Thank you for the timely updates and common sense advice. My husband and I want to attend church in person so much, no one is wearing a mask and there is no provision for social distancing. I just turned down an opportunity to serve at a Christmas Eve service because it will be highly attended and simply will not be safe, even though my husband and I have had a booster. Your posts help me know that I am doing the right thing, even though it is hard. You are making a difference. Thank you for letting us know in practical terms what it is wise to do and not do. We will be worship at home a while longer.
I'm in that same place regarding Christmas Eve service, which is typically one of the most attended services of the year and involves singing and blowing out candles. I am seeing virtually zero mask wearing and talk of developing Omicron herd immunity and lack of interest in boosters (or even vaccinations) at our SBC megachurch. Loving others sacrificially seems to have been forgotten.
Thank you for your amazing and incredibly helpful updates! I can't figure out why we're still focused on number of cases and using that as an indicator of what we should and shouldn't be doing everyday and would love your thoughts breaking this down more. We have a vaccine + booster that is incredibly effective at hospitalization, death, and we know it slows the spread of the virus. We don't have a vaccine that stops infection so the best we can do at this point is to protect ourselves from serious infection. At this point, if people are choosing to be unvaccinated then that is their choice. We're almost 2 years into this mess now and, at some point, the freedom to not vaccinate comes with consequences. Yes, there are some immune compromised people who can't get vaccinated but that's a slim percentage of the unvaccinated. There are also young kids who aren't eligible. Statistically, kids are much lower risk of any serious infection....but that comfort level is really up to each family. I have an 8 year old (partially vaccinated) and a 4 year old (obviously unvaccinated) and we weigh risk vs reward for every situation we do but, if my household was fully vaccinated, then I would be living life as normal right now. Would science say that would be a bad decision? I just don't know what "getting back to normal" looks like if we use case load as a key metric to determine acceptable behavior.....
I live in Kentucky and am a worship leader at a SBC church. People are not masking, and from past history, I know they probably won’t in future waves. We are very dedicated to our church and our ministry there. If I don’t lead music, the church will suffer. I don’t have any sway in the mask policy. Am I completely nuts for continuing to unmask and lead worship? There’s also a mental health component for me. Singing is such a part of my identity. At this point, I feel like I am yelling into the wind when it comes to Covid precautions. I am boosted. Realistically, how risky is me leading going forward?
And remember this isn’t forever. This isn’t your forever identity or enjoyment. I would consider the greater good as part of that too (like Jesus) because you’re asking these questions. (So well done for asking!) Thank you for loving neighbors as you make your decision.
With omicron coming, no masks, singing (which is a very high risk activity), and low vaccinations in your state, I would consider it risky. Everyone has their own risk threshold though and you also have to consider potentially spreading it to others, high risk family members you have, other high risk people you come in contact with, etc. Overall, singing is very high risk. Congregations singing in unmasked areas, even more.
Thank you so much for this! What do you think is going to happen with the J&J recipients and additional boosters? I had J&J in late March, was boosted with Pfizer November 5th...8 weeks ago now. I am hearing that the boosters are only lasting 10 weeks. My husband and I both feel very vulnerable. Our 18 year old daughter home from college had double Pfizer's in April and May and her booster with Pfizer yesterday and wants to see her friends at some point during break. We told her to wait at least a week after her booster. We have family that got omicron after being boosted, so we want to be cautious since we feel like we are barely vaccinated. She's going to be all good, but not us 52 year old's at home. I really feel that the government has given up on us J&J people and it's very frustrating. Thanks for any insight.
What is your expert opinion on the personal risk of being N95 masked (and boosted) in a very large indoor space where others are unmasking and potentially unvaccinated? Think sporting event, concert or play, megachurch, etc. Also what about this risk compared to wearing an N95 in a smaller setting with fewer people for a longer time, for example in a conference room at work where 80+% of employees are vaccinated but unmasked? The first is optional while the second one is not. Should we just avoid all optional locations right now with Omicron and Delta spreading so readily? If that is the response, how do we know when to stop being so careful?
The first graph of daily cases shows that most of the new cases are Omicron and that the other cases of variants are rapidly decreasing. Does this mean that Omicron is out competing or replacing Delta? Can one get both Omicron and Delta at the same time? I don’t quite understand how the evolution of viruses works.
Checked out this blog because I find Katelyn Jetelina's Your Local Epidemiologist so helpful. I have to say I find this posting much less helpful. Dr.Jetelina compiles and clearly lays out a lot of information. The ratio of opinion to information is WAY higher here than on Jetelina's blog. You, Dr. Smith, are less an informer and more a herder. Here's an example from the present post: "Is Omicron milder? . . . To me, it doesn’t matter if it’s milder . . . The ‘let it rip’ mentality is short-sighted and selfish.” Well, to me it does matter whet her it's milder, lady. I get that we don't know for sure whether it's milder, but there is a lot of info out there about illness severity and I read blogs like this to find out what is known and what is not and to get an intelligent interpretation of the partial info we have. But you are so eager to herd people away from the "let it rip" mentality that you skate quickly over the info so you can move on to making the case against letting it rip.
I am as against letting it rip as you are, so am not in need of herding, thanks. What I am in need of is info and intelligent interpretation of it by experts.
Thank you for the timely updates and common sense advice. My husband and I want to attend church in person so much, no one is wearing a mask and there is no provision for social distancing. I just turned down an opportunity to serve at a Christmas Eve service because it will be highly attended and simply will not be safe, even though my husband and I have had a booster. Your posts help me know that I am doing the right thing, even though it is hard. You are making a difference. Thank you for letting us know in practical terms what it is wise to do and not do. We will be worship at home a while longer.
I'm in that same place regarding Christmas Eve service, which is typically one of the most attended services of the year and involves singing and blowing out candles. I am seeing virtually zero mask wearing and talk of developing Omicron herd immunity and lack of interest in boosters (or even vaccinations) at our SBC megachurch. Loving others sacrificially seems to have been forgotten.
Thank you for your amazing and incredibly helpful updates! I can't figure out why we're still focused on number of cases and using that as an indicator of what we should and shouldn't be doing everyday and would love your thoughts breaking this down more. We have a vaccine + booster that is incredibly effective at hospitalization, death, and we know it slows the spread of the virus. We don't have a vaccine that stops infection so the best we can do at this point is to protect ourselves from serious infection. At this point, if people are choosing to be unvaccinated then that is their choice. We're almost 2 years into this mess now and, at some point, the freedom to not vaccinate comes with consequences. Yes, there are some immune compromised people who can't get vaccinated but that's a slim percentage of the unvaccinated. There are also young kids who aren't eligible. Statistically, kids are much lower risk of any serious infection....but that comfort level is really up to each family. I have an 8 year old (partially vaccinated) and a 4 year old (obviously unvaccinated) and we weigh risk vs reward for every situation we do but, if my household was fully vaccinated, then I would be living life as normal right now. Would science say that would be a bad decision? I just don't know what "getting back to normal" looks like if we use case load as a key metric to determine acceptable behavior.....
I live in Kentucky and am a worship leader at a SBC church. People are not masking, and from past history, I know they probably won’t in future waves. We are very dedicated to our church and our ministry there. If I don’t lead music, the church will suffer. I don’t have any sway in the mask policy. Am I completely nuts for continuing to unmask and lead worship? There’s also a mental health component for me. Singing is such a part of my identity. At this point, I feel like I am yelling into the wind when it comes to Covid precautions. I am boosted. Realistically, how risky is me leading going forward?
And remember this isn’t forever. This isn’t your forever identity or enjoyment. I would consider the greater good as part of that too (like Jesus) because you’re asking these questions. (So well done for asking!) Thank you for loving neighbors as you make your decision.
With omicron coming, no masks, singing (which is a very high risk activity), and low vaccinations in your state, I would consider it risky. Everyone has their own risk threshold though and you also have to consider potentially spreading it to others, high risk family members you have, other high risk people you come in contact with, etc. Overall, singing is very high risk. Congregations singing in unmasked areas, even more.
Thank you so much for this! What do you think is going to happen with the J&J recipients and additional boosters? I had J&J in late March, was boosted with Pfizer November 5th...8 weeks ago now. I am hearing that the boosters are only lasting 10 weeks. My husband and I both feel very vulnerable. Our 18 year old daughter home from college had double Pfizer's in April and May and her booster with Pfizer yesterday and wants to see her friends at some point during break. We told her to wait at least a week after her booster. We have family that got omicron after being boosted, so we want to be cautious since we feel like we are barely vaccinated. She's going to be all good, but not us 52 year old's at home. I really feel that the government has given up on us J&J people and it's very frustrating. Thanks for any insight.
What is your expert opinion on the personal risk of being N95 masked (and boosted) in a very large indoor space where others are unmasking and potentially unvaccinated? Think sporting event, concert or play, megachurch, etc. Also what about this risk compared to wearing an N95 in a smaller setting with fewer people for a longer time, for example in a conference room at work where 80+% of employees are vaccinated but unmasked? The first is optional while the second one is not. Should we just avoid all optional locations right now with Omicron and Delta spreading so readily? If that is the response, how do we know when to stop being so careful?
The first graph of daily cases shows that most of the new cases are Omicron and that the other cases of variants are rapidly decreasing. Does this mean that Omicron is out competing or replacing Delta? Can one get both Omicron and Delta at the same time? I don’t quite understand how the evolution of viruses works.
Checked out this blog because I find Katelyn Jetelina's Your Local Epidemiologist so helpful. I have to say I find this posting much less helpful. Dr.Jetelina compiles and clearly lays out a lot of information. The ratio of opinion to information is WAY higher here than on Jetelina's blog. You, Dr. Smith, are less an informer and more a herder. Here's an example from the present post: "Is Omicron milder? . . . To me, it doesn’t matter if it’s milder . . . The ‘let it rip’ mentality is short-sighted and selfish.” Well, to me it does matter whet her it's milder, lady. I get that we don't know for sure whether it's milder, but there is a lot of info out there about illness severity and I read blogs like this to find out what is known and what is not and to get an intelligent interpretation of the partial info we have. But you are so eager to herd people away from the "let it rip" mentality that you skate quickly over the info so you can move on to making the case against letting it rip.
I am as against letting it rip as you are, so am not in need of herding, thanks. What I am in need of is info and intelligent interpretation of it by experts.
YLE is one of my favorite real life friends! 😀
And it’s “Dr.” Not lady. 😀