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COVID levels rising in much of U.S., with highest in West, CDC says
(www.cbsnews.com)
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this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2025
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I find this so weird, here in Europe, and notably in the Netherlands, Covid levels are very low and not rising at all. We all live fairly normal lives nowadays.
Why is USA such a different case? Is it a lack of vaccinations?
More along the lines of a lack of education.
Here in Finland nobody even talks about covid anymore. It's just another season flu, basically
I mean people do get covid, I have it myself now (fellow Dutchie here). I wouldn't have bothered testing if a friend of mine weren't super sensitive to covid. It's really just like a cold.
Covid is still around, but our levels are fairly low. Here the covid levels are also tested with the wastewater. So if theirs is on the rise, and ours is so low and stable, then there's something weird going on. Looking at the other comments, I suppose vaccinations play a large role in this.
As someone "over there", it isn't just vaccinations. The increasingly (and now fully) fascist government and corpocratic economic structure have given rise to what I perceive to be significantly higher rates of Social Darwinist and other "fuck you, I got mine" attitudes, especially among men but also in general. This, combined with a total dereliction of duty on the part of regulators (see: Fascist Corpocracy) and the fact that people are facing both economic and direct verbal pressure from their bosses to come in when they are sick (again, see: Fascist Corpocracy), and finally with the coup de grace of people being whiny-ass imbeciles who "can't stand" having a mask on, has led to a completely uncontrollable spiral towards what I can only conclude will be the breeding ground of another pandemic (because, as this news proves, THIS ONE AIN'T OVER YET, despite what seemingly everyone wants to pretend). I wear a P100 half-face respirator everywhere I go, including 9 hours a day as a high school teacher. I've had COVID 6 times. The only reason I'm still alive is because I've gotten the vaccine re-upped at every possible opportunity.
The wastewater testing is a great point, I didnt think they'd still be measuring that
They've tried to get rid of it... Believe you me.
It’s the combination of a lack of vaccinations along with a horrendously bad healthcare system.
Vaccination rates would be my first guess as well. Individually vaccines reduce the severity of symptoms, which makes it less likely for people to notice and report that they have COVID. The vaccine also reduces the viral load spread by individuals, therefore making it less likely for them to spread the virus, and it also makes it less likely for you to become sick if you come into contact with the virus.
Considering the difference in population density between the USA and The Netherlands (NL is way denser) I'd say this is a good demonstration of how vaccines are miracles of modern science.
Healthy people under 65 in the US are not allowed any more Covid boosters until an updated version comes out and most people who were keeping up with it have now run out of protection.
To be fair, that's still significantly more than Germany.
In Germany you get exactly two boosters until you are 60 if you are not at risk. Unless you pay for yourself of course.
Wow that's so weird. In France you can get a free booster every 6 months, whatever your age.
Flu vaccine is not free below 60 though. (It's 30 euros I think, something like that).
Fair, but in the US you can’t even pay yourself now. You just aren’t allowed. RFK decided for us that the risk of vaccination outweighs the risk of COVID.
This is what I initially thought but my friend said I could still, say, pay out of pocket. I'm hearing conflicting statements.
This is what I was told at Kaiser, then I went to a private pharmacy to double check. They aren’t allowed to give it, regardless of insurance or out of pocket.
If you lie and say you have an organ transplant or some equally serious immunological condition you can get it, and they aren’t allowed to ask for proof.
You will have to pay out of pocket though, and it will be awkward explaining why you don’t have insurance while having a bankrupting condition.
I believe you. Do you know if this applies to all states? If worse comes to worse I'm willing to travel to get my vaccine.
I was told by both that it’s a CDC issue, not a company or state issue. Besides leaving the US, lying is the way to get it.
Fair, that sucks.
Though US-Americans should be somewhat used to paying for medical services. Over here it is definitely not common to pay for vaccines. I don't even know how much paying for a COVID booster is and haven't found anything since no one is wondering this.
As a comparison, the HPV vaccines are 480€ if you are 18 or older (which, again, hardly anyone pays/is able to easily afford). I wouldn't be surprised if a COVID booster was like 50€.
Her in Australia, you can get one every 12 mo this if you wish. It’s recommended if you’re high risk. Kids, it is no longer recommended or available unless high risk.
Just a guess, but USA has limited paid sick leave days or something right? Maybe that also has an impact? People just start going to work sick after a while, infecting even more people.
The US has 0 federally mandated sick leave days. Very few people care about covid anymore. I have always attributed the summer surge to the significant increase in travel when school's not in session.
I think Republicans spit into each other's mouths to intentionally spread COVID to own the libs or something.
My guess is the same reason Europe has more deaths during heat waves: air conditioning. Increasing indoor air circulation, either with heating or a/c, spreads the virus around more. The US tends to use a/c in the summer, and Europe tends not to. [Yes, acknowledging both regions are massive, with lots of regional variation.]