Is Abbott lifting the state wide mask mandate today?

66,582 Views | 703 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by Captain Pablo
beerad12man
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You say where's the upside, I say where's the downside. To each their own.

I don't see a downside, but you are trying your best to create one. Like you said, nothing really changes with places like restaurants and gyms. People were already going out, and those same people will continue it. The upside is that it's back in the hands of small businesses and the individual, which is where it always should have been. This just simply removed a useless mandate that was having no real affect.
Daddy-O5
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Quote:

No idea. I focus on the people around me. I don't care what happens in Florida.
You would rather believe whatever you want based on your own personal perception inside your little bubble, rather than review and understand relevant, objective evidence of comparable situations and scale. That says a lot.
wbt5845
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I really do not understand why anyone would have an issue with this.

If you want to wear a mask, wear one. If you do not, don't.

Is there something about me NOT wearing a mask that puts you, wearing a mask, at greater risk? If so, wear two masks - wear three - stay away from me - stay home. Wear a face guard in addition to the face mask.

Your perceived need of protection from the virus should no longer force me to deal with the inconvenience of wearing a mask. ESPECIALLY since the vaccine is becoming so readily available and since there are actions you can take to take care of yourself.
culdeus
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J.D. c/o 05 said:

Quote:

No idea. I focus on the people around me. I don't care what happens in Florida.
You would rather believe whatever you want based on your own personal perception inside your little bubble, rather than review and understand relevant, objective evidence of comparable situations and scale. That says a lot.

I don't spend all day everyday obsessing about this stuff. Sorry. I am more focused on things I can do in my life. If Florida has done well, good for them.
CW Griswold
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J.D. c/o 05 said:

Quote:

No idea. I focus on the people around me. I don't care what happens in Florida.
You would rather believe whatever you want based on your own personal perception inside your little bubble, rather than review and understand relevant, objective evidence of comparable situations and scale. That says a lot.


I'll see what I can do to find you eleventy billion more blue stars. BRB.
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Fitch
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Deja vu all over again with these hot takes explaining why everyone else is wrong save the politician I agree with at the moment.
culdeus
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Put it this way. Today, I can go ___________________ without a mask now.

What's the list?
agsalaska
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At some point he had to do it. Whether he did it last October, yesterday, two weeks from now, or next summer, the exact same people would be against it. It was never about the science for the vast, vast majority of people.
Daddy-O5
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agsalaska said:

At some point he had to do it. Whether he did it last October, yesterday, two weeks from now, or next summer, the exact same people would be against it. It was never about the science for the vast, vast majority of people.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I read through most of the thread but may have missed something, has anyone currently against opening up and eliminating the mandate stated what objective threshold we'd have to achieve for them to be ok with it?

I see lots of "more vaccinations!", "higher herd immunity!" and "just another month probably" but no "once we've achieved 50% of the population vaccinated" (arbitrary number/statement) THEN we can open up and take off the masks.
txaggie05
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culdeus said:

Put it this way. Today, I can go ___________________ without a mask now.

What's the list?


Literally any big box store or grocery store (assuming they don't cripple to cosmetic theater fear porn) where I'm never within 6 feet of anyone else for more than 5 seconds.
Teslag
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culdeus said:

Put it this way. Today, I can go ___________________ without a mask now.

What's the list?


To HEB
Keegan99
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culdeus said:

Put it this way. Today, I can go ___________________ without a mask now.

What's the list?


Next Wednesday, when the new policy goes into effect, it will be the grocery store, convenience store, a wide range of retailers, and restaurants. In other words, pretty much everywhere I go on a day to day basis.
barbacoa taco
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I am also concerned about the Karens who will come out of the woodwork and throw a hissy fit when asked to wear a mask at an establishment that still requires them. They'll probably berate those 17 year old employees to kingdom come in the name of muhhhh freeeeeeedomm
TwoTimeAg
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J.D. c/o 05 said:

agsalaska said:

At some point he had to do it. Whether he did it last October, yesterday, two weeks from now, or next summer, the exact same people would be against it. It was never about the science for the vast, vast majority of people.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I read through most of the thread but may have missed something, has anyone currently against opening up and eliminating the mandate stated what objective threshold we'd have to achieve for them to be ok with it?

I see lots of "more vaccinations!", "higher herd immunity!" and "just another month probably" but no "once we've achieved 50% of the population vaccinated" (arbitrary number/statement) THEN we can open up and take off the masks.
Travis County Judge Andy Brown just said in a news conference that 80% vaccination rate would give us herd immunity.
txaggie05
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larry culpepper said:

I am also concerned about the Karens who will come out of the woodwork and throw a hissy fit when asked to wear a mask at an establishment that still requires them. They'll probably berate those 17 year old employees to kingdom come in the name of muhhhh freeeeeeedomm


And the Karen's who will come out of the woodwork about how me not wearing a mask in 100k sq ft building is putting their unborn children at risk.

We can play this game all day long. Sure there will be idiots on both sides of it. But at the end of the day, not a whole hell of a lot is changing either way in reality. It's all perception.
beerad12man
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TwoTimeAg said:

J.D. c/o 05 said:

agsalaska said:

At some point he had to do it. Whether he did it last October, yesterday, two weeks from now, or next summer, the exact same people would be against it. It was never about the science for the vast, vast majority of people.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I read through most of the thread but may have missed something, has anyone currently against opening up and eliminating the mandate stated what objective threshold we'd have to achieve for them to be ok with it?

I see lots of "more vaccinations!", "higher herd immunity!" and "just another month probably" but no "once we've achieved 50% of the population vaccinated" (arbitrary number/statement) THEN we can open up and take off the masks.
Travis County Judge just said in a news conference that 80% vaccination rate would give us herd immunity.
80%? Vaccinated? Where does that number come from? We will be there far, far before that. 80% total immunity would be more than necessary. Some argue as little at 55-60% for this virus considering children and/or asymptomatic and minor cases that aren't as high of spreaders. And I've rarely seen anything over 70%. This includes natural infections, too. No doubt in my mind that once you have about 40% or so of the population vaccinated(and I truly believe even lower), we will have herd immunity, or at least close enough to it to where there shouldn't be any restrictions anywhere without and concern. Especially since there will still be quite a strong contingent of people who take a long time to get back to normal behavior, making the % even lower to keep spread under 1.

What does a Travis county judge know, anyways?
Noble07
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Keegan,

You and others in this thread have posted insightful graphs and charts that show that mask mandates as public policy do not work. Sure, there are all of the studies in a lab that show it should work in theory with proper PPE and perfect execution, but real world evidence seems to show otherwise.

Is there any scientific journal that's studied mask mandates from a macro view?

From what I see online, all of these professional orgs are exhibiting the worst form of group think in modern history or there just hasn't been the time, funding, etc to conduct a study.
Fitch
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Girlfriend watched a starbucks barista get berated this morning after asking a customer to put on a mask, so this will be a fun couple of weeks it looks like.
P.U.T.U
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The cloth mask that most people wear are pointless, once they get saturated due to moisture of your breath they provide virtually zero protection. Look up the beta ratio of cloth when saturated, one of the reasons why cloth does not provide any UV protection when wet.
wbt5845
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Fitch said:

Girlfriend watched a starbucks barista get berated this morning after asking a customer to put on a mask, so this will be a fun couple of weeks it looks like.

Heaven forbid someone working customer service would have to interact with a customer.
Fitch
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Here you go.
TwoTimeAg
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80% is the number being pushed in Austin as what is required for herd immunity. If that is the case, I don't think we will ever get there.
LostInLA07
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3rd Generation Ag said:

I already have to place myself at risk by teaching every day. I am lucky that at 72 I was able to get the vaccine first dose in January, secon in February. But schools even with the supposed extra cleaning are dirty places. And even with the mask mandate, cover your nose has been the most frequent teacher comment all year. I live in an over 55 apartment community and we have had several deaths from covid among my friends. First I don't want to be the Angel of Death and bring anything back here and second I was never lucky when it came to things that were 95 percent. I have zero luck and never have had any. So I take precautions. Other than school, and seeing my kids right after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have stayed in. Ordered from Amazon or Curbside at Kroger/Walmart. I want to still be here when we get to the other side of this, and I think in a couple of months more, things will be safer as more get the shots. In my department of 30 teachers, only four of us have been able to get the shot so far. Me due to age, and three due to very high risk health issues. Even with many kdis opting for virtual, we have new student cases regularly, almost daily. And that is with masks and social distancing desks.

I never ate out in the first place. I would have already shopped, but the Ice storm hit the weekend that was two weeks, and last weekend I thought shelves would be too empty still to be worth any risk. Will try to get to the grocery this weekend before a total lifting officially hits, then sit things out probably until summer.


You should review the data on effectiveness of the vaccine against hospitalization and death (or ask your doctor). Isn't it 100%? Pretty sure the 95% effectiveness is measured against getting covid at all. Not trying to tell you what to do by any means but you might be making a decision based on a misunderstanding.
LostInLA07
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What %age of the population is age 0-16? Is it even possible to achieve 80%?

Quick check shows ~24% of the population is under age 18. Add in people who simply won't get the vaccine and people who can't do to allergies and it's impossible to ever achieve "herd immunity" by his standard. We'll probably never even achieve 70%.
beerad12man
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Yep, sounds like bs to keep us under control longer in Austin if you ask me. And I'm not the biggest conspiracy theorist out there, but sometimes you have to scratch your head. Where does the number 80% come from? To me, it just sounds like an unachievable number to keep things locked down longer.

Seems arbitrary, and nothing in science shows you have to have 80% vaccinations of a certain disease to have herd immunity. Most show 60-70% total immunity(vaccinations AND other sources) especially when you don't even know the exact percentage in that are that has some natural immunity.

Why not just look at where cases and deaths are trending, and not set an arbitrary number? Combined with natural immunity, we really have no idea the EXACT percentage needed. Why not 77%? Why not 30-40%, with 20% more having natural immunity, and another 10-20% of the remaining ones having little to no symptoms and minor chance of spread?
AgsMyDude
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TwoTimeAg said:

80% is the number being pushed in Austin as what is required for herd immunity. If that is the case, I don't think we will ever get there.

Ever? Infections + those with a single dose is already at 22% (assuming no crossover) with a massive increase in vaccinated coming.

The 2.67M infections is also a massive under count and everyone agrees.
LostInLA07
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There aren't enough people eligible to receive the vaccine under the EUA to achieve 80% of the population, so yes we'll likely never achieve 80% anytime soon - certainly not in 2021. Assuming every single person over age 16 gets the vaccine (which won't happen due to allergies, personal choice, or whatever reason) you might get to the high 70s %age of the population.

Also infections aren't going to count towards the herd immunity numbers because there isn't enough data to determine how long and how effective a recovered covid patient will be in avoiding another infection...and it's difficult to determine who was infected and also got a vaccine (so you can't add recovered patients and vaccinated people together because you'd double count.)
FratboyLegend
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LostInLA07 said:

What %age of the population is age 0-16? Is it even possible to achieve 80%?

Quick check shows ~24% of the population is under age 18. Add in people who simply won't get the vaccine and people who can't do to allergies and it's impossible to ever achieve "herd immunity" by his standard. We'll probably never even achieve 70%.
25.5% under age 18. So no, it is arithmetically impossible to achieve 80% Vax rate.

Any politician knows this, so they are making a throw-away political statement. nothing more.
#CertifiedSIP
TwoTimeAg
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AgsMyDude said:

TwoTimeAg said:

80% is the number being pushed in Austin as what is required for herd immunity. If that is the case, I don't think we will ever get there.

Ever? Infections + those with a single dose is already at 22% (assuming no crossover) with a massive increase in vaccinated coming.

The 2.67M infections is also a massive under count and everyone agrees.
Austin is saying 80% vaccination rate is necessary for herd immunity. They have referred to that several times In this morning's press conference. Not sure where that number is coming from, and I am sure no one will ask them where they got it from.
beerad12man
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TwoTimeAg said:

AgsMyDude said:

TwoTimeAg said:

80% is the number being pushed in Austin as what is required for herd immunity. If that is the case, I don't think we will ever get there.

Ever? Infections + those with a single dose is already at 22% (assuming no crossover) with a massive increase in vaccinated coming.

The 2.67M infections is also a massive under count and everyone agrees.
Austin is saying 80% vaccination rate is necessary for herd immunity. They have referred to that several times In this morning's press conference
Which is utter insanity, bulls***, and completely ridiculous and likely never achievable. Pure vaccination, that is. I can see getting to 60% vaccinated eventually, but even that taking half the year. But 80%. Nope. Nada, this won't happen, and they know it.

80% is simply overestimate for both vaccinations and natural immunity, let alone 80% vaccinations alone. I sincerely hope that maybe he's just trying to push more to do it, and that's fine. But we better not have any policies set with the number 80% vaccination in mind. We may never get there.

It's much more likely to be 55%, 60, 65, or at most 70% TOTAL immunity including natural immunities. Which would likely require anywhere from 20-40% vaccinations at this point, assuming some overlap in populations. 25-32% have had this thing in Texas, and then out of the 70% that haven't, I'd say anywhere from 20-40% are low risk to get and spread it(yes, presymptomatic and asymptomatic spread is possible, but not the highest driver), which is 14-36% of the total population. That's 39-68% on the aggregate, and if we get 20% vaccinated, 59-88% on the aggregate. Then, when you factor in the overlap, you could probably say anywhere from 45-65% total with 20% vaccinations. Then 52-68% with 30%. And then about 60-75% with 40% vaccinated. Again, depending on a few factors such as the overlap percentage, the amount who has had it which ranges depending on the graph you look at, and the amount that are unlikely to get a severe case and/or unlikely to spread it.

There really is no reason why 40% vaccinations shouldn't turn this thing into basically nothing.

When you factor in that many will continue to live with modified behavior the next couple of years, that number is likely even lower than your normal, traditional herd immunity value which is why I throw 55% as necessary. For those that want to live 100% as normal, there's no reason that shouldn't be allowed even around 20-30% vaccinations in any state. As we can see in Texas, we are already moving towards it with what, 13% single vaccinated and 8% double vaccinated?
Aston94
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wbt5845 said:

Fitch said:

Girlfriend watched a starbucks barista get berated this morning after asking a customer to put on a mask, so this will be a fun couple of weeks it looks like.

Heaven forbid someone working customer service would have to interact with a customer.
Come on, there is interacting with a customer and then there is a kid being required to enforce a rule that half of the population doesn't agree with. You see the difference, right?
In talking with sources connected to Meyer's family on Sunday, there was laughter about the persistence of the Texas pursuit.
tysker
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Quote:

The worst part was not getting to go to Europe last summer and I suppose maybe this one as well.
I'm sorry but I have to comment on how elitist and lacking in scope this statement comes across.

I spoke with a family member who is teacher and is/will fail, flat out fail, about 30% of their students many of which have grade averages close to or just above 0. Not 60 or 65. Zero. But those kids are on Zoom everyday with a black screen simply to be counted as present and yet have done basically no work. And the ISD/Principal is asking the teachers what they did to contact the parents (emails, phone calls, etc) as if it's the teacher's fault for a lack of engagement.

We have a large segment of our young generation losing a year of education because of our response. Kids that should now be held back but I'm sure many will be socially promoted. It's not only damaging to the kids but the community at large. These are often the kids that were already unlikely to vacation in Europe over the summer and now are even further behind.
Aston94
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LostInLA07 said:

There aren't enough people eligible to receive the vaccine under the EUA to achieve 80% of the population, so yes we'll likely never achieve 80% anytime soon - certainly not in 2021. Assuming every single person over age 16 gets the vaccine (which won't happen due to allergies, personal choice, or whatever reason) you might get to the high 70s %age of the population.

Also infections aren't going to count towards the herd immunity numbers because there isn't enough data to determine how long and how effective a recovered covid patient will be in avoiding another infection...and it's difficult to determine who was infected and also got a vaccine (so you can't add recovered patients and vaccinated people together because you'd double count.)
Herd immunity isn't a determination or a "count", it is an occurrence. When cases virtually cease then you have herd immunity. It isn't a date for Fauci or any other talking head to determine.
In talking with sources connected to Meyer's family on Sunday, there was laughter about the persistence of the Texas pursuit.
t - cam
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For those who have been able to voice your opinion without belittling others I appreciate it. It really is complex and is important to understand where both sides are coming from. I've flipped back and forth at least a dozen times since yesterday.
My personal opinion is we should have waited till all high risk groups have the option to be vaccinated. That said I i understand that they can continue as they have been and watch out for themselves if they want. Just don't see the issue with waiting one more month till this group was able to access the vaccine if they wanted to.

beerad12man
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tysker said:

Quote:

The worst part was not getting to go to Europe last summer and I suppose maybe this one as well.
I'm sorry but I have to comment on how elitist and lacking in scope this statement comes across.

I spoke with a family member who is teacher and is/will fail, flat out fail, about 30% of their students many of which have grade averages close to or just above 0. Not 60 or 65. Zero. But those kids are on Zoom everyday with a black screen simply to be counted as present and yet have done basically no work. And the ISD/Principal is asking the teachers what they did to contact the parents (emails, phone calls, etc) as if it's the teacher's fault for a lack of engagement.

We have a large segment of our young generation losing a year of education because of our response. Kids that should now be held back but I'm sure many will be socially promoted. It's not only damaging to the kids but the community at large. These are often the kids that were already unlikely to vacation in Europe over the summer and now are even further behind.
What we have done to children for a year now due to politics in reprehensible and unimaginable to me.
 
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