1979

They call themselves Christains, but they don’t know shit about living what their supposed faith teaches.

Not that there wouldn’t be problems with their faith if they did practice it as written, but the selfish ‘fuck you got mine’, wealth worshiping, racist and xenophobic faith they espouse isn’t that.

1980

The custom of facemask-wearing began in Japan during the early years of the 20th century, when a massive pandemic of influenza killed between 20 and 40 million people around the world—more than died in World War I.

Yeah. And during that same time, others, including Americans, also wore them. We didn’t maintain it and…

The reality is that the woven-cloth surgical masks provide minimal protection from environmental viruses anyway. (Surgeons use them to protect patients from their mouth-borne germs, not the other way around.)

And this is still hugely misunderstood, today. This virus is not quite like something like measles, and a lot of our evidence, so far, seems to suggest it’s droplets that are really causing the spreading events. It’s why the what happened to my body and my choice stuff doesn’t make sense. We wear masks to protect others; with enough people doing that, we get protected.

What’s actually happening: half ass mask wearing, the emergence of more comfortable but questionable utility masks, people wearing masks like armor so physical distancing is going right out the door, and then of course misinformation, fear and just even a momentary lapse in judgment has all these hot spots and new waves going up all over the place.

And because we don’t have enough problems, Trump runs around telling people he’s cured and super strong and not to let this little ole virus scare everyone as if the actual deaths are somehow made up. And of course keep in mind the people who are dying that aren’t linked to the COVID deaths… but actually are. They didn’t actually die of COVID, but all the resources that could’ve saved their life not there because of COVID. I’d count that, but I know we are not.

I saw on FB just yesterday, someone traveled to Texas, came back here, can’t find someone who will give them to test so they know whether they should quarantine or not. Answer: they should just quarantine for 14 days no matter what.

1981

Agreed 100%. Hopefully, with new leadership attitudes will start to shift in those segments of the population where this isn’t already common sense but it’s yet another problem exacerbated by Trump and the Republicans that has set us back.

1982

Masking is a tricky.issue. We don’t have mandatory masking at all in Norway, for instance - except if you need to travel on crowded public transport. But we don’t really need it either - it is usually not difficult to keep your distance in this country, and infections are not (at least based on what I can observe) being driven by people getting infected on public transport or in the mall -> the vast, vast majority of cases seems to be people doing stupid crap such as going to parties, etc. But obviously, not having a mandatory mask culture makes it harder to build one.

My younger sister who lives in Germany, on the other hand, faces the need for mandatory masking if they go out. She has no problem with this, and last I heard anything on it, they found that ~80% of Germans supported these measures. It wouldn’t surprise me to see mask usage to become a near universal/normal thing in Germany, France, Italy, Spain for many years to come, if the situation continues on its current track.

IMO, as with pretty much everything else in this crisis, this is about political will and leadership, more than anything else. And society is capable of changing - rapidly even. Just look at the massive change that has occurred in smoking culture (at least here in Northern Europe).

1983

Absolutely! And I think you are right that many, if not most, in the US don’t understand this. But we aren’t going to get better education and messaging from this administration, as we all know. And the unfortunate truth is that a significant portion of our population does not care.

1984

Sadly that would be and is the truth of any population group, ours is just exasperated by the fact that 1 party, the one in charge, turned a public health crisis into a political and cultural war instead of utilizing all the tools, resources and best minds we have available to minimize the pain and suffering and emerge from it as a nation.

Instead we have the deadly clown show pushing people to do things that will get them, their family and their neighbors killed.

1985

The approval rate in the US is around 70%. That said, I am assuming that is because it’s a temporary measure. If the government tried to make it a permanent law, I suspect you’d see a lot more resistance.

This is where I’m at as well- I was resistant to the idea initially, thinking folks would use common sense and doing it if there was a real risk of exposure, but it became necessary. I just think that once we get enough vaccination, we need to switch at that point to a herd mentality strategy- where a combination of vaccinations+ infections will provide herd immunity and mostly kill off the virus. My guess is such a point will occur around 6-12 months after vaccinations because avaliable to the public.

1986

I’m against a mandate, but for restrictions on what unvaccinated people can do. No idea how you’d implement such a system in a way that doesn’t feel like a dystopia, but we shouldn’t be allowing unvaccinated people into bars/restaurants, night clubs, sporting events, etc. where they can be a superspreader.

I assume that, like a flu shot, a COVID vaccine will not be a guarantee against getting it. It just lowers the chances and possibly makes symptoms less terrible and shorter in duration.

1987

We’re also getting better at treating it. So if fewer people strain the system and the system is better equipped then the chances are better.

Having said that, the flu is lethal. It kills the young and healthy every year. We know a lot about it. We even have vaccines that range from okay to great coverage, seasonally… and it’s still a problem, and despite popular belief, that vaccine acceptance is not only an issue here.

I work in health care, our CIO had to remind people, hundreds of people who are well acquainted with healthcare, that flu shot is safe, that some the reactions are not them actually getting the flu, and that if they react poorly to the shot to talk to their physician, they might have an allergen or something. It’s not a live shot.

1988

I think if 70% of the population got a vaccine (and keeps getting it as needed) and, say, 50% of the population wears masks, you’d bring R0 down way below 1.0.

Not gone, but manageable.

1989

Very simple.

Step 1: Health authorities publish a formal set of guidelines (e.g. bar patrons ought to show proof of vaccination or antibody titer before entering). They are just guidelines, of course, because mah freedom.

Step 2: Congress establishes civil immunity for superspreader events at establishments that were following all of the guidelines at the time of the event. Otherwise, the establishment is exposed to possible lawsuits for medical expenses, etc.

Step 3: There is no step 3. Any establishment large enough to make difference will be “volunteered” by their owners (or insurers) to follow the guidelines.

1990

That sounds like work, though, so let’s just shit talk the virus and ignore it and hope for a magic pill instead.

1991

This year. We were told without blinking an eye, if you do not get your flu shot, and you show up onsite, you will be fired. People freaked out. Because of the state laws, medical and religious exemptions are still available but… hospitals is where actual sick people go.

One of my co-workers is 100% remote like me, freaked. i’m like there is zero chance they’re flying us in in the middle of a pandemic. That exposes us to the airports whereas the local group doesn’t have that but also… get your damn flu shot. Are you an idiot?

1992

And if you have avoided the flu shot because you don’t like needles, this year the nasal spray version is back on the market and widely available.

1993

I’ll have to let others know that. I did not know it was widely available enough to direct people towards it.

I hate shots. I know tensing off makes it worse but can’t help it. I have seen people taken out stretchers and arrive on stretches and otherwise just in really bad shape often enough that I just get it, whether work enforces it or not. They’re not kidding around this year. The systems are concerned about being double hit by this…

Tending patients in tents did not start with COVID.

1994

The flu shot is a conundrum for me this year. Ordinarily I get one every year, but this year with COVID I’m working remotely, get all my groceries by delivery, and am generally totally isolating. Having to go to a doctor to get a flu shot would, itself, be the largest exposure risk I’ve taken in months. I’m trying to figure out if the benefits of the shot outweigh the exposure risk of getting one. Plus I’m told I probably can’t get one anyway, due to shortages. At least locally you seem to need to be high risk to get one.

1995

I may get judged for this but that’s great to hear and the only way I’m able to get a flu vaccine. As in - without fail, I pass out after a shot and there’s no set timeline on if it’ll be immediate or a few minutes later. Which is… tricky, to say the least (and has resulted in a concussion before).

1996

Check here for local nasal spray availability, but in general you can find it at a Costco pharmacy this year (and you don’t need a Costco membership).

1997

Our local area had drive-thru flu shots. The process worked well, and I suspect COVID shots will be done the same way.

I used to think flu shots were terrible, since two years in a row in the military I got the shot then ended up getting flu-like symptoms. As a civilian I got one because I was headed to a large con, had no problems, and after that I had no problems.

1998

Emphasis added - I believe this is counter to what professionals expect, do you may want to update your beliefs. The vaccine is unlikely to eradicate the virus.