Skip to main content

Pandemic of the Unvaccinated--Right?

I'm starting to wonder if I should cancel my trip to West Virginia and go someplace without COVID--someplace with a high vaccination rate where they've pretty much gotten rid of COVID. That's how it works, right--when enough people get vaccinated, you get rid of COVID? We only have a 50% vaccination rate here in the US. It's only 43% in West Virginia. The horror! It's put us in a pandemic of the unvaccinated, according to the CDC in an article from a few weeks ago. 

People who are fully vaccinated are protected against severe Covid-19, including the delta variant, [CDC Director Dr. Rochelle] Walensky said.

Where to jet off to? England seems like a nice place, so full of pretty scenery, history, and impressive architecture and twee towns. The UK has an impressive vaccination rate of 73%, too. There must not be much COVID there...right?

Source: Spectator UK

Oh! They must have taken most of their vaccines around the end of July...right?

Source: Spectator UK

Wait...wasn't "freedom day" on July 19--the day before positive tests started going down? Weird! Maybe I'll visit when they have COVID under better control. Meantime, Iceland looks interesting. Their vaccination rate is 75% and CNN says they have a rigorous tracking and tracing system, masks required at the airport, and nose and throat swabs to "filter out" anyone carrying the virus. COVID carriers have to quarantine for 14 days. And their death rate is only three per 100,000 people compared to 440 per 100,000 in the UK. It just gets better and better. 

Oops--that article is almost 45 days old. Their Chief Epidemiologist said today that 

In the past two to three weeks, the Delta variant has outstripped all others in Iceland and it has become clear that vaccinated people can easily contract it as well and spread it to others.

Health authorities in Iceland sent a memo to their government warning them about the "heavy strain on the healthcare system cause[d] by the current record rate of infection." It must be those selfish, irresponsible people who haven't gotten vaccinated...right?

Source: https://www.covid.is/data

Around 24 have had to be hospitalised in this wave, just over 1%...However, 2.4% of unvaccinated people that contract COVID-19 now are hospitalised.

But I thought we were in a "pandemic of the unvaccinated"! Whatever it is that's going on, I don't want to go where there's an outbreak or a strained hospital system or looming restrictions. So I have the answer: Gibraltar--it's nearly 100% vaccinated. 

Source: CDC. 

Or maybe I'll avoid Gibraltar altogether. But there's finally a clue about what's going on.  The CDC admitted that

...even fully vaccinated travelers might be at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading some Covid-19 variants.

Maybe I should take another look at West Virginia, even if they only have a 43% vaccination rate. What does their dashboard say?

Source: WV Covid dashboard

Source: WV Covid dashboard

Gee, it's like vaccination rates don't have anything to do with COVID spread. What was it the epidemiologist from Iceland said--

...it has become clear that vaccinated people can easily contract [the Delta variant] as well and spread it to others.

* * * * *

I admit I was kidding about changing my vacation plans. I've already bought a new bikini and Iceland and England seem a bit chilly for it. My beef is with the blaming, shaming, punishment, and at this point, lying about people who don't want an experimental medicine. Anyone with an internet connection and a little curiosity can figure out that we're not going to vaccinate our way out of the pandemic. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog Lineup Change

Bye-bye, Fathead. I've enjoyed the blog, but can't endorse the high-fat, high-carb Perfect Health Diet that somehow makes so much sense to some otherwise bright people. An astrophysicist makes some rookie mistakes on a LC diet, misdiagnoses them, makes up "glucose deficiency," and creates a diet that's been shown in intervention studies to increase small LDL, which can lead to heart disease. A computer programmer believes in the diet and doesn't seem eager to refute it because, perhaps, scientists are freakin' liars and while he's good at spotting logical inconsistencies, lacks some intermediate knowledge of human biology. To Tom's credit, he says it's not the right diet for everyone, but given the truckload of food that has to be prepared and eaten, impracticality of following it while traveling (or even not traveling), and unsuitability for FODMAPs sufferers, diabetics and anyone prone to heart disease (i.e., much of the population), I'm...
24 comments
Read more

Collagen-filled Low Carb Burritos

Low-carb, grain-free Mexican food is hard to find, but it's easy to make your own at home. This recipe has an authentic ingredient: carne de lengua, or beef tongue. Don't be put off: beef tongue is tender, delicious, and full of collagen. Look for it directly from farmers in your area. To cook it, cut it in 1" to 1-1/2" slices and pressure cook for one hour. Enjoy the delicious broth as a bonus. Ingredients 1 slice cooked beef tongue, peeled and cut into small cubes 1 egg wrap (I use these  from Egglife) 1/4 cup cooked black or pinto beans Chili pepper Oregano Garlic (powdered or minced) Cumin Guacamole (with no emulsifiers) Salsa Shredded cheddar cheese Sour cream or homemade cream cheese  with no emulsifiers  Put the egg wrap on a plate and put the beef and beans down the middle of it. Sprinkle with the herbs and spices. Wrap, turn over and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Spoon salsa over the burrito and sprinkle with cheese. Add guacamole and sour cream or homemade crea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Not Only Cheaper, But Easier

A while back, I wrote about saving money on break time coffee and snacks. I haven't done very well putting it into practice. But a post by James Clear today got me thinking about it again: Warren Buffett uses a two-list system to prioritize things. Check it out --and follow the instructions. Using Buffett's two-list system, two of the goals I ended up with were taking care of myself and saving $400 more per month than I already am. As I said, I've been wanting to save money, and the system made me really focus on this. I came up with 11 money-saving ideas, six of which had to do with food. Buying hamburger in bulk. Ranch Foods Direct sells one-pound packages of 80% lean pastured ground beef in bundles of 20 for a lot less than Whole Foods. Sprouts only carries super-lean beef that's grass-fed, and it's more expensive, too.  Not driving to Whole Foods. Whole Foods is out of my way, and saving a weekly trip saves gas. Coffee at home, tea at work. Tea is fr...
24 comments
Read more

Palpitations Gone with Iron

Thanks to my internet friend Larcana, who alerted me to the connection between iron deficiency and palpitations, I doubled down on my iron supplements and, for good measure, washed them down with Emergen-C. It's a cold medicine with a mega-dose of vitamin C, plus B vitamins and minerals. I don't think vitamin C does anything for a cold (a friend bought the stuff and left it at my house the last time she visited), but vitamin C does help iron absorption. After doubling up on iron in the last three days, I feel back to normal. (I'd already been taking quite a bit of magnesium and potassium, so I probably had sufficient levels of those.) How did I get so low on iron? Maybe it was too many Quest bars instead of red meat when I had odd cravings during my dental infection recently. Maybe because it's too hard to find liver at the grocery store and I haven't eaten much of it lately. Maybe the antibiotics damaged my intestines . And apparently, I'm a heavy bleeder . ...
18 comments
Read more

In Defense of Fast Food

Another modern trend - healthy food should be expensive, not nutrients-dense and preferably exotic, or you would be eating like plebs who live on a dollar McD menu. --Galina L. I don't try to jump over seven-foot hurdles, I look for one-foot hurdles I can step over. --Warren Buffett, pleb who eats at McDonald's Despite all the talk about wild-caught v. farmed, grass-fed v. CAFO and the vilification of fast food, a lot of us plebs benefit simply from carbohydrate restriction. But even though diabetes and obesity are rampant, and carb restriction alone would help millions of people, the impression is out there that you need to eat in a very specific way, far beyond just watching the carbs. Following a low-carb diet is already a high hurdle for many people. If some people want or need to raise the bar for themselves, that's fine with me, but there's no need to turn low-carb into a hurdle that a lot of people can't jump over. Organic produce and grass-fed or p...
17 comments
Read more