Reference to byte1's post-----------I agree...........with the statement about the world being overpopulated. While it is true that wars and pestilence are the easy and traditional ways of lowering that population, they are NOT the most HUMANE methods of lowering the population. As today's modern and scientific society, it is up to us to find a more humane system. I feel that human society has evolved enough to want to and be able to solve the over-population problem. I could suggest some methods, but without a panel of expert scientists and huge efforts at computer modeling, it would be just a guess. And, human society may (?) need to evolve for maybe another 50 years. After all, we have been reluctant to even face such OBVIOUS problems such as Global Warming. Which like everything else is related to population - even migration - up from the southern border, which will soon be a HUGE problem. You can't understand the "illegal alien" problem without grappling with the population vs available resources problem worldwide.

Yes, questions without answers in the post - which breeds more and more conspiracy theories. The truth is that the WHO knew about a possible Pandemic around Dec. 2019. Even Bob Woodward knew about it on Jan 29, 2020. So, obviously, the CDC knew about it. The better question to ask is why it was not ACTED on. And WHY is America # 1 in CV problems today!

Nope, I will only wear a mask IF there is a sign asking me to in order to enter the store. Even then, I may not feel like wearing one. But, I will go along with the hysteria UNTIL I get my second shot. A vaccination that I do not even feel necessary, but going along with my more frail spouse. Every "expert" says something different about spreading it after inoculated against it. I choose to listen to the doctor that said one vaccinated and waiting a specified period of time, I will no longer be able to spread the virus. Of course anyone can spread it on their clothes or by touching a contagious object, but I doubt even the hysterical mask wearers will go into a decontamination unit every time they go out and about.
I suggest that those that are scared, stay home. Quit complaining about those of us that don't care and don't sympathize with them.
I will never tell someone not to wear a mask or take whatever steps to protect themselves. I will tell the ones that demand that I do something for their satisfaction to stick it, because I'm not going to change my lifestyle at the whim of some strangers that are ruled by panic and hysteria.
Less than one percent die from this. Lots more die in car accidents, doctor's mistakes, over doses, etc. If you are scared of dying, then stay in a hermetically sealed space and take lots of vitamins. Also do not allow any visitors.
Yes, I have lost two close persons supposedly "with" COVID, but I have also known over a dozen that have survived the illness, shrugging it off in a matter of a couple days. So, I am realistic that there really is a virus. I also know that my chances of becoming infected is very low and even lower that I would perish from it.
Don't like it? That's everyone's prerogative, right?

Sorry, I have not read or heard of that anywhere.

How can you compare a virus with driving drunk? If one does not have the virus, they are not dangerous. You only find that person GUILTY of being dangerous because of hysteria, not fact. A person driving drunk is positive for alcohol influence and is guilty of willfully putting others in danger. You cannot charge someone with putting you in danger when there is no danger and no evidence of danger.
If I am immune to the virus and refuse to wear a mask then you cannot accuse me of being a danger to you.

Hard to understand this post? But. maybe I am better off for NOT understanding it?

Also spoken by the man that I saw on TV with horns on his helmet and his face painted in good old US of A colors.

Like that do you? TV Land is the playpen of old crazies that play the games of their youth and are young and vibrant in their imaginations. They feel invulnerable like superpersons to the slings and arrows of outrageous pestilence. It is also a real TV channel for old TV sit-coms that lets our TV Landers escape temporarily the reality of today's modern world......stay real......grasshopper!

OK, I respect those credentials.....good work. However, I stand by my statements that the WATER DROPLETS that CV is REQUIRED to attach to in order to leave one body and go to another (thus spread) - can be stopped by cloth masks. Just better by KN-95 and N-95 masks. We are not THAT far apart on our statements. What I am saying (always) is just COMMON knowledge.

Unfortunately, unless you have a complete hazmat suit on when in public, you become an integral part of the social chaos. Today, we ALL live on the small island called EARTH.

No, not necessarily. Many countries have CV under control and do NOT need to MANDATE masks. The US is singularly out of control, like # 1. We can get back in control by having 5 available makers of vaccines and cranking up the DPA. The problem has been in the US, that the people have NOT cooperated with science and medical authorities. We have a cowboy, frontier-style mentality - much to our own undoing!

Or in a 2 person gun stand-off, who will be the 1st to lower their weapon so that BOTH may walk away. Or which nuclear-armed country is willing to scrap some of their weapons to ensure a better, safer world.

5 % of CV positive CASES in the over 65 age group DO die from CV. Many others are long haul types. Many others have near-death experiences and LARGE hospital bills. Now we are up to about 15 % of cases with problems that NOBODY would WANT to have. Right? That would be right only for someone that lived by themselves on the MOON. So, NO, not right!

Honesty, if you think Covid is a flu, you ARE a Covid denier. That is all.

So this is the explanation that I have heard for the drop in Covid cases....

President Biden rejoined the WHO. The WHO now recommends 2 positive tests plus symptoms to be counted as a positive result. Naturally, when you change the criteria like that, the cases would tend to magically drop.

Oh, and there have been practically no flu cases this year. That seems pretty amazing, doesn't it?

I feel like we are living in Lalaland.

And before someone attributes the insane drop in flu cases to be the result of social distancing and mask wearing. How is it that the same people also blame Covid going around on people not wearing masks or practicing social distancing???? The logic, or lack thereof, is mind boggling.

Maybe it originated in in America? Have you ever heard of Ft. Detrick? Questions, not conspiracy theories. Although, a conspiracy theory can also be based on FACT.

Deaths Due to Covid
 

Does it matter if you died directly of covid or from a pre existing health condition accentuated by covid? Bottom line is over this past year many people were living with their underlying health issues but caught covid and now they are dead.

Just wear a mask and you may save a life!

Those "others" continue to perpetuate this pandemic. Vaccines alone, unfortunately, are not the answer. We have been repeatedly asked by the CDC and the expert epidemiologists to continue our mitigation efforts and that means mask wearing and social distancing. I guess we won't get back to normal life for a long time with all these folks who continue to live life like there is no global pandemic.

Me neither. I've known quite a few, including family and friends that have HAD the WuhanChineseCorona Virus, but no one that I know have passed away with it. I'm not certain the death numbers are correct - how many gave died of the FLU this season? FLU deaths are down 98% - how can that be???

So we've been doing a good enough job wearing masks and social distancing to pretty much eradicate the flu. But Covid is still going around because "some people" continue to be careless - not careless enough to pass the flu around but careless enough to pass Covid around? This makes sense...how???

They were talking about those who have the virus and do not know it - like many children. They are called asymptomatic. That is why every human is a potential danger to every other human. Some do NOT know this basic fact.

Let’s travel way back in time to March & April 2020. The epidemiologists, scientists & “experts” told us that we need to social distance, wear masks, close restaurants, gyms, schools. We even had one way grocery isles... All based on the idea of “flattening the curve” - to not overrun hospital ICU capacity. Wearing masks and social distancing was never intended to stop the virus, at best it was to help slow the spread. Now there is a vaccine for the vulnerable. Yet people still cling to the false narrative that we must continue wearing masks to make the virus go away...

There are different types of immunity.This article gives an excellent explanation why those who are vaccinated may still transmit the virus to others...........

Effective Immunity and the COVID-19 Vaccines

Oh stop you're scaring me. :ohdear::ohdear:

So......those people who test positive for what ever reason (example may be to return to work or begin work) they were tested but are asymptomatic are NOT counted in the numbers as a case? That is just wrong.

Among many differences between the Flu and Covid, Covid is more contagious and deadly. This article from the Mayo Clinic explains the differences between these two diseases.....

COVID-19 (coronavirus) vs. flu: Similarities and differences - Mayo Clinic

People still "cling to the false narrative that we must continue wearing masks to make the virus go away" because the experts, scientists and doctors are pleading with us all to do so. Have you read this article that explains why masks and distancing will still be necessary even after a person has been vaccinated with both shots?

Effective Immunity and the COVID-19 Vaccines

It makes no sense that if I hold a "super spreader event" like an indoor Super Bowl party with 500 of my closest, maskless friends that the only virus that we would spread among us is COVID, never the flu.

Think about all of the super spreader events held across the nation all year. Much of them maskless. But no flu this year.

You are fortunate that you have not lost a friend or loved one. I've lost 3, ages 73, 51 and 64. It is a slow, miserable, lonely death. You don't want your life to end that way.

Ask the WHO. It's their criteria. I've seen studies that indicate that there is no evidence of asymptomatic spread, basically if you have no symptoms, if you aren't sick, you aren't spreading it. I believe University of Florida did such a study.

Did you actually read the article? The only time masks are even mentioned is in the last sentence and it contradicts the basis of the article. The premise of the article, is that in order to beat Covid, we need to achieve herd immunity quickly to avoid a genetic variant of the virus that is resistant to the vaccine and previously developed antibodies.The fastest way to herd immunity is through vaccines and naturally occurring antibodies from those who have been infected. Wearing masks will, at best, only prolong the spread of the virus and therefore the development of antibodies, thus giving resistant strains the opportunity to emerge. Considering that more than 40% of Americans do not intend to be vaccinated, the quickest way to herd immunity is to allow the virus to run its course. The longer it takes to reach herd immunity the greater the chance that the vaccine you are taking will no longer protect you against a mutated strain of the virus...

What news feed would that be?

I don't agree with your logic. Yes, the fastest way to herd immunity is through vaccines. And people need to keep wearing masks until a large percentage of the population has been vaccinated, to keep the mutations down. According to polls, as of Jan 21, about 2/3 of the population has said they would get the vaccine.According to Fauci, we need about 75% to get the vaccine. So we're close. I'm hoping people will do the right thing.The government is doing all possible to increase the vaccine supply and to help the states with whatever they need to get vaccines in arms.

Yes, I read the entire article. I always read the articles I link in my posts. The article explains why "Even as concerns about the virus hopefully start to wane as more and more people get vaccinated, current public health measures including social distancing and face masks will likely need to be sustained." That was my take on it.

The quoted section of this post is the last paragraph of the article in case there are those who did not read it.

As I said in my reply, that quote is the only time in the entire article that masks are mentioned. It is a throwaway line at the end of the article which actually contradicts the article itself.

It’s not my logic, it’s the logic of the author of the article. I wasn’t the one who posted a link to that article. That was another poster who claimed that the article supported her belief in long term mask wearing. I simply pointed out that she used a very bad example to support her position. I think it’s a lazy approach to use an opinion piece to back you assertions. It’s much more effective to use numbers and facts, but if are going to use an opinion piece, at least be smart enough to choose one that coincides with your beliefs...

Well, you all can hysterically argue that wearing a mask is a necessity to the survival of the human race all you wish but I have no intention of wearing one once I have my second shot. I have never worn a mask in my lifetime for some illness and I have no intention of doing so for this MAN MADE scourge. When the hurricane came through here, I did not run to a shelter. I stayed home and watched the tracking on cable and followed it as it left the area. No one can make you go to a shelter during a storm. They even say "mandatory evacuation" and folks still stay home.
Anyone that suggests that you are putting someone in danger if you do not wear a mask is just being ludicrous. If you are not infected, whether or not you know for sure, you can not be held responsible for putting anyone in danger. These hysterical nellies need to shut up and go hide under their beds or in their leftover safe rooms and let the rest of the world pass them by.
By this time next year or the next, anyone tested will probably test positive for the virus, even though they have no infection. I have seen folks test positive for TB that did not have it, just came into contact with someone that had it. Most likely, EVERYONE will have come into contact with someone that has had it, has it or will have it. It will be in everyone and it is just a matter of time. IT will get weaker and weaker until it will be as common, but less harmful than the common cold. Just my opinion but just as valid as anything that false profit, Fauci might say.
If you wish to wear a mask because of the slightest risk of becoming infected, then go for it. In Tokyo you will see that it is common and has been for years to see many folks wearing face masks. If you wish to wear one, do it but leave the rest of us that are willing to sacrifice the one in a million chance of dying from this man made virus, alone to live our "dangerous" lives. It will not have any effect on you IF you wear a good mask.
I will reiterate what I have said many times on here, IT IS NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR HEALTH. If you folks are so weak that you need someone else to be responsible for you, we have nursing homes set up to check you in.
Selfish? oooo, that hurts..........NOT!

"As effective as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are in preventing illness, we don't know yet if they will entirely erase the risk of infection or further transmission of the virus."

This paragraph which is actually highlighted in the article, tells me that masks WILL be in our future for quite some time. What does this paragraph say to you?

2nd shot tomorrow. In a few weeks the only time I will wear a mask again is if there is a business I must enter requires one. People need to take charge of their own health. Wear your masks or cower in fear. I do not care. I have the rest of my life to live, the way I want. That is my right. So long, mask cultists!