COVID-19 Threat Level Back to Red - Now What? (Houston: school districts, living)

[ninbud]

I would be super upset if I got the vaccine in order to take my mask off & not get tested only for corporations to test me & make me wear a mask once they admitted the vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting or spreading the virus.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by ninbud

I would be super upset if I got the vaccine in order to take my mask off & not get tested only for corporations to test me & make me wear a mask once they admitted the vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting or spreading the virus.

This is new news to you?

Vaccine has never been advertised or expected to keep you from getting or spreading Covid. (Or to make anyone mask free).
Vaccine only assist in limiting viral load / concentration of individuals, hopefully enough to assist to herd immunity (which cannot happen in USA by vaccine alone).

CDC came out with some crazy guidance advice on unmasking (as usual) with the intent to sway more people to get vaccine.

Truth / science is very far from CDC understanding. Look to other countries and their guidance on science and research.

Next up is the limited effect of immunity from prior exposure and cases, and capped effective vaccine effectiveness. Covid-19 has had a head start since Jan 2020, and variants are quick to leapfrog our (USA) turtle slow recognition and effective barriers or willingness to curtail. Once we allowed Covid to jump out in front of our ability to control, it was a losing proposition to get think we could get ahead of the surge. Now we will fight a long battle and trust the new variants will become weaker, rather than stronger. May be several years.

Be wise.
No silver bullet will pop up.

[DabOnEm]

Originally Posted by ninbud

I would be super upset if I got the vaccine in order to take my mask off & not get tested only for corporations to test me & make me wear a mask once they admitted the vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting or spreading the virus.

Yeah and it looks like some folks are starting to catch up to what many of us were saying a year ago, but it's too little too late. People were busy censoring scientists and doctors who were saying you can't stop a coronavirus, mass vaccinations will cause a variant to be created faster, PCR tests can't actually detect for covid-19 specifically or even distinguish from influenza, natural immunity is far better, etc.

Now it just doesn't matter. Major corporations are starting to force mandates, states/counties/cities are starting to implement vaccine passports (which many also said would never happen...ha!), and we are very close to going back into lockdowns. In fact I'm pretty sure we will be back in lockdowns come October but this time it'll be worse.

This is why things like metaverses are getting big (see what Facebook just announced, among several others) because we're going to be even more virtual moving forward. There is an apartment building in LA that's advertising a virtual lobby for its residents with people wearing VR headsets on the billboard. I've heard of similar things in NYC. Get ready for it and it's time for Houston to stock up a little now if you haven't already. If nothing else, food is cheaper now than it will be come winter.

[ninbud]

COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and effectiveness—the elephant (not) in the room
Absolute Risk Reduction = 1·3% for the AstraZeneca–Oxford, 1·2% for the Moderna–NIH, 1·2% for the J&J, 0·93% for the Gamaleya, and 0·84% for the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccines.

[houston-nomad]

Oh my god, here we go. Bring on the fake science.

[Thoreau424]

Live in fear and drama, or not. You're choice. You don't have to read the stories and watch the dumb "news" on TV.

Garbage in, garbage out. Or.... steer clear of it all.

[Htown2013]

The Delta Variant is changing things. It's ridiculous that Abbott is hamstringing local government and schools from keeping people safe.

I totally understand and agree with no lockdowns and business closures, but let local government (e.g. cities, countries) and school districts require masks and contact tracing if they choose at a local level. What's the harm?

The one I'm most concerned about is schools. The Delta Variant is no joke. Abbott is forcing unvaccinated children in face to face schools, who are too young to get the vaccine, preventing the school districts from requiring masks and preventing contact tracing. What is this? Playing hunger games with Texas children?

Can the Federal Government step in and overrule this nonsense?

Let me be clear - I'm against business restrictions (e.g. closures, government mandated capacity) and lockdowns, but let the local schools keep our young kids safe that are too young to get vaccinated. This is ridiculous!

Masks in schools will significantly slow the spread among school age kids. Seriously, putting all those unvaccinated kids together face to face without masks in Delta environment with >17% statewide positivity will cause cases to skyrocket by Labor Day.

And we all know that "personal responsibility" is B.S. Any Texas kid that goes to school with a mask where it is not required will be BULLIED mercilessly.

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by ninbud

I would be super upset if I got the vaccine in order to take my mask off & not get tested only for corporations to test me & make me wear a mask once they admitted the vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting or spreading the virus.

I totally understand, but I didn't get the vaccine to not wear a mask. I got the vaccine to have a much better chance of surviving and avoiding hospitalization.

Delta is different. I'm in shock at how much the situation has deteriorated in the past few weeks. Delta is no joke. I have friends in the Healthcare industry (doctors and nurses) and know multiple vaccinated people who recently got Delta.

Vaccine still significantly protects the recipient from getting more severe COVID experience, but with Delta a vaccinated person can still get and transmit Covid, but the person will have a much much better chance of survival and avoiding hospitalization than being unvaccinated.

Hearing through the grapevine, we will have COVID boosters targeting the variants, but they will take time working through the system.

Things will be much better next year, but I'm concerned with our unvaccinated kids going back to school unmasked, as Delta seems to be impacting children much more than the previous COVID strains.

And I absolutely HATE that this has become political. It disgusts me. Science and logic should be apolitical and factual.

[houston-nomad]

"A recent Monmouth University poll found that, “Among those who admit they will not get the vaccine if they can avoid it, 70 percent either identify with or lean toward the Republican Party while just 6 percent align with the Democrats.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/08/o...gtype=Homepage

Now, tell me again how I'm politicizing there. OR-- could we possibly admit that the GOP has irrevocably politicized this. And that it's not the fault of Black people, or an "invasion" of immigrants, or whatever other nonsense Fox News is peddling.

70% of vaccine refusers are Republicans.
6% are Democrats.

[DabOnEm]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

"A recent Monmouth University poll found that, “Among those who admit they will not get the vaccine if they can avoid it, 70 percent either identify with or lean toward the Republican Party while just 6 percent align with the Democrats.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/08/o...gtype=Homepage

Now, tell me again how I'm politicizing there. OR-- could we possibly admit that the GOP has irrevocably politicized this. And that it's not the fault of Black people, or an "invasion" of immigrants, or whatever other nonsense Fox News is peddling.

70% of vaccine refusers are Republicans.
6% are Democrats.

Because you're going off a biased ny times poll instead of real stats on say, certain vax percentage by county and who they voted for. Even then the fact remains that the Black, Latine, and millenial groups have the lowest vax rates, and those groups tend to vote democrat. In the end this shouldnt be politicized.