CDC lifts indoor mask/social distancing requirements for Vaccinated people. — Page 2

Wick3 said: "I think it will be optional. I know for me I’ll keep wearing my mask during flu season (Nov-Mar).

One thing I don’t hear much in the media are the number of ‘breakthrough’ cases (fully vaccinated people who test positive for covid.)"

NY Daily News announced a bunch of Yankees have caught it post vax.

Jordan Catalano said: "Link

This is a big deal. I’m curious if this will mean in four months when theatres reopen, if masks will be *advised* but not required."

Theaters can require vax proof or negative test. But will they...looks like Disney won't.

Here's some answers. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/theater/broadway-reopening.html

JayElle said: "Jordan Catalano said: "Link

This is a big deal. I’m curious if this will mean in four months when theatres reopen, if masks will be *advised* but not required."

Theaters can require vax proof or negative test. But will they...looks like Disney won't.

Here's some answers.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/theater/broadway-reopening.html"

I really wouldn't put much stock into what you're hearing now. Many things can, and will, change by the time September rolls around.

JayElle said: "Wick3 said: "I think it will be optional. I know for me I’ll keep wearing my mask during flu season (Nov-Mar).

One thing I don’t hear much in the media are the number of ‘breakthrough’ cases (fully vaccinated people who test positive for covid.)"

NY Daily Newsannounced a bunch of Yankees have caught it post vax."

Yes, because even the best vaccines are 95% effective, not 100%. According to the most recent CDC data, there have been a little over 9,000 breakthrough infections. Likely underreported, since most of them are going to be asymptomatic. I'm thinking that the rate is likely similar to that in the clinical trials. And there is mounting evidence that those who do experience breakthrough infections are not nearly as infectious as those who are unvaccinated. My guess (and I've seen at least one prominent health official agree with this theory) is that a single unvaccinated person was carrying a large amount of virus; enough to infect a group of vaccinated people.

I think you're overthinking things too much. Understandable, given what we've lived through over the past year. But if you're vaccinated (which I sincerely hope you are), you have significantly less to worry about.

Updated On: 5/14/21 at 01:24 AM

BroadwayRox3588 said: Remember what I said about not shaming people who don't want to wear a mask (if they're vaccinated, of course)?"

That was your interpretation. No one shamed anyone. I made factual statements. Fsct: not wearing mask spreads cold, flu, covid. I suggested a tolerable type b/c I hate wearing them b/c they impede breathing.

SmoothLover said: "Do they know yet how long the vaccinations are good for? At some point we will probably need boosters right?"

The general consensus is that we will need boosters, at some point. What is not yet known is when. Some think we will need them this fall, some think they'll last for well over a year. We'll have to wait and see what the science tells us.

The good news is that we are prepared, in the event that a booster is required as soon as later this year. Moderna has already developed a booster shot, specifically tailored towards the B.1.351 variant from South Africa. It is highly effective at neutralizing that variant.

Updated On: 5/14/21 at 01:45 AM

I don't know why I am surprised by this. A quick read of the reactions of Americans to the flu pandemic a century ago gives one an idea of how people and governments respond. And this country is hardly unique. Japan is trying to host the Olympics this summer and has vaccinated almost no one.

I think I know the actual plan, which is subject to change depending on how things play out: Just open everything up. Social distancing was never an option for Broadway. Masks are pretty much unenforceable, and any objections will now be overridden by the new CDC regulations. People can and will just lie about their vaccination status, and producers aren't going to be interested in enforcement unless it hurts the bottom line.

Producers may push for vaccination of performers and staff because they don't want a bunch of people out sick with Covid. If Jeffrey Seller's plan for Hamilton is any indication, that's as far as they'll go.

I would have thought the CDC - an agency that has lost most of its credibility during the past 16 months - would have been more cautious. The county where I live, which is doing much better than most, doesn't have half the population fully vaccinated, though it certainly will by September.

Maybe this will all work out fine. But I don't really see how this new guidance motivates vaccine holdouts to get a vaccine unless they are required to do it. That will be true of some workplaces and universities. And perhaps I'll be wrong and people will get the vaccine anyway, and the variants won't be a significant problem, and we'll get something that passes for herd immunity in spite of ourselves.

I know New York has rules governing outdoor stadiums and other venues, and it's hard to believe the state would allow crowded indoor theaters to have an exception unless COVID-19 just vanishes. But government and business leaders have powerful economic motives to push the envelope.

The plan, as near as I can tell, is to hope for the best.

Remember that the goals are herd immunity (a concept that applies at any level), not eradication, and for all infections to be inconsequential. [Even the less effective J&J vaccine has prevented serious infections.] We still have 8000 TB cases a year; we can live with that. Based on the present guidance, I expect Broadway to require vaccines or at least testing (under both state and union mandate), and for masks to be voluntary for those who want to be extra cautious. I also expect a lot of the reluctant/averse population to end up getting vaccinated because it is a pain (and expensive) to get tested all the time.

HogansHero said: "Remember that the goals areherd immunity (a concept that applies at any level), not eradication, and for all infections to be inconsequential. [Even the less effective J&J vaccine has prevented serious infections.] We still have 8000 TB cases a year; we can live with that. Based on the present guidance, I expect Broadway to require vaccines or at least testing (under both state and union mandate), and for masks to be voluntary for those who want to be extra cautious. I also expect a lot of the reluctant/averse population to end up getting vaccinated because it is a pain (and expensive) to get tested all the time."

This is pretty on-target. Although I personally hope that Broadway requires masks, at least during 2021, just to send the message that they're taking safety very seriously.

To be honest, I shake my head whenever people get flustered or anxious about the prospect of COVID-19 becoming endemic. The only disease we have ever eradicated is smallpox, and that disease was strictly a human virus. SARS-CoV-2, on the other hand, is zoonotic. So even if, in the unlikely event, the virus is eliminated among the human population, it could still, theoretically, be reintroduced to humans, via an animal host. It's the reason why the original SARS isn't "eradicated," despite not recording a case in humans in almost two decades.

Endemic is not as scary as some are making it sound, and there are plenty of endemic diseases that pose very little threat.

I disagree that theatres should adopt policies to show they are taking safety seriously if those policies are not strongly supported by data. Mandating masking for fully vaccinated folks is becoming a form of hygeine theatre, like the extreme surface cleaning. We are performing safety to comfort ourselves and others, not because it makes us materially more safe from covid. I'm very sympathetic to your position - these viewpoints are common among liberal, educated, and urban folks. However, I fear we are actually prolonging the pandemic by feeding into vaccine hesitancy. When we say "wear a mask after you're fully vaccinate," I think many of us mean it as a social gesture to show that we believe in the general efficacy of masks and care about the health of our fellow people. However, what the vaccine skeptical hear is "the vaccines really don't work" and so we must continue wearing masks.

I disagree that theatres should adopt policies to show they are taking safety seriously if those policies are not strongly supported by data. Mandating masking for fully vaccinated folks is becoming a form of hygeine theatre, like the extreme surface cleaning. We are performing safety to comfort ourselves and others, not because it makes us materially more safe from covid. I'm very sympathetic to your position - these viewpoints are common among liberal, educated, and urban folks. However, I fear we are actually prolonging the pandemic by feeding into vaccine hesitancy. When we say "wear a mask after you're fully vaccinate," I think many of us mean it as a social gesture to show that we believe in the general efficacy of masks and care about the health of our fellow people. However, what the vaccine skeptical hear is "the vaccines really don't work" and so we must continue wearing masks.

charlie525600 said: "BroadwayRox3588 said: " This is pretty on-target. Although I personally hope that Broadway requires masks, at least during 2021, just to send the message that they're taking safety very seriously.

To be honest, I shake my head whenever people get flustered or anxiousabout the prospect of COVID-19 becoming endemic. The only disease we have ever eradicated is smallpox, and that disease was strictly a human virus. SARS-CoV-2, on the other hand, is zoonotic. So even if, in the unlikely event, the virus is eliminated among the human population, it could still, theoretically, be reintroduced to humans, via an animal host. It's the reason why the original SARS isn't "eradicated," despite not recording a case in humans in almost two decades.

Endemic is not as scary as some are making it sound, and there are plenty of endemic diseases that pose very little threat."

I disagree that theatres should adopt policies to show they are taking safety seriously if those policies are not strongly supported by data. Mandating masking for fully vaccinated folks is becoming a form of hygeine theatre, like the extreme surface cleaning. We are performing safety to comfort ourselves and others, not because it makes us materially more safe from covid. I'm very sympathetic to your position - these viewpoints are common among liberal, educated, and urban folks. However, I fear we are actually prolonging the pandemic by feeding into vaccine hesitancy. When we say "wear a mask after you're fully vaccinate," I think many of us mean it as a social gesture to show that we believe in the general efficacy of masks and care about the health of our fellow people. However, what the vaccine skeptical hear is "the vaccines really don't work" and so we must continue wearing masks."

You must really disagree, to post it five times

I kid, I kid. I respect your viewpoint, and acknowledge the validity of it. I also definitely don't think the requirement should be permanent.

You must really disagree, to post it five times

I kid, I kid. I respect your viewpoint, and acknowledge the validity of it. I also definitely don't think the requirement should be permanent.

Sorry - no idea why it posted so many copies. I've no idea how to delete the repeats