Re: Masks
 

But that number is based on the mathematically dubious idea of dividing one percentage by another, and doubly so because both percentages are very small. So even if you accept that dividing one percentage by another has a useful meaning, allowing for the +/- uncertainty range in both percentages, the ratio of the efficacy of natural immunity to vaccine-induced immunity could be any where from hundreds: 1 to less than 1:1.

Re: Masks
 

Honestly guys, I posted 2 links that reference scientific studies on the long lasting effect of the vaccination compared with natural immunity. I didn't initially post a link directly to the Israeli study purely because that particular study was a little light, there wasn't much detail in the study and it hasn't been peer reviewed but none the less was approved by the MHS (Maccabi Healthcare Services) Institutional Review Board (IRB). I wouldn't place too much emphasis on the exact numbers. If you look at the death rates around the world, there's more than enough variation country to country, region to region to show that outside factors naturally will alter the viruses death rate, similarly factors will alter infection rate (that's just nature).

What I would say is go back to the first link that I posted and take a look at the references, in total there are 22 references and the majority do come from credible sources and are peer reviewed, there really is good research going on in that study.

Going back to my original point which is; With the governments decision to reduce mandates, such as taking away the masks, taking away the proof of vaccine stuff. Don't lost sight of the fact that Omicron is still there and I feel the decision was made to loosen restrictions based upon what I feel is their new strategy, boosting immunity by the spread of Omicron. Once again expect to get sick, vaccinated or not. This sickness statistically wont be as extreme and statistically (by inference of previous biological studies) will give you a much longer and better protection than the vaccine did. It's not to say the vaccine is bad (far from it). It's merely a commentary of why I think these decisions are being made by governments around the world.

Even today if you look at countries who acted earlier than Canada at removing the restrictions such as the UK. COVID numbers are going up, it's not as big of an issue with Omicron. The benefit for the government is with people getting sick then the immunity will last longer which means we fight COVID more effectively going forward.

It's not to be a conspiracy theorist it's just an observation.

If the governments plan isn't to get you sick then expect more mandates.

Re: Masks
 

Which is a long-winded way of saying what I said a few days ago in post 739, above. :nod:

Re: Masks
 

Here in small town BC, hardly anyone is wearing masks anymore. I work for a crown corporation and we got a company wide email yesterday saying that masks in the office was now a personal choice, and not a requirement.

I've not been keeping up with COVID news elsewhere in the world due to Russia vs Ukraine taking the front page, but I do still follow some epidemiologists on Twitter and the news coming out of Europe isn't great.
BC is generally 6-8 weeks behind the UK so when I hear that COVID deaths are rising over there due to vaccine efficacy wearing off, I will almost certainly mask up again until more information is known about any new variant.

I'm pretty sure I had Omnicron and for me it was nothing, hopefully the next one and the one after that will be the same....

Re: Masks
 

Is going to the office a requirement?

Re: Masks
 

No, we were given the choice to either WFO / WFH / or Hybrid. I chose Hybrid.
Tuesday Wednesday in the office, Monday Thursday Friday at home.

Re: Masks
 

Hmmm, I'm dreading the proposed "return" to office. The expectation is hybrid which, for many people, means moving house or staying in hotels. The people who will quit are the ones most wanted so exceptions will have to be made, what bollocks can be peddled to the masses to hide the exceptions remains to be seen. It'll be arbitrary, unfair and cloaked in lies which is ok, that's management, but I'd rather not have to bother with any of it.

Re: Masks
 

Looks like we will be hybrid too, whether we like it or not. Tues Wed Thurs in the office, Monday and Friday at home. Not a fan of working at home at all, but I guess I could live with the two days given what I have already had to put up with. I can get what I need to get sorted on those 3 days in the office.

Re: Masks
 

But is working from home really a great idea? I guess for some it is, personally i don't know as i don't do a job that could be done that way. I always thought that whilst avoiding things like traffic/commute issues and general office politics it was somewhere to go to get away from the home environment, it gave you purpose to get dressed and venture out, it gave you some extra social connections which aren't there at home and it gave you access to all the necessary equipment and knowledge of others if you found yourself in a situation where you needed help and of course a good gossip in the break room about the boss and his secretary..
I have dealt with two different people over last few months who were working from home, one apologized for any noise as she had a baby and she was working from home, the other didn't have the answer to my query as she wasn't in the office but could get one of her colleagues who was to get back to me! This didn't seem very efficient but then again i have found some companies here in BC quite poor in the admin dept

Re: Masks
 

It's weird isn't it. Universally accepted that lockdowns - real ones where you can't really go out except for essential reasons - are bad for mental health but there still seems to be a desire for voluntary lockdown working from home :lol:

Re: Masks
 

I read with interest the following article regarding relaxing of mask mandates on aircraft. Heathrow will now relax its mandate and it seems that some UK carriers are lifting restrictions on board but only when flying to a destination that doesn't have a mandate in place. Sounds mighty confusing and they state passengers MAY still be required to wear one boarding and disembarking. Meanwhile the US has extended its on board mask mandate that was to end today by another month so expectation is that they too will loosen restrictions in time.
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/air...ate-uk-flights

Re: Masks
 

WFH offers specific advantages:

- an environment better suited to work. One can control the background noise and audience when on the phone. Thus one can discuss sensitive matters, such as salary negotiations, which one might prefer not to do while shouting over a hubbub of oafs screaming about unrelated matters. It's like working in a library as opposed to a fruit and veg market.
- not commuting means a gain of two hours per day for the company and less hassle for the employee. It's better for the environment and there's no risk of death through collision.
- It's been two years now so there's hardly anyone I deal with that I have met in person. Meeting in person is likely to lead to conflict, I know for example, that I work with people on both sides of various wars around the world. That's easier managed without face-to-face interaction.
- Nearly all the people we deal with are in remote locations so driving to an office to talk to them through messaging software using a machine carried from home is just silly. Assuming "bums in seats" is the objective then even the few co-located people will have to go on different days and not see each other.
- Conference calls work better when the participants have a consistent interface. If some of the people share a room and the remainder are video-conferencing the interface is inconsistent; for this reason we always video-conference even if some people involved are at adjacent workstations. There's no point in making people spend money on clothes, drive for an hour and have to shout when they'd be more effective at home in bed.
- Lots of work is likely to be done from home anyway. If someone in Portugal or India has a technical problem in the course of their working day we don't drive to the office to deal with it. Setting up to WFH at night and from an office in the day is a bother.
- Fewer devices and interfaces are required if people stay at home. VOIP doesn't work well in cars so, in order to speak to people during their commute, they have to have a phone which is cost and creates legal exposures.
- Mental health is not a proper concern of an employer. If the work is being done at the agreed rate the company should mind its own business.

All that said, I know senior management likes to see bodies in corridors and we're working on providing that without hurting productivity too much. We don't want to expose the office tower as the white elephant it is.

Re: Masks
 

I was told, nearly a year ago, "everyone is returning to the office", even people like me who were 100% WFH long before covid existed. It was so obvious to me that this was going to lead to significant numbers of resignations that I was confident that this was a senior management strategy to achieve some downsizing of the head count. Now it turns out that management apparently genuinely believed that everyone was as excited to get back to the office as they are. :hysterical:

So now the whole return to office plan has descended into chaos because not only are people resigning in relatively large numbers, but recruiting replacements is even harder as most potential recruits lose all interest once they are told "everyone works in the corporate offices".

The current "offer" is that most people are expected to be in the office three days per week, and it looks as if I might get some sort of exemption because of the length of my commute.

Re: Masks
 

It's shocking to me how far out of touch the people running our organization are. Their desire is to see people back in the office generating a synergistic buzz but they seem not to realize that, for years before covid, we worked every day with people around the world. They seem to think it's Mad Men outside the C suite, we walk down the hall and bond with the developers who are, in fact, in Europe or India or Costa Rica. I get that running a company is about politics, influencing government policy and about investor relations but really, no one seems to have a clue how people below VP work day-to-day. It's disappointing but, of course, a retention bonus could make it all ok.

Re: Masks
 

Sounds very similar to my situation, because if I get dragged back into the office it won't help me at all, as my manager is in New York City, the project manager I am working with is in upstate New York, and with only one exception, the other people I work with are in Chicago, Florida, Minnesota, and California.

Then there is the secondary matter that my manager doesn't really know what I do, nor did the manager before him, nor the one before that .... in fact my current and the five previous managers don't understand my job, mostly because I designed it from the ground up, and they never had enough time for me to explain it to them, assuming they were interested to learn, which never seemed to be the case. :rolleyes: