COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[GoTfan]

A few weeks from now, there’s a good chance that those saying that Europe did so much better then the US at controlling the virus are going to look like Ron DeSantis bragging about how Florida responded better New York.

Spain has gone from averaging 300 cases/day a month ago to 2000 cases/day, and it looks like its second wave has just started growing.  Belgium, which already had the highest death rate in the world, has grown from 100 cases/day to 600 in the same time frame.  Even Germany has seen their cases double in the past two weeks.

Lockdowns do not prevent the spread of the virus, they just delay it.

Fair enough.
Lockdowns aren’t a strategy, they are a way of bringing cases down to the point you CAN have a good strategy.
If you are in a US or Italy situation, no amount of contact tracing will solve the issue.
I still would argue France and Germany did better than us, but Italy, Spain, and the UK are more debatable. However, combined those countries are doing better than us NOW.

Imho Vietnam is a good example of how we should have done things early on (although even they are going to have a wave soon)

If your idea of what needs to be done to control the pandemic is completely detached from any sort of empirical reality (you hold up Vietnam's response, while admitting they are going to have a wave soon; and you still praise European countries who have had comparatively more deaths that the U.S. despite even harsher lockdowns) then the "mask's off" that driving Americans into quarantine was always more about ideology to you than actual science.  

1. I said European countries are doing better right NOW. Funny how you couldn’t read the one word in all-caps. I guess I should have bolded it as well. They did worse in March, although some of that was just due to bad luck and lack of knowledge of the virus. They all still should have banned flights from China early on and enforced masks everywhere back when there were only a few hundred cases.
2. Vietnam is a developing country and I do think developing countries will have a much more difficult time controlling Covid, and they have thus far been successful. Also, a Vietnamese “wave” would be wonderful to have now in the US. Maybe you should look at their numbers thus far.
3. You want to talk about ideology?
You are the one who refuses to admit he was wrong before about certain things. You are the walking definition of an ideological hack these days. You take things out of context, you twist studies to fit your beliefs, and you are selectively illiterate whenever it’s convenient.
I oftentimes buck my own party, I even spoke out against BLM protests over virus concerns. But of course, anyone who even wants to admit this virus is dangerous is an ideological hack.

We are all goddamn tired of your “everything is okay” shtick. It may have been cute back in March but it sure as hell isn’t now that many people have seen firsthand just how bad this can be.

 I may be extreme in how I want to control the virus, but at least I have ideas that don’t involve burying my thick skull in the sand and pretending everything is alright.
You constantly talk about how keeping schools closed is bad for those in poverty while refusing to even talk about how a system which renders families unable to feed themselves at their house is an inherently flawed and dangerous system. You say masks are bad yet don’t want lockdowns either. There are hundreds of innovative solutions we can come up with that don’t involve f**king around and doing nothing.
Stop with your bs and for gods sake, stop taking my words out of context and at least try to think for about five seconds before posting.

Not saying I disagree, but Jesus Christ man, calm the f**k down.

[GoTfan]

Riot Police Arresting Melbourne Protestors

Lockdown Protest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvW4qCkgu6Y

I love the guy who said "In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ, He is coming for You".

I wonder what happens when a vengeful Jesus comes for you.

Just glad to see some freedom of expression....
for a limited period of time.

Good. They deserve to be arrested and charged.

[GoTfan]

The US is vaccinating people way too slowly. A top doctor says the federal government is to blame.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha, a top US doctor and the dean of Brown University School of Public Health, on Tuesday shared in a Twitter thread why he believed the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the US was flawed, and he said the issue begins with the federal government.

The US Food and Drug Administration in December authorised two different vaccines for COVID-19 — one created by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, and another created by Pfizer and BioNTech — for emergency use in the US.

While people across the US have already begun to receive the vaccine, a limited supply means the vaccine won’t be widely available to all who need it well into 2021, prolonging the pandemic that has so far killed more than 336,000 people in the US, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

According to an analysis published Tuesday by NBC News, at the current pace, it could take the US nearly a decade to vaccinate enough Americans to meaningfully bring the pandemic under control. The White House previously said it aimed to vaccinate 80% of Americans by the end of June, which would require more than 3 million vaccinations per day, according to the report. So far, the US has vaccinated just about 2 million people in 16 days.

More Trump administration incompetence, or a deliberate effort to sabotage the Biden administration at the cost of American lives? Given the last four years, either (or even both) seem plausible.

Flawed analysis by NBC.

It is unlikely that the aim was to vaccinate 80% of the US population by June, but rather 80% of the adult population, or around 200 million persons.

They also appear to be counting doses rather than persons vaccinated.

In essence they are projecting that initial doses will be administered for 21 days, and then for the next 21 days no first doses will be administered, as they go back and administer the second dose.

My impression was that the 80% of the population as a whole was a little unrealistic. 80% of the adult population sounds more reasonable.

We won't be achieving herd immunity for some time, but if we can get the rate of infection and death down, we might be able to return to a semi-normal.

[GoTfan]

We will have a day with over 300,000 infections in a single day, possibly 400,000.

Do. Not. Panic.

We will have to measure it by hospitalization and notable illness.

We are nearing final victory over the pandemic. The miracle of modern science has turned this into the cold/flu for everyone but the moron unvaccinateds. We cannot allow the public health goons and the Enemy of the People press to treat this like pre-vaccine covid. We need to all collectively stand up, live our lives, and return to normal.

In first world countries, sure.

All the variants are coming out of third world countries.

[GoTfan]

To anyone who says this pandemic is nearly over, I'd encourage you to look at vaccination rates in places like Nigeria.

[GoTfan]

To anyone who says this pandemic is nearly over, I'd encourage you to look at vaccination rates in places like Nigeria.

The issue in Africa is not lack of vaccine supply, it's lack of vaccine demand and poor infrastructure for delivering them. Multiple articles have come out about this, saying that 45% of the vaccines delivered to Africa have not been administered, SA asked vaccine companies to halt shipments, etc. This is a talking point that seriously needs to die.

If you think that, then I honestly think you might be a little sociopathic. Variants are going to emerge in places where less vaccines are available.

Unless you're okay with Africa being a COVID petri dish for the next twenty years or so, which i can only assume you and anyone who recommended your comment are.

[GoTfan]

The last few pages are seemingly an exercise in collective sociopathy and lack of any coherent idea part from rubbishing anyone who says that restrictions are still necessary, even if the evidence backs them up.

[GoTfan]

The last few pages are seemingly an exercise in collective sociopathy and lack of any coherent idea part from rubbishing anyone who says that restrictions are still necessary, even if the evidence backs them up.

So I see we've reached the point where the zero COVID crowd just calls anyone who understands transmissibility and basic science a sociopath.

Waah! I don't want to wear a tiny bit of cloth on my face! Waah!

[GoTfan]

https://twitter.com/gregggonsalves/status/1552296188514369548?s=20&t=plhFYRO...

The article discusses COVID as well as America's failure at healthcare in general.

The concluding lines of the article sum it all up pretty well:

We have no interest in combating this pandemic any longer, nor do we really show any ambition in American competitiveness in saving lives overall. We are happy to live with death. It’s the American way of life.

I am sure you and I can agree on that the United States should have universal health care or at least a public option. I would accept the latter option as sufficient.

But unless we all hide inside the rest of our lives, there is no way to avoid covid. So there is no point in trying to avoid it.

https://twitter.com/AlanBixter/status/1552969138796396545?t=umfSpvBS-_K8jtAVV44_...