News and notes from around the interweb:
- What is MGM trying to accomplish with its new program? (Skift)
- Alaska Airlines gate agent speaks out about being attacked by a passenger
- Photos of Washington National airport the day it opened in 1941
Not 1941 - How to think about the transition to endemic Covid-19 relevant for testing requirements at the border, masks on planes, etc.
For vaccinated people, the risk level would be far lower, and no greater than other risks we accept in everyday life, such as driving around. Even at Omicron’s currently high prevalence, COVID-19 is no emergency for the vaccinated and healthy.
That being the case, Tabarrok proposes a rule of thumb: “Whatever we do, we should be thinking about, ‘Do we make this permanent or not?’” If measures are not candidates for permanence, “We might as well stop them now or soon.”
Specifically, what might that rule of thumb imply? Lockdowns and border closures would end. Ditto for social distancing. Masking would be optional except among the vulnerable.
- Relatedly Emirates A380 business class bars are back open
- You can now add travelers to your Southwest Airlines account rather than having to re-enter them every time when you book.
End all mask mandates, jab mandates, capacity controls, and onerous restrictions on business.
If the jab works, then the unjabbed aren’t a threat to you. If it doesn’t work, then it’s unethical and unamerican to force it on people who don’t want it.
Restore the rule of law and representative government.
Comments please!
Breathe Free,
it’s also un-Canadian and un-French but their governments today are going after their own citizens that dare tell their governments to follow the science.
If the vaccines work, there is no need for the hysteria.
I suppose we’re all still wearing masks until everyone is vaccinated. That’s the hold up. Those who are vaccinated didn’t get what was promised (mask wearing would not be necessary). I am not a hater of the non-vaxed, it’s their choice.
We need to tell unvaccinated people they need to go to the end of the line for hospital resources, so that the rest of us can actually get normal access to medical resources/appointments again, instead of continually playing the reschedule shuffle. I have been trying to work through gastrointestinal issues (I’m vaccinated) but the continued onslaught of COVID infected patients have continued to just wreck havoc over my Drs schedule (and therefore mine) with procedures continually being bumped out.
Mask mandate ending…lol. Gary, you been hanging around with Hunter?
The mask mandate on planes can never end. We need a permanent reminder of this society-changing event, and as it is impossible to impose mask mandates 100% in public, the only logical place is at airports and in planes. Just like Sept 11 changed travel, so must COVID, and the visible reminder must be the mask mandate at airports, just like taking your shoes off through security.
It’s forever. Get used to it.
Plus, humans have a need to feel a kind of nostalgic solidarity as time passes. When we are at the airport, we can take part in this ritual with (what we can perceive as) other like-minded science-loving comrades, while also forcing, forever and ever, science-deniers, to wear a mask themselves as a mark of the victory of our science over their intransigence.
We can never let go of this symbolism of our virtue, and thus we must mandate masks on airplanes and at airports, at the very least, forever. In fact, if I had my way, all forms of transportation would require a mask, and any excuse to remove a mask at an airport (such as at restaurants) would be banned.
The political tide has turned. A month ago I wouldn’t have been optimistic about this, but at this point I’d say it’s more likely than not that the transportation mask mandate will be allowed to expire as scheduled on March 18.
@Marco I think and hope so as well
“If the jab works, then the unjabbed aren’t a threat to you. If it doesn’t work, then it’s unethical and unamerican to force it on people who don’t want it.”
The vaccine reduces risk, but does not eliminate it. Unvaccinated people are also a threat because they are more likely to clog up hospitals.
It’s absurd to think that something that isn’t 100% effective doesn’t work.
All those who still feverishly cling to already proven *Failed* handling of COVID-19, relying on Masks and “Vaccines or Nothing” mandates need to Wake Up and Understand that there’s an election this coming November, and the polling numbers are now indicating total *Obliteration* for Democrats, who know nothing about Real Science, anyway! Their entire handling of COVID-19 with UN-scientific mandate actions have been totally *Political* since Day One!
What did Albert Einstein tell us about repeating the same Failed Actions over and over again, while expecting different outcomes?
@Breathe Free: I am so happy to see @Tim Dunn and @Jackass Waterson has a new playmate. Now, please send me $65 for repairing my laptop screen since I spewed coffee all over it reading your comment about it being “unamerican”. I love how the word freedom and American has become so connected with the people that live there yet you never take off your rose colored glasses when looking at your own country. It really does prove how easy people are to manipulate. And when the word Socialist comes out, you feel like that is similar to living in prison. If only the US would spend as much money on education as they do on military.
I am sick and tired that my medical insurance dollars and tax dollars pay for the huge bills that the unvaccinated rack up. If the unvaccinated want to exercise a choice, this subsidization NEEDS TO END.
End socialism: unvaxxed people need to pay for their own damages. Until then, it’s full on masks and other restrictions please!
P.S. Also, it’s crazy that vaccinated people can’t access doctors because they’re bogged down treating the unvaxxed. Let them have their hospitals.
@Jake — “I am sick and tired that my medical insurance dollars and tax dollars pay for the huge bills that the unvaccinated rack up.” — and — “it’s crazy that vaccinated people can’t access doctors because they’re bogged down treating the unvaxxed.”
Fact Check with a dose of Reality — currently those who are fully vaccinated can comprise the vast majority of those who are hospitalized and requiring ER/ICU care!
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/08/please-add-video-leading-israeli-health-official-vaccinated-account-95-severe-85-90-new-covid-hospitalizations-vaccine-effectiveness-really-fading-video/
https://twitter.com/JCConradson/status/1424035882454065155?s=19
Based on the Twitter interview above — “According to Dr. Haviv, the vaccinated account for 85-90% of all new hospitalizations and 95% of ‘severe’ cases at the Herzog Medical Center in Jerusalem.”
Recall that Israel has one of the highest fully vaccinated rates in the world (85% of those eligible) and has predominantly used the Pfizer/BNT jabs.
Those of us who want to protect ourselves can do so by getting vaccinated. Those who choose not to get vaccinated can go ahead and die if that’s what they choose. Those who don’t feel safe can wear quality masks that do a lot to protect them and can avoid crowded indoor situations. Time to stop letting a concern over the fact that so many are choosing to die to obstruct normal life for the rest of us. Other countries can choose their own paths, but at this point 77 countries have a higher vaccination rate than the U.S. since their populations aren’t so easily duped by fake science. End the testing requirements for travel, end the mask mandates in airports and planes, end the masking in schools, let us move on.
@Gary – once again, you let this StrictlyFacts chump spread anti-vaxx falsehoods and misinformation on your blog. A direct rebuttal to this troll:
https://www.techarp.com/science/yaakov-jerris-vaccine-covid-19/
https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2022/02/fact-check-fully-vaccinated-not-80-percent-of-serious-covid-cases-in-israel.html
Hard to be a “thought leader” when you keep letting this garbage pollute it.
For the first time in two years, I finally have some real hope that travel plans will not be cancelled again and again. The whole virus things is nuts, has been from the beginning. Complete hysteria by people who haven’t read any history. CHORUS: if you’re worried about getting sick, stay home or wear a mask. Leave the rest of us alone.
@UA-NYC — “… once again, you let this StrictlyFacts chump spread anti-vaxx falsehoods and misinformation on your blog. A direct rebuttal to this troll …”
Wow! I gotta hand it to you —
1. I am definitely *Not* anti-vaxx, as you *Desperately* keep accusing about me! However, I *Am* against the current crop of mRNA and Adenovirus-vectored jabs developed against COVID-19. Furthermore, I *Am*, thus far, OK with the newest Protein-Based *True* Vaccines (eg, Novavax) against COVID-19!
2. Do you know the difference between a *True* anti-vaxx position (ie, against *All* forms of Vaccines, including childhood ones) vs. an anti-mandate position (ie, against *All* forms of Coercion with respect to forcing people to UN-necessarily subject themselves to an *Experimental Cellular Genetic Manipulation Therapy*)? I am totally with the anti-mandate group!
3. You are one *Desperate* and *Illiterate* Fanatic on a crusade of endlessly trying to “debunk” me! However, *Once Again*, you’ve managed to *totally conflate* two separate and unrelated reports —
Which doctor and hospital did *I* reference in my posted reply comment?
Dr. Kobi Haviv, the medical director of Israel’s leading center for respiratory care at the Herzog Medical Center in Jerusalem.
And which doctor and hospital did *You* reference?
Professor Yaakov Jerris is Jacob Giris is Gris Yaakov (depending on translation) at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center – Ichilov Hospital.
Now — did you even notice that these are two *Different* doctors working at two *Different* cities within Israel? Is Jerusalem the same city as Tel Aviv? From where did you learn your geography? Don’t you think that comparing Apples to Apples is more relevant than comparing Apples with Oranges?
——————————————————————————–
“Hard to be a ‘thought leader’ when you keep letting this garbage pollute it.”
Exactly *Who* is spewing the *Real* pollution, here? *You* are the one who has been engaging in *Diversion* and *Obfuscation* on this (and other) issue(s) to *Mislead* everyone!
——————————————————————————–
Just as with your prior *Desperate* attempt to “debunk” me using data about USA’s record low oil imports which pertained to a year during the prior Trump administration, instead of during the current Biden administration that you were trying to highlight, perhaps you should go and attend some *Remedial* Reading Comprehension classes, rather than continuing to endlessly spew your tired old ad hominem attacks? Just saying …
@StrictlyFacts – answer the question, are you vaccinated, yes or no? Think we all know the answer of course…
@UA-NYC — “… are you vaccinated, yes or no?”
Once *again*, you’re dwelling on an *IR-relevant* point — what difference does it make if I’m jabbed with those Experimental Cellular Genetic Manipulation Therapies, or not? Did you comprehend what I wrote about Novavax? Is Novavax currently available in USA yet? Are you so naive as to think that anyone who is *Not* jabbed must, therefore, be anti-vaxx?
What if someone already has Natural Immunity, which is 27X stronger and so vastly longer lasting than those jabs with waning “immunity” that lasts only 4-6 months at best? What if some have medical conditions that preclude them from surviving those jabs? Would you willingly sacrifice their lives in the name of your blindly inane “Vaccine or Nothing” lemming cult?
What’s your point?