AstraZeneca Scientist Says Delta Variant Makes Herd Immunity Impossible

Re:AstraZeneca Scientist Says Delta Variant Makes Herd Immun... by hnzix on Thursday August 12, 2021 @10:53PM (#28164855)

Hospitals hit capacity and run out of beds and ventilators. This is a hard threshold. Once you pass it, mortality goes through the roof.

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Re:AstraZeneca Scientist Says Delta Variant Makes Herd Immun... by nradov on Friday August 13, 2021 @11:43AM (#28170384)

Running out of ventilators would have minimal impact on the mortality rate. Mechanical ventilation is currently only used as a last resort for <5% of hospitalized patients, and even with ventilators many of those patients don't survive.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/nhcs/intubation-ventilator-...

Beds can be added on a temporary basis. Availability of trained healthcare providers is the more relevant limit.

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Re:AstraZeneca Scientist Says Delta Variant Makes Herd Immun... by josephcsible on Thursday August 12, 2021 @11:09PM (#28164960)

My point is even if hospitals were closed completely, it still seems unlikely that 20% of people who catch COVID would die from it.

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