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I'm in favor of vaccine mandates but if there was a better way of quantifying immunity I'd be all in favor of letting people with natural immunity get a waiver.

I'm in favor of vaccine mandates but if there was a better way of quantifying immunity I'd be all in favor of letting people with natural immunity get a waiver. As everything with COVID, the lack of hard data and the poor communication of federal and state agencies has enabled politicians, con men and sectarians to exploit the confusion to their benefit.

orwin 5y ago
There is, actually, antibody test. They are quite costly however. Im my country, getting infected count as the 1rst dose (yes, i know, natural immunity is better with "real" infections, but rememeber that Covid sometime start an auto-immune disease, it's hard to test for this, so its less costly to just vaccinate people (the jab cost 12E)). No scientific response. This is mostly pragmatic, and probably politic too. Its easier to just jab everyone you can while you can. I know it's a bit hearthless, and i can't ask doctors to start triaging, but i'd really like that once everyone have had the possibility to get the double dose, we just stop everything covid related (maybe not the reduced maximum capacity and mask in public transport for the adults during peak hours: those restrictions should have been implemented way before covid).
- mcguire 5y ago
  $42.13? https://www.labcorp.com/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/individuals/antibody-test https://www.labcorp.com/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/individ...
  - orwin 5y ago
    Well, yes, $42 * 10M is expensive. Not that $15210M is not. And i'm pretty sure half the people who said "i got covid" last year did not have it (and i'm kind). So let's say we had tested half the population, and that half of this half have to get vaccinated anyway, since the test was negative. For France, that's one billion euros used for nothing. I'm to tired to make sense, but you understand my point (if not, i'll have to explain the reasoning better). Anyway, it's pragmatism and not wasting money.
- thedrbrian 5y ago
  You can get them for free in the uk https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-antibody-tests/coronavirus-covid-19-antibody-tests https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid...
  - orwin 5y ago
    Yeah, me too, not my point. Imagine half the uk population wanted to get tested before getting the vaccine, the cost for the NIH would be way higher than just vaccinating everybody. You can't tell people `if the antibody test is positive, you don't have to get vaccinated`, at least not until the vast majority is already vaccinated. And even then, it's mostly lost money. You could have told people "pay for your own test", but in this case, the fabrication and distribution of those test would slow down the vaccination. And you have to make sure that the test are not faked, so a doctor should verify that the test was yours. I know some doctors who faked smallpox vaccine, so you can imagine how much of a good idea this is. Also, even if the individual cost is not that high, telling people to `pay not to get vaccinated` (because it would've been spin like this, I've read UK newspapers) is not the best idea want the biggest issues for most western government is lack of trust. So: it is more pragmatic to jab everybody. Easier to orchestrate, you don't expose your leadership too much. Overall, best solution for the governments. Is it the best solution for the population? Debatable. I'd say its the most cost-effective, the one with the less headaches, so yes?
    - peteradio 5y ago
      you put the orwin in orwellian
      - dang 5y ago
        You've been posting a ton of flamebait and unsubstantive comments. That's destructive of what this site is for and we ban accounts that do it. In fact - you've done almost nothing but post like that. I had to scroll back a long way in your comment history to see something that wasn't unsubstantive. If you keep doing it, we will ban you. If you don't want to be banned on HN, please stop all of that now and review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and start using the site as intended. Here's the basic idea: if you have a substantive point, make it thoughtfully; if not, please don't comment until you do.
- landemva 5y ago
  I paid $20 or $25 in cash. No insurance accepted. And they did the finger prick blood test. For the time and materials, this seemed reasonable.

orwin 5y ago

There is, actually, antibody test. They are quite costly however. Im my country, getting infected count as the 1rst dose (yes, i know, natural immunity is better with "real" infections, but rememeber that Covid sometime start an auto-immune disease, it's hard to test for this, so its less costly to just vaccinate people (the jab cost 12E)). No scientific response. This is mostly pragmatic, and probably politic too. Its easier to just jab everyone you can while you can. I know it's a bit hearthless, and i can't ask doctors to start triaging, but i'd really like that once everyone have had the possibility to get the double dose, we just stop everything covid related (maybe not the reduced maximum capacity and mask in public transport for the adults during peak hours: those restrictions should have been implemented way before covid).

mcguire 5y ago
$42.13? https://www.labcorp.com/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/individuals/antibody-test https://www.labcorp.com/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/individ...
- orwin 5y ago
  Well, yes, $42 * 10M is expensive. Not that $15210M is not. And i'm pretty sure half the people who said "i got covid" last year did not have it (and i'm kind). So let's say we had tested half the population, and that half of this half have to get vaccinated anyway, since the test was negative. For France, that's one billion euros used for nothing. I'm to tired to make sense, but you understand my point (if not, i'll have to explain the reasoning better). Anyway, it's pragmatism and not wasting money.
thedrbrian 5y ago
You can get them for free in the uk https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-antibody-tests/coronavirus-covid-19-antibody-tests https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid...
- orwin 5y ago
  Yeah, me too, not my point. Imagine half the uk population wanted to get tested before getting the vaccine, the cost for the NIH would be way higher than just vaccinating everybody. You can't tell people `if the antibody test is positive, you don't have to get vaccinated`, at least not until the vast majority is already vaccinated. And even then, it's mostly lost money. You could have told people "pay for your own test", but in this case, the fabrication and distribution of those test would slow down the vaccination. And you have to make sure that the test are not faked, so a doctor should verify that the test was yours. I know some doctors who faked smallpox vaccine, so you can imagine how much of a good idea this is. Also, even if the individual cost is not that high, telling people to `pay not to get vaccinated` (because it would've been spin like this, I've read UK newspapers) is not the best idea want the biggest issues for most western government is lack of trust. So: it is more pragmatic to jab everybody. Easier to orchestrate, you don't expose your leadership too much. Overall, best solution for the governments. Is it the best solution for the population? Debatable. I'd say its the most cost-effective, the one with the less headaches, so yes?
  - peteradio 5y ago
    you put the orwin in orwellian
    - dang 5y ago
      You've been posting a ton of flamebait and unsubstantive comments. That's destructive of what this site is for and we ban accounts that do it. In fact - you've done almost nothing but post like that. I had to scroll back a long way in your comment history to see something that wasn't unsubstantive. If you keep doing it, we will ban you. If you don't want to be banned on HN, please stop all of that now and review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and start using the site as intended. Here's the basic idea: if you have a substantive point, make it thoughtfully; if not, please don't comment until you do.
landemva 5y ago
I paid $20 or $25 in cash. No insurance accepted. And they did the finger prick blood test. For the time and materials, this seemed reasonable.