Are you fully vaccinated for COVID-19?

Post Reply New Topic

Interesting to see we're still only 2/3 the rate of the best American state, but almost a 3 way tie for worst in Canada. For British Columbia, our cases are mostly in the Interior Health Region - because rates were so long there early on they didn't take covid seriously. Then the delta variant hit and now their hospitals are filling up. We also have a Lot more oriental Asians in our Coastal region that take pandemics seriously, so they're helping keep local numbers low.

Also interesting that Ontario and Quebec have less than half the rates we do. They failed spectacularly during the first wave and had Canada's worst numbers.

thank you for the info i am thankful that the local wallyworld was offering them no-appointment-needed while you shop.

Second jab tomorrow.

And it sounds like Aus finally has enough vaccine to go around, so we're going all out now. About 50% of adult population has had the first dose but the figures are climbing rapidly.

(Thank you to Poland for selling us a huge shipment of Pfizer - though I'm not quite sure why Poland doesn't need it themselves?)

Poland currently has more doses available than people wanting to get the jab as officials struggle to convince people to get vaccinated. Crazy, I know, but that's how it is with a nation that trusts neither their officials nor doctors.
Our surplus doses were to go to Ukraine and Georgia... I suspect good ol' corruption involved in changing their direction.

Anyway, enjoy the jab

Here in the US, most people, most likely, will be forced to take a booster shot. I believe this will also be true in most, or all, of the world.

How would such "forcing" look where you live?

Some people aren't going to like it---that's for sure. A rather strong minority of the US population don't believe in vaccine or mask mandates at all----not realizing this is a public health issue, rather than a civil liberties issue.

"Forced" is probably too strong a word, come to think of it. It's more like people will be strongly encouraged to take a booster shot, since the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) believe that there is reduced immunity to both the Pfizer and Moderna shots after about 8 months of a person being fully vaccinated.

I won't need to be forced. But it would make sense from a public health point of view if force was applied. I suspect if that happens, it won't be government that applies the coercion, it'll be business. Employers, public transport operators, school governors, hospitality industry managers, etc. could turn the screw while the government sat on its hands and said "don't blame us." There's already been something of the kind with masks in the UK. Though in the US, there's at least one state governor who's holding back funding from any school that insists on masks. The Covid-denying right-wing states are likely to be the last bastion of irresponsibility. Maybe when their hospitals are overwhelmed and they've killed enough of their citizens they'll wake up.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, where they've done very well in keeping the virus under control, they've ordered a lockdown because they've found just one case of Covid - few people are vaccinated because Covid is still quite rare there. Don't get me wrong, I'm normally fiercely anti-authoritarian, just that when it's a matter of life and death I'm prepared to make an exception. The deniers see themselves as heroic libertarians, but as far as I can see they're just borrowing freedom at a very high interest rate.

More like "coercion", and more likely through employers -- "Get the vaccine or get fired."

My employer actually arranged for me to receive the vaccine, and gave me a paid day off each time in case of side-effects -- THAT is how it should be done.  I have been calling around for availability of the booster; so far, no luck.

Last edited by Fnord on 19 Aug 2021, 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, the effectiveness does seem to fall, apart from AZ which appears not to:

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-58257863

What gets me is the constant insistence that 50% is "very good protection." From a health professional's perspective maybe it is. From the individual's perspective, a 50% cut in the risk isn't all that great. Much better than nothing, but leaving a lot to be desired. It's one reason why I've never bothered getting a flu jab.

• If you ride in an airplane, car, or truck, do you wear a seat belt?

• If you ride a motorcycle, do you wear a safety helmet?

• Do you wash your hands after using the toilet?

If you answered 'Yes' to any of these questions, then using the "Not 100% Effective" argument against vaccines is an act of self-deception, since seat belts, safety helmets, and hand-washing are not 100% effective either.

I don't know why you think I'm arguing against vaccines after all I've written about making them compulsory. Maybe you missed the part where I said " Much better than nothing, but leaving a lot to be desired." In the UK, when the AZ jab was showing poorer efficacy and more deadly side effects than its rivals, the BBC told us that it was still "very good," and that the key question was the choice between AZ and Covid. That was quite wrong. More of a key question would have been the choice between getting a better vaccine and getting typecast with AZ (the UK doesn't "mix" vaccines, so after one dose of AZ, all you'd be offered in the future would be AZ). If they'd made AZ compulsory at that time, I'd have been against it.

[continued below........]

[.........continued]

For what it's worth:
When a seat belt makes me uncomfortable I do consider not wearing it. I don't often wear one if I'm riding in the back of a car. Much more likely I will in the front, but depending on the conditions and my needs, I might unbuckle it for a short time, or make changes that relieve my discomfort at the possible expense of some of its effectiveness. Nor do I absolutely always buckle up in a plane whenever the red light is on. It's a more complex decision than that.

I don't ride a motorcycle but I've never worn a helmet while riding a bicycle, though many authorities would say I'm wrong. As with seat belts, it's not a black-and-white decision. I don't ride in traffic (too dangerous with or without a helmet), and I think the discomfort would interfere with my manouvering the bike safely.

I do wash my hands after using the toilet, because I experience no downside to that, apart from a few moments of my time being used up, which doesn't bother me. Mind you, in some environments, rather than let go of valuable baggage I've learned to pee with one hand, and then I only wash that hand. So literally speaking I don't always wash my hands, but because of the aforementioned details I'm still keeping to the spirit of the rule.

Yeah, I don't think "forced" was the right word at all =)

Yeah for sure...

And I would not be against the creation of mosquito sized robots being designed to track down and jab the people refusing vaccines, with vaccine.

I have had both shots.