COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Person Man]

Australia (NSW and VIC) just had the highest two days of infections since the outbreak began.

We have about 4-6 weeks to wait before the warm weather comes back and the vaccinations start to take effect.

It will be interesting to find out if natural immunity to COVID-19 is more long lasting than Pfizer, Moderna or Astra Zeneca.

The people who have already been infected will be OK.

People who are vaccinated will be OK.

And then the humid Australian summer massively reduces transmission rates outdoors.

The weather at first helped and Florida but now it’s not.

[It’s so Joever]

There isn’t a good choice for the Biden administration here. Unlike last year, shutdowns are not justified given the existence of the vaccine, but he challenge is still getting people to take it. As much as I want a vaccine mandate, it wouldn’t work.

It’s time to consider a reverse disinformation campaign with Facebook and YouTube. The idea is to argue that liberals made the Delta variant and/or that the liberals want to discredit the Trump vaccine to keep masks forever. It’s not ethical, but it’s probably one of the more effective ways at doing this.

[Roll Roons]

https://twitter.com/accnetwork/status/1433916233599143944

Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

[GeorgiaModerate]

This is one of the best responses on this topic I've seen:

https://twitter.com/sciencemonkeyca/status/1433971196157173762

[Person Man]

https://twitter.com/accnetwork/status/1433916233599143944

Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

This is what you can do with a vaccine mandate.

[compucomp]

snipped tweet

Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

[Roll Roons]

https://twitter.com/accnetwork/status/1433916233599143944
Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

Guess what? People die in car accidents. People die from bee stings. People die from alcohol poisoning. People die from falling down stairs. Risk is inherently a part of life.

[compucomp]

https://twitter.com/accnetwork/status/1433916233599143944
Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

Guess what? People die in car accidents. People die from bee stings. People die from alcohol poisoning. People die from falling down stairs. Risk is inherently a part of life.

Then you should not oppose public health officials when they say large gatherings are still unsafe and that people should stay away. They are informing the public of the risk so that each person can make his/her own decision. The social distancing restrictions are gone. People are free to attend the football game if they want.

But it seems you want to silence the voices that will inform the public of the risk and instead claim that the event is safe; you're basically a Trumpist with that kind of logic.

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

There isn’t a good choice for the Biden administration here. Unlike last year, shutdowns are not justified given the existence of the vaccine, but he challenge is still getting people to take it. As much as I want a vaccine mandate, it wouldn’t work.

It’s time to consider a reverse disinformation campaign with Facebook and YouTube. The idea is to argue that liberals made the Delta variant and/or that the liberals want to discredit the Trump vaccine to keep masks forever. It’s not ethical, but it’s probably one of the more effective ways at doing this.

At this point, I don't think there is really much more that can be done other than to embrace the carnage. Try and look on the bright side. At least most of the anti-vaxxers who are dying are Republicans. So while it is sad when anyone dies needlessly, at least over the long run this will mean fewer Republican votes.

https://www.sorryantivaxxer.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/HermanCainAward/

https://hermancainmedal.com/

https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/herman-cain-awards

So tbh the best thing - not purely out of desperation/resignation at there being nothing else you can really do - but also if you genuinely want there to be fewer deaths, may well be to gloat at the deaths, because if Conservatives see a huge number of progressives gloating at how all the Republicans are dying, then they might take the vaccine just in order to prevent progressives from being able to continue to gloat. Sounds sort of like a way to own the libs. Maybe the new Conservative boomer facebook meme could be something like: Ha, take that lib, I got vaxxed, didn't die!

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

snipped tweet

Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

This is my school!  As I mentioned earlier, we have a vaccine mandate and a test positivity of 1.3%.
 And it is an -outdoor- event!  This is -not- a high risk activity.

[ProudModerate2]

snipped tweet

Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

This is my school!  As I mentioned earlier, we have a vaccine mandate and a test positivity of 1.3%.
 And it is an -outdoor- event!  This is -not- a high risk activity.

Want to mention that just because it's "an outdoor event" doesn't make it safe and remove all "risk."
These people are shoulder to shoulder and screaming.

[ProudModerate2]

Video: Tucker Carlson defends fake vaccine cards.

Click here to watch ... https://us.cnn.com/videos/media/2021/09/04/tucker-carlson-fake-vaccine-cards-schaffner-nr-vpx.cnn

[AGA]

Why is the crowd at Virginia Tech such a surprise? Go to any college campus and see that people don't care anymore.

[Horus]

snipped tweet

Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

This is my school!  As I mentioned earlier, we have a vaccine mandate and a test positivity of 1.3%.
 And it is an -outdoor- event!  This is -not- a high risk activity.

Want to mention that just because it's "an outdoor event" doesn't make it safe and remove all "risk."
These people are shoulder to shoulder and screaming.

There's a vaccine mandate in place. Stop telling fully vaccinated Americans how to have fun.

[ProudModerate2]

snipped tweet

Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

This is my school!  As I mentioned earlier, we have a vaccine mandate and a test positivity of 1.3%.
 And it is an -outdoor- event!  This is -not- a high risk activity.

Want to mention that just because it's "an outdoor event" doesn't make it safe and remove all "risk."
These people are shoulder to shoulder and screaming.

There's a vaccine mandate in place. Stop telling fully vaccinated Americans how to have fun.

Where do you see me saying that people should "stop having fun"?
You constantly add BS to people comments, when there is no such words.

[Skill and Chance]

https://twitter.com/accnetwork/status/1433916233599143944
Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

Guess what? People die in car accidents. People die from bee stings. People die from alcohol poisoning. People die from falling down stairs. Risk is inherently a part of life.

We're in this weird intermediate state now.  My primary concern is keeping the rate of mutation slow enough that the vaccines still work reliably for a safe Thanksgiving dinner with grandma.

As I've said before, the big test will be whether COVID takes off in the Northeast between now and Thanksgiving.  If it does, I fear this is never really going to end.   

There has been something of a "wall" in VA  vs. all the surrounding Southern states exploding in cases.  If that's because of the higher vaccination rates, it would be great  news.  But it could also be seasonality or state level reporting effects (I recall VA conducted relatively few tests per capita for part of last year).

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

snipped tweet

Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

This is my school!  As I mentioned earlier, we have a vaccine mandate and a test positivity of 1.3%.
 And it is an -outdoor- event!  This is -not- a high risk activity.

Want to mention that just because it's "an outdoor event" doesn't make it safe and remove all "risk."
These people are shoulder to shoulder and screaming.

I didn’t say there was -no- risk.  Nothing is ever -no- risk.  I said it wasn’t high risk.  Vaccinated people socializing outside is not high risk. 

[Skill and Chance]

It's interesting how much lower vaccination rates are in Oregon and Colorado vs. most of the NE.  Are they running into the more traditional organic granola anti-vax types in Oregon?   

Florida continues to be the only above average Trump state.  Texas is getting close and had quite an upswing recently, so it might get there this month.

Virginia really stands out vs. the rest of the South, but VA doesn't provide county level data, so this could just be because the D.C. area is at 85% or something.

New Mexico has the most impressive performance outside of the NE states. 

South Dakota is doing way better than North Dakota.

Kentucky is doing particularly well compared to its neighbors.

[Person Man]

It's interesting how much lower vaccination rates are in Oregon and Colorado vs. most of the NE.  Are they running into the more traditional organic granola anti-vax types in Oregon?   

Florida continues to be the only above average Trump state.  Texas is getting close and had quite an upswing recently, so it might get there this month.

Virginia really stands out vs. the rest of the South, but VA doesn't provide county level data, so this could just be because the D.C. area is at 85% or something.

New Mexico has the most impressive performance outside of the NE states. 

South Dakota is doing way better than North Dakota.

Kentucky is doing particularly well compared to its neighbors.

Andy Beshear.

[It’s so Joever]

Latinos really are doing an amazing job with getting vaccinated and across the board. From Miami Dade, to the RGV and New Mexico, they have been doing really well. (And of course Puerto Rico)

[rosin]

Video: Tucker Carlson defends fake vaccine cards.

Click here to watch ... https://us.cnn.com/videos/media/2021/09/04/tucker-carlson-fake-vaccine-cards-schaffner-nr-vpx.cnn

He's behaving more and more like a cartoon villain.

[Hammy]

It's interesting how much lower vaccination rates are in Oregon and Colorado vs. most of the NE.  Are they running into the more traditional organic granola anti-vax types in Oregon?   

I suspect at least part of this lies in how hard hit the Northeast was in the first wave, especially New York.

[Skill and Chance]

It's interesting how much lower vaccination rates are in Oregon and Colorado vs. most of the NE.  Are they running into the more traditional organic granola anti-vax types in Oregon?   

Florida continues to be the only above average Trump state.  Texas is getting close and had quite an upswing recently, so it might get there this month.

Virginia really stands out vs. the rest of the South, but VA doesn't provide county level data, so this could just be because the D.C. area is at 85% or something.

New Mexico has the most impressive performance outside of the NE states. 

South Dakota is doing way better than North Dakota.

Kentucky is doing particularly well compared to its neighbors.

Andy Beshear.

Not sure about the Dem Gov explanation, considering Louisiana was one of the very lowest in the country until last month and lower than several of its neighbors.  Kansas and Nebraska are the same.
 NC is doing several % better than its neighbors, though, including Georgia.  So maybe?

Among Trump states, vaccination rates actually seem to be highest in the ones that took a completely hands-off approach to COVID (SD, FL, IA, TX recently).  Perhaps this scared people who were on the fence enough to go out and get the shot?  Some of the stricter R Governor Trump states (ID, IN, OH, WV) aren't doing well at all in vaccination rates.  OH is at 53% at least one shot while PA is at 70%!

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

As much as I hate to give Mitch McConnell credit for doing anything good... He did suffer from Polio as a child, and consequently is pretty pro-vaccine.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/28/mcconnell-to-run-pro-vaccine-ads-to-combat-misinformation/

His support for vaccination (including apparently running ads encouraging vaccination using his own campaign funds) might perhaps be helping persuade some Kentucky R voters who otherwise would not have been vaccinated.

[pbrower2a]

https://twitter.com/accnetwork/status/1433916233599143944
Resistance libs getting up in arms about this video without realizing that Virginia Tech has a vaccine mandate.

The stadium is open to the public, did they impose the mandate on everyone? Did they check the vaccine card at the door? I highly doubt it.

I didn't say the stadium should have been closed, there are economic costs to that which at this point nobody has the will to pay. But it's clearly a highly risky activity and people who want to avoid catching COVID-19 should stay away. It's entirely reasonable for public health officials to message against it and discourage people from attending. People who attend do so at their own risk, there are plenty of allowed activities that involve taking on personal risk.

Guess what? People die in car accidents. People die from bee stings. People die from alcohol poisoning. People die from falling down stairs. Risk is inherently a part of life.

Some risks are necessary and some are pointless. The best risk-takers are the ones capable of assessing how to mitigate risks or how to calculate risks better than some common wisdom. Consider the supposedly daring stunt of driving a vehicle from one ramp to another. As long as one has adequate speed while leaving one ramp and precise direction, one will get to the next ramp because gravity is highly predictable.