Hey Ranty Nation! Ranty McRantyson har agin!

Ah, ran across this har YouTube video an thunk ah’d share it wit y’all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkmhwomRUMA

So, the Trump administration wanted the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the best disease control an prevention organization in these har United States (if not the entire world), to downplay the risk of COVID-19 on our kids (an the related risk to their family, friends, an, frankly, everone)? Ah guess that the Trump administration dun thunk that appearance beats reality.

However, I’ll believe the science. Heck, an ER doc ah know who both diagnoses an treats both COVID-19 an flu patients on a daily basis tells me the same thang! There jus ain’t no comparison between the two. COVID-19’s more contagious an the damages are fur wurse.

The FACTS are that, on average, bout 35,000-40,000 people die ever year frum the seasonal flu, the VAST majority of whom have a pre-existing condition (ah’d talk in detail bout this, but it’d take way too long) an the flu either progresses to a form of pneumonia or “pushes them over the edge” (those folk who’re already really sick-like wit either an illness (like cancer) or physical problem (like congestive heart failure)). Y’all know who ah’m talkin bout, folk like yur parents an granparents!

From the CDC web site by “season”, number of fatalities, severity of year (1 = worst, 9 = least): — https://bit.ly/30xAsQO

2010-2011: ~37,000 (5)
2011-2012: ~12,000 (9)
2012-2013: ~43,000 (3)
2013-2014: ~38,000 (4, tie)
2014-2015: ~51,000 (2)
2015-2016: ~23,000 (7)
2016-2017: ~38,000 (4, tie)
2017-2018: ~61,000 (1)
2018-2019: ~34,000 (6)
2019-2020: ~22,000 (8)

COVID-19 is much more wurse:

1. The mortality rate is about 4-10 times higher (dependin on the study). While the WURST seasonal flu death counts are upward of 65,000-70,000 (annual) deaths. COVID-19 has already killed over 200,000 Mericans… an in ONLY 8 months (since the FURST known COVID-19 death in February, meanin it’s bin bout 2/3 of a year).

At this point, we’all’re on pace fur COVID-19 to kill over 230,000 Mericans by lection day (in <30 days) and approachin 300,000 by the end of the year. So, y’all can compare an average of bout 36,000 seasonal flu deaths over the last decade to OVER 200,000 COVID-19 deaths in only 2/3 of a year. Uh, the flu ain’t even close!

At an annualized rate, 2020 will be as deadly as AT LEAST the top EIGHT (8) years of the previous decade of seasonal flu deaths COMBINED! And mah GUESSTIMATE (based on folk’s behavior so far in 2020 an “seasonal disease spread”, sum more scientifical talk) is that, in a wurst case scenario (ah hope it’ll be wurst case!), COVID-19 deaths might be larger than ALL the seasonal flu deaths of the previous decade combined (~360,000)! Ah really, Really, REALLY hope it don’t git that bad!

Considering death (mortality) rates, there jus ain’t no comparison!

2. The “disease spread vectors” (it means ways y’all can git sick (how’s that fur scientification talk?!)) fur COVID-19 an the seasonal flu are very jus bout the same. Whut ah mean is how the two diseases spread. The steps taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 will most likely also slow the spread of the seasonal flu (an the common cold). Mah guesstimate is that if’n we do the “4 Ws” (Wear a mask, Wash yur hands, Watch yur distance, Wipe yur surfaces (with disinfectant, BUT DON’T INJECT IT!), this’ll be one of the lightest seasonal flu seasons on record. Though the death rates may end up being high cuz folks might git BOTH COVID-19 AN the seasonal flu!

Most likely COVID-19 infections an deaths’ll git worse as it gets cooler outside an people begin to do more thangs inside. Ah’m sure y’all have seen this wit the seasonal flu an the common cold an all signs’re that the same will happen wit COVID-19.

3. Ah REALLY hope a gud COVID-19 vaccine’ll be fully tested an shown to work, BUT the science shows that it might not last (the scientists are already using “dual inoculation protocols” (means y’all’re gonna need to get two shots)). Survivors of COVID-19 infections’re showin that thar antibody levels go down over time AN some folk’re gittin reinfected, an a worth mentionin number of folk wit even more severe symptoms/effects. Add to that, some of them side effects of the current COVID-19 vaccines in third stage testin’re turnin out to be pretty bad (high fatigue, high fevers, weakness, migraines, etc.), even if the side effects do not seem to last long an (right now) it don’t seem like the current vaccines have any long term problems. Though the scientists won’t really know until the proper set of tests/trials’re dun. Even then, there could be side effects that won’t show up fur months or years (not likely, but possible).

4. Even if the vaccines work, the drug companies will need to get AT LEAST 60% vaccinated to get “herd mentality” (Trump quote, he dun got me sayin it too), uh, I mean “herd immunity” (preferably 80%). With most current vaccines requirin two shots (the second a month(?) later), that means we’all’ll need: (har comes some more mathification!)

330,000,000 (US population) * .6 = ~200,000,000 * 2 shots = 400,000,000 doses of the vaccine (about 560,000,000 at about 80%). Yup, them numbers’re in the MILLIONS!

An don’t furget that the rest of the world will be screamin for vaccine doses as well. Wit the rest of the world included, there’ll need to be BILLIONS of doses of vaccine!

Even if y’all don’t understand how vaccines are produced, ah’m sure y’all’ll realize that this will probly take at least a year, if not YEARS to do. An that’s assumin the vaccine don’t need to be taken yearly like the seasonal flu vaccine.

5. Then there’re them goofy anti-vaxxers who probly wouldn’t get the vaccine, makin it more dangerous fur everone else.

Ah mean just look at the numbers of people who complain about wearing a mask, fur goodness sake! Even though some studies/models show that if’n 80% of Mericans wore masks (properly) for 2 months, COVID-19 cases would drop by up to 80%. An y’all really xpect them to take a vaccine with QAnon telling them that the (deep state) government is using vaccines as a form of mind control?!? Dang! Furget bout it!

6. Finally, there’s info that the SARS-CoV2 (SARS CoronaVirus 2), that’s the virus that dun cause the COVID-19 disease, is mutatin (like the seasonal flu and common cold (another coronavirus)). The current SARS-CoV2 is already a mutated virus that was so much more contagious than the old one, the old one dun practically died off. As SARS-CoV2 mutates, the effectiveness of a vaccine goes down.  (Update:  There are currently 5 differnt SARS-CoV2 strains. 12/01/2020)

IF’n we har in the US had done like the rest of the world an properly “shut down”, wit employment an medical protections in place, we’all’d have both infection an mortality rates that’d be far lower than whut we got now (about 1/10 of today’s rates, per capita)… like most of them other countries. Then the virus wouldn’t mutate as much an the vaccines’d be much more fective in both the short an long terms.

Mah recommendations? Har they are:

1. IF’n YOU CAN, keep your kids at home, specially if your school ain’t implementin mandatory mask wearin (worn PROPERLY), hand washing/sanitizin, social distancin, an school disinfectin. Kids ARE LESS LIKELY TO HAVE A BAD OUTCOME, but are provin to be major COVID-19 spreaders an this’ll also be unsafe for y’all’s older family members. Can y’all imagine the effect on a kid if’n they contracted COVID-19 an some folk they knew got it an got very sick or died?

2. Follow the “4Ws” “religiously”. WEAR a mask (when not at home, but wear it even at home, if you are showing symptoms), WASH your hands, WATCH your distance (from others), WIPE your surfaces (with disinfectant, but DON’T INJECT IT!).

3. If’n an effective (an properly tested/proven) vaccine becomes available (an y’all can git it), git everone y’all know immunized, startin wit the most vulnerable in your family.

4. Be a PATRIOTIC MERICAN an do your CIVIC DUTY by protectin yur fellow Mericans! Follow the 4Ws an protect everone y’all come into contact wit, includin yurself!

Like Forrest Gump used to say, “Mama always had a ways of explaining things, so I could understand them.” Ah hope ah splained this well nuf that y’all’d understand an agree!

Ranty McRantyson signin off!