The whole point of the total isolation (as opposed to building herd immunity) approach Taiwan took is to gain time to develop and distribute a vaccine.
Taiwan instead just sat around thinking it was so smart. Now itās way behind on vaccine distribution and locked down while much of the world is opened up.
That is a pretty good description of what is happening right now. They are still buying time while vaccinating as many people as they can with whatās available. This will almost certainly continue throughout 2021 (Iād be delighted if it was completed sooner, but given the delivery schedule of the newly acquired BioNTech vaccines, as well as expected delays with the delivery of AZ, that seems unlikely).
Guy
Still, it seems like the outbreak is under control. Plus, itās not like current vaccines are that undoubtedly safe.
If we had been able to block the virus out until now, weād have more options then we have now, including waiting for the newest vaccines like Novavax, or maybe even our domestic vaccines to be proven effective, or wait until thereās a fix for the clot/heart issues the current vaccines are causing.
Comparing to the countries that focus on vaccination and have no border quarantine, you can see a difference in the result. Of course we donāt have enough data to make a conclusion. But so far, if thereās any significant difference, it is likely due to the quarantine / mask practice.
My understanding is Taiwan doesnāt want the PFizer cause the distributor is in China. Thatās probably part of the delay. I hope people in Taiwan hold out for mRNA vaccines and avoid adenovirus ones from J&J and AZ. mRNA vaccines seem to be safer and more resistant to variants.
You might want to do some more research on what is going on here. A few ships have already sailed.
Guy
We know many people who got Covid, and not one died or had serious complications. We know several people who died in the last year though, including my 89 year old mom, of non Covid related things. The media and government have completely distorted this disease to scare people with statistics.
First of all, Iām sorry for your loss. I also lost a parent last year due to non-Covid related complications. It was incredibly tough to get healthcare during that time due to the Covid outbreak.
I donāt think there is any ādistortedā conception of the disease. Taiwan has a near 5% death rate and this is without the Delta variant. We all saw what home quarantine almost did in Pingtung with respect to the Delta variant. People who are fully vaccinated are more likely to be complacent during quarantine and cause an outbreak. The below case is from today:
https://twitter.com/brianhioe/status/1416647027857891330
I know that 99.9% of folks will not break home quarantine rules, but 0.1% will and the risks are just too damn high. Even by the most optimistic of predictions it would take at least 3 more months to fully vaccinate 70% of the more vulnerable priority groups. A Delta outbreak before then would be tragic.
We know many people who got Covid, and not one died or had serious complications.
Your sample set of 10/20 people who didnāt die after contracting Covid does not mean that Covid is being blown out of proportion. Sentiment such as this is what caused a catastrophe in India and the U.S. Have you considered how many of your sample set were in vulnerable groups? How many had comorbidities? Just because you donāt have any personal experience doesnāt invalidate the statistics.
But we know many people whoāve put off cancer screenings, even visits to the doctor, and the number of people we know whoāve gained a lot of weight during the Covid period is shocking. So idiotic government policy is going to kill a lot of people in the long run, thatās a fact.
This may have happened in the U.S, but fortunately the cases are low enough in Taiwan to seek healthcare for other complications without being too nervous. Taiwan managed to reach good numbers within two months due to these strict measures. If the US was as āstupidā as Taiwan, then maybe their death count would be a couple of orders of magnitude lesser.
The vaccine issues are another media statistical scare. I know literally hundreds of people who got vaccinated. How many had issues? Zero. 133 million people have been vaccinated in the US. People die every day, some will have just had the vaccine, some might have just eaten pasta or drank a beer. Are there issues with pasta and beer? Americans are obese, we have a lot of heart and clotting issues on normal days.
Giving vaccines to kids is another story, thatās stupid. We need more research on kids, no excuse to rush that.
I donāt think thatās was the whole point. The point was to avoid the spread of covid and death as a result. To that extent, itās worked pretty well so far.
Ahā¦ statistics, you say. I dunno about others but Iād be reluctant to take any kind of medication thatās proven safe on āseveral hundred peopleā. Not for me, buddy. Not for me.
Then youāre not keeping up, because thatās not the reason Taiwan doesnāt have Pfizer vaccines currently.
Youāre saying āvaccine issuesā are used by the media to scare people, but youāre up in this thread urging people not to take J&J and AZ vaccines because they āarenāt as safe as mRNAā
The US is a mess, weāve wrecked the country to save a few high risk people. Now we canāt survive without 0% interest rates and printing $10 trillion a year. In 5 years weāll look back at 2020 as a history lesson in how to destroy a country.
So I didnāt mean to imply the US wasnāt stupid as well as criminal.
The J&J and AZ are proven less effective on the Delta variant so why get it?
I think what @qinqinbaobaojugaogao was asking, those are all information from the media. Why believe in one but not the other?
Maybe. If Taiwan is reopened in 6 months and 50% vaccinated then Iād say the policy worked pretty well.
Who knows the US could be flaring up again in 6 months.
If by āreopenedā you mean a US style opening, well the authorities in Taiwan have shown little (perhaps no) indication that this will happen in the timeline you mentioned.
Really, I would urge you to read more about what is happening here.
Guy
Itās the difference between reading a scientific study and reading some CNN title that distorts the facts.
CNN loves to report a story of some child who died of Covid. Then you find out the kid was 17 years old and morbidly obese.
Itās fine I donāt really want to compare Taiwan and the US cause the countries are so different culturally and politically.
Iām just glad to see my kids playing youth soccer and going to summer camp without masks again. Weāve been fully open a couple months now. If the US doesnāt flare up again maybe Taiwan can relax a little.
Depends which data you look at:
64%ā¦
The conundrum of drawing conclusions from data from non standardized environment.