{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "I honestly suspect Omicron is going to mark the end of the COVID \"state of exception\" in America \u2013 it's apparently so infectious...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/671084816195780609/", "html": "<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/poipoipoi-2016/671047756487507968\" target=\"_blank\">poipoipoi-2016</a>:</p><blockquote><p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"/post/671047537201905664/\" target=\"_blank\">kontextmaschine</a>:</p><blockquote><p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/poipoipoi-2016/671047152366206976\" target=\"_blank\">poipoipoi-2016</a>:</p><blockquote><p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"/post/671006249365667840/\" target=\"_blank\">kontextmaschine</a>:</p><blockquote><p>I honestly suspect Omicron is going to mark the end of the COVID &ldquo;state of exception&rdquo; in America \u2013 it&rsquo;s apparently so infectious that <i>everyone</i> will have the experience of seeing multiple close contacts catch it.</p><p>So, in mostly vaccinated social circles, the wave will make a sufficient impression of people catching COVID and it mostly being a bother to overwrite any earlier impression of outbreak as catastrophic; it will join the other human coronaviruses as perpetually in circulation, coming in waves that might have a body count in a nursing home you&rsquo;ll probably catch and feel under the weather. You might even see people born from here out developing their immunological armor the old-fashioned way, by getting repeatedly infected as resilient children</p><p>Unvaccinated and mixed social scenes, by contrast, would presumably experience the wave as more traumatic in a way that pushes them to join the first group or generates sufficient will to apply other measures to raise vaccination rates</p><p>I absolutely believe a flood of even minor cases might saturate our healthcare system to the point of collapse in the meantime, but I don&rsquo;t think the truth of this fact would generate enough will to apply or sustain any measures sufficient to make the difference in preempting it, so feh</p></blockquote><p>This was yesterday.  </p><p>Today, the Senate got hit.  </p></blockquote><p>Yes, well, as much as Joe Biden seems intent on treating the Senate as a co-equal steering force, he&rsquo;s also been quite aware that you can&rsquo;t steer too far away from the line of momentum without losing traction, I don&rsquo;t think they&rsquo;ll be able to freak out and do anything they couldn&rsquo;t before</p><p>Setting aside the fact that a wave running through the elderly 50-50 Senate could substantially change the federal balance of power</p></blockquote><p>Yeah, I should be more clear that a triple-vaxxed Democratic caucus with the best medical care in the world probably walks out clean&hellip;. And the Republicans might not?  How unhealthy can you be as a senator?</p><p>So even if they freak today, it&rsquo;ll look a little overzealous come February.  </p></blockquote>\n<p>Oh no, I think the Democrats have more load-bearing septuagenarians.</p><p>Also, <a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/12/17/press-briefing-by-white-house-covid-19-response-team-and-public-health-officials-74/\" target=\"_blank\">like</a>:</p><div class=\"npf_row\"><figure class=\"tmblr-full\" data-orig-height=\"567\" data-orig-width=\"680\"><img src=\"/media/f53d83519fcfc8846548d55ada434fb436e497fd_9dc5e76faee1.png\" data-orig-height=\"567\" data-orig-width=\"680\" srcset=\"/media/45dbbf979be3c1b3aa7bf7853036b4a8da0c5595_3b7ecc99e0d6.png 75w, /media/7fc8d7f565666c13f30b2123d12e0a133f05da28_47fdd867ff34.png 100w, /media/26178dab851fef96b2a3d463197d7037045381aa_edad58b5f195.png 250w, /media/246d8985f796cfd9ca70ec07a8bbff3a65e2479d_6de6e34af3f8.png 400w, /media/e4d189fbb5ccd13610970d40e3a198401ee0460a_9dbf265f73f4.png 500w, /media/166bff3fd284e75d0969a54e2fc4d73d72dad73f_ddfa3f48d1db.png 540w, /media/f53d83519fcfc8846548d55ada434fb436e497fd_9dc5e76faee1.png 640w, /media/2e0e517ca82e5b0cca249e6530d50675ffc8f646_4787d01c4030.png 680w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\"/></figure></div>", "thumbnail_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/media/f53d83519fcfc8846548d55ada434fb436e497fd_9dc5e76faee1.png", "thumbnail_width": 640, "thumbnail_height": 534}