The UK has a much lower daily caseload than the US – also in relative terms. It has an even higher proportion of adults who’ve had at least a 1st dose of vaccine. Yet, it does NOT plan to change the masking and distancing protocols any time soon.
Dr Ramsay, Director of Immunization at Public Health England, said restrictions such as face coverings in public indoor places and social distancing had become accepted by many and still allowed the economy to function well.
She said “people have got used to those lower-level restrictions now, and people can live with them, and the economy can still go on with those less severe restrictions in place.”
“So I think certainly for a few years, at least until other parts of the world are as well vaccinated as we are, and the numbers have come down everywhere, that is when we may be able to go very gradually back to a more normal situation,” she added.
Warning it was “very important that we do not relax too quickly,” Dr Ramsay said any circulating virus would inevitably pick on those who are vulnerable.
Stark contrast with our CDC. Strange. It seems that masks and distancing are somehow triggers here (we want to be “liberated” from them), and they’re not nearly as much of a trigger there.
By the way, I don’t think that masks and distancing will be needed in most of 2022, as I’ve said before. But I do think that in many situations they’ll be an important tool that should be universally used throughout 2021, unless we get to a point that our community transmission is very low AND worldwide vaccination rates accelerate along with a significant global deceleration in spread.
I find it interesting with so many young people still wearing masks on the streets, even if they are all by themselves just sitting around (not eating or drinking). Yet, last year at this time, you were hard pressed to see anyone under the age of 30 wearing masks, in spite of the newly mandated order.
I wish the town of Brookline would let its citizens “breathe” on the streets and drop the outdoor mask order. Join in the “fun” with the rest of the state…and now the nation for that matter.
What are their health officials so afraid of? The “science”?
I’d say less than 50 percent of the kids walking hike from school …not in Sutton because we don’t have many walkers…west masks. And they are in groups
I heard this morning that according to a new study, those who get the first Pfizer shot, and waits longer than the recommended 3 weeks for the second, produces more antibodies leading to even more protection from the virus.
I have to disagree with that. Brookline has not made an absolute decision. But the CDC lifting masks for those vaccinated IMOis a huge mistake. Did you see the discussion re the Yankees and also Joshua’s newest article last night
I’m really pleased that most I see posting on the NYT articles on mask restrictions being removed also believe it is a bad idea. The majority of the folks in agreement with no masks are the folks who have been against masks all along.
Thanks Vicki. I have two of Joshua’s “free” articles remaining.
I do hope that there won’t be a sudden resurgence in the coming weeks. It would be a crying shame especially after the CDC and President Biden gave their “blessings” on mask removal.
As for the Yankees, could a team member already had contracted the virus just prior to getting their vaccine?
It surely could be the case. But seven others who were fully protected contracted it.
The surprise is the number of fully vaccinated people who contracted the virus. My guess is they came in close contact with some person or persons who was/were shedding a lot of virus.
The vaccine works to protect against moderate to severe illness. Great. But, some people who read my article are missing the point. Because vaccinated people can contract the virus we must presume they can transmit to others, in particular, vulnerable unvaccinated folks. I’m hearing garbage from some who say, “but asymptomatics can’t transmit.” That was debunked last year. If anything the virus thrives on asymptomatic spread. The only reasonable conclusion, in my opinion is that we leave our masks on and distance where needed in public indoor spaces. All of us. And we do this until we either: a. Have a systematic way – a green pass – of distinguishing vaccinated from unvaccinated folks; b. Have much lower community transmission.
You all may recall when in late June of last year, as the sun belt wave was in full swing, Kayleigh McEnany (Trump press spokesperson) said we were seeing the “embers” of Covid-19. How wrong she was. But, my point is not to criticize her statement but to take it at face value. Suppose we are NOW witnessing the “embers” Covid-19. This is very much a possibility. We might not see any resurgence this fall and winter. But, if what we’re seeing is embers, you want to continue to douse it with water and not reignite it with kindling or paper. We’re at that stage in the pandemic, and it’s a good thing, but we need to remain vigilant and ensure that unnecessarily imprudent behaviors aren’t perpetuated by a clueless CDC. As the British epidemiologist at Public Health England noted (see my previous post), for the foreseeable future we’re going to have to learn to accept very minor annoyances – eg, wearing a mask in indoor spaces. And that applies to all of us, vaccinated or not. This should be the lesson of the Yankee outbreak. Not that the vaccines don’t work. They do work wonderfully. But they don’t necessarily prevent contraction of the virus, which can then lead to more transmission. The concern is that unvaccinated folks are then at risk, which they are.
I also want to take back something I said a while ago. I questioned why I would need proof of a negative test when traveling to Britain if I’m vaccinated. Well, we now have ample evidence that vaccinated folks can contract the virus. So I was wrong. If I’m sitting on a plane for 7 hours next to an unvaccinated person and transmit the virus that would not be good, obviously. Same thing if I were to transmit the virus during my trip in the UK. It’s certainly annoying that I must get this test, and costly, too. But I do now get it.
Joshua, as you know, I absolutely agree with your posts. I do like the comment re embers. How much more clear can it be described?
In the informal survey, 80 percent said they thought Americans would need to wear masks in public indoor places for at least another year. Just 5 percent said people would no longer need to wear masks indoors by this summer.
In large crowds outdoors, like at a concert or protest, 88 percent of the epidemiologists said it was necessary even for fully vaccinated people to wear masks.
“Unless the vaccination rates increase to 80 or 90 percent over the next few months, we should wear masks in large public indoor settings,” said Vivian Towe, a program officer at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
Walmart, Costco, sams club, Trader Joe’s all say fully vaccinated so not have to wear masks. Anyone want to take the chance folks who go there will be honest?
Front page from today’s Boston Herald:
“Party like it’s 2019: CDC eases mandate for fully vaxxed people.”
FACE UP!
Ugh.
I will revisit that ship
This graph sums up the extraordinarily efficient British age-based drive to vaccinate. It will go down in history as the most optimal vaccination campaign ever run. I’m convinced of that. https://twitter.com/drjenndowd/status/1393330782509404169
Great graph. Thanks
There is indirect evidence from Britain where they are doing so-called “surge testing” that vaccines protect, at least to a reasonable degree, from the B.1.617 lineage (Indian variants). It is not conclusive. But, what they were able to see is that in the Bolton area, where there’s been an uptick in B.1.617 cases, most of the cases were in the under 50 age group, and almost none of the cases were in the over 65 group. The efficient vaccine campaign, which essentially ensures that more than 90% of an age group are vaccinated with a 1st dose before going down the ladder, allows for this kind of analysis.
Wow. That is truly great news. Please remind me which vaccine(s) Britain is using.
C-19 for 5-15 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
The UK has a much lower daily caseload than the US – also in relative terms. It has an even higher proportion of adults who’ve had at least a 1st dose of vaccine. Yet, it does NOT plan to change the masking and distancing protocols any time soon.
Dr Ramsay, Director of Immunization at Public Health England, said restrictions such as face coverings in public indoor places and social distancing had become accepted by many and still allowed the economy to function well.
She said “people have got used to those lower-level restrictions now, and people can live with them, and the economy can still go on with those less severe restrictions in place.”
“So I think certainly for a few years, at least until other parts of the world are as well vaccinated as we are, and the numbers have come down everywhere, that is when we may be able to go very gradually back to a more normal situation,” she added.
Warning it was “very important that we do not relax too quickly,” Dr Ramsay said any circulating virus would inevitably pick on those who are vulnerable.
Stark contrast with our CDC. Strange. It seems that masks and distancing are somehow triggers here (we want to be “liberated” from them), and they’re not nearly as much of a trigger there.
By the way, I don’t think that masks and distancing will be needed in most of 2022, as I’ve said before. But I do think that in many situations they’ll be an important tool that should be universally used throughout 2021, unless we get to a point that our community transmission is very low AND worldwide vaccination rates accelerate along with a significant global deceleration in spread.
I find it interesting with so many young people still wearing masks on the streets, even if they are all by themselves just sitting around (not eating or drinking). Yet, last year at this time, you were hard pressed to see anyone under the age of 30 wearing masks, in spite of the newly mandated order.
I wish the town of Brookline would let its citizens “breathe” on the streets and drop the outdoor mask order. Join in the “fun” with the rest of the state…and now the nation for that matter.
What are their health officials so afraid of? The “science”?
I’d say less than 50 percent of the kids walking hike from school …not in Sutton because we don’t have many walkers…west masks. And they are in groups
I heard this morning that according to a new study, those who get the first Pfizer shot, and waits longer than the recommended 3 weeks for the second, produces more antibodies leading to even more protection from the virus.
I have to disagree with that. Brookline has not made an absolute decision. But the CDC lifting masks for those vaccinated IMOis a huge mistake. Did you see the discussion re the Yankees and also Joshua’s newest article last night
I’m really pleased that most I see posting on the NYT articles on mask restrictions being removed also believe it is a bad idea. The majority of the folks in agreement with no masks are the folks who have been against masks all along.
Thanks Vicki. I have two of Joshua’s “free” articles remaining.
I do hope that there won’t be a sudden resurgence in the coming weeks. It would be a crying shame especially after the CDC and President Biden gave their “blessings” on mask removal.
As for the Yankees, could a team member already had contracted the virus just prior to getting their vaccine?
It surely could be the case. But seven others who were fully protected contracted it.
The surprise is the number of fully vaccinated people who contracted the virus. My guess is they came in close contact with some person or persons who was/were shedding a lot of virus.
The vaccine works to protect against moderate to severe illness. Great. But, some people who read my article are missing the point. Because vaccinated people can contract the virus we must presume they can transmit to others, in particular, vulnerable unvaccinated folks. I’m hearing garbage from some who say, “but asymptomatics can’t transmit.” That was debunked last year. If anything the virus thrives on asymptomatic spread. The only reasonable conclusion, in my opinion is that we leave our masks on and distance where needed in public indoor spaces. All of us. And we do this until we either: a. Have a systematic way – a green pass – of distinguishing vaccinated from unvaccinated folks; b. Have much lower community transmission.
You all may recall when in late June of last year, as the sun belt wave was in full swing, Kayleigh McEnany (Trump press spokesperson) said we were seeing the “embers” of Covid-19. How wrong she was. But, my point is not to criticize her statement but to take it at face value. Suppose we are NOW witnessing the “embers” Covid-19. This is very much a possibility. We might not see any resurgence this fall and winter. But, if what we’re seeing is embers, you want to continue to douse it with water and not reignite it with kindling or paper. We’re at that stage in the pandemic, and it’s a good thing, but we need to remain vigilant and ensure that unnecessarily imprudent behaviors aren’t perpetuated by a clueless CDC. As the British epidemiologist at Public Health England noted (see my previous post), for the foreseeable future we’re going to have to learn to accept very minor annoyances – eg, wearing a mask in indoor spaces. And that applies to all of us, vaccinated or not. This should be the lesson of the Yankee outbreak. Not that the vaccines don’t work. They do work wonderfully. But they don’t necessarily prevent contraction of the virus, which can then lead to more transmission. The concern is that unvaccinated folks are then at risk, which they are.
I also want to take back something I said a while ago. I questioned why I would need proof of a negative test when traveling to Britain if I’m vaccinated. Well, we now have ample evidence that vaccinated folks can contract the virus. So I was wrong. If I’m sitting on a plane for 7 hours next to an unvaccinated person and transmit the virus that would not be good, obviously. Same thing if I were to transmit the virus during my trip in the UK. It’s certainly annoying that I must get this test, and costly, too. But I do now get it.
Joshua, as you know, I absolutely agree with your posts. I do like the comment re embers. How much more clear can it be described?
Here’s a piece on the CDC guidance. It’s written by Professor Gostin, a person I respect and know. https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/92596?
Philip, I will copy the summary paragraph here
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/upshot/epidemiologists-coronavirus-masks.html
In the informal survey, 80 percent said they thought Americans would need to wear masks in public indoor places for at least another year. Just 5 percent said people would no longer need to wear masks indoors by this summer.
In large crowds outdoors, like at a concert or protest, 88 percent of the epidemiologists said it was necessary even for fully vaccinated people to wear masks.
“Unless the vaccination rates increase to 80 or 90 percent over the next few months, we should wear masks in large public indoor settings,” said Vivian Towe, a program officer at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
There is a graph I will copy too. One minute
This is graph
https://imgur.com/a/9ChA3Ow
Walmart, Costco, sams club, Trader Joe’s all say fully vaccinated so not have to wear masks. Anyone want to take the chance folks who go there will be honest?
Front page from today’s Boston Herald:
“Party like it’s 2019: CDC eases mandate for fully vaxxed people.”
FACE UP!
Ugh.
I will revisit that ship
This graph sums up the extraordinarily efficient British age-based drive to vaccinate. It will go down in history as the most optimal vaccination campaign ever run. I’m convinced of that. https://twitter.com/drjenndowd/status/1393330782509404169
Great graph. Thanks
There is indirect evidence from Britain where they are doing so-called “surge testing” that vaccines protect, at least to a reasonable degree, from the B.1.617 lineage (Indian variants). It is not conclusive. But, what they were able to see is that in the Bolton area, where there’s been an uptick in B.1.617 cases, most of the cases were in the under 50 age group, and almost none of the cases were in the over 65 group. The efficient vaccine campaign, which essentially ensures that more than 90% of an age group are vaccinated with a 1st dose before going down the ladder, allows for this kind of analysis.
Wow. That is truly great news. Please remind me which vaccine(s) Britain is using.
C-19 for 5-15 is ready.