Coronavirus 2019

@The Old Man posted:

I think there's a slight chance we could fuck this whole thing up. With the country filled with ignoramuses there is no way we're getting to the minimal 70% for herd immunity. The longer this goes the longer time variants have to establish footholds. There is a possibility this could spin up again here, as it is in India, and even to a degree in Oregon and Michigan.

Well, there's always a chance.  But I am not sure I agree that we won't get to 70%.  It is possible, but perhaps unlikely.  Certainly we will get to 70% between vaccinated persons and recovered patients.

So far, the vaccines appear to work pretty well against all variants.  The surges in India, Michigan, Florida, etc. are the result of the variants infecting non-vaccinated people.  There is always the possibility that a variant may come out which completely negates the vaccines, but I haven't heard too many experts express serious concerns about that yet.

Keep the fingers crossed and keep vaccinating as many people as we can, around the globe.

Wonderful article from the NY Times that shows the vaccine process. We are so lucky to be living in the 21st century, though there are those who want to live in the Middle Ages.

How Pfizer Makes Its Covid-19 Vaccine

Well 28 hours after Moderna Shot 2 - and I had few side effects.  Same arm soreness as last time - basically same as a flu shot.  Mild fatigue and headache/foggyness for a few hours that seems do be about finished as I perked up around 2.

Basically - not as productive a day of work as I would have liked but very minor.

A small price to pay for immunity, I think.

As a kid in the 60's, I remember getting vaccines at school for a whole host of diseases. I don't remember it being voluntary, but I do recall at least one girl whose parents were members of some small, strict religious sect, and wouldn't let her be inoculated. Otherwise, I remember it being mandatory. And as a result, no one in my immediate circle developed polio or rubella. Still have my little, round scar from the air-gun injectors, too.  (Of course, those were the days when parents would host chicken pox "parties", too.)

@mneeley490 posted:

As a kid in the 60's, I remember getting vaccines at school for a whole host of diseases. I don't remember it being voluntary, but I do recall at least one girl whose parents were members of some small, strict religious sect, and wouldn't let her be inoculated. Otherwise, I remember it being mandatory. And as a result, no one in my immediate circle developed polio or rubella. Still have my little, round scar from the air-gun injectors, too.  (Of course, those were the days when parents would host chicken pox "parties", too.)

Same thing here. One kid didn't get the shots, he was a Jehovah's Witness if I recall correctly.

@Rothko posted:

A small price to pay for immunity, I think.

i cant' decide if the tingle in my penis is due to the vaccine or the girls just being too rough =P

@g-man posted:

i cant' decide if the tingle in my penis is due to the vaccine or the girls just being too rough =P

So you got vaccinated at a strip club with Paul?

@billhike posted:

So you got vaccinated at a strip club with Paul?

2 fer 1 special

in montreal, best exchange rate in the entire country and the fee is much more enjoyable.

@g-man posted:

i cant' decide if the tingle in my penis is due to the vaccine or the girls just being too rough =P

I really don't have a response to this...

Ontario government announcing every adult should be eligible for their first shot by 3/4 of the way through the month.  Given the anemic start to the rollout of the vaccination campaign, that is truly remarkable. 

@csm posted:

Ontario government announcing every adult should be eligible for their first shot by 3/4 of the way through the month.  Given the anemic start to the rollout of the vaccination campaign, that is truly remarkable.

Can’t imagine the offline wine lineups you guys are going to have when safe to do so.

@billhike posted:

Can’t imagine the offline wine lineups you guys are going to have when safe to do so.

With the way our governments continue to call for new restrictions, I'm afraid this is never going to happen.   Hopefully that's just pandemic fatigue talking.

@billhike posted:

Can’t imagine the offline wine lineups you guys are going to have when safe to do so.

Offlined with 3 others about two weeks ago, we all were vaccinated.  It was glorious.  Was nice to bust out some trophy wines and live it up a bit.

As expected: "Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe
Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy."

From the NY Times

Perhaps a state government, or the federal government, should require people to have immunizations (in the absence of a real medical contraindication or a sincerely held religious belief).

See, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 US 11 (1905)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...son_v._Massachusetts

@irwin posted:

Perhaps a state government, or the federal government, should require people to have immunizations (in the absence of a real medical contraindication or a sincerely held religious belief).

See, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 US 11 (1905)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...son_v._Massachusetts

I don't think government inforcement is needed, nor desirable. Just for private businesses to require vaccination to use them.  Any private businesses that want to protect their employees will require customers to be vaccinated.

@The Old Man posted:

I don't think government inforcement is needed, nor desirable. Just for private businesses to require vaccination to use them.  Any private businesses that want to protect their employees will require customers to be vaccinated.

You could be right......but a fair number of "customers" don't personally appear in the same place as a private business. Like, say, customers who shop online.  And some businesses may not wish to require customers to be vaccinated as this could drive their customers away to competitors.

Some private businesses may require that their own employees be vaccinated.  Then, if an employee quits because he is "hesitant", would such a former employee be entitled to unemployment compensation.

A combination of strategies will be required to get a higher percentage of folks vaccinated.

So after my second shot of pfizer, i suffered 3 days of insomnia.

That was something new.

but good to be vaccinated. 

@g-man posted:

So after my second shot of pfizer, i suffered 3 days of insomnia.

That was something new.

but good to be vaccinated.

Not to make light of your reaction, but I assume you mean three nights.

Our stupid Gov, has now mandated that cities etc cannot enact or enforce mask, social distancing rules 07/01.  Also can't have a vaccination certificate.  Real jerk

@flwino posted:

Our stupid Gov, has now mandated that cities etc cannot enact or enforce mask, social distancing rules 07/01.  Also can't have a vaccination certificate.  Real jerk

For decades I've said (with a touch of hyperbole) Florida is the worst place on earth; I guess I was prescient.

@flwino posted:

Our stupid Gov, has now mandated that cities etc cannot enact or enforce mask, social distancing rules 07/01.  Also can't have a vaccination certificate.  Real jerk

No expert on the Florida State constitution, but can he really mandate what private businesses do?  I realize someone will have to challenge him to know for sure, but that doesn't seem kosher to me. 

First shot of AZ done on thursday. Friday was really rough. 100f fever, body felt like I'd been beaten with a bat. Brushed my teeth in the morning after (2pm shot) and dropped the toothpaste tube because it hurt so much when I squeezed. Fever broke after 38 hours and now five days later a quarter sized circle around the injection site is still tender.

Still pretty glad I got it! My wife has her first Pfizer shot next monday. Looking at things as they are now, talking with a couple of doctors and our biotech analyst who's really plugged in, it looks like we'll get our second shot sometime in July. Probably early-ish.

According to our Governor's website,

“According to official CDC data, 62% of Marylanders 18 and older, and 84.8% of Marylanders 65 and older, have received a COVID-19 vaccine.”

Yesterday I heard a case in my capacity as arbitrator.  The Plaintiff had been injured in a car accident. Before the case was over, he contracted and died from Covid.  58 years old.  He was markedly obese. I don't know about other co-morbidities.

@csm posted:

No expert on the Florida State constitution, but can he really mandate what private businesses do?  I realize someone will have to challenge him to know for sure, but that doesn't seem kosher to me.

He cannot although I am sure he will try.  Once again - government abdication of responsibility and shifting norms onto business and of course only those with conscience and ethics will do so while other simply keep counting their money.

Our best friends in town have a small restaurant that was booming pre-covid and very successful.  They are one of the few in town who followed and exceeded all CDC guidelines they still have reduced seating, they have very limited outdoor seating and no bar seats available (well just 2 on the end) which was a huge part of their business.  Of course, they are owner operators are on site and concerned about their own, their staff who are their friends and their customers many of who are their friends unlike the vast majority of places in town. 

So while the jerks are printing money, the people who care (they are not the only ones in town but representative of a minority) - turn business away, have people fight them over requiring masks and struggle - it is BS

My prediction that the vaccine would become walk-in, no appointment necessary by the end of April was just a few days early.  Looks like many places are now offering same-day appointments.

Florida is really taking first-place in the "head in the sand" category.  We have the highest number of new Covid cases in the country, but our Governor thinks that Covid is over.

@irwin posted:

Not to make light of your reaction, but I assume you mean three nights.

I work nights, and sleep during the day =P  (asia hours in the states)

@g-man posted:

I work nights, and sleep during the day =P  (asia hours in the states)

Oh. Didn't realize that.

Re: Florida, I remember an SNL joke during the 2000 "hanging chad" era, saying, "Good news for California. They're no longer the flakiest state in the union."

@mneeley490 posted:

Re: Florida, I remember an SNL joke during the 2000 "hanging chad" era, saying, "Good news for California. They're no longer the flakiest state in the union."

I worked on the election lawsuits -was just talking about that last week

Pfizer vaccine now approved for kids 12-15, and will likely be approved next month for kids as young as 2. 

A big step in getting all schools, camps, sports open and active.

2 provinces in Canada have stopped offering AstraZeneca as an option for the first shot due to the blood clot risk.  After the federal government has been touting its safety all along. How to manufacture vaccine hesitancy 101.

New guidance from the CDC says that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask, indoors or outdoors, or practice social distancing.

This marks the end of mask wearing.  Vaccinated people will stop wearing masks, and un-vaccinated people will not wear them either.  Businesses and organizations that required mask-wearing are soon going to face calls to drop their mask policies.  Some states have eliminated the mask mandates and others will soon follow.

The vaccinated people will be able to return to normal life with little fear.  The unvaccinated people will continue to go out and infect other unvaccinated people.  And we can all just keep our fingers crossed that a mutation doesn't arise that somehow becomes vaccine-resistant.

@Rothko posted:

New guidance from the CDC says that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask, indoors or outdoors, or practice social distancing.

This marks the end of mask wearing.  Vaccinated people will stop wearing masks, and un-vaccinated people will not wear them either.  Businesses and organizations that required mask-wearing are soon going to face calls to drop their mask policies.  Some states have eliminated the mask mandates and others will soon follow.

The vaccinated people will be able to return to normal life with little fear.  The unvaccinated people will continue to go out and infect other unvaccinated people.  And we can all just keep our fingers crossed that a mutation doesn't arise that somehow becomes vaccine-resistant.

Excellent summary, though I think there will still be places that will demand masks or proof of vaccinations, more the latter than the former.

And good luck to those who refuse to be vaccinated or wear masks - I hope someone keeps track of how many of them are infected in the future, which might persuade some of them to get their heads out of their asses and get the shots.

Meanwhile, the US will soon top 600,000 officially dead from Covid (and many more uncounted).

@bman posted:

And good luck to those who refuse to be vaccinated or wear masks

Fuck those worthless, selfish assholes.

The shame is children will be at risk. Most will have no symptoms but "most" isn't everybody and we don't know about possible long term harm even in those asymptomatic.

We have a book club meeting on Sunday. We have 9 people. All are vaccinated. All are at least 60 yrs old.  The plan is to meet outside if the weather permits, but to go inside if we need to should it rain.  Seems sort of normal to me.  I hope we are not making a mistake.

So explain this:  8 members of the NY Yankee organization have tested positive. All of them had the JNJ shot.  See, https://sports.yahoo.com/yanke...-week-205224275.html

1) Was the vaccine batch adulterated? 2) Did they not really get the vaccine? 3) What is the explanation for this?

@irwin posted:

So explain this:  8 members of the NY Yankee organization have tested positive. All of them had the JNJ shot.  See, https://sports.yahoo.com/yanke...-week-205224275.html

1) Was the vaccine batch adulterated? 2) Did they not really get the vaccine? 3) What is the explanation for this?

J&J has a 74% effective rate. However, I believe it's rate in preventing  serious hospitalization or death is closer to 100%. Statistical anomalies  are to be expected with hundreds of millions of doses. Obviously the close proximity of the players was a factor. One of the expected benefits of the vaccine is to keep people fom dying and out of the hospitals.

The bottom line is your house party is fine but unvaccinated people are going to find that they are going to have to assess the risk of going indoors.  They can spread it amongst themselves and lie in their bed (hospital) or coffin. Not us anymore.

Lastly people with children, who currently can't get the vaccine, are gonna have to make decisions about going places with unmasked people when you can't be sure they  are vaccinated people.