Germany is pretty much fucked, too. Merkel couldn’t get strict lockdown procedures supported by the leaders of the German states and now it’s too late.
Antibodies are not the end all be all. Even when you have no antibodies present, memory t-cells provide protection from infection. I’m not sure how well profiled the protection is at this point, but even if it lowers severity of infection that’s impactful. On the positive side of things, the research that is going on for coronavirus vaccines and treatments might offer new approaches to treating other diseases. I’m especially excited about the ones using a pharmaceutical/metabolic approach to treatment.
Not even sure if we ever get to heard immunity with the vaccine, given the bullshit around it, but if the old and vulnerable stop dropping off like flies? If the yearly death rate drops to 35-40k or lower? We just accept it as the new norm and move on.
I’n going to go ahead and disagree with you here. This isn’t a situation where less people die and everything is gravy- there is a segment of infected people who have significant damage to organs, and symptoms that stick around for a super long time. This isn’t the flu. It’s problematic as fuck, and could add a ton of strain to the healthcare system over time if not ripped out by the root. If we have the capacity to put a vigorous vaccination campaign into place and fail to do so, we are playing Russian roulette while we hope that there isn’t enough genetic drift that we lose the chance we will have.
And he’s only what, a billion years old? Funny how it always seems to be GOP politicians who keep catching COVID.
as someone who lives in IL, but works in IA, I have a hard time wishing harm(or death) on anyone. But IA had a chance to get this shit under control. This is a brush-fire that got let to smolder, thinking "hey, it'll rain and put it out..." except it just re-erupted. My mom/dad, who live 5 blocks away from me, just called and said if I can't make sure there are PPE at my work(for me), since NO ONE at my worksite is wearing masks, They can't have me there next week... A tense convo with my boss is brewing....
Not sure if anybody has been seeing the shit going on in the Dakotas. Apparently there are people in South Dakota who are literally dying of COVID and these people are still saying that it isn't real. Meanwhile in North Dakota, the governor issued an order allowing healthcare workers who test positive but are asymptomatic to continue working in COVID wards. The deaths and disability for each and every American lays at the feet of everyone in the federal government who buried their heads in the sand and did and continue to do nothing.
Look at the country right now with the results we are having day to day. The best case scenario is the right portion of the country gets the vaccine and we snuff it out. This is what I would like to happen, and everyone else for that matter should want too, but reality so far points me to a less rosie outcome. We have groups on both sides spurning a vaccine "MuH BoDi! Muh ChIoce! No GuBmnT ManDateS" and "I aInT Tak'n No tRump AcCeLeratEd VaX bLeaCH CoMBo!" (though suddenly the latter is much less concerned about the same Trump touted vaccines than they were a month ago) and we have everybody just wanting to get back to normal. I think it's a mixture that will result on far from optimal outcome but one that provides the path of least resistance. Not an outcome I want to see but I think a cynically realistic prognostication. The new buzzword is lock down fatigue. I think there is a massive pandemic fatigue that'll come into play. Once the "grim milestone" headline numbers start to drop off, society will start to psychologically move on. We already shoulder the burden of the healthcare cost of smoking, another ridiculous choice, I think most wont care to add this to our tab if it means attending tailgates and football games again.
The state is shutting down again and what does that mean? Another toilet paper shortage! God damn it.
I understand where you are coming from, but believe it’s a false equivalence. Smoking is unhealthy, but it catches up to you in a major way 25-50 years down the line. Not wearing a mask can have you contagious within a couple of days, dead within an agonizing few weeks or couple months. There’s also the fact that the virus started circulating in urban centers, but is now running amok in more rural areas. Losing friends or family members will make things feel more real for the people who had no exposure other than the media. We’ve seen a lot of gnarly scans of dead and dying patients in the lab, and the rate at which this thing divides in cells compared to other viruses is somewhat horrifying. We are testing some compounds as therapeutics to help ill patients, and hopefully we are going to see some nice results that can help people who can’t get vaccinated. But you are better off not chancing it. Going back to your smoking analogy, you might end up with chewed up lungs that fuck with your quality of life down the road otherwise. Don’t let quarantine fatigue kill your family, friends, or self.
My point was we absorb the healthcare cost of smoking as part of the way it is. Smokers obviously don't care about the eventual cost and possibility of harming others. Political will to stamp out smoking has made some strides but it has taken 50 + years and still avoids the real painful decisions. So we let it go as a society. Certainly people should be much more concerned with Covid and possible lasting effects. So far this isnt really the case and I dont see society making a 180 degree turn on it. Maybe, maybe, if the virus mutates and is as deadly to 0-35 year olds as it is to the 85+ crowd will you see an about face. Once the numbers start to drop and align more with the actual flu? With the way things are going now, what do you think will happen?
Who are all these people that are living sheet-to-sheet with their toilet paper? Doesn’t everyone just go to Costco every other month and stock up? Also:
I've rarely seen any recognizable name brand toilet paper or paper towels since this spring. Apparently I live in a small enough city that we can't get that and the stuff we do get is trash, especially the paper towels. I never thought I would say this but I miss decent paper towels.
We don't have Costco or Sam's Club here. We have about 15 rolls left spread over 3 bathrooms but I was trying to stay ahead by buying an extra case. I've been trying since last week unsuccessfully.