Vaccines, Infrastructure, and Kids In Cages: US Politics April 2021

I never believed the stuff those potty-mouthed scandalmongers said about the swinging and the acid baths

https://www.dailyposter.com/p/sinema-and-manchin-headlining-event-93a

lol

.@Cnn graphic of the other pandemic. @NewDay pic.twitter.com/5cLmQKOOrb

— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) April 16, 2021

If I were going to write a conspiracy thriller right now, it would be about Russia and Saudi Arabia funneling money into the U.S. to buy as many guns as possible and distribute them as widely as possible, especially to people who seem like they might hurt someone.

But I think the bigger picture is about corruption, which is really how a lot of this stuff should be framed I think. There are corrupt forces at work, a union of racist evangelicals who want a theocracy and a legion of foreign interests and outright scammers and mercenaries. They have taken control of one of our two political parties, although there is still some establishment resistance, and they are trying to really get control of the whole thing. Not just the presidency next time, because that turned out to have limitations, but the courts and the military too. The courts are probably more than half gone in terms of having people willing or eager to undermine democracy. The military has held up at the top but probably less so further down the ranks. But it's mostly all just in the interest of money.

(If I were going to start a podcast right now, it would be a historical primer on American corruption.)

With all children like Adam Toledo who might be struggling, it’s up to all of us to mentor them, to guide and nurture them.
When we don’t, the streets will.
Every child is looking for their village, their community.
We decide what they will find.
We failed, and the streets won.

— Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) April 16, 2021

paging Mr. Choppy

fascism in MN!

Don't you ever, EVER have the balls to claim you are a Constitutionalist if you support this action. https://t.co/U2y8gyNxZ3

— Tim Johnson (@TimJohnsonMN) April 17, 2021

Meanwhile, a new variant has been found in India, and they are continuing to allow over fifty flights a day to potentially import this, just as with the Kent and Brazilian and South African variants that now make up effectively 100% of new infections.

― bobo honkin' slobo babe (sic), Saturday, April 17, 2021 5:14 AM (fifteen hours ago)

oh never mind, it's here now so there's no point in trying to restrict or mitigate it, that's only been an effective strategy in every country that's tried it and has been back to normal life for ten months

The B.1.617 variant was first detected in India, but has since been found elsewhere, including California. It has worried experts as it contains two mutations in the spike protein that, it has been suggested, may boost its ability to escape the body’s immune responses. It is thought the variant may also be able to infect the body more easily.

Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the arrival of the India variant was potentially worrying.

“These two escape mutations working together could be a lot more problematic than the South African and Brazilian variants who have only got one escape mutation,” he said. “It might be even less controlled by vaccine than the Brazilian and South African variants.”

2 preventable deaths in Wyoming this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
3 preventable deaths in Hawaii this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
6 preventable deaths in North Dakota this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
10 preventable deaths in Rhode Island this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
10 preventable deaths in South Dakota this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
10 preventable deaths in Maine this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
10 preventable deaths in Vermont this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
12 preventable deaths in Kansas this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
13 preventable deaths in Utah this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
13 preventable deaths in New Hampshire this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
13 preventable deaths in District of Columbia this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
16 preventable deaths in Oregon this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
19 preventable deaths in Alaska this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
23 preventable deaths in New Mexico this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
24 preventable deaths in Arkansas this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
25 preventable deaths in Colorado this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
26 preventable deaths in Idaho this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
27 preventable deaths in Iowa this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
27 preventable deaths in Delaware this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
34 preventable deaths in Montana this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
36 preventable deaths in Wisconsin this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
37 preventable deaths in West Virginia this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
41 preventable deaths in Puerto Rico this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
44 preventable deaths in Tennessee this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
45 preventable deaths in Mississippi this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
50 preventable deaths in Connecticut this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
51 preventable deaths in Nevada this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
61 preventable deaths in Alabama this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
66 preventable deaths in Massachusetts this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
67 preventable deaths in Minnesota this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
70 preventable deaths in South Carolina this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
73 preventable deaths in Louisiana this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
80 preventable deaths in Indiana this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
84 preventable deaths in Washington this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
85 preventable deaths in Arizona this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
88 preventable deaths in Kentucky this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
91 preventable deaths in Oklahoma this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
93 preventable deaths in Virginia this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
102 preventable deaths in Maryland this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
103 preventable deaths in Missouri this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
116 preventable deaths in North Carolina this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
156 preventable deaths in Illinois this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
173 preventable deaths in Ohio this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
250 preventable deaths in Pennsylvania this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
270 preventable deaths in New Jersey this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
288 preventable deaths in Georgia this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
345 preventable deaths in Florida this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
367 preventable deaths in Michigan this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
431 preventable deaths in New York this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
447 preventable deaths in Texas this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine
690 preventable deaths in California this week, but it's okay because the president didn't tweet about hydroxychloroquine

What do you propose?

These deaths are not preventable at this point. I’d love if everyone suddenly became responsible too, but the cat is out of the bag at this point.

Getting Trump off the TV has unquestionably saved lives. Bidens team putting together a vaccination plan (which the previous administration didn’t have at all) is going to save many many more. Of course you can always do more. But it’s not nothing.

These deaths are not preventable at this point.

The Kent variant is now the most prevalent in the US, found in every single state even AK and HI, and nearly 100% of infections in MT, ND, WY, NM, IA, LA, WV and VT.

Alaska U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Arizona U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
California U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Colorado U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Connecticut U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
District of Columbia U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Florida U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Georgia U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Illinois U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Indiana U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Maine U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Maryland U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Massachusetts U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Michigan U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Minnesota U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Nebraska U.K. variant/Brazilian
New Hampshire U.K. variant/Brazilian
New Jersey U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Ohio U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Oklahoma U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Oregon U.K. variant/Brazilian
Pennsylvania U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Rhode Island U.K. variant/Brazilian
Tennessee U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Texas U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Utah U.K. variant/Brazilian
Washington U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Wisconsin U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Alabama U.K. variant/South African
American Samoa none
Arkansas U.K. variant/Brazilian
Delaware U.K. variant/South African
Guam none
Hawaii U.K. variant/South African
Idaho U.K. variant/South African
Iowa U.K. variant
Kansas U.K. variant/South African
Kentucky U.K. variant/Brazilian
Louisiana U.K. variant
Mississippi U.K. variant/Brazilian/South African
Missouri U.K. variant/South African
Montana U.K. variant
Nevada U.K. variant/South African
New Mexico U.K. variant
New York U.K. variant/South African
North Carolina U.K. variant/South African
North Dakota U.K. variant
Northern Mariana Islands none
Puerto Rico U.K. variant
South Carolina U.K. variant/South African
South Dakota U.K. variant/South African
U.S. Virgin Islands none
Vermont U.K. variant
Virginia U.K. variant/South African
West Virginia U.K. variant
Wyoming U.K. variant

― bobo honkin' slobo babe (sic), Thursday, April 15, 2021 5:27 AM (three days ago)

what realistically can we do at this point? like say you're President of the United States. what sort of things are you pushing through?

(I don't mean this in a sarcastic or rhetorical way, I'm genuinely curious. half these states are run by Republican governors who are actively trying to get their constituents killed. how do you combat that?)

What do you propose?

an effective strategy in every country that's tried it and has been back to normal life for ten months

― bobo honkin' slobo babe (sic), Saturday, April 17, 2021 8:37 PM

it was bad policy not to close / quarantine the borders for three months last March & pay ppl $6k to stop spreading it / save businesses. it’s bad policy not to close / quarantine the borders for three months this March & pay ppl $27k to wait for vaccinations while stimulating those businesses that have survived.

― armoured van, Holden (sic), Thursday, March 11, 2021 12:35 PM (one month ago)

I also forgot (or never saw) that Harris wanted the payments to continue for three months after the pandemic, too?

I’m proposing $2,000 monthly payments throughout the pandemic and for 3 months after, because rent and bills are still due during this crisis and people are going hungry. It’s that basic.

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 11, 2020

If expectations of herd immunity by summer play out, that's $38,000. Pay people that amount to stay home right now, and you'll stop the currently-rising hospitalisation numbers as well.

― armoured van, Holden (sic), Sunday, March 28, 2021 11:03 AM (three weeks ago)

obv actively importing and spreading a double-mutant variant that may not be quelled by existing vaccines could delay that expectation now

YMP - I meant in the sense of following up on her previous "calling for" and "proposing". I'm not abandoning my own 13 months of advocating restrictions, border quarantine, and other public health measures that work. In those posts the other week I noted that a three-week hard lockdown would have been effective a year ago, and a three-month managed lockdown would have gotten things significantly under control by the time the $2K monthly bill was drafted in May. Giving people an actual deadline (with a cash* payment at the end of it) would be a massive difference psychologically to "it'll be gone by Easter 2020."

(Or, I dunno, give out the $38k now but have $39K fines for people that party unmasked, so the stimulus can also start to work before summer.)

― armoured van, Holden (sic), Monday, March 29, 2021 5:37 AM (two weeks ago)

The number of crowds of drunk/stoned unmasked partiers staggering out of bars and hooting in each others faces, or ramming shoulder-to-shoulder on bar patios, that I've seen around midnight the last two weekends since posting this, suggests that it could be a useful revenue raiser for cities to build tiny house villages for homeless ppl.

caek has argued against instituting track & trace this far in but we're still importing new (and stronger) variants. just from a research pov it has to be useful to see how fast they spread, even if the passive aim is still to let them spread.

The Biden administration announced Friday it will allocate $1.7 billion toward tracking the highly infectious coronavirus variants that now pose a major threat to the United States’ fight against the pandemic.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/16/covid-variants-biden-admin-spending-1point7-billion-tracking-new-strains.html

"The number of crowds of drunk/stoned unmasked partiers staggering out of bars and hooting in each others faces, or ramming shoulder-to-shoulder on bar patios, that I've seen around midnight the last two weekends since posting this, suggests that it could be a useful revenue raiser for cities to build tiny house villages for homeless ppl."

where do you live?

The number of crowds of drunk/stoned unmasked partiers staggering out of bars and hooting in each others faces, or ramming shoulder-to-shoulder on bar patios, that I've seen around midnight

you're up after midnight?

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/16/covid-variants-biden-admin-spending-1point7-billion-tracking-new-strains.html

👍 I'm ready for my highly-paid public health advisor role, Mr President

akm - Seattle.

Track and trace is separate to sequencing for variants. I don’t think track and trace would be money well spent until it’s like Korea or Australia or New Zealand here. Sequencing should have happened way way more than it did, and more money for it is good news.

I don’t think closing the borders is politically tenable. I don’t know if it would help much.

Yes they should have spent way more money on getting people to stay home. I think if they offered to do that now though they wouldn’t get many takers.

Probably the best thing they can do is throw money at vaccination efforts (including imo stimulus payments contingent on vaccination or certified reason you can’t get it) and provide federal support for businesses/state/local governments that want to require vaccines. Vaccination rates are still climbing but I’m starting to worry we’re going to top out at like 50%, leaving kids vulnerable and making the US a great breeding ground for new variants.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/04/at-38-5-vaccinated-us-may-be-running-low-on-people-eager-for-a-shot/

I’m starting to worry we’re going to top out at like 50%

You aren't alone. This is probably the number one worry among public health authorities about where the US could be in August.

I don’t think closing the borders is politically tenable. I don’t know if it would help much.

At a statistically significant level, every current US infection and daily death is from one of three international variants that have been tracked in the last four months. One has to assume that not actively, knowingly importing and spreading them would lead (and have led) to fewer infections and deaths, no?

Probably the best thing they can do is throw money at vaccination efforts (including imo stimulus payments contingent on vaccination

Fuck yeah.

https://pics.me.me/l-reason-to-eat-quaker-oatmeal-l-its-the-right-16409588.png

xp

The US has made almost no effort to sequence samples relative to similar countries. There’s no evidence AFAIK that those “overseas” strains started in the place they were first sequenced and given most of them cropped up when the US was the global hotspot it’s very possible some or all of them are US exports.

USA! USA!

The US has made almost no effort to sequence samples relative to similar countries. There’s no evidence AFAIK that those “overseas” strains started in the place they were first sequenced and given most of them cropped up when the US was the global hotspot it’s very possible some or all of them are US exports.

useful point, ta. but

a) it's not hard to believe that out-of-control raging hotspot Brazil could mutate its own variant, nor that the UK could have grown one specifically while the government was paying people to deliberately spread and breed the virus

b) it's not actually better if Biden's policy is to export 6,000 covid deaths a day vs importing 600 covid deaths a day

(^^ SA seems to have peaked at 750 a day, and the UK at 1450, in January when those variants were really getting their running shoes on; Brazil is currently topping 4,000 a day; I'm not checking how many other countries the three variants are in, but dare say the numbers more than balance out. I promise any nitpickers that I also think exporting, say, 3 deaths a day in any one country would be bad.)

While I admit the idea of vaccine passports makes me queasy and apprehensive, I also think that the solution to the 50% issue is pretty simple: you have to be vaccinated to go back to work or school. Legal challenges would abound, of course, but from what I'm hearing from friends, many many universities are requiring students to be vaccinated if they want to return in the fall. Good.

Good morning!

Once kids under 16 get the vaccine OK I imagine it will quickly become a requirement. My mom likes to travel and she noticed that many of her preferred travel companies are already starting to require proof of vaccination. I can think of a few countries that have opened up to those with proof of vaccination, allowing them to skip quarantine. It's just a matter of time. Let's see how long the vaccine reluctant (or as I like to cal them, slow-pokes) remain so when they can't do anything without them.

Heck, have they even determined issues of liability yet, if someone gets sick due to someone else's carelessness or indifference, or refusal to protect their staff or customers? I can imagine that eventually driving it, too.

While I admit the idea of vaccine passports makes me queasy and apprehensive

You know it's been mandatory to get certain shots to enter certain countries since the mid 20th century, right?

Vaccine passports are the new death panels. Just two words strung together to manufacture conservative outrage.

I had to get vaccinated before starting college (against hepatitis iirc) and before travelling to various places, so yes it's a bit silly to try to make a vaccination requirement for processes like that seem like a new diabolical method of social control.

But it's not accurate to say they're like the entirely fictitious "death panels" IMO (for example: https://forward.ny.gov/excelsior-pass-business). Non-idiots who worry about vaccine passports (we should probably say "passes" instead) are concerned about private businesses tiering services based on vaccination status, which may have discriminatory effects beyond sorting people who wanted to get vaxxed and people who didn't—e.g., will a stadium still let you in if you are legitimately unable to get vaccinated? There's also the fact that they're almost certain to be digital, which automatically raises data privacy concerns.

There's also the question of what counts as a valid reason to opt out—are longstanding religious objections to vaccines considered legit? etc.

sic, I agree shutting the borders would have an effect. It should have happened a long time ago and they should still be shut. I’m just not convinced the benefits of doing it now it would be big enough for the social and economic harm (and confusion tbh, given lockdown restrictions are lifting in all other parts of life) that it would cause. It’s certainly not the thing they should prioritise. Seems like a very expensive move politically.

Rob is more what I'm talking about. I know we disagree on political issues unperson, but there's legitimately no reason to automatically assume the worst of me at all junctures.

"longstanding religious objections to vaccines considered legit"

granted I was raised catholic and not some speaking-in-tongues protestant sect, but religious objections to vaccines make absolutely zero fucking sense to me, so IMO, no.

I know we disagree on political issues unperson, but there's legitimately no reason to automatically assume the worst of me at all junctures.

I don't, but you were literally rolling out the most boneheaded right-wing language of the moment, the kind of thing only someone who's never left their home state actually believes. Re what rob said:

will a stadium still let you in if you are legitimately unable to get vaccinated?

They shouldn't. Nobody has an inalienable right to attend an NFL game or a Springsteen concert.

are longstanding religious objections to vaccines considered legit?

They shouldn't be. The public's health takes precedence over the opinions of your imaginary friend and/or their representatives.

just not convinced the benefits of doing it now it would be big enough for the social and economic harm

Yeah, I get it. I just think that: society is people. The economy is people. Killing tens of thousands fewer of them each month is harm reduction. There are thousands of empty hotel rooms near airports, so putting people in them to quarantine is economic stimulus, not harm.

The sort of people who object to "vaccine passports" have probably never traveled internationally, let alone are doing so regularly throughout the pandemic. Certainly not in numbers large enough to make an electoral difference. Anyone who is flying regularly in and out can probably adapt to doing their work in a business hotel on the way in. Announcing along the lines of "we've come so far, the end is in sight, cases are rising so we just need to do this for three months, you can travel if you've vaccinated etc" is positive messaging and will actually impact a vanishingly small percentage of the population, few of whom are likely to vote for Biden again anyway.

Saving millions of lives should be considered as a public good anyway, rather than politically volatile. But I'd like to think the insanely massive return vote for Labor in Western Australia last month suggests that voters respond well to having their lives, and ability to go outside, saved.

(Admittedly, the state does not have a Murdoch paper. On the other hand, this didn't work either.)

They shouldn't. Nobody has an inalienable right to attend an NFL game or a Springsteen concert.

― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, April 18, 2021 12:27 PM (three hours ago)

"The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public."

that's about accessibility and inclusion, not a general right of the populace

the small amt of people medically unable to get vaccines can get their own card

Most people's disabilities carry a low risk of killing the person next to them.

c'mon that's such a disingenuous reading of the ADA

but I'm sure the Republicans will be exploiting that angle soon enough, you should send it on to them

I'm sure the Republicans will be exploiting that angle soon enough, you should send it on to them

They've been pushing it for a while already. Note the "ADA" language on this bullshit "face mask exemption card":

https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/face-mask-exempt-cards-fake-coronavirus.png

Who cares what scamming asshole republicans are doing? The ADA has been mentioned in every article I've read about this--there's no consensus on whether these passes constitute a violation yet, but y'all are simply wrong if you think this is super obvious and I'm merely echoing the right-wing liar parade here.

that's about accessibility and inclusion, not a general right of the populace

the small amt of people medically unable to get vaccines can get their own card

― "Gaspar? No way." (sleeve), Sunday, April 18, 2021 3:52 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago)

Not sure how being barred from entry to a potentially massive range of public businesses due to a genuine medical condition doesn't count as an "accessibility and inclusion" problem, but ftr "their own card" was basically all I had in mind when I asked the question in the first place. I brought up the religious objections because the avalanche of "religious liberty" lawsuits that will follow is an absolute guaranteed inevitability, and judging by the state of the SC, it will probably work.

Not being vaccinated does not constitute "a genuine medical condition" by any definition of "medical condition" I am aware of. Being unable to safely take a vaccine due to a genuine medical condition is another matter from what we have been discussing. Merely refusing to get one when it is available is making a conscious choice, not a condition you cannot alter.

Being unable to safely take a vaccine due to a genuine medical condition is another matter from what we have been discussing

That's quite literally what I've been discussing, but if that wasn't clear it would certainly explain why my concerns about discrimination are being perceived as GOP talking points.

Tbh I just think the possibility that people will be going around sharing their medical information before entering any sort of public arena is a little concerning. And it should be to everyone.

The possibilities for fraud, bias, and government intrusion are already wild given the way so much of our society works. Your vaccine record might very well be connected to the rest of your medical records. Imagine TSA but for vaccines. You think that's going to work? Please elaborate if so.

If there's a way that such passes or records can be verified that wouldn't also intrude on other medical privacy and accommodation issues, then I'm all for it. For the record.

Like showing your vaccination card?

Medical privacy is not so sacrosanct that society should be rendered vulnerable to a pandemic infectious disease that has already killed 560,000 members of that society. To be absolutist on this strikes me as having similarities to the sort of absolutism that seeks to shelter hate speech under the protection of first amendment rights.

When I went to my dentist I was asked a short list of questions regarding my medical state, pertinent to whether I had symptoms associated with the covid19 virus. They also took my temperature before I was admitted. This was an "invasion" of my medical privacy, too.

Plagues times are not good conditions for respecting every kind of individual right.

Imagine TSA but for vaccines.

Imaginings are not very pertinent. Imagine dying from suffocation, hooked to a respirator. It's more real.