COVID continues to dominate. So much so that I am not at all clear that people are thinking anymore. Do we really know why we're doing what we're doing? Consider.
Why Wear a Mask?
From the beginning masks were a thing. First it was, "Don't wear one because there is a shortage and the medical professionals need them first." Then it was, "The virus is too small; it will go through the holes in most masks." Then they figured out, "But the virus usually leaves the nose and mouth in microglobules that are big enough to be trapped," so they ended up with "Wear a mask." But why? From the start it was "My mask protects you and your mask protects me." Thus, if we were wearing masks for the right reasons, it would be that "I'm concerned I might have and spread COVID even if I have no symptoms, so I'm going to make sure I protect others ... from me."
Most of what I see today includes none of this. People, for instance, driving alone in a car with the windows rolled up and masked makes no sense. I see it quite often. I know of almost nobody that diligently wears a mask to prevent themselves from spreading COVID. Others are unaware of the potential dangers of wearing masks, dangers like improving conditions to overcome innate immunity by making a humid habitat for COVID next to your face or failing to change masks often or not accounting for the decreased oxygen and increased carbon dioxide. There are real dangers (even deaths have been reported), but most people see mask-wearing as the best way ... to protect themselves, a function never intended for masks.
Why Get Vaccinated?
Getting vaccinated can be a good thing. But ... why? Vaccines may decrease cases and effects of COVID. For those on the dangerous edge of dying from COVID symptoms due to age or other risk factors, getting the vaccine makes sense in terms of risk analysis. Vaccines do not provide immunity -- nothing actually does -- but they can decrease the chances and harm of the disease.
The number of people I've talked to that are convinced that the vaccine provides complete immunity from COVID is staggering. They will argue with me, even after I show them the news stories, the CDC guidelines, the print everywhere that says that the vaccine does not provide full immunity. They also seem to have conveniently (and inexplicably) missed the studies that say that the vaccine wears off ... rapidly. The best case is at around 50% effective after 6 months (or less) and the worst is 13%. Why do they recommend boosters? Because the thing isn't keeping up its protection. They're giving us stories about people getting fully vaccinated and getting sick followed immediately with "So everyone get vaccinated now!" and no one seems to notice the cognitive dissonance. I don't know; if you're going to believe the science, that's nonsense.
Why Fear Omicron?
Omicron is the new monster on the block. I recently read that 95% of current new cases are from the omicron variant. In the UK they are reporting that 69% of omicron cases are among the fully vaccinated. (It appears to be a pandemic of the vaccinated now.) And "the current new cases" are through the roof, breaking records seemingly everywhere. That's something to be concerned about. In the U.S. one death has been reported and worldwide it's something less than 10, so death is a possibility. Hospitalizations are on the rise simply because of the skyrocketing number of cases. And it appears that omicron is more transmissible and both natural immunity and the vaccines are not as effective protection against it (which, by the way, is one of the reasons it is more transmissible).
All that being said, the medical community is in agreement. Omicron is less. Less virulent, less catastrophic, less life-threatening ... less. The symptoms for vaccinated and unvaccinated alike are typically closer to those of a cold. Emergency rooms are filling because of the panic and not because of the problem. We're told "Omnicron is gonna get you" (President Biden promised his nation more hospitalization and death for the unvaccinated), so we run for cover when there is a sniffle, but while cases are up, up, up, hospitalizations are not keeping pace. Deaths are really not keeping pace. We might have better named it "Yawnicron." In fact, there are those who are predicting that, due to its transmissibility and our lack of good immunity alongside its fairly benign effects, it might actually end the COVID problem for us.
Conclusions
It's good to do things to help solve problems and ease difficulties. Wearing a mask when in close proximity to others is perhaps wise as long as you're aware that you're doing it to protect them, not yourself. Wearing a mask out of manic paranoia in order to keep yourself from getting it is pointless. Indeed, it could be worse than pointless. Getting vaccinated has its upside and people at risk would be wise to consider it. Mandating a one-size-fits-all approach using a technique known to be insufficient -- you can still get COVID, still transmit it, and still die from it -- is a shotgun approach without reasonable hope of actually hitting the target, actually providing the protection you're intending to provide. And that omnicron thing? Don't sweat it. You may get it, but it's not the terror that COVID-19 or its delta version was. Stay calm. Don't panic. It's not the end of the world. At least, not yet.
6 comments:
I got vaxxed the first time because I was traveling to visit my 93 year old aunt and it seemed like a reasonable precaution to take. Now I'm headed back to celebrate her 95th and I'll probably get the booster before I go for the same reason.
What I find most disturbing is the lack of acknowledgement of natural immunity in the discussion of the "vaccine". At this point as a "fully vaccinated" person who's had COVID, I should be as immune as I can get, yet that doesn't seem to matter to the "get the vax or else crowd".
I'm a little surprised you haven't addressed the COVID situation in AUS, what with the insane lock downs and all.
I was trying to be sane about it all. Yes, masks may have a purpose. Yes, vax if you will. Yes, omicron is out there. Now, let's keep that all in reasonable thought rather than blind terror. Australia is in blind terror.
As to masks, no, they are not protective when considering aerosol particles, which is what most folks are breathing in and out. Any virus attached to droplets are more likely to be effected by gravity and thus be less of threat. (This is a simple explanation of the reality) As such, those aerosol particles can and do float easily through the masks, even N95 masks, which aren't designed to ward off particles the size of the virus.
If two people are sitting in a closet, and one has covid, a mask may mitigate the threat should the time spent within that closet be short. The longer the two are in the closet, the more likely the sick dude with infect the other guy. This illustration gives one extreme which also speaks to the likelihood of getting infected at all.
I had covid about a month ago. I've never taken the jab and never will. What were the conditions which led to my infection? I have no idea. I could have simply walked through a slight cloud of air with more virus particles than usual. My immune system might have been a bit weakened at the time. Who knows? All I know is my having had it does indeed provide me with immunity. Assuming I had the Delta variant...it was still all the rage at the time...it is almost impossible that I will get it again, and I am more protected against variants or their severity at least.
The fact of the matter is that there is no reason to act any differently with regard to anyone than one had acted during the annual flu seasons. The extremely weak and vulnerable old people were every bit at risk every flu season as they are now, yet few wore masks and got injections of ACTUAL vaccines for the sake of the old people they knew. It just was never a thing. Now it is? How so when the real numbers show little difference in harm, death rates, etc.?
Oh...don't forget: We haven't heard it said much, but in the beginning it was said one could contract the virus through the eyes. Has that been proven false? I've never heard that it has. So the goggles thing might still be worth considering if one believes a mask will actually do any real good. Just sayin'.
I'm so sick of this (no pun intended). All the lies, the suppression of legit treatments, the forcing of sketchy drugs never fully having gone through safety testing...I'm leaving the People's Republic of Illinois in a few months and hope S. Carolina does not succumb to the nonsense so I can live freely like a human being was meant to live.
Hi Stan, I just saw this article today and wanted to know if you had heard this before. My question is why isnt the US reporting stats on side effects of the jab?
https://www.theepochtimes.com/japan-put-a-warning-label-on-covid-19-shots_4270030.html?utm_source=healthnoe&utm_campaign=health-2022-02-11&utm_medium=email&est=Lbt9r28HAFKQdjo6kUdcFm1WTu31%2BCQ8xtG15fgbl9M7GCSCWlU%2Fo3ZmAoNH%2BVQ%3D
I hadn't heard about the report out of Japan before, but have heard about concerns about myocarditis and other potential problems from the vaccine. I cannot fathom why they opted to blatantly ignore "informed consent" laws when there are known potentially fatal problems with this product. Even a "It is remotely possible that ..." would have been nice, since they have to give that information on every other medication and procedure that is offered. Not this one.
yes indeed, what did happen to inform consent. Thanks for answering!
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