I have my 3rd dose tomorrow morning.

My first two doses were Pfizer.
My third was as well.

You clicked Pfizer or Moderna in the registration and that was what you got.

This is a slippery slope. How about other life-style choices? Drinking? Smoking? Drugs? Profession? Diet? Exercise?

Toddler came back from preschool and fucked us all up ...

Toddler's dripping/clogged nose, coughing like mad, fever here 'n there.
Wife sore throat, coughing, and achy all over
Grandma's sore throat
Little brother's coughing a tad and low low fever
Me with sore throat and achy all over..

Toddler + Wife + Grandma all took at-home covid tests, negative. Wife did a covid test, also negative.

Meanwhile I'm the idiot wearing a mask at home, hoping not to get more sick, and trying not to get the baby sick...

Yeah - similar response when having this topic for discussion with my relatives (who are in the medical profession).

I guess my thinking is more from the perspective that if you're not being responsible for your own well-being (when you're fully capable of doing so) then why should the system focus resources on keeping you alive when there are those that are caught in an unfortunate situation of catching covid but ends up stuck in the line waiting because some frat boy was partying it up and caught it in a super spreader event.

The use cases you mentioned are kind of like that with life insurance premiums already, no? (Smokers probably have to pay more than non-smoker; people with crappy physical test results pay more, etc.)

Of course, I haven't seen what the front line guys have seen so my opinion is probably not valid -- but given you guys work so hard to save lives, I'd hope the efforts would be more worth it towards those that deserve it?

ah the stuff kids bring home's deadly - when my daughter was in pre-school she damn near killed my wife, her mom and her siblings. i was the last man standing. kids are walking petrie dishes.

you're not an idiot for being the only one wearing a mask - i'd consider it as self preservation - can't watch the kid if you're down for the count too. it's just that in your house covid's not the thing that's gonna get you but the flu.

Well, all things considered, as this is a car forum ... I'm happy for the support of at least 1 non-retarded parent re: wearing mask at home...

I'm being ostracized by my own family now with this shit, double-standards...
- Oh, you expect the SICK to wear one? How the hell you expect a TODDLER to wear one? (No, I'm not, I expect the ADULTS to)
- Oh, you expect the SICK to wear one? We're all SICK, so we can all be sick together. YOU are NOT SICK, so therefore YOU wear one
- Oh, I recovered from whatever virus, I don't need to wear one, I'm protected now
- Oh, now you're making us all feel bad for not wearing one

Meanwhile, here I am, wearing a mask (too late anyway, as I STILL have a sore throat for over a week) ...

Did covid test with the toddler, both negative, so there's that.

re: 'Preference of an unvaxx'd firefighter come save my ass vs not getting saved. That's no the option though, amirite? There's no checkbox, there's no vote. It's not up for public opinion -- there's a mandate, at either the corporation or service level, to have it across the board.

And put it this way ... Would you prefer to have an ENTIRE FIREFIGHTER STATION wiped out due to covid temporarily for an entire neighbourhood, thereby increasing response time, or have that 1 firefighter go on unpaid leave/terminated until they get vaxxed? That's another perspective.

Just heard a story from a parent at work....
- Group of 12 year old girls, 1 of them is unvaxxed. Seems the girl is not invited to sleepovers/etc cuz well, unvaxxed, as dictated by the parents. Poor girl is lying about her vax status just to be included, and a friend of hers knows she's lying.....

I'm curious if anyone has 100% faith in the vaccine and its efficacy; as in, no doubts or questions, whatsoever. If that's the case, I'm happy for you. To be that certain of something is blissful. I personally have doubts with this (Covid-19) vaccine. I have a coworkers who's healthy teenage son was practically disabled temporarily due to the Brazil variant (still recovering after months). I also have another coworker who's dear friend (also healthy) passed away after taking the vaccine. I'm also generally distrusting of the media nowadays (agenda driven, and not even trying to hide it). To combat this, I try to keep myself informed from both sides of an argument, which usually leaves me spinning my wheels, with no truths, and a lot of frustration.

I think for the majority of the population, there is some level of hesitation or doubt regarding the vaccine. With that in mind, we each have to weigh the pros and cons of our personal choice and our situation. Those who have taken the shot are risking any associated side effects from the various vaccines, some documented, and some which may not show up until years from now. Those who have abstained from the vaccine are risking the symptoms of Covid-19, and are also risking being outcast from society as vaccination status becomes a social currency. This last part is quite concerning to me as it impedes basic human right to choose, a right that we should all be entitled to. On top of this, general distrust of government (and of the vaccine) falls along certain demographic lines, which means that groups that are already marginalize are more likely to be fearful of the vaccine, and are subsequently set further back for not taking it.

I also find it at least worthy of contemplation that doctors, nurses, medics, and other various front line workers, who one would assume would have the best ground level perspective on the affects of Covid-19, have chosen to stand-up against a vaccine mandate at the risk of losing their jobs. Surely amongst that group are some conspiracy theory nuts, but that can't possibly account for such large numbers (which I think comes in around 10% of these groups of professionals).

At the end of it, I believe everyone should be allowed to make the choice on whether or not to get the vaccine, or which vaccine to get, or whether or not to take the booster shot, or whether or not to vaccinate their kids. After all, the research that I'm seeing shows that the affects of the vaccine works on the person taking it, and that it shouldn't matter if the person next to you has taken it. There are no hard stats to show that the vaccinated are any less capable of carrying and transmitting the virus. And currently, at least in Ontario, there is no noticeable strain on the health care system (specifically ICU beds) relating to Covid-19. There is however, (at least anecdotal) evidence to show that some of these systems or services are being impacted by vaccine mandates (and the fall-out from workers refusing to comply and being sent home/suspended/fired from work). So I have to ask, would you rather have a un-vaccinated firefighter come rescue you from a burning building, or you rather take a pass and let the fire do its thing?

TIL: furball wears a mask at home.

My life feels complete.

We do a Covid call maybe once every 2 weeks.
It’s always an unvaccinated patient (actually no, one person was fully vaxed and had it.)

Its honestly much better.

EMRG isn’t packed with Covid, ICU has room too.

We haven’t had a Covid case (I mean me and my partner) in maybe 3 weeks now.

Canada is lifting PCR test for vaccinated Canadians retuning from short trips less than 72hours.
Not sure when it comes to effect.
If soon, I might go down to Miami next week for a couple of days.

It's that warm fuzzy feeling they get, so they can 'bypass' any social-distancing/logical norms you should do in these new times...

With the number of schools going into closure due to 'outbreaks', this is nuts ...

If vaccines helped stop the spread, sure, but since they don't....

They don't?

benefit vaccinating young children who are not at risk?

Studies I read don't quantify the benefit

"you are less likely to spread"
"lower chance of spread"

What does this mean? Do we use our imagination to determine metrics? Point me to the results, I am keeping an open mind. Spread aside, what's the cost vs. benefit vaccinating young children who are not at risk?

Efficacy: Preliminary efficacy data were limited to the evaluable efficacy population from Cohort
1 (individuals who did not have evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to dose 2; 1,305
randomized to receive the vaccine; 663 randomized to receive placebo). As of October 8, 2021
(data cut-off date for analysis), a total of 19 confirmed, symptomatic cases of COVID-19 were
identified at least 7 days after dose 2 of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine or placebo in
study participants 5-11 years of age. The estimated efficacy of the vaccine against symptomatic
COVID-19 from 7 days after dose 2 was 90.7% (95% CI: 67.7 to 98.3%; 3 cases identified in the
vaccine group and 16 cases in the placebo group).An analysis of efficacy by various subgroups
(sex, race, and ethnicity, presence of comorbidities, and country of recruitment) resulted in point
estimates of vaccine efficacy (all above 85%) that were similar to the overall estimate. However,
many of the subgroup efficacy estimates were based on a small number of cases, resulting in
large confidence intervals around these point estimates.
The majority of confirmed cases in study participants were identified in August and September
2021, at a time when the Delta variant was the predominant circulating strain in the US and
globally. However, no sequence analysis was reported on case isolates to determine whether
they were caused by the Delta variant or another variant.
None of the identified cases met the pre-defined criteria for a severe case of COVID-19, therefore
the data did not include estimates of vaccine efficacy against severe outcomes such as
hospitalization, MIS-C or death (