Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

The religious exemption form that government workers have to fill out doesnt make it sound like they will be giving it out like candy... https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/dhs-religious-exemption-form_11-03-2021.pdf

 

Nope. You are using numbers overall. Girls have significantly smaller chance of getting myocarditis than a boy. Take just boys and the numbers are high for boys both for the vaccine and covid. Breakthrough cases don't mean they don't get myocarditis at all. Making crap up again. It's ok. Just say "my bad" and i'll move on. Go look at the teen data because no one can make any assumption off of a 4,000 person "trial" for under 12. That in itself is a joke. I sincerely hope no kids get sick from the vaccine(that has happened even though the media won't report it). Plus, somewhere around 2% of kids who get the vaccine have a fever over 104. That is never good. I can say some people might not know better, but you've been shown the data and are still ignorant of it.

 

I used the numbers provided by the Israeli study and what Johns Hopkins uses for percent breakthrough cases. If you have other numbers you want me to use, please show me where they exist. Maybe you are pulling numbers out of where Trump said to put a UV light? I don't know.

As for the breakthrough cases not getting myocarditis at all, I agree. I assumed that the percentage of kids getting myocarditis from a breakthrough case is the same percentage of kids who are unvaccinated, and get myocarditis from COVID. 11 in 100,000. So at the 1% breakthrough rate, this wouldn't even push the vaccinated number to an expected additional case. Maybe my math was off a little in the original post, but even at a breakthrough rate of 20%, that's only 2 additional myocarditis cases from the vaccinated. And 7 < 11.

We've also been over clinical trial numbers before. Phase III trials usually involve between 1,000 and 3,000 participants. The number selected is high enough to cover significant number of effects, while being low enough that if there are problems, it doesn't cause too much harm. Why would expect any vaccine Phase III trials to include more participants than all other, Phase III trials?

Also, where do you get the 104 fever number from? I did find that about 10% of 5-11 year old trial vaccine participants did have fever/ache, but none listing 2% had a fever 104. The link does say that there were no serious, lasting side effects from the vaccine. Also, there were no reported cases of myocarditis from the vaccine trial.

 

It's inaccurate to suggest or imply that all children have the same risk. Let's say the death rate is 0.01% in children; what happens when you separate out those with known risk factors vs. those without?

In the same way, you can deceptive about the death rate in all humans as compared to recognizing that the death rate is significantly higher in the older age groups and significantly lower in the younger age groups.

I'm not sure there's a reason to believe the same can't be said about other measures of severity with respect to the disease.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

From the form...

Why does that even matter?

Anybody who is going through the steps of putting forth an exemption will not be unduly burdened by a few extra questions as compared to the process of even have to submit the form anyway.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

Depends on the company. My company is also lenient with religious exemptions, but based on conversation with my industry contacts other company's are being strict. It all comes down to the lawyer interpretations for each company. Anecdotally, it seems company's that use third party lawyer consultants have a more strict interpretation. TIFWIW.

 

Each company will have their own standards. Some will be broad. Others tight.

Another family friend who is a nurse was denied her exemption and she has had Covid. We will see what happens as the deadline for her employer mandate is coming up fast. Fortunately for her…she can afford to be let go as her husband (my good Buddy from high school can support their family with his job). Unfortunately for the community a talented nurse who is more protected than most might be out of a job.

 

Here's a good article on why you should get your kids vaccinated:

I hope that when it’s your turn to decide about the risks and the benefits of vaccinating your child, you consider this: Vaccines are not aspirin. Vaccines have extremely low risks, and yes—maybe also only small clinical benefits for kids who are otherwise low-risk.

But vaccines have more to offer than improved clinical outcomes. Vaccinating kids will protect your whole family and your neighbor who is at higher risk than you. And history tells us that it’s the way out of the pandemic. It’s not an aspirin. It’s a vaccine.
​

Vaccines aren't just about protecting the person who receives it. But the entire herd. That's why it's called herd immunity.

 

#irony

 

The form is for government employees

 

There is also a form for defense contractors, which I imagine would be the same or very similar but not totally sure. None-the-less, how religious exemptions are applied for defense contractors are very company dependent. There is a spectrum from quite lenient to very strict.

 

I don't think that's it, though. I'm in one of the coldest places in the continental states and we haven't moved indoors yet. For weeks now, the covid map has been reddest where the lowest population densities exist. I'm not sure why, but am hopeful that it's because the virus is retreating and the population centers are showing stronger immunity.

 

High vaccination rates in cities.

 

Agree with that, but what about the national map? It's yellow down south. It's red along the Canadian border and out west.
Arkansas has no real big cities, but is mostly yellow. I'd like to think the virus burned itself out there because when the vaccine came out, Ark was a mess.

 

But you’re not totally sure?

 

Totally sure about what? that there is a religious exemption form for vaccine mandate for defense contractors. Hell yes there is. About the exact writing between the religious exemption forms of the federal employees and defense contractor employees. Well, who gives a damn. That has nothing to do with my statement that religious exemption is very company dependent. Some are very tolerant and some are very strict.

So I am not sure what you are being belligerent about.

 

Aaron Rodgers proved himself to be a complete moron today.

 

And a liar.

 

Oh crap. What did he do/say? I only care because he's on my fantasy team.

 

He got COVID and is out this week. In his first media appearance since, basically went full potato on anti-vaccine stuff and being persecuted over his vaccination status. Even (laughably) compared his situation to Martin Luther King Jr. He mislead originally back in August when he claimed he was "immunized", when in fact he was not. The NFL was fully aware of his status, so it's really a non-issue that he lied to the media (other than being an early warning that he's a bit cray-cray and making more of a big deal about this than it should have been).

He claimed in this interview to be allergic to an ingredient in the mRNA vaccine, which actually would be a totally legit reason to not get vaccinated, he could have ended the discussion there and I don't think anyone would doubt. Problem is he trotted out basically all the anti-vaccine tropes. That makes one wonder if even his allergy story was true.

Probably doesn't matter much, either way he was going to miss this Sunday's game. It's just whether the league adds ANOTHER game in the form of a suspension, not because he wasn't vaccinated (which is NOT mandated by the league), but because he violated league protocols that unvaccinated players are supposed to be doing. A handful of other guys in the league have said they just straight up aren't getting the vaccine, and while they get criticized for it, if they follow additional the protocols the league wants for unvaccinated players it's not a big deal. Rogers went a different route.