I think any concerned citizens should just be like Mr. Lordi and get the vaccine. If a half-demon can do it, so can you!

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/norwegian-cruise-says-us-judge-allows-it-ask-passengers-vaccine-proof-2021-08-09/

U.S. judge has allowed Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. to demand that passengers show written proof of coronavirus vaccination before they board a ship, dealing a major blow to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's effort to ban "vaccine passports."

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Wow, I didn't realize how close 2022 was getting...

OT: Mr. Lordi was the founder of Kiss Army Finland, and naturally owns a Kiss pinball

Longish read on the USA delta experience vs delta in other counties with similar vaccination rates (UK/Israel/etc).

Tl:dr so far USA experience is not going as well. While we have had a reduction in hospitalization and death, we are not seeing the dramatic reduction that those countries experienced.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/08/too-many-people-are-dying-of-covid-19-right-now.html

If you are looking for a great vacation, you may want to consider Canada. With only 2,000 COVID cases on average per day, likely a lot safer than a trip to Miami Beach or Los Angeles. Unfortunately, us Canadians don't have the same options when it comes to visiting the US.

https://news.yahoo.com/let-thing-going-canada-opens-110102561.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

He should use that institutional knowledge to discover The Sun is a UK tabloid full of werewolf reports and Michael Jackson sightings.

Good. I hope it is the first of several executive orders he has issued that get struck down. The guy is on a total power trip and needs to be reigned in.

We should keep you guys on the list and shut down the Florida border!

No. DeSantis will be able to hide behind the order as he tells his base about government over-reach.

He will get them whipped into a frenzy.

Why have restrictions when it's overwhelmingly the unvaccinated getting sick?

Vaccine is out, readily available, one could walk into a pharmacy right now and get the shot.

The only people chancing it are the unvaccinated.

Oh holy s:

Florida governor's office says state could withhold salaries of officials who enact school mask mandates

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/us/florida-desantis-school-mask-mandates/index.html

Because when the unvaccinated get sick en masse, they overwhelm the hospital system and then there are no beds available for anyone else.

This ain’t just theory. It has happened and IS happening RIGHT NOW. The video posted the other day by PantherCityPins is an excellent (and horrible) real world example.

The unvaccinated aren’t just chancing it with their own lives…unless they are also all willing to stay self reliant in their time of need.

Because a cruise ship is a confined space with limited medical capabilities. If they have a serious outbreak at sea things could get dicey. Second, the vaccines aren’t 100%. Third, the jurisdiction of the state of Florida ends after the ship leaves coastal waters. So, really the majority of their time is spent outside Florida waters. Lastly, they are a private company and they have the right to take reasonable precautions to provide a safe environment for their passengers.

I am fairly certain it is illegal to not pay an employee for work performed under the US labor laws.

Trekkie has been told all of this a half dozen times over the past week and he continues to play dumb. It seems pointless to explain it again.

Also...HIPAA!!!!

Funny...govt overreach when our hospitals are filling up. But dammit don't tell me to wear a mask, it's encroachment on my freedom

It's all about decentralized government, and empowering choice. till you try to govern your district differently...then he'll step in. This would be funny if people weren't dying.

I’m starting to believe that you aren’t really a Trekkie.

This doctor is also vice chancellor of University of Mississippi Medical School. Hospital systems are overwhelmed in areas and it is going to get worse.

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" 2 Texas ERs temporarily shut down as US Covid-19 hospitalization and death rates double in 2 weeks "

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/health/us-coronavirus-monday/index.html

" Hunt Regional Medical Center at Commerce said its ER is temporarily closing "due to a critical Covid surge."

" Those suffering a medical emergency should "proceed to the nearest emergency room in Greenville or Quinlan," the hospital said."

" The vast majority of Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths are among those not fully vaccinated, "

The unvaccinated are really starting to cost society some big money with all the extra medical care they need.
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I understand we changed the definitions of "vaccine", "pandemic" and "herd immunity" but have they also changed the definition of "breakthrough cases"?

I only ask because I hear scary amount of people with "breakthrough cases" now as if it's something to be totally normal and acceptable with a "vaccine".

Perhaps we need medical facilities just for the unvaxed.
Since they dont trust Doctors and Science, Im not sure why they would go to a place
for treatment filled with people they dont trust.

Perhaps these locations can be staffed by people who search google and facebook
on how to care for them, for their treatment.

The pinball sales between Seattle and Vancouver BC already started flowing. There's been great deals on both sides of the border in our mutual regional groups and everyone was waiting for this to happen. Sorry you Canucks have to pay such a high import tax though.

While you can say that, I have two vaccinated friends that caught it at club event and in turn their young unvaccinated son got it. They all got pretty sick. In case you wanted a real life example of why. My partner has cystic fibrosis, so while we are vaccinated, while some vaxxed people are still catching Delta, it means we have to still stay cautious, because if she gets it she's looking at permanent lung damage and IV meds for months at the least. Which is really frustrating, there have been a lot of medical break throughs for people with CF in the past couple years including medicine that targets their specific gene problems that has changed their lives and let them lead almost normal lives again and live decades longer. Then Covid rolled around.

Oh, and she's the biggest Trekkie fan ever, like we go to conventions and have watched all the series multiple times. You'd probably rap Star Trek with her for hours... and hopefully you'd respect her disease and wear a mask so you don't get her sick and kill her. It's so easy to do and it saves Trekkie lives. She deserves to live long and prosper too.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/09/confused-anti-vaccine-protesters-storm-bbc-hq-years-after-moved-out

https://www.vice.com/en/article/akgqjz/anti-vaxxers-attempt-to-storm-bbc-but-target-building-bbc-moved-out-of-in-2013

Anti-vaccine passport protesters clashed with police as they tried to storm a London television studio that is mostly used to make daytime TV shows.

Footage circulated on social media showed shoving between protesters and a line of police officers who are guarding an entrance to a studio at the Television Centre in White City, West London. Up until 2013 it was the headquarters of the BBC. A bottle was thrown at one officer, whose hat was knocked off in scuffles with protesters. Officers drew batons as they attempted to control the crowd, as many protesters filmed scenes on their phones.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-3975940c732352f72e41f6e34a3a2669

Members of the U.S. military will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine beginning next month under a plan laid out by the Pentagon Monday and endorsed by President Joe Biden. In memos distributed to all troops, top Pentagon leaders said the vaccine is a necessary step to maintain military readiness.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the mid-September deadline could be accelerated if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise.

“I will seek the president’s approval to make the vaccines mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately upon” licensure by the Food and Drug Administration “whichever comes first,” Austin said in his memo, warning them to prepare for the requirement.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/us/texas-health-care-system-tents-covid-patients-trnd/index.html

Texas hospital system is prepping tents to deal with rapid surge in Covid-19 patients

A hospital system in Texas is prepping tents for the overflow of patients after a surge in Covid-19 cases filled its hospitals to the verge of capacity.

Harris Health System in Houston is reporting 1 in 4 patients at its two hospitals have tested positive for Covid-19.
Ben Taub Hospital's intensive care unit is at 95% capacity with 27% of utilization by Covid-19 patients and Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, where the tents are being set up, is at 100% ICU utilization with 63% Covid cases, Harris Health spokesperson Bryan McLeod told CNN in an email.
"They are still in the process of completing set up, and installing IT equipment, etc. There is no pre-determined time for when they will begin to be used, but they want the tented environment to be ready to go in the event they are needed," McLeod said.

"What is intriguing about this surge is not so much the magnitude of the numbers, but the speed at which the numbers are going up," Porsa said.
"It took us five weeks to get from one (patient) to 120. When I look at the last surge, it took us three months -- the rapid rise in the amount of Covid patients is very concerning."

Baby airlifted due to lack of beds in Houston

An 11-month-old girl had to be airlifted on Friday to a hospital 150 miles away because of a shortage of beds in Harris County.

Ava Amira Rivera tested positive for Covid-19, according to Amanda Callaway, a spokeswoman for Harris Health System. Callaway said Ava was having seizures and needed to be incubated but Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, where she was first taken, does not offer pediatric services.

None of the major pediatric hospitals in the area had beds available, Callaway said.

112 year old vaccination cards

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I understand completely. Some people are for control over other people’s lives.

As I said before, people are capable of making their own decisions. The vaccine is out and readily available. With this latest surge, more and more people are getting vaccinated. Hence, people looking at their risk assessment and more are deciding to get vaccinated.

This idea that covid will go away is foolish thinking. It’s going to be with us forever. We need to learn to live with it. Remember, it keeps mutating and animals are getting it.

If you feel unsafe, stay home. I don’t feel safe walking by myself in NYC at night, so I don’t do that.

BTW, when the press reports that hospitals are full…you realize that number takes into account everything, not just covid? That’s why sometimes elective surgeries are paused.

Keep repeating that I have no idea what I’m talking about, it doesn’t make it true. Since I’ve been labeled the “idiot”, can someone please explain to me how we eradicate this disease…I’m all ears.

I deal with lots of customers. When someone asks “can you wear a mask?”, I wear a mask.

I’m not for people dying. That’s silly. I’m against further lockdowns and mandates when vaccines are available for anyone who wants one. Believe it or not, most of America thinks the same way. That’s why my Governor won’t do a lockdown right now, election year and he knows he’ll get voted out.

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/world/covid-19-iceland-deals-with-growing-delta-problem/#ath

Iceland is experiencing its worst Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.

That's despite near-total vaccination levels. And what Delta's doing there may now be a sign of things to come for others.

Some 96 per cent of all Icelandic women over 16 have received at least one vaccine dose. The figure for men is about 90 per cent. In total, 86 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Now, the sparsely populated island has more than 1590 active cases. About 20 are in hospital, with a quarter of those in intensive care. While that doesn't sound like many, in such a small country even that number puts a strain on its healthcare resources.

But the study found the same levels of Covid Delta virus living in the noses and throats of both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.

Those are really cool! I love old documents like that. The quarantine punch holes too.. Looks like a border crossing requirement this country should be using.

Vaccinations, distancing, masking....

The idea is to reduce the likelihood of transmission and reduce the number of places the virus can set up shop to replicate.

Once the virus can't spread or replicate anywhere, it should eventually die out for the most part.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eradication_of_infectious_diseases

We eradicated smallpox.

You lost me at the use of Wikipedia as a reference.

"Should....eventually....for the most part." Sounds decisive enough to me.

Again, the primary goal of the vaccines is to prevent severe disease. Seems to me the Iceland scenario is a success story that is being misinterpreted as a failure.

Incorrect.

Please tell me where the 48 million people in this country aged 0-12 are able to get a vaccine right now.

Just stumbled across this little gem on Facebook. Are they suggesting the vaccinated were injected with the virus or that they get infected with more of the virus then the non vaccinated???? Either way what a joke!!!! But hey, if it's on Facebook it must be true!

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I'm not pro lockdowns, but I'm pro vaccinations, distancing, and masking. These are very easy things we can do to stop the spread of the virus. The unvaccinated are spreading Covid and responsible for more people getting sick, dying and the economic impacts on businesses. If everyone steps up and does their part, we will save lives.

We have vaccinations and the virus is mutating.

Distancing doesn’t work. Especially now that it’s as transmissible as chicken pox.

The only mask that offers protection is the 95 mask. In NJ, when we were all masked up with the original strain, cases still went up…while wearing masks.

How do we stop the virus from hopping to animals?

We can’t vaccinate the world quick enough. It’s gonna be just like the flu, with yearly boosters for the new strain.

It also states in the very same article
"But, last week, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US published a new case study of a Delta outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

It prompted the CDC to advise even fully vaccinated people to continue wearing masks.

About 75 per cent of those who contracted Delta in that town were fully vaccinated. About 470 cases were detected. Five were hospitalised. None died."

To me that's 100% efficacy.

But we now know most masks that people wear aren't stopping the spread, we should make N95's mandatory.

Also we know that the vaccinated Spread COVID-19 just as Easily as Unvaccinated if not more so now that they don't show as many symptoms.

https://ci.uky.edu/kentuckyhealthnews/2021/08/03/fauci-the-vaccinated-can-be-as-infectious-as-the-unvaccinated-so-they-need-to-wear-masks-indoors-pandemic-will-get-worse/

Here in DC a growing number of restaurants, bars, and concert venues are requiring proof of vaccination or recent negative test for entry. I'm curious if this has happened in any pinball tournament venues yet.

People still don't know this? Ponderous man...

So are you a proponent of making all mitigation efforts - masking, vaccination, distancing - voluntary and up to the discretion of each individual?

Simulation of vaccines only and + other mitigation efforts vs alpha and delta variants.

Vaccines aren’t enough by themselves to control delta

Also note that this is a best case vaccine scenario, reality is likely worse.

So yes we all have to row the boat together, and no you don’t get to just sit there splashing the paddles.

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seeing as the first two do almost zero to stop the transmission, I am.