Problem is, you have to vaccinate worldwide to achieve that goal. I am assuming that the “Brazilian variant” originated in Brazil. If our vaccines can’t stop that sort of variant, then there’s no difference here between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated.
In fact, 75% vaccination everywhere would be better than 100% here, and other pockets with little to any.
My thoughts are all over the place on this. Part of me thinks that if they’re too stupid to take the vaccine then it’s on them; I don’t think I’m willing to pass laws to require the vaccine (although I would easily support laws that require them for government-supported activities, like going to school or flying).
On the other hand a lot of vaccine-hesitant are minorities that distrust the government and/or the medical establishment. There was a recent article in the NYT about a nursing home (?) where a lot of the nursing staff were reluctant to get the vaccine; after a big push by the directory that got 78% of the staff vaccinated. All the ones profiled in the story were minorities. It’s hard for me to blame them; I certainly don’t think they are stupid.
And you bring up a good point: just because they are stupid doesn’t mean they deserve to die. I just have a hard time feeling sympathy for people who make these decisions.
If you know someone over 65 who hasn’t yet been vaccinated (at least their first dose), this article is about them:
133,698,363 total cases
2,901,130 dead
107,828,758 recovered
In the US:
31,637,243 total cases
572,849 dead
24,206,539 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
UK advises limiting AstraZeneca in under-30s amid clot worry:
Yesterday:
Today:
2,589 dead in one day. Yes, there’s reporting delays for Easter weekend, but still: this is the highest daily US deaths since I think mid-late February. The 14-day average is 1000ish deaths/day.
Worldometers doesn’t show 2000+ dying in a day. I am assuming it was catch up reporting.
Oklahoma had a large cumulative increase since yesterday, but Worldometer must have retroactively adjusted the daily totals.
A well-informed blog post on the J&J manufacturing debacle:
https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2021/04/08/vaccine-manufacturing-woes-at-emergent
Worldwide:
134,528,841 total cases
2,915,013 dead
108,330,462 recovered
In the US:
31,717,404 total cases
573,856 dead
24,272,869 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
Michigan, according to the Johns Hopkins site, has finally hit a new record high in daily reported cases (seven day average), exceeding its previous record set on November 30. On their site, it’s the second state to hit a new record high in this wave (since January), after Vermont. But their high of 8785 far exceeds Vermont’s high of 190 just a week ago.
This delusional self-view is common among those refusing the vaccine – I’ve heard it from numerous obese people with high blood pressure, heart disease, COPD, and diabetes. Their definition of ‘healthy’ seems to be ‘not in the hospital right now’. Amazing
I feel like whether a state meets this threshold has a lot to do with what it’s infection rate was a year ago. I wonder if there’s some other easy-to-note threshold that would be a more uniform indicator of things going badly today.
This is bothersome:
Indeed, I noticed in the past few days that the curve upward in both new cases and deaths worldwide is really noticeable on the graphs now:
Africa doesn’t seem to be surging. Or the Western Pacific.
There is an old joke:
Doctor: How are you feeling today?
Patient: I’m feeling pretty good! – but if I’d felt like this when I was 20, I’d have thought I was awful sick.
Speaking from 69 with what turns out to be a congenital but slow-developing heart problem: one’s standards for feeling healthy change as the day to day basis for comparison changes.
(I’m vaccinated, though.)
Most of the island nations are still following rigorous quarantine processes, but:
Timor L’Este - surge (on top of natural disaster)
Papua New Guinea - surge
Indonesia - overall coming off it Jan peak, but eastern provinces inc Irian Jaya seem to be on the up.
Whenever I see a link to “In the Pipeline” in this thread (there have been several), I know before I even click that it’s going to be Derek Lowe, and worth reading.
I’m noticing that the number of deaths still seems to be mostly declining, which tells me the impact of the vaccines. The most vulnerable have been vaccinated; younger people who assume that they are bulletproof will drive the next surges, and they are playing with fire. The variants spread faster, and they are deadlier.