I’m actively recovering from what appears to be Omicron. I cannot A/B test my experience as an unvaccinated person, but it feels like a light seasonal cold.
We don’t get time back. IMO I want my life and city back.
I think that's a key point and it really needs to be frankly communicated that way: vaccination mandates are what makes it safe enough to re-open safely. The U.S. has relatively low vaccination rates thanks to a well-funded political movement but as soon as there are personal consequences for those decisions most people do the right thing.
Omicron is less severe, but also more widespread, so the overall effect is as bad as delta and alpha.
Everyone else who is vaccinated is just getting sick, like a strong flu or cold.
GET VACCINATED. At this point, it's the only way this pandemic will end.
The things you learn on hacker news.
I took the overall effect to mean deaths. Based on CDC statements, it seems like they are finally trying to divide hospitalized “from” vs. “with”. I’d expect a more contagious variant to show up more in hospitals for people who have come for unrelated reasons.
Also there's been a lot of doctors and nurses that have left the profession this past year from burnout (and not enough people champing at the bit to take their place...for obvious reasons) so many places were short-staffed to begin with.
I want my life back NOW
I've had more than enough with 8 quarantines, and all of us already had COVID, we are vaccinated, and we are FED UP with rules and restrictions
It is pointless to be alive and well if you are not allowed to enjoy life
In the US about the only thing I'm aware of is vaccination mandates for certain jobs and activities and indoor masking in certain states. Otherwise you can do pretty much whatever you could before the pandemic. Indoor dining, bars, theaters, gyms, flights, cruises, sporting events, offices for work, whatever.
Unless, of course, the business is short staffed and has to close for a while, which is not a "rule and restriction" but a fact of life right now, which doesn't go away just because you or the government wills it to be so.
At the moment is the 2g+ regulation, which basically means the if you are twice vaccinated of recovered + 1 vaccine dose you need to do a test every 24h to have a social life.
Tests are free, but you have to queue outside and spend time to get them.
Tests are not needed if you "boosted", i.e. if you had a 3rd dose (or second if you had only one), or as in my case you also recovered despite having 2 doses.
Also there is a social craziness, where schools can close because there are cases, kindergartens also can close etc. and there are limits in the number of people can enter a venue, you have to book everything online, and there are very few places always fully booked... this de facto limits your life quite a lot.
All this despite the numbers are comparable with a seasonal flu