Former President Barack Obama said he gave ex-President Donald Trump a pandemic playbook when Trump took office — but he disregarded it.

“He ignored it,” Obama said during a rallyfor Vice President Kamala Harris in Las Vegas on Saturday. “And three years later, a pandemic hits.”

  • Diva (she/her)@lemmy.ml
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    24 days ago

    I never said that immunity meant your body had a perfect defense, nor did I say that you did- though maybe I misinterpreted what you said at the population level re: vaccines as something related to the immunity from infection.

    I meant that it doesn’t always track that getting infected more means you as an individual are building up immunity across all those infections, people get reinfected after several months and it’s often worse.

    One guy I knew (indirectly) had had it twice with little issues then died after the third time- he had comorbidities and its an anecdote, but still.

    • snooggums@lemmy.world
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      24 days ago

      One guy I knew (indirectly) had had it twice with little issues then died after the third time- he had comorbidities and its an anecdote, but still.

      Yes, having comorbidities means the person is less likely to have the increased immunity to the disease than the average person. Even colds can be fatal for some people, but that doesn’t mean the general trend of building up immunity from repeated exposure is wrong. That really is how the immune system works in healthy populations.

      • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
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        24 days ago

        Also, most of the susceptible people die in the first few waves. What you’re left with is a population that’s more resistant. Over time, the comorbidities tail off.

        Looking at population level resistance is different than looking at individual resistance.

      • Diva (she/her)@lemmy.ml
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        24 days ago

        I mean, at the population level people with comorbidities and susceptibilities get culled early on, and thus the overall rates will look better after that. The issue I have is with only considering healthy people.

        Me, I’m going to keep wearing my mask everywhere and continue my personal zero COVID streak for as long as I can.

        • someguy3@lemmy.world
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          24 days ago

          thus the overall rates will look better after that.

          Better, but not zero. That’s why your friend died. So all this stuff how immunity works, well this is how immunity works.

          • Diva (she/her)@lemmy.ml
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            24 days ago

            Yeah that’s kinda my point is that it’s not something that necessarily gets better with repeat exposure - and with comorbidities (like being fat) you can just straight up die even as a young person

        • snooggums@lemmy.world
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          24 days ago

          The issue I have is with only considering healthy people.

          It isn’t about considering only healthy people, it is about considering the entire population including the level of risk for the most vulnerable.

          Do keep wearing a mask, that is a great idea on a personal level at this point in time. It was a great idea when trying to slow the spread before widespread vaccines, but we are past the point when widespread mask requirements would have a meaningful impact on the overall spread. Vaccines and immunity are what the vast majority of people should be following, since they are more effective than masks in that context.

          • Diva (she/her)@lemmy.ml
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            24 days ago

            Yeah, I’m getting all the shots too, the combination seems to work way better than just vaccines because all the people I know who stopped masking just keep getting it over and over regardless of the vaccine.

            I’m sure it’s more mild™ but I don’t trust getting it either way.