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KristoffWixenschon

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Everything posted by KristoffWixenschon

  1. Those judges must be O'Malley fans. TJ never should have fought tonight.
  2. It takes far more resources, trials and funding to bring a product to market. Universities could never do that at the speed that private companies can
  3. Most of the innovation comes from the private sector. There is of course collaboration and I dont want to take away from the great innovative work done at universities and federally funded organizations.
  4. You're right. The world depends largely on US innovation and achievement. I guess that's one benefit on unfettered capitalism haha... I always struggle with that duality. On the one hand, pharmaceutical companies certainly put shareholder profit above public wellbeing, that's a problem. On the other hand, they innovate amazing life saving products! If they weren't allowed to be making insane money on their products, would we have so many incredible treatments?
  5. These vaccines are a little different than the flu shot. One interesting example is that we choose which strain of flu to inoculate against in the fall, based on what has been circulating in the southern hemisphere during their winter. That cant really be done with covid yet. Again, its a constantly evolving target. But the original vaccines are still showing amazing efficacy at keeping people out of hospital and keeping people alive! That's a pretty good end goal.
  6. You're right, mistake is not the right word. I should have just stopped at saying "they were wrong". I dont think it was a problem that they were wrong. Being wrong is expected as you sort out what is true. I was just replying to a poster who didnt feel that public health had gotten anything wrong during the pandemic. They certainly got some things wrong. Its crazy to say they didnt. But it's also crazy to expect that they should be expected to get it right 100% of the time. You are absolutely correct in your last paragraph. People feel really uncomfortable in those unknown grey areas. We could all benefit by understanding that this is a process, not a defined certainty.
  7. That's actually the whole point I'm making. The entire point is that they were wrong. They did make a mistake. Yes this was being said last year, until they learned more and collected more data. Initially the vaccines did look to have great success in preventing disease and transmission. As time went on, it was discovered that the neutralizing antibodies which prevent you from becoming ill, start to wane after 3-6 months after immunization. It was an unintentional mistake.
  8. There were mistakes. Though I think that was due to not knowing at the time, then being presented with new data, so they changed their recommendations. I dont think it was due to being deceptive. Examples: Vaccines will stop transmission of the virus. They initially thought the vaccines gave longer lasting protection. Prior infection is not protective. Now we know differently and that's okay.
  9. Realistically, I think we need to give our public health officials a bit of a break. They were dealing with a totally unprecedented situation and sifting through really dynamically changing information. It's hard enough to communicate settled science, let alone constantly evolving data. But also I think you're right. The public health communication was imperfect. They did a terrible job of communicating why the data was evolving. They acted without humility and acted like they knew all of the answers. I believe they damaged the public trust in our public health messaging, which will have long lasting effects. I dont mind that they got some things wrong. They err on the side of caution and I think that would have been my decision too. My issue with public health messaging is when they withhold information, pretend they know more than they do, and give a "one size fits all" approach to a complex problem.
  10. Absolutely! I thought you had insinuated that it was going against expert advice for people to skip a 4th dose. I may have totally misunderstood your meaning! My bad! Yeah I agree. It's much better to follow current data. Current data changes over time and I think that's where we lose a lot of people and they become confused and angry ("they keep changing the guidelines!"). But I'm glad the advice changes over time. That means we are learning!
  11. Expert advice is a funny thing because it's all based on the interpretation of data. The current data suggests that for most people, skipping a 4th dose is fine. The data is pretty clear that 4th doses for healthcare workers, people over 60 and the immunocompromised, show significant reduction in symptoms, severe disease and death. But for most healthy young people, especially those who have prior infection, there hasn't been a statistical benefit to receiving a 4th dose. Even the WHO doesn't recommend 4th doses for young healthy populations. Now to be clear, the WHO doesnt tell young people to NOT to get a 4th dose. The vaccines are safe and they recognize that. They just dont recommend young people as a priority group. https://www.who.int/news/item/17-05-2022-interim-statement-on-the-use-of-additional-booster-doses-of-emergency-use-listed-mrna-vaccines-against-covid-19 It will be interesting as we move forward. This is all subject to change as more studies are done and we gather more long term data.
  12. Yeah I agree, already having had covid and messaging fatigue. Those are two more reasons why people are reluctant or ambivalent about getting another booster. Societal perception of the disease has changed. But also the disease has changed. I dont necessarily agree that we are lemmings (in this specific case. I agree we are lemmings in general, especially politically haha). My perception is that people are fatigued, they already feel like they are adequately protected with their current vaccination/infection status and they are less worried about the current strain of the virus.
  13. I'm sure that's true in some cases too. I dont remember exactly but weren't we at 80% vaccination rates prior to the vaccine mandates, then 90% after the mandates? So that's probably true for a lot of those people who were vaccinated in that time frame. There must be several different reasons people arent getting boosted in large numbers.
  14. That's a properly fitted N95 mask vs an improperly worn decorative cloth mask. I still feel like the cloth masks do help somewhat. But you're probably both right. Masks were probably helpful to reduce some transmission. But also, people can get way too complacent wearing a cloth mask that doesnt work as well as they think it does.
  15. It's absolutely frustrating. I respect your position and integrity! It's hard when all of this information is so new to all of us. Sifting through the massive amounts of information and discerning a conclusion is a really difficult thing to do.
  16. I think the little insults are what stops people from staying open during respectful debate. I dont think anyone has ever helped someone form a new opinion by insinuating their stupidity.
  17. Yes but your previous source was discussing excess deaths (ie. Deaths above which would normally be expected). Since covid is a new source of death and overdoses have increased, they make up the majority of unexpected deaths. Being unable to access care is not a cause of death, you're correct. But it directly leads to a cause of death. Examples: not seeking medical advice on your arrhythmia due to fear of covid. No regular blood pressure checks. Not getting regular blood labs done. Inability to access preventative treatment leads to poor outcomes.
  18. They attributed the vast majority of those deaths to covid and drug overdoses (overdoses spiked during the pandemic). The remaining 27.9% of increased unexpected deaths, they attributed to people being unable to or uncomfortable accessing medical care during the worst of the pandemic. I'm sure that increased rates of suicide and violent crime in that age category didn't help those numbers.
  19. Probably because they dont feel that they will receive much benefit from an additional dose. Indications seem to be that young, healthy, double or triple vaccinated people, who have already had covid, do not receive any benefit from additional doses. Older people and the immune compromised seem to be a different story and should probably continue boosting.
  20. I agree completely. Those who havent received it yet are not going to be convinced with more public health messaging.
  21. I bet we see much fewer people vaccinating their children with the common vaccination schedule. That's a real problem. But I think that's partially a response to people retaliating against the vaccine mandate. I feel like this will be an unintended consequence of a vaccine mandate, which is illogical, but...
  22. That's a dangerous precedent. You could make the same argument for tobacco users, the obese, the homeless, people who drink soda... anybody who costs the healthcare system a disproportionate amount.. where do you draw the line on someones lifestyle choices and how it impacts healthcare spending?
  23. Writing everything down is a super helpful process, good for you! Thank you for sharing. That was probably hard to do and it also probably felt good to organize your thoughts. After a couple of particularly hard break ups, I found that writing helped a lot. Everything I wanted to say to that person: the good things, the hurt things, everything - went into a journal. At first I would write every day. Eventually it was every few days, then weekly, then almost never. I wrote until I didnt need the journal anymore. I re-read it a few months later and then ceremoniously burnt it to let it all go. It felt good to realize I wasnt carrying those feelings anymore. Whatever your grieving process is, she cant be part of it. I agree with the others who say to discontinue contact while you process.
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