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Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

nytimes.com

241–250 of 925 posts

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but the important thing is that the vaccine is available. They chose not to take it. The argument that we need to keep each other safe no longer holds.

Keep in mind there are some who genuinely can't get it, for one medical reason or another. We still need to keep them safe.

There are very few people who can't tolerate the RNA-based coronavirus vaccines. For severely immuno-compromised people, the vaccines may not be effective.[1] People who are going to have their immune systems suppressed for a transplant apparently present some problems, but can be vaccinated before the transplant or weeks afterward.

That's a nice feature of the RNA-based vaccines.

[1] https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/coronavirus-disea...

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#242
post #225

I think it's worth noting that among the demographics that frequent this site there is ostensibly a deep distrust and skepticism of the American government on matters of surveillance, and law enforcement. Yet simultaneously there is ostensibly a high degree of trust in the motives and competency of the American government when it comes to COVID. There's been multiple threads lately, including one that is on the front…

The NSA and CDC are fundamentally different institutions. It does not make sense to treat them the same any more than it makes sense to treat NASA and the IRS the same...

They are not the same, but they are institutions with a lot of similarities (NSA, CDC, NASA, IRS). They largely receive funding the same way, and are answerable to the same people (congress, White House). There is some similarities to how the heads of these organizations are determined and how the heads of these organizations are fired.

In startup speak the organizations have the same VC and share many board members.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#243

I think it's worth noting that among the demographics that frequent this site there is ostensibly a deep distrust and skepticism of the American government on matters of surveillance, and law enforcement. Yet simultaneously there is ostensibly a high degree of trust in the motives and competency of the American government when it comes to COVID. There's been multiple threads lately, including one that is on the front…

I highly doubt many here take the CDC's word at face value. What appears as consensus is really a tragedy of the commons -- that one person thinks everyone else will consider the CDC's announcements as gospel that they express positivity and optimism, when what they are really celebrating is the re-opening of public life itself, i.e., that restaurants, etc. will open back up and feel "normal" again.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#244
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I traveled a bit during this pandemic and in Arizona it’s like the virus didn’t exist. Nobody was wearing a mask, nobody. Even indoor. Even the waiters. I’m back in SF now and everybody is wearing the mask. Everybody. The adults, the children, Even the vaccinated people. Yesterday the waiter asked me if we could put back our mask so she could hand us our plate. Country of extremes. I feel like there’s no going back t…

In TX people often, say ~25%, ignored mask mandates inside stores. When the mandate lifted it went to more like ~10%. I get it, I'm a contrarían, but it was surprising that once it wasn't required to be thoughtful, people were.

Benefit of asking nicely instead of demanding. Texas folks are (anecdotally) very resistive to authority.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#245
post #3

It’s good to give better incentives for people to be vaccinated, as many have urged for some time. I worry this carrot isn’t tied to an adequate stick - the unvaccinated can simply go without a mask regardless of their status. Will this move actually counter our slowing vaccination rates?

[flagged]

[deleted]

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#247
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you entirely that there's an obesity problem. When it comes to covid deaths, though, the CDC report this week says that the vast majority--about 46%--are coinfections with flu. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/mortality-overview.htm https://i.ibb.co/zscjxb6/Screenshot-2021-05-13-23-04-11.png

Interesting. I followed your references and they say that the 46% comorbidity is "Influenza or Pneumonia". Covid is a cause of pneumonia (=infection of lungs), so your statement "46% are coinfections with flu" seems misleading to me.

Flu also causes pneumonia, and they're listed together, so they're talking about flu and flu-related pneumonia.

Everything in these numbers is connected to covid. That's the point.

It's not my statement. You don't have to jump through hoops to indict me for linking.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#248

I don't really understand how places looking to align their precautions with CDC guidelines can do this. We don't have any required vaccination "passport", so if a movie theatre says vaccinated customers don't have to wear masks, how can they possibly tell who is vaccinated without relying on a dubious honor system?

The dubious honor system that we relied upon for all the other vaccines?

When did we rely on that? Before, if I went to any business and told them I wasn't vaccinated, they would reply "Okay? So what? Sorry?". And school asked for documentation of the vaccines they wanted.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#249

I wish we could return to a time when people didn't care if you wore a mask or not, and EVERYTHING was not so politicized.

You mean before the pandemic? I don't know how to make sense of this comment.

The reason for the pandemic is poor institutional response for ultimately political reasons. I'm not sure de-politicizing a situation where an entire civilization has endured collective trauma is going to be easy. Don't the Stoics propose to work within your means and not to wish impossible things?

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#250
post #175
post #3

It’s good to give better incentives for people to be vaccinated, as many have urged for some time. I worry this carrot isn’t tied to an adequate stick - the unvaccinated can simply go without a mask regardless of their status. Will this move actually counter our slowing vaccination rates?

I traveled a bit during this pandemic and in Arizona it’s like the virus didn’t exist. Nobody was wearing a mask, nobody. Even indoor. Even the waiters. I’m back in SF now and everybody is wearing the mask. Everybody. The adults, the children, Even the vaccinated people. Yesterday the waiter asked me if we could put back our mask so she could hand us our plate. Country of extremes. I feel like there’s no going back t…

I'm curious where in Arizona. Cities have been hit hardest because of population density and interactions, so it's somewhat more reasonable for cities to be more concerned.

> the waiter asked me if we could put back our mask so she could hand us our plate

I get the feeling behind this, but it's also silly. Either you're outdoors and the risk is already pretty low, or you're indoors, and 30s of exposure won't be a big deal, especially when it's not like everyone is wearing N95 respirators and aerosols are a bigger concern than we used to think.

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