D&D and the rising pandemic

[Deset Gled]

It's just that getting a vaccine for the flu, the normal one, is a foolish decision.

1. No.

2. You are aware that there isn't a COVID-19 vaccine yet, right?

 

[Protonicmass]

1. No.

2. You are aware that there isn't a COVID-19 vaccine yet, right?

1. Yes.

2. Oh, there is probably a dozen vaccines, they just haven't been fully tested or released yet.

 

[Protonicmass]

1. No.

2. You are aware that there isn't a COVID-19 vaccine yet, right?

I'm not saying that nobody can ever get a vaccine, or that all vaccines are bad, or that the creation of vaccines was harmful. But

1. Most vaccines are made from aborted babies.
2. Side effects! A lot of vaccines just aren't worth it.
3. Sometimes, you need to just soldier through a disease, like I do with the flu. Your body will build antibodies, and strengthen your immune system. If you vaccinate, your body will never learn to fight it.

 

[Umbran]

Wait a minute... Is this thread actually allowed to exist? I thought politics and religion were out of the question, arguing about COVID doesn't seem like a good discussion for a gaming forum.

The virus dosn't give a fetid dingo's kidney what political party you're part of.

 

[Protonicmass]

The virus dosn't give a fetid dingo's kidney what political party you're part of.

I knew that, thank you for the kind words.

 

[Protonicmass]

The virus dosn't give a fetid dingo's kidney what political party you're part of.

What I meant was, whether it was an appropriate topic. According to the rules. Politics starts up heated arguments. Religion starts up heated arguments. So it would seem that the pandemic, which effects some badly, and some not at all, might be given the same treatment.

 

[Umbran]

1. Most vaccines are made from aborted babies.

There's at least five vaccines that are being developed using cell lines developed from fetal tissue, yes. But do note that the two lines being used were started in 1972 and 1985, and cultured since that time. These cell lines are older than many of our posters. They are not using recent tissues for development or production. That's not how the process works.

2. Side effects! A lot of vaccines just aren't worth it.

Commonly available vaccines do not have common side effects that are worse than the diseases they prevent. You may find an occasional individual who turns up to be allergic. And vaccines activate your immune system, so sometimes you'll feel some symptoms associated with that process. But vaccines are tested for safety.

3. Sometimes, you need to just soldier through a disease, like I do with the flu. Your body will build antibodies, and strengthen your immune system. If you vaccinate, your body will never learn to fight it.

You have this exactly backwards.

A vaccine presents useful proteins from a virus to your immune system. An effective vaccine teaches your immune system how to fight the disease, build its antibodies and teach its immune system cells, just like the virus were present (or better, in some cases) without having to actually catch the disease! This is the entire purpose of a vaccine.

 

[Umbran]

Mod Note:

It turns out that Protonicmass here was an alt account for someone banned from the boards several times over. They'll not be continuing in this discussion, or any others. We advise you to not reply to their contributions.

 

[Cadence]

So, our local district started off with either having: (a) 2 days on 3 virtual or (b) all 5 virtual. Beginning November 12th they're hoping to have some of the grades (including the one directly impacting our family) go back to 5-day a week live. This hinges on the state DHEC (Department of Health and Environmental Control) having our county rated low at the board meeting on the 27th this month, and staying there until it starts.

Luckily, our state health folks seem to be not being coerced into doing anything with the numbers (the governor just ignores them if he wants to do something else, and has foisted most things onto the municipalities for decision making) and our state numbers aren't horrific (rt.live has had us sub-1 since late June, and our new cases have been pretty steady since mid August (a bit under 1k/day) with deaths treanding down since July. The 35k University in town is down to 46 active cases (doing about 3k tests per week) from a peak of around 1400.

So, if we were New Zealand we'd have all been on total lockdown for a while... but at least we don't seem to be Wisconsin. My son isn't particularly amused about going back - but I'm not sure how much of that is worry and how much is the comfort of being home. (He's enjoyed going to scouts live the last two weeks - outside, or heavily ventilated garage, everyone in masks, <10 people).

Anyway, the D&D with his friends is staying on-line.
Our FLGS has started opening three nights a week for MtG (limited seating, masks). I've been in to buy, but am playing that online too.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm not saying that nobody can ever get a vaccine, or that all vaccines are bad, or that the creation of vaccines was harmful. But

1. Most vaccines are made from aborted babies.
2. Side effects! A lot of vaccines just aren't worth it.
3. Sometimes, you need to just soldier through a disease, like I do with the flu. Your body will build antibodies, and strengthen your immune system. If you vaccinate, your body will never learn to fight it.

1) Factually incorrect. Most are made from killed or weakened versions od the pathogen they are designed to fight against.

2) While side effects exist, vaccines have to go through multiple phases of testing to reach the public. Dangerous ones don’t make it, generally, unless there are long term effects that wouldn’t have shown up during the relatively short test period OR due to interactions with other substances that couldn’t be simulated under lab conditions.

3) Factually incorrect. See #1 above- the nature of most vaccines dictates the very mechanism by which most vaccines work is by training the body to produce antibodies against a given pathogen.