Coronavirus updates August 1, 2021
- Thread starter missy
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When the booster shot becomes available in the fall I'm sure there be certain % of people whom will refuse to take the 3rd shot, then they'll be shamed for not taking their 3rd shot. Vaccine shaming will never end.
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My best guess is that most people who got the first two will get a booster. Just my guess.
wildcat03
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Vaccines were mostly rolled out in hospitals first here, then in nursing homes a couple weeks later. Mass vaccine sites weren't really up and running for the first month or two. But initially there was a lot less Pfizer available than Moderna everywhere in the US due to some manufacturing challenges they had.
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yes, I was speaking about availability to people who were not first responders or those in nursing homes, but the ones available to sign up for by the general population, which here started at over 75 and then on down. I can only speak to the fact that pretty much everyone I know who got the vax early got Pfizer. The few who I know got who Moderna got it a bit later, and not at the mass sites until more sites opened up. When I signed up in February there were 2000 appointments available over a three day time period and they were all Pfizer. And that was just at one of our sites. I'm just relaying what happened here.
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I didn't make the comparisons, I was commenting on an article you posted that made the comparisons. it said
I was just asking a question about the article you posted about the study and wondered if they considered when the participants got the vaccine. That's all.
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I'm so angry and frustrated. It took a mere 3 weeks for covid cases to skyrocket in my area. Hospitals are full and refusing new patients. Hundreds of new cases being diagnosed every day -- all young, unvaccinated, and following the "younger, quicker, sicker" model. Hospitals are asking the governor for permission to establish field hospitals and are even considering asking FEMA for help. Our docs and nurses are worn out. So we're in the same spot as some other places -- begging for more docs & nurses, trying to find beds in any hospital in any state that has availability. The idea of becoming non covid ill or being in an accident that requires hospitalization is terrifying. Such a total mess this world has become.
wildcat03
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Right, but if we're discussing the population that has been vaccinated the longest (and hence would be first to show waning immunity) that would be first responders and nursing home residents who would have received their doses a full 1-2 months before the population you are referencing. And in that population, Pfizer was a bit more limited due to some manufacturing issues (and distribution challenges).
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No worries. I was just sharing info as I read it.
It is all a work in progress and there is a long way to go.
For now, personally, I consider the mRNA vaccines fairly equal.
If one was available and the other wasn't I would not hesitate to get what was available. I received the Moderna vaccine but I would get Pfizer in a heartbeat next year if that was what was available to me.
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On the topic of vaccine hesitancy. 
August 10, 2021
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COVID-19 vaccinations are once again on the upswing, the rise fueled by growing anxiety about the highly contagious Delta variant now responsible for most COVID infections in the U.S.
At a briefing Thursday, Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said more than 864,000 Americans had been vaccinated in the previous 24 hours, the highest in a single day since July 3. And more than 580,000 of those were first doses. Nearly 50% of the U.S. population, or 165.6 million people, had been fully vaccinated as of Aug. 5, according to the CDC.
Yet hesitancy lingers. About 90 million Americans are eligible for the vaccine now but have not gotten it. While some of these still unvaccinated people may actually be hesitant — that is, they have serious questions about the safety or effectiveness of the vaccines — many just outright refuse to get vaccinated. Even now, experts are looking at approaches that may change minds.
The researchers evaluated about 1 million responses each month to track trends over the 5-month study period. Next, they looked at how hesitancy changed, or did not, in groups of different races, education levels, ages, and other characteristics. To define hesitancy, the researchers asked participants if they would take a vaccine were it offered to them today. Those who said ''probably not" or ''definitely not" were termed vaccine-hesitant. Those who said "yes" or "probably" were classified as vaccine-accepting.
While stereotypes about those with higher education levels or certain ethic groups more likely to get the vaccine abound, the new research did not always fit those notions. During the 5-month study period, those with a high school education showed the most movement toward vaccination and away from their previous hesitancy. The eye-opener: By May, the group with PhDs were more hesitant than those with lower educational levels.
Hesitancy declined across virtually all racial groups, with Black people and Pacific Islanders having the largest decreases over the study period. By May, those two groups, along with Hispanics and Asians, were seen as less hesitant than whites. Hesitancy decreased with age in almost every racial group, Mejia says. That’s not surprising, she says, since the risk of severe illness if you’re infected with COVID rises with age.
While the percentage of people saying they probably would not get vaccinated has come down over the past 5 months, Mejia says, the percentage of people saying they definitely won’t get vaccinated has not, suggesting a hard-core group whose hesitancy has not budged.
Other findings:
"We found Democrats far and away the most likely to be vaccinated," says Rachael Piltch-Loeb, PhD, an associate research scientist at the New York University School of Global Public Health.
At the time of the survey, about half of the respondents had already been vaccinated, says Piltch-Loeb, who is also a public health preparedness fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
Those who had financial hardship during the pandemic, due to job loss or other issues, ''were more likely to be vaccine refusers," Piltch-Loeb says. Those on Medicaid were least likely to be vaccinated, she says, perhaps because they thought there was a fee for the vaccine and they couldn't afford it.
Those who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 fell into two camps: either eager to take the vaccine or refusing it. But having someone they knew die of COVID-19 reduced hesitancy. "If individuals knew someone who died of COVID, they were far more likely to already be vaccinated [at the time of the survey]," she says.
Hearing about the benefits of the coronavirus vaccine from religious leaders can sway people, experts say.
"Clergy are often trusted voices, and houses of worship are trusted sites," says Rabbi David Saperstein, director emeritus of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. He is one of the core group involved in Faiths4vaccines, a multifaith movement launched in January. It includes religious leaders and medical professionals devoted to increasing vaccination rates. Its goals are to combat hesitancy and advance equitable distribution of vaccines.
The organization partners with numerous faith-based groups, representing millions of people across the country. It has helped to set up vaccination sites in houses of worship, where people often feel more comfortable than at a clinic or pharmacy. Because houses of worship often lack staff such as nurses to help run a program, they often partner with nearby pharmacies or hospitals, he says.
"When clergy speak out and reassure people and put [vaccines] in the values of public health and preventive medicine, those messages resonated with people," Saperstein says. When those of faith realize that the vaccine is an expression of love for their neighbors, it can become easier.
Appeal to the heart, not the head, she suggests.
"It's all about getting the person to realize, on a personal level, it can happen to you," she says, and you should talk about the need to protect parents, children, or grandchildren. "You have to find the pathway that is going to work with that person."
Hesitancy is sometimes used as a coping mechanism, believes Molly Allen, PsyD, a clinical psychologist in Wichita, KS. Some of her hesitant patients ''are overly focused on the immediate negative experience rather than the long-term benefit [of protecting health]."
It's a way to reduce their overall stress level. These people may think, "If I don’t get the shot I won't have to deal with the anxiety" that can come with the pain of the needle and any after-effects of the shot such as fever, chills, or a sore arm, she says. But they're ignoring, of course, the risk of getting COVID-19.
If a friend or family member expresses these concerns, Allen suggest that you listen and then ''express your concern for them" while focusing on the long-term positives, not the short-term negatives. Try: "I really don’t want to see you get super-ill with a preventable disease."
"I was very hesitant because I felt it was too new," says Greenaway, a marketing consultant.
Over and over, she weighed the pros, cons, and what-ifs.
I started praying about the decision. If I am meant to get it, I need to feel more at peace.Elizabeth Greenaway, Williamsport, PA
"The statistics are on my side," she recalls thinking. "I'm 34, pretty healthy."
A devout Christian, her faith weighed in.
"A lot of conservative Christians are hesitant," she says. "I started praying about the decision. If I am meant to get it, I need to feel more at peace."
Her husband, she says, didn't feel strongly one way or the other. She thought about their young daughter, Emma, and who would care for her if she got COVID and couldn't be at home. But she also worried a lot about long-term vaccine side effects.
Then she happened to see a video featuring Paul Offit, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where the Greenaways take their daughter for care. Offit is not Emma's doctor, but Greenaway was struck by his video message.
"He said these long-term effects [of vaccines that she worried about] show up within 6 weeks of getting the vaccine. That spoke volumes to me,” she says.
With more time, knowing more people who got the vaccine with no issues, and more prayer, the hesitancy faded.
She got vaccinated and now reaches out to others like her — conservative, Christian Republicans — to reconsider their hesitancy. CNN interviewed Greenaway and then brought on Offit to hear the story and introduce them onscreen.
"It's incredibly heartening," he said, praising Greenaway's decision. "She's saying, 'It's not just [about] me. I can spread it to my mother or my child. For a contagious disease, you aren't just making a decision for yourself."
Sources:
CDC: "COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States."
COVID Vaccine Hesitancy: 90 Million
Still on the Fence
Kathleen DohenyAugust 10, 2021
"
COVID-19 vaccinations are once again on the upswing, the rise fueled by growing anxiety about the highly contagious Delta variant now responsible for most COVID infections in the U.S.
At a briefing Thursday, Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said more than 864,000 Americans had been vaccinated in the previous 24 hours, the highest in a single day since July 3. And more than 580,000 of those were first doses. Nearly 50% of the U.S. population, or 165.6 million people, had been fully vaccinated as of Aug. 5, according to the CDC.
Yet hesitancy lingers. About 90 million Americans are eligible for the vaccine now but have not gotten it. While some of these still unvaccinated people may actually be hesitant — that is, they have serious questions about the safety or effectiveness of the vaccines — many just outright refuse to get vaccinated. Even now, experts are looking at approaches that may change minds.
Tracking Hesitancy Trends
Overall, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy declined by about one-third from January through May, according to a study in the preprint server medRxiv posted July 23. The study is not yet peer-reviewed. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh evaluated the responses of more than 5 million U.S. adults who completed an online survey about COVID-19 vaccination and answered questions about education, race, and other personal details.The researchers evaluated about 1 million responses each month to track trends over the 5-month study period. Next, they looked at how hesitancy changed, or did not, in groups of different races, education levels, ages, and other characteristics. To define hesitancy, the researchers asked participants if they would take a vaccine were it offered to them today. Those who said ''probably not" or ''definitely not" were termed vaccine-hesitant. Those who said "yes" or "probably" were classified as vaccine-accepting.
Profiles of the Hesitant
In general, COVID vaccine hesitancy was higher among those ages 18 to 24 than older people and non-Asian populations, says study senior author Robin Mejia, PhD, an assistant research professor of statistics and data at Carnegie Mellon.While stereotypes about those with higher education levels or certain ethic groups more likely to get the vaccine abound, the new research did not always fit those notions. During the 5-month study period, those with a high school education showed the most movement toward vaccination and away from their previous hesitancy. The eye-opener: By May, the group with PhDs were more hesitant than those with lower educational levels.
Hesitancy declined across virtually all racial groups, with Black people and Pacific Islanders having the largest decreases over the study period. By May, those two groups, along with Hispanics and Asians, were seen as less hesitant than whites. Hesitancy decreased with age in almost every racial group, Mejia says. That’s not surprising, she says, since the risk of severe illness if you’re infected with COVID rises with age.
While the percentage of people saying they probably would not get vaccinated has come down over the past 5 months, Mejia says, the percentage of people saying they definitely won’t get vaccinated has not, suggesting a hard-core group whose hesitancy has not budged.
Other findings:
- About 50% of people in all categories of hesitancy were concerned about side effects.
- Those who said they would ''definitely not" get a vaccine were more likely to say they didn't trust the vaccine or didn’t trust the government.
- Those who said a lack of trust was a reason they haven’t been vaccinated only appeared to have doubts about the COVID-19 vaccine, not those for other diseases.
- Many said they were hesitant because they wanted to wait ''to see if it's safe" or they were waiting on ''full" FDA approval, beyond the emergency use authorization the FDA has given the vaccines so far.
More Trends: Impact of Politics, Financial Struggles
New York University researchers surveyed 3,000 people in April, when vaccines had become available. They found that politics and personal finances impacted the decision to get vaccinated. Their study is due to be published as a preprint and is not yet peer-reviewed."We found Democrats far and away the most likely to be vaccinated," says Rachael Piltch-Loeb, PhD, an associate research scientist at the New York University School of Global Public Health.
At the time of the survey, about half of the respondents had already been vaccinated, says Piltch-Loeb, who is also a public health preparedness fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
Those who had financial hardship during the pandemic, due to job loss or other issues, ''were more likely to be vaccine refusers," Piltch-Loeb says. Those on Medicaid were least likely to be vaccinated, she says, perhaps because they thought there was a fee for the vaccine and they couldn't afford it.
Those who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 fell into two camps: either eager to take the vaccine or refusing it. But having someone they knew die of COVID-19 reduced hesitancy. "If individuals knew someone who died of COVID, they were far more likely to already be vaccinated [at the time of the survey]," she says.
Changing Minds: Faith-Based Persuasion
So, what else reduces hesitancy?Hearing about the benefits of the coronavirus vaccine from religious leaders can sway people, experts say.
"Clergy are often trusted voices, and houses of worship are trusted sites," says Rabbi David Saperstein, director emeritus of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. He is one of the core group involved in Faiths4vaccines, a multifaith movement launched in January. It includes religious leaders and medical professionals devoted to increasing vaccination rates. Its goals are to combat hesitancy and advance equitable distribution of vaccines.
The organization partners with numerous faith-based groups, representing millions of people across the country. It has helped to set up vaccination sites in houses of worship, where people often feel more comfortable than at a clinic or pharmacy. Because houses of worship often lack staff such as nurses to help run a program, they often partner with nearby pharmacies or hospitals, he says.
"When clergy speak out and reassure people and put [vaccines] in the values of public health and preventive medicine, those messages resonated with people," Saperstein says. When those of faith realize that the vaccine is an expression of love for their neighbors, it can become easier.
Changing Minds: Family and Friends
Don't drown hesitant family and friends with numbers and statistics to persuade them to get vaccinated, says Susan Whitbourne, PhD, a professor emerita of psychology at the University of Massachusetts. "They can always find another statistic they like better."Appeal to the heart, not the head, she suggests.
"It's all about getting the person to realize, on a personal level, it can happen to you," she says, and you should talk about the need to protect parents, children, or grandchildren. "You have to find the pathway that is going to work with that person."
Hesitancy is sometimes used as a coping mechanism, believes Molly Allen, PsyD, a clinical psychologist in Wichita, KS. Some of her hesitant patients ''are overly focused on the immediate negative experience rather than the long-term benefit [of protecting health]."
It's a way to reduce their overall stress level. These people may think, "If I don’t get the shot I won't have to deal with the anxiety" that can come with the pain of the needle and any after-effects of the shot such as fever, chills, or a sore arm, she says. But they're ignoring, of course, the risk of getting COVID-19.
If a friend or family member expresses these concerns, Allen suggest that you listen and then ''express your concern for them" while focusing on the long-term positives, not the short-term negatives. Try: "I really don’t want to see you get super-ill with a preventable disease."
Stories From the Formerly Hesitant
A doctor's input can be powerful, too. In the end, that's what convinced Elizabeth Greenaway of Williamsport, PA, to get the COVID vaccine after lots of soul-searching."I was very hesitant because I felt it was too new," says Greenaway, a marketing consultant.
Over and over, she weighed the pros, cons, and what-ifs.
I started praying about the decision. If I am meant to get it, I need to feel more at peace.Elizabeth Greenaway, Williamsport, PA
"The statistics are on my side," she recalls thinking. "I'm 34, pretty healthy."
A devout Christian, her faith weighed in.
"A lot of conservative Christians are hesitant," she says. "I started praying about the decision. If I am meant to get it, I need to feel more at peace."
Her husband, she says, didn't feel strongly one way or the other. She thought about their young daughter, Emma, and who would care for her if she got COVID and couldn't be at home. But she also worried a lot about long-term vaccine side effects.
Then she happened to see a video featuring Paul Offit, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where the Greenaways take their daughter for care. Offit is not Emma's doctor, but Greenaway was struck by his video message.
"He said these long-term effects [of vaccines that she worried about] show up within 6 weeks of getting the vaccine. That spoke volumes to me,” she says.
With more time, knowing more people who got the vaccine with no issues, and more prayer, the hesitancy faded.
She got vaccinated and now reaches out to others like her — conservative, Christian Republicans — to reconsider their hesitancy. CNN interviewed Greenaway and then brought on Offit to hear the story and introduce them onscreen.
"It's incredibly heartening," he said, praising Greenaway's decision. "She's saying, 'It's not just [about] me. I can spread it to my mother or my child. For a contagious disease, you aren't just making a decision for yourself."
Sources:
CDC: "COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States."
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The F.D.A. will approve a third dose of vaccine for some people with weak immune systems.
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Federal regulators are expected to authorize a third shot of coronavirus vaccine as soon as Thursday for certain people with weakened immune systems, as the highly contagious Delta variant sweeps the nation.
The decision to expand the emergency use of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines is meant to help those patients with immune deficiencies who are considered most likely to benefit from an additional shot. It covers people who have had solid organ transplants and others whose immune systems are similarly compromised, according to an official familiar with the plan.
The development will give physicians latitude to recommend additional shots for those patients. About 3 percent of Americans have weakened immune systems for a variety of reasons, from a history of cancer to the use of certain medications such as steroids.
Many scientists argue that the immunocompromised population is too diverse to uniformly recommend additional shots of coronavirus vaccine. Some may be protected by the standard vaccine dosage, despite their conditions. Others may be poorly shielded by the vaccines, but unable to benefit from an additional shot.
Studies suggest that patients such as organ transplant recipients are in between — often showing little immune response to the standard vaccine regimen, but benefiting from a third shot. One recent randomized, placebo-controlled study by Canadian researchers found that a third dose of the Moderna vaccine improved the immune response of people in that group.
The Food and Drug Administration’s decision to authorize a third shot for organ transplant recipients and those with similarly compromised immune systems will be considered by an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scheduled to meet on Friday. Although the F.D.A.’s action is independent of the panel’s recommendation, in practice many physicians wait to act until the C.D.C. weighs in.
If the committee votes to endorse the shots, as expected, the C.D.C. could issue a recommendation the same day. That could give further guidance to physicians and pharmacists about how to proceed.
France has offered additional vaccine doses to certain people with poor immune responses since April, and Germany and Hungary recently followed suit.
— Sharon LaFraniere and Noah Weiland
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I think most of us feel similarly or at least can understand why many feel this way.
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COVID-19 rates are surging again, and many Americans who've been vaccinated are turning their anger toward those who refuse to get the shot.
Outraged at vaccine-hesitant people, some are even calling for mandates requiring all Americans to get inoculated, arguing the holdouts are allowing the Delta coronavirus variant to gain traction and reverse the progress the US was making against the virus.
"I am angry, I am resentful, and I think it's a fair and appropriate response," said Jonathan Hyman, a Berea, Ohio, attorney who blames the unvaccinated for the backslide in pandemic progress.
Hyman has been following the difficult guidelines health experts have been urging from the beginning. He has been masking up, avoiding large gatherings, postponing travel, and he signed up to receive the vaccine as soon as it was available.
"We have been responsible, I did everything I was supposed to do," said Hyman, 48, who didn't visit his parents for 18 months to keep them safe. "Yet here we are, 16, 17 months later, and it feels like we're in the exact same place we were last summer, and it's all because some people refuse to do the responsible things they were told to do."
James Simmons, a retired South Florida high school finance teacher, is also angered by the vaccine holdouts, citing new spikes in COVID-19 infections, hospitalization rates, and deaths across the country — nearly all of which are among unvaccinated people.
"I can't fathom the fact that people have seen over 600,000 Americans die from COVID, yet are resistant to a vaccine that provides direct protection for themselves and others," said Simmons, 63, who received the shot early. "Their irresponsible decision is an affront to those of us who are vaccinated and still wear masks for the benefit of our society."
Melissa Martin, an Atlanta resident who contracted a serious case of COVID-19 last September, said it is "perplexing and frustrating" that so many Americans are refusing the vaccine. She believes the anger so many vaccinated people feel is tied to fear.
"I believe at the core of this anger is a fear of losing the ones we love," said Martin, 55, who has been vaccinated, as has her fiancé, Shane McGeehin. "I was very angry last year after contracting COVID. The experience of having COVID was negative physically, emotionally, and socially."
She recalls arguing with friends and relatives who downplayed how severe the virus was and who still refuse vaccination, despite seeing how COVID affected her.
"I am trying to understand why they feel the way they do," she said, "but I would describe the emotions I have now towards those who do not get the vaccine as frustration, confusion, and disbelief."
Leana Wen, MD, an emergency medicine doctor and public health policy professor at George Washington University, said such sentiments are common and justified.
"I understand that feeling of frustration and anger, because it is the unvaccinated who are setting back the progress that we've made [because of] the many sacrifices that many people have undergone," said Wen, author of the newly published book Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health.
"I think it is appropriate for the vaccinated to feel like they're being punished right now," she said. "We as a country had the opportunity to beat this virus — to return to pre-pandemic normal [life] and have our kids go back to school without worrying about coronavirus and our economy fully recovering. We came so close to achieving this, but we didn't, and now COVID-19 is surging again. The vaccinated are having to pay the price for the choices that some have made to not end this pandemic."
Per August 6 estimates from the CDC, the nation is averaging more than 100,000 new cases every day — the highest levels seen since February.
Southern states, with the lowest vaccination rates in the country, have been particularly hard-hit. Florida and Louisiana recently set 7-day records for new cases and hospitalizations, beating previous peaks last summer. Those two states, along with Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, account for 41% of all new COVID-19 hospitalizations in the country, according to the CDC.
"It's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks," an angry Gov. Kay Ivey, Republican of Alabama, told reporters. "It's the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down."
In response to the resurgence in cases, President Joe Biden has ordered new vaccine mandates for millions of federal workers.
This month, California started requiring healthcare professionals to be vaccinated, removing the option for unvaccinated employees to submit to regular testing.
New York City became the first in the country to require proof of vaccination for all workers and customers to enter restaurants, gyms, concert halls, movie theaters, and Broadway venues.
Nearly 60 major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association, have called for mandatory vaccination of all healthcare workers.
Meanwhile, many businesses are requiring workers to be vaccinated before returning to offices and other workplaces. Colleges across the country are mandating the shots for students and staff. And some states and cities are also returning to mask mandates, including Hawaii, Louisiana, Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Experts say the 90 million unvaccinated Americans are most at risk from COVID and have helped the new Delta variant gain a foothold and spread, posing a risk of "breakthrough" cases even in vaccinated people.
Delta is more contagious and causes more severe disease than other known variants of the virus, according to the CDC. It is also more contagious than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, flu, and smallpox, the federal agency said.
Eric Jaffe, a creative writer and producer from Florida who is vaccinated, said he would like to see government agencies and private businesses do more to put pressure on unvaccinated Americans to get the shot.
"In the interest of public safety, I believe the government and private businesses need to [make] life difficult for the unvaccinated," said Jaffe, 29, whose parents both contracted the virus but recovered. "They should not be allowed to dine at restaurants, ride public transportation, attend concerts, or broadly be in spaces with large concentrations of people without passing a COVID test at the door.
"They'll stand in long lines and be inconvenienced at every turn, while vaccinated people get to fly through security, TSA PreCheck-style. The holdouts at [this] point are beyond convincing. The vaccinated should be able to return to a level of normalcy, and the unvaccinated should face restrictions. Any other dynamic puts the stress on citizens who did the right thing."
Elif Akcali, 49, who teaches engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville, worries that the rights of people who refuse the vaccine are being put ahead of those of vaccinated people. She's also concerned for people who face greater COVID risks, including healthcare workers and children too young to be inoculated.
"Each infection is an opportunity for the virus to evolve into a stronger version in itself," said Akcali, who felt such a sense of relief when she received her vaccination that she teared up. "Each hospitalization is an unnecessary burden to healthcare workers and the system. Each death brings heartbreak to someone in their circle."
Ed Berliner, an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and Florida-based media specialist, blames social media for spreading misinformation that has taken root with unvaccinated Americans.
"When America rallied together to combat polio, there were two things we didn't have. One was a lack of the sewer-dwelling, troll-infested social media, which has become the main source of news for the less intelligent and arrogant," said Berliner, CEO of Entourage Media LLC and host of The Man in the Arena, a talk show. "Second, children were dying across the country, and that made people sit up and take notice."
Berliner, who knows two people who've died from COVID and received the vaccine early, also believes too many political leaders are still fueling falsehoods that are giving unvaccinated Americans a license to refuse the shot.
"We are also here because governments and officials spend too little time being brutally honest, choosing instead to dance around issues with soft words," he said. "The first words out of their mouths should have been: 'What we are doing is trying to save lives. Help us save your life and that of everyone else.' Would it have made a difference? We will never know."
Shon Neyland, senior pastor at the Highland Christian Center church in Portland, Oregon, said vaccine tensions have divided his congregation, with about half refusing the shot by his estimation. But he said it's important to understand why some are making that choice, rather than rage at them and hammer home the benefits of the shot.
Many vaccine holdouts don't trust the government or medical establishment or have bought into political arguments against the shot, he said. Some conservative evangelicals are also swayed by spiritual beliefs that COVID-19 is a sign of "biblical end-times prophesies" and the vaccine is "the mark of the beast," he said.
But he has tried to counter those beliefs and biases, arguing they are false and unfounded, urging members of his church to get the vaccine, and partnering with local health officials to run clinics to deliver it.
"I gently try to show them that the vaccine is for our own good and, in fact, is a blessing from God, and it's up to us to accept the blessing [so] we can get back to somewhat of normalcy," said Neyland, author of The Courage to Stand: A New America.
"I also believe that to get a vaccine this quick, this was nothing short of a miracle to turn the tide so quickly. Now, for us to resist, it would cause us to continue to suffer and lose lives. And you can't turn away from the lives that have already been lost."
Hyman, the Ohio attorney, fears we may not have seen the worst of the pandemic and that the Delta variant won't be the last or most virulent mutation to emerge.
"The number of unvaccinated people is allowing this virus to continue circulating in the community," he noted. "And while I have a tremendous amount of confidence that the vaccine protects me now from Delta, I have less confidence that it's going to protect me from whatever [variant] comes next.
"So, I have a tremendous amount of concern for my own health and safety and welfare, and that of the people that I love. But I'm also concerned about what's it going to do to businesses [and] the economy. Are we going to have more shutdowns if cases continue trending up? I'm very concerned as to what this could do [to] the country."
As COVID Resurges, Vaccinated Americans Rage Against Holdouts
"I am angry, I am resentful, and I think it's a fair and appropriate response," said Jonathan Hyman, a Berea, Ohio, attorney who blames the unvaccinated for the backslide in pandemic progress.
www.medscape.com
As COVID Resurges, Vaccinated Americans Rage Against Holdouts
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COVID-19 rates are surging again, and many Americans who've been vaccinated are turning their anger toward those who refuse to get the shot.
Outraged at vaccine-hesitant people, some are even calling for mandates requiring all Americans to get inoculated, arguing the holdouts are allowing the Delta coronavirus variant to gain traction and reverse the progress the US was making against the virus.
"I am angry, I am resentful, and I think it's a fair and appropriate response," said Jonathan Hyman, a Berea, Ohio, attorney who blames the unvaccinated for the backslide in pandemic progress.
Hyman has been following the difficult guidelines health experts have been urging from the beginning. He has been masking up, avoiding large gatherings, postponing travel, and he signed up to receive the vaccine as soon as it was available.
"We have been responsible, I did everything I was supposed to do," said Hyman, 48, who didn't visit his parents for 18 months to keep them safe. "Yet here we are, 16, 17 months later, and it feels like we're in the exact same place we were last summer, and it's all because some people refuse to do the responsible things they were told to do."
James Simmons, a retired South Florida high school finance teacher, is also angered by the vaccine holdouts, citing new spikes in COVID-19 infections, hospitalization rates, and deaths across the country — nearly all of which are among unvaccinated people.
"I can't fathom the fact that people have seen over 600,000 Americans die from COVID, yet are resistant to a vaccine that provides direct protection for themselves and others," said Simmons, 63, who received the shot early. "Their irresponsible decision is an affront to those of us who are vaccinated and still wear masks for the benefit of our society."
Melissa Martin, an Atlanta resident who contracted a serious case of COVID-19 last September, said it is "perplexing and frustrating" that so many Americans are refusing the vaccine. She believes the anger so many vaccinated people feel is tied to fear.
"I believe at the core of this anger is a fear of losing the ones we love," said Martin, 55, who has been vaccinated, as has her fiancé, Shane McGeehin. "I was very angry last year after contracting COVID. The experience of having COVID was negative physically, emotionally, and socially."
She recalls arguing with friends and relatives who downplayed how severe the virus was and who still refuse vaccination, despite seeing how COVID affected her.
"I am trying to understand why they feel the way they do," she said, "but I would describe the emotions I have now towards those who do not get the vaccine as frustration, confusion, and disbelief."
Leana Wen, MD, an emergency medicine doctor and public health policy professor at George Washington University, said such sentiments are common and justified.
"I understand that feeling of frustration and anger, because it is the unvaccinated who are setting back the progress that we've made [because of] the many sacrifices that many people have undergone," said Wen, author of the newly published book Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health.
"I think it is appropriate for the vaccinated to feel like they're being punished right now," she said. "We as a country had the opportunity to beat this virus — to return to pre-pandemic normal [life] and have our kids go back to school without worrying about coronavirus and our economy fully recovering. We came so close to achieving this, but we didn't, and now COVID-19 is surging again. The vaccinated are having to pay the price for the choices that some have made to not end this pandemic."
COVID Rising, Driving Anger
The rising anger among vaccinated Americans comes as health officials are reporting huge spikes in new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Meanwhile, only about half of all Americans fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.Per August 6 estimates from the CDC, the nation is averaging more than 100,000 new cases every day — the highest levels seen since February.
Southern states, with the lowest vaccination rates in the country, have been particularly hard-hit. Florida and Louisiana recently set 7-day records for new cases and hospitalizations, beating previous peaks last summer. Those two states, along with Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, account for 41% of all new COVID-19 hospitalizations in the country, according to the CDC.
"It's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks," an angry Gov. Kay Ivey, Republican of Alabama, told reporters. "It's the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down."
In response to the resurgence in cases, President Joe Biden has ordered new vaccine mandates for millions of federal workers.
This month, California started requiring healthcare professionals to be vaccinated, removing the option for unvaccinated employees to submit to regular testing.
New York City became the first in the country to require proof of vaccination for all workers and customers to enter restaurants, gyms, concert halls, movie theaters, and Broadway venues.
Nearly 60 major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association, have called for mandatory vaccination of all healthcare workers.
Meanwhile, many businesses are requiring workers to be vaccinated before returning to offices and other workplaces. Colleges across the country are mandating the shots for students and staff. And some states and cities are also returning to mask mandates, including Hawaii, Louisiana, Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Experts say the 90 million unvaccinated Americans are most at risk from COVID and have helped the new Delta variant gain a foothold and spread, posing a risk of "breakthrough" cases even in vaccinated people.
Delta is more contagious and causes more severe disease than other known variants of the virus, according to the CDC. It is also more contagious than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, flu, and smallpox, the federal agency said.
Calls for Mandates Grow
With Delta helping to drive new spikes in COVID cases, some vaccinated Americans argue that the federal government should be taking a harder line with holdouts. Others have even advocated withholding government stimulus checks or tax credits from vaccine refusers and cutting federal funding to states that don't meet vaccine targets.Eric Jaffe, a creative writer and producer from Florida who is vaccinated, said he would like to see government agencies and private businesses do more to put pressure on unvaccinated Americans to get the shot.
"In the interest of public safety, I believe the government and private businesses need to [make] life difficult for the unvaccinated," said Jaffe, 29, whose parents both contracted the virus but recovered. "They should not be allowed to dine at restaurants, ride public transportation, attend concerts, or broadly be in spaces with large concentrations of people without passing a COVID test at the door.
"They'll stand in long lines and be inconvenienced at every turn, while vaccinated people get to fly through security, TSA PreCheck-style. The holdouts at [this] point are beyond convincing. The vaccinated should be able to return to a level of normalcy, and the unvaccinated should face restrictions. Any other dynamic puts the stress on citizens who did the right thing."
Elif Akcali, 49, who teaches engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville, worries that the rights of people who refuse the vaccine are being put ahead of those of vaccinated people. She's also concerned for people who face greater COVID risks, including healthcare workers and children too young to be inoculated.
"Each infection is an opportunity for the virus to evolve into a stronger version in itself," said Akcali, who felt such a sense of relief when she received her vaccination that she teared up. "Each hospitalization is an unnecessary burden to healthcare workers and the system. Each death brings heartbreak to someone in their circle."
Ed Berliner, an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and Florida-based media specialist, blames social media for spreading misinformation that has taken root with unvaccinated Americans.
"When America rallied together to combat polio, there were two things we didn't have. One was a lack of the sewer-dwelling, troll-infested social media, which has become the main source of news for the less intelligent and arrogant," said Berliner, CEO of Entourage Media LLC and host of The Man in the Arena, a talk show. "Second, children were dying across the country, and that made people sit up and take notice."
Berliner, who knows two people who've died from COVID and received the vaccine early, also believes too many political leaders are still fueling falsehoods that are giving unvaccinated Americans a license to refuse the shot.
"We are also here because governments and officials spend too little time being brutally honest, choosing instead to dance around issues with soft words," he said. "The first words out of their mouths should have been: 'What we are doing is trying to save lives. Help us save your life and that of everyone else.' Would it have made a difference? We will never know."
Shon Neyland, senior pastor at the Highland Christian Center church in Portland, Oregon, said vaccine tensions have divided his congregation, with about half refusing the shot by his estimation. But he said it's important to understand why some are making that choice, rather than rage at them and hammer home the benefits of the shot.
Many vaccine holdouts don't trust the government or medical establishment or have bought into political arguments against the shot, he said. Some conservative evangelicals are also swayed by spiritual beliefs that COVID-19 is a sign of "biblical end-times prophesies" and the vaccine is "the mark of the beast," he said.
But he has tried to counter those beliefs and biases, arguing they are false and unfounded, urging members of his church to get the vaccine, and partnering with local health officials to run clinics to deliver it.
"I gently try to show them that the vaccine is for our own good and, in fact, is a blessing from God, and it's up to us to accept the blessing [so] we can get back to somewhat of normalcy," said Neyland, author of The Courage to Stand: A New America.
"I also believe that to get a vaccine this quick, this was nothing short of a miracle to turn the tide so quickly. Now, for us to resist, it would cause us to continue to suffer and lose lives. And you can't turn away from the lives that have already been lost."
Hyman, the Ohio attorney, fears we may not have seen the worst of the pandemic and that the Delta variant won't be the last or most virulent mutation to emerge.
"The number of unvaccinated people is allowing this virus to continue circulating in the community," he noted. "And while I have a tremendous amount of confidence that the vaccine protects me now from Delta, I have less confidence that it's going to protect me from whatever [variant] comes next.
"So, I have a tremendous amount of concern for my own health and safety and welfare, and that of the people that I love. But I'm also concerned about what's it going to do to businesses [and] the economy. Are we going to have more shutdowns if cases continue trending up? I'm very concerned as to what this could do [to] the country."
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2008
- Messages
- 9,344
Good morning. I do NOT have my official test results. However a friend dropped off couple of rapid tests She said the pharmacy only allowed 1 per visit so she went to 2 pharmacies.
My line 2 was faint but visible so.... probably covid. I talked to my study coordinator yesterday and they had not posted any results for anyone (she said they're a little backed up)
The my husband is negative per his rapid test but we're also waiting for my other test to come in so he can get a PCR test as well. His vaccination was much later than mine, which may protect him or, he's just asymptomatic.
I am not 100% better but for sure on the mend. The headache, which is never ending, is background noise at this point. However, I sweat like you would not believe last night....I had to change twice, use a towel on my side of the bed because I sweat that much. I was not covered in more than a sheet.
I still have a cough but its doable and its wet! I don't feel like I swallowed a small hand towel anymore either. Best part is that I can actually breathe deep without coughing too much AND my mouth and nose is wet!
OX is excellent, its 98% this morning.
Temp this a.m. is 97.4F
Some brain fog still but not as bad.
My sense of smell/taste is still messed up.
I completed the entire 1 mile dog walk loop (thats an accomplishement!) it was rough going but I made it. I wanna take a nap now...lol
My line 2 was faint but visible so.... probably covid. I talked to my study coordinator yesterday and they had not posted any results for anyone (she said they're a little backed up)
The my husband is negative per his rapid test but we're also waiting for my other test to come in so he can get a PCR test as well. His vaccination was much later than mine, which may protect him or, he's just asymptomatic.
I am not 100% better but for sure on the mend. The headache, which is never ending, is background noise at this point. However, I sweat like you would not believe last night....I had to change twice, use a towel on my side of the bed because I sweat that much. I was not covered in more than a sheet.
I still have a cough but its doable and its wet! I don't feel like I swallowed a small hand towel anymore either. Best part is that I can actually breathe deep without coughing too much AND my mouth and nose is wet!
OX is excellent, its 98% this morning.
Temp this a.m. is 97.4F
Some brain fog still but not as bad.
My sense of smell/taste is still messed up.
I completed the entire 1 mile dog walk loop (thats an accomplishement!) it was rough going but I made it. I wanna take a nap now...lol
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- May 15, 2014
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@Arcadian Thank goodness you are improving. That's all that matters. Do you have any idea when the PCR results will come in?
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2008
- Messages
- 54,793
@Arcadian thanks for the update and I am relieved you are improving!
Since your taste and smell are still not right I am betting you are right guessing it is Covid and thank goodness you had the vaccine because that surely prevented it from being much worse. I have moderate asthma and I know whenever I get sick it is extra difficult because my breathing is affected so I feel for you.
Don't overdo and let your body rest and heal. Gentle hugs.
Since your taste and smell are still not right I am betting you are right guessing it is Covid and thank goodness you had the vaccine because that surely prevented it from being much worse. I have moderate asthma and I know whenever I get sick it is extra difficult because my breathing is affected so I feel for you.
Don't overdo and let your body rest and heal. Gentle hugs.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2008
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- 9,344
As I was writing you my results came in. Positive.
@missy asthmatics should def. heed what I'm going through. My asthma isn't considered to be all that bad either and I'm struggling.
- Joined
- May 15, 2014
- Messages
- 5,367
I'm sorry, but I guess it's not really a surprise at this point. At least you are on the mend and the worst seems to be over. And yes, thank goodness you were vaccinated. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if you weren't. Take it easy and get as much rest as you can. And keep us posted on how you are feeling.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2008
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- 54,793
Definitely. Asthma complicates everything.
I'm sorry you are positive but I cannot imagine how much worse if you weren't vaccinated. Do they have any idea (I don't think there is a way to tell) if it is a variant? From what I understand Delta makes up the majority of the cases now...
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2008
- Messages
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No but being I'm in FL I'm going to assume its Delta.
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- Jun 8, 2008
- Messages
- 54,793
The Delta variant is now the most prominent strain of Covid 19 and the Lambda variant (from South America) is right behind it.
For anyone still undecided about getting the Covid vaccinations. Listen up.
As long as so many people refuse to get vaccinated new strains of the virus will keep developing with dire consequences. This is not a game. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is for real. It's do or die time.
For anyone still undecided about getting the Covid vaccinations. Listen up.
As long as so many people refuse to get vaccinated new strains of the virus will keep developing with dire consequences. This is not a game. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is for real. It's do or die time.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2008
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FDA to OK Boosters for Some; VA Passes on Aducanumab; Bogus COVID Vakzine
A daily roundup of news on COVID-19 and the rest of medicine
www.medpagetoday.com
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2008
- Messages
- 1,190
I completely agree with this. As scary as the thought of catching Covid, it's just as scary to think about what would happen if my family might need other medical care during this time. I read a story yesterday about a young baby who couldn't breath and had to wait outside the waiting room for hours because there were no beds. "My body my choice" yet those choices are putting other lives at risk, and not just from Covid.
I've been pretty patient about this whole topic but I'm definitely getting angrier. I can't help but think how selfish it is to put an individual's "freedom" over the health and lives of millions. I'm especially angry because kids are now at more risk than ever throughout this pandemic, and even that fact doesn't seem to make a difference. We are fighting over the inconsequential thing like wearing a mask at school, because MY "right" to not put a piece of cloth over my face because I find it "annoying" is way more important than protecting our children any way we can. We have lost our minds and all perspective of what's actually important. I have 2 young kids starting school next month and it's more terrifying than last year this time. Sorry for the vent, news these days on top of being only a few weeks left before I have to send my kids out there, is really fraying my nerves...I think most of us feel similarly or at least can understand why many feel this way.
As COVID Resurges, Vaccinated Americans Rage Against Holdouts
"I am angry, I am resentful, and I think it's a fair and appropriate response," said Jonathan Hyman, a Berea, Ohio, attorney who blames the unvaccinated for the backslide in pandemic progress.www.medscape.com
As COVID Resurges, Vaccinated Americans Rage Against Holdouts
"
COVID-19 rates are surging again, and many Americans who've been vaccinated are turning their anger toward those who refuse to get the shot.
Outraged at vaccine-hesitant people, some are even calling for mandates requiring all Americans to get inoculated, arguing the holdouts are allowing the Delta coronavirus variant to gain traction and reverse the progress the US was making against the virus.
"I am angry, I am resentful, and I think it's a fair and appropriate response," said Jonathan Hyman, a Berea, Ohio, attorney who blames the unvaccinated for the backslide in pandemic progress.
Hyman has been following the difficult guidelines health experts have been urging from the beginning. He has been masking up, avoiding large gatherings, postponing travel, and he signed up to receive the vaccine as soon as it was available.
"We have been responsible, I did everything I was supposed to do," said Hyman, 48, who didn't visit his parents for 18 months to keep them safe. "Yet here we are, 16, 17 months later, and it feels like we're in the exact same place we were last summer, and it's all because some people refuse to do the responsible things they were told to do."
James Simmons, a retired South Florida high school finance teacher, is also angered by the vaccine holdouts, citing new spikes in COVID-19 infections, hospitalization rates, and deaths across the country — nearly all of which are among unvaccinated people.
"I can't fathom the fact that people have seen over 600,000 Americans die from COVID, yet are resistant to a vaccine that provides direct protection for themselves and others," said Simmons, 63, who received the shot early. "Their irresponsible decision is an affront to those of us who are vaccinated and still wear masks for the benefit of our society."
Melissa Martin, an Atlanta resident who contracted a serious case of COVID-19 last September, said it is "perplexing and frustrating" that so many Americans are refusing the vaccine. She believes the anger so many vaccinated people feel is tied to fear.
"I believe at the core of this anger is a fear of losing the ones we love," said Martin, 55, who has been vaccinated, as has her fiancé, Shane McGeehin. "I was very angry last year after contracting COVID. The experience of having COVID was negative physically, emotionally, and socially."
She recalls arguing with friends and relatives who downplayed how severe the virus was and who still refuse vaccination, despite seeing how COVID affected her.
"I am trying to understand why they feel the way they do," she said, "but I would describe the emotions I have now towards those who do not get the vaccine as frustration, confusion, and disbelief."
Leana Wen, MD, an emergency medicine doctor and public health policy professor at George Washington University, said such sentiments are common and justified.
"I understand that feeling of frustration and anger, because it is the unvaccinated who are setting back the progress that we've made [because of] the many sacrifices that many people have undergone," said Wen, author of the newly published book Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health.
"I think it is appropriate for the vaccinated to feel like they're being punished right now," she said. "We as a country had the opportunity to beat this virus — to return to pre-pandemic normal [life] and have our kids go back to school without worrying about coronavirus and our economy fully recovering. We came so close to achieving this, but we didn't, and now COVID-19 is surging again. The vaccinated are having to pay the price for the choices that some have made to not end this pandemic."
COVID Rising, Driving Anger
The rising anger among vaccinated Americans comes as health officials are reporting huge spikes in new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Meanwhile, only about half of all Americans fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Per August 6 estimates from the CDC, the nation is averaging more than 100,000 new cases every day — the highest levels seen since February.
Southern states, with the lowest vaccination rates in the country, have been particularly hard-hit. Florida and Louisiana recently set 7-day records for new cases and hospitalizations, beating previous peaks last summer. Those two states, along with Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, account for 41% of all new COVID-19 hospitalizations in the country, according to the CDC.
"It's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks," an angry Gov. Kay Ivey, Republican of Alabama, told reporters. "It's the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down."
In response to the resurgence in cases, President Joe Biden has ordered new vaccine mandates for millions of federal workers.
This month, California started requiring healthcare professionals to be vaccinated, removing the option for unvaccinated employees to submit to regular testing.
New York City became the first in the country to require proof of vaccination for all workers and customers to enter restaurants, gyms, concert halls, movie theaters, and Broadway venues.
Nearly 60 major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association, have called for mandatory vaccination of all healthcare workers.
Meanwhile, many businesses are requiring workers to be vaccinated before returning to offices and other workplaces. Colleges across the country are mandating the shots for students and staff. And some states and cities are also returning to mask mandates, including Hawaii, Louisiana, Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Experts say the 90 million unvaccinated Americans are most at risk from COVID and have helped the new Delta variant gain a foothold and spread, posing a risk of "breakthrough" cases even in vaccinated people.
Delta is more contagious and causes more severe disease than other known variants of the virus, according to the CDC. It is also more contagious than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, flu, and smallpox, the federal agency said.
Calls for Mandates Grow
With Delta helping to drive new spikes in COVID cases, some vaccinated Americans argue that the federal government should be taking a harder line with holdouts. Others have even advocated withholding government stimulus checks or tax credits from vaccine refusers and cutting federal funding to states that don't meet vaccine targets.
Eric Jaffe, a creative writer and producer from Florida who is vaccinated, said he would like to see government agencies and private businesses do more to put pressure on unvaccinated Americans to get the shot.
"In the interest of public safety, I believe the government and private businesses need to [make] life difficult for the unvaccinated," said Jaffe, 29, whose parents both contracted the virus but recovered. "They should not be allowed to dine at restaurants, ride public transportation, attend concerts, or broadly be in spaces with large concentrations of people without passing a COVID test at the door.
"They'll stand in long lines and be inconvenienced at every turn, while vaccinated people get to fly through security, TSA PreCheck-style. The holdouts at [this] point are beyond convincing. The vaccinated should be able to return to a level of normalcy, and the unvaccinated should face restrictions. Any other dynamic puts the stress on citizens who did the right thing."
Elif Akcali, 49, who teaches engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville, worries that the rights of people who refuse the vaccine are being put ahead of those of vaccinated people. She's also concerned for people who face greater COVID risks, including healthcare workers and children too young to be inoculated.
"Each infection is an opportunity for the virus to evolve into a stronger version in itself," said Akcali, who felt such a sense of relief when she received her vaccination that she teared up. "Each hospitalization is an unnecessary burden to healthcare workers and the system. Each death brings heartbreak to someone in their circle."
Ed Berliner, an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and Florida-based media specialist, blames social media for spreading misinformation that has taken root with unvaccinated Americans.
"When America rallied together to combat polio, there were two things we didn't have. One was a lack of the sewer-dwelling, troll-infested social media, which has become the main source of news for the less intelligent and arrogant," said Berliner, CEO of Entourage Media LLC and host of The Man in the Arena, a talk show. "Second, children were dying across the country, and that made people sit up and take notice."
Berliner, who knows two people who've died from COVID and received the vaccine early, also believes too many political leaders are still fueling falsehoods that are giving unvaccinated Americans a license to refuse the shot.
"We are also here because governments and officials spend too little time being brutally honest, choosing instead to dance around issues with soft words," he said. "The first words out of their mouths should have been: 'What we are doing is trying to save lives. Help us save your life and that of everyone else.' Would it have made a difference? We will never know."
Shon Neyland, senior pastor at the Highland Christian Center church in Portland, Oregon, said vaccine tensions have divided his congregation, with about half refusing the shot by his estimation. But he said it's important to understand why some are making that choice, rather than rage at them and hammer home the benefits of the shot.
Many vaccine holdouts don't trust the government or medical establishment or have bought into political arguments against the shot, he said. Some conservative evangelicals are also swayed by spiritual beliefs that COVID-19 is a sign of "biblical end-times prophesies" and the vaccine is "the mark of the beast," he said.
But he has tried to counter those beliefs and biases, arguing they are false and unfounded, urging members of his church to get the vaccine, and partnering with local health officials to run clinics to deliver it.
"I gently try to show them that the vaccine is for our own good and, in fact, is a blessing from God, and it's up to us to accept the blessing [so] we can get back to somewhat of normalcy," said Neyland, author of The Courage to Stand: A New America.
"I also believe that to get a vaccine this quick, this was nothing short of a miracle to turn the tide so quickly. Now, for us to resist, it would cause us to continue to suffer and lose lives. And you can't turn away from the lives that have already been lost."
Hyman, the Ohio attorney, fears we may not have seen the worst of the pandemic and that the Delta variant won't be the last or most virulent mutation to emerge.
"The number of unvaccinated people is allowing this virus to continue circulating in the community," he noted. "And while I have a tremendous amount of confidence that the vaccine protects me now from Delta, I have less confidence that it's going to protect me from whatever [variant] comes next.
"So, I have a tremendous amount of concern for my own health and safety and welfare, and that of the people that I love. But I'm also concerned about what's it going to do to businesses [and] the economy. Are we going to have more shutdowns if cases continue trending up? I'm very concerned as to what this could do [to] the country."
I'm sorry you got it, but yeah I guess it was sort of expected given your symptoms. I echo others, glad you're vaccinated and seems to be feeling a but better. Hoping for a quick recovery.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2008
- Messages
- 54,793
100% agree.
And I also agree it is scary should any emergencies happen thinking about how many will die from non Covid deaths due to full hospitals/emergency rooms. It happened back in the spring and summer of 2020 and it is happening again.
Anger sums it up for me too.
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2014
- Messages
- 9,435
@Arcadian, I’m sorry to hear this news and am glad you are vaccinated. thank goodness your oxygen number is up and you are doing much better than you were a few days ago. Please take it easy. Sending lots of good well dust your way and will check in later to see how you are.
Thank you for the information you posted yesterday for me.
Thank you for the information you posted yesterday for me.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2008
- Messages
- 9,344
I worked half a day then took a short nap and ...wow I'm processing all of this right now. I wasn't sure what I would feel but yeah.. anger. some anyway, plus a healthy mix of fear, sadness, and relief.
Work beat the crap out of me. I thought 4 hours wouldn't be too hard but yeah it wiped me out!
I'll be continuing to give saliva samples and have the daily checkups with my coordinator. I'll get another PCR and blood tests in about 10 days and they'll bring by another kit. I'll be doing this until I have 2 negative tests.
I thankfully have not been around a lot of people but have told them about it so they can also get tested. The other half is getting tested tomorrow (wasn't gonna happen today)
Y'all, humanity is so messed up.
Work beat the crap out of me. I thought 4 hours wouldn't be too hard but yeah it wiped me out!
I'll be continuing to give saliva samples and have the daily checkups with my coordinator. I'll get another PCR and blood tests in about 10 days and they'll bring by another kit. I'll be doing this until I have 2 negative tests.
I thankfully have not been around a lot of people but have told them about it so they can also get tested. The other half is getting tested tomorrow (wasn't gonna happen today)
Y'all, humanity is so messed up.
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- Dec 12, 2006
- Messages
- 4,444
oh my goodness!!! this is terrifying!!!!!!!!! I hope you feel better soon and I will be having a talk my my son...oh my....
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- Apr 3, 2004
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- 33,852
Sorry to hear your test came back positive. The good news is after you recover you will have the best protection from Covid "natural antibody".
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- Sep 17, 2008
- Messages
- 9,344
Sorry to hear your test came back positive. The good news is after you recover you will have the best protection from Covid "natural antibody".
I have a friend who unfortunately was not vaccinated. They got covid twice. The 2nd time ended up in the hospital for over 2 months, lost nearly 60lbs, is never going to be the same.
The vaccine bought me time because I'm not nearly as healthy as that. I would be dead without it.
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