Re: What's Going on in the Americas?
Reply #1362 –
As I suspected, you have a sufficient exposure to the medical studies. So you have no actual complaints.
I have an abiding interest in SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Likewise, in the actual effectiveness of the various vaccines (...not just relative numbers...), masking and social distancing. "Sounds reasonable" doesn't much reassure me. We have almost two years of data -don't we?- to plumb, and we should have numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs). (Regarding masking, if RCTs show the practice to be little more than a placebo then creating a false sense of security may be quite harmful in some circumstances.)
I too only had a serious case of flu once: I was working at the time in a county hospital's Xray Dept. as a file clerk, who doubled as a porter... Whatever the ER doc prescribed, along with a few days' rest, did the trick. I've never had a flu shot.
They have demonstrated criminal incompetence over here
I've heard of a few such cases here; one, intensional! (Smaller number of doses, though.) Are you familiar with what New York's Governor Cuomo did, early on?
Regarding "antidotes" I've pretty much stopped drinking, even occasionally. I of course have had two doses of the Moderna vaccine, and am waiting to hear from my doctor if a booster is warranted. (I'd want a serum antibody test first; and some straight talk about Omicron's brief history with the vaccines, whether or not to mix-n-match... Things like that. Plus a sober -pun intended!- consideration of the state of my health, post-stroke.)
Did you catch my mention of the Stanford conjecture? (That the Omicron variant -with its large number of mutations- likely originated in an untreated AIDS patient? I can find the write-up, if you';re interested.) If that's so, countries like mine need to redouble our efforts to treat AIDS in Africa....
(Imagine that: Humane and self-serving interests served by the same action!)