The Politics of Covid 19, mask wearing and the vaccination process

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Thu Aug 12, 2021 9:45 pm

Reno, NV starting off the school year on solid ground

More than 80 students were potentially exposed to Covid-19 on the first day of class in Reno, Nevada, on Monday after a parent sent their child to Marce Herz Middle School, despite both the parent and child receiving a positive Covid-19 test just two days earlier, Washoe County Health District officials said.

The exposed students had to quarantine at home and started distance learning on Tuesday, the Washoe County School District said.

In a Tuesday letter sent to the parents of impacted students, Principal Brandon Bringhurst said that if their child is fully vaccinated, parents can bring the vaccination card to school and the student can resume in-person classes immediately. Impacted students can also take a Covid-19 test on or after August 14. And if they test negative and don’t have symptoms they can return to school on August 17.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:44 pm

Great Barrington, MA, is a contender for being the most liberal city in the most liberal state in the US; I’ll wager that >90% of eligible residents are vaccinated, and viral transmission in Berkshire County is as low as you'll find anywhere these days. And yet, I observed indoor mask compliance at 100% in the shops we visited today. The people of Great Bear aren’t screwing around.

I will admit that, after spending four hours on my feet in a museum while masked the whole time, I can understand for the first time why people bitch about masks. Mine was pretty foul by the end of our visit. I can see why somebody who’s compelled to wear one for an eight-hour work shift would gripe. I wished I’d brought a couple of paper disposables instead of my favorite cloth mask with a fresh paper insert.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Thu Aug 12, 2021 11:12 pm

This DeSantis "strategy" is just straight up graft right? It is hard to believe REGN is not dropping piles of money into some DeSantis PAC.

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/statu ... 3627229187

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Aug 12, 2021 11:59 pm

Kraken wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:44 pm Great Barrington, MA, is a contender for being the most liberal city in the most liberal state in the US; I’ll wager that >90% of eligible residents are vaccinated, and viral transmission in Berkshire County is as low as you'll find anywhere these days. And yet, I observed indoor mask compliance at 100% in the shops we visited today. The people of Great Bear aren’t screwing around.

I will admit that, after spending four hours on my feet in a museum while masked the whole time, I can understand for the first time why people bitch about masks. Mine was pretty foul by the end of our visit. I can see why somebody who’s compelled to wear one for an eight-hour work shift would gripe. I wished I’d brought a couple of paper disposables instead of my favorite cloth mask with a fresh paper insert.

The irony of that being that the communities that most need masks and other such preventative measures are the ones least likely to use them.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 12:03 am

Colorado gov now talking about paying K-12 kids $5-$25/week for surveillance testing. Which, great--we need way more testing. But maybe start with a mask mandate? This seems like skipping several steps.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:22 am

Hey, but our school is on top of it. They just launched a new after school program that they're touting as the best thing ever, with snacks, group study tables, and "social learning experiences."

What's gross? A school with no ventilation, masks, or distancing, plus minimal vaccines.
What's grosser than gross? Our school.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:47 am

Zaxxon wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 12:03 am Colorado gov now talking about paying K-12 kids $5-$25/week for surveillance testing. Which, great--we need way more testing. But maybe start with a mask mandate? This seems like skipping several steps.

The hope is that testing will reveal that masks are not needed. It's a misplaced hope but hey, when you control the data...

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 9:51 am

Illinois.

ELMHURST, Ill. (WTVO) — The Illinois Board of Education moved swiftly Wednesday to remove official recognition for a private Christian school in Elmhurst, after it said it was considering a “masks optional” policy for the fall school year.

The Governor’s order applies to students and staff regardless of vaccination status, in an effort to slow the transmission of the COVID-19 delta variant among unvaccinated and immunosuppressed residents.

...

On Thursday, Timothy Christian Schools’ attorney, Vanessa Clohessy, responded to the IBSE, saying, “

First, Timothy Christian Schools never communicated its intent to be non-compliant with the Order; and second, neither staff nor students have returned to school for SY21-22, as classes do not begin until August 25th. This was communicated in written and video messages to the Timothy community, and was explicitly told to Dr. Ayala when she called Superintendent Matt Davidson late this afternoon.

Nevertheless, in order to be crystal clear, on behalf of Timothy Christian Schools, we are writing to inform you that Timothy has no intention of defying the Executive Order; Timothy will observe the Order effective immediately, even though school is not in session for two weeks. We trust this statement will be sufficient to reinstate the school’s recognition status, effective immediately, and without blemish to the school’s record.”

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:42 am

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:22 am What's gross? A school with no ventilation, masks, or distancing, plus minimal vaccines.
What's grosser than gross? Our school.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:50 am

In positive news, my employer (a small telecommunications and media concern you may have heard of) announced that all* management employees must be vaccinated by 10/11 (and work virtually, if possible, until then if they are not vaccinated) unless they get an approved Job Accommodation (which, I understand, will not be granted for saying "Muh freedoms!"). They also announced an intent to work with the unions to see what they can do about vaccinations there, but that's all labor relation stuff. We're also following CDC guidance related to masking at work, which means masking in common areas where the CDC indicates COVID is surging (currently all 50 states), regardless of vaccination status.

This is a major national company HQ'd deep in the heart of Texas. Are corporations going to actually be the ones to save us?

* Some exceptions for 1st and 2nd line managers who directly supervise union workers for reasons I don't fully understand.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:15 am

TN Republican that was hospitalized in the ICU for 55 days, put on a ventilator and ultimately needed a liver transplant because of COVID-19 is now pushing to ban masks and prohibiting businesses from requiring proof of vaccination:

On Wednesday night, Byrd joined all 73 members of the House Republican caucus in petitioning Gov. Bill Lee to call a special session of the legislature to prohibit local mask mandates and keep businesses from barring the unvaccinated.

At a time when virus infections were breaking records set back when he got sick, Byrd’s signature on the letter made him part of a deadly double speak.

I'm not even going to get into the child abuse allegations. These people are irredeemable.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 12:37 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:50 am Are corporations going to actually be the ones to save us?

Dolly Parton deserves at least some of the credit.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 12:53 pm

Archinerd wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 12:37 pm
ImLawBoy wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:50 am Are corporations going to actually be the ones to save us?
Dolly Parton deserves at least some of the credit.

Dolly Parton, LLC

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 2:20 pm

Can't say it any more plainly

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1 ... 5754442752

“There’s a couple hundred people every night outside of my house screaming curse words at my children.”

— Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins on reaction to his emergency order requiring masks in all public schools, after securing restraining order against Gov. Abbott’s (R-TX) ban.

“We have 0 ICU beds left for children ... Your child will wait for another child to die.”

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 2:32 pm

Colorado Medical Society, along with a bunch of CO medical organizations, helping keep the pressure on Governor Polis.

Not that I expect it to work, or anything...

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 6:48 pm

How many topics does this cross?

Multiple Florida schools have also seen an influx in outsiders crashing their meetings on masking. Last month, a group of men with Proud Boy uniforms and anti-masking signs attended a Palm Beach County, Florida school board meeting, CBS12 reported. Members of the group sat inside the meeting, and stood on a street corner with a banner bedecked in the Proud Boys logo and the slogan “unmask the children.”

That same month, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio attended a school board meeting in Florida’s Miami-Dade County. Tarrio told WPLG Local 10 News that members of his group were there to speak against masks, vaccine requirements, and “critical race theory.”

Is that a bingo?

Trent Steel · Post by **Trent Steel** » Fri Aug 13, 2021 8:16 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 6:48 pm How many topics does this cross?

Multiple Florida schools have also seen an influx in outsiders crashing their meetings on masking. Last month, a group of men with Proud Boy uniforms and anti-masking signs attended a Palm Beach County, Florida school board meeting, CBS12 reported. Members of the group sat inside the meeting, and stood on a street corner with a banner bedecked in the Proud Boys logo and the slogan “unmask the children.”

That same month, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio attended a school board meeting in Florida’s Miami-Dade County. Tarrio told WPLG Local 10 News that members of his group were there to speak against masks, vaccine requirements, and “critical race theory.”
Is that a bingo?

Ooooh, sorry. We needed an “election fraud” to complete the line.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:13 am

Unreal

https://twitter.com/cindykgoodman/statu ... 2013040641

Florida changed how it reports COVID statistics. The result? The pandemic appears to look less severe, with fewer recent deaths

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:53 am

That's a brilliant fix...it's always going to look like it's declining for anyone who doesn't understand what they did/what they are looking at.

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 12:00 pm

stessier wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:53 am That's a brilliant fix...it's always going to look like it's declining for anyone who doesn't understand what they did/what they are looking at.

I think I’m missing something obvious here, but why? If they are just changing from counting deaths when they were reported to when they actually happened, they’ll all get counted eventually, right?

Maybe I just need that second cup of coffee.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 12:07 pm

Kurth wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 12:00 pm
stessier wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:53 am That's a brilliant fix...it's always going to look like it's declining for anyone who doesn't understand what they did/what they are looking at.
I think I’m missing something obvious here, but why? If they are just changing from counting deaths when they were reported to when they actually happened, they’ll all get counted eventually, right?

Maybe I just need that second cup of coffee.

True, they will eventually all be counted, but due to the reporting lag, that downward hook is going to be at the end of the graph at all times. I guess it would be fine if they got instant reporting everywhere in the state, but that's never going to happen.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 12:40 pm

Ok, but the graph will be adjusted to make ‘yesterday’ look accurate.

I mean, on some level (let’s say reporting the death took a week) , it’s not helpful to think that X people died today, when really they died anywhere from 6-10 days ago.

They just shouldn’t even draw that data point in today’s ‘deaths’ because all the data isn’t in yet.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 12:56 pm

LINK

27 vaccinated people test positive for COVID on Carnival ship

Twenty-six of the positive cases are among Carnival crew members, with only one passenger testing positive. According to the tourism board, everyone who tested positive was vaccinated and "most are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms."

The ship departed from Galveston, Texas, and was headed to Belize when the outbreak was reported to authorities.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 12:57 pm

Maybe there is some technical 'good' outcome to this approach but in the end they are changing the reporting in the middle of an event to a 'non-standard' form. In that sense if they were aiming for accurate communication they'd shade off some time period for its 'high uncertainty'. But that isn't the point. They are trying to hide the bad.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 10:57 pm

I found out yesterday that a neighborhood friend of ours tested positive a couple weeks ago. Seems to be purely asymptomatic (only symptom as I understand it was a headache, and even that was mild and not out of the ordinary). She only found out because her workplace mandated that anyone coming in have a negative test, so she got one, only it surprisingly came back positive. Fully vaccinated, though since it's asymptomatic I suppose it's not a true 'breakthrough' infection. Other than the hassle of having her quarantine from the rest of the family (husband and son have both tested negative since then) doesn't seem to be a big issue.

OTOH someone else told me that their parents (70s, vaccinated) tested positive and became pretty sick, though they seem to be ok now. The mother in particular had a hard time - sounds like she had some comorbidities (some existing lung issue of some type) and is convinced that she wouldn't have survived without the vaccine.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 6:24 pm

She deserved to be fired. Can't undermine the Integrity of the Office in this fashion, no matter how idiotic and aggressive the anti-vaxx idiots are running your state

A Tennessee investigation found evidence that the state's fired vaccine chief, Michelle Fiscus, purchased a dog muzzle that she previously claimed someone had mailed in an attempt to intimidate her.

Why it matters: Fiscus, who denied sending herself the muzzle in a Monday tweet, has characterized her firing as a political move driven by Republican state officials after she shared a memo citing state law about whether adolescents can seek medical care, including a COVID vaccine, without their parents' permission.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 6:29 pm

Our area health board is conducting a meeting to hear from the public on a potential mask mandate, and it's going about how you'd expect.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 7:12 pm

I'm on a Facebook group for the Monster Talk podcast, which is a skeptical podcast about cryptids, the supernatural, etc. I emphasize the word SKEPTIC.
It's a fun group where people will post articles and videos about cryptids in the news and either debunk them or just laugh at the ridiculousness.

So I've been particularly disappointed this week when multiple posts have descended into political vaccine/mask fingerpointing, with the dominant theme being how "trusting in authorities" makes you a sheep.

It just goes to show that the same folks that use "critical thinking" to dispute the possibility of Bigfoot can also misuse it to attack the very science they purport to uphold. I almost left the group this morning, I was so bummed.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 7:38 pm

The sad pfate of PfizerGang

In April, Nicholas was stoked to have gotten Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the “status vaccine,” which was also the vaccine for “hot people,” and the vaccine that got a person conditionless admission to the “Pfizer Gang.” He made a new forum on Reddit—r/pfizergang, obviously—where people like him could engage in celebration and memes and funny jokes about how Pfizer was better than Moderna, but not make jokes containing misinformation, because Moderna is actually very good also, and everyone should get vaccinated. There was to be no anti-vaccine discussion whatsoever, and why would there be?

...

As the mood turned nationwide, the fun of r/pfizergang, too, would crumble. Things got so bad among the vaxxed elite, in fact, that on July 26, Nicholas felt he had no choice but to shut his forum down. “I wanted to create a social pressure where it was like, These people in Pfizer Gang seem like they’re having a lot of fun,” he said, and then that fun would inspire other people to get vaccinated. “That was the goal. And when that failed, I failed.”

When I got in touch with Nicholas this week, he asked me to leave his last name out of this story to avoid having people associate his Reddit account with his professional life. But he also gave a second reason for the request: remorse. “I’m genuinely concerned that there may have been people who ended up not getting the vaccine because of this subreddit,” he said. “I already have to, like, come to terms with that.”

Although the r/pfizergang subreddit had been created for joking and festivity, it quickly became a place for people who got the Pfizer vaccine to discuss the side effects they experienced. At first, Nicholas said, this was fine. He was glad to see that people were finding the forum a useful place for commiseration and reassurance. But even just a month into the forum’s life, the posts were getting weirder. A lot of them were about side effects that supposedly didn’t show up until weeks after receiving the vaccine, or those that seemed like they could have been symptoms of other problems, like anxiety and overattentiveness. Some seemed entirely fake.

“I have had diarrhea for 2 MONTHS after my first dose!” one person wrote at the end of May. (Nicholas gave me access to the private, archived version of the forum so that I could read the posts myself.) “I got mine yesterday and then around midnight I started bringing up random concerns to my boyfriend that I couldn’t even make sense of myself,” another wrote a few days later. “I had tons of horrible nightmares.” One person said they started “burping so bad” five days after receiving the shot; another said they had no side effects until nine days later, when they woke up exhausted, but they couldn’t tell if that was from the vaccine or their period. “Anyone got a feeling of a hairball in their throat?” someone asked. “Anyone experiencing testicle pain?”

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 9:53 pm

Spent a significant part of today getting updates and more info about my state. Then as I try to "relax" I see this:

https://twitter.com/NC5PhilWilliams/sta ... 3076220932

Tennessee @GovBillLee says COVID is "an adult problem" and, even if his own health department says masking is a "two-way street," he thinks parents should be allowed to take the risk of sending their own COVID-infected children into a classroom w/o masking.

This was a follow up to a news release from earlier today where he signed an EO allowing parents to "opt out" of any school or local board of health masking mandate.

We're not going to make it folks.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 9:55 pm

And of course I'd be remiss to not post this:

https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/ ... 0273665027

JUST IN: Hillsborough County Public School Board will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday after 5,599 students and 316 staff have entered quarantine for COVID. The Tampa-area district, seventh largest in the U.S., has only been in school four days.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 7:21 am

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 9:55 pm And of course I'd be remiss to not post this:

https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/ ... 0273665027

JUST IN: Hillsborough County Public School Board will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday after 5,599 students and 316 staff have entered quarantine for COVID. The Tampa-area district, seventh largest in the U.S., has only been in school four days.

I’d seriously love the zoom link to that meeting.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 8:57 am

Boosters for all Pfizer and Moderna recipients, starting next month. I'm not sure what the right call was/is on this. Apparently the info that's coming out of Israel and the anecdotal evidence (that I haven't exactly seen quantified because we're not keeping track of breakthrough infections) suggesting Delta is causing a significant number of illnesses in previously vaccinated people. From what I can gather (and I'm still waiting for more info), the issue that's been identified is the spacing for the mutl-dose vaccines. Namely, in countries that used 8-12 weeks, Delta seems to be less likely to cause breakthrough. For America where we went with ~21 days, the risk seems to be higher. Again, still highly protective against hospitalization and death but less likely to stop a Delta infection where symptoms are present.

The issue - the one that has me nervous - is that we're setting up a situation where we are potentially encouraging more variants as we will now have a full range of vaccination profiles across the U.S. - from none all the way through 2 or 3 shots. There seems to be some arguing on this issue, but I'm in the camp that thinks it's a pro-variant situation. I'd love to be wrong.

It's also an ethical issue as we are now going to be dispensing a 3rd vaccination at a population level when other countries still haven't received one. Along with the significant number of kids in America that are currently unvaccinated.

And the last (of course) is the message. This will no doubt add more fuel to the anti-vaccination crowd as they'll claim their immune systems work better than the experimental shots that require multiple injections.

Anyway, there's a very mixed opinion in the scientific and academic community over boosters. When the news about boosters official hits the airwaves today, I'm sure it's going to be news media feeding frenzy as various knowledgeable people chime in, along with Nate Silver.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 9:06 am

One thing that strikes me is that the policy still appears to be whipsawing around. It wasn't too long ago where they were adamant against boosters. I account that to how we are still learning/adjusting but it does give some appearance that response is chaotic.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 9:09 am

This kinda surprised me to read this morning. Namely because yeah, we've (public heath) has collectively been saying that boosters don't seem to be broadly needed. So either the administration has access to numbers and information we haven't seen that is guiding this practice, or a very different group of advisors has the ear of the administration. Maybe a little of both.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 9:11 am

Smoove_B wrote: Tue Aug 17, 2021 8:57 amIt's also an ethical issue as we are now going to be dispensing a 3rd vaccination at a population level when other countries still haven't received one. Along with the significant number of kids in America that are currently unvaccinated.

Yeah, both of those are just nuts. I'm all for as many doses as the folks who know what they're doing tell me to take, but expanding it now for 'regular' folks (as opposed to the immunocompromised who really need it) just seems incredibly inequitable. We're sending a token amount of doses to other countries, we have 50M ineligible here, but boost me up, I guess.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 9:13 am

Unagi wrote: Tue Aug 17, 2021 7:21 am I’d seriously love the zoom link to that meeting.

One of the first things to disappear in my own state were remote public meetings and/or remote access to in-person meetings. I don't think this is an accident. I looked and not surprisingly this meeting is in person and there's no remote access provided. They give the public 30 minutes total to speak, so I'm sure it's going to be total chaos. Probably maskless, too.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 9:34 am

In case anyone was wondering about fake vaccination cards; we're apparently importing them now.

Memphis' port director Michael Neipert said those who order the fake cards are wasting officers' time as they are trying to seize drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamines.

Losing both the drug and vaccine war in one swoop.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 9:46 am

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Aug 17, 2021 9:11 am
Smoove_B wrote: Tue Aug 17, 2021 8:57 amIt's also an ethical issue as we are now going to be dispensing a 3rd vaccination at a population level when other countries still haven't received one. Along with the significant number of kids in America that are currently unvaccinated.
Yeah, both of those are just nuts. I'm all for as many doses as the folks who know what they're doing tell me to take, but expanding it now for 'regular' folks (as opposed to the immunocompromised who really need it) just seems incredibly inequitable. We're sending a token amount of doses to other countries, we have 50M ineligible here, but boost me up, I guess.

Part of this I'm sure is that there are inevitable political limits on how many vaccine doses we can send abroad. I'm sure that there's some vague line where as soon as you send too many, or as soon as someone in some part of the country has to wait a week to get vaccinated due to some temporary local shortage, you'll wind up with a flood of stories saying in effect "BIDEN IS SENDING VACCINE DOSES TO BROWN PEOPLE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES WHILE AMERICANS DIE AT HOME".

So I imagine that the thinking is "we've seen some indications, if inconsistent, that protection may fade. We have more than enough doses to meet demand. Why not let people get third doses to be safe?"

Smoove, how does having people at various states of vaccination encourage variants? I'm guessing it's something like the virus gets 'practice' at people with partial vaccination protection or something and therefore gets more chances to mutate against the vaccine? How does expanding from 2 doses to 3 encourage that more?

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 9:46 am

Smoove_B wrote: Tue Aug 17, 2021 9:34 am In case anyone was wondering about fake vaccination cards; we're apparently importing them now.

Memphis' port director Michael Neipert said those who order the fake cards are wasting officers' time as they are trying to seize drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamines.
Losing both the drug and vaccine war in one swoop.

I just can't figure out how they cracked the vaccine card technology.