The NO-MASK thing was fun...while it lasted
 

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I fully expect us, here in The Villages and much of the U.S. to go back to "masking up" indoors yet again. The new variant is surging rapidly according to the data, esp here in Florida. Here we go again.

1. We are fully Moderna vaccinated and would absolutely get a booster when available.
2. The only times we HAD to 'mask up' indoors in the last few months was a) in the doctor's office b) on the airplanes.
3. I am still furious that China got away with starting this whole matter. I'll leave it as that.

Are YOU ready to go back to the future with Covid??? grrrr.
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No! I'm really ticked. But along with China, I'm ticked off at the anti-vaxxers. The governor of Alabama said it all: Time to start blaming the unvaccinated.

The only mitigating circumstance for me personally is that I prefer outdoor exercise to indoor classes. But I was enjoying dining "in" the air conditioning.

This, according to CDC and other "knowledgeable" scientists would not even be happening if it weren't for the multitudes of people who don't intend to or haven't been vaccinated. I have yet to hear a good reason for this.

Control. The govern loves control. They also like a distraction. But they could care less about Americans, like letting all those unvaccinated illegals just walk into our country for votes.

How many deaths from the flu in the past year?

I agree! :bigbow:

I'm afraid you are right. The delta variant in conjugation with the anti-vaxxers have sent us backward about a year. At this point COVID is essentially a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and I agree with the bean of my morning beverage that I am not here to protect others from themselves. Despite the new nasal carriage viral load studies, it is almost impossible for a vaccinated person to spread the virus to another vaccinated person.

About a year ago I was opposed to "vaccine passports", now I'm not so sure. The problem is that signs that ask you to wear a mask if not vaccinated created an "honor system", and our country is not as "honorable" as it once was. I guess it was foolish to expect that those who are irresponsible enough to refuse the vaccine would gladly continue to wear a mask. Two leading experts (if there are any) went as far as to state that we would not have this spike if only everyone was vaccinated OR the unvaccinated did as requested and continued to wear a mask indoors. So now the politicians will likely trip over themselves to make masks mandatory again, just to show how much "they care" about all the people.

The only unvaccinated group I have sympathy for are those that have medical reasons not to get vaccinated or a medical condition that makes it unlikely they will acquire immunity. But we can't make policy for 99.5% of the population for a small minority And just wait until the vaccine is approved for children---the same people that vaccinated their kids against polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella, etc. (because otherwise they could not go to school) will be objecting to the COVID vaccine. I suppose the die hard anti-vaxxers can home school their kids---kind of a blind leading the blind scenario.

Although the number of cases of the variant is increasing the number of deaths is remaining low. The NYT had an article on the reason many remain unvaccinated and it is accessibility for lower income workers.

Right on the money. Blame everybody but the ones responsible for letting illegals into this country and not checking for the CCP virus.
Great job, Mr. *

I'm not sure that is going to happen.

This is far from a tempest in a teapot. It is a worldwide movement: Italy, France, Australia, the UK, and other countries have all seen huge rallies against mandatory vaccines and mandatory mask-wearing. We don't hear or read about those much in this country, but foreign sources cover them pretty well.

Is destroying businesses and economies a fair price to pay for further control of a disease that is overall something like 99% survivable? I think that is the question that people are asking themselves right now.

Blame the rise in Covid on the immigrants? No basis in reality. Another hate mongering Fox news ploy. A Texas politician tried the same reasoning. Facts don't back it up. Texas is way behind other big states in vaccinations of residents. Only 42% of Texans are vaccinated compared to 52% in California and 55% in NY. According to FEMA, less than 6% of Covid tests of immigrants at the US-Mexico border had come back positive, lower than the overall positivity rate in Texas.

No, it's not, and that is why I would not have shut down economies all over the world.

However, mandatory vaccines and masking DOES NOT DESTROY ECONOMIES.

OK, 10 posts into this thread and we have our first political reference. And would you like to offer a legitimate source for that 6% number, since it seems highly unlikely to be true (a medical study, not your interpretation of a FEMA blurb)

We must blame somebody.
Snowbirds??
Seniors??
Spring breakers??
Children??

I suggest you do some reading on the subject. al-Jazeera has some good coverage regarding the reasons behind the demonstrations, particularly in Europe. Much of it is concern over the risks of the vaccines, primarily it is about what comes along with the mask and vaccine mandates; inevitable social distancing, "green passes" (or "vaccine passports" as we call them over here), limitations on the size of gatherings, downsizing the number of people who can be in a business at any one time, you name it.

In essence, this is a revolt against external controls that, rightly or wrongly, people believe just aren't needed, given the ancillary damage to businesses, economies, and lives that the controls cause.

Can you provide a link for that article, I would like to read it.