2 minutes ago, sportsfan41 said:

A lot of stories similar on both sides that never see the light of day.  Usually it’s the mass shootings that shed light on lack of help or acknowledgment of mental health problems within society. But I think Covid has really put a spotlight on the issue in a lot of ways. 

Excellent point sf41, COVID has definitely caused mental health problems to bubble up. 

On 1/6/2022 at 7:07 PM, Tigerpride94 said:

133.24 today.

142.15 today.

IHME model has KY peaking on 1/31 at 31,419 cases a day. 

From Covidestim.org

21 hours ago, theguru said:

 

 

I just read over multiple articles on this and I don't think there is any scientific consensus. Also, when you don't consider natural immunity as a part of any equation (in this case variants/mutations) I don't see how anyone can confidently "prove" causation. Speculating here, but since anyone (unvaccinated, vaccinated, natural immunity, natural immunity and vaccinated) can contract and spread COVID I think common sense says everyone is capable of producing variants/mutations.

Yes, mutations/variants can happen regardless of vaccination status. I do not debate that. My point is there is increased risk of mutation in the unvaccinated. There is more replication of the virus in the unvaccinated and that increases mutation/variant risk. This is the best article I have found that describes variants and risk of mutations.

https://scitechdaily.com/what-is-causing-all-these-new-coronavirus-variants-is-it-the-covid-19-vaccines/

Here is the key summary statement from the article:

Even though vaccinated people can still get infected with the delta variant, they tend to experience shorter, milder infections than unvaccinated individuals. This greatly reduces the chances of any mutated virus – either one that makes the virus more transmissible or one that could allow it to get past immunity from vaccines – from jumping from one person to another.

 

13 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Yes, mutations/variants can happen regardless of vaccination status. I do not debate that. My point is there is increased risk of mutation in the unvaccinated. There is more replication of the virus in the unvaccinated and that increases mutation/variant risk. This is the best article I have found that describes variants and risk of mutations.

https://scitechdaily.com/what-is-causing-all-these-new-coronavirus-variants-is-it-the-covid-19-vaccines/

Here is the key summary statement from the article:

Even though vaccinated people can still get infected with the delta variant, they tend to experience shorter, milder infections than unvaccinated individuals. This greatly reduces the chances of any mutated virus – either one that makes the virus more transmissible or one that could allow it to get past immunity from vaccines – from jumping from one person to another.

 

I will say that makes sense to me VoR.  

However, this study last year in Isreal found that vaccinated people were several times more likely to get infected again vs. people that have natural immunity.  I don't know what the "latest" is here but simply put this study would appear to support the theory that vaccinated people may be more likely to form/spread mutations and variants than those with natural immunity because they are much more likely to get infected again and more likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19:

According to Science Magazine, the study found that "never-infected people who were vaccinated in January and February were, in June, July, and the first half of August, six to 13 times more likely to get infected than unvaccinated people who were previously infected with the coronavirus."

Further, "the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 was 27 times higher among the vaccinated, and the risk of hospitalization eight times higher."

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/312637

6 minutes ago, theguru said:

According to Science Magazine, the study found that "never-infected people who were vaccinated in January and February were, in June, July, and the first half of August, six to 13 times more likely to get infected than unvaccinated people who were previously infected with the coronavirus."

Further, "the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 was 27 times higher among the vaccinated, and the risk of hospitalization eight times higher."

I would love to see the science behind either of these claims. Of course, the article does not provide that. 

1 minute ago, TheDeuce said:

I would love to see the science behind either of these claims. Of course, the article does not provide that. 

Like I said, I don't know the latest and unfortunately in America since we ignore natural immunity that kind of "real science" is in short supply. 

Simply put, as long as we disregard natural immunity we are never going to know what is what and that includes this issue about mutations/variants. 

2 minutes ago, theguru said:

Like I said, I don't know the latest and unfortunately in America since we ignore natural immunity that kind of "real science" is in short supply. 

Simply put, as long as we disregard natural immunity we are never going to know what is what and that includes this issue about mutations/variants. 

Natural immunity is not ignored, it simply isn't an acceptable form of "prevention" for most. 

1 minute ago, TheDeuce said:

Natural immunity is not ignored, it simply isn't an acceptable form of "prevention" for most. 

Of course natural immunity is being ignored or we wouldn't have the forced vaccination mandates or lose your job stuff as one example.

Also doing a quick search I found this from last summer that clearly supports natural immunity as superior against variants:

Vaccination produces greater amounts of circulating antibodies than natural infection. But a new study suggests that not all memory B cells are created equal. While vaccination gives rise to memory B cells that evolve over a few weeks, natural infection births memory B cells that continue to evolve over several months, producing highly potent antibodies adept at eliminating even viral variants.

https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/30919-natural-infection-versus-vaccination-differences-in-covid-antibody-responses-emerge/

And while we are on this topic, here is a headline just released from NewsMax:

The efficacy of boosters against COVID-19 is likely to decline over the next few months and people may need another shot in the fall of 2022, Moderna Inc Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel said at a Goldman Sachs-organized healthcare conference on Thursday.

21 minutes ago, theguru said:

And while we are on this topic, here is a headline just released from NewsMax:

The efficacy of boosters against COVID-19 is likely to decline over the next few months and people may need another shot in the fall of 2022, Moderna Inc Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel said at a Goldman Sachs-organized healthcare conference on Thursday.

Kinda like the flu shot? That's where we want to be. 

9 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

Kinda like the flu shot? That's where we want to be. 

Honestly I don't think so.  The flu shot is yearly, a different mechanism for fighting off infection, and pretty proven over time.  The COVID shots appear to be twice yearly at this point, experimental, and not proven over time. 

1 minute ago, theguru said:

Honestly I don't think so.  The flu shot is yearly, a different mechanism for fighting off infection, and pretty proven over time.  The COVID shots appear to be twice yearly at this point, experimental, and not proven over time. 

I got my booster in late September. Another one in Fall '22 would be a year apart. 

1 minute ago, TheDeuce said:

I got my booster in late September. Another one in Fall '22 would be a year apart. 

I understand but somewhere around six months appears to be the most popular interval right now in the majority of the reporting I see in America.