Putin by a landslide
Biden can't even climb stairs
Grandpa is worn out after 40 years of a bullshit political carrer
OP, convince me that Biden is better than Putin
Seriously
No bullshit
C'mon man
Social distance and properly worn real masks made some sense when we were trying to flatten the ER curve early on
Now that we can see the denouement of the pandemic
And, we realize that some form of Covid will always be around killing people
Just like the flu does every year
How can you NOT wear a mask for the rest of your life?
Be honest, Kit
How can you live with yourself if you killed even one person by passing on the virus?
The moral non-Trumpian thing to do is wear a mask forever, don't you agree?
Be sure were your mask while blogging. I heard that your computer can get a virus and mess your life up!
On the serious side, the shutdown in CA didn't work and now that
there is a vaccine, why are we told to keep wearing a mask.
It's the old people that should to stay home, if they want, not younger
people, most who only develop mild symptoms and will survive.
Now we have destroyed businesses and high unemployment with
to solution to fix the problem.
Honest question for Blue Anon followers. Do you guys really believe Trump was controlled by Putin? Because anyone with half a brain cell knows that was an idiotic Democrat conspiracy theory.
Only one of you admitted to prefering a murderous dictator to duly elected president. How about you get Trump back as dictator for life. Death without trial by his decree. Or Biden?
If anyone is interested, I can recommend a good surgical mask if you are looking for something with proven efficacy that is very comfortable as well (I hate cloth masks),or a good FDA-authorized KN-95 respirator that is surprisingly comfortable that I wear when I am inside a public place. PM me if interested.
"3. Yes, of course OP would wear a mask forever. He knows what's best for everyone, no matter how restrictive. It's simply the cold, rational choice."
I don't see how anyone rational would wear a mask forever. The pandemic will end, just like the 1918 one did. When it ends, I think people would stop wearing masks. I would. Perhaps mostly everyone would stop wearing masks when everyone who wants a vaccine gets one. That would be a reasonable point to stop.
"4.Logically, why stop at a permanent mask mandate? Outlaw cars and airplanes. Restrict voting to college graduates. Anyone else can't be entrusted with the responsibility. No one who believes in God allowed to vote (although there goes a large part of the AA and Hispanic block). Throw out the 2nd Amendment. Outlaw gun manufacture as well. Nanny state on steroids."
How do these ideas correspond with a temporary mandate that was used to try to lower hospitalizations and save lives during a finite event (that has a clear beginning and probably (hopefully?) a clear ending). Wearing a mask isn't close to being as intrusive as any of those. It's like being asked to wear a shirt when you visit a business.
@Granite: The number of severe cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, should ideally be more manageable (i.e., waves will be smaller and hospitals will not be in danger of overflowing with COVID patients) once everyone who wants a vaccine gets one. At least that is the prevailing opinion I've seen epidemiologists make. It makes sense since the vaccines seem to be nearly perfect in stopping severe cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in trial runs, and that includes against the new variants: There is direct evidence of nearly perfect efficacy against severe cases, hospitalizations, and deaths caused by the new variants using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the Novavax vaccine in trials. The variants have had negligible impact against T cell responses using blood samples from people who took either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. T cell responses have been shown to prevent severe COVID.
New variants may eventually arrive that are too different for the vaccines to handle, like they do for the flu, but based on the similarity of mutation rates between a flu strain with high mutation rate and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID), this will occur at a rate that would make taking annual COVID vaccines feasible (like we do for flu shots), which would keep severe cases, hospitalizations, and deaths manageable, just like it is for the flu.
So, no, we likely won't be needing these interventions anymore once everyone who wants a vaccine gets one.
Again, I'm not saying people won't still be hospitalized or die. I'm saying it would be manageable without interventions, just like it is for the flu.
That's half the story. The other half, according to the article,is the following: “Oregon OSHA intends to repeal the rule when it is no longer necessary to address the pandemic. Because it is not possible to assign a specific time for that decision, Oregon OSHA will consult with the Oregon OSHA Partnership Committee, the Oregon Health Authority, and other stakeholders as circumstances change to determine when all or part of the rule can be appropriately repealed.”
The only reason they are doing this is because they don't want to bother to keep on updating the mask mandate each time the pandemic goes past the end date of the mandate.
It should be repealed (and likely will be) when the pandemic is more manageable (smaller waves, no threat of hospital overflow), which should occur I believe after everyone who gets a vaccine wants one. In trials, the vaccines have been shown to be excellent at preventing severe disease, hospitalizations, and deaths.
"The only reason they are doing this is because they don't want to bother to keep on updating the mask mandate each time the pandemic goes past the end date of the mandate."
So a mandate that basically forces the state to at a predictable time, evaluate the conditions for which was imposed, can now just be there til an un-elected official says its over. Yeah sounds like governments way of doing things.
"Have to give props to the one admitted Racist on the site."
Detroit, you simpering moron
Please explain to all how you got "racist" from my comments on this blog
This should be good
As to why Putin
Because he's not a doddering idiot like grandpa
Who's being rolled by his left wing
Plus you changed the game midway, you dummy
You set up a stupid hypothetical choice
One that had no relation to elections
Then you bring in the election bullshit
I'll take my chances with Covid if you'll agree to take yours with Ebola
Deal?
Fukn idiot
"Fauci's response to the question of why he was wearing two masks clearly implied that he believed the current vaccines to be ineffective against the SA variant. He's been vaccinated. Yet he's wearing two masks. Presumably he's been vaccinated against the flu, as well. But he should have been wearing masks his entire life, according to his logic. Why has been risking his own life as well as those of others?"
Fauci has said that current vaccines will be effective against new variants. See link.
After I will be vaccinated, I will wear a mask in public places indoors (especially to avoid aerosols) until new cases are very low. It's my personal choice. The vaccines are very good, but there's still a chance you can get infected, particularly from the SA or Brazilian variant. Also, you can still infect others who haven't had the vaccine, although the risk is much lower if you have been vaccinated. I rather reduce my chances of getting sick by wearing a mask, which is so easy and simple to do, than get a very unpleasant medium case of COVID that knocks me on my ass for 2 weeks, and possibly get long COVID (although the vaccine probably helps with that as well). I don't know what Fauci actually thinks, but I'd wager his line of thinking is similar. I imagine a lot of people don't agree with this, so I'll speculate that all mask mandates will be dropped very soon after everyone who wants a vaccine gets one.
It actually might not be a bad idea to wear a mask if you have the flu or a cold, if you want to be around others and reduce their risk of getting infected. I probably will do this from now on. If cases of COVID reemerge in a few years, I will probably again don a mask indoors in public places until cases are very low again. COVID, unlike the flu or colds, is a disease that passes on through aerosols, and a sizeable number of the transmitters may be asymptomatic.
It's my choice. The only way I'll change my mind if data shows that the effect of the mask on top of being vaccinated is insignificant.
"As for Oregon's statement that they will repeal a permanent mandate (then it's not really permanent, is it?) I don't believe them. Why should I? How many times have the goalposts already been moved on CoVid?
etc..."
There is going to be no difference to the public if Oregon continues to pass a mask mandate every few months (which it will be able to do since Democrats control the legislature), and then cancels it when the pandemic is over versus if Oregon passes a permanent mandate, and then cancels it when the pandemic is over. The only difference is that it's more convenient for the legislature to pass it only once. That's all.
"Also, you can still infect others who haven't had the vaccine, although the risk is much lower if you have been vaccinated"
Actually the evidence of this is finding that viral loads decreased in the nasopharynx by fourfold in Israelis who were given the Pfizer vaccine. I'm assuming (it hasn't been proven) that this will reduce the chances of infecting others.
