Now the younger are in more danger from Covid but still, deaths are about over 1000 a day
Here we are at the end of the year and we need to look again at the health crisis in this country that is gearing up for 2022. With Omicron being the latest, and a certain amount of uncertainty about whether the vaccine is still effective with it, never the least it has impacted death rates, infection rates, and activities in various cities, with New York City scaling back New Years' Eve celebrations. I am fairly sure the same thing will take place in New Orleans, because we have a mayor that has been very vigilant in doing what is in the interest of health for our citizens, unlike some places.
So, who is more in danger now? It appears that those 65 and older, who were the most affected demographic up till the point when the vaccine became widely available are no more the most affected by the current upspring in infections and deaths. It is now younger people (under 65) because a majority of those 65 and younger have gotten fully vaccinated. About 90 percent of the 65 and older population are fully vaccinated according to the New York Times. I find that a bit hard to believe because I know that there are many 65 and older that are anti-vaxxers, although now that I think of it, those of us 65 and older likely know better. Why? Because we remember things that Polio that devastated many lives before science came up with a vaccine, so we KNOW the value of vaccination.
That all being said, how many people are now dying, and what percentage of the people dying are doing so with Covid? In addition to the age demographic changing, the percentage of those dying doing so because of Covid has changed also. It has dropped from 14 percent at its absolute worst down to 11 percent, however, we are still losing an average of over 1000 lives in this country because of Covid each and every day. In fact, the past 6 weeks in reverse order has been a death count of 1224 (that is this week which I am counting from Tuesday to Tuesday, and today's figures are not even on there yet), 1561, 1268, 1554, 974, 1077, 1277, 1293, and 1356. Those are the figures put out by Johns Hopkins.
While it does appear that Omricron is still likely still preventable by the Vaccine, especially if one has been wise enough to get the booster, I am still playing it chill. I am not going to be in crowds, and when I am around people that I even have a clue might not be vaccinated, I am wearing a mask and not getting closer than absolutely necessary to do whatever business I need to do. The CDC has shortened the quarantine period from 10 to 5 days FOR THOSE WITHOUT SYMTHOMS OR FEVER, but since I don’t know other people’s timing, I am continuing to take additional precautions. I am not about to go to a busy nightclub to party in the year 2022 for example. After all, at the rate it is going, at some point, another variant may come about, call it Pi, and even those of us that are vaccinated, including the booster may be in danger again.
I still support a mandate requiring the vaccination for ALL that is not prevented for health reasons. At least 80 percent of those deaths have been least than fully vaccinated per the stats in Louisiana so the conspiracy some anti-vaxxers are circulating has no substance in legitimate research as presented by qualified leaders in the health community. If I owned a business, I can tell you that it would have a sign-up “must show proof of vaccination before entering” and no employee would be hired or retained till they showed such proof. If someone is so self-absorbed as to be willing to endanger all those around them, they are free to do it…..SOMEPLACE ELSE. I would not want to be part of the reason for another upswing in needless avoidable deaths and would not want my business to be a vector for that happening. Freedom, in my view, does NOT include the freedom to endanger other people.
The third link is Garland’ s speech to the nation on the ongoing investigation.
