CR: COVID-19 --Political Talk

[JimmyJames 12271]

6 minutes ago, Bravo said:

Usually I'm the one who is 1st blamed for running socks. I'm offended. 

GRUHorn may be a paid troll but he is actually smarter than you so we know it’s not you. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19279]

57 minutes ago, Bravo said:

You figure out what abide means yet? 

[Brisketexan 106625]

I'm posting this here because I figure it will get more traction than the travel forum and I'm kinda freaking out.
I have an international flight next Friday (the 28th) and I need to get a negative PCR test result on the 27th.  From what I can tell, Walgreens only schedules tests 3 days in advance and takes 1-2 days turnaround for results.  So am I really going to have to pray to get into walgreens for the test on the 25th and then pray again that it actually turns around by the 27th?  Otherwise I miss my flight and am fucked out of a once in a lifetime trip that i've had on the books for 2 years. 
Does this seem insane to anyone else?  Am I misunderstanding something?

Try different private places. My daughter has used XYZ labs, out by the lake. Really fast turnaround.

[GreenspointTexas 9933]

This thread has COVID

[Immaculate Vibes 114]

5 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

This is just fucking stupid.  Of course, it is in the WSJ which used to be Center Right but has been swinging further and further right.  I hope NYC keeps its vaccine passports and requirements/mandates in place.  Fuck the stupid and selfish.  

Also, France is looking to make their vaccine passports even more restrictive where you have to be vaccinated and cannot test out.  Bravo.  And on that front, that means Djokovic might not get to play the French Open as it would apply to sporting arenas and there are NO exceptions.  Fuck around and find out.  Stop being pussies and get fucking vaccinated.

You come from a place of hate. I wasn’t talking about people like you. I think there’s a good amount of people who went along with any and all Covid mitigation strategies because they were afraid. After having mild case of omicron they’re ready to move on. Certainly aren’t looking to tighten things further. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19279]

2 minutes ago, Immaculate Vibes said:

You come from a place of hate. I wasn’t talking about people like you. I think there’s a good amount of people who went along with any and all Covid mitigation strategies because they were afraid. After having mild case of omicron they’re ready to move on. Certainly aren’t looking to tighten things further. 

A place of hate?  What the fuck are you talking about?  I think people that are so fucking stupid that they are taking up hospital resources rather than getting a fucking free vaccine are fucking sad.  They are egged on by massive assholes like you.  Get the fuck out of here you idiotic troll.

Edited January 18, 2022 by PenelopeWitherspoon

[Immaculate Vibes 114]

Just now, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

A place of hate?  What the fuck are you talking about?  I HATE people that are so fucking stupid that they are taking up hospital resources rather than getting a fucking free vaccine.  Get the fuck out of here you idiotic troll.

You’re just an angry person, generally. I’m saying a lot of other people were just scared. They won’t be as scared anymore. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19279]

1 minute ago, Immaculate Vibes said:

You’re just an angry person, generally. I’m saying a lot of other people were just scared. They won’t be as scared anymore. 

No, I am actually not.  However, assholes like you who spread vaccine misinformation and lies do piss me off.  I am pissed that we are two years from the start of this pandemic and we are still fucking in it because of fucksticks like you and the stupid people that are dumb enough to believe your bullshit.  Go fuck yourself.

[Serak The Preparer 3482]

18 hours ago, Lobo said:

You might have mentioned it before, but I would highly recommend you read some more Murray Rothbard.  

Umm, did this cat make any YouTube videos? Cause if he doesn't have any reel-to-reel presentations that have been uploaded then I have some bad news for you re: our friend @workswithseed's media consumption...

[Neonmoon 38130]

8 hours ago, Immaculate Vibes said:

I think there’s a good amount of people who went along with any and all Covid mitigation strategies because they were afraid. After having mild case of omicron they’re ready to move on. Certainly aren’t looking to tighten things further. 

Some might have been afraid, but I believe a large majority wanted to protect their fellow man. But you are correct, there is nothing controversial about this. With a milder strain blocking out more potent strains, it is safer now. This hopefully will be the endgame. 

that being said, you have a documented anti-safety and anti-vaccine posting history, so most people don’t like you and assume you’re trolling. 

 

[Bama Chick 28596]

Ahhhh immortal is back.

[Nivek 17330]

Ahhhh immortal is back.

I guess his username checks out?

[Celery Man 21076]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

Some might have been afraid, but I believe a large majority wanted to protect their fellow man. But you are correct, there is nothing controversial about this. With a milder strain blocking out more potent strains, it is safer now. This hopefully will be the endgame. 

that being said, you have a documented anti-safety and anti-vaccine posting history, so most people don’t like you and assume you’re trolling. 

 

exactly this. people have worn masks and gotten vaccines and tried to limit their exposure over the past 2 years not mostly because they are scared for their safety, but because they are decent people. It's what treating thy neighbor as thyself looks like during the largest mass death event in American history. The idea that they've done it because they are scared (and you haven't because you are brave ) is a lie you tell yourself because the truth is that the people who have fought alongside the disease for the past 2 years are just shitty people. Whether it's because they're too stupid to understand or too foolish to not be easily tricked by obvious charlatans or they just are inherently bad or some combination of the above, it doesn't really matter. Get fucked.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Celery Man

[Bama Chick 28596]

[hookemATL 12228]

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

Having lived outside the US for over a year now, I have a theory on all of this. Every country has some % of its population that is anti-vax, and I know folks from countries all over the world that fit that bill. It has nothing to do with politics for them, so while it’s sort of manifested itself along political lines in the US, I just see that as more of the same with basically every hot button topic in the US. Everything is viewed through a lens of divisive politics in the US.

But I digress…my theory is that there are just a lot more morons in the US than other countries.

[Biff Tannen 46061]

35 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

my theory is that there are just a lot more morons in the US than other countries.

winner

[hayden_horn 11401]

41 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Having lived outside the US for over a year now, I have a theory on all of this. Every country has some % of its population that is anti-vax, and I know folks from countries all over the world that fit that bill. It has nothing to do with politics for them, so while it’s sort of manifested itself along political lines in the US, I just see that as more of the same with basically every hot button topic in the US. Everything is viewed through a lens of divisive politics in the US.

But I digress…my theory is that there are just a lot more morons in the US than other countries.

i disagree.

it's not morons. 

it's a weird sort of brainwashing that's occurred. and it only occurred to me when i sort of sleepily half-watched some stupid show my wife watched yesterday about warren jeffs.

that's what's happened here, writ large. this dude is still leading his cult from prison. they still believe in his bullshit. there's some weird crossed wire in our brain that allows us to follow the stupidest bullshit, and when people access that wire, you'll do anything to tell the rest of the world to fuck off.

which, i admit is my default, but for me, it is far more an individualist fuck off than a group joiner fuck off, but it's there, and i recognize it. 

i don't think the people are stupid. they aren't morons. they are ready for outside influence, maybe, but not morons. so many people influenced by trump were successful. normal folks, outside of that support. there's something there in the brain that i can't figure. 

but it's the same with covid. it's a middle finger thing. 

[HenryJames 67116]

 

[tx 3 putt 78470]

Arkansas going to Arkansas 

[Leeroy Jenkins 2475]

1 hour ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Having lived outside the US for over a year now, I have a theory on all of this. Every country has some % of its population that is anti-vax, and I know folks from countries all over the world that fit that bill. It has nothing to do with politics for them, so while it’s sort of manifested itself along political lines in the US, I just see that as more of the same with basically every hot button topic in the US. Everything is viewed through a lens of divisive politics in the US.

But I digress…my theory is that there are just a lot more morons in the US than other countries.

I call it "blinded by politics".  

Something can fucking hit you right in the face but if it doesn't align with your political beliefs you just don't see it. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

6 minutes ago, Leeroy Jenkins said:

I call it "blinded by politics".  

Something can fucking hit you right in the face but if it doesn't align with your political beliefs you just don't see it…because you’re a fucking moron.

Edited slightly, but yeah.

[brakeman 28646]

usps.com/covidtests  

Free covid test kits.

Edited January 18, 2022 by brakeman
more socialism.

[Brisketexan 106625]

2 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

 

Maybe, someday, we can be as functional a country as......Mexico.

[Longhorn_Fan68 34079]

6 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Maybe, someday, we can be as functional a country as......Mexico.

now who's delusional?

[Brisketexan 106625]

Just now, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

now who's delusional?

An hombre can dream....

[Neonmoon 38130]

1 hour ago, HenryJames said:

 

He's going to lose his medical license to own the libs. nice

[Guest Lobo]

Big shock---Dr. Karas went to Hillsdale College for undergrad.  Went to a good medical school though, which is quickly distancing themselves from him as we speak.

Dr. Karas to Hoosier Med Monthly, "If you had told me during my Residency that one day I'd be an Arkansas prison doctor shoving horse paste up the asses of inmates due to a deadly, global pandemic that we really didn't understand...instead of just some facility-wide vaccination effort...I'd have said 'Sign Me Up!...it's the Lord's work!"  

[Hornius Emeritus 12780]

9 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

He's going to lose his medical license to own the libs. nice

I respect a man who's willing to suffer the mockery of his fellow man and be homeless and eat dumpster stew for his beliefs.  Unless those beliefs are stupid,  in which case I join in the mockery.

[smoky 842]

Maybe, someday, we can be as functional a country as......Mexico.

That chart has to be "based on eligibility", right?

Many countries aren't vaccinating their youth. I don't think Mexico is vaccinating under 18, which makes up a good % of their population.

[Longhorn_Fan68 34079]

 

[Satchel 6982]

3 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

 

Shouldn’t it be noted that those filling the hospital beds are mostly the unvaccinated?

[Satchel 6982]

Arkansas is being sued for giving inmates horse dewormer unbeknownst to them. Unbelievable:

Four inmates at an Arkansas jail have filed a federal lawsuit after they say medical staff gave them the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat COVID-19 without telling them what it was. The inmates said they were told the medicines they were taking were "vitamins," "antibiotics" or "steroids."

Federal health authorities and leading medical experts warn that ivermectin should not be used to treat the coronavirus, but a small group of doctors and a chorus of right-wing figures have endorsed the drug for COVID-19 patients.

The complaint names Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder, the Washington County Detention Center, Dr. Robert Karas and his medical practice, Karas Health Care.

"No one — including incarcerated individuals — should be deceived and subject to medical experimentation," said Gary Sullivan, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which filed the lawsuit. "Sheriff Helder has a responsibility to provide food, shelter and safe, appropriate care to incarcerated individuals."

Ivermectin has been hailed as a wonder drug for treating parasitic infections in humans since the 1980s. It was originally launched as a deworming drug for livestock.

 

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/18/1073846967/arkansas-inmates-ivermectin-lawsuit-covid-19

[Foosters 18225]

Too bad Arkansas state coffers only have eleven dollars and two sticks of bubblegum

[MC Fresh Breath 4075]

Quote

 

The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing and modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March.

The seven-day rolling average for daily new COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has been trending upward since mid-November, reaching nearly 1,700 on Jan. 17 — still below the peak of 3,300 in January 2021. COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents started rising slightly two weeks ago, although still at a rate 10 times less than last year before most residents were vaccinated.

Despite signs omicron causes milder disease on average, the unprecedented level of infection spreading through the country, with cases still soaring in many states, means many vulnerable people will become severely sick. If the higher end of projections comes to pass, that would push total U.S. deaths from COVID-19 over 1 million by early spring.

“A lot of people are still going to die because of how transmissible omicron has been,” said University of South Florida epidemiologist Jason Salemi. “It unfortunately is going to get worse before it gets better.”

Morgues are starting to run out of space in Johnson County, Kansas, said Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the health department. More than 30 residents have died in the county this year, the vast majority of them unvaccinated.

But the notion that a generally less severe variant could still take the lives of thousands of people has been difficult for health experts to convey. The math of it — that a small percentage of a very high number of infections can yield a very high number of deaths — is difficult to visualize.

“Overall, you’re going to see more sick people even if you as an individual have a lower chance of being sick,” said Katriona Shea of Pennsylvania State University, who co-leads a team that pulls together several pandemic models and shares the combined projections with the White House.

The wave of deaths heading for the United States will crest in late January or early February, Shea said. In early February, weekly deaths could equal or exceed the delta peak, and possibly even surpass the previous U.S. peak in deaths last year.

Some unknown portion of these deaths are among people infected with the delta variant, but experts say omicron is also claiming lives.

“This is omicron driven,” Shea said of the coming wave of deaths. The combined models project 1.5 million Americans will be hospitalized and 191,000 will die from mid-December through mid-March. Taking into account the uncertainty in the models, U.S. deaths during the omicron wave could range from 58,000 to 305,000.

Yet, it’s become increasingly clear that the risk from omicron is lower than from previous variants. New evidence from nearly 70,000 patients in Southern California suggests omicron is causing milder illness than delta.

A study, posted online and cited during a recent White House briefing, found patients with omicron had a 53% lower risk of hospitalization with respiratory symptoms, a 74% lower risk of ICU admission, and a 91% lower risk of death. The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, comes from researchers at Kaiser Permanente and University of California, Berkeley.

“It’s hard for me to say straight out it’s good news,” said study co-author Sara Y. Tartof, a Kaiser Permanente research scientist. “Maybe there’s good news in the sense that if you are infected your chance of becoming severely ill are decreased, but from a societal perspective it’s a very heavy burden for us. It remains a serious situation, and we need to maintain practices and behaviors we know protect us.”

 

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-omicron-covid-19-deaths-08f8db29985b992d5ef98ccfa1459eb7

 

No big deal.  Just anywhere between 50,000 to 300,000 more dead people.  

[DaysOff 8157]

Go back to the beginning of this two years ago and look at the predictions. Nobody on this thread ever conceived of a million deaths.

[MC Fresh Breath 4075]

Quote

 

Father, son coaches at Mesa Vista die from coronavirus, one day apart

Leonardo “Leo” Torrez and Leonard Torrez were more than just father and son — people who knew them said they were best friends.

So, it was no surprise to anyone when the Torrezes teamed up to coach volleyball and girls basketball at their alma mater, Mesa Vista High School, for the past two seasons.

Fate, though, inexorably linked them in their passing. Leonardo and Leonard Torrez died Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, from COVID-19 complications, Mesa Vista Principal Richard Apodaca said.

Leonardo Torrez was 58; his son was 37.

Jesse Boies, an assistant coach at Mesa Vista and a family friend, said the Torrezes contracted the virus within days of one another in mid-December and were transported to Presbyterian Española Hospital on Christmas Eve. The elder Torrez was later moved to University of New Mexico Hospital.

When the elder Torrez died, Boies said Leonard Torrez’s vital signs steadily took a turn for the worse — as if he knew what happened to his father.

“That’s kind of a bond they had,” Boies said. “I don’t think they could be without each other, and that’s when things kind of started going down.”

The Torrezes’ deaths are a tragic part of what has been an otherwise successful season. The Lady Trojans are 9-1 heading into a game scheduled Thursday at McCurdy.

Boies, who is now coaching the team, said the Torrezes were vaccinated, in part because it was a requirement to coach for Mesa Vista Consolidated Schools. Leonard Torrez served as head coach and his father was the assistant at the small school in Ojo Caliente.

Apodaca, who also is the head boys basketball coach, said the men had a passion for athletics and the students in their community.

Leonardo Torrez was a 1982 graduate of Mesa Vista, while Leonard Torrez was a 2002 grad.

“You get this double dose of Torrezes,” Apodaca said. “They loved kids, and when they were coaching, you knew they were coaching for their community. You don’t always get people saying, ‘Hey, I want to give back to my community,’ but they did.”

Thomas Vigil, a 2001 Mesa Vista graduate and a teammate of Leonard Torrez on the boys basketball team, said it was evident back then the father-son bond was strong. They even worked together at a family business, Torrez Towing and Recovery.

“Leonard figured out early on his hero was his dad,” Vigil said.

Boies said family was important to the Torrezes, which was partly why they decided to coach. Leonard Torrez’s daughter, Kylie Torrez, was a sophomore on the team, and eighth grader Jaslene Torrez just moved up from the middle school team to the junior varsity squad.

Leonard Torrez and Boies knew each other because they coached elementary school teams and often matched wits against each other before teaming up at Mesa Vista in 2021.

Boies said Leonard Torrez was a doting father, taking his four daughters camping and fishing. They also dressed up for dinner dates, with their father often donning a shirt and tie to mark the occasion.

“He’s a very family-oriented man, and he was a great community guy,” Boies said. “He just did so much for the community and for the youth in this area.”

The last time the Torrezes were on the sideline for a varsity game was during the Ben Luján Classic at Pojoaque Valley on Dec. 18. Boies said Leonardo Torrez started to feel ill after that game and was not present for the Lady Trojans’ 54-41 win over Crownpoint in the tournament’s White bracket championship game.

It was in the next day or two his son began to exhibit symptoms, Boies said.

“He was like, ‘I’m not feeling too good,’ ” Boies said. “I told him he had to take care of himself, and he’s got to get over this and we’ll be good. But then he just started going downhill after that.”

Boies said memorial services for the Torrezes are pending.

 

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/father-son-coaches-at-mesa-vista-die-from-coronavirus-one-day-apart/article_7a2bf73a-74cf-11ec-94d9-4fc902d696fd.html

 

Father and son, both vaxxed, seemingly healthy.  Dead.  I've seen a few other anecdotal stories as well with some healthy vaxxed folks (not all elderly) passing from this or doing serious ICU time.  I get that anecdotes don't count for data, but there is still a randomness to this thing.  

[Brisketexan 106625]

39 minutes ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

The math of it — that a small percentage of a very high number of infections can yield a very high number of deaths — is difficult to visualize.

If there is one thing we've learned during this pandemic, a lesson that should be engraved in stone, it's that Americans are fucking TERRIBLE at math.

Also, maybe this Omicron wave is a snapshot of what this looks like as an endemic illness going forward, with a big seasonal wave every year (like the flu).  When Omicron hits a population that still has a lot of unvaxxed and not previously infected people, it kills 150k-300k.  That's, AT BEST, 2X a bad flu year.  That's not great.  But, as vax rates continue to creep up, and the number of infected has DEFINITELY gone up, perhaps the next Omicron wave next fall will only kill 100k-200k....so, 1.25 to 2.5X the worst flu death total in recent history (around 80k).  Not great.....but it may just be where we are, and where we end up.

[MC Fresh Breath 4075]

18 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

If there is one thing we've learned during this pandemic, a lesson that should be engraved in stone, it's that Americans are fucking TERRIBLE at math.

Also, maybe this Omicron wave is a snapshot of what this looks like as an endemic illness going forward, with a big seasonal wave every year (like the flu).  When Omicron hits a population that still has a lot of unvaxxed and not previously infected people, it kills 150k-300k.  That's, AT BEST, 2X a bad flu year.  That's not great.  But, as vax rates continue to creep up, and the number of infected has DEFINITELY gone up, perhaps the next Omicron wave next fall will only kill 100k-200k....so, 1.25 to 2.5X the worst flu death total in recent history (around 80k).  Not great.....but it may just be where we are, and where we end up.

 

And this doesn't even take into account long term effects of those who survive but have long Covid.  And or some type of organ damage.   Just being w/o proper smell or taste for 2.5 months really fucked w/my mental health.  Can't imagine dealing with the more serious symptoms.   How many months after a covid infection is a heart attack or stroke considered 'not covid related?'  I get the feeling we may never really know the true extent of the  damage done by this.  We'll get a picture, but it won't be complete.

 

[OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2153]

1 hour ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

The wave of deaths heading for the United States will crest in late January or early February, Shea said. In early February, weekly deaths could equal or exceed the delta peak, and possibly even surpass the previous U.S. peak in deaths last year.

That doesn't seem likely, but what do I know.  We were losing 60,000+ a week at the worst of it in January of last year.  https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm  . Doesn't take too many weeks like that before you blow past the 300k number.

 

edit: never mind.  we were losing 25k from it a week at the worst, not 60k.

Edited January 19, 2022 by OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys

[MC Fresh Breath 4075]

Just now, OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys said:

That doesn't seem likely, but what do I know.  We were losing 60,000+ a week at the worst of it in January of last year.  https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm  . Doesn't take too many weeks like that before you blow past the 300k number.

Sure.  The range of 50k to 300k is  pretty large one.  Still, even taking the minimum seems like something not that long ago this Nation would have been upset about.  Now we're numb.

[elfenix 34658]

shit's getting better in houston:

https://covidwwtp.spatialstudieslab.org/

[Nivek 17330]

On 1/18/2022 at 10:16 AM, hayden_horn said:

i disagree.

it's not morons. 

it's a weird sort of brainwashing that's occurred. and it only occurred to me when i sort of sleepily half-watched some stupid show my wife watched yesterday about warren jeffs.

that's what's happened here, writ large. this dude is still leading his cult from prison. they still believe in his bullshit. there's some weird crossed wire in our brain that allows us to follow the stupidest bullshit, and when people access that wire, you'll do anything to tell the rest of the world to fuck off.

which, i admit is my default, but for me, it is far more an individualist fuck off than a group joiner fuck off, but it's there, and i recognize it. 

i don't think the people are stupid. they aren't morons. they are ready for outside influence, maybe, but not morons. so many people influenced by trump were successful. normal folks, outside of that support. there's something there in the brain that i can't figure. 

but it's the same with covid. it's a middle finger thing. 

In 2001, I wondered how people could be convinced by someone else to give up their lives and murder a bunch of strangers in a different country they have never met or interacted with, especially when you see that some of them were decently educated to some degree or another.   Meanwhile the guy who orchestrated it, wasn't giving up his life for his own cause.   

And here we are seeing similar things time and again looking back upon various cults with different names.

[Sawbonz 28082]

1 hour ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-omicron-covid-19-deaths-08f8db29985b992d5ef98ccfa1459eb7

 

No big deal.  Just anywhere between 50,000 to 300,000 more dead people.  

Almost all had a chance at the vaccine

 

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

If there is one thing we've learned during this pandemic, a lesson that should be engraved in stone, it's that Americans are fucking TERRIBLE at math.

Also, maybe this Omicron wave is a snapshot of what this looks like as an endemic illness going forward, with a big seasonal wave every year (like the flu).  When Omicron hits a population that still has a lot of unvaxxed and not previously infected people, it kills 150k-300k.  That's, AT BEST, 2X a bad flu year.  That's not great.  But, as vax rates continue to creep up, and the number of infected has DEFINITELY gone up, perhaps the next Omicron wave next fall will only kill 100k-200k....so, 1.25 to 2.5X the worst flu death total in recent history (around 80k).  Not great.....but it may just be where we are, and where we end up.

I don’t think we are looking at 100k per year going forward 

[Brisketexan 106625]

I don’t think we are looking at 100k per year going forward 

Is that because, of the most likely to die group (unvaxxed), they’ll quickly either be vaxxed, infected and recovered, or dead, and thus they won’t be in that “most likely to die” group going forward?

[Sawbonz 28082]

22 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Is that because, of the most likely to die group (unvaxxed), they’ll quickly either be vaxxed, infected and recovered, or dead, and thus they won’t be in that “most likely to die” group going forward?

Yep. The herd has been culled. Going forward you mostly have people who either survived Covid, were vaxed  or both. There will still a sub population of unvaxxed at risk as well as the old/sick, immunocompromised etc who have to worry about Covid in addition to influenza, adenovirus, and all the GI bugs that can make them sick as shit or even kill them, but the “healthy” 50 yo fatass is (probably) out of the woods

[Skipper 6406]

On 1/17/2022 at 11:25 PM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

No, I am actually not.  However, assholes like you who spread vaccine misinformation and lies do piss me off.  I am pissed that we are two years from the start of this pandemic and we are still fucking in it because of fucksticks like you and the stupid people that are dumb enough to believe your bullshit.  Go fuck yourself.

I'm vaxed/boosted so on your 'team' in that regard, but let's be honest, there is literally nothing we could have done to not still be in this pandemic right now.  Lashing out at unvaxed as the reason we're all still having to deal with this just doesn't have a scientific basis.  And that is what all of the "mask mandate" and "vax mandate" folks don't seem to appreciate.  Virus gonna virus.  Omicron was going to blow through regardless.  Period. I saw things pretty much the exact way you did 6 months ago but it's ok to change your opinions as the science and data changes.   

At this point the unvaxed population has next to zero impact on any of our lives.  Vaxed are infected and spreading the virus just like unvaxed.  In some instances maybe more so considering a young boosted person may mistake omicron for a minor cold or allergies if they don't test.   Additionally, our hospitals just aren't filling up with Omicron.  That has a lot to do with the vaxed population but it also has a lot to do with the vast amount of natural immunity providing protection against severe disease.  And yes, that's a real thing and data proves it out.  

What concerns me is those that continue to push mandates when they really can't be supported by science is that if we get another variant that spreads like Omicron but is as severe as Delta and escapes immune protection where mandates, shutdowns, etc. might be needed, we're fucked.  Because we're losing a lot of credibility right now.  

So many "scientists" are so dug in with Covid fear mongering they refuse to change their tone or change advice/guidance as the facts change.   It's a real problem IMO and indicative of the 'tribalism' in society.    Good video (I still haven't gotten all the way through) touching on Covid triabilism here.  https://zdoggmd.com/z-blogg/

 

[Brisketexan 106625]

2 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

but the “healthy” 50 yo fatass is (probably) out of the woods

Good to know.  For, ummm, my friend.

[jimmyjazz 46976]

2 hours ago, DaysOff said:

Go back to the beginning of this two years ago and look at the predictions. Nobody on this thread ever conceived of a million deaths.

I got chastised by the usual suspects on DT for extrapolating to 50K dead Americans by April 15th, 2020.  I missed it by a week.

[jimmyjazz 46976]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Also, maybe this Omicron wave is a snapshot of what this looks like as an endemic illness going forward, with a big seasonal wave every year (like the flu).  When Omicron hits a population that still has a lot of unvaxxed and not previously infected people, it kills 150k-300k.  That's, AT BEST, 2X a bad flu year.  That's not great.  But, as vax rates continue to creep up, and the number of infected has DEFINITELY gone up, perhaps the next Omicron wave next fall will only kill 100k-200k....so, 1.25 to 2.5X the worst flu death total in recent history (around 80k).  Not great.....but it may just be where we are, and where we end up.

I think that is probably pessimistic.  If assume a 2-week lag (Dec 15 -> Dec 29) from first indication that omicron was starting to dominate, it has killed ~ 30K Americans.  We're just now starting to see signs of a peak, so I'd guess an "omicron season" would be roughly equal to a bad flu season (say 60K fatalitties, perhaps a bit higher).

Nothing to dismiss, but the fact is we (Americans) tend to ignore that level of mortality.  10X that amount per year is not "ignorable", and that's where we are right now, at least in terms of rate.  But, it may turn out that covid turns out to be more of a classic winter virus, not a year-round pandemic.