1 minute ago, DrPhilly said:

The head of the Norwegian national health department just went on record to say that Norway believes it is better for its citizens to contract COVID now just after their 3rd jab then to contract it down the road when the vaccine's protection will have waned.  They base that on the level of protection they believe the 3 jabs provides from the risk of serious illness.  Norway is following Denmark and soon Sweden in planning to remove all of its COVID restrictions over the next couple of weeks.

So all three of these Scandinavian countries have reached the same conclusion and it is very much based on their overall national health programs.  Restrictions are lifted and everyone gets mildly sick (vast majority anyway with few needing hospitalization) until a basic form of herd immunity is reached.    Might be short lived if a new variant comes up but that's where these three normally level headed countries have decided to go and the driver is protecting the hospitals from overload in a few months' time.  Remember that all three countries have very high rates of fully vaccinated individuals (not kids under 12 though which is another interesting detail).

 

Does that include mask mandates?

53 minutes ago, Toastrel said:

Worse even than when Biden called a Fox reporter an idiot.

Damn - I hope I don't ever get shingles!

15 minutes ago, Paul852 said:

Does that include mask mandates?

Yes.  All measures and restrictions.  Denmark has just lifted those entirely.  Sweden has never had mask mandates (just recommendations) but all restrictions are due to lift in two weeks.  Norway looks to follow though the timeline won't be set until early next week.

Ironically I saw more masks in Stockholm today then I've seen at any point in the pandemic.  My wife and I were discussing it and we guess it is because Omnicron is literally everywhere right now.  Everyone has it or someone in their family has it or they just had it a week or two back.

9 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

Yes.  All measures and restrictions.  Denmark has just lifted those entirely.  Sweden has never had mask mandates (just recommendations) but all restrictions are due to lift in two weeks.  Norway looks to follow though the timeline won't be set until early next week.

Ironically I saw more masks in Stockholm today then I've seen at any point in the pandemic.  My wife and I were discussing it and we guess it is because Omnicron is literally everywhere right now.  Everyone has it or someone in their family has it or they just had it a week or two back.

Yeah, I've been surprised at the amount of masks I've seen lately especially after seeing the news that cloth masks are pretty much useless now.

I see the UK is also dropping all restrictions and mask mandates. 

1 hour ago, mikemack8 said:

Damn - I hope I don't ever get shingles!

Pretty sure you're joking, but if not, you can get vaccinated against it when eligible. About half of older people who had chicken pox will get shingles if they don't get the shingles vaccine. My brother got shingles in his 30s, before he could ever get the vaccine. My kids will never get it though because they never had chicken pox. Crazy how that family of viruses (herpes) takes up residence in your body for life and then can pop back up years (in this case, decades!) later. 

EBV is also part of the same family and recently suspected as a potential cause of MS. That ish is F'ed up. Needless to say, we won't be having pox or covid parties anytime soon to purposefully infect our kids.

2 hours ago, DrPhilly said:

The head of the Norwegian national health department just went on record to say that Norway believes it is better for its citizens to contract COVID now just after their 3rd jab then to contract it down the road when the vaccine's protection will have waned.  They base that on the level of protection they believe the 3 jabs provides from the risk of serious illness.  Norway is following Denmark and soon Sweden in planning to remove all of its COVID restrictions over the next couple of weeks.

So all three of these Scandinavian countries have reached the same conclusion and it is very much based on their overall national health programs.  Restrictions are lifted and everyone gets mildly sick (vast majority anyway with few needing hospitalization) until a basic form of herd immunity is reached.    Might be short lived if a new variant comes up but that's where these three normally level headed countries have decided to go and the driver is protecting the hospitals from overload in a few months' time.  Remember that all three countries have very high rates of fully vaccinated individuals (not kids under 12 though which is another interesting detail).

 

Cool guess. I hope he's right. Big gamble.

Good thread on the BA.2 variant

 

https://www.theepochtimes.com/florida-doctor-families-sneak-ivermectin-to-loved-ones-in-hospitals-with-covid-19-see-improvement_4235569.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=TheLibertyDaily

Florida Doctor: Families Sneak Ivermectin to Loved Ones in Hospitals With COVID-19, See Improvement

6 hours ago, Toastrel said:

Cool guess. I hope he's right. Big gamble.

She

Omicron is for most not a big deal to deal with. But a cavalier attitude towards it is why hospitals are being overrun and healthcare workers are quitting.

This is why vaccinations are so important. Israel has been cited, and while plenty of vaccinated and boosted are ending up hospitalized the rates of hospitalization for unvaccinated are still much much higher. The over 60 population is 85% boosted, but only 60% of those over 60 who end up hospitalized are boosted. This is cited of course by morons who think it bolsters their argument that vaccines aren't worth it, bit the huge gap there shows that it is: 40% of hospitalizations are coming from 15% of the population. That's a huge number.

22 minutes ago, JohnSnowsHair said:

Omicron is for most not a big deal to deal with. But a cavalier attitude towards it is why hospitals are being overrun and healthcare workers are quitting.

This is why vaccinations are so important. Israel has been cited, and while plenty of vaccinated and boosted are ending up hospitalized the rates of hospitalization for unvaccinated are still much much higher. The over 60 population is 85% boosted, but only 60% of those over 60 who end up hospitalized are boosted. This is cited of course by morons who think it bolsters their argument that vaccines aren't worth it, bit the huge gap there shows that it is: 40% of hospitalizations are coming from 15% of the population. That's a huge number.

100% agree regarding the vaccinations which is the main issue overall.  However, I don't think it is a cavalier attitude driving the problem but rather the general failure in the US to reach a high level of vaccination and that is very much due to the polarized political environment and the lack of trust in both the govt and the media.

2 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

100% agree regarding the vaccinations which is the main issue overall.  However, I don't think it is a cavalier attitude driving the problem but rather the general failure in the US to reach a high level of vaccination and that is very much due to the polarized political environment and the lack of trust in both the govt and the media.

Well when you have half the media devoting hours of the day to undermining the other half, that's what you get.

But ratings, right?

1 minute ago, JohnSnowsHair said:

Well when you have half the media devoting hours of the day to undermining the other half, that's what you get.

But ratings, right?

It is due to a societal and political failure.  We can put a few gems like Fox News in the cross hairs but there is plenty of blame to go around.

8 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

It is due to a societal and political failure.  We can put a few gems like Fox News in the cross hairs but there is plenty of blame to go around.

Politics is in large part driven by society here. Nakedly partisan media has contributed to a more partisan society, which is reflected in more partisan government, which reinforces the media cycle.

There's some chicken and egg arguments that could be had, but the major contributor to the heat being turned up here is how people get their "news" now vs 30 years ago. Fox is but one player; traditional media is losing share to crackpots on social media.

The big downside of social media is everybody's viewpoint, no matter how bat-crap insane it is, can find validation somewhere.

 

3 minutes ago, JohnSnowsHair said:

Politics is in large part driven by society here. Nakedly partisan media has contributed to a more partisan society, which is reflected in more partisan government, which reinforces the media cycle.

There's some chicken and egg arguments that could be had, but the major contributor to the heat being turned up here is how people get their "news" now vs 30 years ago. Fox is but one player; traditional media is losing share to crackpots on social media.

Yeah, I more or less agree with this.

Social media has played a part.  Partisan radio another part.  Fox a main contributor.  Two party system a part.  Trump a big part in putting this whole thing on steroids.  Wacky left woke crap yet another player in the game.

Overall, I do think the entire shift in how people consume information is the underlying driver.  There isn't any filtering going on anymore.  While that filtering often restricted important information it also provided a mechanism helping to keep society grounded.  That's all gone now.

Small period changes after Covid jab seen to be short-lived

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-60139091

If this is why some of you are holding back from getting the vaccine, it's okay.

21 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

Yeah, I more or less agree with this.

Social media has played a part.  Partisan radio another part.  Fox a main contributor.  Two party system a part.  Trump a big part in putting this whole thing on steroids.  Wacky left woke crap yet another player in the game.

Overall, I do think the entire shift in how people consume information is the underlying driver.  There isn't any filtering going on anymore.  While that filtering often restricted important information it also provided a mechanism helping to keep society grounded.  That's all gone now.

People are too stupid on average to have as many choices for media (including news) consumption as we have. 

We're now at a place where social media is now manufacturing the news and it's being picked up by Fox/MSNBC etc. 

6 minutes ago, JohnSnowsHair said:

People are too stupid on average to have as many choices for media (including news) consumption as we have. 

We're now at a place where social media is now manufacturing the news and it's being picked up by Fox/MSNBC etc. 

Yep.  I've had an entire career in the technology and communications field and have worked on several of the key building blocks from internet to mobile both technically and commercially.  Over the last few years I've been becoming more and more concerned with how fast we moved things forward.  While there has been fantastic value added globally and locally for 90% of the people on the planet, we have unfortunately not really been able to keep up culturally, politically, or legally to be able to handle all the change without some pretty disastrous side effects.

1 hour ago, JohnSnowsHair said:

Politics is in large part driven by society here. Nakedly partisan media has contributed to a more partisan society, which is reflected in more partisan government, which reinforces the media cycle.

There's some chicken and egg arguments that could be had, but the major contributor to the heat being turned up here is how people get their "news" now vs 30 years ago. Fox is but one player; traditional media is losing share to crackpots on social media.

Newsmax, which is a nuttier version of Fox News, has been running radio ads down here in NC promoting their coverage of American politics.

1 hour ago, DrPhilly said:

Yeah, I more or less agree with this.

Social media has played a part.  Partisan radio another part.  Fox a main contributor.  Two party system a part.  Trump a big part in putting this whole thing on steroids.  Wacky left woke crap yet another player in the game.

Overall, I do think the entire shift in how people consume information is the underlying driver.  There isn't any filtering going on anymore.  While that filtering often restricted important information it also provided a mechanism helping to keep society grounded.  That's all gone now.

Fox changed their approach in 2020 because they were losing viewers to Newsmax and OAN.  Then the few remaining "normal” anchors left to go elsewhere.

1 hour ago, Toastrel said:

Small period changes after Covid jab seen to be short-lived

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-60139091

If this is why some of you are holding back from getting the vaccine, it's okay.

This has definitely been one of the issues for Kz. He’s said to me as much in PMs. Him and Mikemack’s periods are synced up and I think he’s worried that the shot will throw it out of whack. I keep telling him that there’s more to him and mikes relationship than simultaneous vaginal bleeding but you know Kz, he’s very emotional. 

2 hours ago, JohnSnowsHair said:

Omicron is for most not a big deal to deal with. But a cavalier attitude towards it is why hospitals are being overrun and healthcare workers are quitting.

This is why vaccinations are so important. Israel has been cited, and while plenty of vaccinated and boosted are ending up hospitalized the rates of hospitalization for unvaccinated are still much much higher. The over 60 population is 85% boosted, but only 60% of those over 60 who end up hospitalized are boosted. This is cited of course by morons who think it bolsters their argument that vaccines aren't worth it, bit the huge gap there shows that it is: 40% of hospitalizations are coming from 15% of the population. That's a huge number.

Yep. And why are our vaccination / booster rates so low? Because morons like outlaw insist on referring to this as a "mild cold" not realizing that those words are taken at face value and influence people to just take their chances with the virus without sufficient protection. 

Remember all those comments that "omicron hasn't even caused any deaths yet" back in December? Yeah well those all aged really well now didn't they...