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You're probably being downvoted for such a flip response. But you're not wrong, so here's my upvote. It's obvious that if you're an island that is far from th

You're probably being downvoted for such a flip response. But you're not wrong, so here's my upvote. It's obvious that if you're an island that is far from the rest of the world by a few hours by plane that it's easier to isolate. And that's doubly true for New Zealand. Oz better hope that that a good vaccine emerges: otherwise they're not going to like "round one" of Covid, much less "round two" which many countries are going through now. Ozzies have no immunity unlike the rest of the world.

redis_mlc 6y ago
> Ozzies have no immunity unlike the rest of the world. This is an excellent point. The US is beating corona the only way it can - via herd immunity. When you combine the natural immunity to coronaviruses (20-30%) plus the recent exposure (another 10-20%), the US is approaching herd immunity already. In addition, Americans are averse to vaccinations, so that leaves herd immunity as the only option. The countries that thought controlling corona transmission "was science" are in for a long and painful isolation until a working vaccine is available, which could be a decade from now if you look at HIV or other viruses.
- brnt 6y ago
  The efficacy of herd immunity strategy for combating Covid has been thoroughly debunked.
  - redis_mlc 6y ago
    > The efficacy of herd immunity strategy for combating Covid has been thoroughly debunked. No, that's actually what the US is doing. Besides that, there' hasn't been any science evident in either the WHO or CDC advice. Wishing something was true doesn't make it reality. Can you construct a logical argument?
    - dang 6y ago
      We tried unbanning you for a while, but you've been breaking the site guidelines so frequently that obviously we have to ban the account again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - hedora 6y ago
    How so? Every pandemic in history was brought under control using herd immunity, including prior outbreaks of coronavirus. The only exception I know of is the eradication of smallpox, but that is a very different disease. However, the impact it had on the Native American population when the (then benefiting from herd immunity) Europeans brought it to the Americas is a stark example of how well herd immunity works. Even the best vaccines provide less long term immunity than actually catching the disease. Therefore, by arguing that herd immunity cannot bring coronavirus under control, you are also arguing there will never be an effective vaccine.
    - brnt 6y ago
      'Bringing under control' needs to be qualified. ATM it isn't brought under our control, but nature's. And that is a very low. It simply means letting things run its course, which means letting people die and get complications that may last for long. The common meaning of bringing a pandemic under control refers to having active methods to deal with it and limit effects, people affected and certainly people dieing.
  - anoncake 6y ago
    A lot of people have claimed that. Doesn't make it true.

redis_mlc 6y ago

> Ozzies have no immunity unlike the rest of the world. This is an excellent point. The US is beating corona the only way it can - via herd immunity. When you combine the natural immunity to coronaviruses (20-30%) plus the recent exposure (another 10-20%), the US is approaching herd immunity already. In addition, Americans are averse to vaccinations, so that leaves herd immunity as the only option. The countries that thought controlling corona transmission "was science" are in for a long and painful isolation until a working vaccine is available, which could be a decade from now if you look at HIV or other viruses.

brnt 6y ago
The efficacy of herd immunity strategy for combating Covid has been thoroughly debunked.
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  > The efficacy of herd immunity strategy for combating Covid has been thoroughly debunked. No, that's actually what the US is doing. Besides that, there' hasn't been any science evident in either the WHO or CDC advice. Wishing something was true doesn't make it reality. Can you construct a logical argument?
  - dang 6y ago
    We tried unbanning you for a while, but you've been breaking the site guidelines so frequently that obviously we have to ban the account again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- hedora 6y ago
  How so? Every pandemic in history was brought under control using herd immunity, including prior outbreaks of coronavirus. The only exception I know of is the eradication of smallpox, but that is a very different disease. However, the impact it had on the Native American population when the (then benefiting from herd immunity) Europeans brought it to the Americas is a stark example of how well herd immunity works. Even the best vaccines provide less long term immunity than actually catching the disease. Therefore, by arguing that herd immunity cannot bring coronavirus under control, you are also arguing there will never be an effective vaccine.
  - brnt 6y ago
    'Bringing under control' needs to be qualified. ATM it isn't brought under our control, but nature's. And that is a very low. It simply means letting things run its course, which means letting people die and get complications that may last for long. The common meaning of bringing a pandemic under control refers to having active methods to deal with it and limit effects, people affected and certainly people dieing.
- anoncake 6y ago
  A lot of people have claimed that. Doesn't make it true.