The pandemic isn’t quite over...

Although it doesn't get a lot of press, things aren't going so great in India or Brazil. Case rates are up, distribution of vaccine is slow, and variants have emerged that make the virus spread faster.

And so far the vaccines we have available will protect us against these variants.

By the way, we also have noted that having the virus once doesn't stop someone from getting it again, apparently.

So we've got a ways to go. Meanwhile, here in the US, things are better. And a return to something like normal makes sense if you are vaccinated. You are somewhere around 95% protected from getting a severe case of the virus, though you may get it and feel a little sick. And you can still spread it.

But now that vaccines are widely available to anyone over 12, there's no reason not to get one. Aside from some fringey bullshit, most adults should have one already, or be planning to get one shortly.

And frankly, to those people who choose to not get one, the burden shifts to you. We did our part to curb the spread. We wore a mask, stayed home, and now we have the vaccine.

If those of us who are vaccinated choose to go out unmasked and wind up infecting you, we shouldn't feel bad about it. You had the opportunity to get vaccinated. And if you didn't, well, that's not our problem.

(Disclaimer: if we know we'll be around someone vulnerable we can and should still mask)

I really can't understand eschewing the vaccine based on stupid and fatally flawed "junk science" or religion or political ideology.

On that topic, you may have noticed that the covid case rates and covid deaths have been decreasing and it's being hailed as good...

And it is. With a caveat.

Case rates have always simply been a barometer. The positivity rate has always been based on the population at large who choose to get tested.

When more people got tested, the numbers went up. But on the population that got tested, the positivity rate stayed nearly the same throughout.

Now there's a reduction in testing numbers, because large volume sites are closing, so there aren't as many people being tested. And the people who are vaccinated aren't getting tested...

In short, the positivity rate among those being tested is somewhere around the same - but the number of positive tests has been decreasing.

The death rate from covid is more specific. There's a percentage of people who died "from covid" but never got tested, and there are people who tested positive but died from "other causes"... it's been suggested that these two numbers essentially cancel out, so the death rate may be something close to accurate.

So if we look at the death rates falling over the last few weeks, we notice something: it has fallen by about 40%, which happens to be the vaccination rate.

This is surely not a coincidence.

And it would suggest that the death rate, not unlike the positivity rate, remains the same for the UNvaccinated people.

So if you need another reason to get a vaccine, there you go.

Take advantage of the lotterys, giveaways, and other things that are being offered, and join the millions who see through the nonsense.

Get freaking vaccinated.