And I\u2019m going right now, to you my readers, that where Omicron is concerned: Never mind all that.\u00a0 You have much more pressing things to re-think right now.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a nice summary from a physician with the NHS about more or less what I gave you links on yesterday<\/a>.\u00a0 (Yes, he\u2019s writing in Al Jazeera<\/em>.\u00a0 I like them as a source for learning about the existence of Africa\/South Asia stories that the US press doesn\u2019t cover.\u00a0 In this case, though, it\u2019s just a guy who is looking at the view from his practice and the current, very limited data on the latest COVID outbreak in the UK, and it looks like we\u2019re seeing a similar view of the horizon.)<\/p>\n Here\u2019s\u00a0The Atlantic\u2019s<\/em> summary of the state of the science<\/a> as of this morning, which includes significant discussion of the part about how you\u2019re contagious before you know to test, and that reality includes vaccinated folk. (FYI \u2013 Coronavirus coverage at\u00a0The Atlantic<\/em> is not behind the paywall. So you can just go read and check behind all the links and see what you think.)<\/p>\n So let\u2019s talk about public health, and why I am very much urging you to reassess and update where COVID is concerned.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Updated (7:30pm EST 12\/21) to add this link to the White House\u2019s press release:<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n On Monday morning, a mid-level staff member, who does not regularly have contact with the President, received a positive result for a COVID-19 test. \u00a0Three days earlier, on Friday, that staff member had spent approximately 30 minutes in proximity to the President on Air Force One, on the way from Orangeburg, South Carolina to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This staff member is fully vaccinated and boosted, and tested negative prior to boarding Air Force One, as is required for everyone traveling with the President. This staff member did not begin to experience symptoms until Sunday, and was tested on Monday. \u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Fortunately so far President Biden is asymptomatic and testing negative.\u00a0 But guys: Fully vaxx\u2019d, boosted, and coming down with COVID?<\/span><\/p>\n Vaccination status is\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>a sufficient protective strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In my opinion, the US has had one single public health success in managing the pandemic, and that is in making vaccines available to the entire US population.\u00a0 I have many complaints about many things, including some of the details of this<\/em> thing, but this one thing did<\/em> happen, and I\u2019m grateful for it.<\/p>\n If you were hoping widespread vaccination would do the trick, I do think a vaccine-oriented approach to ending the pandemic was a reasonable hope.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, what I\u2019m seeing with the growing wave of infection and transmission within groups of vaccinated persons<\/em> is that many of us need to reassess the extent to which we were relying on personal and population-level vaccination as our primary means of self-protection.<\/p>\n I want to be very clear here: I think there remains strong evidence that vaccination is a good strategy for most adults\u2019 personal health.<\/p>\n (\u2013> Though I qualify with \u201cadult\u201d, my youngest child is fifteen and fully vaccinated; I\u2019m hesitant to make any further comments on vaccinating young people because I\u2019ve had no call to look into the question for children-generally.\u00a0 Since I don\u2019t have younger children, I\u2019ve only assessed what applies to my specific offspring with their various personal medical histories, states in life, etc.)<\/p>\n Furthermore,\u00a0even though<\/em> it is becoming very clear that vaccinated persons are experiencing breakthrough infections and spreading the virus among themselves, I think there is still strong logical evidence in favor of using household vaccination as a way to reduce (but\u00a0not eliminate)<\/em> risk to vulnerable persons.\u00a0 In other words: Even if you didn\u2019t think your child personally needed the protection of vaccination, it would still make sense to vaccinate your child if you or another family member is higher-risk for COVID complications.\u00a0 No, I am not satisfied with the data I\u2019ve seen on household transmission as of yet, but seriously? If you are spending two-thirds or more of your day in close quarters with somebody, it\u2019s gotta<\/em> be easier to get less-sick if that person is also less-sick and for less time?\u00a0 I mean, just guessing?\u00a0 But yes?<\/p>\n So vaccination remains a good strategy even though it cannot be a total strategy.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n The reason I am writing yesterday and today is because public health moves slowly and Omicron does not.\u00a0 Over the next week or two or three, if you are relying on vaccination-status as your means of not getting COVID, you are very likely to make decisions that will put you at significant risk of infection.<\/p>\n (Again: If you are a person who is indifferent to being infected, I\u2019m unclear on why you aren\u2019t scrolling @catworkers<\/a> like I told you to yesterday.\u00a0 If you exhausted that feed, can I recommend @hourlyfox<\/a>, @corgieveryhour<\/a>, @rabbiteveryhour<\/a>, and probably also a long talk with a good friend?)<\/p>\n I know a lot of people who have serious reasons to minimize their exposure to COVID-19.\u00a0 Many of you have, very rationally, taken the approach until now of using vaccination status (or immune status generally, if you also include prior-infection history) as a means of striking the balance in the trade off between the real and serious risks of isolation and the real and serious risks of infection.\u00a0 I am not in any way suggesting you panic.\u00a0 I am saying that you need to update your strategy, and that at this time you<\/em> are the only person who is going do that for you.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Listen, I know many of you reading this are hopeful that whatever governments are local-to-you will take appropriate public health measures.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason I\u2019m not commenting on what those measures should be, and my reason is this: They aren\u2019t actually happening in a way that will protect you.<\/p>\n We have seen multiple incidences of the\u00a0very leaders<\/em> who imposed strict lockdown and isolation and mask-wearing rules brazenly breaking their own rules.\u00a0 Um, so . . . there\u2019s a vector for you.\u00a0 I can likewise assure you that in institutions and jurisdictions where vaccine mandates, test-and-trace, and quarantine protocols are official policy, there are standard practices<\/em> of ignoring, circumventing, or outright lying to get around the rules any time there is a perverse incentive to do so.\u00a0 Maybe people are behaving in front of your face?\u00a0 But they aren\u2019t behaving.<\/p>\n Your understandable anger at this situation will not keep you from getting infected.\u00a0 You have to decide whether you\u2019d rather be angry-and-sick or angry-and-not-sick.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n In any case, your anger is rapidly growing obsolete.\u00a0 Omicron is not playing by the rules put in place under the regime of earlier mutations.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n So where does that leave you?\u00a0 It leaves you with reexamining the ways you can take responsibility for reducing your risk of infection and reducing your risk of complications from infection.\u00a0 What are they?<\/p>\n @CovidIsAirborne<\/a> is a fairly good aggregator of info on this.\u00a0 \u00a0Ditto @jljcolorado<\/a>. I would say that for most of my readers, the big change you can make is to buy or build a good air purifier<\/a> for your home (if you share air with people) if you don\u2019t have one already, and ditto for your workplace, classroom, etc.<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t seen anyone mention this, but y\u2019all: If someone in your home is higher-risk for respiratory infections, do a serious assessment of how much you can cut down on sharing exhaled air.\u00a0 It\u2019s okay to have weird sleeping arrangements so that your child with severe asthma isn\u2019t spending a third of his life breathing whatever germs the sibling brought home, even if they need to share a room during waking hours.\u00a0 Your marriage will be just fine<\/em> if your spouse who has comorbid risk factors uses the marriage-bed for intercourse but some other room away from your germ-exhaling self for a sleeping-bed.\u00a0 (Yes.\u00a0 I said that.\u00a0 Clean air is a great way to prolong your marriage and all the good things that marriage has to offer.\u00a0 If you\u2019re too young to read about that, you need to get off the internet.)<\/p>\n#1 Clean Air<\/h3>\n
#2 For-Serious Masks<\/h3>\n
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