# Joe Biden: "The Pandemic is Over" **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [September 19, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797 "2022-09-19T05:27:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/21 "2022-09-20T11:31:23Z")
In the US, you’re about 1/6 as likely to die from COVID if you’re vaccinated, and also 1/3 as likely to get COVID if you’re vaxxed. I think that implies that you’re half as likely to die from it if you get it and are vaxxed, or the unvaxxed are twice as likely to die from it, given an infection. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/22 "2022-09-20T12:48:12Z")
In the UK: Note - These figures are from 12 months ago. > - Between 2 January and 24 September 2021, the age-adjusted risk of deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) was 32 times greater in unvaccinated people than in fully vaccinated individuals. > **[Deaths involving COVID-19 by vaccination status, England - Office for...](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsinvolvingcovid19byvaccinationstatusengland/deathsoccurringbetween2januaryand24september2021)** > > Weekly age-standardised mortality rates and age-specific rates for deaths involving COVID-19 by vaccination status; deaths occurring between 2 January and 24 September 2021 in England. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/23 "2022-09-20T12:52:59Z")
Yeah, it was like 20x in the US back then. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/24 "2022-09-20T14:14:36Z")
Which begs the question: Why the difference? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/25 "2022-09-20T14:22:34Z")
Who knows? More vulnerable people killed early on in the US, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/26 "2022-09-20T14:36:01Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > In the US, you’re about 1/6 as likely to die from COVID if you’re vaccinated, and also 1/3 as likely to get COVID if you’re vaxxed. I think that implies that you’re half as likely to die from it if you get it and are vaxxed, or the unvaxxed are twice as likely to die from it, given an infection. I’m not sure where those numbers come from, but I’d read that as the vaccinated are 1/18 as likely to die from it as the unvaccinated. My most recent anecdotal experience is that even the frail elderly that are fully vaccinated are unlikely to die or even have a serious illness should they get infected. One of the nursing homes where I’m medical director recently had a major outbreak in terms of number infected. The vast majority of the cases were very minor, with some sniffles and sore throat being the main symptoms. There weren’t any residents that died or needed to be hospitalized due to COVID. My guess it that this outcome was mostly due to all the residents being fully vaccinated, although it’s possible that the particularly susceptible residents had died back in 2021, which is when the pandemic was at it’s worst here in South Texas (especially during the delta surge). ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/27 "2022-09-20T14:38:20Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > In the US, you’re about 1/6 as likely to die from COVID if you’re vaccinated, and also 1/3 as likely to get COVID if you’re vaxxed. I think that implies that you’re half as likely to die from it if you get it and are vaxxed, or the unvaxxed are twice as likely to die from it, given an infection. And that’s it really. After two years of trying to talk the anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers into some kind of sense, I’m just done with it. At this point, the only way to get significant numbers of them to get vaccinated would require some kind of police state business straight out of their wildest fantasies. Talking to them hasn’t worked, bribing them hasn’t worked, punishing them hasn’t worked, mocking them hasn’t worked. So, fuck it, let them die, I literally don’t care about them any more. I do worry about people who are immunocompromised, or who can’t take the vaccine for some other reason, but again, I can’t see any solution to that which doesn’t involve police state tactics, so they’re just screwed, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/28 "2022-10-10T01:13:45Z")
It probably would have been better if he said it’s here to stay and vaccines will help keep you alive. Do some PSA’s with real people who suffered loss of taste and other symptoms. I’ve been tracking the numbers from the beginning and thought I’d be done with it by now. But they don’t seem to want to go below an average of 400 dead per day. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/29 "2022-10-10T03:27:26Z")
Yeah, earlier this summer I was hospitalized with a bad arm infection/severe cellulitis, and I was getting over COVID when I was hospitalized. As a result, I was put in the COVID wing. I had a lot of opportunity to chat with the nurses, and their general take was that they had two populations in their wing- people who were vaccinated who were there for something else and _happened_ to test positive for COVID (like me) , and people who were unvaccinated who were deathly ill and struggling. They made it sound like there wasn’t really a middle ground of vaccinated, but seriously ill. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/30 "2022-10-10T03:44:35Z")
More likely it’s more accurately reported in the UK due to universal health care. Lot of Americans without insurance getting the 'rona and toughing it out without benefit of medical intervention they can’t afford. That’s gonna skew the numbers some. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797/31 "2022-10-10T11:28:19Z")
> [@bump](#): > > They made it sound like there wasn’t really a middle ground of vaccinated, but seriously ill. There is, but it’s really small. I’ve treated about 100 COVID-19 positive patients this year, all vaccinated. Only one had what I would call a serious infection. And this is among a population of frail elderly with all kinds of comorbidities. ETA. Last year during the delta outbreak it was a different story. There were a significant number of COVID-19 positive patients getting seriously ill despite being fully vaccinated. I don’t know what the final evidence will show, but from what I’ve seen omicron is a lot milder than delta. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-biden-the-pandemic-is-over/971797.md?page=1)