view the rest of the comments
politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
That more or less seems true globally.
But, if you have been keeping up with your vaccinations, covid is fairly mild these days. There is still the risk of complications and "long covid" but that is true of a lot more illnesses than anyone wants to acknowledge.
Personally? I still mask up when I go to the store or on public transportation. But I am not going to avoid eating out at a restaurant anymore and generally don't bother at airports or conventions since I am going to eat at some point and I am likely fucked regardless. But it is also less about covid specifically and more about just not wanting to get sick period.
Sure, if you're <70 years old and not immunocompromised or otherwise unable to vaccinate you'll probably be OK. If you do fall into one of those categories you're at high risk every time you leave your house.
And you have those threats with other viruses. There is a reason there was always such a strong push to get people to get flu shots. Plenty of people die from pneumonia and other complications.
Covid is/was a global threat because of the combination of being highly contagious, having dangerous symptoms, and being something most people have no antibodies for. Vaccination, as well as mutations, have negated a lot of those. This is why getting covid in early 2020 was a potential death sentence and would leave you curled up in a little ball unable to function. Getting covid in late 2023 is often so mild that people may not even think to test.
And if you have a compromised immune system or are otherwise at risk? You really should be masking up and avoiding crowds anyway. Because influenza is still a thing as are plenty of other colds. The only difference is that the vast majority of people won't bat an eye if you wear a mask to the supermarket these days (aside from the hardcore republicans who may scream slurs at you).
These threats didn't start in late 2019 when we were starting to hear about some weird "coronavirus" that was totally going to be the next Y2K joke. Like, I remember my cousin (rest in peace). She didn't need to live in an outright clean room but she generally avoided going to crowded spaces because nobody knows how to sneeze into their arm. And when we went to visit, we were expected to reschedule or stay outside if we at all "felt sick".
In a perfect world? We would have learned from covid that you cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and to try to avoid being near people when you are sick. Instead... we at least semi-normalized wearing a mask?
Im immunocompromised and I got the covid vaxx. was a bit of an issue with getting it though, needed to jump through some hoops. doctor basically said that this is bullshit, I especially should get vaccinated
Some immunocompromised people can get the vax, for others it's not recommended or but very effective. Same as with other vaccines.