https://twitter.com/ahandvanish/status/1502034441010569221 There's a big reality gap right now between people who are actively staying on top of COVID research & those who just trust the current guidelines. There's no judgment here, but I'd like to try to communicate the worldview of the former based on what we know about COVID now:
The US has chosen to prioritize the economy despite strong, countless studies that COVID harms many people, even those without #LongCovid or hospitalization. COVID predominantly affects the vascular system (the blood vessels), causing harm to the blood cells & blood flow; this has a downstream impact on nerves, immune system, & multiple organs, including the brain. Vaccination prevents against death, but not against long term damage.
Your first COVID infection can leave you with pre-existing conditions that will make you more vulnerable to subsequent infections. #LongCovid
If COVID circulates forever, you will be more vulnerable with every year that goes by.
There is no permanent protection from this, neither from vaccination not infection. Having some immunity does not prevent damage on subsequent infections. COVID infections can impact fertility in all genders, making conceiving harder and causing more miscarriages.
Even having non-hospitalized COVID increases the risk of 18 severe vascular conditions, including strokes, heart failure, clots, embolisms.
COVID can cause reactivated EBV, which is associated with lymphomas, multiple sclerosis, and other health issues.
COVID can cause severe cognitive issues and brain changes in people who had never been hospitalized. There is no evidence that this resolves; many have had this for 2 years. Past SARS resulted in the same.
These are just a few examples. There are thousands. Harm is not rare.
There is no real evidence that COVID will evolve to become less dangerous over time, but there is evidence to suggest it will become more dangerous especially given the amount of spread and ability to create new variants.
Behind the scenes, all of this is acknowledged. Researchers, including at NIH, have acknowledged a likely wave of early onset dementia. The WHO & CDC meet with patients regularly & acknowledge the severity & future consequences.
But there is no public awareness that just having COVID in itself is a huge health risk for your future, even from a "mild" infection, even if you feel recovered.
For those of us who are up to date on COVID impacts, including breakthroughs & reinfections, it genuinely looks like we are going to kill or disable an enormous % of our population in the next 10 years, & our leaders have decided to intentionally keep people in the dark.
And spoiler alert - the disability from COVID is already hurting the economy, and this will get worse every year too. https://www.ft.com/content/33444f29-bab1-4655-85b5-c0b1f68d9653 (paywall)
Turning the virus spigot at Fort Detrick up and down while you watch the stock market
At least the Zoomers are all vaccine eligible. Pity Gen Alpha, who will be swamped by COVID from childhood onward, hardly remembering a world without it.
"the world before covid? Ah man it sucked, lemme tell you. We thought it couldn't get any worse, lmao"
That shit is fucked up. A two-year-old daughter of my distant relative has caught COVID and ended up with type I diabetes. Now, due to sanctions they can't get glucometer strips they use.
Is that why I saw a sign saying “Cash for diabetic test strips”?
Well, unless you saw a sign saying "Куплю полоски для глюкометра" you're probably on the other end of the sanctions I'm talking about, but I dunno.
i am terrified to even ask but is there any preliminary evidence on omicron and long covid yet?
:agony-wholesome: thank you capitalism for creating highly transmissible and hard to control variants.
There is no real evidence that COVID will evolve to become less dangerous over time, but there is evidence to suggest it will become more dangerous especially given the amount of spread and ability to create new variants.
Libs love to say that “viruses get milder over time”, but still seem be touchy about catching HIV despite it being around for over 40 years :thinkin-lenin:
What are the chances that a large portion of the ruling class believes in overpopulation and blames population explosions in developing countries rather than excessive waste in the imperial core? What are the chances that the ruling class would view a pandemic which killed 1/3 of the world population and disproportionately left them alone as an unpreventable, but ultimately net positive tragedy? What are the chances that they are so far removed from material worry that the thought of losing their wealth is more stressful than the thought of millions dead?
What are the chances of all that?
I'm relieved other people are having these exact thoughts because this the shit that keeps me up at night, and that makes me think I might be going insane.
It’s definitely possible. I think how plausible it is varies depending on how much you want to argue is a conscious conspiracy rather than just interest convergence. And if there’s any evidence of explicit conspiracy I don’t think we’ll see it for decades
IMO it's a thought that should be entertained if not investigated.
i mean, it's either that or the US is really really fucking stupid. Either way
we already know the US is really fucking stupid so it's either just that or it's both
I know this is going to come out very :sus-soviet: but how can we keep our faith in socialism if it seems like too many people are either blithering idiots, blind ideologues to fascism, or both. They'll screech about MUH RITES when they're inconvenienced but will demand to have being a certain race or sexual orientation become illegal.
How do I avoid libbifying into being an anti-populist technocrat?
I try to remember that everyone I see through mainstream media is being projected; Every time you see the anti-vaxxer stories online or on cable news, those media companies are specifically finding and boosting these messages on purpose. They do not ever find normal people to talk to about anything.
Vaccination prevents against death, but not against long term damage.
I agree with most of what she's saying, but this is somewhat untrue. Ya vaccinations don't prevent 100% of long covid cases, they're probably going to protect over 50%.
