Looks like some provinces in Canada are planning to end Covid restrictions soon.

Two Canadian provinces announcing plans to end all COVID restrictions. https://t.co/aojalSTWwX pic.twitter.com/wvMgM7ocH1

— Scott J Balsitis (@DrScottBalsitis) February 5, 2022

As some of you may have seen, the CDC put out a new study today on the reported effectiveness of mask wearing. I will not link to it, but others are free to provide a link if you are so motivated. I will not link studies that are garbage and it is absolute garbage.

Here are my brief criticisms of the study:

1. The study did not control for vaccination rates of the participants. Vaccination rates have an impact on infection rates and if someone wore a mask and also was vaccinated, it could be the vaccination and not the mask that protected the person.

2. The study involved self-reporting. It involved cold calling people and asking them if they wore a mask and if so, how often they wore a mask, and if they had been infected.

3. The study uses a test-negative test design and it is poorly designed - they did not account for bias in the study. If you want to learn more about this point, I would suggest reading the following Twitter thread.

By now on this fine Friday you have all seen this terrible MMWR study. It has many flaws, but I particularly am incensed that it insults my favorite observational design, the test-negative control design.https://t.co/gcvOf12kQt

— Ben Recht (@beenwrekt) February 4, 2022

Studies like this should definitely not be used to make health policy. The replies on Twitter from the mask wearing zealots are simply amazing. There are so many people where mask wearing has become part of their identity and they use it to convey their commitment to society. They wear masks outdoors when they are alone. They wear them when in a car alone. One person talked about their fear of rental cars, elevators, and empty rooms. Their fear is the virus can linger and they can become infected. They have no trust in the vaccines to protect them and for this, I blame our government and its horrible messaging on vaccine effectiveness and masks.

Wayland said:

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Daviewolf83 said:

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Looks like some provinces in Canada are planning to end Covid restrictions soon.

Two Canadian provinces announcing plans to end all COVID restrictions. https://t.co/aojalSTWwX pic.twitter.com/wvMgM7ocH1

— Scott J Balsitis (@DrScottBalsitis) February 5, 2022

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GoFundMe ia freezing their $10 million and will refund money to people that request, and will otherwise donate to other sources.

Will be interesting if additional protests take shape.

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Correct. I mentioned this in a post a couple of nights ago (you may have missed my post). On top of this, I just saw the Trudeau government has seized the funds of an opposition party in Canada. They are starting to look more and more like a totalitarian state.

I heard an interesting analogy on a podcast today. They said "the pandemic is the wave totalitarianism rides on." I can not disagree with this sentiment.

EDIT: I just saw another group is stepping up to host the Canadian Truckers funds, after GoFundMe froze their funds.

GiveSendGo will help the truckers get their money back https://t.co/bL9tL4EYXx

— libby emmons (@libbyemmons) February 5, 2022

While the point of view for the following opinion piece is Denmark, I agree it is also something the US is going to be facing. A move away for Covid restrictions has the potential to tear the US apart. I found this quote from the article to be quite compelling.

Quote:

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"For two years people have debated the value of masks, vaccine passports and more, to the point that they are no longer opinions but identities. And when opinions become identities, they warp our understanding and make it harder to change one's mind as the situation changes. The truth is that we are all biased."

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You can read the entire article at the following link:
The End of the Pandemic May Tear Us Apart

packgrad said:

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Went to the wrestling dual against UVA tonight. Was hilarious. They required you to wear a mask to enter. After that not required. Such a joke.

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I am not surprised. They seem to be pretty relaxed on requiring the masks being worn at both the men's and women's basketball games. I have no issue with the fans removing their masks during the game. It does not make me feel unsafe at all. I would estimate about 10-20% of the fans wear their masks during the men's and women's games. I have noticed Coach Keatts makes a point of wearing a mask during the game. He will pull it down to yell out instructions or when coaching in the huddle, but most of the time he has it on. It seems most of the visiting coaches (men's and women's) do not wear masks during the game.

As I have mentioned before, those of us with media passes must wear a mask at all times. We can take it off to eat in the media room before the game, but it must be worn when working in the arenas or when working in the media room. If we do not follow the masking rules, the media passes can be revoked.

At Wake Forest and Duke, they are not selling any food or drinks during the games. This was done to remove the exception fans were using in those arenas to remove their masks. Also, at Duke and Wake Forest, you have to present your vaccination card or a negative Covid test to attend the games in their arenas.

PackFansXL said:

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Daviewolf83 said:

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packgrad said:

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Here it is again. It's a shame that people complained about politicizing the virus when others questioned government overreach early in the pandemic yet crickets as it pertains to all of the main stream media not covering this study. Wonder why…

CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo completely avoid Johns Hopkins study finding COVID lockdowns ineffective https://t.co/P2ZcREJ6Si

— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 4, 2022

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Here is my final advice. If you are not vaccinated, get vaccinated. If you are not boosted, consider getting boosted, after discussing with your doctor. Regardless if you are vaccinated or unvaccinated, return to normal. Push back on mask mandates, vaccine passports, and other restrictions. If you do not trust the vaccines to protect you, then you are free to live in fear and wear a mask where ever you go. The choice is up to you.

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Davie, I agree with everything in your final advice statement except the suggestion to get boosted. I don't understand why we should consider doing so when it doesn't appear to have had any effect on the Omicron variety. Earlier discussion for boosting was due to a short term bump in antibodies, but even those don't seem to be effective in preventing one from getting the Omicron variety. So, why boost at all?

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You will notice with regards to boosters, I recommended you speak with your doctor for their advice. Many people (such as my daughter) have health conditions that put them at significant risk if they become infected. Some people (such as my daughter) are immunocompromised and need to have as much antibody protection as possible and this is definitely conferred by the boosters. Over time, this added protection may not hold up, but we will see. The same goes for elderly people - particularly people like my father. He has a couple of health conditions that put him at much higher risk than other elderly people, so he is boosted. Both my daughter and father did so after consulting their doctors and it makes sense for them.

My personal opinion for people who are healthy and who do not have health complications - the booster is likely not necessary. The T and B-Cells will provide lasting protection. I read a study in the past day or two that suggested the T and B-Cell protection should hold up for at least 2 years and likely longer. If there is any question, people should consult their doctor.

I hope this better clarifies my position on boosters.

Bell Tower Grey said:

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Is there anyone else besides me that is tired of the constant onslaught of media covid madness, and just ready to say the hell with it, open everything back up, forget the masks, jabs, etc. and let whatever happens happen?

I daresay that if the media, any and all of it collectivelly, would just stop talking about it, everyone's life would be better off.

Enough, already. Let's get back to living our lives.

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I have been very tired of it. I have been going after WRAL for a couple of years on Twitter when they publish scary and misleading headlines. Unfortunately, they will not stop as long as the Tweets get views and people keep watching their reports.

They do not want you to live your life. As people on Twitter keep reminding me and others - 900,000 people have died, so we can not return to normal. These people are delusional. Nothing I do today can change the past. At some point, people have to recognize we are not living in 2020. They have to recognize that masking kids has NEGATIVE effects on kids and some of these effects can last a lifetime. They have to recognize that the lockdowns did not significantly reduce Covid deaths. However, when you suggest returning to some sense of normalcy, to stop masking kids, and to stop mask mandates for outdoors (yes, in 2022 they still exist), you are reminded 900,000 people have died. You are called a Eugenicist. You are accused of not caring about your fellow man.

The people who do this are psychologically damaged. They need to seek help and therapy. As I have posted this week, there are significant percentages of fully vaccinated and boosted people who feel unsafe and worry about becoming infected with Covid. These are the people in most need of help. Who do I blame. I blame the news media with their constant focus on cases and deaths. I blame them for not focusing on the ability of vaccines to protect you from severe Covid. I blame the "expert" talking heads who they media amplifies that do not talk about returning to normal. I blame healthcare advisors (like Fauci and the CDC Director) who refuse to amplify a return to normalcy.

As I told my wife last night, the world is a scary place and there are a lot of things that can hurt me. If the news media constantly ran stories on all of those scary things, people would never leave their house. Years ago I read a book (Bill Bryson's, A Short History of Everything). In it, there is a chapter on disease and potential extinction. In it this portion of the book that the more complex the organism, the more likely it is to become extinct. At some point, our complex bodies are going to encounter a bacterium or virus that we will not be able to treat and this could lead to what is called an "extinction event." People need to recognize Covid is NOT one of these extinction events and return to a sense of normalcy.

If you do not do anything else today, please spend a couple of minutes watching this Bill Maher monologue from last night. It completely sums up my views on where we are today with Covid.

"How much 'wrong' do you get to be while still holding the default setting for people who represent TheScience?" pic.twitter.com/b0K4Ivuyvm

— Erich Hartmann (@erichhartmann) February 5, 2022

PackFansXL said:

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Daviewolf83 said:

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My personal opinion for people who are healthy and who do not have health complications - the booster is likely not necessary. The T and B-Cells will provide lasting protection. I read a study in the past day or two that suggested the T and B-Cell protection should hold up for at least 2 years and likely longer. If there is any question, people should consult their doctor.

I hope this better clarifies my position on boosters.

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Thanks for the clarification, Davie.

Somewhere in this thread is a tweet by the Indian doctor that you and several others have referenced, stating tests have been done on the length of time that our bodies maintain T and B-Cell protection for reactions to the original Spanish flu. She said cells taken from survivors of the flu 100 years ago still showed strong responses to exposure to the original variant of the flu. It seems the protection should last as long as we live and continue producing these cells. I know our production of these cells slows as we age and that is why the elderly are so much more susceptible to disease in general.

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Yes. This is accurate and you are thinking of Dr. Monica Gandhi (infectious disease doctor at UCSF). The study I mentioned could only state the T and B-Cells were valid for 2 years, since we have only had Covid around for that length of time. The medical theory suggests T and B-Cell immunity is much more durable than the two year period.

What this means in application is you will become infected, but your infection should not be severe. Think of it this way - antibodies help to keep you from becoming infected and T and B-Cells help to limit the severity of infection. Of course, this explanation is an over-simplification, but it is a good way to think about the "layers" of protection your body's immune system is able to provide when you become infected.

Oldsouljer said:

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Bell Tower Grey said:

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Is there anyone else besides me that is tired of the constant onslaught of media covid madness, and just ready to say the hell with it, open everything back up, forget the masks, jabs, etc. and let whatever happens happen?

I daresay that if the media, any and all of it collectivelly, would just stop talking about it, everyone's life would be better off.

Enough, already. Let's get back to living our lives.

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I agree wholeheartedly with one exception. The most egregious example of total government FAiL in this pandemic is their utterly inability to protect the least vulnerable, seniors in assisted living facilities. If there exists one reason why certain politicians should be NOT allowed to get back to THEIR lives, that would be it.

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I agree and we are still doing this today. We are more concerned about vaccinating the people with the lowest risk (under 5 year olds) than we are in getting boosters in the elderly. We worried about testing kids in schools and universities instead of workers in assisted living facilities. We had governors issue executive orders to send infected patients into nursing homes.

CLA327 said:

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This times a billion. As I have stated before, my wife works for NCDPH as a nurse consultant surveying and investigating complaints at nursing homes. Just this last week, she was in a nursing home with 17 covid positive residents. Seven.****ing.teen...........let that sink in

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I'm worried that whoever is in charge of the White House COVID response thinks that masking a 2-year-old will undo the damage caused by allowing a nurse actively sick with COVID-19 to work in a nursing home (still happening)

Harming youth, neglecting elderly is their policy

— Vinay Prasad, MD MPH 🎙️📷 (@VPrasadMDMPH) February 5, 2022