New York Times article: Reaching herd immunity in the USA against Covid-19 unlikely to happen

[thewayne]

I was feeling this in my bones with the rate of vaccination declining and the growing opposition against vaccination, not to mention the rising number of variations.

Personally, I have no problem with getting an annual Covid vaccination, I can accept that. I really hate the possibility of always having a mask around my neck and pulling it up every time I go on the floor and into the stacks. Plus, one of my student workers won't get vaccinated, she "has convictions". I wonder if she has convictions against polio and tetanus, or if she's in favor of them. At least she'll complete her education at some point and leave.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/health/covid-herd-immunity-vaccine.html

https://science.slashdot.org/story/21/05/03/167239/reaching-herd-immunity-is-unlikely-in-the-us-experts-now-believe

Comments

[rain_gryphon]

You and I, however, are of a generation when the philosophy and methodology of science were still taught to all students, and of a time when scientists stayed above politics. Those days are long over. "Follow the science", to the current generation, seems to mean, "Quit arguing, and do as you're told". That's working about as well as it wlways has.

[bibliofile]

> "Follow the science", to the current generation, seems to mean, "Quit arguing, and do as you're told". That's working about as well as it wlways has.

Hah! That line never worked for me. Fortunately my parents would in fact explain stuff to me pretty regularly.

As an adult, it also helps that I have friends and relations who are in science and healthcare professions. With the internet, it's even possible to look up research online. (Yeah, I looked at those studies that supposedly link vaccines to autism.) Media literacy and internet literacy are the best tools for that, though -- even more important than scientific anything, you could argue.