Fauci spoke to this this morning on the Sunday news shows. The majority of Yankees got the J&J (I’m sure some of the staff got shots on their own as they were age qualified, medical professionals, etc; also, the team is in Florida for Feb and March so they could have gotten shots there).
Anyway, Fauci said the small number that got it, and they are asymptomatic) is expected. Most people who are vaccinated are no longer being tested if they feel fine, but the professional sports teams still are being tested. If you test all the people who already were vaccinated, you are going to find some who test positive but who are asymptomatic. He also said that those who have some immunity (from covid or from the vaccines) have much less virus in their noses, so are much less likely to transmit to others. Not impossible but less likely.
What does he suggest we do? STOP TESTING! Stop testing people who show no symptoms, assume those with vaccinations are not spreading the virus.
Sam’s Club in Durham has a sign saying you don’t have to mask if vax’d… but no one asked us if we were or were not. Honestly, I was a little uneasy about it. I’d say it was about 50/50 in the store. Then we stopped at the Chapel Hill Wegmans and everyone is still required to mask. I like not needing to wear a mask, but I also don’t feel comfortable w/o one.
That’s exactly what I said when the Gov dropped our mask mandate. It’s going to out alot of people who have no say in the policies set forth in a tough spot. Most of them likely young kids earning minimum wage. Not fair at all.
I was surprised when taking youngest son (15 years old) for vaccination yesterday, that the site had a much higher proportion of (mostly younger) adults than I expected (40-50%) even though all were first dose and our county has already given a first dose to almost 80% of adults. It might be the case at least in some places that pushing the burden of protecting themselves onto the last few people who haven’t got round to it yet is actually encouraging them to get vaccinated now.
I was at the Lowe’s in Chapel Hill. No sign about masks anywhere that I noticed but everybody was masked up except for one guy. People were wearing them in the parking lot too.
It’s 10 Yankees because they are regularly tested. How many of us in the 100 million are tested? Your statement only makes sense if there are 100,000,000 actual Yankees being regularly tested.
" Biden should clarify what it is that the CDC does: It’s a scientific agency that excels at interpreting research and formulating evidence-based guidance. In this case, it was appropriate for the CDC to state that after reviewing all the data, it is confident that fully vaccinated people are at little risk for contracting the coronavirus and spreading it to others.
But that’s very different from announcing that vaccinated people can take off their masks because, without verification of vaccination, this would inevitably lead to the end of mask mandates. That’s not scientific guidance — that’s a major policy decision to shift the entire direction of the United States’ pandemic response."
with all due respect, that ‘article’ is really an opinion piece and its wrong on the law.
The U.S. Public Health Service Act gives to the Secretary the authority to make calls and take actions to control communicable disease (from crossing state lines and coming from overseas). And under federal regulations (CFR), that authority is further delegated to CDC. So, in fact, CDC does have such policy authority (and has for years).
Now, if the author of the opinion wants to argue that the WH should have announced the policy change, that’s a fair point. But it is not correct that write that the Agency don’t have legal authority to make policy.
The point is that they didnt actually make policy; they made a scientific observation – vaccinated people are safe without masks–which becomes de facto policy without looking at social ramifications–because it’s not their job to do so. But it IS the policy makers job to do so. That’s the issue. Now, “but science!” is being touted with no attention to the real world that science exists in-- state rules, business decisions, group and personal psychology, and general understanding that no ruling exists in a vacuum, and both policy and politics have to take that into understanding, whereas science does not.
I am not happy about this new ruling. Though I live in a well vaccinated county, reportedly one of the better vaccinated in the USA, I feel for the immunocompromised among us. I would think that waiting till school was out, and a certain percentage of vaccinations completed in a county would have made sense.
Though co workers mostly have been vaccinated, who really knows. It was not mandated. I work in a hospital and they just released us from mandatory face shields last week. Given the amount of time I spend in closed rooms, with untested visitors, I want those visitors as well as me to wear masks for a good amount of time to come. I will continue to mask in coming months when in stores or at medical appointments.
You business owners are in a tough situation, especially in communities where masking requirements have been poorly followed.
Here in my neighborhood where folks are vaccinated, I’d be quite safe going without a mask, though will continue to wear one. In areas where compliance with vaccinations and masking is spotty, I’d not feel safe for some time to come.
Vaccinated D, a teacher has a fever and some symptoms, so is awaiting the results of her Covid test.
Indeed. Did the Washington Post say that the CDC was wrong (let alone unable) to impose a moratorium on evictions? The White House has used the CDC’s legal powers throughout the crisis to impose things on states that the federal government wouldn’t otherwise have had the authority to do.
And in fact there have been outcries when the CDC has changed their “guidance” in response to outside pressure under both the current and previous administrations (for example recently when the teachers union forced a change in the criteria for reopening schools).
Actually it IS their job to look at ramifications it IS their job to make policy. If they believed that de-masking the US (including cheaters) would lead to an large outbreak of COVID, they could easily have kept the mask rules in place. (In reality, they are merely recommendations to the states, as CDC doesn’t have any enforcement powers, so instead of mandates, they make recommendations.)
Costco clarified today that going unmasked is only for places where state and local laws allow it, that they will be asking for proof of vaccination at the door. Of course, you could go in masked and just take the mask off once you are in and they wouldn’t know.
Masks also required in vision and hearing centers and the pharmacy.
According to CDC guidelines those that are fully vaccinated are safe in the vast majority of situations including indoors in retail establishments. If someone is fully vaccinated they should feel free to go without a mask there. Honestly this should have been the policy way before now. I imagine if it were it would have highly motivated more to get fully vaccinated sooner. The vaccines are highly effective. I fully trust the vaccine and feel it is way more effective than a simple cotton mask that many wear improperly or that may fit sloppily.
If you’re fully vaccinated this is a good ruling. You can choose to resume life in a semblance of normalcy. If you’re concerned, N95 masks are available and effective at protecting the wearer from the virus. The reality is the world is going to open back up. Getting vaccinated is an effective way to ensure your personal safety. Wearing a proper mask, social distancing, avoiding unnecessary interactions, etc are other alternatives.
For many, many months there have been people in sometimes crowded restaurants, eating inside within 6ft of others, POSSIBLY with a piece of plexiglass blocking a sneeze between them, without a mask on and the covid numbers have declined. Vaccinations are working. It’s time to trust that and understand that at some point most people won’t be wearing a mask or social distancing and will be returning to their “old ways”.
I listened to the ACIP hearing to release the pause on J&J administration, and what one of the scientists said was that if these 3 vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, J&J) were all one-shot vaccines, that no one would want the J&J. I’m glad that none of my family got it. YMMV.
