CDC Director: Impending Doom

[katie01]

I told my doctor about feeling a sense of doom at my last appointment and got offered Lexapro. lol.

Seriously, though, I'm not scared by what the CDC director is saying. I am a little confused. I would like to hear more data. Are the hospitalizations and deaths unvaccinated people in their 20-40s? The statistical breakdown would be helpful to know.

This is what I'd like to know, who exactly is still dying and being hospitalized? I posted above that an 18 year old (yet another) in our area just died of COVID. While rare, it does happen, but who is making up the majority of hospitalizations and deaths? Were they vaccinated or not? I am still having trouble grasping how effective the vaccine is in real world terms, the whole "95% effective" part is hard to interpret. What happened to the other 5%, and what would the efficacy be now with the variants?

 

[kdonnel]

I gave up on being afraid about this time last year when the State of Georgia started reopening and I was able to get my haircut.

I have no doubt that there will be spikes in states that have been more thoroughly closed throughout the pandemic and think there still could be spikes in states like Georgia and Florida which have been more open for a year now.

 

[Colleen27]

Then why doesn't she share what she knows? Why the drama of the "impending doom" comment, without more info?

Because the information is already out there? You'd have to be deliberately avoiding covid news not to hear about which states are in deep trouble right now or about the European countries going back into hard lockdowns.

Poke around in the data here and see if "impending doom" still sounds like an unreasonable description: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-coronavirus-dashboard-vaccines-cases-deaths-and-maps

 

[Alicefan]

It's been said since the very beginning with all vaccines for Covid, that none of them will prevent you from getting it.
You can still get it, and spread it, but when you do get it, it shouldn't be as full on as it has been for the past year.

This being the case, I can't make heads or tails why they are just about forcing you to have it in order to cruise or travel etc. Shouldn't that be my decision being that it helps no one but me?

 

[Alicefan]

I gave up on being afraid about this time last year when the State of Georgia started reopening and I was able to get my haircut.

I have no doubt that there will be spikes in states that have been more thoroughly closed throughout the pandemic and think there still could be spikes in states like Georgia and Florida which have been more open for a year now.

This time last year we were just starting to shut down. We didn't pop out like groundhogs until around the middle of May lol

 

[neverlandsky]

Covid is mutating into variants to survive. What viruses do best. Plus those that had both Covid shots are now testing positive for Covid after 14+ days from the 2nd shot. The J&J vax was developed & tested with stem cells so that vax isn't going over well. Covid vax was not meant to be a cure. It was meant to just lessen the severity of Covid and ease hospitalizations overall.

Mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing/sanitizing is also a proven science that's been working too. Having the MMR vax helps combat the severity of Covid as well. In other words, there's more than one way to combat the virus. Unfortunately, Covid is still in it's infancy stage in regards to it's research, all things vax related, what works and what doesn't, etc. Due to these facts, the CDC director being scared is a very stern reminder that we should all continue precautions and safety measures despite having the vax or not.

Not scared of Covid. Covid is never going away. It will eventually and hopefully change into a mild annoyance. Unfortunately it's going to take time. A lot of time. Time is our Achilles heel especially in a society where just about everything is fast and at our fingertips. Where some aren't willing to be patient.

We were wearing masks before it even became mandatory and continue to do so. Cases for our area have dropped. Then this past week they are going up again. Why? Spring break & indoor dining opened to 50%. Yet some restaurants are going beyond the 50% capacity for all the financial loses they have endured. We made the decision to continue focusing on takeout vs. sitdown, shopping nonpeak days/hours, not gathering with others and if we do it's 1 or 2 households only every 90 days, constantly washing and hand sanitizing hands, masking wearing and washing, social distancing, etc.

 

[Alicefan]

Well put ..I hope some can grasp it. I think most people are just afraid of dying from a vaccine that has a .0018% chance of killing them.

There's no way on Earth to know that right now.

 

[tvguy]

If there will be fewer vaccines coming in the near term, I wish they would just say that and be honest. It’s insulting for them to treat us like we are incompetent.

I'm not sure anyone knows how many vaccines are coming.

 

[Feralpeg]

I am not scared, but I am apprehensive. This pandemic is not just about us. It is a world wide pandemic. While the US is improving, many countries are not. For instance, only 6 percent of the citizens of Brazil have been vaccinated. The pandemic is running rampant there.

Why is this our problem? Because, as long as the virus continues unchecked in these countries, it will continue to mutate. If an extreme mutation were to make it back to the US, we could be in this mess all over again. It is possible that the current vaccines would be rendered ineffective. The only way to really curb this thing is to stop it world wide.

In the US, many are becoming complacent. If we can't even get our citizens to vaccinate, how can we make it happen world wide?

 

[Pink Partridge]

Poke around in the data here and see if "impending doom" still sounds like an unreasonable description: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-coronavirus-dashboard-vaccines-cases-deaths-and-maps

Deaths are down according to that dashboard. 80+ year olds are fairing much better these days. I have no impending doom.

 

[Colleen27]

This is what I'd like to know, who exactly is still dying and being hospitalized? I posted above that an 18 year old (yet another) in our area just died of COVID. While rare, it does happen, but who is making up the majority of hospitalizations and deaths? Were they vaccinated or not? I am still having trouble grasping how effective the vaccine is in real world terms, the whole "95% effective" part is hard to interpret. What happened to the other 5%, and what would the efficacy be now with the variants?

A lot of that info will only be available in hindsight, but we've seen some alarming stats with the new surge in Michigan. According to our largest hospital system, the median age of hospitalized covid patients throughout the first two waves of the pandemic was "mid 60s". This month, it is 47. And statewide, hospitalizations during this surge are up 800% for patients in their 40s and 633% for patients in their 30s (compared to 43% for elderly patients and about 100% for the population as a whole at the time of that article). So a big part of the current wave is younger people getting sicker than earlier in the pandemic.

 

[kdonnel]

This time last year we were just starting to shut down. We didn't pop out like groundhogs until around the middle of May lol

I looked back and found the post.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/h...t-quarantine-hair-style.3800347/post-61820623
I got a haircut April 24th 2020.

That would have been the first day you could get a haircut in Georgia. The state started reopening mid April so about this time a year ago.

The shutdown, at least in Georgia, started March 12th 2020 and only lasted until mid April 2020.

 

[Alicefan]

I looked back and found the post.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/h...t-quarantine-hair-style.3800347/post-61820623
I got a haircut April 24th 2020.

That would have been the first day you could get a haircut in Georgia. The state started reopening mid April so about this time a year ago.

Weird, we shut our salon on April 1st and didn't go back until May 20th in SC

 

[NannyBeBe]

I am fully vaccinated as of today. I will continue to wear a mask when I go out and follow the cleanliness practices that I always did. I have done and will do all that I can and will live my life without morbid fear of COVID.

 

[Colleen27]

Deaths are down according to that dashboard. 80+ year olds are fairing much better these days. I have no impending doom.

Yeah, that is the one bright spot; we're far enough into this surge that we should be seeing the effect on deaths but they remain flat. But dying isn't the only outcome I think is worth avoiding. Hospitalization, the lasting complications of serious respiratory illness, and the financial fallout of all of that on people who are un/under-insured are no small thing, and once again we're hearing local healthcare authorities warning that the current trends threaten to exceed capacity in the immediate future.

 

[KingAugie]

I feel the same as you OP absolutely no feeling of worry at all.
Everyone in my house will be eligible for the vaccine in a week, all the people I know and love who are already eligible have had the vaccine, have an appointment for it or have already had COVID.
We started our phased opening of things a year ago, I've been going out to eat, gathering with friends and family, going on vacation all before the vaccine was available. I didn't feel any impending doom then and I definitely don't now.

 

[KittyKitty]

This is the dashboard I watch for the country. Why are the numbers going up in cases?

https://www.npr.org/sections/health...king-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-in-the-u-s
It is showing an increase.

Here is another graph. Maybe the experts are worried it might be a trend.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailytrendscases

 

[rotlex]

No worries here. My whole family is vaccinated as of last week. We travelled normally last year, vacationed, went out to eat, pretty much did everything that was allowed. Didn't lose a year of our lives and don't intend to moving forward either. Here's to our upcoming two week Disney trip!

 

[TwoMisfits]

A lot of that info will only be available in hindsight, but we've seen some alarming stats with the new surge in Michigan. According to our largest hospital system, the median age of hospitalized covid patients throughout the first two waves of the pandemic was "mid 60s". This month, it is 47. And statewide, hospitalizations during this surge are up 800% for patients in their 40s and 633% for patients in their 30s (compared to 43% for elderly patients and about 100% for the population as a whole at the time of that article). So a big part of the current wave is younger people getting sicker than earlier in the pandemic.

But the chart on this site practically proves the vaccine is working - no increase in hospitalization in this surge for 65+, which is probably the only age group in MI that has reached full vaccination at this point for any real % (which the chart also shows) https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/michigan-covid-cases-hospitalizations-vaccine-eligibility

 

[GAN]

There's no way on Earth to know that right now.

It's based on how many have had the vaccine against how many have died ...not really that hard to know that. It's on the CDC website. Sure, the numbers could change but I wouldn't expect anything drastic after 150,000,000 doses already given. Maybe we'll all start dying in another 5-years from now and then all the people concerned about it will be right -but highly unlikely given how the vaccine is designed. The only threat is from variants getting stronger and smarter because people don't like wearing masks....