India has a much larger population and has vaccinated much less of a percentage of their population than the US. I’d have to look up the most recent update, but there were concerns over how many people were vaccinated there. Apparently India’s vaccine providers have also been charging for the vaccine and not offering it for free, which is hindering the poor from having access to the vaccine. So I wouldn’t call their vaccination efforts successful.
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I’m not saying they were successful I’m saying that for a while the virus was being held at bay much better in India than the US and that was in spite of their large population. Then something changed and now it’s horrifying what is happening there. I think we can’t ignore that just because things seem to be doing better here you know?
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There many things that went wrong in India, including mass gatherings and vaccination distribution issues that more than likely caused what is currently happening there. It is horrific. But, I’m not going to let what is happening in India cause me to be concerned about new variants from people who choose not to be vaccinated here in the US. Those are completely different scenarios.
“The company said it also plans to apply this month for full approval of the vaccine for use in people from ages 16 to 85. ”
It was also in the NY Times article linked above.
I’ve seen a few people comment in various places they wouldn’t get the vaccine until it had full approval rather than an EUA. If that’s truly all that’s needed to overcome hesitancy for some, that would be great!
With where the US is now with vaccination coverage, I think it unlikely we could ever get in the heartbreaking predicament that India is currently in with this particular virus, including variants.
And I agree that it will likely always be with us, but hopefully with prevalence well below that of the flu. (Maybe a reasonable goal is to get the spread low enough that fatalities from covid are no more than ballparkish the same as the flu? Obviously to get both lower would be better, but we’ve got to figure out how to balance risk/benefit of measures.)
But what is happening in India should still be taken as a warning.
Without getting spread rates globally quite low, we could lock ourselves into non-stop revaccination cycles in the US.
I would think an annual shot is reasonable. Anything shorter than that, we tie our hands from being able to do much to help the rest of the world. (There is some speculation about boosters already coming out in the fall.). And thus the cycle gets locked in and we maybe approach old-normal but never quite get there, and still suffer from excessive casualties than if we just collectively committed to getting this under control.
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…to chime in w/ the media ringing an alarm or not… C-19 isn’t the Flu so in that sense I think discussing the issues around vaccination numbers and consequences is valid. We still do not know the long term effects of C-19: the need for possible long term health care, long-haulers, weakened health, the costs for lifetime treatment for C-19 related issues etc. If someone that is asymptomatic can present w/ permanent lung damage it’s valid to continue to push vaccination and be concerned as a society.
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The Pfizer article has references to Moderna? (Or another article?)
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I think “alarm” is a loaded term. I’m not “worried” in the sense of living in constant fear and dread. That’s not helpful.
But the variants and existing strains in the US are still causing an unacceptable level of fatalities, and we want to minimize the number of variants that develop in the future because things could get a lot worse if a more deadly strain arrives on our shores.
So the bottom line is - get vaccinated! Encourage your family and social circle to get vaccinated. As many people as possible need to. Don’t spread misinformation about the vaccines, whether that be positive or negative. Just give people the facts and encourage them to choose the selfless option. It will make a difference.
Once 70%+ are vaccinated, even the staunchest states will start to relax restrictions if fatalities and hospitalizations go down as predicted. But 80, 90, and 99% vaccination would be much more secure.
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Oh, nope. Didn’t catch it was the other one. So, yes, both please!
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All. Of. This.
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Thank you for saying this. This keeps people like me on board and feeling seen/heard and more willing to engage. I too hope as many as possible get vaccinated, but also maintain respect for any individual choosing not to, for any reason or for no reason, and just hope and pray enough want to in order for the greater community to be a decent level of healthy and back to normal.
Wife and I have thoroughly examined and discussed our hesitancy and figure we might as well do it and no longer had enough reason to not do it, so have Moderna set up for next week for us. DD16 is getting Pfizer tonight, fully by her own choice.
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I guess I always expected that we would be living with covid. I was surprised by the “alarm”. I was wondering if they are inferring “it will transition to a new form we cannot stop”?
I am trying to live in a world where I can recognize a realistic fear, not “the sky is falling” and I am hoping that the views here will help me find that line?
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I read you earlier post and had started a comment, but life, and I see others have made great posts along the lines of what I would have added.
I agree that the media wants to sow alarm - regardless of what all the media people say, alarm means clicks and shares and drama and money. I carefully examine every piece of information that causes alarm or complete dismissal of it.
At this stage we just all need to be forward looking and, dare I go back to the driving analogy, employ our defensive driving techniques (getting vaccinated, watching for variants, wash our hands, stay home when sick, etc.).
My family will probably have a quiet summer without summer camps and the like, but unless something ridiculous happens over the summer, we’ll be rejoining many things this fall that we abandoned last year.
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Yes - thank you for asking the question! I think it helps prompt meaningful discussion. All of us are here for the same reason - we want to gather information from people who have different perspectives from ourselves to make sure we’re not missing something important in our bubbles. I very much value all your input and questions.
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I agree with this so much. I haven’t contributed much to this discussion, but I have to thank all of you for having it! Even when it’s been difficult and people don’t agree, everyone has been willing to share their perspectives and be respectful of others. Strange as it may seem, this thread has been my go-to source for covid news and opinions. It’s just so much more fact-based and balanced than any media I can find.
So. THANK YOU!
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It’s been awhile for one of these! For your 2020.1 oddities bingo card…farmer inadvertently puts Belgian/French border in dispute:
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I read that story. What a hilarious situation (assuming it doesn’t start a war 
) 
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Hurray! 
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Same here, so not strange to me at all! I rarely even read news stories anymore, I just come here!
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This is great! Does anyone remember when they first applied for 12-15? It feels like it’s been a month already. In November, our littlest will be 2. It would be amazing to get him his shot at his birthday and not in the spring like they originally projected.
And I have been getting all my Covid news here too! I’ve appreciated the article shares and news breakdowns so much! I read an article last spring that was written to incite fear and I’ve been nervous to open links friends have shared since then. Knowing you guys will share all the big updates has kept me from needing to search elsewhere.
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