Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: cake, 2013, how much)

[charolastra00]

I put some faith into the UW projections, which have been pretty close since the early days of the pandemic. It shows that we'll have a peak in October before dropping again, which tracks with what we're seeing happen in states like Florida. Florida is actually peaking right around now, far higher than their January peak.



We're projected to be lower on all counts from where we were in January. It won't feel great to be back where we were in April, but it could be worse.



Almost all local colleges are requiring all students, faculty and staff to wear masks and still get tested regularly, with isolation housing for students who test positive. It's not ideal, especially with the Delta variant, but many did well last year with less protection pre-vaccine.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

It was expected, but nice to see it come through - the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine gained full approval today :-)
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/pres...vid-19-vaccine

It was posted 6.5 hours ago.

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

FDA fully approved Pfizer's vaccine.

[OutdoorLover]

For the time being, nationwide cases appear to be cresting. Deaths are about 3 weeks behind as I recall, so under present behavior, we might expect nationwide cases to crest in a few weeks. However, if behavior changes due to in-person schooling and chilly weather sending people to congregate indoors, which is likely - indoor crowding improves disease transmission significantly, so the pandemic could certainly take off again, making this apparent crest just a false crest on the way to bigger and badder highs.

[yesmaybe]

MA report mentions vaccine status of those hospitalized now. Says 155 of 530 hospitalized had reported they had been considered fully vaccinated. It is still going up, might have just been a blip with it flattening.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by justyouraveragetenant

I always use the law to outsmart people .

[OutdoorLover]

Interestingly, in 1777, George Washington ordered the crude vaccination of the Continental Army with smallpox. This was 100 years before electricity was available - pretty forward thinking by Washington. And yet, more than 240 years later, many Americans have still not accepted vaccines - they still haven't figured out that Washington was right back then, and they view them as some kind of medical voodoo, or with equal acumen, as the first step toward a totalitarian state. That's the American "mind", circa 2021.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/a...noculates-army

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

Interestingly, in 1777, George Washington ordered the crude vaccination of the Continental Army with smallpox. This was 100 years before electricity was available - pretty forward thinking by Washington. And yet, more than 240 years later, many Americans have still not accepted vaccines - they still haven't figured out that Washington was right back then, and they view them as some kind of medical voodoo, or with equal acumen, as the first step toward a totalitarian state. That's the American "mind", circa 2021.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/a...noculates-army

Our country is in decline and here is another symptom. We are not moving toward a totalitarian state just because one side doesn't agree with the other side. We used to pretty much agree on most things though. When the polio vaccine came out people could hardly wait to get it and no one spouted conspiracy theories.

But now, with the internet, anyone can influence people, anyone can hand out false information. I'm not even a big supporter of vaccines--I had the measles and chicken pox and it was no big deal. But this disease is not just measles or chicken pox--it's nothing to laugh or joke about. Certainly the vaccine makers are getting big money but it doesn't follow that the vaccine is fake or dangerous.

[msRB311]

I don't recall people getting all bent out of shape when not everyone got a flu shot. Not sure why people expected everyone to get this vaccine.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I don't recall people getting all bent out of shape when not everyone got a flu shot. Not sure why people expected everyone to get this vaccine.

Greater sense of urgency, maybe? As a calculated risk/benefit, I never felt the need to get a flu shot. Many doctors don't recommend it for lower risk people. There is no such dilemma around the Covid vaccine, unless you are a patient at facebookmed.edu.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I don't recall people getting all bent out of shape when not everyone got a flu shot. Not sure why people expected everyone to get this vaccine.

The death rates well above 10x the worst of the flu seasons (and studies are showing we've really undercounted covid death rates) despite having unprecedented in the last 75 or so years efforts to mitigate the damage (which data has showing helped quite a bit) might, just might, have something to do with that.