Are the Unvaccinated still a danger to society?

Joined by the new sub-class of humans, the "Undervaccinated"

Are the Unvaccinated still a danger to society?

You might think the question sounds like something from an article written a year ago (or 1930s) , but no, it was published in the LA Times yesterday.

For almost two years, COVID-19 vaccine holdouts have been the objects of earnest pleading and financial inducements, of social-media shaming and truth campaigns. They’ve missed weddings, birthday celebrations and recitals, and even forfeited high-stakes athletic competitions. Until last month, they were barred from entering the United States and more than 100 other countries.

Now the unvaccinated are suddenly back in the mix. They’re dining in restaurants, rocking out at music festivals and filling the stands at sporting venues. They mingle freely in places where they used to be shunned for fear they’d seed superspreader events.

It’s as if they’re no longer hazardous to the rest of us. Or are they?

There’s so much to make one angry in Melissa Healy’s opening paragraphs, from the words to the tone, that I will focus on the facts so as not to explode. Unless I missed the memo, I, being an unvaccinated UK citizen, am still unable to enter the United States, so I don’t know what she thinks happened last month?

In stark contrast to The Atlantic article asking for a ‘Pandemic Amnesty’, this piece seems to have reverted back to full-on unjabbed shaming.

“Clearly, the unvaccinated are a threat to themselves,” said Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University.

Clearly, the shaman, I mean shaman doctor, I mean Dr Shaman, was named appropriately with the definition of shaman being a traditional (unscientific) faith healer. At least he does acknowledge that “the danger to the rest of us is a more debatable issue”.

When public officials imposed vaccine mandates, the unvaccinated certainly appeared to pose demonstrable dangers to their communities.

Certainly appeared to the shamans of this world who wanted to impose their gifts from God onto the whole population.

State and local leaders sought not only to suppress spread of the virus, but also to prevent their healthcare systems from being overwhelmed, degrading care for all. The unvaccinated made those goals harder to achieve since they were more likely to become infected and, when they did, to require hospitalization.

More likely to become infected? LOL - Ok, I’ve got quite a lot of data to send you, Melissa.

Americans range in vulnerability from the unvaccinated and never infected to the vaccinated, previously infected and fully boosted, with infinite gradations of protection in between.

In conditions like these, the role the unvaccinated could play in seeding outbreaks will vary.

It’s strange that the majority of people dying from Covid are now fully vaccinated and boosted, must be a glitch in the data.

However, it seems the unvaccinated are now joined by a new sub-class. “Over time, people who are still called ‘fully vaccinated’ will become indistinguishable from the unvaccinated unless they’ve received a booster. Until more Americans embrace booster shots, the “undervaccinated” will steadily swell the ranks of the vulnerable. Wherever they are, they’ll help keep the pandemic going”.

However, the vaccines appear to reduce the amount of virus a sick person sheds by coughing, sneezing or simply talking. That means unvaccinated people are not only more likely to be infected, but also somewhat more likely to spread it to others.

Again, “more likely to be infected”, did you not read the data I just sent you, Melissa?

But the unvaccinated and undervaccinated are almost certainly playing an outsized role in the coronavirus’ continued success, experts say. Exactly how much is hard to pinpoint.

“Experts say”. That’s an easy way to sound credible without providing any actual evidence.

Finally, there’s concern that unvaccinated and undervaccinated Americans could accelerate the emergence of new coronavirus variants, some of which are bound to be even more transmissible or more adept at evading existing COVID-19 vaccines and therapies. Either — or both — would cause new waves of transmission and illness.

Quick, our vaccines aren’t working and have actually encouraged mutations to evade any sort of protection, what shall we do to stop the public turning up at Pfizer HQ with their pitchforks? Easy, blame the unvaccinated! But they’re not getting ill and dying as much? Simple, lump in the undervaccinated and they’ll never suspect a thing!

While it’s a theoretical possibility, the unvaccinated are not prolific incubators of genetic variants.

Oh so what you told me above was just made up speculation then?

as the unvaccinated are joined by ever-larger numbers of people who are undervaccinated, surges become a more plausible prospect.

Roll up, roll up, get your booster shot or join the unvaccinated in their disease-ridden camps.

When fewer of their neighbors are getting sick and dying, and high vaccination rates have suppressed COVID-19, even the unvaccinated feel invulnerable.

“That could be a lethal mistake,” he warned.

You are sending shivers down my spine, Dr Hotez and Ms Healy but only because of the shocking language that is once again trying to “other” a section of society.

Now breathe, relax, think happy thoughts and pretend you didn’t read that article. Sod it, it’s Friday, have a beer. If you are unvaccinated it seems there’s another winter of death coming for you (oh, you didn’t die in last year’s winter of death? strange), so go wild.

Hold on, wait. Before you open that beer, share this article and subscribe to this newsletter!