Bill Maher tested positive for Covid, cancels Fri show.

[BigmanPigman]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/05/13/bill-maher-real-time-sidelined-after-hosts-positive-covid-19-test/5083082001/

"Covid has sidelined comedian Bill Maher and, for one week at least, his HBO talk show, "Real Time with Bill Maher and for one week at least, his HBO talk show, "Real Time with Bill Maher."

"The "Real Time" Twitter account Thursday announced the cancellation of Friday's episode after the fully vaccinated host "tested positive during weekly staff PCR testing for COVID." The tweet continues that Maher "is asymptomatic and feels fine."

"'Real Time' production has taken every precaution following COVID CDC guidelines. No other staff or crew members have tested positive at this time," the tweet says.

[UTUSN]

1. I like him unlike others here, but my bigger dread is for all of us getting it after vax.

[Irish_Dem]

15. Chances are small of getting it. Even if we do, we won't die.

That is the point of the vax.

[Ms. Toad]

2. Curious to know when his last vaccination was.

Some people say "fully vaccinated" and mean only that they have just had their last (or only) shot. It takes time for immunity to build up.

[Hoyt]

4. I like Maher, but he's known to be somewhat of an anti-vaxxer, at least

believing that there is a correlation between vaccines and autism.

[Ms. Toad]

5. Which may mean a late vaccination, so he may not have been fully immunized.

I just haven't been able to find any suggestion of when he got vaccinated (or which vaccine).

[Hugin]

10. This story and the piece yesterday about the baseball team makes me wonder...

A couple of things.

First, I wonder if the posted efficacy rates for the vaccines took into account that the people participating in the trials were also following the other COVID guidelines.

Also, all along it has been suspected that the severity of the infection with the COVID virus is related to the amount of virus a person was exposed to. These 'breakthrough' infections may be due to higher than average exposure. Granted, without the vaccine these high exposure infections would have ended up with a poor prognosis.

You pose a good question, too. Not knowing anything, but, what I've seen in reports of people's highly varied reactions to the vaccination. I'm supposing the point of 'fully vaccinated' is also highly variable. On average happening between five to six weeks after the first or only vaccination.

[Demsrule86]

11. It could also be false positives because of the vaccine antibodies.

[boston bean]

13. Rapid tests can be wrong both ways. I would like to know a result of a pcr test.

[LisaL]

17. Positive PCR test. It says right so in the article.

NT

[LisaL]

16. He was tested by PCR.

NT

[boston bean]

18. He was? Wow.

[Hoyt]

3. Look forward to his show, but good time/reason to cancel.

[speak easy]

6. 95% efficacy does not mean 100% efficacy.

[Vinca]

7. I watch his show and find this to be just a tad amusing since he spent a chunk of his last

appearance railing against obese people and claiming they were the ones getting Covid because they take lousy care of themselves. Self righteousness doesn't wear well in this case.

[retread]

8. The announcement says he is asymtomatic. This is why all my family got jabbed.

1. To greatly reduce our odds of contacting the disease.
2. To reduce the symptoms if we did get the disease.

I suspect quite a few of the "great unwashed" that are fully vaccinated but aren't tested on a regular basis will be asymptomatic if we get Covid.

[Demsrule86]

12. So if he had no symptoms...why was he tested?

[greenjar_01]

14. Same reason the Yankees crew was tested: mandatory constant testing for show business

In other words, if Bill Maher was a regular guy on the street who didn't have to get tested for his show, he would have never known that he "had" COVID. If a tree falls in the forest, etc.

[ChrisF1961]

9. LMAO

[question everything]

19. One week? Shouldn't he be quarantined for 14 days?

[MoonlitKnight]

20. Lots of plausible reasons for being positive

1. mRNA vaccines are 95% so 5% will get infected.
2. J&J is around 75% so around 25% will still get it.
3. If you get exposed, you are likely to have a bunch of virus in your nasal pharynx which will result in a positive test but the virus won’t “take hold” and actually cause infection as your antibodies would be fighting it.

If it’s door number three, I bet if he tested again it would be negative.