If we were actually following the data and science and weren't selfish, we wouldn't allow Cole Hocker to get vaccinated now

I have a kid. I am not on here nonstop. Who has destroyed my argument? I just got a text from a journalist said they think it's the best thing I've ever written.

Yes, I've argued in the winter that i thought it was worth using 50,000 vaccines to vaccinate all Olympians to entertain the world. I don't have a problem with people saying this is a special event - we'd like the Olympians to be vaccinated. I too would like if it Hocker was vaccinated but I don't really see when he had an easy time to do it.

If I was Japan, I would have done one of the following a) Politiely declined to host or b) Vaccinated my most vulnerable before hosting.

But the vitriol of people who act like Hocker made a really ignorant decision is just flat out wrong. The dude already got over Covid and this isn't a super spreader event - it's the opposite.

Yes it would maybe be nice if he had gotten a vaccine right after the trials as he's going to an event where there will be people from countries with not many vaccines. But guess what, the IOC was offering those people vaccines if they wanted them.

But please read the following.

It's not geoing to be a super spreader event. To all of the idiots acting like Hocker might be spreading Covid alll over the globe, have you bothered to understand how strict this whole thing is? You have two get 2 covid tests within 96 hours of departure. Then another one when you get there. Plus you have to have a geolocation app on yoru phone at all times. A British steeplechaser has been locked in his room for the last 6 days (he can only leave to run) simply because he was close to someone on the plane who tested positive for Covid. He's double vaccinated and has tested negative 11 times.

This isn't science. It's theatre.

It's ironic that many of the people blasting me are on the left of the political spectrum..In a day and age, when we are really trying to put an end to racism,, this whole thing of "blaming foreigners" for Covid shows you why racism is still around. It's human nature for people to think the evil foreigners or evil (people of a different race) are going to bring them down.

You should let this one go, Rojo. You really don't know what you're talking about.

Monkeys Skyping wrote:

rojo wrote:

. . .

YOu make a good point. It is almost religious for some people. I mean I have the stats. Not that many people are on this thread but somehow it's generated 4 pages of posts in like an hour.

Great post.

I don't get how people think this is going to end.

I didn't start an anti-vaccine thread. I simply said we should vaccine the world's elderly before we vaccinate people like Hocker. I'm very much pro vaccine.

As a general rule, if one highlights and engages only those with whom they agree, they are rationalizing, not doing science. Addressing the best arguments against your position would be "normal science".

Also endorsing a post dismissing others as "almost religious" in a thread where you've deleted and explicitly called out ad hominems is not a great look.

Yup agreed. We could have the olympics with no issues if everyone there had a vaccine. You are clearly not following the science ROJO and really doubt you are pro vaccine.

Flagpole wrote:

You should let this one go, Rojo. You really don't know what you're talking about.

agreed. what's his deal, anyways? I mean that as a serious, scientific question

nojodumb wrote:

Rojo is so dumb on this one.

Not only forgetting that many olympians from around the world who will travel to Tokyo are not vaccinated simply because their countries do not have vaccine supplies, but that in the US, everyone who wants a vaccine has access to one.

Translation: Hocker is potentially endangering others out of his own selfishness and most likely misinformed opinion on vaccines. Shameful.

Rojo, your argument is moot and based on absolutely no science what so ever.

/Endthread

well actually wrote:

I think what is really happening in this thread is you have one group who spent an entire year absolutely terrified of the virus. You have another group who didn't let it take over their lives and treated it like the flu (which is what it is for most people). Now the first group is pissed at the second group for not being as worried about it as they are. They want to feel justified in their extreme reaction to it. Just watch, pointing this out will make them even more crazed.

Yes.

Exactly.

Would it be marginally better if Hocker was vaccinated? Perhaps. But it would be WAY better if we followed the science and vaccinated the entire world's elderly first before people like Hocker.

In the US, we started doing it by age as the science clearly shows how important that is. But we've stopped doing that. Now the rich largely white young people in the US and Europe get to get vaccinated while the poor black/brown people around the world go without while some white guy with two masters degrees in the US types I'm the a** ole. No, you are for acting like Hocker is doign the world a great disservice by not being vaccinated.

I want someone to tell me how in the world this is going to be a super spreader event. Give me a single argument as to how that is possible. It's not.

My god, Jonathan Gault told me yesterday I'm not even allowed to go outside to run when I'm in Tokyo. I'm allowed to sign out of the hotel for 15 minutes to go to a convenience store and if I'm not back within 15 minutes, I might be deported.

Japan was having baseball games with tens of thousands of fans two weeks ago. They had a soccer games last week with a ton of fans. Somehow a sporting event largely outside between people are tested all the time for Covid is goign to spread it everywhere?

Cole Hacker is a hack. He’s got stupid hair, girl arms and he’s a selfish little turd. Oh, he’s white and a redneck - Blojo’s type.

Wise Old Man wrote:

For those TRULY interested in science and not propaganda….protection against the dominant variant in the world, delta, is not as good with prior natural infection as vaccination. The Cleveland Clinic study cited by others was prior to delta. Follow the science. If you do, you know that Hocker, and everybody else should get vaccinated regardless if they had the virus before.

Ok. You as a science expert say it now appears that the Delta variant is dangerous to someone like Hocker. But how in the world was he supposed to know that 6 weeks ago when he was planning this all out?

People act like it was OBVIOUS he was endangering the world by not being vaccinated in the middle of a season where he was trying to make the Olympics. Far from it. Delta wasn't even a major concern when the vaccines opened up for people his age in Oregon - which probably would have been the best time for him to get it.

2600 bro wrote:

Dim Tillon wrote:

How do you think Americans turning down the vaccine is going to allow people in other countries to get vaccinated quicker?

He doesn't. He just wanted an excuse to shut down the narrative in the previous and re-frame it in this thread... now that we are back to narrative #1, I expect this will be shut down too.

This. +1

This is perfect cognitive dissonance.

Rationale: Older people from other countries should be vaccinated first.

Response: But we have all the vaccines.

Common sense: Oh. I see. Let’s get these young folks vaccinated then.

Narrative changing blojo weirdo.

This would all be a really good take, but do you really expect the US to give vaccines to random other countries? I don't know what we're doing with the unused vaccines we have right now, but it seems uncharacteristic of the US to just start handing them out to other countries.

I also think that telling healthy young people "It's more ethical for you to not get the vaccine" is extremely dangerous. If they don't get it now, maybe they'll just never get it. I don't think Cole NEEDS to be vaxxed right now, in terms of a racing season it makes sense that he isn't, but we can't go around telling people "you're healthy so don't get vaxxed". That opens up a nasty can of worms.

Give it up, Rojo. You are wrong. You made a mistake. You know what people respect? Humility.

rojo wrote:

The vitriol that some of you showed to Cole Hocker was disgusting and lacking in any scientific basis.

It spurred me to write a column. There are HUNDREDS of Millions of elderly and vulnerable people across the globe that aren't vaccinated who need it much more.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2021/07/im-pro-vaccine-but-if-we-follow-the-science-we-wouldnt-be-encouraging-olympic-track-stars-like-cole-hocker-to-be-vaccinated/

I'm closing the old Hocker thread to comments.

I know others have mentioned this but it appears that this thread continues despite the fatal flaw in your article.

A young person not getting his vaccine in the US does not free that vaccine up for someone in another country.

If I order a meal at McDonalds and immediately throw it away that meal could not have gone to feeding a starving child in Africa. Currently the US has a glut of vaccines. We are shipping some of them out but there are a lot of logistical problems with doing so particularly the Pfizer vaccine which requires a specialized freezer. The US is sitting on millions of unused vaccines that have no chance of being shipped out of the country.

You can argue if that was the right decision or not, the EU for instance did a large vaccine pool and divided it out among all member nations, but we didn't and its too late to change that for the current doses. If you want to "follow the science" based off the situation the US has put itself in we should jab as many people as possible as quickly as possible before all of the old vaccines expire to get rid of our vaccine surplus and immediately start working on finding countries that can take the vaccines we are still producing at a significantly faster rate than we are using them before we have even more sitting in storage.

Rojo would’ve left his lights on during the Blitz.

He’s a piss poor journalist and hypocrite.

the wheels are in motion wrote:

Yup agreed. We could have the olympics with no issues if everyone there had a vaccine. You are clearly not following the science ROJO and really doubt you are pro vaccine.

What are you talking about? In May, when they were still debating the vaccine, I wrote an article saying the Games should not be cancelled.

What was one of my main arguments.

Because there was still plenty of time to vaccinate all of the elderly in Japan - particularly tokyo before the games - and certainly time to vaccinate 100% of all Game volunteers/workers.

Additionally, there certainly is enough time to vaccinate 100% of the Olympic volunteers and officials.

If you want to blame someone, blame the Japanese for the vaccine hesitancy. Don't blame Cole Hocker.

Read my piece here:

rojo wrote:

the wheels are in motion wrote:

Yup agreed. We could have the olympics with no issues if everyone there had a vaccine. You are clearly not following the science ROJO and really doubt you are pro vaccine.

What are you talking about? In May, when they were still debating the vaccine, I wrote an article saying the Games should not be cancelled.

What was one of my main arguments.

Because there was still plenty of time to vaccinate all of the elderly in Japan - particularly tokyo before the games - and certainly time to vaccinate 100% of all Game volunteers/workers.

Additionally, there certainly is enough time to vaccinate 100% of the Olympic volunteers and officials.

If you want to blame someone, blame the Japanese for the vaccine hesitancy. Don't blame Cole Hocker.

Read my piece here:

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2021/05/stop-the-fear-porn-the-olympics-should-go-on-japans-covid-rate-is-currently-50-less-than-the-rate-in-the-us/

Stop talking, Rojo. We're not listening anymore. Why would we?

Rojo’s main argument is because millions of others need to get vaccinated that actually need it. While true, the problem is that there’s a SURPLUS of vaccines in the US bc of disinformation and anyone who really wanted it had generally already gotten it. So Cole and others like him should step up to help those in JAPAN and other individual traveling to Japan who don’t have the same access to the vaccine as we do in the US… even partial immunity from the first shot would help let alone getting the J&J one-dose.

Phillypharm wrote:

Rojo’s main argument is because millions of others need to get vaccinated that actually need it. While true, the problem is that there’s a SURPLUS of vaccines in the US bc of disinformation and anyone who really wanted it had generally already gotten it. So Cole and others like him should step up to help those in JAPAN and other individual traveling to Japan who don’t have the same access to the vaccine as we do in the US… even partial immunity from the first shot would help let alone getting the J&J one-dose.

This is 100% true

Rojo will not listen to reason. Because he is NOT a scientist. He is an internet troll

Rojo, with due respect, you're embarassing yourself. Stick to running in your writing.

You're an idiot rojo.

#1: Unvaccinated people, young or not, are likelier to spread COVID to vulnerable people like the elderly.

#2: Vaccination rates in the US are topping out because of lack of interest, not lack of access. There is not this breadline of elderly waiting for vaccines in the US because young people are hogging them. It is a mix of young and old who are refusing the vaccine.

#3: The vaccines ordered for the US are staying in the US. We aren't going to ship vaccines to the world elderly because our domestic young are refusing them.