I agree with you which just shows how far of the deep end the nutjobs have gone or possibly how many dumbasses this board has gained over the last 22 years.
If someone is okay with having higher odds of complication from Covid, that's fine. I've never supported vax mandates because I believe in bodily autonomy, although I could originally see the point in them if there weren't enough people willing to get vaccinated. I was a really strong proponent for lockdowns at the beginning, I was hoping for the possibility of vaccines ending pandemic level transmission, and countries/states/regions stomping it out to small endemic outbreaks, and so on. That didn't happen, but what did happen, shown by countries like NZ, Australia, Singapore, Norway, Finland, was the countries able/lucky enough to enact lockdowns and restrictions that were early/firm enough ended up preventing mass death/disease until the vaccines became widely available, now these countries are having rampant waves of covid, but the people as a whole are well enough protected now. Vaccines have been awesome and have done a great deal of good for hundreds of millions of people during this pandemic. But at this point of everything, I agree, there is no point in vaccine mandates or heavy restrictions anymore. If people want protection from the vaccine, they have that, and if they don't want it, even If I personally disagree with the risk assessment, it's okay too. With this variant, the level of protection from the spread isn't strong enough to warrant mandates, the ICU admissions (at the moment, even in states like NY/NJ) aren't strong enough to warrant mandates or heavy restrictions, considering the level of vaccination and natural immunity within our population. I'm cool with mask mandates in areas of importance like hospitals/care homes, and for private businesses that want them. Vaccines just aren't to help others anymore, they are to help yourself. People have their own decision to make, and hopefully, we quit arguing about it.
All 50 states mandate childhood vaccinations like Polio (inactivated) and Hep-B which don't completely prevent viral reproduction or transmission. There is a very good reason for it.
We already have this. I went. Line was short and quick. It was free and a qr code.. now here in socialist woodlands texas. The left has infiltrated all parts
http://theglitteringeye.com/question-15/ Dave Schuler writes: Here’s a question. I don’t believe that the federal government has the authority to mandate that people get vaccinations. We’ll see what the Supreme Court has to say about it. I do believe that the states have that authority and the federal government has the authority to regulate travel between the states. I heard a story about a recent study which determined something I think is pretty obvious: obese people are at a higher risk of serious COVID-19. Here’s the question. Do the states have the authority to require individuals to lose weight? I honestly don’t think any state would do that. I suspect it would cause an enormous uproar since from a statistical standpoint blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be obese than whites.
Responding to this because of the Singapore part. Singapore did have lockdowns but is largely keeping things in check through rigorous and pervasive contact tracing. They also have about 84% of their population vaccinated. They are putting in a vaccination mandate this month. While they haven't had a vaccination mandate they have "strongly encouraged" people to get vaccinated and have made life difficult for those who haven't gotten vaccinated. As part of the the contact tracing app people are required to use is also proof of vaccination. I was required to load up my vaccination data to it before I arrived in Singapore. For those who aren't vaccinated are not allowed to dine out or do many other things.
Since last fall, Singapore has been transitioning to "living with" this virus as a strategy. Some of what you listed are the smart things society could have done to enable them to get there. When we hear of transitioning to living with the virus in places like here, it's not by choice or as a strategy.
The worst outbreaks are largely in the eastern third of the country, with Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey leading the country with cases per capita. Washington, D.C., has the highest rate of hospitalization. No area is spared. I think @NewRoxFan showed where texas had a high rate a few weeks ago.