(Not sorry.)
sorry pic.twitter.com/GkGgnbtErx
— ?? (@samthielman) May 21, 2021
60.5% of all American adults have received at least one vaccine shot; 48.4% are now fully vaccinated.
84.9% of Americans age 65 or older have received at least one shot; 73.2% are now fully vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/Xey2ePPFmw
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) May 21, 2021
If 70% of adults get a #Covid shot by July 4, the US can avoid another surge, Dr. Fauci says. With 3 vaccines as effective as these are, having a large "proportion of the population vaccinated, the chances of there being a surge are extraordinarily low" https://t.co/bofBOzlibZ
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 20, 2021
The US had +30,214 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total higher above 33.8 million. The 7-day moving average declined to below 29,000 new cases per day, its lowest level since last June 21. pic.twitter.com/jNmSb67hI0
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) May 21, 2021
Total deaths due to Covid has been underestimated by 20% in counties nationwide. While official tallies report total deaths at ~600k, epidemiologists from Boston Univ found that for every 100 excess deaths directly attributed to Covid, another 20 were not https://t.co/2EuOIJbitB pic.twitter.com/hAKoNjLd0d
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 20, 2021
=====
Total death toll from COVID-19 could be at least 6-8 million: WHO https://t.co/r18KBf7PF3 pic.twitter.com/7EjUvRV68D
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
India’s export ban on COVID-19 shots risks dragging the battle against the pandemic 'back to square one' unless wealthy nations step in to plug a gaping hole in the COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme, health specialists said https://t.co/DEuVC6GnLv pic.twitter.com/lr1ueqaYJH
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
India reports 259,551 new coronavirus infections https://t.co/Qxcm3DHLW9 pic.twitter.com/v9hPHSXgrJ
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
Dis- & misinformation distributed via "WhatsApp University" & other social media platforms are hindering India's ability to vaccinate its populace against #Covid19, @sciencecohen reports. https://t.co/T6DJrPIZi4
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) May 20, 2021
"India is struggling against a rapid increase in #Covid19 cases, but a nasty and rare fungal infection affecting some #coronavirus patients is dealing the country a double blow."https://t.co/PmdyCJj5bK
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) May 20, 2021
Hospitals in Osaka, Japan’s third-biggest city and only 2 1/2 hours by bullet train from Summer Olympics host Tokyo, are overflowing with coronavirus patients. https://t.co/M6UMf2N1MA
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 21, 2021
Japan has approved the use of two new vaccines _ Moderna and AstraZeneca _ hours ahead of an expansion of a state of coronavirus emergency that will cover roughly 40% of the population. https://t.co/aZsTmiSk2U
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 21, 2021
Per head of capita, Japan is now vaccinating at a faster pace than South Korea or Australia, though still far off European countries or the U.S. pic.twitter.com/4wVVRS0o3w
— Gearoid Reidy (@GearoidReidy) May 21, 2021
Japan is set to expand a state of emergency to cover the southern island of Okinawa, just as it approved two more novel coronavirus vaccines to speed up its lagging inoculation campaign https://t.co/fZ3iOpDd7F pic.twitter.com/kVd7fDIv63
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
S.Korea approves Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine https://t.co/vVUpOTutSh pic.twitter.com/UueSJabx6A
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
Taiwan presses U.S. health secretary on COVID vaccines https://t.co/XKJS8Tear9 pic.twitter.com/OVqMXb0ggu
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
Australia's vaccine hesitancy worries medical experts https://t.co/v2SaGO9owG
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 21, 2021
The European Union expects to issue digital COVID-19 travel certificates by July 1 after EU lawmakers and the 27 member nations reached a compromise on what they will and won't entail. https://t.co/MqDghginL1
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) May 20, 2021
The WHO announces a steep drop in new cases in Europe over the past month, although a top agency official cautions 'this progress is fragile' https://t.co/hdqcMPqhd9
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 20, 2021
"Goodbye masks" – Hungary to lift most COVID-19 curbs, PM Orban says https://t.co/qIFa2lVrZZ pic.twitter.com/ETPUPJhVtO
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
The variant 1st detected in India—B.1.617—is forcing the UK to speed up giving people over 50 2nd vaccine doses. The variant is spreading exponentially in Britain. Cases rose to 1313 this week compared w/ 520 last week https://t.co/THqCizDqN0
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 20, 2021
‘Anxiety and stress’ as vaccine shortfall hits Africa’s inoculation drive https://t.co/ywfaCtiEhP pic.twitter.com/BFO7tbd1YY
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
Argentina announces 'circuit-breaker' lockdown as pandemic rages https://t.co/PNYZZjXNhF pic.twitter.com/p0i86jDoH8
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
=====
Pfizer & Moderna vaccines are powerfully effective against Covid, according to a new CDC analysis. The research involved 1800 health care workers & confirms the vaccines are working well in the real world, outside clinical trials https://t.co/BzV4mPtGba
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 20, 2021
SARSCoV2 likely doesn't integrate its genes into the DNA of humans. New study Journal of Virology. Another study had claimed SARS2 genes were found in human DNA in petri dishes. A more rigorous examination refutes the possibility of it occurring in people https://t.co/0CtiMKkjJP pic.twitter.com/NfsckzxM4E
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 20, 2021
German vaccine developer, CureVac, has produced an enhanced version of its mRNA vax, dubbed CV2CoV. In lab studies it not only has demonstrated effectiveness, but triggers a robust antibody response against SARSCoV2 compared w/ an earlier version, CVCoV https://t.co/urogJmCVoS pic.twitter.com/G2M5JjtvyB
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 20, 2021
Not surprising: Anti-intellectualism is linked with lower levels of #Covid concern & higher levels of misperceptions about the Covid pandemic. New report in the journal @NatureHumBehavior https://t.co/mNWfWGdpte
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 20, 2021
=====
A distinct pattern has emerged in the U.S. drive to vanquish the coronavirus: The highest vaccination rates are concentrated in the Northeast, while the lowest ones are mostly in the South. Experts say the gap reflects a multitude of factors. https://t.co/gZkNUHGPrv
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 20, 2021
New York City officials are going door-to-door to overcome vaccine skepticism https://t.co/rZdEOKcVMh
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 20, 2021
New York is the latest state to use the lottery to encourage people to get the coronavirus vaccine. People who get vaccinated at some state-run sites next week will receive a lottery scratch ticket with prizes potentially worth millions. https://t.co/KVWZQzqOSa
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 20, 2021
Positive sign, IMO:
more incoherent than usual, things must be very normal in the cinematic universe https://t.co/n2jOpzXlN9
— kilgore trout, junky horse (@KT_So_It_Goes) May 21, 2021
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY stats:
173 new cases – 66% were people under 40, including 51 children between 0 and 19. People in their 20s are still leading the pack in infections.
1267 COVID deaths since March 2020
2.9% test positivity
193 people hospitalized, 32 in the ICU
54.6% with at least 1 jab
47.7% fully vaccinated
Cermet
We absolutely must have the two main vaccines approved for regular use; only in this manner can they be required so far more people will get vaccinated. This hesitancy is ridiculous! Thanks to the thugs hundreds of thousands of needless deaths and now, tens of thousands more. It is almost impossible for me to believe but then, I grew up and vaccinations were a miracle of science and a given that everyone who could, would get one.
satby
@Cermet: Agreed. But the success of vaccinations has also led to this moment, with a generation of people who grew up without the trauma of seeing the deaths of siblings and friends from diseases we vaccinate for now. You would think the memory wouldn’t have faded so quickly from the collective conciousness, but it has. Add in vicious propaganda and here we are.
NotMax
FYI.
satby
And as far as the under count of covid deaths, I firmly believe in many cases that was deliberate.
YY_Sima Qian
On 5/20 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Anhui Province report 1 domestic asymptomatic case. 1 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There are 7 domestic confirmed & 11 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Liaoning Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case. There are 14 domestic confirmed & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
In Yunnan Province, 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 12 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases.
Imported Cases
On 5/20 China reported 24 new imported confirmed cases, 23 imported asymptomatic cases:
Overall in China, 15 confirmed cases recovered, 10 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & none were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 705 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 303 active confirmed cases in the country (271 imported), 5 in serious condition (4 imported), 364 asymptomatic cases (344 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 7,291 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 5/20, 466.698M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 17.181M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 5/21, Hong Kong reported 1 new case, imported (from Indonesia).
WereBear
Some of these tweets confirm my lurking realization that “masks off!” is good science… but red areas are going to trigger a second wave. Especially in the South, where summer is an INDOOR season.
terben
A red letter day in Australia today. There were 3 new cases today bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 30,000. (depending whose stats you look at)
The last 1000 cases have occurred since March 3rd, mostly amongst returned travellers in quarantine.
Total number of deaths, 910 Days since last death, 38 (in QLD) The last death in my home state, SA, was 404 days ago.
Tests today, 47,963
Vaccinations today, 101,146 Total, 3,472,874 (approx. 13 or 14 per 100 of the population)
Active cases, 103
These numbers cannot be described as interesting, but that’s the way we like it. Except for the vaccination numbers which are improving, but seriously need to.
WereBear
@Cermet: My own mother was proud that “we got you kids all your shots!”
p.a.
tRumplandia: hold my beer.
Barbara
I found my vaccination records in my mother’s papers after she died. She kept them that whole time. I now know, as I had suspected, that I was vaccinated against small pox.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 6,493 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 498,795 cases. He also reports 50 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 2,149 deaths — 0.43% of the cumulative reported total, 0.48% of resolved cases.
There are currently 52,106 active and contagious cases; 643 are in ICU, 363 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 4,508 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 444,540 patients recovered – 89.12% of the cumulative reported total.
18 new clusters were reported today: Persiaran Perbandaran, Industri Balakong Tiga, Jalan Kota Raja, and Kampung Mujahidin in Selangor; Jalan Wan Kadir in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur; Jalan Simpang Tiga in Sarawak; Jalan Datin Halimah, Jalan Mengkibol, and Jalan Surau Stulang in Johor; Jalan Selat and Susur Larut in Perak; Industri Senawang in Negeri Sembilan; Sungai Keluang 2 in Penang; Industri Kelemak and Jalan Tanjung Minyak in Melaka; Sri Penara and Taman Setiawangsa in Kuala Lumpur; and Simpang Sahari in Labuan.
Jalan Kota Raja, Kampung Mujahidin, Sri Penara, Taman Setiawangsa, and Jalan Surau Stulang are religious clusters. Susur Larut, Jalan Tanjung Minyak, and Simpang Sahari are community clusters. The rest are workplace clusters.
6,491 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 2,163 cases: 160 in clusters, 1,446 close-contact screenings, and 557 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 749 local cases: 71 in clusters, 376 close-contact screenings, and 192 other screenings. Sarawak reports 612 cases: 50 in clusters, 433 close-contact screenings, and 129 other screenings.
Kelantan reports 467 cases: 50 in clusters, 283 close-contact screenings, and 134 other screenings. Kedah reports 434 cases: 68 in clusters, 238 close-contact screenings, and 128 other screenings. Johor reports 406 cases: 108 in clusters, 223 close-contact screenings, and 75 other screenings.
Perak reports 382 cases: 63 in clusters, 215 close-contact screenings, and 104 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 370 cases: 54 in clusters, 162 close-contact screenings, and 154 other screenings. Penang reports 302 cases: 34 in clusters, 119 close-contact screenings, and 149 other screenings.
Melaka reports 165 cases: 34 in clusters, 83 close-contact screenings, and 48 other screenings. Pahang reports 161 cases: 48 in clusters, 65 close-contact screenings, and 48 other screenings. Sabah reports 144 cases: 55 in clusters, 55 close-contact screenings, and 34 other screenings. Terengganu reports 139 cases: 51 in clusters, 62 close-contact screenings, and 26 other screenings.
Labuan reports 84 cases: 53 in clusters, 15 close-contact screenings, and 16 other screenings. Putrajaya reports 20 cases: 17 close-contact screenings, and three other screenings. Perlis reports three cases: one close-contact screening, and two other screenings.
Two new cases today are imported, both in Kuala Lumpur.
Spanky
@Barbara: When I left home for my first job in Maryland, my father gave me an envelope with all my records. Still got ’em!
OzarkHillbilly
I have to disagree with the esteemed doctor on this even if he knows more than I. The fact remains that there are segments of our population that refuse to get vaccinated, and that these segments are concentrated in certain locales. Like mine. In these areas another surge has to be far more likely than it is in areas where 90% of folks are happy to get vaccinated.
satby
@Barbara: They stopped routine vaccinations in the US in 1972, though if you were going to a country where it might still be they would vaccinate you if you hadn’t been (extremely uncommon). WHO declared smallpox extinct worldwide in 1980. So you’d be pretty young for this blog if you hadn’t been vaccinated. I was in nursing school, it was a big deal.
Amir Khalid
As of yesterday, the seven-day moving average of Malaysia’s R0/Rt was 1.13.
debbie
@Spanky:
Yep, I have my baby records. It’s surprising how many shots babies received back then.
Meanwhile, my local news reported that Moderna announced booster shots would become available in September.
Lapassionara
@OzarkHillbilly: Yes. Only 34% of St Louis County is vaccinated, per latest report. I don’t know if that is 34% of total population or 34% of eligible population, but it is not high enough. Yet the county has lifted the mask mandate. Give us ten days to two weeks to find out whether that decision was a good one.
Spanky
@debbie: I was curious about needing a booster so soon, but I see they’re matching against the most virulent mutations
Eta – And I suspect it’s also because of the short battery life in the microchip.
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara: Damn. And here I was thinking STL and environs would be among the better places to be.
NotMax
@debbie
More could than would. The clinical data is still murky on that.
Shall await more explicit guidance backed by data from scientists rather than from pharma CEOs, thank you.
NotMax
@Spanky
6G will resolve that.
//
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: I’m waiting for 7G.
Sloane Ranger
Thursday in the UK we had 2874 new cases. This is an increase in the rolling 7-day average of 0.2%. New cases by nation,
England – 2307 (up 156)
Northern Ireland – 90 (down 17)
Scotland – 432 (up 38)
Wales – 45 (up 1).
Deaths – There were 7 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is a decrease of 26.5% in the rolling 7-day average. England – 6 and Wales – 1. None in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Testing – 1,180,660 tests took place on Wednesday, 19 May. This is a decrease of 5.5% in the rolling 7-day average. The PCR testing capacity estimated by labs on that date was 645,838.
Hospitalisations – There were 894 people in hospital on Tuesday, 18 May and 122 people on ventilators on Wednesday, 19th. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions was down 11.1% as of 16 May.
Vaccinations – As of 19 May, a total of 37,250,363 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 21,239,471 had received both. In percentage terms, this means that 70.7% of all adults in the UK had received 1 shot and 40.3% were fully vaccinated.
Personal – Happy to announce that over the last few weeks, the town where I live has gone from having well above average case rates to well below average ones. On a less positive note, local vaccination rates are lagging well below national ones. Only 62.6% of our residents have had 1 shot and 36.7%, both. I don’t know the reason but whatever it is, I hope we pull up our socks very quickly.
rikyrah
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
True Ozark
True
Danielx
@Spanky:
Shhhhh….
Cermet
@rikyrah: Birth place and original home of the CEO that cursed us with Fox. Says it all.
Robert Sneddon
Scotland — 414 new confirmed cases from yesterday, still zero deaths reported. The national test positivity rate is 1.9%, still creeping up but there’s a lot more testing going on in the hotspots which have localised TPRs of 4% and higher. Hospitalisations and ICU bed occupancy are stable right now and well within the capability of the health services to cope which is the government’s biggest concern. About half the new reported cases are in Glasgow. The government advisors think the R number has crept up above 1 nationally but that it’s being elevated by the hotspots.
Vaccinations — as of 07:30 BST this morning 3,082,251 people had received their first dose of the vaccine, an increase of 18,603 since yesterday and 26,968 received their second dose, bringing the total to 1,769,040. This is a surge from the usual 40,000 or so vaccinations per day with the extras concentrated in Glasgow and Renfrewshire. It will still take some time for this localised surge in vaccinations to have a noticeable effect on case numbers.
Because of the continuing high case numbers in Glasgow it’s going to remain at level 3 restrictions for at least another week. Moray on the other hand which had an outbreak a few weeks ago seems to be coming out of it and they’re moving to level 2 restrictions like most of the rest of Scotland. East Renfrewshire is remaining at level 2 since the evidence is the case numbers there are due to spread in specific households which have been targetted for isolation and treatment and it’s thought there’s less chance of spread in that outbreak.
The Glasgow level 3 situation means the Scottish Cup Final which was supposed to be held at Hampden with a limited crowd present will now take place behind closed doors with no spectators.
Catherine D.
Cornell reports 75% of on-campus students, staff, and faculty are fully vaccinated. Vaccinated people won’t have to do surveillance testing after June 1, although voluntary supplemental tests will be available. I think I’ll keep doing a test once a week just because I think it’s important to keep track of the vaccinated.
Matt McIrvin
@NeenerNeener: Vaccination mandates in schools and colleges are going to be key to quashing another wave in the fall–but the pro-COVID lobby is already pushing to prevent those from happening in Red America. The geographic differences are going to be stark.
We’re fortunate that immunity from the vaccines seems to last longer than just a few months, flu-vaccine-style. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these shots become a yearly thing, but at least we probably won’t be back at square one in the fall, with the thing spreading as if nobody had any immunity at all.
Tall Tom
My father once told me his answer to a common grade school assignment: “Who is your hero, and why?” Many of his peers who had lived through the Depression would have said FDR. He had a different view. He said Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, because he experienced life before and after the polio vaccine.
Soprano2
And mine. I’ve been watching the Springfield dashboard daily. The number who got their first shot has been slowly creeping up – it was over 41% yesterday. I’m hoping it will be over 50% by sometime in June, but I doubt it will get over 60% unless a lot of employers, schools and colleges start requiring it. I’m resigned to the fact that these idiots are going to cause another “mini-wave” here and kill some of each other off due to their refusal to believe Covid is a serious disease. There will probably be a super-spreader event at mega-church somewhere near here. I do agree that there won’t be a country-wide wave like we had before, but it’s going to be bad in the South and parts of the Midwest and West. It makes me crazy when I hear pundits talking about everyone going outside in the summer – that shows most of them are in the north part of the country, because in the South and Southwest everyone goes inside during the summer!
lee
I want to share a story that might be interesting regarding vaccine hesitancy.
My oldest is hesitant about getting the vaccine and of the entire family she is probably the one that needs it the most.
My wife is a veterinarian so the kids were brought up getting every vaccine without question and a flu shot just about every year (I would say every year but I can’t remember that far back). When the HPV vaccine first came out the pediatrician got about 3 words out about it when my wife interrupted and said ‘Yes’.
We had an extended call with her about it and why she needed to get the first shot prior to a family vacation coming up. The interesting thing is she gets this hesitancy about it because some of her friends got it had ‘bad’ reactions. The other thing it seems she knows she’s making a poor decision and it’s not based on any sort of rational reasons.
She’s at least agreed to get the first shot prior to the vacation. I’m still very tempted to cancel her plane ticket unless she sends proof of vaccination. I realize if I did that she’d just get a fake card.
Soprano2
A couple of years ago there was a story about some less-effective measles vaccines that had been given to some kids in the late 60’s – early ’70’s, which is when I would have received most of my childhood vaccinations. (I still remember getting the polio one, I liked it because you just drank that little dot of water. No needles!) The story recommended that you have your immunity checked if you thought you’d been vaccinated during that time period. I had my doc do it, and sure enough I was no longer immune. I got a measles booster shot in the summer of 2019, because of all the crazy anti-vaxxers not vaccinating their kids against measles. So, anyone here who falls in that age group might want to have it checked at your next doctor’s visit, just in case.
I’ve got a co-worker whose son is graduating from high school today. I asked her what he’s doing, and she said he’s going to work. She also said earlier that she wouldn’t let him get vaccinated (even though she got the Pfizer shot) because “it wasn’t tested enough and I’m worried about the effect it would have on him because he’s so young”. His job is working the counter at an O’Reilly Auto Parts store. So, he’s going to be working unvaccinated with no masks as of next Friday, facing all kinds of people in an area where only 35% of people are fully vaccinated and no one who’s unvaccinated other than the medically fragile will wear masks. I swear, people are crazy. I hope he’s smart enough to get it, but without his parent’s encouragement I doubt he will.
Anne Laurie
Gotta agree. In my nightmares, we end up with the kind of ‘ring fencing’ much less resource-rich countries do for diseases like Ebola. Public health departments set up checkpoints around ‘hotspot’ communities, and armed police patrol the borders & check for vaccine compliance at the guard stations.
It won’t happen overnight, but give enough vaxx-resistant know-nothings acting as petri dishes for amped-up infections…
Anne Laurie
They’re an island nation. The leadership’s thinking — and it’s been vindicated, mostly, so far — is that locking the gates & not letting anyone in, not even Australian citizens stranded overseas, was good enough. Now it’s clear that staying so isolated isn’t possible forever, so they’re grudgingly ponying up for a national vaccination campaign.
Unfortunately, the fact that the current uproar over stranded citizens largely involves those fleeing India — you know, largely people who couldn’t pass a paper-bag test — has awakened certain portions of the Aussie tabloid media & its readers, from what I can tell at this distance. You think the American version of Fox is toxic, just imagine how xenophobic his birthplace’s media can be.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
If there is second surge the vaccine hesitation will correct itself. People will notice who is and who isn’t getting sick or dying.
lee
@Anne Laurie: Isn’t another problem they don’t have the production facilities to manufacture their own vaccine so they have to wait for other countries to ship it to them?
lowtechcyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yeah, I’m with you on this. My wife grew up in central Florida, and since she’s got family down there, we’re heading down that way twice this summer.
My wife and I are already more than 2 weeks past our second shot, and our son (age 13) will be Pfizer #2 + 2 weeks by the time of our first trip in late June. But I’m still nervous about going, because Florida will be full of unvaccinated, unmasked people.
I’ve got a stash of N95 masks, and I’m planning on us using them not just in transit, but in stores and stuff while we’re there.
lowtechcyclist
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
We had a Sun Belt surge last summer, followed by the Sturgis surge in the upper Plains/Rockies.Midwest. How’d the self-correction work out then?
Matt McIrvin
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: The problem is the same cognitive illusion that’s dogged us all along: most people who get COVID get better, with no outwardly visible permanent damage–especially among the younger cohorts who are least likely to be vaccinated. It only takes a few of those people loudly crowing that they shook it off and it’s nothing to confuse the rest. Human beings think in terms of stories, not statistics. You put Fred who got better next to a scary story in the paper about somebody who got the vaccine and got sick, and it makes an impression.
YY_Sima Qian
@Amir Khalid:
Does Malaysia have any plans to further tighten movement restrictions? That last round of tightening does not seem to have had the intended suppressive effect. What are the strains currently prevalent?
Soprano2
I think a significant amount of hesitancy among some people is about all the stories of people getting sick from the shot. They’re afraid they’re going to get sick and have to miss work, and a lot of them have jobs where if they miss work they don’t get paid. They’d rather risk getting a mild or asymptomatic case of Covid than be sick a day or two from the vaccine. Makes no sense, I know, because if they get a bad case of Covid they’re going to miss a lot more than a day of work, but like Matt McIrvin says they mostly think that if they get Covid it won’t be bad at all. For these people, a big surge of Covid locally might persuade them to get vaccinated. Maybe….
YY_Sima Qian
@Anne Laurie:
I recall reading that the Murdoch empire owns ~ 70% of media in Australia, and the balance is owned by a local rich family not necessarily friendly to liberalism. Imagine the US media landscape where Fox/WSJ/NY Post is dominant, and the remainder are to the right of Politico. Not conducive to functional democracy in the long term.
Peale
@Matt McIrvin: Yeah. The problem is that there’s so many dead that they disappear into a mass of forgotten people and those that recovered after long stints in the hospital are probably not speaking about those medial bills. What we need is some kind of national day of séance where we call forth the spirits of the dead to give them a warning. Look, I know I’m not really much of a believer in that kind of thing, but the kinds of woo the reluctant ones believe leads me to believe that it might be more effective than even a lottery.
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: My go-to example now is my cousin in PA who got it over a month ago when people were already starting to celebrate that the pandemic was ending, ended up on oxygen in the hospital, and is still not 100% better. I think it might help to talk about how horribly ill you can really get with a non-fatal “moderate” case, to stop people from just looking at the fatality rate and thinking “1% is small”.
Uncle Cosmo
@satby: ” You would think the memory wouldn’t have faded so quickly from the collective conciousness, but it has.”
Hank Mencken would like a word. Several words, in fact:
(‘Notes On Journalism’ in the Chicago Tribune ,19 September 1926)
VOR
@Soprano2: Chickenpox. My brother got chickenpox when he was 19. He ran a 104 fever for days but somehow was never hospitalized. There was concern he would not be able to have children, which thankfully is not the case.
I had a very short course of chickenpox as a child, so short my mother was not sure I had even had it. Many years ago I attended a birthday party for my wife’s step-sister’s daughter. Afterwards, we find out the daughter came down with chickenpox the next day so we were all exposed. I did not want to get chickenpox as an adult. I went to my clinic and had a test to confirm I had antibodies. The step-sister, now a MAGAt, was unconcerned because “it’s just chickenpox”.
Matt McIrvin
@VOR: When I got my shingles vax the assistant who gave it asked me if I really wanted it because I have no memory of getting chickenpox.
They didn’t do a titer, but I’ve since read that some sources say to assume that EVERYONE who grew up before chickenpox vaccination got infected at some point, whether they remember it or not.
And since then, I was talking to my mom and she said “I think you got it”–apparently when I was a little kid, I had a mysterious illness that gave me a fever and a few inconspicuous pock marks hidden on my scalp. Which would explain why I never caught chickenpox after that, even from the guy in my college dorm who was walking around for days covered in spots.
Ruckus
@satby:
One also has to add in freedumb, that political aim that wants people not to think, because if they did they likely wouldn’t support the right to follow rather than do any thinking whatsoever. Sort of the right to be sheeple.
Ruckus
@Tall Tom:
I would say that is true of even myself. I was born before the polio vaccines were released, I was 5 when I got mine. And I know/knew at least 4 people with polio. I used to hate needles because it felt like I was getting stuck all the damn time. I had measles and encephalitis and all the “normal” childhood diseases when only the smallpox vaccine was out.
Subsole
@rikyrah:
From what I can gather, Australia is touched by the cold, soulless hand of the Murdoch Media Axis.
So their rightwing is about as batshit insane as ours.
Villago Delenda Est
Hamilton is spinning in his grave. Not over the musical, but over what has happened to his newspaper.
Ruckus
@Soprano2:
I think we should not say we got sick from the shot, because we didn’t. Our bodies adjusted to a new medication that gives us a high rate of immunity. Some have little noticeable reactions, some such as myself seemed to have a stronger to much stronger adjustment.
Many people do not like to be inconvenienced in any way. We have foods that take a minute or two in the microwave, rather than prep and an hour in the oven. Our time is precious, we only waste it on things we want to waste it on. We drive too fast because we have to be somewhere. We are important, we have a big title or own a house big enough to house 20 – easily. Or both. When we say sick, it implies that we will be inconvenienced, and that alone will stop some from getting the shot. How many here said they had no reaction, half?
I think we’d do better if we didn’t say we got sick because we really didn’t. We adjusted to a vaccine. That’s not a negative. That’s not being sick.
Another Scott
Clever – White House using Tinder, etc, to encourage vaccination.
https://reut.rs/3falMyI
Cheers,
Scott.