Is it possible to travel responsibly (during a pandemic)?

Because it's my hope that while we share a love for something so wonderful, maybe we can be civil while we try to find answers to problems that get in the way of diving. I believe we can do better. Certainly, name calling hasn't made things better anywhere else - why not give civility a chance here? (yes, I'm hearing the Beatles song "All we are saying ... is give peace a chance ..."!).

 

I admire the thought. I'd like you to have the correct prophecy.

Sadly, the song I hear is Cracker's "Don't F**k Me Up (With Peace and Love)"

 

I shook my head at one poster who was willing to fly to somewhere in the Caribbean, but then asked which dive ops practiced social distancing.

 

Oh wait - what did I prophesy? That we could do better? We can - we choose not to. I'm not familiar with that song - guess I'll have to go look it up on Spotify.

 

Yep, pretty much all I've heard can be reduced down to one side calling the other murderers and the other side calling the others cowards or sheep.
Like with all complex social interactions, there is fallibility and fact in both points of view that bear looking into before making a personal decision that may have impacts on others. It certainly didn't help when politics got involved.
One positive I'm taking from the whole situation is the enormous possibilities for treating other diseases with the technology being developed at warp speed for covid. I have family and friends who research cancer and they are across the board ecstatic with the potential of these new types of vaccines to be used on things other than covid.

 

This is indeed an exciting direction. But -- to be fair -- "warp speed" was a marketing/political description, not an actual statement of fact. The covid RNA vaccines were not developed overnight; rather, they were the results of a century of two-steps-forward-one-step-back scientific progress. We have been the fortunate recipients of a long, not easy, journey, that has happened to come to fruition just when we needed it.

 

Since the issue of vaccination reducing transmission risk is a concern, from Medscape Medical News,
Janssen/J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Cuts Transmission, New Data Show, here are some relevant snippets:

"The single-dose vaccine reduces the risk of asymptomatic infection by 74% at 71 days compared with placebo, according to documents released today by the US Food and Drug Administration."

"The FDA cautioned that the numbers of participants included in the study are relatively small and need to be verified. However, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine might not be the only product offering this advantage. Early data suggest that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine also decreases transmission, providing further evidence that the protection offered by immunization goes beyond the individual."

In scientific research, there's generally a push for cautious restraint in not being quick to rush to judgment. Small study, not verified by follow up studies yet I take it, no guarantee the same will apply to all SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, how long will the effect last and at what efficacy, etc... So we can shoot this bucket of hope full of holes...about a vaccine not even approved for emergency use in the U.S. yet.

Still and all...it is good news.

 

Yeah, the real unknown in coronavirus immunity is time frame. There are people who got a previous coronavirus and had immunity many years later. With covid 19, immunity does not seem to last that long whether natural or vaccine conferred so far. But like childhood diseases that were pretty much wiped out, if a significant portion of the population has immunity for a long enough time the disease won't have any human vectors and will be effectively eradicated.

 

Coronavirus is zoonotic. Animal reservoir likely, as that is where it came from.

 

Since you like to throw rocks to the sinner, I am very curious to know what a saint person like you are you doing now? What sacrifices have you done to stop the spread of the pandemic? When would you return to dive? I'll be watching any post / comment you put out here like a hawk to make sure you walk the talk.