Gods speed!

RunsWithWolves26 said:

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Gods speed!

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that is exactly what I thought when I read the post too! good luck!

ncsualum05 said:

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Daviewolf83 said:

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As to the question regarding vaccines and their ability to reduce asymptomatic cases and transmission, the following table does a good job of summarizing the current information. The reason we wear masks it due to asymptomatic cases and if these are significantly reduced by vaccination, the masking requirements should go away.



You can find this table and other information at the following link:

Covid-19 Vaccine Summary Information

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Thank you for posting because I was going to ask something about that. After my 2nd shot I'm ready to take the mask off. I told my wife that and she started getting *****y. I told her that my understanding is your ability to carry and transmit after being vaccinated is very low and even if it were possible it would probably be a mild load. She would have none of it. She said public places are full of people that still haven't been vaccinated so I need to protect others. There is nothing rational about this mindset at all. I'm going to copy this chart for her not that it will help b/c she's f'in crazy.

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As far as I understand, the other part of the masking is the possibility of symptomatic transmission as well. If you have symptoms and test positive for COVID after the vaccine, then you can transmit it to others. Obviously you are at 5-10% risk of catching COVID two weeks after your final dose of the vaccine, so relatively low risk. That is why I and a few others have said to continue masking until a significant portion (50% for me) of the population are vaccinated as well. As we all know, that has been debated on this site.

The vaccines do substantially reduce the risk of asymptomatic spread, however, which is huge.

PackPA2015 said:

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ncsualum05 said:

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Daviewolf83 said:

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As to the question regarding vaccines and their ability to reduce asymptomatic cases and transmission, the following table does a good job of summarizing the current information. The reason we wear masks it due to asymptomatic cases and if these are significantly reduced by vaccination, the masking requirements should go away.



You can find this table and other information at the following link:

Covid-19 Vaccine Summary Information

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Thank you for posting because I was going to ask something about that. After my 2nd shot I'm ready to take the mask off. I told my wife that and she started getting *****y. I told her that my understanding is your ability to carry and transmit after being vaccinated is very low and even if it were possible it would probably be a mild load. She would have none of it. She said public places are full of people that still haven't been vaccinated so I need to protect others. There is nothing rational about this mindset at all. I'm going to copy this chart for her not that it will help b/c she's f'in crazy.

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As far as I understand, the other part of the masking is the possibility of symptomatic transmission as well. If you have symptoms and test positive for COVID after the vaccine, then you can transmit it to others. Obviously you are at 5-10% risk of catching COVID two weeks after your final dose of the vaccine, so relatively low risk. That is why I and a few others have said to continue masking until a significant portion (50% for me) of the population are vaccinated as well. As we all know, that has been debated on this site.

The vaccines do substantially reduce the risk of asymptomatic spread, however, which is huge.

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Yeah... I mean for me that's my usual sense anyway. If I'm sick or don't feel good I tend to stay away from people or stay home. When I had my stomach virus last week the worst of it was Monday night. I had a fever Tuesday evening. So I didn't go back to work until Thursday when I felt strong enough to go and had been fever free for 24 hrs.

ncsualum05 said:

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PackPA2015 said:

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ncsualum05 said:

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Daviewolf83 said:

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As to the question regarding vaccines and their ability to reduce asymptomatic cases and transmission, the following table does a good job of summarizing the current information. The reason we wear masks it due to asymptomatic cases and if these are significantly reduced by vaccination, the masking requirements should go away.



You can find this table and other information at the following link:

Covid-19 Vaccine Summary Information

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Thank you for posting because I was going to ask something about that. After my 2nd shot I'm ready to take the mask off. I told my wife that and she started getting *****y. I told her that my understanding is your ability to carry and transmit after being vaccinated is very low and even if it were possible it would probably be a mild load. She would have none of it. She said public places are full of people that still haven't been vaccinated so I need to protect others. There is nothing rational about this mindset at all. I'm going to copy this chart for her not that it will help b/c she's f'in crazy.

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As far as I understand, the other part of the masking is the possibility of symptomatic transmission as well. If you have symptoms and test positive for COVID after the vaccine, then you can transmit it to others. Obviously you are at 5-10% risk of catching COVID two weeks after your final dose of the vaccine, so relatively low risk. That is why I and a few others have said to continue masking until a significant portion (50% for me) of the population are vaccinated as well. As we all know, that has been debated on this site.

The vaccines do substantially reduce the risk of asymptomatic spread, however, which is huge.

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Yeah... I mean for me that's my usual sense anyway. If I'm sick or don't feel good I tend to stay away from people or stay home. When I had my stomach virus last week the worst of it was Monday night. I had a fever Tuesday evening. So I didn't go back to work until Thursday when I felt strong enough to go and had been fever free for 24 hrs.

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Yep, agreed. If sick people stayed home, we would have a lot less of many illnesses for sure.

Wayland said:

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Wayland said:

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ncsualum05 said:

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statefan91 said:

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Guess he wants to make sure he kills any good mood on St Patrick's day.

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I'll recap.

"COVID cases are stable. Our progress is fragile but is only going to continue if we do what we know works - The 3 Ws.

Your spot, your shot.

We will continue to follow the science and data with our dimmer switch approach.

Only I know how to keep you safe, you are unable to manage your own risk"


Or something along those lines.

I am sure it will involve some degree of back-patting for the great job he has done.

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Got 'stable' in the intro.

I missed 'variants', that one should have been a gimme.

Back patting on 'vaccine equity' and school.

NAILED the "keep doing what we know works" (missed the 'even if vaccinated' caveat)

Got a "science and data" in there too!

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Of course, WRAL came out with another scary headline today referencing an increase in cases. The exact quote is "Just In: Coronavirus infections creeping back up in NC."

With the lags in data reporting, I am not sure how they can tell if there is a recent increase or decrease in cases. I guess their illustrious "data trackers" have some divine knowledge the rest of us do not possess.

Below is the cases by specimen date graph. This graph comes directly from the NCDHHS website. I am still looking for that rise in cases on the graph.

I posted an article about long-haul patients and vaccines last week. There are some indications vaccinations may help long-haul Covid patients recover from their symptoms. The article I posted discussed some of the mechanisms that could cause this to happen.

Here is another article from the Washington Post, reporting the effects of the vaccine on some long-haul patients. You can read it at the following link:

Some long-haul Covid-19 patients say their symptoms are subsiding after getting vaccines

statefan91 said:

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Vaccinations were up week-over-week by approximately 2.5M over the past two weeks. The US continues to make good progress in getting people vaccinated - much better progress than almost every other country.

Here's a graph that shows how the US is doing, compared to the UK, the EU countries, Canada, and Israel. The graph has been normalized for population differences.

Daviewolf83 said:

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statefan91 said:

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Vaccinations were up week-over-week by approximately 2.5M over the past two weeks. The US continues to make good progress in getting people vaccinated - much better progress than almost every other country.

Here's a graph that shows how the US is doing, compared to the UK, the EU countries, Canada, and Israel. The graph has been normalized for population differences.

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Let me tell you, the Canadians I know are not happy about how things are running up there right now.

They are not. One thing they have done is come up with a plan to space out the second shot so the entire country 18+ can be vaccinated with one shot by June 1st. Whether it happens or not is yet to be seen.

In testimony before the Senate today, Dr. Fauci said we have to continue to wear a mask, due to the growing prevalence of variants in the US, even after being fully vaccinated. He referenced the NYC and California variants, along with the UK variant. He said a vaccine loses its protection against new variants to the original vaccine target by anywhere between 2x and 8x. This information came during a rather heated exchange with Senator Rand Paul this morning. Since we are seeing an increasing prevalence of these new variants, he says vaccinated people should continue to mask in public.

As I listened to the exchange and Dr. Fauci's reasoning, it became evident we will not be able to stop wearing masks until we have vaccines to cover all of the variants - at least in the view of the Dr. Fauci and the CDC. At some point, we moved from wearing a mask and social distancing to flatten the curve, to wear a mask and social distance until there is no more risk. As Senator Paul pointed out, this messaging does not help to drive people to get vaccinated and I agree. If nothing changes with how we are currently having to live, why get vaccinated.

Here's a Tweet with a video of the exchange, so you can see what he actually said, word-for-word:

RunsWithWolves26 said:

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I plan to still wear my mask in public even after I get the vaccination. To me, it's not really a bother and it may help me prevent getting all seasonal viruses. For me, getting vaccine gives me a little more piece of mind. At this point, I'm so aware of everything because of this virus that I would just like to have a little piece of mind. Plus, they will let me go in and see my grandma once I've been vaccinated. That's reason enough for me.

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This is where I'm at. Even with natural immunity I wore my mask like normal and have little problem with wearing it in public places.

statefan91 said:

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PackMom said:

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Daviewolf83 said:

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If nothing changes with how we are currently having to live, why get vaccinated.

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This is exactly what a lab tech said to me recently. If it wasn't going to let people give up the masks, there was no rush to get vaccinated.

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I feel like the much lower likelihood of getting COVID and the basically 100% protection from severe illness and death are good reasons to get vaccinated?

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The good thing is, you were likely not on the fence about vaccinations and likely did not need much to encourage you to get vaccinated. Unfortunately, based on some recent polls I have seen, approximately 30% of the population does not see a reason to get vaccinated or the completely reject the idea of vaccinations. My concern is the continued message that masks must continue to be worn and you must continue to social distance might push the 30% number higher. Some people need a carrot.

I personally know five people who have zero plans to get vaccinated. One even told me they did not think it would change what the government is requiring of people (similar to what PackMom reported), so they had no incentive to get vaccinated.

I'm surprised they care what the government says at this point? The NC mask mandate is not enforceable except at the store's discretion, and Biden's mask mandate is only applicable to Federal property.

Agreed that there should likely be better messaging about the benefits of vaccination, i.e., not concentrate on masks and concentrate on the fact that once you get the vaccine there is VERY little chance of severe illness / hospitalization / death. Hopefully you enlightened those people that getting vaccinated is more than just not having to wear a mask.

CDC has already come out and said if you're vaccinated you can have small gatherings indoor with other vaccinated people / people at low risk of severe illness from COVID.

What would you have them say based on your understanding of the vaccination levels, transmissibility, variants, and seasonality of the virus?

Not being smart, I just feel like the guidance they gave to allow small gatherings was welcomed and want to know what else you would have them come out with?

statefan91 said:

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I'm surprised they care what the government says at this point? The NC mask mandate is not enforceable except at the store's discretion, and Biden's mask mandate is only applicable to Federal property.

Agreed that there should likely be better messaging about the benefits of vaccination, i.e., not concentrate on masks and concentrate on the fact that once you get the vaccine there is VERY little chance of severe illness / hospitalization / death. Hopefully you enlightened those people that getting vaccinated is more than just not having to wear a mask.

CDC has already come out and said if you're vaccinated you can have small gatherings indoor with other vaccinated people / people at low risk of severe illness from COVID.

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I have tried, but it was like talking to a wall. Additionally, my son has teammates who are also reluctant to get the vaccine. The team doctor has had discussions with the entire team on the benefits, but some still do not trust it. These views are a lot more prevalent than we realize. I was shocked with what my son told me.

One thing I did not realize. Since the vaccines are only approved under an EUA, universities and businesses can NOT require you to be vaccinated. I assumed in the Fall, colleges would require (with the legislated exemptions for health and religious reasons) vaccination of all students, but unless the vaccines are fully approved (unlikely for 2 years), they will not be able to require it of all students and staff.

Fair enough, but I feel like the majority of those people either haven't been affected by COVID enough to think it's a real concern, or may have been anti-vax to some degree anyway.

CLI surveillance is out for last week.

First think that jumped out at me (beyond overall ED CLI being WAY down). is that there were more 50-64 admitted to hospitals than 65+ for the first time.

statefan91 said:

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What would you have them say based on your understanding of the vaccination levels, transmissibility, variants, and seasonality of the virus?

Not being smart, I just feel like the guidance they gave to allow small gatherings was welcomed and want to know what else you would have them come out with?

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Tell everyone to wear a mask and open up the economy now (this includes getting all kids back in school full time). Once we get to 50% of the population vaccinated, mask mandates should go away. I am basing this on the current seasonality trends we see in the virus, declining hospitalizations and cases (declined for over 70 days), the declining percent positivity in testing, and on-going vaccination rates.

Wayland said:

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CLI surveillance is out for last week.

First think that jumped out at me (beyond overall ED CLI being WAY down). is that there were more 50-64 admitted to hospitals than 65+ for the first time.

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It appears we are starting to see the benefits of vaccination. This needs to be something Cooper and Cohen highlight on their updates, to encourage people to get vaccinated. Just so people realize, at the peak of the virus, approximately 70% of the people hospitalized were 60+. Those who were 70+ contributed to 50% of those that were hospitalized.

Currently, those hospitalized by age group (7 day average) are as follows:

17 & under = 1%
18-19 = 1%
20-29 = 3%
30-39 = 9%
40-49 = 10%
50-59 = 24%
60-69 = 22%
70+ = 30%

statefan91 said:

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PackMom said:

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Daviewolf83 said:

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If nothing changes with how we are currently having to live, why get vaccinated.

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This is exactly what a lab tech said to me recently. If it wasn't going to let people give up the masks, there was no rush to get vaccinated.

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I feel like the much lower likelihood of getting COVID and the basically 100% protection from severe illness and death are good reasons to get vaccinated?

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Exactly. And this was a lab tech in a cancer facility. They have to wear masks anyway for a lot of what they do. I was really surprised.

statefan91 said:

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Agreed that there should likely be better messaging about the benefits of vaccination, i.e., not concentrate on masks and concentrate on the fact that once you get the vaccine there is VERY little chance of severe illness / hospitalization / death.

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My age puts me at VERY little chance of severe illness/hospitalization/death. I have nothing against the vaccine, in fact, I'd encourage anyone over the age of 50 to get it. I know as many people in my age bracket who have had what I would consider severe cold symptoms from the 2nd dose of the vaccine as I do who had severe cold symptoms from the virus itself. Both give you resistance. I'm very much on the fence on whether I will take the shot voluntarily.