Vaccine

Errr…..be a dictatorial state with a readily obedient population where people are canned for leaving gum on the street…everyone said you were a closet authoritarian…you Keep proving them right.
I don’t think the difference is chewing gum.

You may be on to something with your “obedient” slur. That’s another way of saying Singapore residents followed the rules and we did not.

I’ll certainly agree that was a problem, but I’d bet there were other differences as well.
 
We need to ask “what did Singapore do that we did not do?”
As usual you miss it again.

One might say what did Utah get right? They were open, had kids in schools, etc. And have one of the lowest rate of deaths in the US. Far better vs most countries as well.

See how that works?

The problem you have is you WANT the world to be as you lay out your own math. The issue is the real world doesn't work like that.

If only the US which is a continent sized country could only do the same as a country that area wise would fit into LA and has fewer people, then the US would have been fine.

Or if only the US had done what a small island (NZ) did and cut themselves off from the world....

If only we were like some Asian countries (Japan)...while forgetting about the Philippines with very strong protocols...the US could have...

You ideas are all so neat and orderly as you lay out your equations.

The problem is you don't look at the real world and see that it never conforms to your numbers. Culture, geography, demographics, health, politics...etc will all throw your numbers out the window.

You cannot wish the world to be as you like. You need to look around and update your thinking based on actual real world data and what is going on.

But you cannot.

You proudly claim to be the math guy. You proudly claim your area is 90% vaxxed. And yet in that area amongst your friends you are still running around with a mask. You are still not letting your kid doing birthdays (apparently the other vaxxed are doing the same), etc. That tells us again you don't look at real world data. If you did...you would be tossing the mask because everyone around you is vaxxed, your kid would be running around again, etc.

You have not adjusted your view to the real world data in the area around where you live.

If you cannot do so in the area where you live...you certainly cannot do so on a worldwide scale. Which is why your ideas/solutions are so out of touch with reality.
 
I don’t think the difference is chewing gum.

You may be on to something with your “obedient” slur. That’s another way of saying Singapore residents followed the rules and we did not.

I’ll certainly agree that was a problem, but I’d bet there were other differences as well.
Yes, that is correct. "Breaking rules" is celebrated in the US. We have a plethora of business-related books written with this theme. We ignore federal laws related to the border happily hiring undocumented immigrants to save a little on child care, yard work, and our burritos, and imagine ourselves "woke" in doing so. We allow blocks of our cities to be taken over for weeks at a time. Our politicians don't follow their own rules that take away individual liberty and we put them back in office without blinking an eye. So, yeah, "rules" are viewed differently in the US vs. Singapore.

I found something a little "mathy" for you that highlights the difference between Singapore and the US. It's called the Hofstede Insights. The results indicate what appears to be so obvious to some of us - the cultures of the US and Singapore are very different so policy must be different since culture drives behavior.


Also, a quick google search turned up this discussing how cultures drive behavior. I have no idea who this is, but it certainly gives those trying to understand cultures and behavior a place to start looking. I think the excerpt below is interesting given the "individualism" score difference between the US and Singapore above.

-----

The personality trait of extroversion motivates people’s individualistic thought and behavior so there are more differences in the population. If culture fosters a more extroverted personality style, we can expect more need for social interaction. Additionally, Individualistic cultures foster more assertive and outspoken behavior. When the general population encourages these gregarious behaviors, more ideas are exchanged and self-esteem increases.

The opposite of extroversion is not introversion. More correctly, people who are low in extroversion are more likely to be less socially inclined, but that doesn’t mean that they do not enjoy socializing. They may like to socialize in smaller groups or one on one. They can be less assertive. Additionally, a person who is low in extroversion tends to be less energetic and less active.

-----


This all comes back to the argument that Grace continues to present - policy must be based on the behaviors of the culture of the population. It's reasonable. Elected officials aren't there because that's what people in Singapore want. Understand this or continue to create bad policy - with wonderful lab results to support it.
 
I'm telling people that we just killed a half million people by being stubborn about masks and indoor dining.

I didn't expect flowers and a standing ovation.

I expected people to put their hands over their ears and chant "La, la, la. I can't hear you."
Youʻre babbling.
 
Yes, Singapore had cases and deaths.

Less than 1% of what we did, even after accounting for population.

They did a lot right, and we did a lot wrong.

You can call it a fantasy. Or you can admit that we screwed up. One tiny part of that screw up was your decision to spend 16 months bad mouthing basic health advice.
Have you paid your annual membership fees to the Flat Earther Anti-immune System movement?
 
Perfect end to your run this day. You are back to thinking we could have saved 500000 people by just shutting down indoor dining and masking. That wasn’t even what Japan, Singapore or South Korea did. And even they had deaths and cases.

either this is finally a tacit admission of what we all know to be true (that you think australia did the right thing and that the goal should have been to use Australian methods towards zero covid) or you are the one sticking your fingers in your ears saying “la la la is la” while dreaming of a fantasy.
It's a good thing we replaced the 500k deaths with 6x as many births in 2020 alone. Worldwide there are 385,000 births a day.
 
As usual you miss it again.

One might say what did Utah get right? They were open, had kids in schools, etc. And have one of the lowest rate of deaths in the US. Far better vs most countries as well.

See how that works?

The problem you have is you WANT the world to be as you lay out your own math. The issue is the real world doesn't work like that.

If only the US which is a continent sized country could only do the same as a country that area wise would fit into LA and has fewer people, then the US would have been fine.

Or if only the US had done what a small island (NZ) did and cut themselves off from the world....

If only we were like some Asian countries (Japan)...while forgetting about the Philippines with very strong protocols...the US could have...

You ideas are all so neat and orderly as you lay out your equations.

The problem is you don't look at the real world and see that it never conforms to your numbers. Culture, geography, demographics, health, politics...etc will all throw your numbers out the window.

You cannot wish the world to be as you like. You need to look around and update your thinking based on actual real world data and what is going on.

But you cannot.

You proudly claim to be the math guy. You proudly claim your area is 90% vaxxed. And yet in that area amongst your friends you are still running around with a mask. You are still not letting your kid doing birthdays (apparently the other vaxxed are doing the same), etc. That tells us again you don't look at real world data. If you did...you would be tossing the mask because everyone around you is vaxxed, your kid would be running around again, etc.

You have not adjusted your view to the real world data in the area around where you live.

If you cannot do so in the area where you live...you certainly cannot do so on a worldwide scale. Which is why your ideas/solutions are so out of touch with reality.
We don’t need to wonder what happens if you open up everything and tell people masks are a personal choice.

We can look at Arizona. Your covid policy did all that, and it was a complete train wreck.

Maybe, if you all were Mormon, it would have been like Utah. But you aren’t, and it wasn’t.
 
Speaking of the vaccine (s) now comes the push for boosters.

What is surprising to me is that the current Pfizer booster or 3rd shot is the same thing as their original two shots, same formula so how does that help vs the delta or variants?

 
We don’t need to wonder what happens if you open up everything and tell people masks are a personal choice.

We can look at Arizona. Your covid policy did all that, and it was a complete train wreck.

Maybe, if you all were Mormon, it would have been like Utah. But you aren’t, and it wasn’t.
Yah…poor Florida. What will they ever do?
 
We don’t need to wonder what happens if you open up everything and tell people masks are a personal choice.

We can look at Arizona. Your covid policy did all that, and it was a complete train wreck.

Maybe, if you all were Mormon, it would have been like Utah. But you aren’t, and it wasn’t.
We actually had mask mandates. And compliance was high.

The virus is going to do what it does.

I didn't realize that being Mormon conferred special immunity. Is that your hot take. They were open, going to schools, not strict on masks, had crowds at games and had better outcomes vs CA. And you think the difference is it was because they were Mormon?

You are detached from reality.

You are the math guy. Explain why Utah did SOO much better vs CA despite having policies dramatically different vs CA? Mormon is your answer?

I note that you never touch the fact on why you cannot explain why other states will similar cases to CA had higher, the same and lower deaths per million. You keep refusing to look and try to explain that. It is because you are religious in your belief about covid and this goes against your belief system.

CA and NM have about the same cases per million. NM has a lot more deaths per million. NM has had policies very similar to CA. As a matter of fact when I was there this summer in both states, CA was more open.

You dont touch that do you?

CA and CO have about the same cases per million. CO has a lot fewer deaths per million. Similar policies to CA. Why do they have so much fewer deaths vs CA?

You don't touch that do you?

The reason you don't is because it defies your preferred lock everything down and it all works scenario.

Demographics, region, health of population, etc all are key factors.

You refuse to think in those terms.

In other words you refuse to adjust your thinking to real world data in terms of what the virus is doing. You have tunnel vision.
 
Speaking of the vaccine (s) now comes the push for boosters.

What is surprising to me is that the current Pfizer booster or 3rd shot is the same thing as their original two shots, same formula so how does that help vs the delta or variants?

The original shot appears to gives some protection against delta. Getting the booster just triggers our immune system again as it is feared the protection wanes over time.
 
Speaking of the vaccine (s) now comes the push for boosters.

What is surprising to me is that the current Pfizer booster or 3rd shot is the same thing as their original two shots, same formula so how does that help vs the delta or variants?


Its a good question.

With the mRNA and, to a somewhat lesser extent, adeno vaccine platforms it would be possible to have boosters that incorporate the most recent genetic changes identified in emerging variants. The vaccine particles could even contain a mixture of mRNAs encoding all known S protein variants. It is one of the advantages of the technology. From a regulatory standpoint, however, this would require a more streamlined approval process. And it would require a manufacturing process that could implement such changes at scale.

Why boosters if not directed specifically against delta? There are many ethical and practical immunological issues surrounding boosters. But from an epidemiological standpoint, it's a numbers game. The idea is to curb the spread of delta or whatever (almost certainly smaller if it comes at all) wave may come next. Basically, to reduce the total viral load in the population, thereby limiting the potential of new variants arising. Regardless of whether your initial immune priming was through vaxx or infection, the booster keeps circulating antibody levels high. Against a high burst variant like delta this won't stop community transmission but it does reduce burst size. So, say the R0 measure for delta infectivity goes from 6 to R(effective) of 3. Instead of one person infecting, on average, 6 they infect 3. The wave is still growing. But, since the total number of cases is a geometric expansion based on the R value, in 10 infection cycles that means a theoretical reduction in total cases from about 10000000 to 20000. That's the numbers game and the question becomes whether to play that game or not.
 
Speaking of the vaccine (s) now comes the push for boosters.

What is surprising to me is that the current Pfizer booster or 3rd shot is the same thing as their original two shots, same formula so how does that help vs the delta or variants?

 
We don’t need to wonder what happens if you open up everything and tell people masks are a personal choice.

We can look at Arizona. Your covid policy did all that, and it was a complete train wreck.Arizona mask mandate.jpg

Maybe, if you all were Mormon, it would have been like Utah. But you aren’t, and it wasn’t.
You sound desperate to perpetuate your religion.
 
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