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Kaleberg's avatar

Slavitt is engaging in a bit of hyperbole. He is saying something like bullet proof vests stop bullets in their tracks. They actually don't. A bullet may get through if the velocity is high enough. More seriously, the vest alone cannot stop the bullet. A lot of the force of the bullet gets through to your body, and this means that getting hit by a bullet can still injure and possibly kill you even if the bullet is technically stopped. There are lots of things like this. Parachutes, for example. A parachute evangelist will say that parachutes make it safe to jump out of a flying airplane. Well, they don't. It is quite possible to die after jumping out of an airplane equipped with a properly functioning parachute. The thing is that it is massively safer if one is wearing a bullet proof vest when having to deal with bullets being fired at you, and it is massively safer if one has a parachute when jumping out of a flying airplane. A COVID vaccine doesn't actually stop COVID infections, but, like a bullet proof vest or a parachute, it makes a huge difference.

Israel is still less than 60% vaccinated. It is quite possible that reaching a 95% plus vaccination could stop the delta variant. Given the purpose of Slavitt's exhortation, I'll give him a pass on his exaggeration.

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Alex Tolley's avatar

From the CDC website:

"In summary, prevention measures will continue to be important during the period of vaccine deployment. As vaccination coverage increases, phasing out prevention measures for fully vaccinated people, ideally those measures that are the most disruptive to individuals and society, will be increasingly feasible."

The UK is looking like a natural experiment - removing all restrictions in the face of the delta variant as vastly the most common variant now.

Here in central California, mask-wearing seems to have become optional, with at least half the local population going maskless in stores. Assuming these people are all vaccinated (haha), it will be another test case on infection and transmission, as well as deaths. My county has stopped reporting on Covid - but I assume that any new surge in infections will force it to report again.

I read that Pfizer is pushing for a 3rd dose to cover the delta variant. I hope such a booster shot is available in the flu season.

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