neither post argues for doing anything. I was trying to gather information, and asking what I've missed, trying to understand why others are not concerned -- and find out if people who are so sure and are suggesting a course of action have considered certain things. Please read again:

"Do you disagree and think that the pandemic is getting less dangerous? If so, are you actively monitoring epidemiology and drawing conclusions that are different from me?
Do you agree that the pandemic is getting more dangerous but think it only affects other people, not you / your loved ones?
Or do you agree that the pandemic is getting more dangerous even for you / your loved ones, but it's still worth the risk for the benefits of in-person 5 days school?"

It's there, black and white -- I clearly considered whether the benefits of returning full time may be worth the risk of returning, even if that risk is more dangerous. Please take your straw man argument back.

You know, someone who is truly not sheltered and privileged is the kind of person who is cautious because they've had horrible things happen to them in their life. Maybe a person who cares about others is the kind of person who is asking what happens to the whole community like I did -- are teachers going to get sick, are parents going to die, are schools going to have to shut back down, that kind of thing.

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP of this thread from March 2021:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/961383.page "Why are you demanding 5 day in person now that the pandemic is getting more dangerous?"

Many people responded just flat out saying I'm wrong. Not pointing to any source of information or giving an explanation, just that I don't understand.

No, in fact, I'm pretty sure I understood....Delta was more dangerous....

Do these people ever reflect back on the accuracy of their own past statements?

Anywho, we are once again on a cusp of a variant burning through our population, and some DCUMers are repeatedly posting about how taking any precaution or mitigation is wrong, because we're all gonna get covid eventually, so there should be no preventative measures taken.

Um, if we all get covid at the exact same time, that's a problem. Remember "flatten the curve?" If all the teachers get the omicron variant the exact same week, there is no one to teach even if sb1303 mandates schools are open. Also, 80% of the U.S. population is not boosted, and only 30% of fully vaccinated people are boosted. Which basically means that for 70% of our teachers and parents, they have very little protection against symptoms. If J&J was the shot, that protection is down to zero.

Why would anyone be taking the time right now to post on so many threads about how we should just accept that we're all going to get it and do nothing to prevent that? Who are you working for, Iran's psy-ops division? Or do you not realize how much your advice will lead to chaos at schools when everyone gets sick at once?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is OP an anti-vaxxer?

She seems to be implying vaccines don't work. They work very well. And I agree with one of the responders that everyone will get COVID. Adults in bars and restaurants aren't doing these things so no reason to put the burden on our children.

OMG no, no no no

I'm not "implying" anything, I'm stating facts. The efficacy of being "fully vaccinated" (2 mRNA shots or 1 J&J) has gone down significantly against the omicron variant. The efficacy rates were around 95% against symptoms against the wild variant, 75% against the Delta variant, and they drop to 30% against the Omicron variant (and if you have 1 J&J shot, they drop to 0% protection). ALSO, NO ONE AT THIS POINT HAS ESTABLISHED WHAT THE RATE OF HOSPITALIZATION IS. AT THIS MOMENT WE DO NOT KNOW IF OMICRON IS MILDER.

Everyone needs to get boosters but my point is that teachers are no longer as protected against this variant as they were back when they were required to be fully vaccinated (2 shots) and were only facing the Beta variant and could have in person schooling in April 2021 -- because most of them haven't gotten boosters yet and boosters haven't been mandated. So in person on January 3, 2022 is way more dangerous to the community as in person was on May 2021. And even if omicron is less lethal, it is still generating symptoms, which means people can't come into work. If everyone can't come into work at the same time, schools can't stay open. Put 2 and 2 together people!

I can't ... wrap my head ... around the complacency ....

Also a whole bunch of bars and restaurants just announced that they were shutting down to in-person service. Wake the F up! This isn't about your 2020 Heritage Foundation Talking Points anymore!

Lots of teachers are boosted. My entire team is.