Many of the areas with low vaccination rates are those with a high level of vaccine refusal, and which reached easy vaccine availability earlier due to vaccine refusal. So it is more likely there that an unvaccinated person is voluntarily unvaccinated. These areas are also the ones most likely to be politically opposed to COVID-19 related measures like masking and dedensifying health orders. Basically, in those areas, more people have chosen to play COVID-19 lottery themselves, and those who do not want to play COVID-19 lottery have probably been fully vaccinated by now (due to earlier easy availability).
The people in those areas who really need to be concerned are those who are medically unable to get vaccinated, since there is no herd immunity there to protect them. Such people will need to be even more careful for their own protection than they were last year. Also, parents concerned about their children may be concerned until their children can get vaccinated.
I think this will turn into a regional issue. In the Northeast, most states are at a vaccination rate of 50%, closer to 70% if calculating only adults<
I choose to believe that mRNA vaccines my family got work and as such Covid is officially over. Since we became fully vaccinated we only wear masks were required indoors. I am not overly concerned if people around me unvaccinated by choice because again I believe in science and vaccine. I would be less comfortable if we had not mRNA vaccine though.
In our area Iāve read reports that only about 1/3 of eligible adults have received at least one dose of vaccine. There have been too many anti-vax/anti-mask bullies confronting those who mask or store employees who request that a mask be worn. While I havenāt been in a store in about year, other than to get my flu shot last fall, H has recently been going into grocery and hardware stores about once a week. He saw about 80% of shoppers and retail employees masking before the new ruling and expects to see the reverse next week.
Our SiL stopped masking in stores and restaurants last month (he only wore one before when required) and I expect our D will stop all together as soon as her employer no longer requires it. Neither one is vaccinated.
Because of the behavior of people like our relatives and the increase in cases of the UK variants here, H and I will continue to mask when we go into stores. No doubt some ugly things will be said (yelled) at some point, but weāll ignore the ignorant.
Itās not a matter of ānot believing the science.ā Itās the evidence-based reality that unvaccinated people will be very likely among the first to ditch masks, which endangers those who canāt be vaccinated, like children.
What is hard to understand about that? I donāt go through life assuming itās just about me.
I have NO problem losing friends and family that can get vaccinated but wonāt. Itās sad that things have come to this, but I will not risk myself or my loved ones for others idiocracy.
The unvaccinated can infect those who canāt be vaccinated, plus would you be okay with numbers rising due to unvaccinated infecting unvaccinated and having more restrictions again? My college student hasnāt had an in person class in three semesters.
speaking of science, do you have any peer-reviewed evidence that āunvaccinated people will ver likely be the first to ditch masksā¦ā?
(IMO, there are millions of full vaccinated people who will also be ditching masks at first opportunity. But that is just opinion, no research behind itā¦)
wrt timing of rule change. IMO, the change for outdoor-wearing is weeks too late (āfollowing the scienceā), but they could have held off a few more weeks before changing the indoor rules to allow time for more folks to become vaccinated.
What percentage of adults ācanāt be vaccinatedā? It seems to frequently be expressed as a concern but Iāve never seen any statistics to indicate whether we are talking about 1% or 10% of the adult population? What are the criteria to be in the category of ācanāt be vaccinatedā?
People who are immunocompromised like folks undergoing chemo or organ transplant recipients may not have a robust response to the vaccine. You have to have a fully functioning immune system to have a full response to the vaccine. I donāt know the numbers on how many people that is but Iām sure most of us know someone who has had cancer. I also have a friend who is an organ recipient.
My local grocery store changed their sign, mask required unless vaccinated. Needless to say, I took advantage of it. Went in without a mask. Now, everyone can understand me without yelling.
Honor system (which some will cheat on), or do they have employees being āvax or maskā police at the door (and how will they verify vax since not everyone carries the card around and the cards are easily forged)?
I donāt trust anybody that hasnāt got the vax to tell the truth. They mostly didnāt want to wear a mask anyways, and now is just a get out of jail free card for them.
I think those who arenāt able to be vaccinated (adults, not children) arenāt going out much. They wear their masks, they stay home to prevent all health risks, like flu and colds and all those other things. They wear masks, probably double masks. They use hand sanitizer and stay 6ā away. They shop at 6 am or have friends do it for them. Just like we all did before we could be vaccinated.
We go to ālevel clearā in most places in Colorado tomorrow. That still allows the counties or the individual retailers to set the mask rules. It seems like it will be 50/ 50, with some big companies still requiring masks (Kroger, Home Depot, Target) while others (Costco, Walmart) are not. Those who still canāt be vaccinated can choose one of those retailers.
We also have a few restaurants and bars requiring proof of vaccination and yes, they have a bouncer at the door. The owner said if you donāt want to show proof, eat somewhere else. No masks on the employees or on the customers. Would I go there? Sure. Will I still go to places that require masks? Sure.
Honor system. Nobody asked me to show them anything. It was also honor system when they were administering vaccines when the supply was tight. No idea if anyone was cheating. I know I wasnāt cheating and have no reason to think everyone else except me was cheating. I assume most people were not cheating.
Iāve already seen people gloating about being able to go into stores without masks āand they canāt know Iām not vaccinated!ā A good percentage of this country has been anti-vax and anti-mask, and vocal about it. So yes, thereās plenty of evidence, and itās being willfully disingenuous to pretend we canāt know they arenāt going to use the opportunity to ditch masks though not vaxxed.