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Demovictory9

(32,482 posts)
Tue Jul 27, 2021, 11:48 PM Jul 2021

At the Lake of the Ozarks, vaccines are shunned, masks are mocked

‘What’s Covid?’ Why People at America’s Hardest-Partying Lake Are Not About to Get Vaccinated
At the Lake of the Ozarks, vaccines are shunned, masks are mocked and the long-term consequences take a back seat to the time at hand.






In a county designated a Covid hot spot, in a state with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, and in a region where hospitals are nearing capacity as the Delta variant takes hold, Erin, a bartender at Backwater Jack’s, couldn’t be in a more vulnerable position. She interacts closely with hundreds of maskless customers—sometimes on a single day. She knows most of them are probably not vaccinated. And she doesn’t care. She isn’t either.


“I’m living, breathing proof—I’ve not been sick once. I’ve been as hands-on as you can be with people from everywhere,” Erin said, as a motorboat thundered to the dock and another group of customers climbed out. Like others who spoke for this article, she asked to go only by her first name. She said she’d heard a rumor—common among vaccine skeptics but also plainly false—that “more people are dying from getting the vaccine this week.”


“Personally,” Erin added, “I feel like my immune system is doing a good job, so why pump it full of something that we don’t really know what it is?”
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Among the few who admitted to getting vaccinated, some described being shamed by friends or family.


One woman, Brittany Hanlon, who wears a mask while battling cancer, said she was heckled for doing so while walking through a Wal-Mart. “Take off your mask!” two women shouted at her as she tried shopping. The women told her, “that the mask was making them uncomfortable,” Hanlon recalled, “which I don’t understand. It’s not like I was doing anything mean or inappropriate, I just had a plain black mask on.” An employee at the Ha Ha Tonka State Park Visitors Center, in the Lake of the Ozarks area, Hanlon says she wears a mask while interacting with roughly 600-700 people a week there. She is typically greeted with sneers and requests that she remove it.



https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/27/ozarks-lake-covid-unvaccinated-500784
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Talk of the vaccine draws scoffs, laughs and even cussing among the clientele. Mask-wearing, which is recommended for those not vaccinated, was virtually non-existent—and, in conversations with a flow of customers over two days, it’s clear that many are not vaccinated.
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At the Lake of the Ozarks, vaccines are shunned, masks are mocked (Original Post) Demovictory9 Jul 2021 OP
Human virus soup. Wingus Dingus Jul 2021 #1
"To be unvaxxed is a source of identity and pride" dalton99a Jul 2021 #2
I'm to that point. SMC22307 Jul 2021 #4
It's a damn shame their identity and pride Mariana Jul 2021 #34
That quote will look just wonderful Totally Tunsie Jul 2021 #35
And boaters DO NOT have to wear flotation devices! StClone Jul 2021 #3
From the Hoarse Whisperer LetMyPeopleVote Jul 2021 #5
yeeeeeee haw. Thomas Hurt Jul 2021 #6
Lake of the Ozarks, aka Slackjaw Bathtub Celerity Jul 2021 #7
🦠🦠🦠🦠 roamer65 Jul 2021 #8
They are sucking in the virus like Kool Aid. Lulu Latech Jul 2021 #9
I've been there. Lots of ignorant, trashy people, so I'm not surprised. nt Progressive Jones Jul 2021 #10
I lived there for four years Thtwudbeme Jul 2021 #19
WOW! I salute you! I was only there on a vacation. nt Progressive Jones Jul 2021 #22
No seat belts for these folks, either Hekate Jul 2021 #11
Why aren't more of them getting sick? smirkymonkey Jul 2021 #12
They're busy working on their very own variant... Hugin Jul 2021 #15
I hope you're right. smirkymonkey Jul 2021 #17
Many of them are getting covid. LisaL Jul 2021 #20
Keep in mind that asymptomatic infection is a thing. Ace Rothstein Jul 2021 #26
"Not everyone who gets COVID dies from it, as much as DU says otherwise" Strelnikov_ Jul 2021 #37
Wait a few weeks . . . . hatrack Jul 2021 #27
We're full-time rv'ers...Lake of the Ozarks has always been on my must see bucket list... Enter stage left Jul 2021 #13
can someone tell me what is appealing about being in a crowded pool? Skittles Jul 2021 #14
Maybe they share a kink with TFG? Hugin Jul 2021 #16
People in KCMO love to go to Branson and Silver leftyladyfrommo Jul 2021 #18
It's not just bum fuck stupid-stan folks North Shore Chicago Jul 2021 #21
Vaccines are shunned, masks are mocked, and a ventilator is just over the horizon. tanyev Jul 2021 #23
Stay away from Republiqans under any and all circumstances. Roisin Ni Fiachra Jul 2021 #24
I don't care about them much, but they're incubating new mutations of the virus that we Liberal In Texas Jul 2021 #25
New variants are coming anyways Johnny2X2X Jul 2021 #28
The more this virus is allowed to mutate the more chance there is that a a variety that will Liberal In Texas Jul 2021 #32
The place sounds like the Redneck Riviera. Chainfire Jul 2021 #29
They don't know shit about fuck. Tommy Carcetti Jul 2021 #30
This is Politico promoting this view greenjar_01 Jul 2021 #31
Gee didn't they try this last year? Wounded Bear Jul 2021 #33
I remember that, but I don't remember hearing about any cases. Treefrog Jul 2021 #39
And drugs are king! nt joetheman Jul 2021 #36
You know what else is at the Lake? LiberatedUSA Jul 2021 #38
. dalton99a Jul 2021 #40

Wingus Dingus

(8,059 posts)
1. Human virus soup.
Tue Jul 27, 2021, 11:51 PM
Jul 2021

If Covid took them all out, our nation's collective IQ would go up by a bunch. I'm not rooting for that. I swear.

Mariana

(14,861 posts)
34. It's a damn shame their identity and pride
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 10:22 AM
Jul 2021

never stop them from going to the hospital when they discover they can't breathe.

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
12. Why aren't more of them getting sick?
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 12:49 AM
Jul 2021

The fact that so many of them can take NO precautions and remain unvaccinated and virus free is kind of disturbing. It lends credibility to their argument that their "healthy immune system" can fight this thing off.

Even though most of them aren't healthy by a long shot and are staying virus free through some kind of miracle. Either that, or their bodies are so polluted that no virus could possibly survive in them. I really wish they would start dropping like flies and this whole thing would start falling in place.

I don't know why some healthy people get it and die, and then some really unhealthy people don't get it, or get it and live, but there just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. It just isn't making sense.

Hugin

(33,222 posts)
15. They're busy working on their very own variant...
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 03:10 AM
Jul 2021

That we'll start hearing about in a month or so.

Way more virulent and leathal. Ironically, a virus with the same attitude about masks and vaccines as these derps. A real chip off of the old blockhead that will be.

I guess they feel left out. The authorities BETTER name this one OZARK, because, there's no doubt where it will originate.

Ace Rothstein

(3,194 posts)
26. Keep in mind that asymptomatic infection is a thing.
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 08:38 AM
Jul 2021

A significant number of people will never have symptoms. Not everyone who gets COVID dies from it, as much as DU says otherwise.

Strelnikov_

(7,772 posts)
37. "Not everyone who gets COVID dies from it, as much as DU says otherwise"
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 01:46 PM
Jul 2021

Didn't know 'DU' had an official position.

Thanks.

Enter stage left

(3,400 posts)
13. We're full-time rv'ers...Lake of the Ozarks has always been on my must see bucket list...
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 01:18 AM
Jul 2021

Until now!

Sorry misery, you'll never see another dollar from me. We typically spend from $500- $1200 for a 6-7 day stay.

Fuck you fools.

leftyladyfrommo

(18,874 posts)
18. People in KCMO love to go to Branson and Silver
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 05:29 AM
Jul 2021

Dollar City. They are huge tourist traps.

Lots of people here have cabins at Lake of the Ozarks.

It's turning into a death trap.

North Shore Chicago

(3,338 posts)
21. It's not just bum fuck stupid-stan folks
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 06:13 AM
Jul 2021

who feels the need to get in a huge bathtub with 500 others.

I drive through affluent Chicago suburbs and see more than one public pool that are assholes to elbows. All on the sidelines, few masks (if any)

I shake my head and say to myself, "Self? is this the end?"

Roisin Ni Fiachra

(2,574 posts)
24. Stay away from Republiqans under any and all circumstances.
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 08:29 AM
Jul 2021

They don't get vaccinated, and they joyfully spread the virus among themselves, exponentially.

Liberal In Texas

(13,597 posts)
25. I don't care about them much, but they're incubating new mutations of the virus that we
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 08:30 AM
Jul 2021

vaccinated might not be able to cope with when it gets widespread.

Johnny2X2X

(19,210 posts)
28. New variants are coming anyways
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 09:12 AM
Jul 2021

There are places overseas where Covid is spreading among billions of people, the new mutations will likely come from places like Indonesia, India, or Bangladesh. Not a lot we can do to stop that.

Sure, there's a small chance the next dominant variant comes from some place like Lake of the Ozarks, but it's more likely all those people are doing is killing themselves and their loved ones.

Liberal In Texas

(13,597 posts)
32. The more this virus is allowed to mutate the more chance there is that a a variety that will
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 10:15 AM
Jul 2021

kick our vaccinated asses will arise.

Just because other countries are having trouble vaccinating their populations doesn't mean we shouldn't worry about what's happening here in the US.

Wounded Bear

(58,751 posts)
33. Gee didn't they try this last year?
Wed Jul 28, 2021, 10:16 AM
Jul 2021

Never heard of Russian Roulette, I guess. Sooner or later, the loaded chamber comes around.

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