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stickyfingers101

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GasLightStreet
Where I live, mask mandates do not really matter. That will very soon be determining their participation in their ability to buy, etc things.

MASKS, not vaccines.

They will be shunned, turned away, maybe even banned. Their attitude, "I was going to spend a lot of money and now I'll leave a bad review" means ZERO.

I look forward to the destruction of their idea of society because of their mindset.

Fair enough point...but, it means the business doesn't get that money.

turning away customers = turning away money.

that's a losing business strategy, IMO.

restaurants and bars will be those who face destruction.

People don't "have to" go out to eat and the vast majority of restaurant industry has a brutally-tight, razor-thin bottom line....

60% of restaurants fail within 1 year....80% within 5 years.

[www.cnbc.com].

Businesses don't need those people. They'll be fine, even gain new business.

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GasLightStreet

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stickyfingers101

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GasLightStreet
Where I live, mask mandates do not really matter. That will very soon be determining their participation in their ability to buy, etc things.

MASKS, not vaccines.

They will be shunned, turned away, maybe even banned. Their attitude, "I was going to spend a lot of money and now I'll leave a bad review" means ZERO.

I look forward to the destruction of their idea of society because of their mindset.

Fair enough point...but, it means the business doesn't get that money.

turning away customers = turning away money.

that's a losing business strategy, IMO.

restaurants and bars will be those who face destruction.

People don't "have to" go out to eat and the vast majority of restaurant industry has a brutally-tight, razor-thin bottom line....

60% of restaurants fail within 1 year....80% within 5 years.

[www.cnbc.com].

Businesses don't need those people. They'll be fine, even gain new business.

Indèed. And in some sense business will be bigger where people feel safe. I think most businesses will want that.

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GasLightStreet

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stickyfingers101

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GasLightStreet
Where I live, mask mandates do not really matter. That will very soon be determining their participation in their ability to buy, etc things.

MASKS, not vaccines.

They will be shunned, turned away, maybe even banned. Their attitude, "I was going to spend a lot of money and now I'll leave a bad review" means ZERO.

I look forward to the destruction of their idea of society because of their mindset.

Fair enough point...but, it means the business doesn't get that money.

turning away customers = turning away money.

that's a losing business strategy, IMO.

restaurants and bars will be those who face destruction.

People don't "have to" go out to eat and the vast majority of restaurant industry has a brutally-tight, razor-thin bottom line....

60% of restaurants fail within 1 year....80% within 5 years.

[www.cnbc.com].

Businesses don't need those people. They'll be fine, even gain new business.

72% of the population is vaxxed and will gladly return to an establishment that prioritizes their safety.
vs
28% of the population who, if the business adopted their point of view, would likely close shop due to employee/customers getting the virus.

Which strategy is the losing one again?

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MisterDDDD

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GasLightStreet

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stickyfingers101

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GasLightStreet
Where I live, mask mandates do not really matter. That will very soon be determining their participation in their ability to buy, etc things.

MASKS, not vaccines.

They will be shunned, turned away, maybe even banned. Their attitude, "I was going to spend a lot of money and now I'll leave a bad review" means ZERO.

I look forward to the destruction of their idea of society because of their mindset.

Fair enough point...but, it means the business doesn't get that money.

turning away customers = turning away money.

that's a losing business strategy, IMO.

restaurants and bars will be those who face destruction.

People don't "have to" go out to eat and the vast majority of restaurant industry has a brutally-tight, razor-thin bottom line....

60% of restaurants fail within 1 year....80% within 5 years.

[www.cnbc.com].

Businesses don't need those people. They'll be fine, even gain new business.

72% of the population is vaxxed and will gladly return to an establishment that prioritizes their safety.
vs
28% of the population who, if the business adopted their point of view, would likely close shop due to employee/customers getting the virus.

Which strategy is the losing one again?

According to the NPR, it's 59.2% total with at least one dose: [www.npr.org]

Fake COVID-19 cards on the rise as more employers, colleges require vaccination

Counterfeit

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Memphis Customs and Border Protection officers seized thousands of counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards destined for states across the U.S. Investigators say the fake cards were shipped to Memphis from Southeast China. “Just over a week ago they started catching these nightly packages of counterfeit vaccine cards going to different locations around the country and transitioning through Memphis,” said Matthew Syman with U.S. Customer and Border Protection. Dyman says the counterfeit vaccine cards came in packets of 20, 50, and 100. Officers flagged the suspicious shipment, described in the manifest as Paper Card Paper, because it was the 15th shipment of the night. They found low-quality blank vaccination cards with a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) logo on it. Dyman says there were typos, unfinished words, and misspelled Spanish words on the back. It was also the first time the officers had seen the shipper. The cards were destined to the central business district of New Orleans. “They’re catching 100s of these packages, counterfeit cards going all over the U.S.,” he said. Dyman says the packages were sent from Shenzhen, China, which is north of Hong Kong. Likely, the address in China was bogus but investigators know where the packages were supposed to go in the U.S. Investigators say the packages were mainly to residential addresses and some businesses.

The CDC warns that fake COVID-19 vaccine cards are on the rise with more employers and colleges requiring people to be vaccinated. In many places, proof of vaccine is required to dine in at restaurants. Dyman says he is not sure how the counterfeit cards are being sold, but some of the cards have popped up on various internet sites. The Shelby County Health Department did not have an official statement about the counterfeit cards, but noted a person’s vaccination status can be verified through the state’s vaccination website. “If you don’t want to get the vaccine, don’t misrepresent yourself. It’s a danger to people around you and it’s illegal,” said Dyman. The FBI warns buying or selling counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards can lead to fines and up to five years in prison.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Around here the biggest threat to the restaurant business is that they are having trouble finding people to fill those positions. Many places are closing early and even closing Mondays/Tuesdays etc.

However there seems to be a possible impact on ticket sales tho it's both antivaxxers and people who don't want to go out driving down sales.

(GNR LA for example the amount of resale tickets compared to a few weeks ago has grown considerably and I doubt it's brokers picking up drops because a lot of these are obviously not going to sell)

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bleedingman

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MisterDDDD

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GasLightStreet

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stickyfingers101

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GasLightStreet
Where I live, mask mandates do not really matter. That will very soon be determining their participation in their ability to buy, etc things.

MASKS, not vaccines.

They will be shunned, turned away, maybe even banned. Their attitude, "I was going to spend a lot of money and now I'll leave a bad review" means ZERO.

I look forward to the destruction of their idea of society because of their mindset.

Fair enough point...but, it means the business doesn't get that money.

turning away customers = turning away money.

that's a losing business strategy, IMO.

restaurants and bars will be those who face destruction.

People don't "have to" go out to eat and the vast majority of restaurant industry has a brutally-tight, razor-thin bottom line....

60% of restaurants fail within 1 year....80% within 5 years.

[www.cnbc.com].

Businesses don't need those people. They'll be fine, even gain new business.

72% of the population is vaxxed and will gladly return to an establishment that prioritizes their safety.
vs
28% of the population who, if the business adopted their point of view, would likely close shop due to employee/customers getting the virus.

Which strategy is the losing one again?

According to the NPR, it's 59.2% total with at least one dose: [www.npr.org]

It's about 72% of adults currently with at least one dose.
Point taken though, but it's the adults that are the ones (mostly) making the decisions and spending the $$.

Foo Fighters will require proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test for entry to Alaska shows

Anchorage Daily News
August 15, 2021

[www.adn.com]

Surgeon general worries about complacency on Covid-19 as cases surge and vaccinations lag

Coronavirus

With the outlook of the Covid-19 pandemic growing worse as hospitalizations and cases surge among the unvaccinated, the surgeon general said many of those who have followed precautions may soon grow complacent due to fatigue. "I do think that many of those who did make that right decision to get vaccinated, are thinking, 'Gosh, I did the right thing but here we are, still in the middle of this pandemic 18 months later,'" Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN's Brian Stelter Sunday. "We get through this pandemic when a critical majority of us get vaccinated, and we haven't hit that critical number yet," Murthy said. As of Sunday, 50.7% of the total US population was fully vaccinated, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and with just under half of the country still unvaccinated, cases and hospitalizations are on the rise again.

Cases are surging in 40 states, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Soon, the US could be reporting more than 200,000 new cases a day, the director of the National Institutes of Health predicted Sunday. That's a rate not seen since before vaccines became widely available. "That's heartbreaking considering we never thought we would be back in that space again," Dr. Francis Collins said on Fox News. Murthy is especially worried about parents who have been working hard to protect their children as the nation grapples with the pandemic. That fear is especially pressing as more children are being hospitalized with the virus, like Kyle Butrum's one-year-old son, Carter, in Arkansas. Butrum urged people to get vaccinated so other families don't have to watch their child struggle in the hospital. "The only thing you can do to prevent someone else from doing this is to get your vaccine, so that another child doesn't have to do this, and another family doesn't have to send their kid away. So another father doesn't have to stand at the back of the ambulance and wonder if that's the last time you're going to see your son," Butrum told CNN.

With the rise of Delta variant and the start of the new school year, CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen said this is the most dangerous time in the pandemic for children. Experts have shared the best practices to keep families safe, but "we as a society have failed our children," Wen said, citing the swathes of people navigating communities unmasked and unvaccinated and politicians disregarding the guidance. "As a result, we have made it harder for schools to stay open, we have made it more likely for children to be infected," Wen said. "This is a really sad reflection that children are having to pay the price for irresponsible adults and reckless politicians."

Officials at odds over masking

Many health experts have pointed to mask mandates as a necessary step to getting the pandemic under control as officials work to boost vaccination rates, but some local leaders are increasingly at odds over such mandates.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took the fight against mask mandates in his state to the Texas Supreme Court after various defeats in lower courts. The state Supreme Court ruled Sunday in favor of Paxton and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, temporarily blocking local mask mandates, but officials in Dallas and San Antonio said they would continue to enforce school mask mandates, despite the court ruling. Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were the recipients of letters from the Department of Education in which Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he is "deeply concerned" over mask mandate restrictions. "The Department recognizes that several school districts in your State have already moved to adopt such policies in line with guidance from the CDC for the reopening and operation of school facilities despite the State level prohibitions. The Department stands with these dedicated educators who are working to safely reopen schools and maintain safe in-person instruction," Cardona wrote in the letter to DeSantis, which was also addressed to Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. In May, DeSantis issued two executive orders limiting the Covid-19 restrictions counties and cities could impose, including mask mandates, and has since threatened punitive measures should a county or city defy them. In an email to CNN Sunday, a spokesperson for DeSantis reiterated the governor's position that his ban on school mask mandates is about empowering parents to make the best choice for their child and family. The Broward County School Board chair criticized DeSantis Sunday over his position on school mask mandates. "We believe we have a constitutional obligation to protect the lives of our students and staff. And we've received threats from our governor, and it's been really, really dramatic and horrible to be put in this position," Dr. Rosalind Osgood said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday.

Health officials monitoring data on additional vaccine doses

Another layer of protection some health experts are considering is booster doses to increase vaccine efficacy. Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized an additional vaccine dose for certain immunocompromised people, which Wen told CNN's Kaitlan Collin was a good decision for a group that "clearly needs a booster because they didn't mount enough of an immune response the first time around." What health officials aren't in agreement on just yet is whether the rest of the population could benefit from a booster dose. Israel has already advised an additional dose for people over 50, something the US cannot yet do because there's less data collection, Wen said. So, she hopes officials make a concerted effort to examine other countries' data in addition to that from the US to make the decision. Wen noted there are a lot of people who may not be severely immunocompromised but "may have some degree of immunocompromise and may be in high-risk conditions, for example they live with somebody unvaccinated, they are essential workers, maybe they should be getting a booster as well." Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday the US is planning for the possibility of booster shots and will be "absolutely prepared" to act quickly if they're needed for some groups. Fauci said on CBS' Face the Nation officials are looking every day at data from the United States and other countries "to determine if, when and to whom we should be giving this. So if it turns out, as the data come in, we see we do need to give an additional dose to people in nursing homes, actually, or people who are elderly, we will be absolutely prepared to do that very quickly."

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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MisterDDDD

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GasLightStreet

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stickyfingers101

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GasLightStreet
Where I live, mask mandates do not really matter. That will very soon be determining their participation in their ability to buy, etc things.

MASKS, not vaccines.

They will be shunned, turned away, maybe even banned. Their attitude, "I was going to spend a lot of money and now I'll leave a bad review" means ZERO.

I look forward to the destruction of their idea of society because of their mindset.

Fair enough point...but, it means the business doesn't get that money.

turning away customers = turning away money.

that's a losing business strategy, IMO.

restaurants and bars will be those who face destruction.

People don't "have to" go out to eat and the vast majority of restaurant industry has a brutally-tight, razor-thin bottom line....

60% of restaurants fail within 1 year....80% within 5 years.

[www.cnbc.com].

Businesses don't need those people. They'll be fine, even gain new business.

72% of the population is vaxxed and will gladly return to an establishment that prioritizes their safety.
vs
28% of the population who, if the business adopted their point of view, would likely close shop due to employee/customers getting the virus.

Which strategy is the losing one again?

the one that runs on a "80% failure rate in 5 years" and turns away customers in the name of Safety Theater.

that one?

It's simply my opinion. I thankfully don't own a restaurant.

One thing I do know is that I will not support restaurants with such "Vax Only" policies (I am vaxxed. So is my wife.)

If that doesn't hurt their bottom line (or improves it), then all the power to them....good for them. I am happy for them. I don't cheer against anybody. I make my own decisions and the Market can decide from there.

It just seems dumb to have policies that turn away customers, IMO.

I highly doubt it will work in terms of "improving safety" in any real way or numbers anyway....

a) people can just go home and print a fake card w/ a 1/2-way decent printer.

b) people can borrow somebody else's Vax Card

C) the ONLY way to effectively overcome/prevent/stop A & B is to hire a bouncer to check Vax Cards & IDs....at $15 an hour...or more....for 10-12 hours...or more.

Maybe you're right. Maybe some people will like the policy and go out to eat more as a result. Maybe. It just seems like quite a risk to add (bouncer) expenses and turn away existing customers on the HOPE that the Vaccinated will make up the difference financially.

I wouldn't do it if I had a restaurant, that's all I'm saying.

In the end, people who own restaurants can do whatever they want...and I can choose to give them my money or not....the Market will decide.

viva capitalism!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-08-16 17:54 by stickyfingers101.

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stickyfingers101

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MisterDDDD

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GasLightStreet

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stickyfingers101

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GasLightStreet
Where I live, mask mandates do not really matter. That will very soon be determining their participation in their ability to buy, etc things.

MASKS, not vaccines.

They will be shunned, turned away, maybe even banned. Their attitude, "I was going to spend a lot of money and now I'll leave a bad review" means ZERO.

I look forward to the destruction of their idea of society because of their mindset.

Fair enough point...but, it means the business doesn't get that money.

turning away customers = turning away money.

that's a losing business strategy, IMO.

restaurants and bars will be those who face destruction.

People don't "have to" go out to eat and the vast majority of restaurant industry has a brutally-tight, razor-thin bottom line....

60% of restaurants fail within 1 year....80% within 5 years.

[www.cnbc.com].

Businesses don't need those people. They'll be fine, even gain new business.

72% of the population is vaxxed and will gladly return to an establishment that prioritizes their safety.
vs
28% of the population who, if the business adopted their point of view, would likely close shop due to employee/customers getting the virus.

Which strategy is the losing one again?

the one that runs on a "80% failure rate in 5 years" and turns away customers in the name of Safety Theater.

that one?

It's simply my opinion. I thankfully don't own a restaurant.

One thing I do know is that I will not support restaurants with such "Vax Only" policies (I am vaxxed. So is my wife.)

If that doesn't hurt their bottom line (or improves it), then all the power to them....good for them. I am happy for them. I don't cheer against anybody. I make my own decisions and the Market can decide from there.

It just seems dumb to have policies that turn away customers, IMO.

I highly doubt it will work in terms of "improving safety" in any real way or numbers anyway....

a) people can just go home and print a fake card w/ a 1/2-way decent printer.

b) people can borrow somebody else's Vax Card

C) the ONLY way to effectively overcome/prevent/stop A & B is to hire a bouncer to check Vax Cards & IDs....at $15 an hour...or more....for 10-12 hours...or more.

Maybe you're right. Maybe some people will like the policy and go out to eat more as a result. Maybe. It just seems like quite a risk to add (bouncer) expenses and turn away existing customers on the HOPE that the Vaccinated will make up the difference financially.

I wouldn't do it if I had a restaurant, that's all I'm saying.

In the end, people who own restaurants can do whatever they want...and I can choose to give them my money or not....the Market will decide.

viva capitalism!

You may choose not to go to a restaurant with a vax only policy, but you are in the minority. As you said, the market will decide and the restaurants imposing that will get complaints from anti vaxxers but will get more vaccinated customers. Those vaccinated will also be more appreciative for the policy and will spend more in my opinion. Those complaining about masks and vaccines aren't going to spend more and tip better out of appreciation for attempting to keep them safe. You may disagree but that is what a few friends who own bars and restaurants have indicated to me.

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bye bye johnny
Foo Fighters will require proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test for entry to Alaska shows

Anchorage Daily News
August 15, 2021

[www.adn.com]

If anyone wants to go and has a vaxx card, you can get tickets for about $6 right now

You may choose not to go to a restaurant with a vax only policy, but you are in the minority. As you said, the market will decide and the restaurants imposing that will get complaints from anti vaxxers but will get more vaccinated customers. Those vaccinated will also be more appreciative for the policy and will spend more in my opinion. Those complaining about masks and vaccines aren't going to spend more and tip better out of appreciation for attempting to keep them safe. You may disagree but that is what a few friends who own bars and restaurants have indicated to me.[/quote]

I'm a fantastic tipper! Too bad for the waitress who won't get it.

I honestly don't care, unless it is a Government Mandate.

But, for the sake of shites & giggles, I'm just wondering: do your friends mind paying another employee $150+ a day to stand around and check Vax Cards?

I guess they can pass that cost off onto the (vaccinated) customer, if they wanted to...but, regardless, the onus of responsibility for proper-enforcement of Vax Cards will ultimately fall on the restaurant, same as with "Legal Age to Drink" IDs.....

And without REAL enforcement, it's Safety Theater....which is also fine w/ me.
People think tagging sharks makes them safer too. Goody-gumdrop.

Either way, we'll definitely need better Vax Cards....the ones we have now look like a Library Card I had in the 1970s. I feel like I could recreate it w/ a that 64-color-box of Crayola's with the sharpener (also the 1970s).

Whatever...I'm not surprised you have friends with restaurants who share the exact same opinions as you have...I'd be more shocked if it were the opposite.

In that light, I suggest you go find a restaurant that disagrees with your position....and listen....just listen.

but, then again...as stated: I honestly don't care, as long as it's not a Gov't Mandate....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-08-16 20:05 by stickyfingers101.

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stickyfingers101
You may choose not to go to a restaurant with a vax only policy, but you are in the minority. As you said, the market will decide and the restaurants imposing that will get complaints from anti vaxxers but will get more vaccinated customers. Those vaccinated will also be more appreciative for the policy and will spend more in my opinion. Those complaining about masks and vaccines aren't going to spend more and tip better out of appreciation for attempting to keep them safe. You may disagree but that is what a few friends who own bars and restaurants have indicated to me.

I'm a fantastic tipper! Too bad for the waitress who won't get it.

I honestly don't care, unless it is a Government Mandate.

But, for the sake of shites & giggles, I'm just wondering: do your friends mind paying another employee $150+ a day to stand around and check Vax Cards?

I guess they can pass that cost off onto the (vaccinated) customer, if they wanted to...but, regardless, the onus of responsibility for proper-enforcement of Vax Cards will ultimately fall on the restaurant, same as with "Legal Age to Drink" IDs.....

And without REAL enforcement, it's Safety Theater....which is also fine w/ me.
People think tagging sharks makes them safer too. Goody-gumdrop.

Either way, we'll definitely need better Vax Cards....the ones we have now look like a Library Card I had in the 1970s. I feel like I could recreate it w/ a that 64-color-box of Crayola's with the sharpener (also the 1970s).

Whatever...I'm not surprised you have friends with restaurants who share the exact same opinions as you have...I'd be more shocked if it were the opposite.

In that light, I suggest you go find a restaurant that disagrees with your position....and listen....just listen.

but, then again...as stated: I honestly don't care, as long as it's not a Gov't Mandate....[/quote]

I agree it is safety theater but it will still keep some of the covidiots out. As far as hiring a person to stand around and do nothing you are wrong. The person is already there to check IDs. So now they check IDs and an app that validates vaccination status. In the SF Bay Area they are using the clear app. In NY they have a vaccine passport through the state. The vaccine card is just a piece of paper that stupid people will buy rather than get a free vaccine. You are an antivaxxer who is vaccinated. The world doesn't revolve around people like you. Frankly I would not go to an anti-vaxxer restaurant, they don't deserve my business.

Meanwhile . . . I got my third shot today.

After the recent studies regarding the alleged discrepancies in efficacy between Moderna and Pfizer, Dr. Fauci has weighed in with some much needed guidance:

Fauci dismisses study on delta efficacy between Moderna, Pfizer as guide for booster shots

"That study … is a pre-print study, it hasn’t been fully peer-reviewed," Fauci said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I don’t doubt what they’re seeing, but there are a lot of confounding variables in there, about when one was started, the relative amount of people in that cohort who were delta vs alpha – right now, if we get boosters … it’s clear we want to make sure we get people, if possible, to get the boost from the original vaccine."

[www.yahoo.com]

And this will hopefully encourage the anti-vaxxers to comply:

US could see 200,000 Covid cases a day again: ‘Unvaccinated are sitting ducks’

[www.yahoo.com]

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Aquamarine
Meanwhile . . . I got my third shot today.

Pfizer or ??
Can't wait for mine tbh, as I was fully vaxxed eeearly,, and I'm officially old now according to them

Congratulations! Hopefully no side effects and this will hold you for a while. They're rolling them out here in NYC.

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Aquamarine
Meanwhile . . . I got my third shot today.

nice!

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MisterDDDD

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Aquamarine
Meanwhile . . . I got my third shot today.

Pfizer or ??
Can't wait for mine tbh, as I was fully vaxxed eeearly,, and I'm officially old now according to them

Pfizer, yes. I didn't produce many antibodies with the first two, hopefully third time's the charm!

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Aquamarine

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MisterDDDD

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Aquamarine
Meanwhile . . . I got my third shot today.

Pfizer or ??
Can't wait for mine tbh, as I was fully vaxxed eeearly,, and I'm officially old now according to them

Pfizer, yes. I didn't produce many antibodies with the first two, hopefully third time's the charm!

Good luck. A friend of mine who has had a liver transplant is in the same situation.

U.S. to advise COVID-19 booster shots 8 months after vaccination - NYT

Booster

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has decided that most Americans should get a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine eight months after
they completed their initial vaccination, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing two administration officials familiar with the discussions.
Officials are planning to announce the administration's decision as early as this week, NYT said, adding that it could begin offering the extra shots as early as mid-September.


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A grim warning from Israel: Vaccination blunts, but does not defeat Delta

What is clear is that “breakthrough” cases are not the rare events the term implies.

Delta/Warning

His message was meant for his fellow Israelis, but it is a warning to the world. Israel has among the world’s highest levels of vaccination for COVID-19, with 78% of those 12 and older fully vaccinated, the vast majority with the Pfizer vaccine. Yet the country is now logging one of the world’s highest infection rates, with nearly 650 new cases daily per million people. More than half are in fully vaccinated people, underscoring the extraordinary transmissibility of the Delta variant and stoking concerns that the benefits of vaccination ebb over time. The sheer number of vaccinated Israelis means some breakthrough infections were inevitable, and the unvaccinated are still far more likely to end up in the hospital or die. But Israel’s experience is forcing the booster issue onto the radar for other nations, suggesting as it does that even the best vaccinated countries will face a Delta surge. “This is a very clear warning sign for the rest of world,” says Ran Balicer, chief innovation officer at Clalit Health Services (CHS), Israel’s largest health maintenance organization (HMO). “If it can happen here, it can probably happen everywhere.”

Israel is being closely watched now because it was one of the first countries out of the gate with vaccinations in December 2020 and quickly achieved a degree of population coverage that was the envy of other nations— for a time. The nation of 9.3 million also has a robust public health infrastructure and a population wholly enrolled in HMOs that track them closely, allowing it to produce high-quality, real-world data on how well vaccines are working. “I watch [Israeli data] very, very closely because it is some of the absolutely best data coming out anywhere in the world,” says David O’Connor, a viral sequencing expert at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “Israel is the model,” agrees Eric Topol, a physician-scientist at Scripps Research. “It’s pure mRNA [messenger RNA] vaccines. It’s out there early. It’s got a very high level population [uptake]. It’s a working experimental lab for us to learn from.” Israel’s HMOs, led by CHS and Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS), track demographics, comorbidities, and a trove of coronavirus metrics on infections, illnesses, and deaths. “We have rich individual-level data that allows us to provide real-world evidence in near–real time,” Balicer says. (The United Kingdom also compiles a wealth of data. But its vaccination campaign ramped up later than Israel’s, making its current situation less reflective of what the future may portend; and it has used three different vaccines, making its data harder to parse.)

Now, the effects of waning immunity may be beginning to show in Israelis vaccinated in early winter; a preprint published last month by scientists at MHS found that protection from COVID-19 infection during June and July dropped in proportion to the length of time since an individual was vaccinated. People vaccinated in January had a 2.26 times greater risk for a breakthrough infection than those vaccinated in April. (Potential confounders include the fact that the very oldest Israelis, with the weakest immune systems, were vaccinated first.) At the same time, cases in the country, which were scarcely registering at the start of summer, have been doubling every week to 10 days since then, with the Delta variant responsible for most of them. They have now soared to their highest level since mid-February, with hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions beginning to follow. How much of the current surge is due to waning immunity versus the power of the Delta variant to spread like wildfire is uncertain. What is clear is that “breakthrough” cases are not the rare events the term implies. As of 15 August, 514 Israelis were hospitalized with severe or critical COVID-19, a 31% increase from just 4 days earlier. Of the 514, 59% were fully vaccinated. Of the vaccinated, 87% were 60 or older. “There are so many breakthrough infections that they dominate and most of the hospitalized patients are actually vaccinated,” says Uri Shalit, a bioinformatician at the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) who has consulted on COVID-19 for the government. “One of the big stories from Israel [is]: ‘Vaccines work, but not well enough.’” “The most frightening thing to the government and the Ministry of Health is the burden on hospitals,” says Dror Mevorach, who cares for COVID-19 patients at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem and advises the government. At his hospital, he is lining up anesthesiologists and surgeons to spell his medical staff in case they become overwhelmed by a wave like January’s, when COVID-19 patients filled 200 beds. “The staff is exhausted,” he says, and he has restarted a weekly support group for them “to avoid some kind of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] effect.”

To try to tame the surge, Israel has turned to booster shots, starting on 30 July with people 60 and older and, last Friday, expanding to people 50 and older. As of Monday, nearly 1 million Israelis had received a third dose, according to the Ministry of Health. Global health leaders including Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, have pleaded with developed countries not to administer boosters given that most of the world’s population hasn’t received even a single dose. The wealthy nations pondering or already administering booster vaccines so far mostly reserve them for special populations such as the immune compromised and health care workers. Still, studies suggest boosters might have broader value. Researchers have shown that boosting induces a prompt surge in antibodies, which are needed in the nose and throat as a crucial first line of defense against infection. The Israeli government’s decision to start boosting those 50 and older was driven by preliminary Ministry of Health data indicating people over age 60 who have received a third dose were half as likely as their twice-vaccinated peers to be hospitalized in recent days, Mevorach says. CHS also reported that out of a sample of more than 4500 patients who received boosters, 88% said any side effects from the third shot were no worse, and sometimes milder, than from the second. Yet boosters are unlikely to tame a Delta surge on their own, says Dvir Aran, a biomedical data scientist at Technion. In Israel, the current surge is so steep that “even if you get two-thirds of those 60-plus [boosted], it’s just gonna give us another week, maybe 2 weeks until our hospitals are flooded.” He says it’s also critical to vaccinate those who still haven’t received their first or second doses, and to return to the masking and social distancing Israel thought it had left behind—but has begun to reinstate. Aran’s message for the United States and other wealthier nations considering boosters is stark: “Do not think that the boosters are the solution.”

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

> there are a lot of confounding variables in there


I am thinking he actually said "compounding" variables. Which actually makes sense in the context.

jb

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daspyknows

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Aquamarine

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MisterDDDD

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Aquamarine
Meanwhile . . . I got my third shot today.

Pfizer or ??
Can't wait for mine tbh, as I was fully vaxxed eeearly,, and I'm officially old now according to them

Pfizer, yes. I didn't produce many antibodies with the first two, hopefully third time's the charm!

Good luck. A friend of mine who has had a liver transplant is in the same situation.

He/she will also be eligible for the third shot as of right now, hopefully it helps.

Out of an abundance of caution, our headline show at the Whiskey A Go Go on August 18th will be rescheduled to October 12th.

All tickets will be honored for the new date, and more information can be found at [whiskyagogo.com]



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From Pop Evil, 8/16:

To our Evilz, we always want to be fully transparent with our fans and the status of our shows. All of our band members and crew have been vaccinated prior to us starting tour. Yesterday, and again this morning, Leigh Kakaty tested positive for COVID-19. Leigh wanted to make…
sure his test wasn’t a false positive before postponing any more shows. With his second positive test this afternoon, out of an abundance of caution, we will be postponing our shows and be back for our show in Virginia Beach on August 27.

[twitter.com]

"abundance of caution" seems to become the new go-to catchphrase

The String Cheese Incident has canceled some upcoming August shows and postponed others until 2022:

Please see our website for an important update on our August Tour Dates: [stringcheeseincident.com]



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