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The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

theatlantic.com

301–310 of 1001 posts

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#301
post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the immunocompromised or those who are legitimately unable to get vaccinated? Not a very nuanced take.

What can we do for those people, assuming forever-lockdowns aren’t an option?

Have ICU beds ready to accommodate them and not have them filled with unneccesary cases from unvaccinated individuals that have chosen freely to be unvaccinated.

But in my callousness I would simply illegalize treating people that are anti-vaccine.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most are vaccinated, but they're still taking a risk Pre pandemic they took a risk every day as well, so it's a matter of acceptable risk, which I believe is what the article was focused on. What level of risk is that?

That existing risk was already at the limit of acceptability. New risk being added on pushes many past that limit. It's made worse by the fact that this additional risk is being left out of the discussion so often. People talk about what's good for the children and their parents and the economy, but not about what the teachers need. They're being treated as disposable, which exacerbates the perception of risk further…

> That existing risk was already at the limit of acceptability.

Nobody forced them to become teachers.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's unpopular. More precisely, once the vaccine is available to all age groups, the only people that need to be scared of it are the unvaccinated. And they will have had every opportunity to get vaccinated, so we shouldn't optimize for them.

> the only people that need to be scared of it are the unvaccinated We often overlook those who were previously infected. I believe this is a common mistake that makes for inaccurate groupings, which negatively affect the common good.

Previous infection provides relatively short-lived natural immunity to COVID-19.

I tested positive the last week of December 2020 (exactly three weeks before I was scheduled to get the vaccine, which I did also eventually get). When I spoke to the county health department, they said they had already seen repeat infections. They said immune protection from direct exposure only seems to last 3-6 months, which is backed up by the fact that the virus had only been in my state about 10 months at that point.

Vaccine protection is much more robust.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#304
post #45
post #16

That's why I don't really understand why there are still covid restrictions in countries that are close to full vaccination, like the UK. There isn't really a next step after having vaccinated the population, it is "steady state". So do they want us to have these restrictions (countries you can't travel to, endless testing, mask requirements) forever?

Since no one under 16 has been vaccinated yet, about 70% of the population is vaccinated (44M out of 67M). That might be barely enough for herd immunity for some diseases, but the case numbers in the UK are still very high and trending back upward, showing that this isn't enough for herd immunity for Covid. Hospitalization rates are also back up to significantly higher than they were this time last year. And that's w…

Herd immunity cannot be measured by an arbitrary percentage. Maybe it is 70% or 80%, but only if that's a random sample of the population. Social networks determine the relevance. If you have a single homogenous group of individuals that interact with each other that is unvaccinated then there's still plenty of threats. And that generally includes children as a big intermingling block.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#305
post #16

That's why I don't really understand why there are still covid restrictions in countries that are close to full vaccination, like the UK. There isn't really a next step after having vaccinated the population, it is "steady state". So do they want us to have these restrictions (countries you can't travel to, endless testing, mask requirements) forever?

Israel has close to full vaccination, yet cases are going up because immunity is falling again and there are new variants. It's understandable why the restrictions are back again.

It is not because of the new variants and antibody escape. Prior variants before delta, gamma specifically, actually escape antibody neutralization far more than delta does.

No, what the world is seeing is that intramuscular vaccination for respiratory diseases does not provide long lasting IgG antibodies to the upper respiratory mucosa tissues. They seep into the lower lungs and provide protection there though. This has been known since the 1960s when the first intranasal flu vaccinations were introduced to combat the problem.

It wouldn't matter what variant is going around, it just happens to be delta now. The problem is the lack of persistent IgG antibodies in the surface mucosal tissues. To get long term protection from infection of these you need intranasal vaccination to recruit resident B and T cells to the mucosa to make IgA antibodies. Intramuscular does not prevent spread, it only prevents hospitalization and death. This is also true for intramuscular flu vaccination.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Vaccine doesnt work. 80% vaccine efficacy. We were hoping for 50% so that's actually pretty good. This is on par with "we had a snowstorm so climate change isn't real" levels of logic. Abbott has a mild case and isn't sucking on ventilator.

>80% vaccine efficacy. We were hoping for 50% so that's actually pretty good. CDC says 94% efficacy. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7018e1.htm Immunocompromise is 6%. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/vaccines/blog/immunocompromised-... - Estimates are that about 6.2 percent of adults ages 18-64 in the U.S. are living with weakened immune function, The vaccine is 100% effective for healthy fully vax people. That…

> CDC says 94% efficacy.

Published in May, using data from Jan-Mar.

Delta didn't exist.

> I find your analogy to be very telling. You have moved to another political issue that is quite divided along the same political lines.

I mean, yes. Science has become politicized and one side of the debate keeps making poor arguments.

> Abbott never had covid and his more recent tests only days later he tested negative.

He's vaccinated. Ct loads of viral mRNA drop more sharply if you've been vaccinated. Having it clear fast is expected.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.28.21261295v...

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm almost sure 100% vaccination rate with the vaccines currently available won't change much. I hope I'm wrong. But there already are cases apparently confirming this. IMHO we should just return to normal, consider this a new kind of flu and deal with the fact it's more deadly. I always knew there is a chance a flu can kill me one day. I'm Ok with the fact the chance is higher now. My personal (apparently risky, I d…

> My personal (apparently risky, I don't recommend it to others) strategy This seems to be the fundamental disagreement between the ‘anti’ side (anti-mask, anti-vaxx etc) and the ‘pro’ side. The reality is that different people can have vastly different risk tolerances. Some people are ok knowing they could die from a circulating respiratory illness and some simply are not. Some people believe vaccines are risky, oth…

A lot of people are ok with risks, until they’re bitten by them.

There are many articles (I’ve seen two just in passing) where nurses talk about COVID patients going on a ventilator, and begging for the vaccine, only to be told it’s too late.

I feel that most people that are taking risks with COVID (e.g. healthy people not getting vaccinated) either don’t have enough foresight to realize they actually don’t want to be hospitalized/die from this, or they don’t believe the risks are real.

Risk assessment is something many aren’t great at — that is striking a reasonable balance between no fear and too much fear. This is made worse by conflicting opinions and studies, and not being able to discern truth from fiction/sensationalism.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the only people that need to be scared of it are the unvaccinated We often overlook those who were previously infected. I believe this is a common mistake that makes for inaccurate groupings, which negatively affect the common good.

Previous infection provides relatively short-lived natural immunity to COVID-19. I tested positive the last week of December 2020 (exactly three weeks before I was scheduled to get the vaccine, which I did also eventually get). When I spoke to the county health department, they said they had already seen repeat infections. They said immune protection from direct exposure only seems to last 3-6 months, which is backed…

No its not and this kind of speculation is incredibly harmful.

Please stop using atomic anecdotes to percieve the world, or at least stop propogating them.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this unpopular.

Because there is a non-insignificant portion of the population that is thriving off corona hysteria.

Also because of how terrible hospitals are in many places. Wait times insane, staff overworked, etc.

I'm vaccinated but quite fearful of anything which puts me in needing medical attention. The unvaccinated are a burden i'm tired of supporting.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#310
post #221

Good article, but doesn't mention the other reason that covid-19 is never going completely away: animal reservoirs. We know that dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, mink, white-tailed deer, a gorilla, and a tiger have been found to have been infected with covid-19. It is implausible that it will ever cease to have an animal reservoir, especially given the finding in Canada of 30% of white-tailed deer having it. Of dis…

Unpopular opinion but as countries get majority vaccinated they have to learn to not be as scared of it.

People aren’t scared up. Concern is around ICU usage and that elective surgery in hot areas are put on hold which include critical cancer removal surgeries.

Also we have a large group of unvaccinated group which are under kids under 12. With life going back to normal, the standard diseases are back like RSV, paraflu and others. Get two at the same time and it’s a emergency room visit. Get 3 at the same time and it’s life threatening. Two at the same time isn’t uncommon before covid. Now my pediatrician says 3 is happening and it’s a kid killer. It boggles my mind why there is pushback on mandating kids to wear masks in schools.

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