True. But if you are older than 65 and/or obese then you are about 4-5x more likely to die from it, just based on US numbers alone.
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Which sounds like a decent reason alone to get vaccinated so grandma doesn’t catch it from you
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Or, if you don’t want to be vaccinated, then you can do what we have done and that’s to kind of self-isolate every time we’ve been anywhere with a greater than usual chance of catching Covid when planning on seeing someone elderly. I could also give them the flu on accident and it kill them. People seem to have forgotten that people died all the time from common illnesses before Covid existed. If we would all just stay home when we’re sick or wear a mask and wash our hands a lot when we have to go out then that would help a lot, too.
A friend told me yesterday that she was shocked her brother and their family (whom they’re staying with for a week) weren’t going to go to church today because of an outbreak in their area of FL, the brother’s family not being vaccinated, and their being vaccinated but needing a negative Covid test in two weeks so they can go back home overseas. She assumed that because they were unvaccinated that they didn’t care about them. People could have better assumptions about those of us who are unvaccinated instead of just assuming we’re all selfish and want to spread disease everywhere.
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@Wahoohokie Good luck with that! My dh is attempting again after the first of the year - I’m just thinking of it as a “sabbatical;” my guess he’ll make it five or six months this time. But his work IS vastly less stressful now, now that he’s not trying to climb a ladder anymore, and he’s really not the “buck stops here” person anymore. It’s been really nice. (Side note: our kids were terribly worried about our marriage when Covid hit and he was grounded, since he’s basically been on the road our entire marriage. They were like: do you guys think you can actually live together? This is more nights in the same bed than your entire marriage! It’s been nice to discover that we actually do still enjoy hanging out with one another. He’ll be overseas for pretty much the entire month of September, and now I’m what? How do I do this again?)
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I think you are off my a magnitude of 10. Current death numbers for India are around 450,000.
That’s the official count. Estimates of death rates in India (Wall Street Journal, NPR, etc.) mostly say it’s probably ten times that. That’s what my dh is hearing from all his coworkers there as well - he talks to multiple people in India daily. (Tech industry - he’s the advisor to the Asia Pacific practice.) It’s not at all uncommon for them to have lost 8 to 10 family members . . . and these are really well off people, with access to medical care. (WSJ articles - there are several - are behind a paywall)
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This is horrible!!
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My coworker from India has lost two.
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It’s sad to say that’s good, isn’t it? But it is. Certainly not everyone he talks to has lost that many - but nearly everybody has lost someone, and there are several with big numbers. Several of his US employees who are of Indian descent and have been vaccinated took leaves of absence to go home and care for their families because there wasn’t anybody healthy or available to take care of them.
But I do think it’s quite a bit better there now.
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If only everyone were that responsible, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, I don’t think!
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Yes, it’s quite a bit better now, but DH had several co-workers do this as well. It wasn’t just “old people” being infected that was the issue. One challenge was the number of families where both parents were infected so there was no one to care for the kids. Both parents weren’t necessarily hospitalized, but they were sick enough they absolutely couldn’t parent.
The stories from his offshore team in India backed it up.
If you have kids and neither parent has been vaccinated, it might be worth considering getting at least one parent vaccinated. That way, at least you’re hedging your bets a bit.
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Ok, I’m super curious now on how you made this risk assessment. Were you living somewhere with a super-high rate of rabies?
Global stats:
“Each year, rabies causes approximately 59,000 deaths worldwide.”
“between 291,000 and 646,000 people worldwide die from seasonal influenza-related respiratory illnesses each year”
https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/world/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p1213-flu-death-estimate.html
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We live somewhere with poor medical care and irregular flights. Rabies is 100% fatal if not treated within 2-3 days if no vaccines were given prior to infection. If you have the vaccines then you have an extra few days, and since flights are irregular and 100% of people who get rabies die from it unless given the follow-ups…it’s a no-brainer. Far from 100% of people who get a seasonal influenza-related respiratory illness die from them.
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Yikes! I can see myself getting ALL the vaccines if that was my situation!
Is getting the Covid vaccine even an option for you at this point?
How have your medical facilities been handling the surges? Or are you in one of the areas that hasn’t really been hit yet?
We’re stuck in America right now, waiting on visas. We’ve been here since last May. Honestly after the initial wave last April or so our area has not been overwhelmed. Everyone I know there has had Covid and recovered fine.
I hope that continues to hold true. Unfortunately, a lot of younger people are being hospitalized with Delta, and they’re still trying to sort if that’s just because of sheer volume with Delta being so much more transmissible or if it’s more severe in younger people than previous variants.
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I have this theory. Well. Hypothesis, really. And I recognize it is only that. But I find it intriguing both how quickly delta is spreading…but then how quickly it is also “burning itself out”, in a sense. Look at the rate of infection and then the sudden drop in India, for example. Both are unprecedented. We are seeing the same happening in the UK now…rapid infections, but then it is now starting a rapid decline. It seems strange. But then I got to thinking…is it possible that delta is SO contagious, that “everyone” is getting it (I am using that somewhat colloquially). That is to say, there is a massive number of asymptomatic infections taking place. And if, in fact, a majority of the infections are asymptomatic, considering how contagious this variant is…could it be that delta is causing, effectively, a mass herd immunity extremely quickly.
Of course, with so many people being infected, you still have the breakthrough cases and those being hospitalized as well.
If my hypothesis is correct, we might see delta as the “last rise” of COVID…in that, it will result, ultimately, in “the end of COVID”. (I’m using quotes and such because I realize some of those statement are a bit hyperbolic, but trying to convey the point.)
At this point, I don’t think we have enough data to really say if that is the case or not; it would take some massive testing of those who have not reported any signs of illness to see they have antibodies or not.
IF it is true, however, it suggests two things:
- It might actually not be worth trying to slow this thing down with masks, as it might be a futile effort at this point. (With some exceptions.)
- Getting vaccinated will still help reduce one’s likelihood that infection could turn into something severe or deadly…but it might not actually stop infection o the spread enough, because early studies are showing the vaccines are only on the order of ~40% effective against infection of delta.
I’m not advocating anyone stop masking up or anything, since again, this is purely hypothesis based on what I’m observing. But in a way, the massive rise in cases due to Delta, plus the rapid declines seen in India and now in UK are actually giving me a bit of hope.
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I’m sure you are not alone in your observations and wonderings. Only time will tell.
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It would be great if this is correct, but unfortunately, it’s based on at least one pretty big assumption.
The early indications are that naturally acquired immunity through infections by previous variants may provide little if any protection against Delta.
With such a massive amounts of Delta cases, there are definitely new variants being birthed. The more we let it “run its course”, the higher the risk a new variant emerges that escapes Delta induced immunity or, God forbid, the vaccines are completely useless against. Then we are literally right back where we were last December.
I think your hypothesis that viruses that are more transmissible have steeper curves (both up and down) makes sense though. (Medical people? Is that an already established thing?)
I’m just concerned your logical leap to it being somehow a benefit to the overall pandemic is a bit Pollyanna.
Also, it sort of sweeps aside the very real issue of health outcomes being poorer (extending beyond Covid) during the periods when healthcare systems are overwhelmed. We’re already there in many parts of Texas and are possibly several weeks from the peak.
I would hope responding enough to keep healthcare services intact would be the bare minimum.
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I’m not suggesting that. I’m suggesting that infection by the Delta variant will protect against the…Delta variant! 
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