COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Zohranism is OUR future]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

[MATTROSE94]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

I agree. I was in NYC a month ago and pretty much every place checked my vaccine status. It wasn’t a big deal at all considering that I have my vaccine card stored in a phone app. I feel that vaccine mandates are much preferable to mask mandates. Besides, it is also funny seeing MAGA supporters get triggered by vaccine mandates.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

If Biden wants to voluntarily wear a mask, he should absolutely do so.  And he should continue to encourage people to wear masks if they are vulnerable or they are feeling sick.

But he needs to drop the mask mandates.  Eliminating them at the federal level would set a good example for local governments to move away from their mandates.

Also, we need to stop counting deaths of unvaccinated adults as covid deaths.  These are suicides.

[Aurelius]

Some interesting news out of California.

https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2022/02/endemic-covid-california-strategy/

[Mr. Illini]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

Restaurants and their representatives have been asking for it due to the burden of enforcing it, especially amidst staffing shortages.

Worth noting that it is also in effect at the county level here, and the Cook Co President has not spoken about whether she will roll it back at that level.

[MATTROSE94]

Some interesting news out of California.

https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2022/02/endemic-covid-california-strategy/

Interesting. I thought California was eying a Zero COVID strategy instead.

[Zohranism is OUR future]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

Restaurants and their representatives have been asking for it due to the burden of enforcing it, especially amidst staffing shortages.

Worth noting that it is also in effect at the county level here, and the Cook Co President has not spoken about whether she will roll it back at that level.

Thank you that makes sense.

[compucomp]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

This blows my mind. Vaccine mandates force people to get an injection (and forced me to take time off work due to the side effects), and to be enforced requires checking of vax cards and IDs or scanning QR codes, effectively adding a layer of "papers please" government surveillance everywhere. And you're arguing that mask mandates are interfering with people's lives when vaccine mandates don't? Masks actually make it HARDER for the government to track your actions!

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

https://twitter.com/kelleykga/status/1490074005541466113

https://twitter.com/KelleyKga/status/1490108637058150403#m

These photos are dystopian: The charismatic leader greeting the faceless masses!

I don't know how politicians who do this can live with themselves. Maybe it's just a lack of self-awareness, but even that says a great deal about them, i.e. that special treatment is such an entitlement to be unworthy of notice.

Let me emphasize that these were photo-ops. This isn't just an incidental capture of a day in the life. They reflect how her campaign wants her to be portrayed.

Skill and Chance was right we should have ran McBath

[Trump Is A Maoist]

Okay so, they're probably planning to lift it in the spring/summer if it becomes reasonable to do so, with the emphasized statement to the public that "you should expect a very realistic chance of it returning in the fall / winter but we'll see how things evolve between now and then".

Sounds... about right?

It should never be brought back, period.

Making definite statements about how safety protocols should be in the future despite not knowing what the conditions could be is foolish.

You would support seasonal mask mandates? Between this and permanent mask mandates, it's alarming to me that so many people are willing to accept a change such as this. But I've been predicting that this would be the case for some time now.

What I outlined was 2022 (one year), where Massachusetts might say "we are anticipating COVID to get bad in the autumn/winter, so we're just giving you a heads up that there MIGHT be a mask mandate coming up, unless we're wrong or unless science develops further and we can deal with this differently". That's not the same as a seasonal mask mandate. What I outlined, I would support, for sure.

EDIT - and I also want to add, you used the phrase "accept a change such as this". COVID has changed things forever, at least in small ways that we might not have to think about 99% of the time. Change has been thrust upon us. There is no option where we get to not accept any change. It's a done deal. Now that it's a done deal, and this reality is different than the reality of 3 years ago, I might be open-minded to making some other small change, part time (during a COVID surge for example) if it benefits myself and society.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

Restaurants and their representatives have been asking for it due to the burden of enforcing it, especially amidst staffing shortages.

Worth noting that it is also in effect at the county level here, and the Cook Co President has not spoken about whether she will roll it back at that level.

It's hilarious, I've sat down at about 8 bars/restaurants this month that didn't even ask and the remaining ones barely look two seconds at a blurry phone photo. Chinatown is especially amazing!

[Hammy]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

Their move here proves that the entirety of Dems' behavior is based on horribly misguided optics rather than any sound reasoning.

[Raccoon]

You would think after record snow fall in various parts of the country over the past couple of months that you can not always eat outside.

***prior to vaccines I tended to oppose indoor dining as there was not "safe" way to eat indoors at that time. Take your mask off when eating? Covid droplets do not stop just because you are eating. lmaooooooo

[Migrant Crime]

Something that should have been done in March 2020.  It has taken nearly two years for officials to show an interest in having accurate hospitalization data.

https://twitter.com/ErinBanco/status/1490811184983031809

[compucomp]

Something that should have been done in March 2020.  It has taken nearly two years for officials to show an interest in having accurate hospitalization data.

https://twitter.com/ErinBanco/status/1490811184983031809

Biden officials are conducting a national review of hospitalization data to determine how many individuals sought care for Covid-19 and unrelated reasons during the peak of the Omicron spread. In one CDC report published last week, a California hospital found that 80 percent of its patients came into the facility for Covid-19 and 20 percent were admitted “primarily for non–COVID-19 conditions.”

So take a 20% haircut on the COVID hospitalization numbers, it's still far in excess of the seasonal flu. When this study concludes and it turns out this isn't the silver bullet you were looking for, what will be your next Trumpian ploy to try to convince people that COVID is not a threat? Claim that the hospitals are all in on a conspiracy to over-report COVID numbers to cheat the government for money?

[GregTheGreat657]

https://abc7ny.com/vaccine-mandate-brooklyn-bridge-march-mask-appeal/11543304/

[GregTheGreat657]

Anyone who mandates masks should be required to name criteria that would have to be met in order to lift the mandate, at the time the mandate is put into effect

[Trump Is A Maoist]

Anyone who mandates masks should be required to name criteria that would have to be met in order to lift the mandate, at the time the mandate is put into effect

Governments shouldn't be forced to change their policies to make conspiracy theorists more comfortable.

[GregTheGreat657]

Anyone who mandates masks should be required to name criteria that would have to be met in order to lift the mandate, at the time the mandate is put into effect

Governments shouldn't be forced to change their policies to make conspiracy theorists more comfortable.

This would increase transparency, as with the status-quo it is pretty obvious that mandates are largely just off of politicians' whims, regardless of how much they say, they are "following the science"

[Mr. Illini]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

This blows my mind. Vaccine mandates force people to get an injection (and forced me to take time off work due to the side effects), and to be enforced requires checking of vax cards and IDs or scanning QR codes, effectively adding a layer of "papers please" government surveillance everywhere. And you're arguing that mask mandates are interfering with people's lives when vaccine mandates don't? Masks actually make it HARDER for the government to track your actions!

The anti-vax, pro-mask left strikes again

[Zohranism is OUR future]

Anyone who mandates masks should be required to name criteria that would have to be met in order to lift the mandate, at the time the mandate is put into effect

I actually agree. That way the logic is consistent.

[compucomp]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

This blows my mind. Vaccine mandates force people to get an injection (and forced me to take time off work due to the side effects), and to be enforced requires checking of vax cards and IDs or scanning QR codes, effectively adding a layer of "papers please" government surveillance everywhere. And you're arguing that mask mandates are interfering with people's lives when vaccine mandates don't? Masks actually make it HARDER for the government to track your actions!

The anti-vax, pro-mask left strikes again

I'm so anti-vaccine that last April I spent hours sitting on tracker sites trying to find open appointments in 3 states, and last fall I got a booster before I was even supposed to get one. I believe in defenses in depth and the vaccine is much better than nothing. But to say that the vaccine mandate is a frictionless mitigation that doesn't affect daily life, when it involves getting an injection that essentially causes COVID for a day, and adds a huge layer of "papers please" surveillance everywhere, while the mask mandate is a cumbersome mitigation that substantially affects daily life, is like saying the sun rises in the west. I support vaccine mandates, but there is a quite strong argument against vaccine mandates on privacy grounds, while the argument against mask mandates is "they look funny" and "they feel uncomfortable". There's a reason vaccine mandates run 10 points behind mask mandates in every poll, multiple Democratic politicians have openly criticized vaccine mandates as unjust while none have criticized mask mandates like that, and all 50 states have had a mask mandate.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

This blows my mind. Vaccine mandates force people to get an injection (and forced me to take time off work due to the side effects), and to be enforced requires checking of vax cards and IDs or scanning QR codes, effectively adding a layer of "papers please" government surveillance everywhere. And you're arguing that mask mandates are interfering with people's lives when vaccine mandates don't? Masks actually make it HARDER for the government to track your actions!

The anti-vax, pro-mask left strikes again

I'm so anti-vaccine that last April I spent hours sitting on tracker sites trying to find open appointments in 3 states, and last fall I got a booster before I was even supposed to get one. I believe in defenses in depth and the vaccine is much better than nothing. But to say that the vaccine mandate is a frictionless mitigation that doesn't affect daily life, when it involves getting an injection that essentially causes COVID for a day, and adds a huge layer of "papers please" surveillance everywhere, while the mask mandate is a cumbersome mitigation that substantially affects daily life, is like saying the sun rises in the west. I support vaccine mandates, but there is a quite strong argument against vaccine mandates on privacy grounds, while the argument against mask mandates is "they look funny" and "they feel uncomfortable". There's a reason vaccine mandates run 10 points behind mask mandates in every poll, multiple Democratic politicians have openly criticized vaccine mandates as unjust while none have criticized mask mandates like that, and all 50 states have had a mask mandate.

The last part is completely untrue.  Several red states never had statewide mask mandates.  Tennessee never did (my county technically did for a few months, but it was never really enforced).

[Not Me, Us]

Why remove vax mandates? Mask mandates I get, but vax mandates aren't at all interfering with anyone's lives.

This blows my mind. Vaccine mandates force people to get an injection (and forced me to take time off work due to the side effects), and to be enforced requires checking of vax cards and IDs or scanning QR codes, effectively adding a layer of "papers please" government surveillance everywhere. And you're arguing that mask mandates are interfering with people's lives when vaccine mandates don't? Masks actually make it HARDER for the government to track your actions!

The anti-vax, pro-mask left strikes again

I'm so anti-vaccine that last April I spent hours sitting on tracker sites trying to find open appointments in 3 states, and last fall I got a booster before I was even supposed to get one. I believe in defenses in depth and the vaccine is much better than nothing. But to say that the vaccine mandate is a frictionless mitigation that doesn't affect daily life, when it involves getting an injection that essentially causes COVID for a day, and adds a huge layer of "papers please" surveillance everywhere, while the mask mandate is a cumbersome mitigation that substantially affects daily life, is like saying the sun rises in the west. I support vaccine mandates, but there is a quite strong argument against vaccine mandates on privacy grounds, while the argument against mask mandates is "they look funny" and "they feel uncomfortable". There's a reason vaccine mandates run 10 points behind mask mandates in every poll, multiple Democratic politicians have openly criticized vaccine mandates as unjust while none have criticized mask mandates like that, and all 50 states have had a mask mandate.

Maybe it did for you, but that is nowhere near a universal experience. I had no side effects beyond a sore arm for all three shots. And "surveillance"? Please. The government isn't the one enforcing a vaxx mandate, it's the stores/restaurants themselves, and nobody is surveilling anyone. Showing a picture of your vaxx card before going into a bar is not 1984.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Anyone who mandates masks should be required to name criteria that would have to be met in order to lift the mandate, at the time the mandate is put into effect

The state of Nevada did specify criteria for lifiting the Las Vegas (i.e. Clark County) mandate.  But they set the case rate criteria so high that I don’t see it being met for years.  That’s not to say LV will have a mandate for years, just that they will almost certainly need to override their own criteria to do so.