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The vaccine is an effective method to return to the status quo, AKA not being in a global pandemic / public health crisis. Any time you have a contagious outbr

The vaccine is an effective method to return to the status quo, AKA not being in a global pandemic / public health crisis. Any time you have a contagious outbreak of anything (for example, outbreaks of any of the many other things we require the general public to vaccinate against) you see very similar measures taken to contain and eradicate it: isolating & controlling an area's ingress/egress, required quarantines, mandated vaccinations (when they're available) and/or widespread, repeated negative tests and a reduction in spread before returning to a "status quo". This vaccine (and other infectious control methods) are an existing, by-the-book response to an epidemic-turned-pandemic disturbing the status quo. The Supreme Court ruled [1] way back in 1905 that it was lawful to punish and "infringe upon personal freedoms" of those who refuse a vaccination during a public health crisis. This is nothing new. [1] https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/197/11/ https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/197/11/

ipaddr 5y ago
That was a theory but with the new variant making the vaccine ineffective puts us back to square one. Now reports that those with the vaccine do not have the same ability to respond as someone unvaccinated we are further from returning to normal.
- drusepth 5y ago
  This new variant (B.1.1.529) isn't widespread enough to definitively say what effect vaccines have on it, and the Nature article doesn't go into any detail about it (other than saying it's a "question" and the threat it poses is "far from clear") with the bonus quote "at this stage it’s too early to tell anything". Some of the mutations are concerning (particularly wrt transmission and antibody resistance), but it's not the first variant of concern with those properties. B.1.351 (Beta) and P.1 (Gamma) and several other variants also reduced vaccine effectiveness, but vaccinations proved still more effective than not being unvaccinated. The possibility for a mutation that completely avoids a vaccinated body's preparatory methods has always been a concern -- however, 1) no variant so far has come even remotely close, and 2) that's exactly why everyone needs to get vaccinated: to cut down on spread and, therefore, potential mutations (and ultimately, of course, to contain the outbreak and get back to a relatively normal status quo). I'd love to see whatever "reports" you're referring to about those with the vaccine having a lesser ability to respond as those without it. That's something I haven't seen, nor am I seeing anything from a few searches online or in recent publications, nor does that really even make sense with how vaccines as a concept (or in real-world applications) have worked for centuries.

ipaddr 5y ago

That was a theory but with the new variant making the vaccine ineffective puts us back to square one. Now reports that those with the vaccine do not have the same ability to respond as someone unvaccinated we are further from returning to normal.

drusepth 5y ago
This new variant (B.1.1.529) isn't widespread enough to definitively say what effect vaccines have on it, and the Nature article doesn't go into any detail about it (other than saying it's a "question" and the threat it poses is "far from clear") with the bonus quote "at this stage it’s too early to tell anything". Some of the mutations are concerning (particularly wrt transmission and antibody resistance), but it's not the first variant of concern with those properties. B.1.351 (Beta) and P.1 (Gamma) and several other variants also reduced vaccine effectiveness, but vaccinations proved still more effective than not being unvaccinated. The possibility for a mutation that completely avoids a vaccinated body's preparatory methods has always been a concern -- however, 1) no variant so far has come even remotely close, and 2) that's exactly why everyone needs to get vaccinated: to cut down on spread and, therefore, potential mutations (and ultimately, of course, to contain the outbreak and get back to a relatively normal status quo). I'd love to see whatever "reports" you're referring to about those with the vaccine having a lesser ability to respond as those without it. That's something I haven't seen, nor am I seeing anything from a few searches online or in recent publications, nor does that really even make sense with how vaccines as a concept (or in real-world applications) have worked for centuries.