[scratchpaddy]

I hope people take this seriously. Isn't 120,000 corpses a solid hint?

I feel like there's been enough information to know what needs to be done for months now. We can look to nearly any other country in the world for some good ideas on how to bring this pandemic under control. But, we have leaders with no interest in leading, and a population with so little trust in leadership that they wouldn't follow regardless.

A big pile of bodies is still a big pile of bodies, even as it grows ever bigger. As long as it's someone else dying, as long as there's someone else to blame, nothing is going to change.

[Rondec]

Coronavirus live updates: Florida reports nearly 9,000 new cases - The Washington Post

I hope people take this seriously. Isn't 120,000 corpses a solid hint?

Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count - The New York Times

I think the problems are several-fold.

(1) Young people (read: 20s and below) don't believe that this is a problem for them and behave accordingly. Deaths in Florida haven't gone up as much because it is younger people getting the illness.

(2) There is a strong distrust of authority in many in the US. I don't really know what this stems from but if the CDC or a government official says something there are many who will automatically believe the opposite.

(3) There are a small number of (very vocal) deniers who claim that masks are dangerous, that social distancing doesn't work and that the numbers are "cooked." They claim to have numerous stories of people run over by trucks or dying of cancer who had COVID placed on their death certificate.

I actually think that these people are not a high percentage of the population, but they are certainly a high enough percentage to create ongoing infections and also to increase general distrust of the medical establishment.

Honestly, I am worried that when a vaccine does come out, a high percentage of the US population won't even take it for fear of some chip that is in it or some other danger they perceive from it.

[mkgd1]

There is a strong distrust of authority in many in the US. I don't really know what this stems from

I think it goes all the way back to 1776

[Rondec]

I think it goes all the way back to 1776

I thought all of that had to do with taxes without appropriate representation, not? When all was said and done, they replaced King George and the British parliament with a different set of political structures to govern them, but something they thought would be more democratic and have freedoms stipulated within the Constitution.

[RoxnDox]

I thought all of that had to do with taxes without appropriate representation, not? When all was said and done, they replaced King George and the British parliament with a different set of political structures to govern them, but something they thought would be more democratic and have freedoms stipulated within the Constitution.

Started long before 1776. This country was founded by people who left their homes in search of (a) money, (b) freedom to do their own thing. For a lot them, doing their own thing meant *they* wanted to be the one bossing people around, running their own church, etc etc. That distrust of authority was in our society from the very start.

[reeftool]

Started long before 1776. This country was founded by people who left their homes in search of (a) money, (b) freedom to do their own thing. For a lot them, doing their own thing meant *they* wanted to be the one bossing people around, running their own church, etc etc. That distrust of authority was in our society from the very start.

Yeah, it's in our genes!

That said, being just a few months short of 70, I wear a mask when I'm around people. I don't like it but tolerate it because the risks are higher for me. One thing that helps is I think of all the billions of $$$ spent on cameras and facial recognition software and I smile under my mask knowing I'm sticking it to the man. In many states, up until a few months ago, you could get arrested for wearing a mask. I think that's rather funny. I've also stopped carrying my phone everywhere. Track me if you can!

One thing we all have to come to grips with is that this virus is not going away and there doesn't seem to be any long term immunity, as some have predicted. I think the big question now is, do we lock down forever or do we just get on with life and make the best of it? Believing an effective vaccine is just around the corner is mostly wishful thinking. Consider the flu shot. On a really good season, it's 50-60% effective. Most years, it's around 40% and that's only for people who get it. Maybe fear will drive a higher percentage of people to get a covid shot but I hear a lot of people saying no way. I get flu shots and I have had the pneumonia shot. I will probably get a covid-19 shot but I say probably because there have been proposals to start microchipping to prove they got the shot and that is something I will never do.

[slartibartfast01]

I will probably get a covid-19 shot but I say probably because there have been proposals to start microchipping to prove they got the shot and that is something I will never do.

Do you have a link for those proposals or is it just the Bill Gates conspiracy theory?

[mkgd1]

I smile under my mask knowing I'm sticking it to the man. In many states, up until a few months ago, you could get arrested for wearing a mask. I think that's rather funny.

Growing up in the fifties in England, my dream would to be walking around with a bandana and a Stetson. Yesterday I wore both, plus I went to Wells Fargo (ATM). Admittedly my bandana was not authentic, I wear a shemagh tied bandana style. So I guess I'm somewhere between Roy Rogers and Lawrence of Arabia .

[RoxnDox]

Growing up in the fifties in England, my dream would to be walking around with a bandana and a Stetson. Yesterday I wore both, plus I went to Wells Fargo (ATM). Admittedly my bandana was not authentic, I wear a shemagh tied bandana style. So I guess I'm somewhere between Roy Rogers and Lawrence of Arabia .

It does feel very weird going into a bank with a mask on...

[photoptimist]

Distrust in authority is fine when ever the topic is subjective lifestyle issues. But when it involves physics, chemistry, or biology, the effects of distrust can be fatal.

The virus is an authority that brooks no disobedience. The virus does not care about anyone's constitutional rights to assemble, religion, or not wear a mask (not sure which amendment that is).

The virus, not human law, is the actual judge, jury, and executioner here and it metes out capital punishment to transgressors with no opportunity for appeal, mercy, bargaining, or legal motions to dismiss.

With the virus, the only votes that count are the ones that avoid it or prevent its spread.

People might distrust authority, they may not believe in science, but science really is the only way to understand the real laws that actually govern our lives.

[Parallax]

It does feel very weird going into a bank with a mask on...

So I suspect you'd be really freaked out if you were in this part of the country knowing that, statistically, 30-35% of those masked folks were armed.

[Rondec]

Yeah, it's in our genes!

That said, being just a few months short of 70, I wear a mask when I'm around people. I don't like it but tolerate it because the risks are higher for me. One thing that helps is I think of all the billions of $$$ spent on cameras and facial recognition software and I smile under my mask knowing I'm sticking it to the man. In many states, up until a few months ago, you could get arrested for wearing a mask. I think that's rather funny. I've also stopped carrying my phone everywhere. Track me if you can!

One thing we all have to come to grips with is that this virus is not going away and there doesn't seem to be any long term immunity, as some have predicted. I think the big question now is, do we lock down forever or do we just get on with life and make the best of it? Believing an effective vaccine is just around the corner is mostly wishful thinking. Consider the flu shot. On a really good season, it's 50-60% effective. Most years, it's around 40% and that's only for people who get it. Maybe fear will drive a higher percentage of people to get a covid shot but I hear a lot of people saying no way. I get flu shots and I have had the pneumonia shot. I will probably get a covid-19 shot but I say probably because there have been proposals to start microchipping to prove they got the shot and that is something I will never do.

I haven't seen anything real about "microchipping" the vaccine. Bill Gates did say something about immunity cards, but that is nothing like injecting a micro chip into people, which is a myth that I see bandied about. Coronavirus: Bill Gates ?microchip? conspiracy theory and other vaccine claims fact-checked - BBC News

As far as shot effectiveness, it is clear that people do form antibodies to the vaccine and that they are effective at preventing the disease, at least in the short term. People who get the worst disease are also the ones who form the most antibodies and seem to retain their immunity the longest. I think this would bode well for a vaccine. People who get mild disease may not form as good a response, but they weren't at risk anyway. People who were likely to get really sick are the ones who will tend to form good antibody levels and keep them longest.

We have not seen a lot of mutation in COVID (unlike influenza), probably because it doesn't jump back and forth between species as much. And the strains that are out there seem to have common immunogenicity, which is helpful as well.

Anyway, I guess I would put myself in the cautiously optimistic category and continue to hope for an effective vaccine by the end of the year.

[Serkevan]

I haven't seen anything real about "microchipping" the vaccine. Bill Gates did say something about immunity cards, but that is nothing like injecting a micro chip into people, which is a myth that I see bandied about. Coronavirus: Bill Gates ?microchip? conspiracy theory and other vaccine claims fact-checked - BBC News

Here in Germany we get a "vaccination passport" (similar thing in Spain). You get the vaccine shot and the doctor/nurse sticks the label from the vaccine into the passport including the serial number in case that there are problems with the batch. It's not even electronic (although the vaccinations get loaded on your healthcare card AFAIK, you just have the physical booklet so you can show it while traveling etc.)

There's no need to microchip and spreading FUD about it causes real damage because it influences people not to take the shots. About 80% of flu deaths in Spain are of non-vaccinated patients.

[Rondec]

Here in Germany we get a "vaccination passport" (similar thing in Spain). You get the vaccine shot and the doctor/nurse sticks the label from the vaccine into the passport including the serial number in case that there are problems with the batch. It's not even electronic (although the vaccinations get loaded on your healthcare card AFAIK, you just have the physical booklet so you can show it while traveling etc.)

There's no need to microchip and spreading FUD about it causes real damage because it influences people not to take the shots. About 80% of flu deaths in Spain are of non-vaccinated patients.

Sure, but you don't need this vaccine passport to travel. Kids and adults in this country get this too, unless their parents are anti-vaccers. The only thing I know of that requires this proof is school attendance.

[Serkevan]

Sure, but you don't need this vaccine passport to travel. Kids and adults in this country get this too, unless their parents are anti-vaccers. The only thing I know of that requires this proof is school attendance.

It's not typically needed, but for example India requests to see proof of a yellow fever vaccine if you come from a country where it is present. I'd guess it's useful to have the passport to keep track or to show to doctors if you get sick abroad.

My point was just that you can 100% keep track of vaccines - and it's done already - without micro-chipping anyone .