“ covid levels in wastewater seem to be dropping; it won’t be long now before we can enjoy it again.”
— Emo Phillips
Paxlovid? The Pfizer drug is supposed to be 89% effective at reducing hospitalization or death if given early in the infection. But it is in extremely short supply for another 3-6 months (timelines vary). Molnupiravir is more widely available now but is only only 30-40% effective at preventing hospitalization and death and has more potential side effects that rules it out for large groups of people.
Paxlovid could be a game changer at keeping hospitals from being overwhelmed
Coach K on Kyle Singler - "What position does he play? ... He plays winner."
"Duke is never the underdog" - Quinn Cook
“ covid levels in wastewater seem to be dropping; it won’t be long now before we can enjoy it again.”
— Emo Phillips
I think we’d all agree that vaccination is the best prophylactic “treatment” for preventing or minimizing adverse effects. But it’s probably gone as far as it is going to here. I join your sadness, McChambers, in the state of affairs here. But the same idiots who don’t get vaccinated are the same idiots who never wore masks in the first place.
Our state will not mandate masks. They will not limit businesses. They joined the lawsuits to overturn federal vaccination mandates for employers.
That’s the reality in which I live. Reducing community transmission just isn’t gonna happen here, and it really never did except some token closings in the spring of ‘20. So I am forced by circumstances to move to the next phase — managing and dealing with a persistent endemic virus. And I think more of the country (and Europe) are moving in that direction, for good or ill.
Again, I want to stress that I am not making a policy argument. It’s the state of affairs here. And with Spain, Denmark, the UK and others moving in that direction, it seems that at some point we need to move to the next phase of this. Because we are moving in that direction despite efforts to prevent it.
My physical therapist was telling me today about his friend whose kidney and liver were damaged when he was hospitalized with covid in 12/20. Then this week he started having serious, life threatening symptoms. As of 2pm today he was in a Philadelphia hospital hallway because there are no beds available.
NC currently has over 5000 patients hospitalized with covid, a big increase over last winter’s peak of ~3300.
IIRC a couple of days ago a fellow poster (sorry don’t remember who it was) said he has quit biking outside because there are currently no ICU beds available if he was seriously injured.
What’s my point? It is that while your local hospitals may not be having bed shortages, many hospitals are. And the sheer number of covid patients needing treatment is overwhelmingly the main reason. The narrative that hospital overloads are mainly due to overly strict quarantine policies or staff quitting, etc. minimizes the biggest issue -- too **** many unvaccinated people getting covid.
Last edited by Skydog; 01-29-2022 at 12:03 AM.
I agree with this point. I also don’t see a way to change that behavior. I’m tired of being held hostage by their stupid selfishness. And it’s not like they want or appreciate my sacrifices for their health. In fact, they affirmatively look down upon it.
I can wish better behavior by them, but the reality is that they are not going to get vaccinated. I have exhausted my patience and compassion for these folks. If that makes me a bad person, so be it. 9F ‘em.
My ability to hold back from saying those types of things died on January 6th last year. People listening to disinformation about the pandemic and making it worse by not getting vaccinated and following rules has thrown dirt on the corpse of my ability to care about saying things that hurt people's feelings. I am by nature very much a centrist, but centrists no longer exist in society and it is left to people to declare sides now. And people who are anti-vaccine and anti mask don't care about others and we might as well talk about it openly now. If your assertion is that normal rational people can have normal rational discussions, then I 100% agree with you. But the original poster was lobbing a grenade at people who are no longer normal and rational. So we can't talk about this with them. They left the conversation.
I feel like this is where I’m at now.
Heard from an old friend of mine whose mother didn’t get adequate care for an injury because the hospital was overrun with Covid. Incredibly frustrating that those who have gotten vaxed and made a ton of sacrifices for the greater good are still getting screwed like this.
Thank you. You were more measured than I initially was planning to be.
As far as I am concerned, and it seems like many here agree with me, those who are too self-interested and stubborn to make minor sacrifices for the well-being of others should be shunned. There is a lot of very reasonable debate about what the appropriate level of sacrifice is and what the best policies are and how they should be adapted as the situation changes. But as far as I am concerned, those who are anti-vaccine and universally anti-mask (with some exceptions on anti-mask - I do not think we should be walking around 24/7 with masks for the rest of our lives) should be shunned and I don't want them in my life. They refuse to adapt and compromise and there should be consequences for their action. For most of them, not being friends with me is not a consequence, and at this point might be considered a benefit.
So I stand by my statement about not wanting to be around these people and I appreciate that other people here agree. As much as individualism was part of what this country was founded on, it was also founded on a concern for the greater good of society. Sometimes that involves some minor sacrifices. If someone doesn't care about me, then I don't particularly care about them, and I don't want to be around them. I am fortunate to live in a place where most people share this view. I send my children to public schools where concern for others is a core value that is taught every day. Being kind unto others is the core belief of every major religion I am aware of - this week's Bible portion for my religion (Judaism) is about kindness to strangers and the people around you.
If this offends you, then best of luck to you. Thanks for the flame. Keeps me warm on a cold winter's day...
Bravo. 100% agree. Or as they say in my church, “Bingo!”
(Catholics don’t have many good sayings that aren’t in Latin, unfortunately).
We were having a discussion on Deeber about kindness, and it reminded Me of my favorite quote from the Dalai Lama:
Avoidance of dangerous people is kindness to your family and friends, I reckon.“Be kind whenever possible.
It is always possible”
Last edited by OldPhiKap; 01-29-2022 at 09:31 AM.