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This week, COVID-19 knocked me down.
A couple years ago, people were thinking that a COVID vaccine would eliminate the disease completely, banishing it to the (web)pages of history.

Everyone was thinking in terms of small pox vaccine (get it once, good for life, disease no longer exists in the wild, VICTORY!).

I just looked at those people with pity in my eyes and explained:
"The common bird flu is also a corona-type virus. We have flu vaccines. So the common bird flu has been eradicated and no one ever gets the flu anymore, right?" :unsure:

Watching the pachinko machine ball fall into the mental "Oh...... duh....." catcher of lived experience with Flu Season EVERY YEAR, despite the fact that we have flu vaccines, was always quite the sight to behold.

@magmagmag now makes the second online person that I'm aware of (the other lives in plague infested Britain) who has contracted COVID within the past month.

Just because governments and news organizations (conveniently) "forgot" that COVID-19 still exists in the wild, does not mean that the disease has been eradicated from the entirety of planet Terra.

Solomani public figures can just be "funny" that way, you know? :rolleyes:

So please, people ... just because COVID-19 isn't headline news all the time anymore, do not assume that it has been eradicated to the point of no return! I'm honestly worried what new variants of the virus are going to try and take over the world later this year and on into next year. Last I'd heard, the virus was growing less lethal but even more transmissible ... which is really BAD for public health!
 
A couple years ago, people were thinking that a COVID vaccine would eliminate the disease completely, banishing it to the (web)pages of history.

Everyone was thinking in terms of small pox vaccine (get it once, good for life, disease no longer exists in the wild, VICTORY!).

I just looked at those people with pity in my eyes and explained:
"The common bird flu is also a corona-type virus. We have flu vaccines. So the common bird flu has been eradicated and no one ever gets the flu anymore, right?" :unsure:

Watching the pachinko machine ball fall into the mental "Oh...... duh....." catcher of lived experience with Flu Season EVERY YEAR, despite the fact that we have flu vaccines, was always quite the sight to behold.

@magmagmag now makes the second online person that I'm aware of (the other lives in plague infested Britain) who has contracted COVID within the past month.

Just because governments and news organizations (conveniently) "forgot" that COVID-19 still exists in the wild, does not mean that the disease has been eradicated from the entirety of planet Terra.

Solomani public figures can just be "funny" that way, you know? :rolleyes:

So please, people ... just because COVID-19 isn't headline news all the time anymore, do not assume that it has been eradicated to the point of no return! I'm honestly worried what new variants of the virus are going to try and take over the world later this year and on into next year. Last I'd heard, the virus was growing less lethal but even more transmissible ... which is really BAD for public health!
I was one of those who got all the Covid shots and still got Covid last year. But it was no worse than the flu or a bad cold. I believe the shots mitigated the effects of getting the virus. It was the same for my sister and my 93-year-old mother. My wife and I are signed up to get the new shots today. Next week the flu shot and then the RSV shot. For those who don't get the shots it's like riding a motorcycle without a helmet, you might get away with it all your life but all it would take is that one time.
 
I was one of those who got all the Covid shots and still got Covid last year.
Yeah, the vaccine isn't an impenetrable Black Globe force field offering 100% protection.
For this disease, the vaccine (and boosters) "trains" your immune system to know how to deal with an infection, making an infection more manageable and survivable, rather than some kind of preventative that ensures you can't catch (or transmit) the disease.

In gamer terms, it's a +DM on the dice roll for an infection ... rather than an automatic skip past needing to roll the dice at all because you're not a valid/legal target with impenetrable protection.
For those who don't get the shots it's like riding a motorcycle without a helmet, you might get away with it all your life but all it would take is that one time.
That's exactly the way to think about it.
The vaccines are "armor" protection, reducing the "damage taken" in order to boost your chances of survival ... rather than conferring invulnerability.
 
My wife and I are signed up to get the new shots today. Next week the flu shot and then the RSV shot.
Yea, we're scheduled for the Flu and Covid updates as well, then I'll schedule the RSV. I've been getting a lot of vaccines past few years, feel like a new inductee.

Shingles kind of sucked as I recall.

Hey, M3, since you mentioned drone troopers, if you're motivated, be curious to see your take on a Zhodani Warbot!
 
A couple years ago, people were thinking that a COVID vaccine would eliminate the disease completely, banishing it to the (web)pages of history.

Everyone was thinking in terms of small pox vaccine (get it once, good for life, disease no longer exists in the wild, VICTORY!).

I just looked at those people with pity in my eyes and explained:
"The common bird flu is also a corona-type virus. We have flu vaccines. So the common bird flu has been eradicated and no one ever gets the flu anymore, right?" :unsure:

Watching the pachinko machine ball fall into the mental "Oh...... duh....." catcher of lived experience with Flu Season EVERY YEAR, despite the fact that we have flu vaccines, was always quite the sight to behold.

@magmagmag now makes the second online person that I'm aware of (the other lives in plague infested Britain) who has contracted COVID within the past month.

Just because governments and news organizations (conveniently) "forgot" that COVID-19 still exists in the wild, does not mean that the disease has been eradicated from the entirety of planet Terra.

Solomani public figures can just be "funny" that way, you know? :rolleyes:

So please, people ... just because COVID-19 isn't headline news all the time anymore, do not assume that it has been eradicated to the point of no return! I'm honestly worried what new variants of the virus are going to try and take over the world later this year and on into next year. Last I'd heard, the virus was growing less lethal but even more transmissible ... which is really BAD for public health!
Viruses typically do just that - become less lethal and more transmissible - as part of their own goal of more reproductive spread. It's basically the organism evolving so that the host lives in order to spread further, rather than killing the host and a reduced range of "offspring" for want of a better term. Thus things like the common cold, which is extremely prevalent, but relatively low risk.

The bad side is when it DOESN'T work that way, and a relatively lethal virus gains that transmissibility.
 
@magmagmag now makes the second online person that I'm aware of (the other lives in plague infested Britain) who has contracted COVID within the past month.
Well ... now I've got a personal friend that I hung out with in person over the weekend who woke up with symptoms and a positive test for COVID yesterday, so now after spending 2+ years "hiding" from COVID, it finally managed to infect someone I spent over 7 hours with the day before ... therefore I'm now doing a 14 day self-quarantine at home "just to be sure" I didn't get infected too from an exposure. :cautious:

Anyone who believes that the virus is "done" with humaniti will get to "do their own research" on the topic, I'm afraid. :confused:

Just because you aren't exhibiting symptoms doesn't mean you aren't/haven't/can't be infected.
 
The Classic Traveller and Mega Traveller are often used because they have Japanese versions. The Japanese adaptation of Mega Traveler was discontinued in the middle. After that, in Japan, it seems that the GURPS world setting used with the rules of Mega Traveller. There seem to be unofficial several Japanese machine translation versions of Mongoose, but it is unclear if they are playing. Several websites and bulletin boards are active.
 
Gladius CP-20082 is a Broadsword-class mercenary cruiser owned by a small firm, ZEBJ Star Merc LIC, which operates a few other Broadsword-class ship as well as Protected Forces contingents across the Gristen sector.

Broadsword-class mercenary cruiser needs a utility vehicle of some sort to allow minor errands and surface excursions that do not call for a launch or cutter. The air/raft on the Broadsword class cruiser fills this requirement.
 

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