Lenovo bows out of CES due to Covid-19 concerns

[Shawn Knight]

In brief: Several tech leaders including Amazon, Meta and Twitter have already bailed on the in-person aspect of next month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas over concerns surrounding the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Now, we can add Lenovo to the growing list of companies that won’t have a physical presence at CES.

A Lenovo spokesperson told TechCrunch that after closely monitoring trends surrounding Covid, they believe it is in the best interest of the health and safety of employees, customers, partners and the community in general to suspend all on-site activity planned for Las Vegas.

Lenovo’s new technology is still scheduled to launch as originally planned on January 4 and January 5, the spokesperson added.

CES 2022 will be in person on January 5-8 in Las Vegas with strong safety measures in place, and our digital access is also available for people that don’t wish to, or can’t travel to Las Vegas. https://t.co/NT0OcJzGW1 pic.twitter.com/dWrhhY8F8P

— CES (@CES) December 22, 2021

The Consumer Tech Association, the organizing body of CES, reiterated on Tuesday that CES 2022 will be in person in Las Vegas from January 5 through January 8. There will be “strong safety measures” in place, we’re told, which includes showing proof of Covid-19 vaccination to attend the in-person gathering.

CES 2022 will also have a virtual component for those that can’t / aren’t willing to make the trip out to the desert.

With the holidays upon us and New Year’s celebrations coming a week later, the virus situation is likely only to get worse before it improves. If we had to guess, Lenovo won’t be the last major player to pull out of in-person activities at CES. What we don’t yet know is when or if the CTA will shut down the entire physical event.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/92740-lenovo-bows-out-ces-due-covid-19-concerns.html

 

[VitalyT]

Sometimes, common sense prevails.

 

[Dimitriid]

Sometimes, common sense prevails.

Hopefully enough other big names cancel so they see reason and just call off the event entirely, but I feel if that happens at all it will kinda be last minute.

 

[scavengerspc]

Sometimes, common sense prevails.

Not often enough but, baby steps I guess.

 

[Shadowboxer]

So did they cancel because of the virus that is never going to go away or because of the disgusting vaccine passport policy being used?

 

[Squid Surprise]

So did they cancel because of the virus that is never going to go away or because of the disgusting vaccine passport policy being used?

I'm assuming because they feel the PR loss will outweigh any profit they could possibly make...

At this point, Covid is going to spread regardless - honestly, if you live in a nation that has had plentiful mRNA vaccines available for months, I have no sympathy for anyone unvaxxed who gets hospitalized... they had their chance...

 

[Sausagemeat]

I'm assuming because they feel the PR loss will outweigh any profit they could possibly make...

At this point, Covid is going to spread regardless - honestly, if you live in a nation that has had plentiful mRNA vaccines available for months, I have no sympathy for anyone unvaxxed who gets hospitalized... they had their chance...

The data is quite clear, the vaccines barely work. The company I work for is all double jabbed, (some of us are triple jabbed at this point) but that didn’t stop covid infecting everyone in the building and hospitalising three people in September. We work in a marina and we have to be quite strong to do the job so none of us are particularly vulnerable and we all survived. However we were given no advice or anything just told to stay at home. The people that were hospitalised were the same, nobody would go near them until they were struggling to breathe and then at that point, 3 weeks in, doctors decided they would treat them. There must be something you can do at home to help treat covid, you don’t stop hearing about politicians and doctors raving on about too many people in hospital but absolutely nothing is done in the 2-3 weeks prior to hospitalisation that you are positive for covid.

Im not having any more vaccines for this. A good friend of mine had an allergic reaction or something to her first jab and she was in hospital for a week, she’s a 28 year old personal trainer at a gym so she really didn’t need to go through that ordeal as she’s extremely unlikely to be hospitalised with covid. I’m relatively very fit and healthy, I get a divers medical twice a year and always pass. Im only 35 and I’ve also now had covid. It’s absurd to expect me to get yet another vaccine.

Also I read somewhere that in the USA the least vaccinated demographic are young black Americans. Apparently we now want to start stigmatising and excluding these people. Again.

 

[Squid Surprise]

The data is quite clear, the vaccines barely work. The company I work for is all double jabbed, (some of us are triple jabbed at this point) but that didn’t stop covid infecting everyone in the building and hospitalising three people in September. We work in a marina and we have to be quite strong to do the job so none of us are particularly vulnerable and we all survived. However we were given no advice or anything just told to stay at home. The people that were hospitalised were the same, nobody would go near them until they were struggling to breathe and then at that point, 3 weeks in, doctors decided they would treat them. There must be something you can do at home to help treat covid, you don’t stop hearing about politicians and doctors raving on about too many people in hospital but absolutely nothing is done in the 2-3 weeks prior to hospitalisation that you are positive for covid.

Im not having any more vaccines for this. A good friend of mine had an allergic reaction or something to her first jab and she was in hospital for a week, she’s a 28 year old personal trainer at a gym so she really didn’t need to go through that ordeal as she’s extremely unlikely to be hospitalised with covid. I’m relatively very fit and healthy, I get a divers medical twice a year and always pass. Im only 35 and I’ve also now had covid. It’s absurd to expect me to get yet another vaccine.

Also I read somewhere that in the USA the least vaccinated demographic are young black Americans. Apparently we now want to start stigmatising and excluding these people. Again.

What data? Please show some empirical data that says they don’t work…. The real data says they do… that’s why every nation is trying to get their citizens vaccinated…

And despite data from your company - imagine if none of your company had been vaccinated… you’d probably have far more hospitalized - or dead.

As for the demographic of black men being the least likely to be vaccinated… wonder why? Maybe because they are the demographic most abused by the “system” and are therefore least likely to put their faith in the government…

Most of the time, they’d be right… just not this time.

 

[Sausagemeat]

What data? Please show some empirical data that says they don’t work…. The real data says they do… that’s why every nation is trying to get their citizens vaccinated…

And despite data from your company - imagine if none of your company had been vaccinated… you’d probably have far more hospitalized - or dead.

As for the demographic of black men being the least likely to be vaccinated… wonder why? Maybe because they are the demographic most abused by the “system” and are therefore least likely to put their faith in the government…

Most of the time, they’d be right… just not this time.

What data? Are you blind? The UK is 90% vaccinated yet we have over 100,000 new cases a day with hospitalisations on the rise! You have to be literally in a cave in the middle of nowhere to believe the vaccine works! Maybe in my job if we had not been vaccinated some of us would have died. we are all under 65 so it is still factually extremely unlikely. Doctors are saying we will need 1-2 jabs a year to stay on top of this and I dont consent to that, I didn’t mind 2 jabs and a booster once but its a bit ridiculous at this point, especially after having the virus and it really wasn’t a big deal.

Your last point actually disgusted me. You don’t know better than anyone because they have black skin. And people with black skin are not by default victims of the government. “They” are not wrong, a vaccine is a personal choice that you apparently dont respect, apparently you think you know whats best for everyone’s body. But mate, you really dont. What makes you trust the US government so much anyway? The same government that constantly goes to war against poor Middle Eastern states and fails leaving trails of dead bodes? What gives them credibility on this? Fauci? Mr “I am science”? Please..

Personally im more concerned about restrictions, vaccine mandates/passports etc than I am about covid these days. I’ve had covid, it was mild but the lockdowns and restrictions destroyed my livelihood and its still not recovered. Up until 2020 I was visiting Thailand for 4-9 months of the year (depending) to work. I used to get to go all across south east Asia, Egypt for work. But ive been doing a “temporary” role since April 2020 and im fed up with it, I want my life back now, how many years do I have to lose for a virus that over 99% of people survive? We have to live with COVID and thats without yearly vaccines.

 

[RudyBob]

I'm skipping it. Can't stand the ear piece microphone setups

 

[Squid Surprise]

What data? Are you blind? The UK is 90% vaccinated yet we have over 100,000 new cases a day with hospitalisations on the rise! You have to be literally in a cave in the middle of nowhere to believe the vaccine works! Maybe in my job if we had not been vaccinated some of us would have died. we are all under 65 so it is still factually extremely unlikely. Doctors are saying we will need 1-2 jabs a year to stay on top of this and I dont consent to that, I didn’t mind 2 jabs and a booster once but its a bit ridiculous at this point, especially after having the virus and it really wasn’t a big deal.

Your last point actually disgusted me. You don’t know better than anyone because they have black skin. And people with black skin are not by default victims of the government. “They” are not wrong, a vaccine is a personal choice that you apparently dont respect, apparently you think you know whats best for everyone’s body. But mate, you really dont. What makes you trust the US government so much anyway? The same government that constantly goes to war against poor Middle Eastern states and fails leaving trails of dead bodes? What gives them credibility on this? Fauci? Mr “I am science”? Please..

Personally im more concerned about restrictions, vaccine mandates/passports etc than I am about covid these days. I’ve had covid, it was mild but the lockdowns and restrictions destroyed my livelihood and its still not recovered. Up until 2020 I was visiting Thailand for 4-9 months of the year (depending) to work. I used to get to go all across south east Asia, Egypt for work. But ive been doing a “temporary” role since April 2020 and im fed up with it, I want my life back now, how many years do I have to lose for a virus that over 99% of people survive? We have to live with COVID and thats without yearly vaccines.

So you clearly don’t understand how vaccines work.... or how pandemics do... if cases are going up, it’s not because the vaccines aren’t working - it’s because the disease is quite contagious (hence the label “pandemic”)... if you check the data, you’ll see that those who are unvaccinated are far more likely to require hospitalization and/or die....

As for black people being the least likely to be vaccinated... YOU brought that point up - not me... I merely gave you a possible explanation...

I’m Canadian by the way... the thing is, it’s not that I trust the US government - or the UK one, Canadian, etc... I trust empirical data and the scientific community. You can look up peer-reviewed studies from anywhere in the world to see that vaccines work...

I understand that you are “tired of covid”. We all are... but it’s kind of like a caveman hiding in a cave from a lion. After a few hours, you get tired of being stuck in the cave - but the lion is still out there, and even hungrier. Do you leave the cave? Or do you wait until your cave companions can make a few weapons that give you a good chance to kill or drive away the lion?

 

[Sausagemeat]

So you clearly don’t understand how vaccines work.... or how pandemics do... if cases are going up, it’s not because the vaccines aren’t working - it’s because the disease is quite contagious (hence the label “pandemic”)... if you check the data, you’ll see that those who are unvaccinated are far more likely to require hospitalization and/or die....

As for black people being the least likely to be vaccinated... YOU brought that point up - not me... I merely gave you a possible explanation...

I’m Canadian by the way... the thing is, it’s not that I trust the US government - or the UK one, Canadian, etc... I trust empirical data and the scientific community. You can look up peer-reviewed studies from anywhere in the world to see that vaccines work...

I understand that you are “tired of covid”. We all are... but it’s kind of like a caveman hiding in a cave from a lion. After a few hours, you get tired of being stuck in the cave - but the lion is still out there, and even hungrier. Do you leave the cave? Or do you wait until your cave companions can make a few weapons that give you a good chance to kill or drive away the lion?

Actually it appears to be you who does not understand how vaccines work. If you check the data you will see that the booster vaccination offers about 10 weeks of protection. It was even in the news today;

COVID-19: Omicron up to 70% less likely to lead to hospital admission than Delta but effectiveness of booster jabs waning for some, says UKHSA

People are 50 to 70% less likely to be admitted to hospital after becoming infected with Omicron rather than Delta, according to early analysis.

news.sky.com

So sure, they work for 10 weeks. So whats that , 4 to 5 boosters a year? You know that isnt realistic for even the richest of nations. If the vaccine was a one off that would be great but its a very different story if we have to keep topping it up and im not up for that.

Also your caveman analogy is poor, the lion is never going to go away and its also currently free to wonder into this cave and bite anyone, jabbed or not. Its also an extremely harmless lion to the vast majority of human beings including myself (I should know, it already bit me!). The fact is 2 years in a cave is far worse for the vast majority of peoples physical and mental health than covid will ever be. The longer we wait in there the worse we get and the lion will still just be sat there waiting.

I left the cave a little while ago and life has been absolutely fine. You can wait in there for as long as you want, I wont condemn you. But please, concern yourself less with my medical choices and behaviour, you dont understand whats going on, emotions are obviously clouding your judgements and I am getting to the point where destroying my life to protect the feelings of others is not on.

 

[sreams]

if you live in a nation that has had plentiful mRNA vaccines available for months, I have no sympathy for anyone unvaxxed who gets hospitalized... they had their chance...

Which is a tiny tiny fraction of the unvaccinated. And an absolutely miniscule percentage of the healthy (no underlying conditions) unvaccinated.

And then there's those previously infected, who have been exposed to the entire virus (not just the spike protein), and who have much more robust and long-lasting immunity than those whose immunity comes solely from vaccination.

And of course... now we have Omicron, which is pretty much harmless for nearly everyone. We are at the endemic phase now, so cancelling events and ostracizing people no longer really serves a purpose apart from delaying the real herd immunity that will come from allowing these weaker strains to run their course.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

How long are we going to live in fear? Omicron is much more virulent but far less lethal then previous strains, the majority of deaths are still occurring from older strains, and even then any death graph from a sufficiently vaccinated country shows deaths flatlined at a tiny fraction of cases, just like any other disease. Even the unvaccinated are doing much better with omicron, and the immunity from omicron is better then any vaccine, per the CDC (and the african doctor who found omicron). South africa, where the variant was first found, isnt locked down at all, and the hospitals aren't full either, despite not having a high vax rate. Non locked down states havent collapsed despite all the doom and gloom.

At some point we have to stop being scared. It's not a scary unknown now, we know how to treat it, and the hospitals are not overwhelmed (any more then they were pre covid, but that's another issue entirely).

It's a shame to see companies turn tail and run, again, but I guess with the chip shortages and other ongoing tomfoolery nothing they show will actually be that interesting anyway.

 

[Squid Surprise]

And then there's those previously infected, who have been exposed to the entire virus (not just the spike protein), and who have much more robust and long-lasting immunity than those whose immunity comes solely from vaccination.

Since when? We don't know that for sure yet...

And of course... now we have Omicron, which is pretty much harmless for nearly everyone. We are at the endemic phase now, so cancelling events and ostracizing people no longer really serves a purpose apart from delaying the real herd immunity that will come from allowing these weaker strains to run their course.

Really? Prove that it's harmless! What data do you have to support that?
Omicron, so far, has seemed less severe... but... that can easily be attributed to the fact that most nations being infected with it have populations that have either been previously infected with a different variant and/or are mostly vaccinated.

This only proves that vaccines are working!

As for those saying "Covid is mostly harmless, so why should I be concerned"... please try to understand how a pandemic works. The disease might leave YOU unharmed (but there's no guarantee of that!), but you can pass it on to others - and those people might not be so fortunate.

Your governments are asking you not to be selfish, think of EVERYONE, get vaccinated and try not to attend mass indoor gatherings which will spread the virus even faster.

This isn't rocket science people...

 

[scavengerspc]

The data is quite clear, the vaccines barely work.

Then maybe you should stop getting your data from comic books.
92% of all infections are not vaccinated. It's that simple.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Actually it appears to be you who does not understand how vaccines work. If you check the data you will see that the booster vaccination offers about 10 weeks of protection. It was even in the news today;

COVID-19: Omicron up to 70% less likely to lead to hospital admission than Delta but effectiveness of booster jabs waning for some, says UKHSA

People are 50 to 70% less likely to be admitted to hospital after becoming infected with Omicron rather than Delta, according to early analysis.

news.sky.com

So sure, they work for 10 weeks. So whats that , 4 to 5 boosters a year? You know that isnt realistic for even the richest of nations. If the vaccine was a one off that would be great but its a very different story if we have to keep topping it up and im not up for that.

Did you even read your article?
Here's a crucial sentence from it
However, the results are largely based on people under the age of 40, who currently have the highest case rates of Omicron.

The article goes on to say that they simply don't have enough data to draw any conclusions yet - to decide it's "harmless" at this point would be completely insane.

As for the boosters not being effective after 10 weeks... maybe read a bit more...
It shows that 10 weeks after the booster the effect in preventing symptomatic disease dropped by 15 to 25%.

So instead of 90-95% effectiveness, we're looking at 65-85%... that's still pretty good... and certainly better than NOTHING...

 

[scavengerspc]

And of course... now we have Omicron, which is pretty much harmless for nearly everyone.

You are clearly out of your range here but I will make this simple.
Omicron has greatly reduced symptoms and severity. But its still COVID-19, which is a known killer. If we dont hold it off it will mutate again, and God knows what we will be looking at the next time.

We arent trying to stop the sniffles. We are trying to stop what may come next.

 

[pcnthuziast]

Covid wiping humanity off the face of the earth would make mother earth very happy. Too bad it's far too weak a virus. Would be nice if it could mutate into something with the cojones to get the job done.

 

[VitalyT]

Then maybe you should stop getting your data from comic books.
92% of all infections are not vaccinated. It's that simple.

In Ireland, it was about 3 weeks ago when the officials told us that at this point 2/3 of all new cases were people who were fully vaccinated. Today, it is even more than that, about 3/4 of all cases include fully-vaccinated people. So there you have it, official data, not from comic books. The vaccine is quite useless, and while some of them do help, they all quickly lose their potency, and after 90 days they have zero effect.

 

[VitalyT]

Covid wiping humanity off the face of the earth would make mother earth very happy. Too bad it's far too weak a virus. Would be nice if it could mutate into something with the cojones to get the job done.

Sounds like you must be in a hurry to get "wiped out". May your wish be granted, but I wouldn't speak for other people, if I were you

 

[Squid Surprise]

In Ireland, it was about 3 weeks ago when the officials told us that at this point 2/3 of all new cases were people who were fully vaccinated. Today, it is even more than that, about 3/4 of all cases include fully-vaccinated people. So there you have it, official data, not from comic books.

And what's the percentage of people who are vaccinated? In Ireland, over 18 people double (or triple) vaccination % is over 80%... and over 90% have received at least 1 dose...

So OBVIOUSLY the majority of cases will be in those vaccinated... there simply aren't enough unvaccinated people to get the same amount infected... This is true in every country that has a high % of vaccination... it's simple math.

BUT... the data shows, in every country, that those who are vaccinated are FAR less likely to have serious symptoms, require hospitalization or die...

Hmmm.... maybe vaccination is a good idea?

 

[pcnthuziast]

Sounds like you must be in a hurry to get "wiped out". May your wish be granted, but I wouldn't speak for other people, if I were you

We will never have physical proximity. You are fortunate.

 

[VitalyT]

We will never have physical proximity. You are fortunate.

That must be it, thanks for letting us know, Dr Death.

 

[Hexic]

In Ireland, it was about 3 weeks ago when the officials told us that at this point 2/3 of all new cases were people who were fully vaccinated. Today, it is even more than that, about 3/4 of all cases include fully-vaccinated people. So there you have it, official data, not from comic books. The vaccine is quite useless, and while some of them do help, they all quickly lose their potency, and after 90 days they have zero effect.

The vaccine is far from quite useless - it’s quite the opposite. The same government sources will confirm that. If enough individuals are vaccinated, the natural percentage of individuals who may have *new* cases will naturally reflect the new count number.. because remember, those who get the standard flu shot every year still have a chance of contracting the flu.

Just because the majority of new cases may reside in the vaccinated (which isn’t the case, btw) is quite expected due to the raw probability of infection. However, noting the severity- much like the common flu is the important difference.

The ‘risk’ if you will of having this vaccine set far, far outweighs the risk of catching COVID-19 and the potential side affects and/or dying, regardless of your age. It’s always been a numbers game with vaccines, you just have to be willing to commit to science and not political speculation.

If you don’t trust the CDC, WHO, or any world authority who legitimately want to save lives - there isn’t much more to preach other than hopefully statistics may hopefully be on your side.