Of note - my gym requires everyone to provide proof of vaccination or you can’t scan in. Is that normal elsewhere? I think a lot if gyms have a bro culture where they don’t ask / don’t tell on vaccines.
Some of those people you think are willfully foregoing such precautions are unable to wear masks (as I was reminded today by the Underground announcement). How many of those people in the US would you be willing to sacrifice per annum so you can return to your former life?
How many people are there who cannot wear any kind of mask?
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What is this Underground announcement?
In the UK more than 5 million people are currently receiving treatment for asthma. This equates to ~25 million in the US.
200,000 of them in the UK have severe asthma. This equates to ~1 million in the US.
Obviously there are other serious respiratory illnesses too eg bronchitis, emphysema etc, but let’s just talk about asthma for now.
Are you prepared to sacrifice those people (let’s conservatively say several hundred thousand) so you can return to your former life?
That’s not how it works whatsoever. Presenting it at this kind of choice is just massively incorrect.
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We are also seeing cases drop down in Florida and the rest of the Confederacy, where they have done fuck all. I don’t think enough has been done to understand why that is, and to what extent that may suggest that correlation is fooling us for causation. Florida is at its lowest 7DMA of the pandemic since June of 2020. 21.6 million people, 13.0 million fully vaccinated, 3.7 million cases. Are we missing ~half of the covid cases in Florida such that they’re at something resembling herd immunity? I guess maybe, but that seems like too big of an error.
Is covid just cyclical, and mask mandates that came back didn’t actually have much to do with the ebbing of the current cycle? Is vaccination + everyone else getting sick the only way to actually curb things? Is there something else Florida did accidentally? I’m not sure.
OK, but then can you at least not come in guns blazing at people who have a different estimate than you do? I can grant that the forever mask narrative can be a straw man, but when you meet anyone who is vaccinated, whose whole family is vaccinated, who isn’t around vulnerable people, and who is privileged enough to be able to isolate if they catch an unlikely breakthrough infection with hellfire for wanting to relax their precautions and engage in what had been perfectly safe and normal human activities, and you also have no objective measure when you would tolerate them doing those things, it at least is easy to feel like forever masking is the only way to avoid your heat.
People with severe asthma can wear masks. And they can get vaccinated.
People with asthma can wear masks.
Fuck, ponied
Mortality is down massively amongst the group of people who aren’t Covid/Vax deniers. That’s the part of this equation that seems to be getting missed here. Waiting for mortality to go down amongst the moron class is going to take years or decades or maybe never.
Yes I realize that might mean some tiny fraction of the population who legitimately can’t get vaxed might be an unfortunate casualty of Covid. I’m not sure how what I do or what anyone else does would stop that though anyways? Surely if I am not supposed to be out at a bar drinking a beer then the immunocompromised shouldn’t be. And if they decide to do that they will be safer surrounded by me and mine than the unwashed(unvaxxed) masses.
It also takes you into plenty of uncomfortable discussions. 40,000 people die every year on the road, but no one suggests that we never drive anyway. The balance is struck between degrees of safety measures and, frankly, acceptable numbers of deaths. And that’s just an easy example where you can actually count the dead bodies. The number of deaths we accept in exchange for comfortable consumer lifestyles is probably even worse. It’s not a productive way to look at things, it’s a race to the bottom where no one can ever do anything lest it create a death.
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This seems like the type of thing American Karens would waive at Costco greeters while getting their entrance denied due to refusing to wear a mask. Is this an actual thing in the UK??
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Even so, the whole line of reasoning is fraught. The law never requires absolute accommodation for any disability, it always requires reasonable accommodation. This is why.
Osterholm’s latest. Usual caveats that he has been a glass half empty guy, just one persons opinion, etc.
—Anyone telling you what is going to happen more than 30 days out anywhere has a bridge to sell you.
—Noted the spread throughout high vaccinated places in Europe and elsewhere, says basically if you arent having a wave just wait a bit. At the same time, noted we havent seen a surge in LA or NYC (although NYC has some recent increase in cases)
—In his work in MN they are seeing more and more breakthroughs in younger people for severe illness. Boosters should help, but TBD for how long. Has real questions about durable immunity. 480 deaths of vaccinated in MN, originally was only old and with comorbidity, now seeing young healthy people dying creeping in more.
—Deer prevalence means we need to learn more about spillover from deer to humans and back. Could be a long-term issue we have to deal with.
—Following variants, but so far still delta is the undisputed king.
—Noted the danger of the psychology of the pandemic i.e. the danger of the victory lap earlier in the year because of the difficulty in then later getting people to resume precautions
—Thinks cases in affluent, vaccinated populations are being undercounted as people have started using Binax heavily. They are starting to do work on understanding how many hospitalizations were from the Binax tested group who tested positive, stayed home for 4-5 days, then only became a statistic because they had to be hospitalized.
—Says they only can trace the source of about 20% of cases right now in MN and laments vax only events as being unsafe without testing. Argues that if you are vaccinated and get infected, you are going to transmit just the same as an unvaxxed person.
—Noted cloth mask help is limited citing an unmasked teacher transmitting to 60% of masked students
—Herd immunity doesnt exist and everyone should stop talking about it
—Thinks everyone needs a third shot (not a booster because likely at least a third does vaccine), that the US is hamstringing itself with its lack of vaccination specific data but also that this is a situation where we should act faster rather than waiting for data. Feels confident that a booster does wonders for the next six months for illness prevention. Does think the Feds call for boosters for every one within days/weeks
—Thrilled for vaccinating kids (obviously), cites a Minnesota anecdote where 22 of 26 kids in a class caught delta, 2 were hospitalized as he says they are seeing much more illness among kids from delta. Says kids are transmitting basically like an influenza model would suggest at this point. Doesnt have any view on specifics around under 4 vax timeline (edited, sorry, typo)
—Biggest question at this point is what happens with waning immunity and is there eventually a waning benefit from vaccines? Notes for organ transplant recipients four vaccine doses are only a 50% reduciton in severe death/illness.
—Thinks US never goes back to lockdowns, COVID will become a part of every day risk calculations. The hope is with exposure and vaccination we will see durable long-term immunity responses, but the truth is we dont know yet. We will have to adapt to living with the virus, and some of that is just out of our control and depends on how COVID may change or act over time.
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Ya, this seems extremely dubious.
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Asthma UK appears to be a charity, not a medical or scientific research organization. Meanwhile, the WHO and AAAAI agree that they can and should wear masks.
Can People With Asthma Wear Face Masks?
Yes, people with asthma can wear face masks.
“For people with mild asthma or well-controlled asthma, it’s probably not going to be an issue,” said Dr. David Stukus, member of the Medical Scientific Council for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). “For people who have very severe disease and have frequent exacerbations, ER visits, hospitalizations, require lots of medications and frequent symptoms, it might cause more issues for those folks.”
It’s important to keep your asthma under control. Keep taking your medicines as prescribed. If you are having breathing issues that need your quick-relief inhaler (albuterol) more than two or more times per week, it’s a sign to call your doctor.
If you’re having trouble wearing a mask, try a different fabric or fit. According to the WHO, medical masks when worn the right way do not cause you to breathe in more carbon dioxide or reduce your oxygen levels. Other studies back this up as well.1 And a face mask made of three layers probably won’t fit tightly enough to affect your oxygen either. If your mask is uncomfortable, try a new type of mask.
Should people with asthma wear masks?
Many people with asthma have questioned if it is safe for them to wear a mask. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), there is no evidence that wearing a face mask can worsen your asthma.
Data from a recent study presented at the 2021 AAAAI annual meeting found that wearing a face mask does not affect oxygen saturation levels, whether the wearer has asthma or not. Oxygen saturation levels among study participants were between 93-100%, with an average of 98% for people with asthma. Normal oxygen saturation is between 96-98%.
Yes, of course it is.
People with asthma are not officially exempt from wearing face coverings, but if you find it impossible to wear a face mask because it affects your breathing, or for other physical or mental health reasons, you do not have to wear one, even in situations where face coverings are still legally required.
“People with asthma can wear masks” - not people with serious asthma who
can manage to wear a face mask or face covering for a short period of time.
but otherwise have an exemption in public - hence the exemption pic.