Unfortunately, the data coming out of some of the trials is showing that may not give you any protection from at least the SA variant. Something to kept in mind if that variant (or similar ones) becomes more widespread here. (It’s only ~1% at the moment though.)
“In this placebo-controlled vaccine trial, we found that previous infection with first-wave prototype-like, pre-B.1.351 viruses did not appear to reduce the risk of Covid-19 due to subsequent infection with B.1.351 variants among placebo recipients during the initial 2 months of follow-up. This finding is preliminary and may have public health implications for pandemic modeling, control strategies, and vaccine development and deployment efforts. It is also consistent with the lack of incremental benefit conferred by preexisting immunity in vaccine recipients as evidenced in our trial by consistent levels of efficacy regardless of baseline serostatus for SARS-CoV-2. ” https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2103055
YLE posted an update on some of the boosters in trials. Her educated prediction:
“We’ll probably have a booster by the end of the year. And probably annually for at least a few years until we get transmission down, so mutations slow down.
By the way, we just got word of the first animal trial on a flu/COVID19 combo vaccine by Novavax. So, ideally and eventually we would only need one shot a year.”
Super low prevalence.
No idea which virus I had in the first place.
And I wasn’t concerned about having Covid in the first place.
The bottom line is I relate heartily to @Jeff_AZ ‘s aunt.
Thank you for mentioning this. This is not helping the message. It’s every bit as cringey as Trump suggesting Clorox or Fauci saying normalcy might be here by next Mother’s Day. Someone needs to talk to leaders about the optics.
I was thinking today that it’s going to take a variant wave of significant proportion to get people to choose vaccination. I don’t even know if promising an end to masking would work in Texas, even if it would work in New York for @qwerty6.
Hopefully I’m wrong and we are done with the virus.
I hear you on the optics. I don’t think I have as strong of a reaction as you do to it, but I understand why that image wouldn’t go over well for a number of folks.
To me, it is not the same level of cringe worthy, though. At all. Wearing a mask and distancing isn’t physically harmful. Drinking/injecting/etc bleach has the potential to sicken, maim or kill you.
I tend to think about who else is in the room that we cannot see. While to us the President may look like he is alone and wearing a mask, but out of the camera’s view there may very well be other people in the room.
When our company CEO is on a joint meeting, the feed makes him look like he is by himself but there is a group of people “behind” the camera area helping with support and meeting logistics.
Some good news - vaccination rates are stabilizing at 2M / day after falling pretty quickly from 3M when the J&J pause was announced. Hoping this holds. Probably at least partially due to opening up to 16+.
Trump’s comment was 100% stupid, spur of the moment, asinine brain-fart. And I’d be willing to bet you could count on one hand the number of people who actually entertained the thought that it was a good idea, vs. the thousands of Americans who will likely still wear paper on their faces til next May bc of Fauci.
My heart breaks when I hear of people who have put their lives on hold for a year+ now. We have been hanging out with friends and family, un-masked, indoors and outdoors since Easter of last year. We have our parties and picnics and holidays and sleepovers and we’ve shopped and dined and continued to live. This is especially valuable as we plan to move this summer and are grateful for these memories. We’ve missed the museums and activities that have normally graced our lives, but we made up for it with more gatherings and play dates and fellowship. What is saddest is that people who have had vaccines are still not confident! What will it take for people to reclaim their lives?
I’m pretty sure anyone working anywhere close to Biden had to be fully vaccinated at that point.
Even if there are others several feet away off screen, Biden has been fully vaccinated for weeks. He can’t harm anyone and doesn’t need mask protection. The spotlight is on him, and the optics suggest he feels the need to wear a mask just in case the vaccine doesn’t work well enough. That creates hesitancy and the sense of endless restrictions.
Even if I surrender that event, just 5 days later he walked alone outdoors to the podium with a mask on to announce masks not needed as much outdoors, as if he doesn’t trust what his own already cautious CDC is stating. That creates hesitancy and confusion.
Yes, I’m a republican. Yes, I’m against most restrictions. But I think some of the optics and messaging possibly being counterproductive is worthy of a fair discussion.
However, it’s not all about me. Because we have all kinds of variants running around (my county just found their first case of the India variant here last week - yay…) and anti-maskers don’t seem to get (or don’t care) that part of the point of masks and mitigation is to minimize the amount of virus spread so we won’t end up with a bunch of vaccine-busting variants, I’m stuck wearing a mask for now. I care enough about my fellow citizens and myself that I don’t want to spreading some variant around however small that chance may be.
I find it interesting how people who are all “YOLO!!! Don’t need masks!!!” are SUPER concerned about other people wearing masks.
This is in line with what I’m saying.
If the people you are trying to reach at this point are the non-vaccinated, they should probably consider shifting the optic.
I agree. His mask wearing is symbolic rather than scientific or practical at this point. Whether that has a positive or negative net effect is open to interpretation.
FWIW, if I am inside I am wearing a mask depending on how many people are there and their vaccination status (I am fully vaccinated). I am not going to question someone else that also wears one inside.
I often leave a building and don’t remove my mask until I get to my car. Yes, I don’t need to be masked but I am so used to wearing it I don’t think to remove it until I am getting in the car. There are more important things for those in our government to think about than at what point in my walk from here to there do I remove my mask.
I never thought wearing a mask was trying to reach the un-vaccinated.
Why someone wears a mask could be explained by 100s of different reasons. I have never worn my mask to try to convince an un-vaccinated person to get the vaccine.
