V is for The Veil?
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V is for The Veil?
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[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
People in Asia not only wear masks for high pollution days, but for as long as I can remember have also worn masks when they are sick in order to protect others. What a concept! People who care about anybody besides themselves? Completely foreign to Americans.
As far as when does masking stop, I do think there will come a time when it will no longer be universally recommended or mandated. Having said that, I know several people who have noticed that since they have been wearing masks, they have not been sick. Some of these people suffer through 2 or 3 colds every winter, some of which drag on for a month or more. They are HAPPY to not have had their usual quota of respiratory illnesses, and they are reporting to me that they will be wearing masks in public every winter from now on, regardless of what happens with Covid and the pandemic.
Germaphobes have also found their happy place, and will likely be continuing to do at least some of what we are currently doing regardless of what happens.
Given that most people are now fairly accustomed to wearing masks, and certainly to SEEING others wearing masks, I think people who want to continue every winter into the future will no longer be looked at as though they are space aliens.
I completely agree with Las Vegas that if you and several of your friends have all been fully vaccinated and it has been more than two weeks since the second vaccine for all of you, you should feel totally fine about getting together at your house to play cards or watch the Superbowl, or whatever, and not feel compelled in the least to wear masks or to avoid contact. Go see a movie or something if you want to, too, although I would wear a mask anywhere in public for reasons I have explained in detail earlier.
I agree that risk for infections can never be made zero; we may not even WANT to do that even if we could. There is some evidence that suggests that you need to keep your immune system at least a little bit busy to help keep it from doing stuff you don't want it to, like causing allergies/asthma/perhaps even autoimmune diseases. I think the human body was meant to become ill on occasion (kinda like how you have to drive a car every once in a while, even if you really just want to store it). BUT I do think most people get sick WAY more often than they need to for the purposes of keeping the engine or axles from seizing. Masking in public allows the total burden of illness in one's life to be decreased, at not much personal cost (the way I see it, anyway). Hell, walking from the parking lot to my office this morning I was GLAD I had a cloth mask on just to protect part of my face from the bitter cold and wind!
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust
I just received my second COVID vaccination (Moderna) this morning. Hoping that this one produces nothing more discomforting than the first -- minor soreness at the site of the jab on the upper arm for about a day -- but will report here on any other effects I may experience in the next 24 hours.
it is AMAZING how many people here have gotten the vaccine!
Is the DBR crowd just... a bit older and/or unhealthy... or what?
Basically, only those who have gotten it will post here so you don't see the ones who don't. Like me. I'm at the bottom of the totem pole most likely. So, selective data and the DBR community is perhaps larger than you think.
But also a lot of healthcare professionals on this site (and a decent number of 65+ posters I'd imagine).
I agree that the CDC will "call" public mask wearing at some point. I think the basis for calling it would be based on metrics such as cases per 100k, % positive tests, hospitalization rates, % vaccinated population.
Here is a website from last July that describes such an approach. It doesn't include vaccination rates because that wasn't a factor then, but add that factor and set the detailed thresholds based on science around epidemic spread. This won't eliminate all transmission and cases, but the numbers should make it HIGHLY unlikely that we will return to uncontrolled spread and, in turn, overwhelmed hospitals. It will likely require increased testing to get data for the metrics but with certified at home tests being approved in the US I am hopeful that won't be as big as an obstacle as it may seem.
These approaches work because similar ones were used in Australia and New Zealand. I don't know if anyone saw the Jack White highlight clip that was retweeted on DukeMBB twitter a few days ago. It was very odd to see basketball highlights from recent games played in front of full arenas. Also, Jack looks good
Coach K on Kyle Singler - "What position does he play? ... He plays winner."
"Duke is never the underdog" - Quinn Cook
I don't disagree that we will reach that at some point. I'm much less bullish that we will reach that point in the next few months.
I still say that it will be a huge mess when/if vaccinated folks stop wearing masks. My retail scenario is not hypothetical - until recently I was operating a store in Asheville. I had people use every conceivable excuse for not masking, and I would shrug and tell them to leave. I was threatened with lawsuits, boycotts, nasty reviews, and even calling the police (go ahead!). I can't imagine how much more difficult that will become if the vaccinated folks decide to stop wearing masks.
Two topics: First, masking, etc: I feel less impatient WRT to wearing a mask now because with the vaccines being distributed, I feel like the end is in sight. For me, knowing that we are making real progress and the end is 'near' makes it easier to just wear the mask.
Second topic: I'm generally not in a group that would get the vaccine because my job (test software) isn't in healthcare and I'm 53 years old and in very good health (well physical health ). When I look at the NC Gov website to find my vaccine group I see this question:
"Do you currently live, work or volunteer full or part-time in any of the following?".The first choice is "Health Care Settings...".
My wife and I ran a charity called From Your Neighbor where we collect donations of durable medical goods and deliver them to people in need. So every week, we are going to people's houses to either pick up or drop off medical equipment. For example, in the last several days:
- - Pickup in Cary, NC of a small wheel chair ramp. Entered a home to remove a small ramp that was used to assist a wheelchair bound person to get into bed.
- - Drop off in Nash County - took a hospital bed to a patients home (mobile home, they were dirt poor). Entered the home to setup the bed, make sure it was working, etc.
- - Drop off a specialty wheelchair and incontinence supplies to a patient in Durham - didn't enter the home, met Pt's daughter in driveway for drop off
This is what we do with our nights and weekends, helping people out...but coming in contact with patients and caregivers. I think I could leverage this to put myself in group 1, the questionnaire clearly mentions part-time volunteer work. My wife works in a hospital and has already received both vaccine doses (Pfizer). Part of me wants to give it a try but I don't want to do anything unethical - I'd hate to feel like I'm taking a vaccine from someone else. So I'm wondering if I do qualify and then if I'm OK with the ethical part of "seeking the shot".
And as usual, I'm probably overthinking the whole thing.
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust
Appreciate the feedback. The logical part of my brain is telling me that I'd qualify, I just don't want to be doing the wrong thing overall (just because you can doesn't always mean you should). I also agree that I'd be protecting others. Many of the people we help are poor and not healthy so I'd feel really bad if I gave someone Covid, especially someone that might not be physically or financially able to put up a proper fight!