Seriously thoughtful The NEW Covid Vaccination Poll

[DiapDealer]

There's still a good deal of voluntary masking left in my little Ohio burg. It's wonderful.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

What really upsets me are the people refusing to be vaccinated based on bad science, and social media nonsense. I know educated people who believe nonsense. It is very frustrating.

One recent item I saw was to the effect: "You know how dangerous Covid-19 vaccines are? Over 8% of patients in long term care homes who received at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine died within the year." A bit of digging came up with one number that was left out "patients 80+ in".

A bit of quick browsing on the Stats Canada site gives the 2019 annual death rate per 1000 for 80-84 at 49.1, 85-89 at 88.8 and over age 90 at 188.4.

[Deskisamess]

So, we just did a video chat with our oldest son who is in South Korea. We hadn't talked directly to him in a while because of schedules and time zone challenges.

Turns out, hardly anyone there has been vaccinated. Just the older folks, not sure what ages, over 70+ I think.

He is a teacher there with EPIK, "English Professionals in Korea" teaching conversational English and signage in the 5th-7th grades, etc. and teachers, Korean or otherwise have not been on the priority lists to be vaccinated. So most people have not vaccinated.

We were under the impression they were doing a good fast job at vaccinated the population...turns out they aren't. Not sure if it's a money issue, but it's frustrating. Our son was hoping to be able to take a trip home later this summer, but that will be on hold until he can get vaccinated, and flights and quarantines figured out. Last time he came home for a visit, he flew from Inchon to Toronto, then on to Cleveland. Canada is still pretty much locked down as far as I know.

When you only have 12-14 days, any quarantine makes it impossible.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

We were under the impression they were doing a good fast job at vaccinated the population...turns out they aren't. Not sure if it's a money issue, but it's frustrating.

South Korea worked on suppressing the virus entirely. They've done a pretty good job so far, only 39 deaths from Covid per million of the population. In comparison, the world average is 496/million, the UK is 1,875/million, USA is 1853/million and Canada is 684/million.

So there isn't quite the urgency in South Korea to use vaccination to prevent spread and deaths in the short term.

[haertig]

I am unfamiliar with what South Korea has done to suppress the virus. Are they in a forced lockdown? Is travel outside of the country tightly controlled? Have they isolated themselves from the rest of the world? What? I know that some of the above were part of Australia's strategy, and they have had better success in keeping the virus out than many places.

It would be interesting to know what it is that they have done that has been so successful.

Playing devil's advocate, it seems like if lockdowns and isolation have been the South Korean strategy, then they are wide open for a gigantic virus rampage if it gets in. We can hope that they get the vaccinations done prior to the virus getting in. India didn't. Brazil didn't. And they have been hit hard recently.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by haertig

It would be interesting to know what it is that they have done that has been so successful.

South Korea has testing programs and excellent contract tracing and isolation, along with enforced quarantine for travellers.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-...in_South_Korea

[pdurrant]

Time for another poll! How have things changed for MobileRead Members since this poll?

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=340112

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I made a quick trip to the local discount grocery store this morning, and saw no one wearing a mask. No employees, and not one customer. It's wonderful.

With only 47% of Ohio having had even one vaccination so far, that strikes me as more "horrifying" than "wonderful".

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by meeera

With only 47% of Ohio having had even one vaccination so far, that strikes me as more "horrifying" than "wonderful".

I'm allowed to feel happy that we can now easily spend time with family, and go through our days without a mask. My continuing to wear one wouldn't change anything.

The anti-vaccers wouldn't change their mind, the people still afraid wouldn't change theirs.

Even if I were to get COVID, I wouldn't be dangerous for others. That has been proven fairly completely. All numbers now point to un-vaccinated people are the ones still getting sick. They've been strongly encouraged to be vaccinated, or to continue to wear a mask when around others. My wearing one won't do a thing about that, either way.

So yes, I'm pleased to not have to wear one. I'm not going to feel bad about that.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

<SNIP> The 5 year old sent me a thank you letter a few months ago that said, "I hope you are still alive when we come to your house." I framed it.

Originally Posted by issybird

That is priceless! But sweet and touching and sad, too. It’s rotten that a five-year old is fearful. <SNIP>

Apologies in advance, as I know this is somewhat off-topic, but kids can sometimes say the best things when adults are afraid to say them. Case in point: In the days leading up to my departure for Vietnam, all the adult members of my family were walking on eggshells and being very careful of what they said to me. Enter my nephew who had just that week turned 9 years old. As I was leaving my sister's house, amidst all the sad faces, he chimed in loudly and brightly, "Don't get killed!" The faces of all the adults registered total shock. I broke into a huge grin. I loved it! Of all the things people said to me that week, that's the one I will always remember and cherish.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by meeera

With only 47% of Ohio having had even one vaccination so far, that strikes me as more "horrifying" than "wonderful".

Right at 50% of my state has been vaccinated. Almost nobody is wearing masks anymore. The only ones I see are about 1/2 the retail workforce who are reportedly being told to wear them by their employers while on the job.

Our covid case counts are going down like a submarine with a screen door.

This is not horrifying, this is indeed wonderful news. If abandoning masks at the 50% vaccination point is not causing case counts to increase (far from it here), then what does that say about the general utility of masks? Given what we are seeing, what possible reason could anyone come up with for vaccinated people to wear masks? The public now sees this very clearly, around here at least - and due to their own overreach, the mask promoters will never be trusted or believed again. This is good, but not 100% good. Masks do have utility in some situations. But the public will be blinded to that because of the people who forced them to wear masks for what turned out to be more agenda-driven than science-driven reasons. Classic public reaction to overreach.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by haertig

This is not horrifying, this is indeed wonderful news. If abandoning masks at the 50% vaccination point is not causing case counts to increase (far from it here), then what does that say about the general utility of masks? Given what we are seeing, what possible reason could anyone come up with for vaccinated people to wear masks? The public now sees this very clearly, around here at least - and due to their own overreach, the mask promoters will never be trusted or believed again. This is good, but not 100% good. Masks do have utility in some situations. But the public will be blinded to that because of the people who forced them to wear masks for what turned out to be more agenda-driven than science-driven reasons. Classic public reaction to overreach.

Yes, but we are in summer again. If you recall, rates of infection went down in the summer only to go up again in the Fall as people returned to indoor living.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Yes, but we are in summer again. If you recall, rates of infection went down in the summer only to go up again in the Fall as people returned to indoor living.

Other than encouraging those who haven't been vaccinated to be vaccinated, what should "we", the vaccinated do about that? For us to continue to wear masks does nothing, except to add fuel to those who don't believe the vaccines work.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Other than encouraging those who haven't been vaccinated to be vaccinated, what should "we", the vaccinated do about that? For us to continue to wear masks does nothing, except to add fuel to those who don't believe the vaccines work.

Education is the key, but it's how to go about it that is tough. I think a lot depends on who you are dealing with. Are they vaccine hesitant, a conspiracy theorist or just people who make your eyes roll? Who are the people they are getting their information from?

If they are vaccine hesitant, is there something you can do to help? For instance, some people can't afford to take time off of work if they get a reaction to the vaccine (I got a 24 hour fever for instance). Suggest that they go on a Friday. They should be good by Monday. In rural areas, you are often dealing with a friend of a friend of a friend said the vaccine is bad. You ask if they get financial information from that person? No? Then why would you take medical information from them? There is a lot of data and info out there and not all of it is from the government.

[Deskisamess]

All the adults in our immediate family are vaccinated. Friends of mine who are not, that I have any close contact with, all got COVID before the vaccines were released. For those friends who haven't had COVID and won't get vaccinated, it's just not a discussion we will have. I'm past the age of enjoying heated discussions and disagreements. We each know where we stand...and what we believe.

That said, I doubt they will be invited to my home, especially if there is a chance of them being around the unvaccinated (at this point) grandkids.