4 ms·

May I ask why? Won't you have to isolate forever at this point? Covid can not be eradicated. Animals carry it. For example, 33% of White Tail Deer (n-481) in th

May I ask why? Won't you have to isolate forever at this point? Covid can not be eradicated. Animals carry it. For example, 33% of White Tail Deer (n-481) in the USA sampled have ben found to have antibodies for it. It's assumed cats and dogs can carry and spread it. This isn't like polio or smallpox - this would be like trying to have 0 cases of the flu, forever. The best you can do is get vaccinated to at least take some pressure off the hospital system if/when you get infected. Somehow we all went from "flatten the curve" to "no one can ever get sick again".

lostlogin 5y ago
> Covid can not be eradicated. We have done it several times and will hopefully do it again. We have had a pretty smooth time as a whole, with relatively little inconvenience - this and the previous month long lockdown excluded. However as you say, what’s the point? We are not vaccinated widely enough to prevent carnage. We need way more people vaccinated as our hospital system is under strain already. Adding Covid will be catastrophic, and we need to reduce that risk. New Zealand is the gateway to various pacific islands and we provide their healthcare. If Covid rips through them that’s also on us.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  Why hasn't New Zealand shown any interest in developing or widely deploying vaccines? I wouldn't take Kiwis for being vaccine skeptics. Seems like they just wanted to lock down and pretend it wasn't happening rather than finding a solution. Bizarre strategy.
  - lostlogin 5y ago
    We have been vaccinating, and the current rate is very higher (500k in a population of 5 million in the last week). We also supply many small pacific islands and were also happy to delay so that supply could go to places with an acute need first (ie places that actually have Covid). We will be in line with the rest of the developed world very soon. > Bizarre strategy Eradication? It’s worked pretty well and the economy and population are in good shape relative to other strategies employed. Given we are close to Covid free (and aim to be again) and we are vaccinating fast, what strategy would you advocate?
    - chrisseaton 5y ago
      > Eradication? I meant why not even try to develop a vaccine. If other countries had not developed vaccines and eventually shared them with New Zealand what would they have done? Just sat with closed borders for the rest of time? And even when they got the vaccine they've not really bothered to get it distributed - slowest vaccination rate in the developed world. Very strange.
      - munk-a 5y ago
        Sorry - do you mean why didn't NZ develop vaccine production facilities? I don't know why you'd think it logical for two hundred odd governments to all be doing entirely independent vaccine research to combat the same disease. Funding a diverse set of approaches and salves is certainly worth it - but there's no reason all that work should necessarily be duplicated within national borders. Lastly - I'd be amazed if no New Zealander ended up contributing to vaccine development in some manner. NZ has taken an isolationist approach to the virus that seems, to all accounts, to have worked absolutely wonderfully - it's not an approach available to all nations, but they made it work for them. I live and work in Canada and I didn't leverage any of the factors available to me to jump ahead in the vaccination line - my wife and I have no children and have both been able to work fully remote... so we've similarly isolated ourselves - when my age group came up I registered and was vaccinated but I was happy to see people who have jobs that necessitate in-person interaction prioritized in front of me. It's more efficient for my health for those folks to get the vaccine first - I think NZ found itself in a similar situation, everyone (mostly) wanted to get vaccinated and the voluntary rate so far has been pretty good - it's just that other places need the vaccine more desperately than them. So long as you ignore America, where a large number of doses have expired due to political resistance - those doses of vaccine will end up going to productive ends, and wouldn't it be nice to stop the disease before we have a new wave spread out from Africa?
      - lostlogin 5y ago
        If other countries had not developed vaccines and eventually shared them with New Zealand what would they have done? Just sat with closed borders for the rest of time? You can apply that bit of logic to every bit of tech that exists. New Zealand is a tiny place, with a population less than that of a medium to large city. Why not buy something proven? > Just sat with closed borders for the rest of time? I’m quite happy with the closed borders and wish they were more tightly closed. Others can have different views - the results speak for themselves. Once things are are more settled and treatments are better managed, we can open up. > slowest vaccination rate in the developed world. Our vaccine roll out has been slow, though the current rate of administration would be one of the highest in the world so that failing is hopefully temporary. > Very strange. What do you believe New Zealand should do? I’d say that we are in a very good position relative to most.
tzs 5y ago
They probably want to keep it out while they vaccinate. They currently are around 20% fully vaccinated and around 40% with at least one shot, and vaccination is proceeding at a decent pace.
- nemo44x 5y ago
  Why are their vaccination rates so low? I understand their strategy in terms of using their isolation as a strength here but I can’t imagine it’s scalable after awhile. Was there apprehension to get vaccinated or did their government fail to acquire supplies? I would imagine New Zealand would have no difficulty in getting supplies by June or so but perhaps I’m wrong. Israel for example is similar in terms of GDP per capita and they are well ahead.

lostlogin 5y ago

> Covid can not be eradicated. We have done it several times and will hopefully do it again. We have had a pretty smooth time as a whole, with relatively little inconvenience - this and the previous month long lockdown excluded. However as you say, what’s the point? We are not vaccinated widely enough to prevent carnage. We need way more people vaccinated as our hospital system is under strain already. Adding Covid will be catastrophic, and we need to reduce that risk. New Zealand is the gateway to various pacific islands and we provide their healthcare. If Covid rips through them that’s also on us.

chrisseaton 5y ago
Why hasn't New Zealand shown any interest in developing or widely deploying vaccines? I wouldn't take Kiwis for being vaccine skeptics. Seems like they just wanted to lock down and pretend it wasn't happening rather than finding a solution. Bizarre strategy.
- lostlogin 5y ago
  We have been vaccinating, and the current rate is very higher (500k in a population of 5 million in the last week). We also supply many small pacific islands and were also happy to delay so that supply could go to places with an acute need first (ie places that actually have Covid). We will be in line with the rest of the developed world very soon. > Bizarre strategy Eradication? It’s worked pretty well and the economy and population are in good shape relative to other strategies employed. Given we are close to Covid free (and aim to be again) and we are vaccinating fast, what strategy would you advocate?
  - chrisseaton 5y ago
    > Eradication? I meant why not even try to develop a vaccine. If other countries had not developed vaccines and eventually shared them with New Zealand what would they have done? Just sat with closed borders for the rest of time? And even when they got the vaccine they've not really bothered to get it distributed - slowest vaccination rate in the developed world. Very strange.
    - munk-a 5y ago
      Sorry - do you mean why didn't NZ develop vaccine production facilities? I don't know why you'd think it logical for two hundred odd governments to all be doing entirely independent vaccine research to combat the same disease. Funding a diverse set of approaches and salves is certainly worth it - but there's no reason all that work should necessarily be duplicated within national borders. Lastly - I'd be amazed if no New Zealander ended up contributing to vaccine development in some manner. NZ has taken an isolationist approach to the virus that seems, to all accounts, to have worked absolutely wonderfully - it's not an approach available to all nations, but they made it work for them. I live and work in Canada and I didn't leverage any of the factors available to me to jump ahead in the vaccination line - my wife and I have no children and have both been able to work fully remote... so we've similarly isolated ourselves - when my age group came up I registered and was vaccinated but I was happy to see people who have jobs that necessitate in-person interaction prioritized in front of me. It's more efficient for my health for those folks to get the vaccine first - I think NZ found itself in a similar situation, everyone (mostly) wanted to get vaccinated and the voluntary rate so far has been pretty good - it's just that other places need the vaccine more desperately than them. So long as you ignore America, where a large number of doses have expired due to political resistance - those doses of vaccine will end up going to productive ends, and wouldn't it be nice to stop the disease before we have a new wave spread out from Africa?
    - lostlogin 5y ago
      If other countries had not developed vaccines and eventually shared them with New Zealand what would they have done? Just sat with closed borders for the rest of time? You can apply that bit of logic to every bit of tech that exists. New Zealand is a tiny place, with a population less than that of a medium to large city. Why not buy something proven? > Just sat with closed borders for the rest of time? I’m quite happy with the closed borders and wish they were more tightly closed. Others can have different views - the results speak for themselves. Once things are are more settled and treatments are better managed, we can open up. > slowest vaccination rate in the developed world. Our vaccine roll out has been slow, though the current rate of administration would be one of the highest in the world so that failing is hopefully temporary. > Very strange. What do you believe New Zealand should do? I’d say that we are in a very good position relative to most.

tzs 5y ago

They probably want to keep it out while they vaccinate. They currently are around 20% fully vaccinated and around 40% with at least one shot, and vaccination is proceeding at a decent pace.

nemo44x 5y ago
Why are their vaccination rates so low? I understand their strategy in terms of using their isolation as a strength here but I can’t imagine it’s scalable after awhile. Was there apprehension to get vaccinated or did their government fail to acquire supplies? I would imagine New Zealand would have no difficulty in getting supplies by June or so but perhaps I’m wrong. Israel for example is similar in terms of GDP per capita and they are well ahead.