Vaccinated People Spread The Delta Variant, CDC Says

[Durian Fiend]

I'm copy and pasting below from a NYT daily email shared with me, in regards to breakthrough Covid cases. It argues the data gathered to date indicates that people shouldn't be so worried. Of course, it seems the vaccinated remain more concerned about the virus than the unvaccinated. LOL. One group tends to overestimate the risk while the other one may be underestimating. Think Phil Valentine, conservative talk host. "I'm low risk...". RIP.

"...These numbers help show why the talking point about viral loads was problematic. It was one of those statements that managed to be both true and misleading. Even when the size of the viral loads are similar, the virus behaves differently in the noses and throats of the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.

In an unvaccinated person, a viral load is akin to an enemy army facing little resistance. In a vaccinated person, the human immune system launches a powerful response and tends to prevail quickly — often before the host body gets sick or infects others. That the viral loads were initially similar in size can end up being irrelevant.

I will confess to one bit of hesitation about walking you through the data on breakthrough infections: It’s not clear how much we should be worrying about them. For the vaccinated, Covid resembles the flu and usually a mild one. Society does not ground to a halt over the flu..."

[eightfingers2.0]

“Society does not ground to a halt over the flu..."

Maybe an exception in 1918.

[randomq]

650,000 Americans have died from other variants. Delta is still raging here. Even if Mu proves to be more resistant, there is still every reason to take the current vaccines and stay out of the hospital.

[kalakoa]

I know it's impolite to bring math into this, but 650K/350M = about 0.19%.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

impolite...  about 0.19%.

Humans are notoriously bad at calculating risk.  I would wager (since it seems I’m wagering today) that everyone who flies to Vegas expects they’ll win.  Almost all lose, return quietly and talk about the great faux-Elvis show they saw.  I know people who won’t go in the ocean, because sharks, and still won’t dip a toe in the water if you offer them this statistic (roughly triple the population of Hawaii):

The odds of getting bitten by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067.

The odds of getting COVID seem low, but unfortunately anyone you meet could be a carrier.

[AaronM]

A shark attack has a high potential to maim or kill.

Contracting covid does not.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Shark... high potential to maim or kill.
Contracting covid does not.


As an example of how difficult it is for humans to assess and analyze risk, I’ll note some numbers:

COVID deaths are now around 600,000.
“On average, there are 16 shark attacks per year in the United States, with one fatality every two years.”

[AaronM]

How many shark encounters turn fatal? Not how many deaths total. What are your odds of bumping into a shark and surviving?

Personally, I did contract Covid and walked away unscathed. I am doubtful that I would lock eyes with a shark and then swim to shore unscathed.

[Obie]

My hometown in Ohio had an alumni reunion for high school grads.
One of the organizers was an antivaxxer and infected a large number of people.
He passed away on the 5th of September.
He posted "Oppose the mandate" "I stand for medical freedom " on August 10th and was hospitalized on August 13th.

[AaronM]

How old was he? Did he smoke? Was he obese? Just saying that some guy you know died from Covid doesn't say much.