Vaccine reluctance & General COVID Discussion

Interesting. That data is from 2012. I imagine the chart would look very different now (Fox in particular), and would have to include other networks. And I am not even sure how you throw social media into the mix.

So the good news is, it is not my job to come up with worldwide solutions. Countries like Canada have already implemented vax requirements for both domestic and foreign air travel, so I don’t understand your objection to it, and it does help keep transmission rates lower by quite a bit.

Additional vaccines will be less objectionable to some part of the population and are already approved for use in some countries. I have long advocated monetary incentives for vaccination, as those appear to work well in some communities.

We are quite clear that what doesn’t work is stereotyping and patronizing the vax rejections, at least in the US.

Omicron is important because it is quite possible that within 6 weeks we will determine the current vaxs are ineffective and a whole new batch of shots will be rolled out in April. If that is the case, we can wait til the new formula comes out and try the most effective measures to get vax rates up then

I don’t take issue with travel bans (not sure where you get that from), but I know there is some dispute on their efficacy and how to implement them. From my understanding, once you have community spread in an area, they can be counterproductive. I wouldn’t use them as a foundation for a worldwide plan, even if there was a way to unify the approach to them under one administrative entity.

From everything I have read, the only things that work to get people vaccinated are micro-localized campaigns (person to person conversations) and mandates. Cash payments might work, too.

I am not in the camp of stereotyping or blaming or cajoling the unvaxed. However, there is a special place in hell for the people who are intentionally putting out misinformation that kills people. What is the worldwide plan for those people?

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Just noting that many employees were able to extract payments in excess of $1000 from their employers for getting vaxxed, including the United Airlines pilots union and Whirlpool service repair personnel. One might have hoped the pilots at least, educated and reasonably affluent, would do it regardless, but the airline did agree to pay them for it.

Which is an interesting take. I see the graph and say well yeah, chatting class chats. You’ve got mountains of advanced degrees congregating there, analysis is what they do, and they’re skeptical of “facts” in the first place, want to know where you got 'em and have some basis for evaluation. Maddow’s the hearing-transcript-heaviest host I ever heard, and I bet her research team rivals Doris Kearns Goodwin’s.

But sure, I can see that from a CNN/Fox-watcher’s point of view, it’s just people sounding off with, like, just their (entirely biased) opinion, man.

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Talk about ultimate vaccine reluctance!

Another stay

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/584736-judge-halts-biden-vaccine-mandate-for-federal-contractors-nationwide

NBA warns teams about border crossing restrictions for unvaccinated players (while most NBA teams are in the US, one is in Canada). However, 97% of NBA players are vaccinated, and more than 60% have gotten boosters, far higher rates than among the general population in the US.

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Here’s today’s update about the couple from my (previous) church where she was vaxxed and he wasn’t - both in their 50s. She had mild symptoms and is well over it. My heart goes out to her - all over 2 shots and a ton of politics/misinformation. She didn’t have to be in her spot right now. They should be looking forward to celebrating Christmas. Why some folks choose what they choose in spite of mounds of data available out there boggles my mind.

Yesterday showed little improvement. They had an issue with his chest tubes. This caused his oxygen to drop. They resolved the issue but had to bump his oxygen back up. When I called late last night his vital signs were stable. On Wednesday it will be 2 weeks on the vent. I’m told I will have to decide if I want to continue treatment or stop. I pray God performs a miracle and I don’t have to make that decision. Please God will give me some good news today.

Olga Khazan says that much of vaccine hesitancy is based on “A lack of trust. Getting people to overcome their hesitancy will require restoring their trust in science, their leaders, and, quite possibly, one another. The crisis of vaccine hesitancy and the crisis of cratering trust in institutions are one and the same.”

Regarding South Africa,

(It does seem odd that “One of the biggest losses that white South Africans suffered after the end of racial segregation 
 was status”. Losing the status of being seen as the racist oppressor in the eyes of everyone else (domestically and internationally) would seem like a gain for most.)

There is also mention of people in other countries, including Russia, the US, Germany, Canada, and France.

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Jordan Klepper interviews anti-vaxxers in SoCal. It’s more sad than funny TBH:

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I predict that we will always have a higher percentage of vaccine reluctance/hesitancy for all future Covid vaccines in locales around the world (in comparison to historical mandatory vaccines like polio) unless the pathogen kills/hospitalizes at a higher rate (10% would probably do it) or if the virus mostly affected children. We have now had 3 major Coronavirus jumps to humans in under 20 years (2003,2009 and late 2019) and are dealing with one that currently mutates quickly and spreads easily. The 2003 SARS Coronavirus fatality rate (9.6%) was much more deadly with an estimated fatality rate approaching 50% in those over 65 years old, but it was much harder to spread which made containing that virus possible. It is only a matter of time before we see something combine the worst of the last 3 Coronaviruses without a “sea change” within our society to truly understand that the risks of being vaccine reluctant once a vaccine has been deemed safe and is available.

Long-term, the only way I see out of this new reality is finding better treatments to lower the fatality and long Covid rates, and finding an universal coronavirus vaccine (early research has found that folks who survived SARS and received the Covid vaccine had developed something akin to “super-antibodies” which blocks both SARS viruses and a multitude of other coronaviruses, some of which had yet crossed over into humans). But we have yet to find an universal flu vaccine because of how fast that virus evolves, so a cultural change in how we regard lifesaving vaccines that have been thoroughly researched is our main defense against the coronavirus.

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I wish the news would report more on the hospital bills racked up by people with Covid. A night in the ER can be a fortune let alone a month or two in ICU. I saw a post of a hospital bill of over $1 million for someone who died from Covid in the hospital and that didn’t include separate bills from doctors, radiology, etc
 That family isn’t going to be able to pay for that with GoFundMe.

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But if they have insurance wouldn’t they just have to pay the max for the year (assuming in network and all treatments were approved)? I have a $5000 deductible but everything after that is free, so if both were in the hospital we would pay $10K. Of course if enough people on our employer plan were sick, our premiums would go up the next year.

Lots of people are un- or underinsured. Lots of them have really high deductibles. And For many, many people, even $5/10k would be a huge burden, especially if they’ve had to miss work.

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Yes, my deductible is around $7,000. That would be a big burden for our family. :frowning:

A big burden, certainly, but a lot easier to pay than one million. Gofundme could probably help with that

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A guy (50 yr old) from my old neighborhood just passed away. He was a smart guy, with medical device patents, but he wouldn’t get the vaccine.