Coronavirus week 90C: Vax mandates, nuanced

As a brouhaha spills out on organized lefty (or not so lefty) circles about the Green Party's Steering Committee officially backing a vaccine mandate, and with conspiracy theory lefty horseshoers claiming that the Steering Committee was infiltrated by COINTELPRO (no really), and antivaxxers willing to call vax-mandate backers "fascist" but getting butt-hurt when they're called "antivaxxer," and perpetuating the naturalistic fallacy of the healing of vitamins (along with HCQ and ivermectin, of course), and some people who support mask mandates oppose vax mandates, this needs a fresh look.

And, for that, we start with old friend Idries Shah and his "no twosiderism) quote.

OK, with that out of the way, some other things.

First? 

Let's remember that Biden's mandate is actually a vaccination OR regular rapid testing mandate. Now, most employers don't want to spend the money on rapid testing, or the payroll money on checking people's own rapid testing more regularly.

So, it's a de facto vax mandate, but let's be honest.

Second, large businesses, especially in urban areas, are likely to be bigger spreaders. Is 100 employees the right number? I don't know. Maybe 200 is better? So, we can nuance that. 

Should being infected replace a vaccine? No. Infectious immunity offers less immune support than a vaccine.

Third, the second prong, about health care workers, at least in facilities that get Medicare or Medicaid, needing a vax? Hellz yes. I know hospital CEOs are worried about losing more employees, but, especially among non-doctor health care staff, vax resistance is fairly high, and not just in stereotypical red America. Remember that MDs without a PhD aren't fully scientists, and apply that in spades to nurses, etc. This one should have happened months ago, to be honest.

Now, are there talking points within that? Sure, like if you got rid of for profit health care and paid most hospital CEOs a lot less, they'd  then hire more health staff. But, that is, in and of itself, neither here nor there.

Fourth, the health care vax mandate shouldn't stand by itself. The newer anti-symptoms meds, like Pfizer's new one, should be included free for health care workers ... AFTER they're vaxxed up. That's a nuance that's well short of national health care, but a nuance.

Fifth, nuance also includes not putting all one's egg in one basket, per what I said about Biden earlier this week on rapid testing. That also includes nuancing COVID downtime when people test positive, per what strain they have, if we identify that. That is, if we know you have Omicron not Delta, you're out of work for 5 days not 10.

Finally, we need to keep all of this in mind if Walter Reed's omni-SARS vax pans out, for when the next pandemic hits.