outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

look don't even try to comprehend it unless you can get into the galaxy brain conservative mindset of believing everything at once. I'm sure she'll take the money while simultaneously decrying it as socialism but also crediting Trump who is actually calling the shots at the moment, even though China schemed a real/fake virus to take him out of office

good point

*everyone at dinner table nods and continues eating*

Absolutely every last thing the Tories do in the UK is about winning elections and holding on to power, even if it means abandoning everything they've previously said or done, without a second thought. I imagine Republicans are cut from the same cloth.

The virus is real
The virus is fake
Together we learn
Vaccine = mistake

Absolutely every last thing the Tories do in the UK is about winning elections and holding on to power, even if it means abandoning everything they've previously said or done, without a second thought. I imagine Republicans are cut from the same cloth.

Generally this is true, though they've been known to absolutely refuse to budge on certain issues even an inch, even when electorally unpopular (see: guns, abortion) because the loudest yellers with the deepest pockets give more power than just the stupid voters.

Meantime, some perfect comedy.

I'm never deleting this app. pic.twitter.com/OwYClG6L2R

— Labcoat Lesbian, Sundress Killa (@IpheliaPaine) July 22, 2021

Yeah, again, that makes sense as a simple explanation. But we've seen surges like this before and they didn't give a fuck. I have a hard time imagining these ghouls just suddenly care.

― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, July 22, 2021 12:53 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is the first national surge that's started since the vaccine became available.

... since it's disproportionately killing Republicans ...

― frogbs, Thursday, July 22, 2021 1:45 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

i don't think this is true. IIUC the anti-vax GOP are a minority of the unvaccinated (who are mostly POC without reliable access to government services/outreach/ability to take time off work, etc.). and of course democrat voters are more likely to live in a high occupancy home/have a job they have to do that brings them into contact with lots of people, etc.

this was of late May, i think:

https://i.imgur.com/bZXcL9h.png

sorry, link: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-profile-of-the-unvaccinated/

this is the first national surge that's started since the vaccine became available.

True. That said, this is precisely why I expected to see more of the "see? vaccines don't work" bullshit being spouted.

was going to say, I'm fairly certain that POC are not the majority of unvaccinated people in the US

the report findings actually do indicate the unvaccinated are more likely to be POC. have to remember to consider the proportional makeup of the country - 76% of the US is white as of the last census, whereas 13.4% is Black and 18.5% is Hispanic.

and notice that white individuals have a larger proportion of the vaccination pie than they do the unvaccinated pie

proportionally yes, total numbers no

Buuut the problem with going by total numbers is it can miss the indication of a problem. It's unlikely for Hispanics or Black community to have a majority or plurality of the unvaccinated population due to how much larger the white population is.

But these stats do establish that POC are more likely than white individuals to not be vaccinated based on those proportions.

I suspect this is what caek was saying, though I'll let him speak for himself.

I don't think the anti-vaxxer population is negligible in that, while accuracy of response is always an issue, a significant (albeit decreasing) percent of Republican voters have indicated they will not get the vaccine.

I also don't think we'd necessarily get to herd immunity (which seems like a pipe dream with delta anyway) if every anti-vaxxer got jabbed tomorrow either.

Right, so there definitely needs to be increased outreach and accessibility for POC, but if you want to move the numbers significantly, you also need to address the very large mass of unvaccinated white people.

Saw this Chicago bar announce they're closing for a few days after vaccinated staff tested positive, and this New Orleans musician cancelling all shows after vaccinated friends tested positive.

Also have a vaccinated friend who tested positive last week: early 40s, one of the most fit people I know (bikes/runs long distances), and has been laid up with it for a week before starting to get better.

those numbers are backwards for the purposes of this discussion.

you don't want: what fraction of unvaccinated people are X. you want: among X, what fraction are unvaccinated.

but i might be wrong about the claim. my point is more: it's not obviously true that unvaccinated people dying is synonymous with republican voters dying, which is what i see a lot of people assuming. (and in any case, covid is killing a lot of people, but not so many that the votes of the people who themselves die would swing elections, unless they were like 80% one party.)

Can always hold out hope for ultra-gerrymandered districts like mine where they cling to a narrow majority.

xp

you would think, though, that there would be indirect effects on votes of friends, family, and acquaintances of the red staters who died. so not just the simple number of people who died, but the many more people who lost someone. y

But no, i realize there was not an important shift in voting patterns of conservatives because of covid. the 2020 election already showed that. it is really weird to me, though. i find it incredibly excruciating to listen to republicans mock covid on television. i try to avoid it, and it still happens frequently. it's relentless. don't these conservative people who loved someone who died of covid feel remotely the same? how can they just listen to them, and then go pull the lever for the very same people?

i know, we're talking about conservatives in the united states again, and covid. i realize it's more than that. probably more of a pointless topic for the us politics thread, heh

Yeah I guess the point is it seems like the only people not getting vaccinated are very vocal republicans, but that only seems true because they’re very vocal.

Meanwhile in Tennessee

https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-governor-encouraging-vaccinations-after-vaccine-expert-ousted-for-sharing-state-law/

https://www.wkrn.com/news/conservative-talk-show-host-phil-valentine-hospitalized-with-covid-19/

jeez, the TN governor. profiles in courage

Ah for fun

Tonight, Sean Hannity went on a long rant on his radio show, assuring his audience that he’s “not urging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine”https://t.co/TY0Yxqn8gN pic.twitter.com/N80YIYNYGV

— Media Matters (@mmfa) July 23, 2021

well, that lasted about 2 days

I remember back in the GWB days when I would bristle every time that hosebeast evoked the overly-simplistic notion of 'evil', and wondering what simpleton beyond the age of ten legitimately believed in such dullardly, binary thinking.

Well, shit, if wealthy and absolutely vaccinated Fox News hosts fomenting confusion among their own soon-to-be-ill/dead viewership about the legitimacy of the vaccine isn't pure and unadulterated evil...

Hannity wants everyone to know "I never told anyone to get a vaccine."

So, basically, he wants you all to stop giving him any credit for urging his viewers to get vaxxed. pic.twitter.com/1nr1SYcPqs

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 23, 2021

I guaranty that Hannity was vaccinated a soon a he possibly could be.

In his ass

:)

i'm having a twitter convo right now with a covid idiot that actually has a heart. it's the firs time :)

this genuinely surprised me when I saw it last night:

Illinois is reporting six times as many gamma variant cases of the coronavirus than delta variant ones, according to an analysis done by Chicago's local CBS News affiliate.

There have been more than 10,000 variant COVID-19 cases recorded so far by the Illinois Department of Public Health as of Monday, according to the outlet, with the gamma variant making up more than 2,600 of them compared to only 403 for the delta, which has been been wreaking havoc across the nation.

Does that mean expect some breakthrough Hulk transformations?

lol

I was just surprised to learn that with all the focus on delta, that actually isn't the (only) worrying variant around here!

i think a likely explanation is that Gamma's been in the US longer (started showing up in January, Delta showed up in March, and both were slow to unseat Alpha) but Gamma is not anywhere near as transmissible as Delta, so I would guess Delta will dwarf it eventually in Illinois.

be nice if neither did but y'know

looks like cases really are dropping in the UK 👍🏻

BREAKING: Tennessee will resume nearly all forms of adolescent vaccine advocacy, per state health commissioner. Lots of vaccine outreach was halted this month due to GOP political pressure, prompting a media firestorm. We will publish a story as soon as I, you know, write it.

— Brett Kelman (@BrettKelman) July 23, 2021

Here is a quick version of what was announced today. This article will get much longer and better as the day goes on. https://t.co/ESNPAXfurT

— Brett Kelman (@BrettKelman) July 23, 2021

that's some good news.

In the wake of that criticism, the health department started quietly making changes, according to a series of internal documents obtained by The Tennessean. First, the agency deleted some pro-vaccine Facebook and Twitter posts that triggered lawmakers.

i see what you did there

ugh

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/gop-madison-cawthorn-vow-fauci-b1888891.html

lol @

There’s no evidence that either of those claims are true, and the House of Representatives doesn’t have the power to criminally prosecute, something that takes place in the court system.

in that it goes without saying but....

xxpost Good strategy, that, given that Fauci (despite some dips and dings) has consistently earned very high approval ratings.

Fauci telling Rand Paul to go stuff it was pretty gratifying

Interesting read. Sure some people quoted will make you nuts but the range of reactions and explanations is worth noting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/24/us/covid-vaccine-hesitant.html

this is a good thread

THREAD:
As news stories drop about COVID+ pandemic deniers & anti-vaxxers ranting defiantly from ICU beds, let's review what fraud research suggests abt the responsibility we should attribute to them for their condition & the ms they send.

Are they victims we should pity? 1/x pic.twitter.com/jrmo6zQ7BL

— Brooke Harrington (@EBHarrington) July 22, 2021

that is good. but also maybe too optimistic for a so-called pragamatic option? (does shame even exist anymore)