I actually don't have a problem with that in this instance. The average Karen Q Public doesn't take the time to wade through the BS to discern hype vs. reality, which is why we're in this mess to begin with. Hopefully Karen will hear the vaccine talk, even if some of it doesn't hold water, and her confidence will be boosted - resulting in a sooner return to air travel. Then all of her Karen Q friends, being the sheep they are, will feel confident in their ability to get out and do things as well.

We will win.

Not sure about the first.

As to the second, other than for those drafted into military service (hasn't happened since 'Nam), there is no precedent for mandatory vaccinations in the US.

But businesses and government agencies can ban you from entering their buildings, planes, etc until you get vaccinated, have anti-bodies, or heard immunity is established one way or another. You have the right to not get vaccinated, they have a right to refuse service to those not taking reasonable precautions.

You sure you are not a politician?

The company went out on a limb a little bit releasing good news before all of the papers were published, signed, sealed, and delivered. But they are reputable, my guess is they observed enough in their professional expertise to feel comfortable with how the data will fall out.

This doesn't mean they lied or misrepresented, just that they observed really good results and went to press before they finished all of the usual paperwork.

Looks like the antibodies are present, in the right amounts, with no significant adverse effects. All good news, it's not an unreasonable assumption that those antibodies (same as those in recovered patients) will likely protect against covid.

Actually there are lots of such precedents. One, requiring smallpox vaccinations was appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court in 1905 who remanded it back to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts who eventually sustained the $5 fine levied against the scofflaw.

Wasn't aware of that one but compulsory vax is no-go in the modern era in the US. Even if the law would allow, pols won't go there.

I’d agree. It was a different world back then. Read Oliver. Wendell Holmes’ (8-1) majority opinion in Buck vs Bell in 1927 in which the Supreme Court upheld the right of a state to impose mandatory sterilization for putative genetic defects leading to ‘Imbecility, Epilepsy, and feeble mindedness. It was introduced 2 decades later at the Nuremberg Trials by the defense who claimed that many of the medical experiments and castration of Roma, Jews, and other ‘undesirables’ done by the Nazis were based upon the same principle, the good of the state outweighing the rights of the individuals.

An excerpt from that opinion:

https://i.ibb.co/dpNcbDR/4-D4-F3-B34...79141156-C.jpg


lest we forget...

There are many fascinating social and psychological aspects to covid, and this is no exception. Practically every story focuses on the negative, even if it hasn't even been proven out yet: overestimated deaths, possible "relapses," kids getting Kawasaki, 1-in-100,000 young person infections, panics over a "second wave"....

There's never optimism or even just gratefulness for the positive aspects like the fact that children have been almost entirely spared, the risk of dying for under-40s is practically zero, and some facilities have made remarkable progress in treatment and outcomes.

But even the slightest glimmer of hope about a vaccine gets everyone buzzing. It's particularly interesting because of the significant anti-vax segment of the population that exists. There's something magical about the concept of a vaccine for most people.

Not sure you saw, the stock offering this week... plus a member of the board, now the vaccine czar... funny business and a little disappointing, but money is money...

Maybe opportunists, maybe even con artists. That might come back to haunt them if it comes up short.

There's always some of that in industries like biotech or tech, where the business model is sometimes to take a mighty (and expensive) swing, close your eyes at the last moment, and hope like hell that you hit it out of the park.