Vaccination free for-all

[TexasHusker]

In other news, the CDC is now recommending seatbelts even when not driving.

[Snydley]

Actually that’s media spin.

The biggest hurdle is apathy. To the average 20 or 30 something, why would I screw with getting shots if I have to act unvaccinated? For the low-risk age group, there is no incentive to get shots. I have 47 employees, and most fall in to this category.

Now the gubmit is floating paying people to get vaccinated. Why not just let them act vaccinated? That would gain some traction.

If there's one thing I've learned in the last year, it's how poorly most scientists and physicians understand people. I agree with TH here. If the risk of infection is less than 1:1000 post-vaccination, let vaccinated people go unmasked in public. Will people just go unmasked even if not vaccinated? Maybe/likely. But one could argue that this plan will lead to far less new infections and isn't this our ultimate goal? Remember, being unmasked in stores, etc. likely causes a small fraction of transmission (most occurring in homes).

And if your response is, "people shouldn't care about wearing masks in public", I say to this, maybe YOU don't care, but others do. We need to get out of our own heads and recognize different priorities and ways of thinking without instantly dismissing them as inferior.

[Snydley]

Always something new to fear. Two months ago it was The Variants. The CDC chief bawling about it. That didn’t work out. Now it’s India.

When the CDC chief teared up about the variants I was super-pissed. What does this serve, and the science didn't support her panic (and I work in this field). I would say there was a less than 1% risk of vaccines not being effective on the variants when she made this statement. You need to level with people, give them actual info, talk about relative risk (10% vs 1% vs lower). They never do this.

Now, people are choosing vaccines vs infection risk- how about we provide them with the data? Your risk of vaccine reaction is X, your risk of COVID-19 complications during initial infection is Y, your risk on long term (potentially permanent) issues is Z. Update these numbers, for all age groups, as they come in...and pitch it all as, here's the info, the decision is yours.

[TexasHusker]

I think MOST of the draconian measures were absolutely prudent a year ago. But as hard data has emerged day after day, month after month, that these measures did little -to-nothing to change the virus trends, it has become obvious no one is following any “science”, but rather some political garbage. That is unacceptable, regardless of your political bent.

[disneysteve]

Getting back to the original topic:

I'm starting to see ads online for pop up vaccination clinics, especially in underserved areas. While that's great, I wonder how effective they will be. If you are advertising in places like Facebook, will the people who would actually benefit from the service actually know about it. I don't know how else they are spreading the word about these opportunities. Hopefully they are plastering the local shops and restaurants and community centers with the information so that the people who live in those neighborhoods actually find out about the clinic in time to take advantage of it.

A doctor friend shared an ad yesterday for a pop up clinic today. Hopefully, they've been advertising that clinic for a week or two. If they truly didn't announce it until a day or two before, I wonder how good the turnout will be.

[james.hendrickson]

Getting back to the original topic:

I'm starting to see ads online for pop up vaccination clinics, especially in underserved areas. While that's great, I wonder how effective they will be. If you are advertising in places like Facebook, will the people who would actually benefit from the service actually know about it. I don't know how else they are spreading the word about these opportunities. Hopefully they are plastering the local shops and restaurants and community centers with the information so that the people who live in those neighborhoods actually find out about the clinic in time to take advantage of it.

A doctor friend shared an ad yesterday for a pop up clinic today. Hopefully, they've been advertising that clinic for a week or two. If they truly didn't announce it until a day or two before, I wonder how good the turnout will be.

Yes - I got three notifications on my phone for pop up events today and yesterday.

[disneysteve]

Yes - I got three notifications on my phone for pop up events today and yesterday.

Interesting. Where did the notifications come from? Is it from the county or other government agency? If they have a way to push out a notice to everyone's phone that's good. However, there's still the problem of the short notice. If you work or need to arrange transportation or child care, you need advance warning.

[james.hendrickson]

Interesting. Where did the notifications come from? Is it from the county or other government agency? If they have a way to push out a notice to everyone's phone that's good. However, there's still the problem of the short notice. If you work or need to arrange transportation or child care, you need advance warning.

Disneysteve - I signed up through the State of Oregon's website.

Honestly - even if you don't think the vaccines are effective, its still good manners to get them. It makes other people around you feel comfortable.

[disneysteve]

Disneysteve - I signed up through the State of Oregon's website.

Ah, that's less impressive. That means you actively sought out the information.

I'm really curious how they are spreading the word to the underserved communities and reaching the people who aren't out looking to get the vaccine but would be willing if the opportunity presented itself.

[james.hendrickson]

Ah, that's less impressive. That means you actively sought out the information.

I'm really curious how they are spreading the word to the underserved communities and reaching the people who aren't out looking to get the vaccine but would be willing if the opportunity presented itself.

Locally, no idea. I've frankly been focused on other things...like the stock market.

[disneysteve]

Locally, no idea. I've frankly been focused on other things...like the stock market.

I haven't really paid much attention either since we're both already vaccinated. But as a doc, I'm curious. I used to work in a very underserved area so I wonder how well they're managing to get that population vaccinated, especially now that no appointments are needed and it's open to everyone.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I got a bunch of notifications for waiting lists I was on.

[TexasHusker]

When the CDC chief teared up about the variants I was super-pissed. What does this serve, and the science didn't support her panic (and I work in this field). I would say there was a less than 1% risk of vaccines not being effective on the variants when she made this statement. You need to level with people, give them actual info, talk about relative risk (10% vs 1% vs lower). They never do this.

Now, people are choosing vaccines vs infection risk- how about we provide them with the data? Your risk of vaccine reaction is X, your risk of COVID-19 complications during initial infection is Y, your risk on long term (potentially permanent) issues is Z. Update these numbers, for all age groups, as they come in...and pitch it all as, here's the info, the decision is yours.

One problem is, the fed’s role has expanded from governing the people, to coercing and manipulating the people. Liberals tend to want to form and shape society into some ideal, rather than simply govern. It is the religion of tolerance, yet if you do not agree with them, you are demonized. You’re a bigot, a deplorable, a racist, a science-denier. So you are tolerated so long as you agree with the tolerators.

Coercion leads to dishonesty, which gives birth to fear, which gives birth to control, which leads to distrust. Distrust gives birth to defiance, which then gives birth to violence. We have reached the defiance and anarchy stage. You see anarchy in every nook and cranny in this country, manifested in a variety of ways. Airplanes, schools, even churches and synagogues. Anarchy from the right, anarchy the left.

Liberalism eventually consumes everything if given enough time, including its own. We are seeing a microcosm of this being played out with the COVID games to its logical conclusion.

For more, I recommend Machiavelli’s The Prince.

[Snydley]

One problem is, the fed’s role has expanded from governing the people, to coercing and manipulating the people. Liberals tend to want to form and shape society into some ideal, rather than simply govern. It is the religion of tolerance, yet if you do not agree with them, you are demonized. You’re a bigot, a deplorable, a racist, a science-denier. So you are tolerated so long as you agree with the tolerators.

Coercion leads to dishonesty, which gives birth to fear, which gives birth to control, which leads to distrust. Distrust gives birth to defiance, which then gives birth to violence. We have reached the defiance and anarchy stage. You see anarchy in every nook and cranny in this country, manifested in a variety of ways. Airplanes, schools, even churches and synagogues. Anarchy from the right, anarchy the left.

Liberalism eventually consumes everything if given enough time, including its own. We are seeing a microcosm of this being played out with the COVID games to its logical conclusion.

For more, I recommend Machiavelli’s The Prince.

I don't agree with this, and I'll present the other side, briefly. Liberals such as myself believe the following: (1) Government needs to look like the people and serve the people (not profit from them), (2) the system is quite rigged against those not born into the right color, gender, or zip code, (3) we need to care about one another. The 'religion of tolerance' is about being a good, caring person, judging someone by their character, not their color or gender. To many liberals, those who don't share these feelings appear to be, quite frankly, bad people.

Dishonesty and 'control' was never seen at a more pronounced level arguably in the history of the US than with Trump. 'Coersion' as you mention, is telling the public this virus is going to go away, as he did at the start of the pandemic. He lied constantly and tried to prevent votes from being counted, then rallied an insurrection when he didn't win the election.

I'm attempting to meet you more in the middle with COVID discussions, with facts and logic. You have represented the right-wing 'other side' on these forums, and I'm interested in seeing how our discourse plays out, to see if it is truly impossible for Americans to find middle ground on some issues. I do wonder if racism underlies it all and is the real dividing factor.

[disneysteve]

TexasHusker and Snydley, thank you both for your posts. I'd love to respond but this really isn't the place for it so I'll refrain.

I will ask that we do our best to stick to the thread topics. Certainly, government policies greatly impact how the pandemic response has played out, so it's impossible to avoid getting into those discussions to a certain extent. You'd have to be blind to not see how differently the two parties have approached this from day one.

What we need to try and avoid here is getting into broader political topics unrelated to COVID (or whatever the topic of the particular thread is). Name calling from either side isn't okay. Liberals and Conservatives have very different priorities and different views about pretty much everything whether it's COVID, guns, religion, equality, voting rights, or anything else. While I really enjoy a good discussion about those topics, this site generally isn't the right place to have those conversations except to the extent that they directly relate to the topic at hand.

Thanks. I'll readily admit that I'm not always great at following this rule myself but let's all try to do so going forward.