Google And Facebook Mandate Vaccines For Employees At U.S. Offices:
Google and Facebook will require U.S. employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus before returning to the company's offices, the tech giants said on Wednesday.
In a blog post, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the vaccine mandate would apply to its U.S. offices in the coming weeks and would be required eventually for other locations.
"Getting vaccinated is one of the most important ways to keep ourselves and our communities healthy in the months ahead," Pichai wrote.
Shortly after Google's announcement, Facebook said it too will require anyone coming to work at its U.S. offices to be vaccinated.
"How we implement this policy will depend on local conditions and regulations. We will have a process for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons and will be evaluating our approach in other regions as the situation evolves," Lori Goler, Facebook's vice president of people, wrote in a statement.
The tech giants' vaccine requirements could push other employers to follow suit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @09:40PM (28 children)
Not having a vaccine card is like having a "get out of the office for free" card! Do not pass go--don't even leave the start button.
What are they thinking? Can google and facebook really say that people have to be in the office to do work on a computer because Cloud or something?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by looorg on Friday July 30 2021, @10:41PM (23 children)
The interesting thing becomes, are there (or will there be) legal grounds to fire someone for not getting vaccinated? There is already all the things about you are not allowed to go to X if you are not vaccinated (substitute in bar, cinema, restaurant, concert .... for X).
There seem to be some talk about not letting people coming to the office (or your place of work whatever it might be) if you don't get vaccinated. I would imagine there is a bit of clash of interests then going on and which trumps which of your various freedoms and obligations.
I imagine they want it to go something like -- you have to be vaccinated to be at the office, if you are not you can't come to the office and eventually then you'll be terminated for not showing up at the office. Not for your choice (or whatever) of not getting vaccinated. But that sounds a bit like locking all the doors to the office and then complain when the staff can't come in to their office. They set a rule which can't (or won't) be followed for one reason or another.
How about instead of getting vaccinated you (or I) come to the office wearing a hazmat suit with breathers and all the filters. That should be safe and then you don't have to get vaccinated. Problem is they are not very comfy long term as far as I recall it.
But overall it seems kind of funny that the high-tech industry somehow want mandatory office attendance. Managers gotta manager etc. I can understand it for some places where you can't remote work. But for places you clearly can it becomes somewhat odd.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Friday July 30 2021, @11:41PM (14 children)
>legal grounds to fire someone for not getting vaccinated?
You don't need legal grounds to fire someone. That's the effect of "employment at will".
In another country, one with stronger worker protections, the most likely legal grounds would be maintaining a safe workplace for all the other employees, just like you could fire a heavy equipment operator for showing up drunk.
(Score: 1, Troll) by darkfeline on Friday July 30 2021, @11:51PM (13 children)
You still can't fire someone for being part of a protected class, e.g. for race, ethnicity, political affiliation... or medical conditions.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @02:19AM (1 child)
If you hired them then it is already too late. But on the other hand if you solely pass over a job candidate for not satisfying a diversity quota then nobody will bat an eye.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 01 2021, @02:16AM
Incorrect. This is legally actionable. Race is not permissible as grounds for an employment decision, which to my knowledge has put some employers in terrible no-win situations. Once place I know basically has so many indian programmers that white faces are actually weird - but it's not even an H1B thing, it's just that for some unknown reason they just don't get other applicants. And they're scared shitless of lawsuits, even though it's not their fault.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Saturday July 31 2021, @03:17AM (4 children)
Political affiliation is, to the best of my knowledge, not a protected class. As the boss, you can't compel your employees to tell you about their political affiliations, though, and you also can't legally fire somebody for any connections to a union (although businesses do illegally all the time).
However, even if somebody is part of a protected class:
- You can legally just happen to select them for firing during a mass layoff.
- You can legally fire somebody in one of those protected classes for any reason at all that's not provably related to their protected class. So, for instance, if a Jewish guy shows up late for work enough times, it's perfectly legal to fire them for being late for work.
As for medical conditions:
- "I can't take the vaccine, because I'm allergic to X ingredient in the available vaccines, and here's a note from my doctor explaining this" is protected.
- "I can't take the vaccine because somebody on the Internet told me Bill Gates was using it to inject me with microchips" is not protected.
- "I can't take the vaccine because I'm a Republican" is not protected.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @03:22PM (2 children)
How about "I can't take the vaccine and my medical conditions are none of your fucking business."
(Score: 4, Touché) by epitaxial on Saturday July 31 2021, @06:04PM
Perfectly acceptable. Enjoy your right to work laws.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday August 01 2021, @02:03AM
Sure, you might get a business that you can bully into submission with this, but most businesses have some grasp of the game. And sooner or later, you'll probably slip up.
Just get the shots.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 01 2021, @10:35AM
I might be allergic to it and don’t want to test
(Score: 4, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday July 31 2021, @04:38AM (2 children)
Like voluntarily being a hazard to others? I think you'll find court support for that position to be very thin.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @01:11PM (1 child)
Did you forget a year ago how the CDC declared the virus magically stops spreading only when Democrats have mass rallies?
(Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Sunday August 01 2021, @01:55AM
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @06:43AM (2 children)
More than likely religious exemption applies here. I have many to choose from when it comes to this Satan's Cocktail.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @07:07AM (1 child)
Let me guess ... It is a conspiracy by Xenu to inject you with thetans?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:09PM
They can't inject Thetans just willy nilly. You have to be audited many many times and over several years first. Saint Hubbard needs you constant donations so he knows your vessel is a proper home for the Thetan.
(Score: 5, Informative) by richtopia on Friday July 30 2021, @11:47PM (6 children)
Employers are allowed to consider vaccines as a condition for employment.
https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-df4d71cd3d3a6b48ce84f959c8b40da0 [apnews.com]
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @11:57PM (5 children)
Who is supposed to consider taking responsibility for adverse effects in employees forced to vaccinate?
(Score: 2, Touché) by Tork on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:15AM (4 children)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Unixnut on Saturday July 31 2021, @08:46AM (3 children)
> The vaccine manufacturer. Remember the 'invisible hand'? That's how that works.
But they demanded (and got) full indemnity from liability for any side effects from the government, up to and including death. Obviously they have great faith in their products. I guess you can try to sue them anyway, but I don't think it would go anywhere.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @03:42PM (2 children)
Indemnified means the government will take on any liability. You can still sue, but you'll end up with the manufacturer and the government as co-defendants, and if you win the government pays.
Immunity would have meant you couldn't sue.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 01 2021, @03:44AM (1 child)
You think the government will be a fair opponent in court?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 01 2021, @07:36AM
I didn't say that. I was just pointing out the difference between indemnity and immunity.
(Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Saturday July 31 2021, @01:31AM
Safe workplace regulations, whatever they are in your jurisdiction.
DOJ says they can [natlawreview.com].
---
See also Jacobson v. Massachusetts [wikipedia.org] in regards with the right of the state to impose vaccination
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @10:41PM (3 children)
HIPPA still in theory protects employees from having to disclose private health info to their employers. So it seems to be either pure virtue signaling or a way of getting their employees to lie and provide future blackmail material.
I see a bigger push on the way of forced vaxxes will be the propaganda effort to blame the unvaxxed for regrettably forcing the government to mandate masks for the vaxxed. "It's all your fault, you wrecked our beautiful effort! We all danced the rain dance but you hexed it and continued the drought!"
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @04:38AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 01 2021, @03:49AM
Your employer doesn't give a shit you don't want to work because another employee has the flu. GTFO if you don't like it.
The only reason employers are pretending to entertain you now is because of political and PR considerations.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Fnord666 on Saturday July 31 2021, @01:20PM
That's not how HIPAA [hhs.gov] works.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @09:52PM (8 children)
First they mandate vaccines before you can return to the office, then they mandate sex-change operations for you to stay employed. "You will become one of us", say the pink-hairs.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @10:32PM
Look I'm saying the vaccine makes you gay or anything I'm just saying that I sucked a few dicks and its no big deal
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Tork on Friday July 30 2021, @10:40PM (2 children)
Heh. You can tell how well grounded your arguments are by your photo-realistic strawman.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 1) by Acabatag on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:33AM (1 child)
There needs to be a 'Too obvious to be a real troll' mod option.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 02 2021, @11:10PM
I use "troll" mods for "nobody can genuinely be that stupid".
Occasionally, I'm incorrect in that evaluation.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:36AM
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense... said nobody ever.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @04:15AM (2 children)
Joke's on them. Get a preemptive sex-change operation then use their mandatory opration to revert back to how you were before.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @04:43AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @07:11AM
Sorry, but your post deserves to be modded "-1 Informative".
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @10:16PM (3 children)
Hey, this has a funny taste...
(Score: 5, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @10:58PM (2 children)
No, but you're not allowed to bat an eye when the "you can't tell me what to do with my body" people pass laws telling women what they can and can't do with their bodies. Don't like the work conditions, get another job. Isn't that what you guys have been saying for years?
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @11:41PM
That reminds me. Are wombyns allowed to tell wombyns what they can and can't do with their bodies? How do the intersectional identity politics work here? Who should I white knight against? Should I white knight against the detractors of powerful female politicians being powerful women and smashing glass ceilings?
After all maybe Germaine Greer is on to something [ncregister.com]! Maybe abortion really is anti-woman!
MSM: Mississippi Explains All on Abortion [nytimes.com] - Mississippi asks Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade [politico.com]
ICFI/SEP/IWA-RFC: Mississippi asks US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade [wsws.org]
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @11:44PM
Actually, you are 120% right. The Google and Facebook workers were happily building the cages, making fences and prods, to contain and herd the two-legged cattle. It is the natural justice that they themselves become cattle to be herded and branded.
"He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him."
(Score: 3, Funny) by amamandaa on Friday July 30 2021, @10:24PM (3 children)
This morning, I did a Google search. I got a message, "This resource unavailable to the unvaccinted. Please try again after vaxxing."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @10:40PM (2 children)
"non-vaccinated". There's no such thing as un-vaccinating someone ;-)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @10:46PM (1 child)
Incorrect. ;)
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @03:30PM
I think you mean non-correct.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Friday July 30 2021, @11:16PM (22 children)
Hey, idiots:
Just... Get... Vaccinated
Then the news can finally shut the fuck up about covid once and for all.
Thanks to these idiots that didn't get vaccinated, and are catching it right next to vaccinated people, there is a very good chance that it will mutate again and destroy all the work done getting people vaccinated in the first place. In the mean time now we get to listen to the news bitch about masks, masks, masks all over again.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @11:52PM (4 children)
Hey, idiot!
Just... Get... A Clue:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/green-pass-system-kicks-back-in-for-events-venues-with-over-100-people/ [timesofisrael.com]
https://www.timesofisrael.com/vaccine-downgrades-disease-but-many-still-suffer-long-covid-israeli-study/ [timesofisrael.com]
https://www.timesofisrael.com/experts-third-vaccine-dose-for-elderly-might-not-help-but-it-wont-hurt-either/ [timesofisrael.com]
"The news" do not care whether you vaccinated, nor what with, nor how many times. They scream about what they are paid to scream about. They will shut up when the money stops coming, and not one second before.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Tork on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:27AM (3 children)
The virus does.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @03:34PM (2 children)
Mere published facts cannot shake your faith in The Party Line. So noted.
Do not badmouth the virus by assigning your fault to it, however.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @04:35PM
Breitbart-believing Dumbfuck: "2 + 2 = 5!"
Tork: "No, 2 + 2 = 4."
Breitbart-believing Dumbfuck: "Nothing can shake your faith in The Party Line! So noted! But the glorious truth is that 2 + 2 = 5! Trump 2020! Stop the steal!"
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday August 01 2021, @02:07AM
What I find remarkable is that the virus has straightforward dynamics. Either we generate herd immunity through vaccines or through people getting covid. And if we don't generate that herd immunity fast and thoroughly enough, then we get to do it again with the next mutation of the disease. This is our chance to prevent a vast amount of suffering and you're bullshitting about The Party Line.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by darkfeline on Friday July 30 2021, @11:54PM (4 children)
Pregnant women and cancer survivors are idiots. Duly noted.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by fishybell on Friday July 30 2021, @11:57PM (3 children)
Do you have any data that suggest that pregnant women and cancer survivors shouldn't get the vaccine? Or is this just a straight tangent?
(Score: 5, Informative) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:03AM (2 children)
In fact, what data we have about pregnant women is that pregnancy outcomes are the same with or without the vaccine, with one exception. The babies get born with COVID antibodies. They don't need them, of course, but there IS an effect.
My wife is a cancer survivor twice over and vaccinated. People on active chemo should get expert advice.
(Score: 0, Troll) by krishnoid on Saturday July 31 2021, @06:21AM
Yeah, but I bet the microchip from Bill Gates stays with the mother. The babies are going to have to get vaccinated anyway! Eh, it's the same thing as with Windows licenses.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday August 01 2021, @02:12AM
Unless, of course, you want that newborn to get some resistance/protection from covid, a disease that is pretty dangerous to newborns too.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:00AM (4 children)
Just imagine if the US had rolled out vaccines like Israel did on top of a test-trace-isolate program as good as Australia's. We'd be near zero.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:50AM (2 children)
Yeah, if we'd be like the Australians, we'd have the military keeping us in lockdown. If we'd be like the Israelis we'd be taken for our third forced vaxx.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @02:25AM
But is martial law really that unreasonable when it is a continent full of criminals?
(Score: 1) by BeaverCleaver on Sunday August 01 2021, @11:44PM
Just imagine if the Australian government funded health care as well as they funded their military. Then Australians could have medicine instead of soldiers on the streets enforcing lockdown.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Saturday July 31 2021, @01:05AM
Heh. No we wouldn't. The vaccination rates in the USA are, sadly, divided along political-party lines. We could have had a vaccine last July and we'd still be in this mess.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @06:49AM (6 children)
If the vaccone works why do you care others dint get vaccinated. You are protected right?
Oh that's right, it doesnt work. It's just a poltical theater and a payday for big pharma.
Want to make it mandatory, ie make decisions what I do with my body? OK, outlaw abortion and I will make an appointment same day. We got a deal?
What, you mean vaccines are about health of others, not just the person getting the shot? Yeah I can see the difference. Abortion is definitely about the health of the woman, not the other human living in her body.
This is the part of the conversation where I tell you to fuck off.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:08PM (5 children)
Because vaccines usually don't work that way. The goal usually is to provide enough herd immunity that each occurrence of the infectious disease infects less than one more person on average and thus, dies out in the population. That requires enough vaccinated people that the disease can't spread among the non-vaccinated population.
And as already has been repeatedly noted, diseases mutate. The longer and more infections that occur, the more likely a disease is to mutate into a form that isn't affected by the vaccine.
And I find it interesting how we can have a huge drop in covid cases in regions with large scale vaccination, but have this presented as if vaccinations "don't work".
Or you could just stop being a dick, get your shot, and stop being part of the ongoing problem. Vaccines indeed are about the health of others. Surely, you've heard of cooperation, right?
(Score: 2) by https on Saturday July 31 2021, @02:56PM (1 child)
I just upvoted a post by khallow.
Is this...
So this is what going mad feels like.
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 01 2021, @10:46AM
Dr khallow won’t be such a keyboard warrior 5 years from now if vaccine recipients are getting cancer - is big mouth going to pay for everyone’s medical bills if that happens?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @03:45PM (2 children)
Ah, the event previously known as "summer came"?
I find it VERY interesting how we had the same drop in regions with similar climate and wildly different vaccination scale, at near the same time, the second year in a row, and nevertheless some people can find nothing strange in attributing this year's drop to vaccination.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by khallow on Saturday July 31 2021, @05:22PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 02 2021, @12:45AM
That explains it. Florida is well-known for their endless winter season.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:08AM (2 children)
As a Googler I'd say it's not that Google wanted to push for a mandate (if you can call it that) but rather that the employees were practically breaking down the doors demanding a more cogent vaccine policy.
Before this update the answer was several locations would allow you to go maskless if you had a vaccine, while several others didn't allow anyone to go maskless. Everyone pretty much hated that as it was useless by all accounts. Why only some locations? Why not bar the unvaccinated from coming into the office in general? Why not let everyone go maskless?
It was rightlfully hated by everyone on all sides.
Now the "mandate" is if you want to come back the office you must be vaccinated. Well, guess what? Not everyone wants to come back to the office, and the barrier to work from home is substantially lower inside the company than it used to be. I'm guessing everyone who wasn't going to get vaccinated will still not (at least not because of this mandate) and will instead continue to work from home.
As the "return to the office" (or "work from the office" as corporate likes to brand it) time is slipping further and further into the future I see this becoming less and less of a big deal over time.
As an employee I heard about this new policy on the news before I heard about it at work. It was in my e-mail the same morning, but as I hadn't actually "gone to work" yet I'm convinced that Google released a press release either simultaneously or before sending out the company-wide email (I'm sure this is easily provable by someone more inclined to do so than me). This is a PR thing to try to convince other companies that pushing mandates is acceptable, and a general ploy to get more people vaccinated. Will it work? I doubt it, but I hope so.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @06:30PM (1 child)
My employer is removing working from home unless you are unvaccinated. If you are unvaccinated you continue to work from home. Indeed a weird incentive if you want people to be vaccinated for those that also still want to work from home.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Sunday August 01 2021, @12:31AM
So get vaccinated and don't tell them.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:10AM
I guess it's been about three months (?) after the (mRNA) vaccine became widely available for everyone without having to wait in line. If it had been available earlier, I bet companies would still have waited roughly a quarter as well before mandating it for employees to return to the office.
Looks like the timing is converging on a vaccine mandate for all entities -- federal government [cnn.com], businesses [cnn.com], restaurants [usnews.com].
Maybe companies still would have waited for the federal government to mandate it for their own employees -- and notably, contractors -- before falling in line themselves, so they could point to the government and say "hey, they're doing it". When CNN mentions "contractors" though, if it includes companies that provide on-site contractors for the government, having that as a requirement in order to win some government contracts would probably be sufficient for a company to proactively have all its employees be vaccinated.
(Score: -1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @06:14AM (12 children)
There is absolutely no need to get a vaccine if you had COVID and recovered from it. People in that category have no need of the vaccine. Yet, the fascists ignore that completely.
I know some pussy is going to say that natural immunity is not as good as a vaxx, but scientists have found they are equivalent. This is because their worldview is that the government and the related bureaucracies are the savior of mankind. No solutions can come from outside it.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @08:56AM (6 children)
Not a single scientist has found that, you propaganda-filled, Trump-sucking, lying dumbfuck.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @01:23PM (5 children)
My ignorant friend, here is one study, but there are others.
Read it and educate yourself. Try getting outside your echo chamber once in a while.
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)31565-8 [cell.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @01:32PM (4 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @02:26PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @02:57PM (2 children)
I know the study has many words, but if you take breaks while reading and ask someone to help you with the big words, you can manage to get the relevant info. Durable immunity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @03:48PM
Why read when you are told what to believe? Ignorance is strength!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 01 2021, @09:50AM
So no such luck. They acknowledge their own limitations, including the above quote, don't compare it to any vaccine responses, and define "durable" as lasting all of three months.
(Score: 5, Informative) by zocalo on Saturday July 31 2021, @10:13AM (3 children)
This is demonstrably bullshit.
I had Covid in January (probably the B-variant), and was a borderline hospital case. I then had both my AZ jabs, and just over a month after the second one (so it should have been in full effect) I caught the D-variant in late June, which still put me completely out of action for a week, and I'm someone who has no known preexisting conditions and generally muddles through sickness and still gets things done. If we assume that the T-cells from January and the AZ jabs were both active and lessened the symptoms, per what they are claimed to do, then who knows where that have left me last month if I hadn't been vaccinated? This is not at all uncommon (tens of thousands of documented examples of second cases in the UK alone), and some people are not so lucky and die of the second case.
It's true that having had Covid gives you *some* protection. (antibodies, T-cells), but also that it doesn't stop you getting it again. Having the vaccine also gives you *some* protection, but also doesn't stop you getting it; it does supposedly lessen the impact if you do though. You can debate the relative level of protection afforded by each, but they are also cumulative; natural immunity is good (for some value of "good"), vax is good (for some value of "good"), but natural + vaxx is your best protection for future infections.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @10:56AM
This is about correct. Current understanding is that covid will become like other corona viruses that cause colds, but this means repeated exposures. The vaccine is a much safer 1st exposure than a virus itself. It's also a safer 2nd exposure than virus too.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @01:15PM (1 child)
I said they gave equivalent protection, not that they guaranteed immunity, dumbass.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by zocalo on Saturday July 31 2021, @02:19PM
What I *didn't* say was that either natural antibodies or any of the vaccines will give you guaranteed protection, in fact I actually stated, and even emphasised, that they each give you some protection (exactly how much protection each offers is still largely unquantified, AFAIK), and also that neither will prevent you from contracting (or re-contracting) the virus - something I have firsthand experience of. What does seem pretty clear though is that the defense in depth principle applies; if you've got natural antibodies *and* have had a vaccine, you are going to have a much better prognosis in a second case than either one alone, and even that may still not be enough to save you from hospitalisation, or worse.
In that light, what's really dumb here is not doing as much as you can to protect yourself, and others, from catching the virus. Especially once you take into account that more active cases = more chances of further mutations = more chance that one of those mutations might be neutralise the efficacy of existing antibodies and/or vaccines. That said, the widespread skepticism and resistance to measures like wearing masks probably makes it all but inevitable at this point that the virus will eventually become endemic, just as flu already is, and we're probably going to need to learn to live with it, and deal with the consequences, in a similar manner.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 31 2021, @03:15PM
Your post doesn't even make sense from a political bias or even a propaganda perspective. It only makes sense as a troll.
Modern day Republicans are quick to point out the violence they associate with BLM or, the focus of my example, "Antifa".
If the fascists ignore the category of those that have recovered from COVID and have no need of the vaccine... and that isn't Dr. Fauci or his team, or President Biden and his spokes people, or even that AOC person that seems to be the most commonly referred to Democrat female mentioned on Fox after Hillary wasn't a roof worth hanging a shingle on any longer -- then who, exactly, are the fascists of which you speak?
I am upset I can't get a booster shot because the focus is on getting people that haven't been vaccinated... vaccinated, despite vaccines going bad, other countries administrating booster shot programs, and so on. I'll take yours if I could, since you are so sure you don't need it and I am also pretty sure that you'd hate to see your tax dollars contribute to waste.
Yet I do not have that option. So, at least tell me who these fascists are if the people called "Antifa" were primarily against the authorative government actions of the Trump administration, if not republicans in general.
They only came about as a response to clearly fascist activity that for some reason the #1 mainstream news channel took offense to. Why Fox was offended I am not really sure, maybe it was because the Antifa came about because they didn't like Trump for some reason.
Oh and hey--remember when Trump tried to buy in advance about a billion dollars of vaccines because America First? Pissed off a bunch of other westernized countries in the process? Why was it OK to pursue vaccines then but not the same ones funded via warp speed in the US, like the existing pfizer and moderna vaccines? You guys never have managed to explain that, it's always a complaint about the tyranny of temporary mask wearing.
(Score: 2) by GlennC on Saturday July 31 2021, @11:31PM
If you're not willing to get vaccinated, you can quit your job and go into business for yourself.
Sorry folks...the world is bigger and more varied than you want it to be. Deal with it.
(Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Sunday August 01 2021, @05:10AM
This is not so true, unless they change laws in other countries. As Pichai says, "How we implement this policy will depend on local conditions and regulations."
In Australia, [safeworkaustralia.gov.au] says: