ItsHardToBeatboxOnADigeridoo
76339
2659
55
Nebraska state senator recently "got his wish" and contracted COVID. He endorses the theory of herd immunity and thinks it's a feasible concept. As my immediate family has seven medical degrees, three of them doctorate's, amongst three people we talk a lot about the danger of this theory. Without a vaccine, there simply is no herd immunity. It will keep sweeping pockets of the nation time and time over like many many pandemics have done, some coming back several times over centuries. So my brother-in-law wrote an email to him to try and educate him on the risks.
TLDR: nebraska state senator who wants the virus has lots of class.
This was his reply to my brother-in-law
FP Edit: There are state senators in every state this misinformed and this unwilling to listen and care for their constituents. (His current hometown, North Platte, where my family member works as a nurse is in the deep red of covid risk and the hospital is struggling, not to mention they've already lost a much beloved doctor to covid there). Let them know how ignorant they are!
Full email chain: http://imgur.com/gallery/a3yrdUd
thoushaltnotpass
That guy doesn't understand how an epidemic works, it's frightening
Kryxy
Canadian here. What the fuck?
SpaceWeatherMan
I’m pretty sure that public high school freshman have more class than that response.
aintnothinbutahounddog28
*Kindergartners
katwilmb
Like Forrest Gump said: "Stupid is as stupid does"
delusionaldaydreams
Every time I lower my standards, people find new and creative ways to fail to live up to them.
NotaCPA
this meme is getting a lot of use on this post.
kneesaw
There is a difference between living in fear and following sound cautious advice, I’m not afraid of my oven but I definitely put on oven (1)
kneesaw
mitts when I reach into a hot oven. (2)
PElms
‘Living in fear’ this pisses me off so much It’s such a minor inconvenience which might help slow the spread.
Jagerbeast
Bold of you to assume he can read
Astramancer
Months ago I got in an argument with someone about herd immunity. I said without treatments or vaccines, it's just "enough people died"
Camelspotting
They've never not been ok with killing people.
TheDuder13
But they don't like to be called deplorables. But act like assholes.
TheMeatIncident
They love being called deplorables because it fits in with their underdog narrative
DukePhelan
No victimhood like white conservative victimhood.
theman4240
Regardless of the issue, very unprofessional letter by a senator
WhatFuckingNameIsntTaken
Nebraska, what the fuck? You people are better than this guy, find someone who can actually speak for you next election and vote him out.
icer190
State senator. Not national. NE has a one house legislature, but the members are called senators.
WhatFuckingNameIsntTaken
Ok, does that mean since it's local it's okay to elect an idiot? That's even more important to put someone who helps constituents in place.
icer190
As it's North Platte, more likely the railroad put him there to protect their interests.
WhatFuckingNameIsntTaken
Good chance. Local elections with community support can be influenced quite a bit though, hopefully they can find someone who can help.
FiMNZ
This is how he replies? How rude! What an arsehole!
LightningMcQueef
Willfully stupid and with a shitty attitude. The whole world is laughing and these dumb fucks don’t know they’re the punchline.
imoutofnames
How does he know he caught it from someone wearing a mask? My guess, he doesn't. He just is saying it to push anti-mask shit.
ParanoydAndroid
And even if he did. People can die in car crashes with seat belts on. Doesn't mean they're not a good effing idea.
beartato
From my experience, anti-mask people absolutely hate people who wear masks and refuse to be around them a lot of the times.
DoYouSeeWhatiDidThere
Good.
GingeraffeTW
This just in: Nebraskans are fuckin stupid. God bless the 402.
Odincdaj522004
As a physician, I can honestly say I would in a public forum and without hesitation respond to that email with a hearty "Fuck you, Senator."
Psycho3968
What an absolute cock. A reply like that from a PUBLIC SERVANT! Man he should be ashamed of himself but then again he is a Republican.
RawDogRic
Justzissguy
They don't think, they don't imagine, most of them can't even spell, they just run things.
ITLKSEZ
*ruin
teamnaptime
It's a good thing they have such great medical care available to them, sucks for the rest of us
adamant
Do state senators get the same perks?
Espeer
Looks like the state of ND pays a thousand per month per state legislator for health insurance
Bmxtucker
We should take it away and make them pay extortionate prices. They can afford it.
ensensu
Their limit for healthcare is what they paid in taxes.
Bmxtucker
Paid or owed? Because owing 20,000 in taxes but getting write offs for 10,000 is different but I bet they count that.
AHHHrealSKImonsters
I know. Wtf is one of them going to croak? 200k dead and not one of them a shitty ass politician on capital hill
TheMeatIncident
Yea that SenatorCare is nice
The2020ElectionWasStolen
Congress care for all the elite political class.
imgurnaknockuout
Dude looks like Scrooge. Are we supposed to die and decrease the surplus population?
illegalacorn
yes
stronomer
There are 2 ways to get herd immunity: let ~60% get infected, at 1-2% fatality rate = 2-4 million dead in USA. Or vaccinate in 2021.
JesaraB
and infection doesn't grant immunity https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54512034
stronomer
Yes, that seems to be another factor. Light infections might only provide light/short protection. And in general possibly time limited.
LokiShinigami
Kinda want to read your brother's letter
DoubleDarned
THIS. If the letter was courteous and professional, this response is horrible. If the letter was unprofessional, then I view response dif.
StanielRonathan
You really shouldn't treat his behavior differently even if the original was rude; he's a public official, they should to be held higher-
StanielRonathan
standards regardless of the manners displayed to them.
DoubleDarned
I am not trying to excuse his behavior. Just trying to understand HOW bad it is in full context. We aren't seeing the whole picture.
StanielRonathan
The whole context is available in the post, no he's just being a shitbag for being told his attitude is irresponsible & dangerous. Whether-
StanielRonathan
you intend to or not, you are actually making excuses for & defending his response by saying there is a context for you that justifies it.
DoubleDarned
Despite my other comments, sincerely thank you for pointing out the post edited addition of the full email chain. That's all I wanted.
wandermanspacebot
You know when you hear just the dumbest shit ever from a politician and are already absolutely certain which party they belong to?
Shiftsaper2000
Hah. My thought exactly. I didn't even have to look
fartalert
Look up Sweden. The whole country got fucked because of these attitudes
wandermanspacebot
Certainly did.
90sWereGold
While I agree I have heard some democrats say some pretty dumb stuff too
RocketBryan
Aye, although In my experience it’s still a 85/15% split between R’s and D’s, but I guess that’s still enough for the “both sides” nonsense.
skipweasel
His name's an anagram of "Meek Region" , or "Ignore Meek" if you prefer.
Nukls
Seems reasonable
kickmyballsrealhard
Mr. Anagram over here.
qyrriqat
"Oink emerge."
djhash
One letter off.. but..
skipweasel
Which one?
djhash
M.. in GOT it was `Reek`
skipweasel
Ah - right, I thought you meant I'd left one out of Meek Region.
TheMeatIncident
Simon from Misfits?
icarusbird02
You're telling me a United States senator has the writing acumen of a sixth grade forum troll? Who the fuck is voting for these morons?
themullusk
Rural community. They lose in cites of 100,000s or more but BFE county all 300 people love them. Fuck I'm tired of land vote counting 4 more
ItsHardToBeatboxOnADigeridoo
More morons trust me
VelvetWarhol
Charlawilliams70
One can only hope.
CloseupCaptionReaction
snikpmupgnihsamseht
Part of herd immunity is people dying, so I hope he di.......
ITLKSEZ
Dives into a pot of lava?
snikpmupgnihsamseht
That'll get rid of the virus.
qyrriqat
.....stances socially like a responsible citizen, is what I am SURE you were about to say.
VinnieJonesDiary
No it isnt, herd immunity is the mechanism whereby a mostly immune population prevent the spread of a disease to the vulnerable, idiots have
VinnieJonesDiary
decided it means "get everyone infected so only the strong survive" which is entirely against the whole idea.
ITLKSEZ
And what happened on the way to getting a big enough herd immune without a vaccine?? Lots of people died. Don’t be ignorant.
VinnieJonesDiary
Guess that explains the downvotes, thought I was pretty clear.
ITLKSEZ
Sorry I called you a name. But there are PLENTY of people out there who are aiming for herd immunity without a vaccine. ☠️
VinnieJonesDiary
Wait, did it sound like I thought herd immunity was possible without a vaccine? I didn't mean that at all! Absolutely needs a vaccine!
BaelKor
But these fucks think Herd Immunity is the only response worth caring about. They don't actually care about a vaccine.
Nyuknyuk
Herd immunity without a vaccine is basically a death sentence for about 1% of US population: roughly 3 million people, and they don't care.
Rdc24703
But couldn't that number be way way lower if we vax the old people and let herd immunity to work on the young? They have like 0.1% right?
YayZuko
If we have the vaccine for old people, why would we not just also give it to younger people?
xstickman
Herd Immunity without a vaccine is the same as setting fire to a town and declaring the remnants fireproof. It's such a stupid damn idea.
DarkBlueB
Not just that (it’s very clear how many don’t give a fuck about others’ death): there are now scientifically proven cases of reinfections.
Fjould
It’s not even death that’s the problem, you are going to have 60m people with lasting health conditions, from cardiovascular to neurological
FlyingTigerRose
Republicans have a long, long history of not caring about "the people", just enriching themselves.
Eiladar
Right. Speaking from a biological standpoint, part of 'strengthening the herd' is culling the old and sickly. The vaccine is meant to
Eiladar
protect/immunize the old and sickly while the infection burns itself out.
The2020ElectionWasStolen
Would someone pass that memo to Mario Cuomo please?
Lovethesmelloftoastedsourdoughbread
Bunch of Farquods.
Nathanyel
And millions more 'survivors' that have to now live with permanent damage to one or more of: brain, heart, lung, stomach...
ArthurPhillipDent
Current studies show that your antibodies run out in about 3 months. You dont become permanently immune to it.
Matsuuu
Antibodies isn't only thing to make immunity. It's also the memory cells, which somehow affects production of antibodies.
JesaraB
Not even that long, only 2 months between infections https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54512034
DarkBlueB
I got it with similar symptoms around 25/03; he was lucky to find a way to get tested in April.
DukePhelan
Is that normal for a virus? I know the flu mutates every year, does covid do something similar? I can't seem to find anything to explain why
ArthurPhillipDent
Couldnt tell you. My knowledge of biology stopped at school
ChiLLeCheeze
Doesn't stop you from talking out your ass. See politicians.
6313326
It's apparently not unusual for coronavirae, though that's based solely on reading & not any specific expertise.
privatepublic
Wired had a good video on it that I'll link. Our best comps for imm. were SARS and the common cold; turns out it's more common cold. Link ->
privatepublic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylot5uGyyLA
DukePhelan
Thank you for the source materials I appreciate it.
iDidNotShaveMyBallsForThis
Sweden did the same thing. Most agree in hindsight that Sweden’s experiment was a disaster.
The2020ElectionWasStolen
Sweden, the socialist model we should all be following? That Sweden? Impossible. Fuck Trump.
VinnieJonesDiary
Fun fact, you can be right about some things, but wrong about others.
The2020ElectionWasStolen
Fun Fact: they appear to be doing better than some of their European cousins who went the other route
VinnieJonesDiary
There are only 4 EU countries with a worse death rate than Sweden, all of them are travel hubs or holiday destinations, Sweden is not.
VinnieJonesDiary
And worse than others, what is your point? If you compare like for like, & look at their neighbours they did terrible.
bedarwarg
And we still refuse to mandate masks at all... Had we done that and actually had laws/rules instead of "recommendations", then perhaps...
iDidNotShaveMyBallsForThis
My state mandates masks, but it doesn’t matter because it’s not enforced. Most businesses allow customers with no masks because they....
iDidNotShaveMyBallsForThis
don’t want to lose the business. There’s really no way to enforce it.
anitabieror6
my state mandated masks but you go in the store and 8 out of 10 masked people have their nose out and they bring their entire family
goodbyeitwasfunwhileitlasted
Here, we have a way to report businesses and the county will fine them if they aren't enforcing it
Bhu73
No we didn't and it was not a disaster either. Sweden is ranked within the 30 countries with the most cases in the bottom 24 per pop count.
Bhu73
Still think the behaviour of 95% of swedes is fucking atrocious tho! Wear a mask, stay at home!
privatepublic
Tegnell said what Sweden did was the wrong approach, and compared to neighbor's it was an abject failure.
ijdod
As i understood it, that quote was either false or wildly out of context.
privatepublic
Hes literally on video & audio rec. on multiple outlets. He goes on to say that knowing what we do now that Sweden ought to have done diff.
VinnieJonesDiary
Over 10 times the death rate of your neighbours.
SomeDetroitGuy
There literally is no such thing as "herd immunity without a vaccine". That isn't a thing that happens.
jupitermonkey
i'm curious, because some science channel on youtube said that one of the ways the pandemic will be over is if a large chunk of people >
jupitermonkey
i.e considerable portion of population gets infected and develops immunity to covid strains. ofcourse vaccine was another way. isn't this>
jupitermonkey
categorised as herd immunity?
Camelspotting
Yes that is herd immunity and yes it is possible, but definitely not for all diseases.
JesaraB
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54512034 Sadly, immunity through infection isn't even a Thing with Covid.
ImGoingToGoFallAsleepOnABench
Immunity isn't to a broad swath of strains - a mutated variant of the virus can infect someone immune to a previous strain. Further, (1/2)
WhistlinDickC
Assuming it doesnt mutate while its infecting everyone else on the way to herd immunity. Hard to mutate if you vaccinate before millions get
Jarjarthejedi
The issue is, that's literally never happened. No disease has ever "gone away" because enough people caught it. Assuming that COVID will
kosherpork
Actually much higher than 1% because hospitals will become overwhelmed. Also. Not how herd immunity works
IHaveABridgeToSell
Yes. And how did herd immunity work for polio, smallpox and measles? Those were great hits back in the days.
INeverWaitForIt
Isn't the death rate at 3-4% anyway? So around 13 million people, dead. Plus everyone who dies because hospitals overwhelmed. Plus maimed.
OddOod
ish. the overwhelming hospitals thing is largely down to how rapidly it tears through the population
RenegadeSci
We're reaching maximum hospital capicity thoughout the country and in 10 weeks could have 960,000 cases a day at the current doubling.
RenegadeSci
Currently at 120,000 cases a day at 31% doubling. For maths, that's 2.5 weeks/doubling. Four doubling cycles in 10 weeks is 960k/day.
OddOod
Yes , which is unsustainable. Did you see my second comment?
OddOod
There's a lot of nuance, and yes, the Full Yolo approach would likely have mortality in the 5-9% range (including knock on effects)
goodbyeitwasfunwhileitlasted
Also higher than 1% because while the virus may only directly kill 1% the lasting effects (heart/lung damage) may kill many more.
Fido013
That name though. Bring back Gjally!
APerfectlyNormalPieceOfToast
And rhis is of course assuming it doesn't mutate to bypass previously aquired immunities, the chances of which increase the more have it
GreaterDog
Yep, no one can tally the impact on reduced life expectancy due to long term cardiovascular issues, and by the time we're able to, this guy
GreaterDog
will probably dead of his 2nd contraction of COVID
ArchMagos
There was also just recently a study that determined about 20% end up with a mental health issue within 90 days of contracting it.
goodbyeitwasfunwhileitlasted
That interesting. Source?
sc363
That's just recovered trumpers. But i read this last week, could be many factors including prolonged inflammation. Having a fever for weeks
UpvoteFairyCakes
My brother is still suffering phantosmia & general weakness/exhaustion after having it in March. 29, fit, healthy & no underlying conds