Covid-19 Discussion (moderated)

i can't speak to any 'sequel', but, long term covid is a real thing. 

in my opinion, anyone trying to downplay covid is an a$$. sure, there are now many examples of people getting covid and recovering. they were vaccinated. the reason they got covid? too many refused the shots and the virus mutated. 

the simple issue of vaccinations became a political football-even though every member of fox, and every elected republican, got the shots! 

even when some said they were against it. 

the hypocrisy is grand. "my body, my choice" only works for some tools when it is politically expedient.

you seem to be one that researches in a way where you start from your hypothesis and try to go forward with anything that supports your view. 

that is not any type of independent thinking. considering some of the sites you use for your claims, nothing you say should be considered. 

the virus mutated.  That's evolution!!!!

Evolution.  Considered a dirty word by many.
Unfortunate that the term was coined that way.
Evolution sounds like Evilution.  Or Evil Solution.
If you say 'natural selection' that's 'softer' but its labored.

missing the point entirely. which is odd for someone that wrote, "I have several degrees in science and worked in science until I retired".

so, this non-scientist will help you remember some of your studies, maybe?

as of today, only 66% of americans are vaccinated. that means that, in a span of about two years, so many have refused the vaccinations that allowed that evolution. 

herd immunity is said to start at 70%.

so, in your studies, i'm sure you learned about the lack of mutations, or, evolution, of, say, smallpox, polio, measles, mumps, and many others. 

the #1 reason for this is vaccinations. 

as a scientist, i'm sure you remember the measles outbreak in 2019. it was caused because of anti-vaxxers. 

I am not missing the point. I had all my shots and I still got Covid-19 and pneumonia, but that is not my point either. I am not an anti-vaxxer but I am a pro-evolutionist.

'Getting a virus' ... its a scalar thing.
Not a binary A or B thing.
Hawaiians died of the common cold in large numbers in the early days of settlers arriving.  Which meant contagion.
The immune systems of many of the natives simply weren't prepared enough to kill the virus inside of them fast enough before irreparable and fatal damage was done.

I guess you know that long flu exists as well. Long coxasackievirus, long any coronavirus. Any and all viruses can cause long term effects, ranging from myopericarditis to neuronal damage (not only Bell’s Palsy) and so far there is no single proof that sars-cov-2 is any worse at long term. Most of “long term” effects in published studies of covid-19 are bases on polls whithout analytical or clinical support, and those that demonstrate long term effects as a myocarditis happen as well, much more than probably, with other inluenza like illnesses / viruses. Apparently, covid is worse because everybody gets whatever published on covid. But there is no true numbers since “long flu” has never had the attention of covid. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/original-coronavirus-strain-replaced-by-variants-us-chart-2021-6?op=1

the early strains of Covid 19 appear to be almost gone.
Does vaccination help with the new strains ?
Yes.
Anything that moves the immune system closer to the task it must perform means that when the fight is on - and the race to see which will happen first - the virus killed off in the host body or irreparable and fatal damage to that body ... the odds shift in favor of 'human being'.
And then - with whatever strain then finally killed off soon enough - not only does the human survive - how can they spread it if the viruses are all then dead?  Dead viruses can't 'spread' something.  That 'reduces the spread'.
As mutations develop - will they have increased survivability against the vaccines?  Its extremely easy to misinterpret that question.
And those misinforming can easily 'cherrypick' there.
Increased (temporary) survivability of a new variant against vaccinations doesn't mean that the patient doesn't have increased survivability (because of vaccination) against that variant. 
As opposed to less or no vaccination.
Remember:  A lot of people get 'flu shots' every year. 
There are new flu variants coming along.
One's flu shot might not optimally protect ...
but does it follow from there that that flu vaxx and all the previous vaxxes every year 'don't count'?
No.

I guess you know that by the time vaccines were distributed, the virus had mutated from the originally reported Wuhan strain to MANY other ones. So, actually, the vaccines had the same probability to match the running variant in nov 21 than in march 22. No one vaccine was made for any other variant than the one in Wuhan. Attribution to non-vaccinated is absurd. That inconsistant theory has NEVER been shown to happen with ANY vaccine in history, no single one example, rather the contrary: eradication of smallpox happened worldwide, independently the pace of vaccination. Countries that took decades to inoculate did not show “resistance” because partial vaccination, NEITHER vaccinated people of polio never was ill because of non-vaccinated. That are media-stories with no scientific support. Actually, I do not understand: did vaccines ever worked according to you or they didn’t? 

One of the main issues of disinformation seems to be just unrealistic binary A or B versus the reality of things on a scale.  Which is more complicated.
Combine invalid A or B with cherrypicking and there's quite a situation there.
Ripe for Quacks like Mercola to make tens of millions of dollars.
I posted four links earlier about Covid disinformation ...
Haven't had time to click any of them and post from them.

   Here's 3 places to stay away from this summer.                                                     https://www.yahoo.com/news/major-tourist-draws-become-virus-175605406.html

   I haven't read this whole thing, but I think they have a new test to see who is immune to covid....                                                                                                  https://www.yahoo.com/news/test-help-reveal-youre-immune-152044237.html

Tests for antibodies?
I thought of that somewhere in the middle of Covid ...
but had to think for a while about why it wasn't being done ...
Came up with reasons to think it wasn't such a hot idea.
Like for example - variants?
Or - such tests causing such persons to not wear a mask -
'spreading' a bad example to others.
And other negatives.
Covid disinfo and misinfo and poor example behaviour - themselves de facto 'pandemics' intensely escalating Covid and causing millions of extra deaths.

Just got my 2nd booster this morning.  No crowd  although it's available free for folks older than 50 just this month where I live. That's 4 vaccinations in total so far.

where do you live that has 4 vax?

As a relocated former dictator I can't say

Lol !

    He's talking about 4 shots in total......A lot of people have had 4.  You needed 2 to start with, and about a yr later, 2 boosters.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1191568/reported-deaths-from-covid-by-age-us/

I came around this:

99.3% of COVID deaths in the US (which represents 1/6 COVID deaths worldwide) are from people over 50.

Just sayin'