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We need one more winter to burn through the rest of the population. There's no way around it unfortunately, in my view. I got the vaccine, forcing people to g

We need one more winter to burn through the rest of the population. There's no way around it unfortunately, in my view. I got the vaccine, forcing people to get the vaccine isn't going to do much either. I was in NYC for the entirety of 2020 so I'm not trying to minimize here, but the fear mongering and doom and gloom is really starting to get old. If you got the vaccine, resume living normally, wear a mask on public transit (heck wherever you want) but move on. People who decided to not get the vaccine made that choice, if they pay the price... so be it... Move on...

throwawayboise 5y ago
Agree. You can get vaccines on a walk-in basis almost everywhere now (in the USA at least). We have more vaccine than people who want it. Everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated. Time to drop all the drama and get back to normal.
- dragontamer 5y ago
  Except cancer patients: whose immune system is so compromised their bodies can't afford to get vaccinated (and even if they were vaccinated, there's a low chance that their immune system would protect them). Their only hope of survival in these times is for everyone they meet to be vaccinated: for herd immunity. Immunocompromised individuals exist. As a society, we're supposed to vaccinate ourselves to protect our most vulnerable.
- anonuser123456 5y ago
  Because children under 16 are not people? Long covid is a thing in children too.
  - votepaunchy 5y ago
    The lower age limit has been 12 in the US for nearly two months. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-emergency-use https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavi...
TranquilMarmot 5y ago
This is an extremely narrow-minded and potentially harmful view. For health reasons that I'm not going to discuss online, my partner has been unable to get the vaccine. The amount of people who have stopped wearing masks in our apartment, at the grocery store, etc. has really started to increase where we live. Knowing that these people are still able to get infected with the delta variant and easily spread it is terrifying. She desperately wants to get the vaccine but can't, so every day is more and more terrifying for her. I have the vaccine but I'm still scared to go out without a mask on because I don't want to get it from somebody who isn't wearing a mask and spread it to her, so I'm not even able to "resume living normally". I know it might not seem fair to you to put the world on hold for a few people who can't get the vaccine for one reason or another, but you also need to know that it is not always "by choice" and that the price may be people's lives.
- refurb 5y ago
  How is that view narrow minded? Your partner is a very small group of exceptions to the OP statement.
  - TranquilMarmot 5y ago
    It just irks me that the OP statement was worded in a way that implied that anybody who isn't vaccinated basically deserves to get infected and die. Lack of empathy for people who may be in rough situations.
- gpt5 5y ago
  To be fair, the Vaccine isn't really that effective against spreading the Delta variant. Data from Israel shows only 64% effectiveness (https://www.wsj.com/articles/pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-is-less-effective-against-delta-variant-israeli-data-show-11625572796 https://www.wsj.com/articles/pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-is-les...). Luckily it is still 94% effective in preventing serious illness. What I'm trying to say is that even with 100% vaccination rate, it's not clear that new variants wouldn't spread around the population and continue to infect everyone around us.
crawsome 5y ago
is this the average hacker news comment nowadays? Why overloading our medical facilities again somehow going to level out some imaginary part of the population you think needs to magically die?
usaar333 5y ago
Note that that is "burn" in the sense of giving people enough immunity to prevent future hospitalization spikes. We likely can't achieve herd immunity for a disease this naturally infectious, factoring ability to mutate. (R0 for Delta is 5 to 8 -- and our vaccine is only 64% protective against infections making the 80% herd immunity threshold impossible to reach).
- crooked-v 5y ago
  The current vaccine is only 64% effective, but new safe and effective mRNA vaccines can be made on a very short timescale compared to other vaccines (as seen by the initial COVID-19 vaccines themselves). The problem isn't having a vaccine available that's protective enough... it's getting enough holdouts to actually take it before another mutated variant takes over.
- shusaku 5y ago
  5-8 seems extraordinarily high. We should be thankful the delta mutations weren’t already present from the beginning…
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
fy20 5y ago
This seems to be the strategy the UK is taking. In the next few weeks they plan to be lifting most restrictions and mask requirements. They estimate cases could reach 100,000 per day, but due to the number of people already vaccinated the hospitalisations should be manageable. Feels a bit like they are going all in, hope they have a good hand and aren't just bluffing... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518

throwawayboise 5y ago

Agree. You can get vaccines on a walk-in basis almost everywhere now (in the USA at least). We have more vaccine than people who want it. Everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated. Time to drop all the drama and get back to normal.

dragontamer 5y ago
Except cancer patients: whose immune system is so compromised their bodies can't afford to get vaccinated (and even if they were vaccinated, there's a low chance that their immune system would protect them). Their only hope of survival in these times is for everyone they meet to be vaccinated: for herd immunity. Immunocompromised individuals exist. As a society, we're supposed to vaccinate ourselves to protect our most vulnerable.
anonuser123456 5y ago
Because children under 16 are not people? Long covid is a thing in children too.
- votepaunchy 5y ago
  The lower age limit has been 12 in the US for nearly two months. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-emergency-use https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavi...

TranquilMarmot 5y ago

This is an extremely narrow-minded and potentially harmful view. For health reasons that I'm not going to discuss online, my partner has been unable to get the vaccine. The amount of people who have stopped wearing masks in our apartment, at the grocery store, etc. has really started to increase where we live. Knowing that these people are still able to get infected with the delta variant and easily spread it is terrifying. She desperately wants to get the vaccine but can't, so every day is more and more terrifying for her. I have the vaccine but I'm still scared to go out without a mask on because I don't want to get it from somebody who isn't wearing a mask and spread it to her, so I'm not even able to "resume living normally". I know it might not seem fair to you to put the world on hold for a few people who can't get the vaccine for one reason or another, but you also need to know that it is not always "by choice" and that the price may be people's lives.

refurb 5y ago
How is that view narrow minded? Your partner is a very small group of exceptions to the OP statement.
- TranquilMarmot 5y ago
  It just irks me that the OP statement was worded in a way that implied that anybody who isn't vaccinated basically deserves to get infected and die. Lack of empathy for people who may be in rough situations.
gpt5 5y ago
To be fair, the Vaccine isn't really that effective against spreading the Delta variant. Data from Israel shows only 64% effectiveness (https://www.wsj.com/articles/pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-is-less-effective-against-delta-variant-israeli-data-show-11625572796 https://www.wsj.com/articles/pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-is-les...). Luckily it is still 94% effective in preventing serious illness. What I'm trying to say is that even with 100% vaccination rate, it's not clear that new variants wouldn't spread around the population and continue to infect everyone around us.

crawsome 5y ago

is this the average hacker news comment nowadays? Why overloading our medical facilities again somehow going to level out some imaginary part of the population you think needs to magically die?

usaar333 5y ago

Note that that is "burn" in the sense of giving people enough immunity to prevent future hospitalization spikes. We likely can't achieve herd immunity for a disease this naturally infectious, factoring ability to mutate. (R0 for Delta is 5 to 8 -- and our vaccine is only 64% protective against infections making the 80% herd immunity threshold impossible to reach).

crooked-v 5y ago
The current vaccine is only 64% effective, but new safe and effective mRNA vaccines can be made on a very short timescale compared to other vaccines (as seen by the initial COVID-19 vaccines themselves). The problem isn't having a vaccine available that's protective enough... it's getting enough holdouts to actually take it before another mutated variant takes over.
shusaku 5y ago
5-8 seems extraordinarily high. We should be thankful the delta mutations weren’t already present from the beginning…

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

fy20 5y ago

This seems to be the strategy the UK is taking. In the next few weeks they plan to be lifting most restrictions and mask requirements. They estimate cases could reach 100,000 per day, but due to the number of people already vaccinated the hospitalisations should be manageable. Feels a bit like they are going all in, hope they have a good hand and aren't just bluffing... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518