Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

This is one of the studies I looked at when deciding to vaccinate my son. I was on the fence - I wanted to wait until after sports but before school in case there were issues. We went ahead but had I known then what I know now I would've waited for clearer guidelines. It was not pretty & I had massive guilt seeing him that sick over something I gave him. One of the worst feelings as a mom. Thank God he's ok now, protected, & no issues.

Edit to add--this study is also from nearly a year ago. I'd love to see something updated now that there are a larger number of kids in a wider age range that have been vaccinated, reactions, side effects, etc.

 

How many people in your office have been fired for failing to vaccinate?

 

None as we are all vaccinated. We have about 50 full time staff.

 

Just look at vaccination rates and case rates. But if you want a controlled group to consider...

The NHL has shut down for the holidays. They have ONE unvaccinated player. How well do you think the vaccine is working to slow the spread in the NHL? The NFL with en extremely high vaccination rate moved three games this weekend. How well is the vaccine working to slow the spread? The NBA is having similar issues. How well is the vaccine working to slow the spread?

These are controlled settings from the standpoint we know the vaccination rates are close to 100%. And they can't even keep from cancelling games and stopping the season in one case.

 

I should add that I know of others working for the larger medical groups/hospitals that have been fired. Just not my office.

 

Vaccines have slowed the spread considerably. Current numbers over the past six months show unvaxxed having 6x the rate of infection. Flip that around, it means there has been an 80% reduction in infections. Hospitalizations and deaths are north of -93% reduction.

Vague notions of vaxxed thinking it's an allergy doesn't change the above., Although I'll grant that unvaxxed and vaxxed alike who don't continue to take other precautions to the extent possible and reasonable can be similarly irresponsible along those lines because vaccines aren't a license to do whatever one wants. We're still in the middle of a pandemic. It's a public health crisis not witnessed in a century.

Those working in healthcare have even a bigger moral obligation to be vaccinated than does the general public. If employers fire them for failing that obligation, so be it. It's unfortunate but it's the choice that they make. Anti-vaxxism is imo the most foolish of hills to die on.

I wouldn't be opposed to a cash incentive. Can still mandate and provide some cash. As far as long term data, sorry but in the midst of a crisis it's a deflection (not saying you're deflecting, just in general). The point is to get out of this mess.

 

Her entire office is vaccinated…

 

Read the article. Pfizer never released the data to the public on the booster. Wonder why? I'm sure it's just a small oversight...

See, that's where people like you get off track. Plus you don't account for the short efficacy of the vaccine. Lasting 4-6 months max isn't good and the more you keep boostering kids the more we don't know about the long term issues. You and others blindly put your head in the sand. The rational people who don't want their kids to be guinea pigs will wait until more data is out there. At best currently, i'd consider giving my kids 1 shot of Pfizer. Definitely not the second at this juncture. And if I had young kids under 11 under no circumstances unless they had underlying conditions do young kids need the vax.

 

Btw just saw where the Buffalo Bills & Sabers will require proof of vaccination for anyone age 5 and up.

Buffalo public schools saying now they may return from break as scheduled if every student gets a covid test prior to returning. They haven't finalizes a plan yet.

 

I understand completely. As for Healthcare workers, have you ever been in a surgery or infectious disease unit? The amount of PPE involved is incredible. Vaccinated or not the hospitals here have been requiring their nurses & docs to be in full PPE. So firing folks who spend their entire shift in PPE & have worked the entire pandemic in PPE with precautions in the middle of a pandemic is ludicrous. There was already a shortage before. Here for a while they got rid of part of the nursing curriculum to license new nurses faster to help the numbers.

It's just shooting yourself in the foot to compromise patient care further over this. But that's just my opinion. I believe in the vaccine, encourage other to get it, was 3rd in my office to do it. Forcing folks to vaccinate without taking other precautions is just a bad idea.

 

In Pfizer's original study in 5-11 year old kids, there were no cases of myocarditis. Doesn't mean it can't or won't happen, just the risk is extremely low. So far, in the US, risk to 12-15 year olds getting myocarditis from the Pfizer vaccine is less than 20 per 100,000 in males, and 3 in 100,000 in females. Again, almost all cases were mild, and the risk from getting the virus is far greater. From this link:

Here is what scientists know: Vaccine-related myocarditis is extremely rare; estimates vary, but the highest figures suggest there have been fewer than 200 cases per million fully vaccinated males ages 12–15, the youngest age group for which such data currently exist. Only about 30 cases per million have been reported in vaccinated females of that age. Pfizer, whose mRNA vaccine was recently authorized for use in five- to 11-year olds, says it did not observe any myocarditis cases in its clinical trial for the latter age group (it would be nearly impossible to design a trial large enough to detect such a rare effect). Scientists expect it to be even rarer in 5–11-year-old kids compared with teens, because myocarditis from any cause is less common in the younger age group. The vaccine dose authorized for that group is lower, as well.

The risk of getting COVID itself is much greater. From the beginning of March to October 10, over 1.9 million children in the U.S. ages five to 11 contracted the disease, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 8,300 kids in that age range were hospitalized with COVID, and 94 died. In addition to causing an acute infection, COVID can also trigger a sometimes-deadly inflammatory syndrome known as MIS-C, which is most common in the 5–11 age group. And, as in adults, COVID in children can also lead to lingering symptoms—such as fatigue, shortness of breath, or neurological issues—known as long COVID. Vaccination helps protect kids from all three conditions.
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The risk from the vaccine is lower than getting the virus. And we have no idea if there are long term complications from getting COVID.

Now, if you can guarantee your kid won't be exposed to COVID in the next 6 months, then there would be no need to vaccinate. But who can guarantee that? Especially now with Omicron spreading as fast as it is?

Vaccination lowers the risks for kids. It also has the benefit of lowering the risk for all, as vaccinated people, regardless of age, don't get COVID as much as unvaccinated. And vaccinated people rid themselves of the virus faster, making them less contagious.

 

Totally didn't answer the question. I asked about hospitalizations and deaths. We know omicron is infecting vaccinated people and reinfecting people who already had covid and presumably have natural immunity. What does the data say about the outcomes of vaccinated vs unvaccinated people who get covid?

 

Updated death data for 2020. The life expectancy in the US was dropped by 1.8 years in 2020 due to a 16.8% increase in the number of deaths. Covid was the third leading cause of death.

Products - Data Briefs - Number 427 - December 2021

 

How many deaths in kids in the trial? How many hospitalizations? There is almost zero risk to healthy kids. Want me to post the "covid deaths" that you and others are using to say get vaccinated? I can. Vaccination doesn't lower the risk for all. Especially if kids don't get covid at all. Wrong again. My question to anyone listening to anything you say would be "why listen to someone who was for lockdowns, school closures, masking and refused to acknowledge Natural Immunity?". But then I remembered this site as a bunch of fear mongering lemmings. So it makes much more sense LOL.

 

Thought the conversation on the timing of the second shot was note worthy for parents with kids getting vaccinated.
Parents Grapple With How Long to Wait for Their Children’s Second Shots

 

Can you guarantee your kids won't get exposed to COVID in the next six months? Maybe. If you and your kids live like hermits. Otherwise, especially with how fast Omicron is spreading, chances are your kids will be exposed.

Not being exposed and getting COVID > vaccination > getting COVID. Which can you control? Getting vaccinated. So unless you can guarantee no COVID exposure and guarantee you won't get the virus, you best bet is to get vaccinated.

Odd someone saying we shouldn't close schools at all is arguing that their kids won't get COVID. Maybe under the wild type, when kids weren't major vectors of COVID spread, you could make this argument? But we didn't know that when we closed schools down, and Delta spread so fast, that kids became major spreaders. Omicron spreads even faster.

 

Good for them. It's a shame businesses are being prevented from doing this in Florida by Florida's autocratic governor.

 

you cant gaurante kids won't get cancer, die in a car crash or plane crash, tomorrow in not gauranted for anyone, who cannot live your life in fear, that, imo, is not living .

 

Early reports have shown an increase in pediatric hospitalization in kids 2 and older in S. Africa with Omicron. Same article also indicates a rise in pediatric cases in EU countries where Omicron is replacing Delta as the dominant strain.

The vaccine is about risk mitigation. There's rarely zero risk in anything. But unless you can guarantee your kids won't get COVID, which isn't a good bet with Omicron, then your best bet is the vaccine. Lowers the chance they will get the virus. Lowes the risk of myocarditis plus lowers the risk of complications like MIS-C. Plus, the vaccine lowers the risk of infecting others.

Risk mitigation is why you should wear a seat belt. The average person gets in 1 car accident every 10 years. So the risk of getting into an accident is low. And while a seat belt won't ensure you'll survive an accident, it increases the odds substantially. So to lower your risk, wear your seat belt. Same goes for the vaccine. It won't eliminate risk. But it's your best bet.

 

last look, new york with all it's mandate and requirements are have 2 to 3 times more cases than florida, so who is right and who is wrong?since december 1st, which i will use a a omicron starting point new york has has 286,000 cases, a average of 13,800 a day. florida you ask? 89,863 averaging 4279 a day so yeah, new york at 3 times the new cases is really doing well