What vaccinated people should know about their risk from the delta varian

> They even went to a hockey game indoors with thousands of people.

> Mostly, he felt frustrated. He’s a journalist—he’s pretty tuned in to the news. He knew breakthrough cases were possible, but he had seen many assurances that they were extremely rare and not that big of a deal.

> He would have worn a mask at the hockey game, for example—even though no one was wearing a mask at the hockey game, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it’s fine for vaccinated people not to wear masks inside.

I honestly don't know what to say. I've been following COVID on and off for the last year and half, and there's no way that I would see going to a hockey match with thousands of people inside without a mask as safe. The CDC says it's safe? Sure, and the WHO said that masks were useless at the beginning of the pandemic. At some point, you have to learn to think for yourself. Big organisms like the CDC and the WHO have others incentives than keeping you perfectly healthy. I don't want to sound too harsh, and I understand the frustration. But please develop a bit of critical thinking. Especially if you're a journalist.

The authors friend is described “Peeing behind dumpsters” on the road trip to avoid accidental exposure—but then goes to a hockey game unmasked with thousands of people.

Sorry, but something doesn’t jive with that and for me. The person who does one at of fear would certainly not do the other. I suspect there is a bit of embellishment happening with this article.

This is a really annoying and unnecessary article. It is based on some personal anecdote of someone who was fully vaccinated and got symptomatic Covid for 1 1/2 days that felt bad. Judging from the description in the article, it lasted shorter and was overall better than a common cold - not the flu, just a common cold we all have had before. Doctors also confirmed that it was a mild case. Yet the author goes on to paint some kind of bleak picture. I can't really see why. The case described illustrates how vaccines worked as intended. Yes, vaccinated people should probably wear masks in closed confined spaces. But if so, not because of personal risks involved in getting infected as a vaccinated person but rather to limit infections of non-vaccinated with the Delta variant. The same is true for social distancing (with moderation) and washing hands.

AFAIK, the risk of dying or getting serious complication for fully vaccinated people is currently very low. Maybe future mutations change that but it doesn't look like it. If you insist on worrying about something, then worry about enough volunteers for vaccinations, enough vaccines for poorer countries, or getting refresher vaccinations once they are due.

@dang: missing a "t" in varianT. ^^

I feel like the goal posts are moving with lightening speed.

Whenever I read a sentence like "The goal was never to eradicate COVID from being annoying—it was to eradicate it from being a killer." Those same experts, a year ago, were assuring us that COVID would never become endemic.

Same thing with vaccines. Yes, everyone should get vaccinated. Yes, we were given a ton of guidance that vaccines would stop the spread of COVID.

I feel like there are two camps:

1) Liberals, who are in control of the health establishment, who lie to get the behavior they want (starting with "no mask" advice, to now overselling vaccines, and rewriting history)

2) Conservatives, who ignore all science.

Liberal media emphasizes how we've always been at war with Eastasia, and liberals believe it. Conservatives point to inconsistencies and open lies, and use that to discount everything from medical, academic, and government establishments.