Monthly Archives: February 2022

Playing to Canadian Stereotypes?

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Michael Froomkin

There’s been a lot in the news about the recent so-called ‘trucker’ protests in Canada. The whole thing didn’t sound very Canadian, so it was unsurprising to learn that relatively few actual truckers were involved and a majority of the bankroll for the folks blocking traffic came from U.S. sources.

And this gem from the NYT’s Canada Ends Its Freeze on Hundreds of Accounts Tied to Protests definitely caught my eye:

The authorities charged Ms. Lich on Thursday with counseling to commit mischief, a serious offense under Canadian criminal law. [emphasis added]

That sounds more like the Canada I know or imagine!

Posted in Law: Everything Else | Comments Off on Playing to Canadian Stereotypes?

Backing Into a Weak Form of Herd Immunity?

Posted on February 12, 2022 by Michael Froomkin

Are we in the US on track to back into a form of herd immunity?

About 62% of the US population has been fully vaccinated (but only about 36% being boosted as well, according to the CDC). Another 12% have received at least one dose. And over 18% have had *confirmed* cases. The likelihood is that, including asymptomatic infections or infections of people who didn’t bother to get tested, at least double that percentage, somewhere on the order of 40% of all Americans, have been infected.

If we just randomly assign that 40% of infected people among all those vaccinated and unvaccinated, that’s roughly 85% of the US population that should have at least *some* resistance to renewed infection. Another month of Omicron is probably going to take that up to 90%.

It’s possible there is a doomsday variant out there, but it’s more likely that, as COVID becomes endemic, each wave displays less and less virulence, not because they are inherently “milder,” but simply because the vast majority of the population has some, increasing, level of immune resistance.

–Bonddad Blog: Coronavirus dashboard for January 10: how “mild” Omicron is depends upon how much you lag the data

One of the few rays of sunshine I’ve seen in all the discussions of the data…

Posted in COVID-19 | Comments Off on Backing Into a Weak Form of Herd Immunity?

COVID Risk Chart

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Michael Froomkin

Useful info from The Conversation, Here’s where (and how) you are most likely to catch COVID – new study. Useful, but not very surprising:

Bottom line: indoors is OK, but only if you are a monk in a drafty monastery with a rule of silence? And returning to in-person classes is a bit dicey?

Posted in COVID-19 | 4 Comments