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Sanford Data Show Unvaccinated Driving Coronavirus Surge and Strain on Hospitals

While one of its eye doctors commits professional misconduct outside questioning why we should bother getting coronavirus vaccines, Sanford Health answers the question with this updated graphic showing that vaccine refuseniks are responsible for the vast majority of its covid cases:

Sanford Health, tweet, 2021.09.14.
Sanford Health, tweet, 2021.09.14.

If vaccines didn’t work, the number of cases, ICU placements, and ventilator treatments would consist of roughly equal portions of unvaccinated and vaccinated people. Instead, unvaccinated people make up 90% of Sanford’s covid customers. Obviously, vaccines are working.

Sanford’s figures indicate that vaccines have reduced covid cases among vaccinated people by around 85% and reduced cases serious enough for the ICU and ventilators by over 90%. If Dr. Mick Vanden Bosch and his fellow yahoos would help get South Dakota’s vaccination rate up from 57.34% to 90%, Sanford might have only 45 patients with covid, 12 in the ICU, and 8 on ventilators.

That, Mick, is why we get our shots and why you should, too, instead of hiding from science and professional responsibility behind your religion. The vaccines don’t guarantee that any one individual won’t get coronavirus. They do guarantee that a lot fewer people will get it, fill hospital beds, and use up so many medical resources that hospitals have to start rationing care.

As Sanford’s Dr. Joshua Crabtree said on South Dakota Public Radio yesterday, “The vaccine has been given more than 4.5 billion times around the world with minimal reactions, let alone severe reactions to that.” The vaccines are reducing sickness, death and strain on hospitals with astronomically less risk than the disease they prevent.

Get your shots, people!

54 Comments

  1. buckobear 2021-09-15 10:19

    As I said earlier, the best response I’ve heard to an to an unvaccinated person is, “Funny, you don’t look stupid.”

  2. John 2021-09-15 10:44

    Right wingnuts are receiving what they wanted: rationed medical care — but via their broken ‘medical care for profit’ business model.
    Hospitals in red Idaho, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, etc., are rationing hospital care – due to the red state anti-vax nonsense.

    Governments and businesses must mandate vaccines now. Even a Florida landlord informed renters to vax or move – because he’s not renewing leases for the unvaccinated.
    Maybe it’s time to open the leper colonies. That could repopulate South Dakota.

  3. Vi Kingman 2021-09-15 11:18

    My granddaughter, who is fully vaccinated, is going to college and lives off campus. Two of her roommates, who aren’t vaccinated, have come down with COVID. One has lost her taste and smell and the other is sick. Now my granddaughter, who feels fine, has to get tested because she works with children.
    Hopefully she’ll test negative or she’ll be unable to work for awhile. If you remember college, money is tight and it’ll hurt her to miss it.
    Please people, listen to the scientists and experts and get the vaccine. Not getting the jab has consequences on the people who have done the right thing.
    In other words quit being selfish.

  4. happy camper 2021-09-15 11:25

    One thing to remember is that Breakover Cases will go up so remember that you might still get the virus. They used to say only .08% were breaking out but NY and PA reported 8 and 6 percent respectively. This of course is no reason to not get the vaccine because it vastly reduces symptoms, hospitalizations and death especially the last two. Although fully vaccinated I have felt poorly the last two days with Covid symptoms the hospital verified I am positive and must quarantine for 10 days. With cold and flu season here don’t be too anxious to assume that’s all it is. HyVee gives free tests in my case the local hospital had a faster turnaround time and they will bill your insurance company. There must be a doctor’s order but I didn’t have to actually see him. I don’t think you want to in any way run yourself down even if you’ve had the vaccine. There is no way I could go to work. I had strange symptoms like eye pain and no sense of smell but that’s not always true, so I think it will be important to watch Breakover Cases moving forward, and of course not allow the antivaxers to use that statistic to their benefit.

  5. Mark Anderson 2021-09-15 11:38

    Check out the price tag for the unvaccinated. It’s five and a half billion right now. Shutting down processes that people need. Good job “freedom” lovers. We could all be in normal right now and I’m not talking Illinois.

  6. John 2021-09-15 12:50

    Companies and colleges must raise the medical insurance premiums for the unvaccinated. Delta Airlines did. Malingerers then got vaccinated.

    County public health officers across the US are failing. They should be providing mandatory emergency vaccination and masking mandates.

  7. Porter Lansing 2021-09-15 13:14

    Two Things:

    1. The latest limited logic: “If you’re vaccinated and you can still get a mild Covid and still spread the Delta, why bother to get vaccinated?”

    2. If there was a Covid oral medication would that entice some “hesitants” to join the group? Is it a deathly fear of needles that’s driving some?

    Answer 1. – Because the unvaccinated are petri dishes for the next variant.
    Answer 2. – Damned if I know. Make a Covid pill and see if it helps.

  8. happy camper 2021-09-15 13:53

    Here is a good NPR article on Mild Breakthrough Cases. We’ll have to watch this closely. Data lags.

    Quote: In the U.S., a study published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine concluded that vaccine effectiveness “against any symptomatic disease is considerably lower against the delta variant,” dropping from over 90% earlier in the year before delta was the predominant strain to only about 65% in July. Research on breakthrough infections over the summer in New York found the vaccines were still overall about 80% effective against any infection. Each study has its limits.

    How high are my chances of getting a breakthrough case these days?
    It used to be quite rare, but the rise of delta has changed the odds.

    “It’s a totally different ballgame with this delta phase,” says Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, Calif. “I think the chance of having a symptomatic infection has gone up substantially.”

    But he adds, “Quantifying that in the U.S. is very challenging” because our “data is so shoddy.”

    https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/09/12/1036356773/i-got-a-mild-breakthrough-case-heres-what-i-wish-id-known

  9. jerry 2021-09-15 14:14

    One in Five Hundred of us Gringos have died from the covid. The odds are not for the unvaccinated at all, but yet they buy lottery tickets thinking those odds are better. Math, where are ye? Where your masks, stay the hell away from bars, restaurants and churches. Get your hooch and go home, buy from a known dealer and go home, order your munchies for delivery and stay safe at home. The Baby Jesus can hear you without going to the church.

  10. Ryan 2021-09-15 19:17

    Sanford updates this graphic often and pushes it out to anyone who will listen. It’s a great visual representation of the whole picture for the folks who apparently need pictures, not words. I honestly can’t wait until this pandemic is over mostly for the shame all these hoaxers and antivaxxers will feel. Like flat earthers, they will know we are all laughing at them, not with them. Hopefully that is sooner than later so fewer innocent people die.

  11. ds 2021-09-15 21:21

    (CNN)The United States has reached another grim milestone in its fight against the devastating Covid-19 pandemic: 1 in 500 Americans have died from coronavirus since the nation’s first reported infection.

    note..(One in 422 here in South Dakota)

    CNN)Our children are getting sick from the coronavirus. Covid-19 infections have increased exponentially, with nearly 500,000 new cases in the past two weeks, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. This represents a 240% increase since early July. Children now constitute 29% of all new cases nationwide. Many of the new infections are in kids under 12, too young to be vaccinated at this time.

    If they just would have eaten their vegetables, right John?

  12. ds 2021-09-15 21:31

    Oops ,sorry Mr./ John…i should have specified …’John Dale”…

  13. ds 2021-09-15 21:33

    Oops ,sorry Mr. John I should have specified …’John Dale”…

  14. happy camper 2021-09-16 06:16

    “According to the state’s latest data, 18 percent of new COVID-19 cases occurred in fully vaccinated people.” This being reported by North Carolina. That’s huge. They are doing us a disservice by not giving new versus blended so we see a trend sooner and know the risks. They said the symptoms are mild, not true in my case, I do think the viral load will go down much faster to speed recovery and greatly helps hospitalizations and deaths, but still, we need the best, most timely data to make decisions. You don’t want this.

    https://www.cbs17.com/community/health/coronavirus/wake-county-mom-fully-vaccinated-recalls-battling-breakthrough-covid-case-for-almost-2-weeks/

  15. Loren 2021-09-16 08:22

    If only we could get those who will not believe medical science to go to a veterinarian or an animal supply store when they get sick, we could take the pressure off the hospitals and ICUs. If you don’t trust the vaccine, why would you trust all that fancy hi-tech stuff in the ICU?

  16. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2021-09-16 08:51

    North Carolina: yeah, and if the vaccines didn’t work, it would be 50%. Vaccines are saving a lot of lives and hospital beds.

    Why are people so committed to arguing that vaccines don’t work? They are free, safe, and effective. They are the most effective way to rein in the pandemic. Why not just get the shots?

  17. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2021-09-16 08:51

    “not true in my case”—think statistically, not anecdotally.

  18. happy camper 2021-09-16 09:08

    Demanding timely information Cory is thinking statistically. PA reported a 6% breakthrough rate but they went all the way back to January to blend the data. That is not new, that is misleading. We should be getting a 2 week or one month trailing time to see where this is headed. Also, if they are blending the report of symptoms, then hospitalizations and deaths blended all the way back to January are also misleading so my anecdotal experience is relevant. I got my second shot May 5th so in four and a half months it brought through. Just one case you might say, but it forced me to look at what’s going on we’re not being given up to date information. Start thinking logically rather than politically. If you can.

  19. John Dale 2021-09-16 09:21

    Was the data peer reviewed? Was there canvassing of patients to verify they were unvaccinated?

    It’s science.

  20. kurtz 2021-09-16 09:31

    Most if not all christian nationalists believe vaccines created with fetal cell lines, despite that happening thousands of generations ago, give those of us who believe in the rights of women to control their own reproductive destinies just one more excuse to evacuate a uterus.

    It’s just that simple.

    Indigenous Americans and reservations have some of the highest vaccination rates in the country yet rural white, conservative christians would rather get sick and die.

    Make no mistake.

    In 2020 Donald Trump and Republicans like Kristi Noem targeted Indian Country for annihilation. Since 1993 Donald Trump used the federal courts to punish tribal nations who built casinos he said were competition so his administration slow-walked resources to reservations effectively deploying COVID-19 as a biological weapon in Native America. His Tulsa trip and the Sturgis Rally in occupied South Dakota spread the virus throughout the country. It’s called ethnic cleansing even genocide elsewhere but in Noem’s South Dakota it’s called MAGA.

    The faster Earth hating Republicans die the better off America is.

  21. Joe 2021-09-16 09:46

    John Dale: What peer review are you referring to? This is not a clinical trial. It’s a census of hospital patients. Vaccination status is a matter of county/state record.

    It’s truly sad what little productive use you’ve made of your government-subsidized education.

  22. happy camper 2021-09-16 10:13

    Here is a link to PA data their information was just recently released, but again, skewed data going back to January does not give an accurate picture of a constantly mutating virus.

    “DOH data on breakthrough infections (as of Jan. 2021) 94 percent of reported COVID-19 cases were in unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated people. Among a total of 639,729 positive cases, there have been 35,389, or 6 percent, identified post-vaccination cases.”

    This is an absolute disgrace not having competent reporting by the states and CDC with terms like “new” defined for accurate comparison and risk assessment.

    Misleading the public is not justified, it’s a huge reason Covid Vaccine Skeptics don’t trust Fauci. When you mislead you can’t get your credibility back. All Americans need to understand how many Breakthrough Cases are occurring, then be encouraged to get the vaccine using the most credible people to explain the medical benefits. This will also help lower unnecessary resistance to the mandates and embrace would should be a conservative approach to medicine, concern for yourself and family, etc. Don’t let politics spoil it any further.

    https://www.wgal.com/article/pennsylvania-new-covid-data-breakthrough-cases/37618865

  23. cibvet 2021-09-16 11:00

    Someone should really change their name to “biased camper”.

  24. O 2021-09-16 11:14

    Reading so many of the comments on this post and others, to me it comes down to exercising the responsibility that associates with your liberty. I have to begrudgingly see the right/GOP/MAGA point that there is a level of choice in getting vaccinated; that choice is how they are defining liberty. HOWEVER, once a choice for “liberty” is made to not vaccinate, then the responsibility (remember when the right is all about personal responsibility?) is to act in accordance with that choice. Do not place yourself in a situation to get sick and burden a stressed health care system. Do not place yourself (assume you are a carrier — just as one should assume all guns are loaded) in situations where you could spread the disease.

    If you want liberty, EARN it through responsible actions.

    Of course that is not what is happening. Instead, those of us who have earned the liberty of associating are losing that because the non-vaccine freedom-lovers have created the environment for COVID to continue and even worsen with variants.

    Or maybe I have to put it terms the right does understand: the only thing that stops a bad guy with covid is a good guy with a vaccine.

  25. John 2021-09-16 11:38

    The data set I want to see and that the COVID discussion misses is: what percent of the COVID deaths are republican? Are the recalcitrant anti-mask, anti-vax mandate governors killing their own voters?

    I suspect they are killing their own voters, given the anecdotal evidence of COVID clobbering red states.

    I suspect that data, especially in close districts/precincts may drive luddite governors to begin protecting public health.

  26. happy camper 2021-09-16 13:19

    The NY Times has compiled data from six states with large vaccinated populations that show breakthrough infections accounted for 18-28% of recorded cases and 12-24% of hospitalizations. We are just not being given up-to-date, accurate information. This is health and welfare not a time to play politics. Knowledge is supposed to be power, power to make the best decisions, not twisted by government to mislead the public.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/health/covid-vaccinated-infections.html

  27. John Dale 2021-09-16 14:19

    I’ve smoked a little pot and drank a little drink in my lifetime, but I just never got into the hard stuff, and I’m not about to start. Injections are hard core; too hard core for me.

  28. O 2021-09-16 14:27

    Happy, unfortunately your link is paywalled. To your point on face:
    First, that rate is still far lower than unvaccinated — especially fatalities.
    Second, the reason we have so many breakthroughs is the petulant, privileged minority creating a safe harbor for the virus, allowing it to thrive and even mutate to remain a social threat.
    This disease should have been vaccinated into extinction months ago.

  29. John Dale 2021-09-16 14:29

    The real dataset I’d like to see is geolocations of and RF exhaust from 5G emitters.

    Poke that all seeing eye with a stick.

    Wireless emissions can cause flu-like symptoms. Therefore, it is probable that 5G can cause flu like symptoms. Ergo, 5G everywhere can probably cause a fake pandemic.

    What do you think I am, dumb or somethin’?

    “Experiments with very low frequency electromagnetic radiation have demonstrated that the radiation can induce the brain to release chemicals that induce slumber, or to release a chemical called histamine. In human volunteers, the histamine release produces flu-like symptoms, which dissipate when the radiation stops.”

    https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/law/crime-and-law-enforcement/biochemical-effects-electromagnetic-weapons

    Don’t be ignorant. Most certainly don’t be evil.

    Consider making your own private contract with Christ.

  30. jerry 2021-09-16 14:38

    Monument Health pulls the vaccination for all trigger “Journal staff
    Monument Health announced Thursday it will require all physicians and caregivers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 1.

    The health system said the vaccine requirement applies to all Monument Health physicians and caregivers, regardless of whether they work in clinical or nonclinical jobs.” Booyah!!

  31. jerry 2021-09-16 14:40

    I want a contract with Huawei 5G, not sure about the contact with christ costs or the coverage area. Huawei sure has a lot of towers though.

  32. O 2021-09-16 14:42

    The “pro-life” party needs to face their accountability for the almost 5.3 million child cases of COVID. The variants that bred under their stewardship fly in the face of their false pro-life narrative. But I’m sure those children appreciate their freedom to catch a largely preventable potentially deadly disease.

  33. happy camper 2021-09-16 15:33

    A county in PA is reporting Breakthrough Cases of 23% for August, 18% in July, and 7% in June, but Michigan reports only 1% (according to the headline). This is an outrage against the health of the public. The NY Times compilation has been cited by multiple legitimate sources. If you believe in science you believe in accuracy. Nobody gets to pick and chose this important data to manipulate policy and public opinion. We are not being given the data in a forthcoming manner. We have every right to know Delta breakthrough cases are spiking. Yes, get the vaccine, but we must insist on full disclosure or it’s a criminal action. It appears we are being deceived intentionally.
    https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2021/09/16/allegheny-county-pittsburgh-breathrough-covid-19-cases-vaccine-protection/stories/202109160127https://www.abc12.com/2021/09/16/data-covid-19-breakthrough-cases-affect-fewer-than-1-fully-vaccinated-michiganders/

  34. PPNS 2021-09-16 16:42

    John Dale – Korea and Taiwan have had low CoVid cases rates and some of the lowest CoVid deaths. Both have some of the highest 5G coverage.

  35. PPNS 2021-09-16 16:46

    Correction – it should read – ‘low CoVid case rates and some of the lowest CoVid deaths per 100,000 population.’

  36. Allen Jeris 2021-09-16 17:39

    Keep an eye on this study below. To just accept things as truth is just lazy and lacks critical thinking…

    Shedding of Infectious SARS-CoV-2 Despite Vaccination

    Kasen K. Riemersma, Brittany E. Grogan, Amanda Kita-Yarbro, Peter J. Halfmann, Hannah E. Segaloff, Anna Kocharian, Kelsey R. Florek, Ryan Westergaard, Allen Bateman, Gunnar E. Jeppson, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, View ORCID ProfileDavid H. O’Connor, View ORCID ProfileThomas C. Friedrich, Katarina M. Grande
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.31.21261387

  37. jerry 2021-09-16 19:24

    DEATH PANELS, remember those? They are hear now. Don’t get sick or they may put you out in the alley and give you a liter of Jack Daniels and some opioids, along with a mirror so you can kiss your arse good-bye.

    :BOISE, Idaho — In another ominous sign about the spread of the delta variant, Idaho public health leaders on Thursday expanded health care rationing statewide and individual hospital systems in Alaska and Montana have enacted similar crisis standards amid a spike in the number of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization.

    The decisions marked an escalation of the pandemic in several Western states struggling to convince skeptical people to get vaccinated.” https://www.startribune.com/covid-19-surge-forces-health-care-rationing-in-parts-of-west/600097740/

    republicans wore that death panel crap out when they were dissing Obama Care, irony is a bitch man.

  38. grudznick 2021-09-16 21:17

    It is irking, is it not, Lar?

  39. M 2021-09-17 05:26

    People claim that one person can’t make a difference. Well…..Trump made a difference didn’t he? I can’t even recognize this country anymore, let alone the state I’m beginning to despise living in. I feel jailed and I didn’t do anything wrong.

    Face it, the John Dales amongst us, the handful of loud mouthed, gun totting sexists and racists are winning the Covid war. They have the guns and the ammo and now they can cough all over anyone they want. JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN

    That’s how low things in this country and state have gotten. To the lowest common denominator. Trump let all these losers out of Pandoras Box and he’s laughing all the way to the bank and then hopefully to Russia.

    I’m signing out for a while to take a break because it’s all going to get worse before it get’s better and I can’t stand to have my name on the same page as the John Dales of this lousy state.

  40. Bonnie B Fairbank 2021-09-17 09:59

    John Dale is a useful idiot, and I believe there are more than one of him/her/it. How does this person have all this free time to natter natter natter, yak yak yak, blah blah blah, expound, proselytize, lecture, and stun us with verbal torrents? Think about your own daily lives. Gotta walk the dogs, work, do laundry, cook, wash dishes, clean, go to the library, go shopping, volunteer, pet the cats, fix and build stuff, pack lunches, family time and responsibilities, mow the grass when it gets above a foot high, pay bills, help neighbors and friends, and Jeez-la-WEEZ I’m tired already and it’s not even 9:00 a.m.

    I’ve never read any of his screeds thoroughly because life is too short and I’ve heard it all before.

  41. Bob Newland 2021-09-17 10:07

    John Dale asked, “What do you think I am, dumb or somethin’?”

    After giving it, oh…., about that much thought, yes.

  42. John Dale 2021-09-17 12:50

    Flu disappeared. Now this .. looks like dubious testing again?

    Almost a quarter of people in hospitals in England who are being counted as ‘COVID patients’ are actually being treated for other illnesses, according to a new report.

    “Health service statistics show there were 6,146 NHS beds taken up by people who were Covid positive on September 14th, the latest date data is available for,” reports the Daily Mail.

    “But just 4,721 patients (77%) were primarily being treated for the virus, with the remaining 1,425 receiving care for other illnesses or injuries. They could include patients who’ve had a fall or even new mothers who tested positive after giving birth.”

  43. kurtz 2021-09-17 13:01

    Make no mistake. In 2020 Donald Trump and Republicans like Kristi Noem targeted Indian Country for annihilation.

    Now, Montana and Idaho are deploying reefer trailers as mobile morgues outside hospitals where medical staff are collapsing and funeral services are overwhelmed by gaslit white Republicans too inbred to get inoculated.

  44. jerry 2021-09-17 13:39

    John Dale is in the bag again. Daily Mail is a British tabloid exactly like Pecker’s Enquirer. Move on ” “What do you think I am, dumb or somethin’?”” Indeed, yes, dumber than dumb.

  45. Porter Lansing 2021-09-17 19:12

    Covid Vaccine Skeptics don’t trust Fauci because IMPOTUS set himself and his followers up as false victims and Fauci as the false victimizer.

    Trump supporters are NOT victims; they’re responsible for every bad thing that’s happened to them because of their poor life decisions.

  46. happy camper 2021-09-18 02:26

    Trump didn’t want Covid to derail the economy his basic platform was the stock market price. But there are non-Trump supporters who are Covid Vaccine Skeptics. It’s clear now why Biden won, the economy tanking, his carnival bark nature and other things were only icing on the cake. It took something this severe or he would have won another round as President. He’s showed himself to be dangerous, a traitor, someone who appeared to be rejoicing when Pence, McCarthy, and other Republicans were under attack. It’s hard to explain what we’re living through, a still-living traitorous President who has way too much power months after leaving office. This is not the history we want to write for our country. It’s not at all clear we’re going to remain cohesive enough to remain one country. We’re The Disunited States. After getting the vaccine I thought I was basically protected so I didn’t wear masks any longer no stores here requested it. We’re seeing the efficacy rate drop in Pfizer to 77 percent. Moderna held in the 90s. The vaccine is not going to be the sole solution but it should be part of the solution. After getting the vaccine I wonder if we need to keep exposing ourselves so we build up real-life immunity rather than trying to hide from something so contagious might not be possible according to the epidemiologists. One expert said he just didn’t think it could be stopped and that everyone will catch it. Is it going to mutate again to an even more infectious variant? Each person has to decide a strategy but we really don’t know enough yet about a novel virus that might just be with us now permanently.

  47. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2021-09-18 08:27

    Hap, the Trumpists seem to want covid to derail the economy now. They want chaos and collapse, for such are the only conditions in which a fascist mob can fully seize power.

    Don’t give in to the Noem/Schaunaman “nothing we can do/inevitable/let nature run its course” defeatism. No, we do not want to run around exposing ourselves and others to the disease. We want to continue emphasizing that vaccines work but are not solo wonder solutions, that we all still have to make real sacrifices to protect the lives of others.

  48. happy camper 2021-09-18 08:54

    I’m not saying anything different from that, but I don’t think we know yet the best approach. We could liken it to mothers who used to keep the kitchen floor too clean. Maybe we need to expose ourselves to smalls amounts of the virus so our immune systems stay current. If our immune memory lagged too much then a new variant might be able to break through and cause lots of damage to the body.

    But yes, look at Jim Jordan who just seems to not understand ethics of any kind. They want disruption but he was part of the Tea Party invasion. Tear it down and rebuild it, that’s what some of those people literally want.

  49. Porter Lansing 2021-09-18 11:21

    Only a “self loathing” personality would expose himself to a deadly virus in hopes of “saving the people”.

    Whether one chooses to believe the sentence below or not, is a personal problem.

    The best approach is to get vaccinated and receive booster shots, periodically.

    And not take one expert’s opinion over the vast majority of experts who agree with the previous sentence.

  50. happy camper 2021-09-18 11:35

    Articles like this are confronting the tough decisions with a number of opinions: “COVID may never fully disappear. Here’s how we live with it.”
    “Experts agree that the U.S. will ultimately have to learn to live with COVID, but reaching that future creates its own set of complicated questions. One of the most difficult tasks, many argue, is deciding what level of risk would be considered acceptable as part of day-to-day life. Reaching a consensus on how many cases, hospitalizations and deaths society is willing to tolerate in exchange for a return to normalcy could prove to be incredibly difficult in light of the intense divisions that have prevailed throughout the pandemic.”

    “Some scientists believe that certain low-difficulty strategies like masking, preference for outdoor gatherings and testing will become more regular features of day-to-day life, at least when cases start to rise. Many also predict that COVID booster shots will become a part of standard medical care. Despite these strategies, the key to reaching the endemic phase of the pandemic will be accepting that, on a long enough time scale, everyone is likely to contract COVID. Some say the goal should be to ensure that those infections are mild through vaccinations and protecting the vulnerable.”
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/covid-may-never-fully-disappear-heres-how-we-live-with-it-193657645.html

  51. happy camper 2021-09-18 16:47

    NY Times quote and food for thought: Breakthrough infections may offer an unexpected advantage.

    If you get through a breakthrough infection relatively unscathed, you are likely to walk away with more robust protection against variants. The infection essentially acts as a booster shot, researchers say, strengthening your immune system’s ability to recognize and fight the virus.

    Studies have shown that when people who recover from Covid-19 receive even one dose of a vaccine, their antibody levels skyrocket. “I expect similar things would happen when you have a breakthrough infection,” Dr. Iwasaki said.

    The vaccines train the immune system to recognize a piece of the original virus, a strategy that may leave us vulnerable to future variants. But every exposure broadens the repertoire of immunity, Dr. Mina said.

    Eventually, through booster shots or through repeated infections, our bodies will gain an education in the virus sufficient to counter versions with new mutations, he said, adding, “But we’re not there yet.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/article/covid-breakthrough-delta-variant.html

  52. Guy 2021-09-18 17:15

    Happy Camper, that’s why I wonder. If I got sicker than a dog from the two covid vaccine shots…did I actually have covid-19 prior to getting the vaccine???

  53. jerry 2021-09-18 19:04

    Guy, interesting point and probably true. This covid has been around for some time now. I believe my son had it in January but didn’t get the test….like so many others.

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