D&D and the rising pandemic

[Maxperson]

Probably. And the CDC undoubtedly knows that. They will have crunched the numbers before giving the guidance. Crunching such numbers is, in fact, part of their job.

Conscientious people will continue to wear masks until they get vaccinated.

Unconscientious people... were already going unmasked in large numbers. Which probably makes the point moot.

Already here in California Trader Joes which was requiring everyone to be masked, including those who otherwise would not wear them, has said that they will not require masks for anyone vaccinated, but won't check to make sure that anyone not wearing a mask has proof of vaccination.

I think in the midwest what you say is more accurate. Here the anti-vaxxers who all wore masks when they went inside, will now take them off.

 

[Maxperson]

“"The vast majority of the data that's coming out — and what we're seeing anecdotally on the ground, taking care of patients — is that individuals who get COVID after they've been vaccinated, as long as they're not immunocompromised, they get really mild disease and they have such low viral loads that they're not passing it on to their family members," Landon says.”

How immunocompromised? Is diabetes enough?

 

[Umbran]

Now, a lot more folks will be maskless in public, so it'll be basically impossible to tell the difference between "unmasked because vaccinated" and "unvaccinated and never wanted to mask in the first place". And businesses etc. will be under pressure to drop restrictions (though odds are many will keep them for staff).

I understand that.

The CDC understands that.

How many times does this need to be repeated? None of this is novel. You have not uncovered some loophole that the best minds in epidemiology somehow failed to consider.

A thing we really ought to consider - this thread has, for a year now, been loaded with gripes about people ignoring the science. But now, when what the science says doesn't fit our non-expert opinions, we reject it? Here we are, quoting the CDC reports, the New York Times and other reputable news sources, but... nope. Not accepted. We construct justifications why the people who know and do the science every day... are wrong.

We, as a world, have been working through a year of anxiety and pressure. We had expectations. Things that defy our expectations cause more anxiety. And that anxiety... results in just the patterns I noted above.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Detecting at least some of the anti-maskers will be easy enough- wear a mask in their presence, and theyll be struggling NOT to confront you.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The NY Yankees had a cluster of players & personnel who seem to have had breakthrough C19 cases, but from what I’ve seen on the story, there’s nobody suggesting any of the passed it along to anyone else, including each other. IOW, despite the cluster, its coincidental.

In addition, all of the cases seem to be mild or asymptomatic.

New York Yankees say 8 vaccinated members tested positive for Covid-19. Here's how that could happen | CNN

The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 72% effective against Covid-19 among US trial participants and 85% effective against severe Covid-19. But even if you get Covid-19 after being vaccinated, your symptoms will likely be far less severe.

www.cnn.com

 

[Zardnaar]

I understand that.

The CDC understands that.

How many times does this need to be repeated? None of this is novel. You have not uncovered some loophole that the best minds in epidemiology somehow failed to consider.

A thing we really ought to consider - this thread has, for a year now, been loaded with gripes about people ignoring the science. But now, when what the science says doesn't fit our non-expert opinions, we reject it? Here we are, quoting the CDC reports, the New York Times and other reputable news sources, but... nope. Not accepted. We construct justifications why the people who know and do the science every day... are wrong.

We, as a world, have been working through a year of anxiety and pressure. We had expectations. Things that defy our expectations cause more anxiety. And that anxiety... results in just the patterns I noted above.

CDC and some if the people in it have said some fairly stupid things along with Fauci.

For me it has no relevance not American and our Director General if Health and Ministry of Health seems a bit more clued up.

My American friends have essentially said you're not going to be able to tell whose vaccinated or not and now the shops aren't going to bother enforcing mask wearing in a country with fairly minimal civic duty towards your fellow humans.

Even if they required the vaccination cards you can buy them in eBay.

 

[JEB]

A thing we really ought to consider - this thread has, for a year now, been loaded with gripes about people ignoring the science. But now, when what the science says doesn't fit our non-expert opinions, we reject it? Here we are, quoting the CDC reports, the New York Times and other reputable news sources, but... nope. Not accepted. We construct justifications why the people who know and do the science every day... are wrong.

While I take your point, I'd also point out that early in the pandemic, the CDC and other health authorities told us not to wear face masks... but later changed their mind and endorsed them. What if they change their mind again, too late to stop other negative consequences of this policy?

There's also a world of difference between questioning health advice that's inconvenient for individuals but protective of the populace at large, and questioning health advice that's convenient for individuals but increases risk to the populace at large.

I understand the deep desire for folks to get back to a semblance of normalcy... but even if the science doesn't strictly require it, I think it would have been wiser to continue recommending masking, until we reached peak immunization numbers. It's not a big thing to ask of people, and it could significantly increase our odds of keeping Covid under control. But it's too late now...

 

[Umbran]

The NY Yankees had a cluster of players & personnel who seem to have had breakthrough C19 cases, but from what I’ve seen on the story, there’s nobody suggesting any of the passed it along to anyone else, including each other. IOW, despite the cluster, its coincidental.

And, even if they had passed it among themselves, their situation as an athletic team - sharing spaces of intense physical workouts for long periods, over weeks, for example - make them a rather particular case that would not speak to the day-to-day action of most folks.

 

[Maxperson]

And, even if they had passed it among themselves, their situation as an athletic team - sharing spaces of intense physical workouts for long periods, over weeks, for example - make them a rather particular cases that would not speak to the day-to-day action of most folks.

They were also all using Johnson and Johnson, and it's only 65% effective at keeping people from getting the virus.

 

[KainGuru]

In terms of Covid and gaming - what a total BS year. My experience has, being a font line worker in the UK, going into lockdown at work March 2020, having to shield when at home so as not to bring the virus into work or vice versa, last saw 2 of my gaming group 3 months ago for the first time since March 2020 - at the from the bottom of their steps because they their mother lives with them and she's high risk. Another member of our gaming group unexpectedly died (not covid) which meant, due to limited funeral attendance numbers, seeing one other member of our group since March 2020. Due to the front line demands of covid at work not taking any annual leave for over 12 months (nowhere to go even if I did) and being too stressed when not at work to arrange any online substitute gaming - and the lack of gaming, as my usual stress reliever, making everything a s**t cake. BUT I did finish my 28mm scale SeaGhost, prep a one Judge Dredd/Alien mash up One Shot for when 'we' can all meet again and printed a s**t ton of scenery for my, still unplayed because it was released during lockdown, copy of the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game.

So, in summation, a bad year for gaming for many.

.... and now the UK is being prepped for more bad news as the India variant starts to become problematic .... smart money (as an inside word from the Health Dept epidemiologists) says we are going to get another surge of infections in about 2 weeks for many reasons too long to list.

TL;DR: blurgh, just needed to vent somewhere