Though the current project started as a series of posts charting my grief journey after the death of my mother, I am no longer actively grieving. Now, the blog charts a conversation in living, mainly whatever I want it to be. This is an activity that goes well with the theme of this blog (updated 2018). The Sense of Doubt blog is dedicated to my motto: EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY. I promote questioning everything because just when I think I know something is concrete, I find out that it’s not.
Hey, Mom! The Explanation.
Here's the permanent dedicated link to my first Hey, Mom! post and the explanation of the feature it contains.
A Sense of Doubt blog post #2369 - GET VACCINATED or get used to pandemic life from now on!
A Sense of Doubt blog post #2369 - GET VACCINATED or get used to pandemic life from now on!
I can't believe I have to say this.
Wear a mask all the time when out in public.
Get vaccinated.
Even if you are vaccinated, wear a mask.
Masks reduce spread of the infection and transmission: you keep others safe if you're infected and you have good protection from others, especially if they are also masked.
Vaccines prevent you from becoming really ill with infection, needing hospitalization, or dying. You can contract the virus targeted by a vaccine even if vaccinated, but you are protected from serious illness. Early studies showed that fully vaccinated people did not shed virus sufficient to infect others; however, with the Delta Variant, vaccinated people are just as contagious as unvaccinated people. If both are masked, rates of transmission are reduced significantly with appropriate distancing and other precautions, people can better avoid contracting the virus even if vaccinated. Though somewhat uncommon, there are cases of people being very ill with the virus, even though vaccinated.
However, the most compelling reason to get vaccinated may be to give the virus fewer places to infect and mutate. The vaccinated have protection against the virus, and the vaccination will help fight off the virus, and surely keep it from mutating.
By not getting vaccinated, people are allowing themselves to be incubators for increasingly more contagious and deadlier mutations of the virus, preventing America's population from reaching herd immunity, and allowing the virus greater free reign to spread, infect, grow, and mutate.
Without herd immunity much like the seasonal flu, we will find ourselves never able to eradicate this virus and will have to learn to live with it.
Unlike the flu, the Covid-19 virus is MUCH MORE deadly and becoming deadlier and more contagious with subsequent mutations.
Hospitals are overrun. The healthcare system is breaking. There's a shortage of space in ICUs nation-wide, a shortage of beds, and a serious shortage of qualified personnel, healthcare heroes who are increasingly burned out and at risk.
And much of these problems would just go away if people would get vaccinated.
There are a few "Vaccine Refusers" like the teacher whose public comments at a school board meeting were replayed by CNN who said "there's nothing you can say to me to convince me to get vaccinated." With such a closed mind and a denial of SCIENCE and a rejection of the advice of experts who surely know more than she, it's confusing how she came to be hired to teach anybody anything.
Yes, that's a rude thing for me to write.
I don't care.
It is true.
However, I want to believe that there are fewer of the Refusers than those simple hesitant or confused by misinformation.
I am by no means an expert on this subject.
But my information is sound and from credible sources.
Again, my attitude may seem rude, but this situation is really an intelligence test. Belief in science and belief of experts has always been the province of those who can think critically and make sound decisions because of faith in and understanding of science.
What is maddening is that so many presumably intelligent people have some bizarre justification for not being vaccinated.
Here in this post you will find a variety of resources.
I am sure I have already lost the Vaccine Refuser and possibly even the hesitant, neither of which probably even clicked and opened the post.
And yet, I have to try because I believe in science, I believe there are experts who know more than I do about this science, and I have faith I have faith that many others can be convinced of the good sense of getting vaccinated to combat the single worst public health crisis of our lifetimes.
This situation reaches beyond personal choices and "don't tread on me" stubborn sense of "freedom." The choice to be vaccinated is about caring for others, protecting others, and even protecting yourself.
In this post, you will find an account of vaccine mandates, which I support whole-heartedly.
If people are not going to do the right thing, then they must be forced to do so. It's not unlike the vaccines and other health measures already required to attend school or have employment.
You will also find criticism of the chief spreaders of lies and misinformation: FOX NEWS, which is neither foxy nor news.
Vaccinate against the virus and against dishonest people who have no business lying to national television audiences.
When Might a Majority of People Be Vaccinated?
Some experts have estimated that 90 percent or more of the total population — adults and children — would need to be fully vaccinated for the country to reach a possibly elusive threshold of protection against the coronavirus known as herd immunity, now that the outbreak is driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.
A number of factors will determine if and when this threshold is met, including the pace at which newly vaccinated people join those who are immune after past infections. But the presence of more transmissible virus variants could complicate that progress. And children, who aren’t yet eligible, may be key to reaching herd immunity, experts say.
The projection below only shows the share of the total population with at least one shot based on the current rate of newly vaccinated people, but it provides a rough indication of when the virus’s spread could begin to stall.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday about 197.1 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, including about 167.7 million people who have been fully vaccinated by Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine or the two-dose series made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
United States vaccinations
At least one dose
Fully vaccinated
All ages*
59%
50%
12 and up
69%
59%
18 and up
72%
62%
65 and up
91%
81%
*Includes those not yet eligible for the vaccine.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Note: Figures include the U.S. territories and three countries with special agreements.
About 71.6 percent of adults have received at least one shot. President Biden set a goal on May 4 of reaching 70 percent of adults by July 4, but it took almost a month extra to reach that national target. Here’s how states are progressing towards that 70 percent benchmark.
Adult vaccination rates by state and territory
Name
At least one dose, 18+
Fully vaccinated, 18+
Hawaii
86.1%
65.3%
Vermont
85.8%
76.9%
Massachusetts
85.5%
75.3%
Connecticut
83.5%
75.7%
New Jersey
81.1%
71.7%
New Mexico
80.8%
70.5%
Maine
80.7%
75.1%
Rhode Island
80.4%
73.1%
California
80.0%
65.2%
Pennsylvania
80.0%
64.1%
Puerto Rico
79.5%
69.5%
Maryland
79.1%
71.9%
Washington
78.5%
70.7%
Guam
77.5%
71.1%
New York
77.3%
69.7%
Washington, D.C.
76.9%
66.4%
Illinois
76.3%
59.7%
New Hampshire
76.2%
68.6%
Virginia
75.2%
66.3%
Delaware
74.1%
64.3%
Colorado
73.4%
66.3%
Minnesota
73.1%
66.5%
Oregon
73.1%
67.3%
Florida
71.8%
59.9%
Utah
69.7%
60.1%
Nebraska
68.9%
63.2%
Wisconsin
68.6%
63.8%
Kansas
68.1%
57.8%
South Dakota
67.8%
60.6%
Nevada
67.6%
56.3%
Texas
67.5%
56.1%
Northern Mariana Islands
67.3%
62.5%
Iowa
67.1%
62.3%
Arizona
66.3%
56.4%
Kentucky
66.1%
57.4%
Michigan
65.2%
59.9%
Alaska
64.9%
57.5%
North Carolina
63.9%
54.2%
Oklahoma
62.6%
52.1%
Ohio
62.0%
57.7%
Missouri
61.7%
52.6%
Arkansas
61.4%
47.6%
Montana
61.3%
54.8%
Indiana
59.7%
55.9%
American Samoa
59.7%
51.3%
Georgia
59.3%
49.4%
South Carolina
59.2%
50.8%
North Dakota
58.2%
51.2%
Tennessee
57.2%
49.4%
U.S. Virgin Islands
56.9%
46.4%
Louisiana
56.8%
48.0%
Alabama
56.7%
44.0%
Idaho
56.2%
50.6%
West Virginia
55.3%
47.2%
Mississippi
53.4%
45.1%
Wyoming
53.4%
46.8%
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
How Quickly Are Shots Going in Arms?
Providers are administering about 713,000 doses per day on average, about a 79 percent decrease from the peak of 3.38 million reported on April 13.
Florida, Louisiana and Hawaii are reporting their highest daily caseloads of the pandemic. The situation is especially dire in Louisiana and Florida, which have the country’s worst hospitalization rates.
The vaccines approved in the United States are effective against Delta, especially in preventing severe illness and death. The pace of vaccination has increased slowly in recent weeks as more employers and colleges have announced vaccine requirements.
Southern states, many with vaccination rates well below the national average, have seen explosive case growth. Mississippi, which was adding fewer than 200 cases a day at the start of July, is now averaging more than 2,000 infections daily.
Coronavirus testing has increased by about 50 percent nationwide over the last two weeks, meaning a higher percentage of total infections are likely being recorded as new cases.
The vast majority of Americans live in areas where transmission levels are high enough that federal officials recommend indoor masking regardless of vaccination status. With a few exceptions, state officials have mostly stopped short of issuing new mask mandates.
New case reports are leveling off or dropping in areas of Missouri, Nevada and Arkansas that were among the first to experience a major summer outbreak.
Case rates in much of the Upper Midwest and Northeast, though increasing sharply, remain far lower than in Southern hotspots.
‘A big deal’: Toobin reacts to Amy Coney Barrett’s vaccine ruling
Aug 13, 2021
CNN
Justice Amy Coney Barrett declined a request to block Indiana University's vaccine mandate, signaling that similar policies going into effect amid a Covid-19 surge could pass legal muster.
As we continue to plan for in-person living and learning next academic year, we are writing to share that Kalamazoo College will require students be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to arriving on campus next fall. This will include any student who intends to live on campus, attend classes or engage in any in-person activities. We will grant limited exceptions for medical reasons, as we do with other vaccinations.
The scientific evidence is overwhelming that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in preventing COVID-19 and related serious outcomes. They are an important component in helping us return to a more “pre-pandemic” way of life on campus. We appreciate the many students, faculty and staff who have already received their vaccinations and voluntarily shared their status with the College; this information helps with planning and decision-making as we continue our gradual reopening.
The health of our community is our number one priority, as it has been since the start of the pandemic. Our decision-making will continue to be driven by credible scientific data and public health guidance. We recognize some people may still have questions about COVID-19 vaccines. If you have general questions about the vaccines, please visit the CDC website or the FDA website for more information.
As of Aug. 4, WMU did reinstate its mask policy for everyone indoors. The university is not requiring a vaccination but encouraging everyone to get it. If the CDC determines the county's transmission rate goes below "substantial," then the mask requirement will only be for unvaccinated people.
It is what many universities fear. After months of gearing up for a fall semester that seemed like normal, with in-person classes and packed football games, the University of Texas at San Antonio announced Wednesday that almost all courses will be held online for the first three weeks.
The university’s president, Taylor Eighmy, notified the campus of 30,000 students of the shift, blaming a surge in Delta variant cases in San Antonio.
Fully remote classes are something leaders of universities across the country hope to avoid this fall, after three semesters of pandemic disruption on their campuses.
Yet, even as infections rise, public universities in Texas are denied the most potent tools to stop the spread — they cannot force students or staff to get vaccines or even wear masks. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas renewed his ban on vaccine and mask mandates in late July. As many as 20 Republican-led states forbid vaccine mandates in some form.
Fox News Could Be Sued For Lying About COVID Vaccine
Jul 31, 2021
The Ring of Fire
There could be a simple reason why so many Fox hosts are softening their language about the COVID vaccines: They don't want to get sued. Yes, the law absolutely would allow for a media outlet to be sued for intentionally spreading misinformation about a public health crisis that led to personal injury, but the amount of hoops that a plaintiff would have to jump through in order to make that happen is mind blowing. But that doesn't mean it is impossible, and Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what a lawsuit might look like against Fox or other media outlets lying about vaccines.
Tucker and Laura Ingraham had a discussion last night. It got real weird, as you might imagine. Tucker started talking about low testosterone and his fears of sterilization and ... yeah, we're just gonna nod along here to whatever Tucker is saying and pretend a psychologist wouldn't have a damn field day with it.
We pick up in the middle of the conversation, because that's where the Media Matters transcript picks up:
LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): And Tucker, I want to get to some other stories that speak of some of the erosion of our basic freedoms. In the United States, we haven't seen yet the -- the type of -- kind of brutal enforcement of kind of a medical dictatorship that you're beginning to see in France. In -- in France, they're -- police are now going table-to-table to these outdoor restaurants, checking for people's health passes. I think you and I were mocked last year for saying that this was what the left ultimately wanted to happen -- have happen here. Do you agree that that's ultimately what they would prefer to happen here?
TUCKER CARLSON (GUEST): Well, of -- I mean, of course. But I mean, you -- you wonder why would it stop with COVID? I mean, why not HIV patients or people with hepatitis or any transmissible disease? I mean, right? There's a principle here, which is that your health status has to remain private. The government doesn't have a right to force you to take medicine you don't want or need and that you have a right to keep private, you know, your own health condition. And when we give that up, I mean, you're sort of -- you're looking at a brand new country. And I -- the French are fighting back against this, you know. I don't think their testosterone levels have been lowered to quite the levels of ours by bad food or whatever.
OK, Tucker.
TUCKER: But there are definitely huge numbers of people who are -- are pushing back against this in the form of -- of protest nationwide in France. You're not seeing that here. You wonder how far they can go before people say, you know, "I'm not against vaccines, I obviously want to get COVID under control, but I -- you can't force me to take a medicine I don't want. If you can do that, why can't you sterilize me or lobotom -- what can't you do to me if you own my body?"
There goes Tucker, worried about the liberals sterilizing him. Yep.
TUCKER: That's a totally fair question, why is no one asking it?
Oh totally normal, Tucker, you bet. Your body, your choice, your balls, your apparent fears about your balls, allegedly.
It's sad because we imagine Tucker imagines other people really are thinking these things.
This has been a blog post about something or another.
This weekend in Texas, over a thousand people gathered at the Frisco Convention Center for a three-day Christian nationalist event called "America's Revival," featuring such luminaries as Mike "MyPillow Guy" Lindell, Pastor Greg Locke and Pentecostal preacher Joshua Feuerstein. It seems like it was ... well, interesting.
Join thousands of other God fearing patriots at America's Revival as we gather for three days of powerful preaching, heartfelt worship and a call to prayer for our nation.
This is not a time to bow down.
This is not a time to back up.
This is a time to unify, lock arms and declare war on the Satanic agenda that seeks to destroy our families, our values and our nation.
It's time for the church in America to have revival.
The speakers were quite explicit about their desire to see the United States government be even more influenced by Christian beliefs than it is already, at least partly because they think it would allow them to get out of the vaccine and put Donald Trump back in the White House.
Joshua Feuerstein, though not as notorious as Locke or Lindell, seems to have really been the star of the show. During his sermon, he thrilled the audience by telling them the story of King Ahab and Jezebel, heavily suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris was just like Jezebel, on account of how she once dated someone who also worked in politics, even though that is illegal. (It is not illegal.)
In his sermon, Feuerstein told the biblical story of King Ahab and Jezebel and how they faced off against the prophet Elijah. He described Ahab as a senile old man and Jezebel as someone who "slept her way to the top."
"Does that sound familiar?" he said, leading to raucous cheers from worshippers. A number of conservative pastors have referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as a "Jezebel" — a term used for an evil or corrupt woman.
This is curious, as I've never actually seen anyone call any woman who is actually evil or corrupt a "Jezebel." In fact, it usually seems to be a thing terrible people call women who are both awesome and super pretty. I would take it as a compliment.
Feuerstein even outdid Greg Locke with the anti-vaccination nonsense, assuring congregants they would not actually need a vaccine because they've got Jesus.
He said:
FEUERSTEIN: Listen to me, I understand and let me speak now to the cameras, around the world, to every pastor that's watching this broadcast, to every Christian that is powered in their home. I realize that this last year, that maybe you've been fed fear and fear and fear. But the Bible says that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind. You have a sound mind! You don't have to wear the mask! You got Jesus! You don't need the vaccine! You got Jesus!
Here is a list of all the saints who died from tuberculosis. Now, they are Catholic saints, and we can probably assume these guys are not too fond of Catholics, but surely they were into Jesus. And they probably would not have died if there were a vaccine for tuberculosis at that time. Is Feuerstein suggesting all the people who have died from COVID-19, or from any of the other diseases we now have vaccines for, died because they were insufficiently devout?
Notably, at least in these clips, he doesn't seem to be saying he doesn't think masks or vaccines work, but simply that those who have Jesus don't "need" them. It's one thing if, like Locke, you're so wrong that you genuinely believe COVID isn't real, that you genuinely believe the vaccines are going to hurt you. If you think they work but tell people not to use them just because "Jesus?" That is some truly evil shit.
Mike Lindell, of course, did not disappoint. He told the rapt audience the story of how God helped him kick his crack problem, but how it was actually only after meeting Donald Trump that he "fully surrendered his life to Jesus." Probably because of all the similarities. He then explained how God would be putting Donald Trump back in the White House.
Lindell [...] listed what he called a series of miracles that allowed him to uncover how the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump. He promised to reveal more evidence about the election in an upcoming "cyber-symposium" to be broadcast on his new website, Frankspeech.com.
The symposium is the latest election conspiracy project from Lindell, who told supporters the 2020 election would soon be overturned and Trump would return to the White House. He then promised the voting machines would be "melted down and turned into prison bars."
Lindell told worshippers they should not fear because "God's got his hands in all of this."
"This is going to be the greatest uniting of our country ever and the biggest revival for Jesus in history," he said.
I believe he believes that. The man is nothing if not a true believer.
There are a lot of reasons why religion should not influence politics. Freedom probably being the most important one. But another reason is that usually the people who want religion to influence politics want extremely stupid things, like people not taking vaccines for a deadly and contagious virus and overthrowing the government in order to make Donald Trump dictator for life. I guess it really is too bad for them that this is what the First Amendment actually protects us from, as opposed to protecting our rights to spread disinformation on social media sites.
Posted by EditorDavid from the social-(media)-services dept.
The New York Times tells the story of 17-year-old Ellie Zeiler, a TikTok creator with over 10 million followers, who received an email in June from Village Marketing, an influencer marketing agency.
"It said it was reaching out on behalf of another party: the White House."Would Ms. Zeiler, a high school senior who usually posts short fashion and lifestyle videos, be willing, the agency wondered, to participate in a White House-backed campaign encouraging her audience to get vaccinated against the coronavirus...? Ms. Zeiler quickly agreed, joining a broad, personality-driven campaign to confront an increasingly urgent challenge in the fight against the pandemic: vaccinating the youthful masses, who have the lowest inoculation rates of any eligible age group in the United States...
To reach these young people, the White House has enlisted an eclectic army of more than 50 Twitch streamers, YouTubers, TikTokers and the 18-year-old pop star Olivia Rodrigo, all of them with enormous online audiences. State and local governments have begun similar campaigns, in some cases paying "local micro influencers" — those with 5,000 to 100,000 followers — up to $1,000 a month to promote Covid-19 vaccines to their fans. The efforts are in part a counterattack against a rising tide of vaccine misinformation that has flooded the internet, where anti-vaccine activists can be so vociferous that some young creators say they have chosen to remain silent on vaccines to avoid a politicized backlash...
State and local governments have taken the same approach, though on a smaller scale and sometimes with financial incentives. In February, Colorado awarded a contract worth up to $16.4 million to the Denver-based Idea Marketing, which includes a program to pay creators in the state $400 to $1,000 a month to promote the vaccines... Posts by creators in the campaign carry a disclosure that reads "paid partnership with Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment...." Other places, including New Jersey, Oklahoma City County and Guildford County, N.C., as well as cities like San Jose, Calif., have worked with the digital marketing agency XOMAD, which identifies local influencers who can help broadcast public health information about the vaccines. In another article, the Times notes that articles blaming Bill Gates for the pandemic appeared on two local news sites (one in Atlanta, and one in Phoenix) that "along with dozens of radio and television stations, and podcasts aimed at local audiences...have also become powerful conduits for anti-vaccine messaging, researchers said."
Has recovery been difficult?
It’s taken about a year. It took months to breathe normally and to not get winded walking up a flight of stairs. Taste has returned. I started to walk, then jog; I still can’t run that fast. I used to be a runner. I finished two marathons before this happened. In September I was able to run one mile. In October I went back to the gym to work out. I was seeing a pulmonologist and a cardiologist. A couple of weeks ago they said I was doing great and didn’t need to return.
The new vaccine mandates will put pressure on other large school systems, particularly those in liberal states, to institute similar policies. New York City, the nation’s largest district, is currently planning to offer teachers the choice of either vaccination or weekly virus testing.
Leaders of both national teachers’ unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, have said they support vaccine mandates, but that details should be negotiated locally.
Nearly 90 percent of the nation’s educators are vaccinated, according to a survey from Education Week. Yet a small but vocal group of rank-and-file educators oppose vaccine requirements.
After 18 months of classroom closures and hybrid schedules, families and schools had been planning for a return to normalcy this fall. Research from the previous academic year had shown that schools could be operated relatively safely with mitigation strategies such as masking, distancing, hand washing and ventilation.
There is some reassuring evidence from the United Kingdom that during its Delta surge in June, schools remained among the safest places for children to spend time. But it is unclear whether the Delta variant presents more danger in American schools, given the patchwork of mitigation strategies.
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2108.13 - 10:10
- Days ago = 2233 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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