Your Cheatin Heart - part the eleventh

June 15, 2021 


                           New York Times 

                        by A. Corres Pondent 


     RED STATES WITH SPARSE VACCINATIONS EXPLODE WITH COVID 

To the surprise of No One, the Red States, which have been lax in getting their populations vaccinated, are experiencing a resurgence in Covid. The curve started back up on May 14, the day after the CDC and President Biden announced that the fully vaccinated are free to go about their lives without a mask in all venues, not just outdoors.

To the surprise of No One, all those Red State Yahoos immediately dis-masked, even though the majority eligible for vaccines have refused to be vaccinated. If the rest of the country is fortunate, the Yahoos will infect themselves to death.

[update 14 May]
Here's the vaccination record for the states. The bottom of the barrel

At the other end, the five states with the lowest percentage of people with one dose are Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Wyoming and Idaho.

So, one dose isn't the best measure, but still. Here's the benchmark as of 14 May behind the June 15 lede from the NYT.

Since the point is daily trend, updated to use reported daily cases. Per 100K is only reported, in this source, as 7-day.

             cases    per 100K
Mississippi    201     8 

Louisiana      421    10 
 
Alabama        285     6  cases data on the 14th is way whacky, so stick with 7-day average
 
Wyoming         83    12 
 
Idaho          167     9 

We'll stop by the data every now and again to see whether the Oracle turns out to be correct. One actually hopes not, since Covid doesn't respect state lines.

[update 21 May]

             cases    per 100K
Mississippi    105     5 

Louisiana      340     9 
 
Alabama        443     6 
 
Wyoming         70    14 
 
Idaho          167     9 

[update 28 May]

             cases    per 100K
Mississippi    131     5 

Louisiana      354     9 
 
Alabama        228     5 
 
Wyoming         96    12 
 
Idaho          135     8 

[update 4 June]

             cases    per 100K
Mississippi    141     4 

Louisiana      364     7 
 
Alabama        557     6 
 
Wyoming         80    12 
 
Idaho          166     6 

[update 11 June]

             cases    per 100K
Mississippi    236     4 

Louisiana      228     7 
 
Alabama        188     5 
 
Wyoming        103    12 
 
Idaho          118     6 

[update 15 June]

             cases    per 100K
Mississippi     47     4 

Louisiana      559     8 
 
Alabama        290     5 
 
Wyoming         68    11 
 
Idaho           89     5 

[update 18 June]

             cases    per 100K
Mississippi    244     4 

Louisiana      326     6 
 
Alabama        334     4 
 
Wyoming         65     9 
 
Idaho            0     4 

[update 25 June]

             cases    per 100K
Mississippi    243     4 

Louisiana      210     6 
 
Alabama        540     4 
 
Wyoming        104    11 
 
Idaho           83     5 

[update 22 June]
Well, our candidates for a Darwin Award continue to appear. No suprise, all from Red Rebel states.

Low vaccination rates are dangerous when combined with the spread of variants like Delta, which is believed to be more transmissible and cause more serious illness. Steve Edwards, CEO of CoxHealth, a healthcare system in Springfield, Missouri, told CNN the combination is to blame for a six-fold increase in hospitalizations in his system.

Early on, it was recognized that Covid spread was just as effective with lots of small groups as it was for a few large groups. That data point continues to appear.

Researchers used private insurance data from 6,535,987 individuals living in 2,926,530 households between January 1 and November 8, 2020. They compared Covid-19 infections between households with and without a birthday in the previous two weeks, adjusting for household size.

They found that households were more likely to have confirmed Covid-19 cases two weeks after a birthday. The risk was even higher when the birthday was for a child, the study reported.

[update 23 June]
May be you recall the plaint by the anti-vaxxers that the various vaccines, the mRNA versions in particular, are killers, among other naughty things. I always have wondered why the anti-vaxxer clan, generally Right Wingnut Trumpsters, would be so Socialist to warn us Gullible Snowflakes that we're putting our lives and our clan in Mortal Danger. I mean, that's just another way to squelch the Snowflake Vote, isn't it? Shouldn't keeping their yaps shut be the smarter course? Of course it is.

As asserted here many times, the Cheats will end up being the Body Bag Clan, you betcha. (Whether this is obvious in A. Corres Pondent's timeframe is a different issue.) Today brings more news in this vein.

"Covid-19 vaccines are available for everyone ages 12 and up," US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing Tuesday. "They are nearly 100% effective against severe disease and death -- meaning nearly every death due to Covid-19 is particularly tragic, because nearly every death, especially among adults, due to Covid-19 is at this point entirely preventable."

Those still dying from Covid-19 in the US are "overwhelmingly" unvaccinated, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN's Jake Tapper.

As that old adage goes, "there's no cure for stupid". And they won't vote. Well, one hopes.

Last but one of the weekly updates. More states increasing than decreasing. Who'd a thunk it?