It's not that recent as disease and pestilence have been the norm in human history. To have ships on quarantine for example is an age old way fight diseases.The belief that we could control a virus by controlling human beings is only the most recent mistake of man’s hubris. — NOS4A2
I think it's because a lot of vaccines do result in herd immunity that a lot of people assumed this would be the case as well. — Benkei
Enough people couldn't have vaccinated early on, even if they wanted to, because there wasn't enough of the vaccine, and in many countries, there still isn't. Like India, where Delta is from.The original data showed that the vaccines had an effective rate in the 90+%, J and J slightly lower. Had enough people vaccinated, covid as it existed then would have been eradicated. — Hanover
Oh god. Millenia of philosophy down the drain.The reintroduction of masks and threats of shut down are caused by the irrational decision of the anti-vax people, who have convinced themselves that their right to die of the delta variant is sacred. If I were permitted to let you die and not be forced to heroically exhaust common resources to treat you, I'd buy into your Randian libertarian wet dream and let God sort out your bad decisions. But we don't live by that ethic today. If today's ethics require I protect against Darwin, they require you play along too.
Enough people couldn't have vaccinated early on, even if they wanted to, because there wasn't enough of the vaccine, and in many countries, there still isn't. Like India, where Delta is from — baker
god. Millenia of philosophy down the drain. — baker
And yet you provide no philosophy at all, just a lament your excuses aren't taken seriously. — Hanover
Hospitals are starting to mandate vaccination. Mine has, and we're discovering who was never vaccinated, so who was potentially exposing old people to Covid19 unnecessarily (while passing out Ativan). — frank
Which should come first safety or freedom of choice? — SteveMinjares
The reason for the masks (and eventual possible shutdowns) is to protect the unvaccinated. https://www.yahoo.com/news/nih-director-acknowledges-mask-mandates-141636429.html
That is, the very people hell bent on keeping the economy going and whining about masking are the cause of the interruptions with the economy and the cause for increased masking.
This isn't a right versus left battle. It's an irresponsible/ignorant versus responsible/informed battle, with the former wanting to protect their right to be irrational. — Hanover
At what point should we wait till we decide that safety takes precedence over freedom of choice? — SteveMinjares
The lunatic anti-vax, anti-mask fringe have blood on their hands in this matter. — Wayfarer
Engaging in discussions about the validity of complementary or even contradictory inferences can support an effective response. However, it is not feasible to engage meaningfully within 280 characters or if value judgments are ascribed to only certain positions. Public health means that the consensus view may have blindspots, so we must encourage healthy debate and dialogue. Debate was stifled during covid-19 in the name of fear. We witnessed social media platforms censoring scientific views and positions, only later to rescind those bans (e.g. the lab leak hypothesis). But equally we have seen misinformation proliferate on social media platforms. How to manage, foster, and regulate social media businesses must be part of future disaster planning.
Public health means going on TV and saying that the Governor is failing, not that people are failing. Yet, over and over, we heard experts lament that it was private gatherings and bad people, and not bad systems and weak leadership that failed. The inattention to the structural and network risks including structural racism that increased risks for some and not others is antithetical to public health. Shame-based messaging has no role in a pandemic. — Monica Gandhi, Vinay Prasad, and Stefan Baral writing in the BMJ
Which should come first safety or freedom of choice? — SteveMinjares
Overblown hysteria. The media have nothing better to report, and what better to draw attention than pretending there's a crisis.
The coronavirus has killed about 2,700 people so far. The flu kills roughly 60,000-70,000 people each year. — Tzeentch
As of March 11, 2021, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, the Covid-19 coronavirus has resulted in over 118.0 million reported Covid-19 cases and over 2.6 million deaths worldwide. The U.S. has had by far the most reported Covid-19 cases with over 29.1 million and the most reported Covid-19 deaths at over 529,000.
What say you? — Roger Gregoire
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