![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Omicron Has Left the Barn
Dec. 22nd, 2021 10:24 pmSo the City of Chicago has announced that, due to the current surge of COVID cases in the area, they will be requiring people to show proof of vaccination when entering various facilities starting on January 3rd. Cook County is studying whether or not they should follow suit.
There's only one problem with this: they are doing the wrong thing. I can't be sure of *which* wrong thing they are doing, but I can be *positive* that this is the wrong thing.
It's not too hard to work out the logic here. If we are not in the middle of a public health emergency, then there's simply no excuse for requiring people to show proof of vaccination before going somewhere to eat, watch a movie, or any of the large number of other activities where this will now be required.
And if we *are* in the middle of a public health emergency, there's simply no excuse for delaying this until after New Year's Eve, when thousands of people, some unknown number of whom are unvaccinated and will be banned from doing this under the upcoming order as of January 3rd, will be gathering and presumably transmitting and contracting COVID. I suppose one could argue that the places that would have to check for proof of vaccination might lose some customers on New Year's Eve as a result, but that's hardly an excuse for postponing a vital public health measure, right?
So right now, it's December 22nd. By the time this order goes into effect on January 3rd, there's a pretty good chance (based on the data out of South Africa, where the peak was about a month after first detection; so says the Reuters article that I just checked) that the Omicron strain will have already peaked in this area and have started to recede. Of course, then we can give credit to the order for the case count going down...
I'm sorry. I am good with "following the science".
Whatever this is, it isn't "science".
There's only one problem with this: they are doing the wrong thing. I can't be sure of *which* wrong thing they are doing, but I can be *positive* that this is the wrong thing.
It's not too hard to work out the logic here. If we are not in the middle of a public health emergency, then there's simply no excuse for requiring people to show proof of vaccination before going somewhere to eat, watch a movie, or any of the large number of other activities where this will now be required.
And if we *are* in the middle of a public health emergency, there's simply no excuse for delaying this until after New Year's Eve, when thousands of people, some unknown number of whom are unvaccinated and will be banned from doing this under the upcoming order as of January 3rd, will be gathering and presumably transmitting and contracting COVID. I suppose one could argue that the places that would have to check for proof of vaccination might lose some customers on New Year's Eve as a result, but that's hardly an excuse for postponing a vital public health measure, right?
So right now, it's December 22nd. By the time this order goes into effect on January 3rd, there's a pretty good chance (based on the data out of South Africa, where the peak was about a month after first detection; so says the Reuters article that I just checked) that the Omicron strain will have already peaked in this area and have started to recede. Of course, then we can give credit to the order for the case count going down...
I'm sorry. I am good with "following the science".
Whatever this is, it isn't "science".