(Oct 2, 2023 12:19 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: (Oct 2, 2023 06:13 AM)Yazata Wrote: (Sep 11, 2021 06:09 PM)Yazata Wrote: The public will accept almost anything if you can make them afraid enough.
https://twitter.com/MarkChangizi/status/...6696040512
That was a good presentation, with no mention of aliens or microchips for once. My favourite part was the comparison between the unvaccinated tennis star not being allowed into the US yet unvaccinated migrants are.
As far as I can make out this is a collection of reports from 2021 replayed out of context to spin a story.
Looking at a contemporary report about covid in America from the BBC in 2021
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/59757395
Quote:There are some breakthrough infections which result in death, but unvaccinated Americans have made up the majority of Covid deaths over the past few months.[* old report from 2021 *]
The CDC found that an unvaccinated American is 14 times more likely to die from Covid-related complications than a fully vaccinated person.
This goes up to 20 times more likely, when compared with someone who has received a booster vaccination.
Unvaccinated people are also nine times more likely to be admitted to hospital compared with fully vaccinated people.
Every adult age group in the US is much more likely to die from Covid if they are unvaccinated.
Very political..
Quote:The unvaccinated population is now disproportionately made up of those who identify as Republican - 60% compared with 17% who identify as Democrats
At the time (2021) the argument would (probably) have been about reducing the rate of transmission.. vaccination was seen as a choice that affected people other than just the person rejecting vaccination - kind of like carrying a gun that might go off at any time. Syne points out that only deaths matter .. even with unvaccinated people about 20 times more likely to die this still leaves a fair amount of collateral damage. There may be many people who would prefer not to have to go to hospital .. or even not be ill at all. In the UK we have very limited hospital resources so we try to keep people out of hospital - in the US I understand resources are unlimited so maybe the argument that choosing to be ill affects others doesn't apply [to the same extent] in America.
Does vaccination actually reduce the spread of covid? There's not knowing (lack of evidence) and not caring - the unvaccinated were cast as not caring - was that so unreasonable?
In the UK in 2023 (now) we have small waves of covid .. nothing like the first waves .. so herd immunity either by infection or vaccination does seem to work despite the rather fanciful arguments dreamed up by anti-vaxxers.