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Covid 19 Thread: [no bitching about masks of Fauci edition]

Jsisto

Member
Even if that was possible it would take too long with how drag ass the system works.


Luckily most business aren't that stupid and will most likely just continue their own versions of the mandate behind closed doors or will go back to how they operated before it. My boss sent out email when all this first made it to the SCOTUS to tell us that regardless of the outcome they will "expect" all current and future employees to be up to date on their vaccinations in order to maintain a safe and productive environment. I assume most large businesses (especially those that work in large office spaces with many employees) will do the same.
Highly doubt that will happen on a large scale. Without legal backing, they just open themselves up to lawsuits. The vast majority of companies have been operating under the assumption that this would happen. With it now settled, it's unlikely they'll risk it.
 

Nobody_Important

“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
Highly doubt that will happen on a large scale. Without legal backing, they just open themselves up to lawsuits. The vast majority of companies have been operating under the assumption that this would happen. With it now settled, it's unlikely they'll risk it.
Its wouldn't have to be official. The unvaccinated would just be let go for other reasons. Just like businesses were doing before there was a mandate.


If you intentionally make a stupid decision like that and then end up missing work or even worse infecting others and also making them miss work then you are not going to find yourself in a good position at a serious company.
 
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With the way omicron is, i am seeing school would be an extremly high risk area, thousands of kids in hallway with zero social distancing and no mask during lunch; yet official are claiming school is the safest place the lkids can be againist covid. Is that "really" true or it is all in the sake of economy?
 

p_xavier

Authorized Fister
With the way omicron is, i am seeing school would be an extremly high risk area, thousands of kids in hallway with zero social distancing and no mask during lunch; yet official are claiming school is the safest place the lkids can be againist covid. Is that "really" true or it is all in the sake of economy?
Mental health mostly.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
And people are still gonna whine, bitch, and moan about how Covid is still around and wonder why we keep getting variants. Clown shoes from the top down man lol

Hopefully businesses do the right thing and still optionally enforce some kind of internal policies when it comes to protecting themselves and their employees.

How many variants have arisen in the US?

The Australians tried the batten down the hatches approach, and it simply doesn't work. And if they can't do it basically on an island continent... where is it going to?

Covid zero is just not attainable when there are billions of people in the developing world who are likely to be never given access to vaccines due to them being patented for profit. How long did it take for Omicron to spread from its likely point of origin in Botswana to everywhere in the world?
 

The dissent contends that OSHA’s mandate is comparable to a fire or sanitation regulation imposed by the agency. See post, at 7–9. But a vaccine mandate is strikingly unlike the workplace regulations that OSHA has typically imposed. A vaccination, after all, “cannot be undone at the end of the workday.” In re MCP No. 165, 20 F. 4th, at 274 (Sutton, C. J., dissenting).


Also the 1905 ruling:
That opinion you need to know to determine if a covid vaccine mandate by state legislature would stand today or not.
 
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Jsisto

Member
Its wouldn't have to be official. The unvaccinated would just be let go for other reasons. Just like businesses were doing before there was a mandate.


If you intentionally make a stupid decision like that and then end up missing work or even worse infecting others and also making them miss work then you are not going to find yourself in a good position at a serious company.
In the short term, perhaps thats a possibility, but I think you're underestimating the business communities desire to move on from all this. Poor performing employees will be let go the way they always have. The way things are looking, it's reaching the point where this is completely endemic and it will be no different than if you infected all of your coworkers with the common cold. They might miss a day or two of work, but they won't be getting tested. Infections appear to be much milder, and naturally testing will sharply decline as a result. If this is the case, it will be as close to pre covid as we could hope to get. To be clear, I'm not saying this is for sure what's going to happen, no one can predict that for sure, but it certainly seems that way.
 
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Jsisto

Member
How many variants have arisen in the US?

The Australians tried the batten down the hatches approach, and it simply doesn't work. And if they can't do it basically on an island continent... where is it going to?

Covid zero is just not attainable when there are billions of people in the developing world who are likely to be never given access to vaccines due to them being patented for profit. How long did it take for Omicron to spread from its likely point of origin in Botswana to everywhere in the world?
That’s the type of COVID hysteria that I just don’t get. If you haven’t realized by now that zero COVID is an impossibility I don’t know what planet you’re living on. It will always be here and there will always be new emerging variants of varying severity, and let’s hope it stays on the milder trend. The argument of always wearing masks and seemingly endless booster shots/lockdowns may be scientifically sound to slow the spread and mitigate the rise of new variants…..but for a virus that appears to be here with us forever, at what point do we get off that train and learn to live with it. People cannot reasonably be expected to do this forever.
 
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Nobody_Important

“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
In the short term, perhaps thats a possibility, but I think you're underestimating the business communities desire to move on from all this. Poor performing employees will be let go the way they always have. The way things are looking, it's reaching the point where this is completely endemic and it will be no different than if you infected all of your coworkers with the common cold. They might miss a day or two of work, but they won't be getting tested. Infections appear to be much milder, and naturally testing will sharply decline as a result. If this is the case, it will be as close to pre covid as we could hope to get. To be clear, I'm not saying this is for sure what's going to happen, no one can predict that for sure, but it certainly seems that way.
No I agree that will likely be the route most take eventually. I am talking about how they will treat people are choosing to be unvaccinated for no legitimate reason (obviously medical reasons etc are not included).
 

Jsisto

Member
No I agree that will likely be the route most take eventually. I am talking about how they will treat people are choosing to be unvaccinated for no legitimate reason (obviously medical reasons etc are not included).
True, I can definately see certain companies, probably smaller scale ones without a legal or HR department to advise them, retaliate against unvaccinated employees. But without any legal standing, they do so at their own peril as that’s essentially discriminaction. They’ll have to do it the old fashioned way and fire them for unrelated reasons, which I’m sure was what you were insinuating. 😂. Still risky though.
 
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Hari Seldon

Member
True, I can definately see certain compansies, probably smaller scale ones without a legal or HR department to advise them, retaliate against unvaccinated employees. But without any legal standing, they do so at their own peril as that’s essentially discriminaction. They’ll have to do it the old fashioned way and fire them for unrelated reasons, which I’m sure was what you were insinuating. 😂. Still risky though.
Also, now that there is no mandate companies would be violating the law trying to ask people their medical history.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I like it for businesses. It varies on the type of business, but I don't think COVID is spreading primarily in businesses. And at least businesses have the option now to not to it if it's a situation where a mandate would drastically hurt their revenue and ability to stay afloat. And I think many will still do mandates anyway.
 

Jsisto

Member
I was just reading that the Biden admin is shifting to encouraging companies to institute their own mandates, in light of the Supreme Court ruling. Can anyone more knowledgeable than me shed light on if this is even legal? I just don’t see how, without a mandate, companies would be expected to do this without consequence. I guess the exception would be if there’s an individual state mandate in place, but for large national companies with a footprint all over the country, it seems like it would upon them up major legal issues and theyd rather not have to deal with that.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I was just reading that the Biden admin is shifting to encouraging companies to institute their own mandates, in light of the Supreme Court ruling. Can anyone more knowledgeable than me shed light on if this is even legal? I just don’t see how, without a mandate, companies would be expected to do this without consequence. I guess the exception would be if there’s an individual state mandate in place, but for large national companies with a footprint all over the country, it seems like it would upon them up major legal issues and theyd rather not have to deal with that.
Well, he's desperate. I don't think it' illegal to voice an opinion.

I never knew this 100 person vax mandate law was even being pushed. And good for it be smashed down.

What a stupid law. I'm all for vax, but for gov to try to get it mandated through business because they cant do it themselves goes to show what kind of desperation point they are at.

It doesn't even make sense either. If they are going to push mandated vaxxed workers it should be aimed at every worker, not just big company workers. And there's a big difference between service oriented businesses vs. let's say a large industrial repair plant. I'd rather mandate a mom and pop restaurant with 20 employees mingling and cooking food daily for 100s or 1000s of people vs. a 100 person plant fixing machinery where the only external interaction they get is the occasional trucker dropping off more broken gear (I know since I worked at one during university).
 

Jsisto

Member
Well, he's desperate. I don't think it' illegal to voice an opinion.

I never knew this 100 person vax mandate law was even being pushed. And good for it be smashed down.

What a stupid law. I'm all for vax, but for gov to try to get it mandated through business because they cant do it themselves goes to show what kind of desperation point they are at.

It doesn't even make sense either. If they are going to push mandated vaxxed workers it should be aimed at every worker, not just big company workers. And there's a big difference between service oriented businesses vs. let's say a large industrial repair plant. I'd rather mandate a mom and pop restaurant with 20 employees mingling and cooking food daily for 100s or 1000s of people vs. a 100 person plant fixing machinery where the only external interaction they get is the occasional trucker dropping off more broken gear (I know since I worked at one during university).
Yeah I hear ya, I meant from the companies standpoint, not saying that them suggesting it was illegal. But it does reek of desperation and I think it’s pretty unfair to try to pass the buck to companies who don’t have government lawyers at their disposal and would have to fend for themselves.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Yeah I hear ya, I meant from the companies standpoint, not saying that them suggesting it was illegal. But it does reek of desperation and I think it’s pretty unfair to try to pass the buck to companies who don’t have government lawyers at their disposal and would have to fend for themselves.
The law is so stupid the more I think of it.

If anything, if they were trying to push it and dont want to make it all workers, I'd say push it to service oriented businesses and ones that are LESS than 100 people. Smaller businesses will likely be more service/people oriented, while lots of large companies have tons of office and plant workers who dont interact much with the public.

And large companies already will have tons of new covid standards, WFH schedules, all kinds of renovated offices, hand sanitizer etc... My company even installed temperature check lasers. And if it shows you got a fever or whatever crap the sensor doesn't like, you cant even get past the main lobby. Large companies also have better health care benefits too. So even if someone does get sick, the employee is probably covered.

Small companies wont be as rigourous. And there's no way a lot of those sketchy shops do anything about covid. On a daily basis they cant even keep their shop floor or bathrooms clean to begin with. And if someone gets sick, good luck having great coverage or finding replacements workers. Large companies can absorb hits, small companies cant. So IMO it's more important for small fry companies to mandate first (if this law was going to get pushed through).
 
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Nobody_Important

“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
The law is so stupid the more I think of it.

If anything, if they were trying to push it and dont want to make it all workers, I'd say push it to service oriented businesses and ones that are LESS than 100 people. Smaller businesses will likely be more service/people oriented, while lots of large companies have tons of office and plant workers who dont interact much with the public.

And large companies already will have tons of new covid standards, WFH schedules, all kinds of renovated offices, hand sanitizer etc... My company even installed temperature check lasers. And if it shows you got a fever or whatever crap the sensor doesn't like, you cant even get past the main lobby. Large companies also have better health care benefits too. So even if someone does get sick, the employee is probably covered.

Small companies wont be as rigourous. And there's no way a lot of those sketchy shops do anything about covid. On a daily basis they cant even keep their shop floor or bathrooms clean to begin with. And if someone gets sick, good luck having great coverage or finding replacements workers. Large companies can absorb hits, small companies cant. So IMO it's more important for small fry companies to mandate first (if this law going to get pushed through).
It's not just about interacting with the public though. It's about interacting with each other as well. Getting coworkers sick or them getting you sick. That leads to decreased productivity at a time where we already have shortages everywhere. Having everyone you work with be vaccinated decreases the chance of that kind of outcome dramatically. And that is also not getting into the public perception towards companies that DON'T have some kind of vaccination policy.



Which is why I think we will still see a lot of companies (especially ones that are very public companies) still go ahead and publicly enforce some kind of system for incentivizing their employees to get their vaccines and boosters.
 
The law is so stupid the more I think of it.

If anything, if they were trying to push it and dont want to make it all workers, I'd say push it to service oriented businesses and ones that are LESS than 100 people. Smaller businesses will likely be more service/people oriented, while lots of large companies have tons of office and plant workers who dont interact much with the public.

And large companies already will have tons of new covid standards, WFH schedules, all kinds of renovated offices, hand sanitizer etc... My company even installed temperature check lasers. And if it shows you got a fever or whatever crap the sensor doesn't like, you cant even get past the main lobby. Large companies also have better health care benefits too. So even if someone does get sick, the employee is probably covered.

Small companies wont be as rigourous. And there's no way a lot of those sketchy shops do anything about covid. On a daily basis they cant even keep their shop floor or bathrooms clean to begin with. And if someone gets sick, good luck having great coverage or finding replacements workers. Large companies can absorb hits, small companies cant. So IMO it's more important for small fry companies to mandate first (if this law was going to get pushed through).
You just noticed yet? Majority of covid policies and measures are exactly the opposite of what makes to prevent the spread and keep people save.

Like in Germany where unvaccinated are not allowed to go into a store anymore unless it's for food, to save them from getting infected. Yet your risk of getting covid while shopping with a mask (no cloth masks allowed here anyways) is extremely low.
On the other hand we don't test vaccinated people anymore, so they can spread the virus and infect unvaccinated at home.

At this point you have to believe all this shit is deliberate.
 

betrayal

Banned
If you intentionally make a stupid decision like that and then end up missing work or even worse infecting others and also making them miss work then you are not going to find yourself in a good position at a serious company.

It's not just about interacting with the public though. It's about interacting with each other as well. Getting coworkers sick or them getting you sick. That leads to decreased productivity at a time where we already have shortages everywhere. Having everyone you work with be vaccinated decreases the chance of that kind of outcome dramatically.

Unfortunately, this is no longer true with Omicron. This has been seen to some extent in the UK and many other countries. I think it would be very difficult to justify a law on this basis, and I don't think it would be helpful.

Obviously, vaccination is always the better alternative. But I think it would be very difficult and often not fair, if we blame infections on unvaccinated people, because even with a 100% vaccination rate, infection clusters can and will always arise. That is inevitable.

Ultimately, with Omicron and the current vaccines, we have to realize that we will always have huge peaks in cases, regardless of whether 70% or 90% are vaccinated. Personal and partly justified feelings towards the unvaccinated have to be pushed aside, because protection against infection through vaccination can and must no longer be an argument for reasonable precautions.
 

caffeware

Banned
Personal and partly justified feelings towards the unvaccinated have to be pushed aside, because protection against infection through vaccination can and must no longer be an argument for reasonable precautions.
Agree. Not happening thought.

 
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Just quickly browsing this thread, and it seems like people believe the supreme court decision bars companies from imposing vaccine mandates on employees. My understanding was that companies can still make mandates if they choose, but the government can't force them to make them. Therefore all the current mandates stand. Am I wrong?
 

Hari Seldon

Member
Just quickly browsing this thread, and it seems like people believe the supreme court decision bars companies from imposing vaccine mandates on employees. My understanding was that companies can still make mandates if they choose, but the government can't force them to make them. Therefore all the current mandates stand. Am I wrong?
I think it is still unclear whether they can do that or not. It probably depends on specific state law, like maybe a company in CA could do it but not FL. Personally I think they will need some type of legal backing from a state level mandate or they are going to be open up to lawsuits. I'm not sure how demanding to know employee medical status is not a violation of HIPAA. But IANAL so who knows.
 

Jsisto

Member
Just quickly browsing this thread, and it seems like people believe the supreme court decision bars companies from imposing vaccine mandates on employees. My understanding was that companies can still make mandates if they choose, but the government can't force them to make them. Therefore all the current mandates stand. Am I wrong?
The Supreme Court struck down the vaccine mandate which would require companies to do so, but does not bar them from doing it themselves. My question has been, is there any legal ground for companies to actually impose that themself, or does that expose them to litigation? To my understand, all the current business mandates are about masks, not vaccines. Companies were preparing to implement vaccine mandates in response to the federal mandate, but with that struck down, I highly doubt they will move forward with it.
 

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
Just quickly browsing this thread, and it seems like people believe the supreme court decision bars companies from imposing vaccine mandates on employees. My understanding was that companies can still make mandates if they choose, but the government can't force them to make them. Therefore all the current mandates stand. Am I wrong?

The Supreme Court decision only states that the administrative agency overseeing workplace safety (OSHA) does not have the constitutional power to mandate vaccines for workplaces. It takes no position on whether Congress could enact such a law or on what private companies may do.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member

A ridiculous initiative to begin with. Who knew medical needs would trend to the affirmative action side of things.

Whether it's school admissions, jobs, covid medical care etc.... hey everything is in limited supply. Thats true.

But I guess I'm old fashioned even though I'm only in my 40s thinking that someone who qualifies best for it should get it regardless of what they look like.

It's an amazing thing that governments doing this cant be sued to high heaven. On one hand, they preach dont discriminate based on demographics, yet do it themselves. A company trying to mess with discriminatory tactics would get grilled, but a government initiative doing something similarly discriminatory is a-ok.

Figure that one out.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
How many variants have arisen in the US?

The Australians tried the batten down the hatches approach, and it simply doesn't work. And if they can't do it basically on an island continent... where is it going to?

Covid zero is just not attainable when there are billions of people in the developing world who are likely to be never given access to vaccines due to them being patented for profit. How long did it take for Omicron to spread from its likely point of origin in Botswana to everywhere in the world?
Australia opened up after vaccination rates were high, and to date have very few covid deaths compared to others

"Covid zero" is an invented thing, mostly from people who are looking for a caricature to place their talking points about masks, lockdowns or whatever.

 

FunkMiller

Member
How many variants have arisen in the US?

The Australians tried the batten down the hatches approach, and it simply doesn't work. And if they can't do it basically on an island continent... where is it going to?

Covid zero is just not attainable when there are billions of people in the developing world who are likely to be never given access to vaccines due to them being patented for profit. How long did it take for Omicron to spread from its likely point of origin in Botswana to everywhere in the world?

I am finding it more than slightly hilarious that in their vain pursuit of zero covid, the Chinese government will spend billions, potentially cripple their economy, and reduce their soft power on the world stage.

irony GIF
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell

I forget what state it was, I think it was Utah that counts being "BIPOC"(I hate that fucking term) as a co-morbidity. And they have a scale they use to give out COVID treatments and each co-morbidity has a scale of 1-5(5 being the most severe) and being a minority was ranked more severe than having diabetes or coronary artery disease :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
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BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
A quality article about omicron that is to the point about its differences and mutations, while properly qualifying that much of what we know is still from observations and not peer reviewed studies:


Now we just need to remember that much of the world remains unvaccinated and another such variant could still pop up, so even doing the little things still matter.


Just quickly browsing this thread, and it seems like people believe the supreme court decision bars companies from imposing vaccine mandates on employees. My understanding was that companies can still make mandates if they choose, but the government can't force them to make them. Therefore all the current mandates stand. Am I wrong?

What's weird about their decision is six judges ruled OSHA can't be used to enforce the mandate because COVID-19 isn't a workplace hazard (sic - much longer verbiage), but then they upheld the mandate on healthcare workers if they received federal funds (which in the US means virtually all healthcare). It was a weird contortion that went against previous rulings, while still upholding it only for healthcare workers.

At least many large corporations and industries are maintaining their own mandates, as they understand having unvaccinated workers means more perpetually sick workers, and hence a loss of productivity. This is aside from the basic want to be a benefit to society and all.
 
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ManaByte

Member


Eyes were on Wright, a British citizen, because she had expressed anti-COVID vaccine sentiment. The CDC late last year implemented rules requiring all non-immigrant, non-citizen air travelers to the U.S. to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination status before boarding a plane. While not commenting on her vaccinated status, several sources say those issues have been resolved.
 
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Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster


I refuse to give prophets of doom clicks any more.

its unconscionable to keep feeding the fear for profit at this stage. The current situation is not sustainable, people will inevitably need to accept that all you can do is get on with living. Obviously its better to take precaution and look after your health, but you simply cannot hide from an airborne virus as infectious as this.

At no point, no strain of Covid was *likely* to kill anyone without multiple severe co-morbidities. And while the possibility exists for an unprecedentedly deadly variant to emerge is possible, neither is it a certainty nor there is anything you can do to stop it. So why worry?

What's the line from Fight Club; "Over a long enough time line everyone's survival rate drops to zero". Stop worrying and carpe them fucking diems.

|
 

Loki

Count of Concision
One thing I will say is that I DEFINITELY believe the stated 6-10 R0 value for Omicron. Delta was supposedly way more contagious than Alpha, yet I knew very few people who contracted it over the course of 6 months. On the other hand, I know of at least 30 people who got COVID (presumably Omicron based on their symptoms) just in the past few weeks. It really is a different beast in terms of contagiousness. Fortunately all the cases I know of have been mild-moderate, resolving within a week.
 

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes


I'm sure the Nike warehouse workers here in Memphis about to be fired by a multinational corporation would appreciate your retweets.
 
Im finally COVID+. Literally feel nothing. 100% asymptomatic.

In the game of COVID, I got pretty dang lucky. Managed to avoid all previous strains while working around it constantly in health care. Boosted with 3 shots. Got the mildest form of it 2 days after my job reinstated 40 hrs paid leave not coming from your pto. Now I get a free week vacation.
 

Loki

Count of Concision
Im finally COVID+. Literally feel nothing. 100% asymptomatic.

In the game of COVID, I got pretty dang lucky. Managed to avoid all previous strains while working around it constantly in health care. Boosted with 3 shots. Got the mildest form of it 2 days after my job reinstated 40 hrs paid leave not coming from your pto. Now I get a free week vacation.

The only downside of mild/asymptomatic infection, from what I hear, is that it might not engender as strong an immune response as a more moderate or severe case of COVID would. Now, I'm not sure if that's completely true, since they seem to be referring strictly to circulating antibody titers, and it stands to reason that if there is less of the virus to clear (viral load has always been correlated with severity of infection), fewer antibodies would need to be marshalled to combat it. I'd love to see a T/B cell analysis for mild/asymptomatic cases versus more severe cases 6 months post-infection.

I also wonder what this pattern entails for immunity conferred by Omicron, which by all accounts produces more mild disease. You have some folks saying that Omicron-induced immunity confers protection against Omi plus all previous variants and possibly against future variants (in a similar but more pronounced manner as previous COVID infection with, say, Alpha or Beta provided protection against Delta etc.). But then you have the train of thought noted previously: that milder disease yields less robust immunity. I'm waiting to see some real studies/analysis on the specifics of the immunity produced by Omicron infection.
 
The only downside of mild/asymptomatic infection, from what I hear, is that it might not engender as strong an immune response as a more moderate or severe case of COVID would. Now, I'm not sure if that's completely true, since they seem to be referring strictly to circulating antibody titers, and it stands to reason that if there is less of the virus to clear (viral load has always been correlated with severity of infection), fewer antibodies would need to be marshalled to combat it. I'd love to see a T/B cell analysis for mild/asymptomatic cases versus more severe cases 6 months post-infection.

I also wonder what this pattern entails for immunity conferred by Omicron, which by all accounts produces more mild disease. You have some folks saying that Omicron-induced immunity confers protection against Omi plus all previous variants and possibly against future variants (in a similar but more pronounced manner as previous COVID infection with, say, Alpha or Beta provided protection against Delta etc.). But then you have the train of thought noted previously: that milder disease yields less robust immunity. I'm waiting to see some real studies/analysis on the specifics of the immunity produced by Omicron infection.
Interesting. Im definitely not counting on any super immunity. I'll continue to do the same precautions I've always done. Though Omicron is just too transmissable to stop apparently.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
At no point, no strain of Covid was *likely* to kill anyone without multiple severe co-morbidities. And while the possibility exists for an unprecedentedly deadly variant to emerge is possible, neither is it a certainty nor there is anything you can do to stop it. So why worry?

What's the line from Fight Club; "Over a long enough time line everyone's survival rate drops to zero". Stop worrying and carpe them fucking diems.
It's not likely to kill you on an individual level, even more unlikely if you're "healthy". However, on a large population level, simple math tells you how devastating a small percentage can theoretically be on a large enough base population. Actual reality tells us that 800,000 and counting are already dead in the greatest country on Earth and there are still people who don't want to take this seriously. It has overcrowded our hospitals to the point where they don't function properly and people can't get the proper treatment for their other "normal" ailments. That is why you worry.

The possibility for a worse variant to emerge is present, and the more people are unvaccinated, the more likely that variant is able to both arise, and spread. That is why you worry.

Over a long time, everyone's survival rate drops to zero, and while that is true, this is the what the human race has been trying to forestall for the entirety of its existence. Overcome nihilism and maximize the health and life of the species. We don't do that by resigning the old and sick to death and YOLO'ing along carefree. There is no diem to carpe when an entire metropolis' worth of people die unnecessarily in 2 years, and most of those deaths could have been prevented with minimal effort.

You're in the UK, which is fortunate to have a high level of full vaccinations and boosters, which contributes greatly to the decoupling of infections from deaths. It's a good effort, and one that should be more closely followed. Unfortunately, not all countries are that fortunate, and an Alfred E. Neuman, "what, me worry?" approach to public health has not historically been a good strategy, nor is it in this case too.
 
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