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Maybe kids should also be responsible for taking care of their alcoholic and drug addicted elders who refuse to take care of themselves. Because there is a way the elders can protect themselves - it's called vaccination!Quote:
Originally Posted by bae
Our 2 neighbors across the street have recently recovered from Covid. Husband is 58 and wife is 70. She was sicker than him and in the hospital for a few days, but they are both doing OK now. I think they are vaccinated, but I'm not sure. We like them and they like us, although we are not close, but we are careful to avoid any discussion of politics because we are not on the same page at all. I found out today that another neighbor, whom we really don't know at all, just died of Covid at age 37. He was a correctional officer and was certainly not obese, although I know nothing about his medical history.
It’s undoubtedly true that at least some kids drive their parents to drink.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
I've known and read of people who have had breakthrough infections, but I've not know or heard of anyone who for sure had both shots plus the booster.
But the adults have to be responsible. There were definitely times I thought a drink would help, but I decided against it because I knew if I started I might not want to stop.Quote:
Originally Posted by jp1
According to a study in Colorado vaccinated but not boosted people are 3.3 times more likely to wind up in the hospital with covid and 2.4 times less likely to test positive. And boosted people are 9.7 times less likely to test positive than completely unvaxxed people.
https://coloradosun.com/2021/12/07/c...pitalizations/
The bigger gap is between unvaccinated and vaccinated. But let's keep hogging the doses so variants keep cropping up around the world. Because it's not like one of those variants will evolve to evade our vaccines completely, and leave us in worse shape than if we'd shared, right? I mean we've got it all figured out, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by jp1
Bar, if you want to live with your parents and daughter you can do so but most people enjoy their own domain. Past generation had no choice.
Since I posted, I've read that the 37 YO corrections officer was in good health, worked out regularly, had no pre-existing conditions, but was not vaccinated. His family wanted this info made known in hopes it will encourage others to get vaccinated. He leaves a 6 YO child behind.
In 35 states there was an increase in the 7-day average number of new cases, following Thanksgiving.
I think this was primarily due to family get-togethers for Turkey Day. Christmas festivities this year will bring more people together indoors.
I don't mind passing on Xmas and New Year's gatherings this year. Let there be more eggnog for everybody else. Maybe next year, if we are lucky.
In this neck of the woods now there is good snow cover for XC skiing or snowshoeing. Instead of sitting around waiting for the time we all sing "Auld Lang Syne", we could go out in the sparking snow and make tracks!
When I was younger, I wore a CD player with headphones and listened to Chopin Mazurkas while skiing, and I would stop on hilltops to listen to the wind sighing in the needles of red pine trees.
Now, in my riper years, maybe Morten Lauridsen!
I check the NYT daily hotspot updates sort of like the map you posted earlier dado. The NE seems to be the new hot spots and the west and south seem to be better. The hospital crunch here is better. I used to hike and bike with some form of earbuds or headphones, but any more I like the wind, birds, and silence. I'm undecided on Christmas events so far, but large gatherings with travellers from elsewhere that I don't know well are out. The shots and booster has given me a little more confidence and all of my small famiily and social circle are up to date on shots.
I'm deciding about holiday events. One is with 3 couples, all vaccinated but out and about often, the other is a family brunch, all vaccinated EXCEPT one family with 4 kids...host told them they had to have a covid test before they could come. I'm hoping they just skip it. They are lovely people, just unvaccinated so if they are there we will stay a shorter time and keep our distance.. The last event is an overnight at my sister's. All vaccinated. Not too much outside interaction that I know of. It's giving me pause, but I think I'll do all 3. I am vaccinated and boosted.
I’m going to be in north FL cave country this weekend through just after Christmas. The weather is good and appears it will stay that way. The group I’m going to be part of have always had evenings around the fire pit and that predates covid by many years. Last year they had the potluck Christmas dinner outside. I’m not particularly worried. There could be a few unvaxxed people but we’ll be outside.
outside is good!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd
Here's an article talking about changing the focus on covid-19 response rather than keeping the same approach we had pre-vaccine.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/as...d=winp1taskbar
A note I just received today from my county Public Health Officer:
Quote:
Just to be clear. This is the quiet before the storm. Be wise and prudent and don't go out to eat, don't travel for the holidays, love the ones you are with now and have been with all along. January will be the hardest time in my lifetime. I am 70 now and lived through easy times from a historical perspective. My time in the 'uniformed services' was on Navajo in the Public Health Service. But these will be hard times. Two years in we think we have suffered, and many have but the coming wave will penetrate deeply into our society. The vaccinated will largely get bad colds and yet will be infectious and the disease will spread more quickly than every and get to the entire population.
If you are not vaccinated and are higher risk you could easily die. Our hospitals are already at or past maximum occupancy, locally running over 100% occupancy more than under. The critical element that is missing are not rooms, beds or supplies but rather personnel. We are short on highly trained people and that is a shortage that can not be imagined away or magically fixed with more money or changes in policy. We will hit a place where we move to 'crisis standards of care'-- which means some people will get care and others will not. Healthcare providers will have to choose between those with COVID and require intubation and those with heart attacks and need immediate surgery.
This is coming at us quickly but sort of in slow motion. Here is some advice:
Do not travel for the holidays. Spend time with those you love at home that you have already been spending time with.
Do not eat out, it seems safe but this disease will sweep through our communities quickly and the fact has not changed that people are most infectious in the 48 hours BEFORE they develop symptoms.
Be prepared to take care of yourself. Buy a pulse oximeter now, give them for Christmas presents, if you run below 94 call your doctor if you are below 90 call EMS.
Something as old fashioned as a humidifier, the old fashioned things we used when kids had coughs when they were little, will reduce the rate of pneumonia in kids and adults. In the winter when we heat our homes it dries the air out inside (yes even when it is raining outside) and the moisture in the air keep you lungs and upper airways able to mobilize and cough out the junk that otherwise clogs up your lungs. Ask an otolaryngologist if you don't believe me.
Please be kind. Especially if you are fairly sure you know the Truth and feel obligated to share your insights with others or if you are angry about not getting what you think you need or want. The healthcare folks..... they are exhausted. I see my own staff in tears fairly often these days they have been working hard, exposed to real risk to them (and their families) for 2 YEARS now, and they are literally exhausted. They are going to be a little cranky themselves at some point so be patient with them, they are still showing up and honestly they are even more 'over it' than you could even imagine.
Over the next two weeks we are going to go up a hill that will seem to go on forever. This is the beginning, not the end of the hard part. You are tired of it all, so is everyone else. We want to be over and for things to go back to normal. That is not going to happen until we get over the next 6 weeks. Stop pretending it is over. Stop the parties, the dinners out, the travel... just stop it, now.
If we don't we are going to be in a world of hurt. In San Juan we still have not had any deaths in the county, we have half the infection rates of the second lowest county in the US. We are going to have deaths and our infection rates are going to go up dramatically. It is not about the quality of the public health response this bug is really bad. Less severe perhaps for those immunized we may just get 'a bad cold' but the immune compromised and the elders and most of all the unimmunized, they will be at that time in life when life could end, yes permanently. And they are parents that may not be there to take care of their children, grand parents that may not see the next Christmas, children than may not be in class in 2022. So damn it get vaccinated, wear a mask when you are out of the house (an N95 or KN 95 as they are no longer in short supply - finally!) If you wear cloth one a paper one should be under it.
This will sound odd but Merry Christmas! Going through a pandemic is a disaster but we can get to the other side together and with our humanity and caring intact. We can learn from this what really matters (and it is each other). My mother's sign that hung in our kitchen growing up still hangs in mine. "The most important things in life.... aren't things."
Thank you, bae. What a poignant and necessary reminder.
I agree with ALL of it, especially "Please be kind."
Months before the government told us the initial virus from Wuhan was in the US it was already community spreading on both coasts. Similarly, omicron was here before it was detected and acknowledged, brought from the old world - some say southern Africa, but earlier cases were found in the Netherlands and it almost certainly was in the UK as well.
If you're one if those who travelled to and from the UK earlier this year despite the chance that this or another variant could hitch a ride with you, no problem. You already got your travel and family gatherings in, so now you can sit back and scold the little people who don't have your jet set lifestyle for doing the same. After all, rules are only for little people. And be sure to take your mask off at the press conferences where you scold other people so you will look better on TV.
Shade. 0 points.
At this point, nearly 2 years in, people will do what they will do. Going to restaurants may be something you think you need, seeing people really is a need. No mention of things like home covid tests, which maybe is a good idea before small gatherings (huge parties really probably are a very bad idea), of course they are hard to get and expensive because 'Merica. Jet set, I bet a lot of people have plans to get on planes to see people over the holidays, so the jet set is a huge set. A lot but not all of the hospital overwhelm is probably the unvaccinated, I don't know how much longer one can expect people who have got all their covid vaxes, to keep making up for those deadbeats.
I dunno, I would give her a point or two on that.Quote:
Originally Posted by bae
I didn’t get on a plane, didn’t rub elbows with people in an airport, didn’t attend indoor parties with friends beyond 1 time, or didnt go to a super spreader Rolling Stones concert this year. I have the funds and the time to do all of it. I didn’t know this summer and fall was our only window of opportunity, and now we have to hunker down. I didn’t get that memo.
The thing about Jeppy is that there’s a tiny grain of truth in many of her posts, while greatly exaggerated and always “out there “. But that’s how these damn conspiracy things get started.
That said, this communication from a county public health officer displays intense emotion. I’m sorry he is so beaten down by this virus. I’ve said it before here often that I do feel sorry for the healthcare workers who are working in this environment, It’s very difficult and I’m sure lives are being diminished and lost because of problems with capacity in our healthcare system.
I attended our local theater's Holiday musical presentation this week. Photo ID, proof of vaccination and masks. They had a security guard walking through the audience to make sure all the masks were on. It was a sell out crowd and I was slightly uncormfortable but wanted to see some friends at least once in person before Christmas. Until the results of Holiday crowds and any omicron risk is known I'm going back to very small gatherings of vaccinated people and extra precautions in public spaces indoors. But probably not the stay at home isolation of earlier times. Infection rates and any hospital crunches are down here for now after going through a concerning wave a few weeks ago and no outbreaks of the new variant, at least that they know of.
It's conceivable local health authorities may over emphasize risk just to get some of the laggards to take things seriously, but the news I'm seeing is saying to get ready for a new wave.
My county set a new all time record for 7 day covid death average yesterday. Yay us!
School is out. Wonder if we will really go back on the 4th? All of my students will have had time to get double vaxxed +2 weeks and many of the teens were getting boosted.
The health officer's directive sounds just like common sense to me to deal with today's situation in that geographical location wisely trying to protect and advise its residents.
Everyone who does not live in a cave will be exposed to covid. It is just a matter of time. We need to learn to live with it not cower in fear year after year. By all means take whatever measures make you feel good, just don't tell me what to do.
I really feel sorry for the man that wrote that letter. Omicron is extremely contagious but it appears to be mild and it may even be attaching to the common cold. In a way this could be good news if it wasn’t any more deadly then a cold.
I don't know that it is mild, but maybe if you are triple vaxed or equivalent, it will just be like a flu. I suppose the only good thing about it being so contagious is wave will be over soon enough though (beginning of Feb or March?)
This is the update on do it at home covid tests: local Walgreens out, CVS had, limit of one test packet per person with two tests in a packet, they cost over $26 per packet with the sales tax (oh yes there is state sales tax on covid test, fun fun. Who knows if insurance reimburses the sales tax). FWIW I don't at all think I have covid, I just say if I'm going to see older people inside maybe I should (though they are intimidating so we'll see) ... so I got one test packet, as that's all I'm allowed. Like as if there was a limit of one condom per person to prevent the spread of STDS (and a condom cost $27) :~)
I don't cower in fear. I take universal precautions. You do you. And if it makes you feel superior, please, by all means keep correcting my spelling and grammar. I find it amusing. Pro Tip: Make your corrections in red.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
A doctor from South Africa was on tv and they were filming a half empty hospital. He said previously it was over capacity with Delta. Now tons of people have omicron but didn’t need medical care. That’s encouraging if it continues to be true.
I am always suspicious of info coming out of Africa or India. They manipulate information and have been shown to outright lie when the facts do not support their position. However, it does seem that the new variant of the virus is potentially less virulent. However, still appears as dangerous to those with underlying conditions and the unvaccinated.
ps: I have a sinus infection type cold for over a week and would not want anything else. This is bad enough.
I would be suspicious of China or Russia, but not the democracies in India or South Africa. I give major kudos to South Africa for warning the world about omicron. In response Fauci imposed travel restrictions on them which he did not lift even after it came out that omicron was discovered in the Netherlands before it was discovered in South Africa. Even with South Africa over its omicron peak the loathsome Fauci and Biden have kept those restrictions in place while Biden lifted restrictions on foreign nationals traveling to the US from hard hit European countries. It's racism pure and simple.Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetana3
Same here. No "cowering in fear," just living my life pretty happily and taking reasonable precautions.Quote:
Originally Posted by boss mare
Discretion is the better part of valor.
Living one's life happily is definitely not taking the same level of precaution as in spring 2020. But we are supposed to avoid all gatherings again etc.. Mind you that I got the booster in part because there was a gathering of 8 at a restaurant I didn't want to miss. So I'm a bad bad girl but ..
By the way though I don't necessarily buy the omicron is mild thing. Maybe it is at least for the vaccinated, but they repeatedly lie to us to preserve xmas celebrations and shopping (well really they only care about the buying things). Who? THEY. THEY. You know. Ok, ok, my actual beefs had particulars, this time last year governor Newsom, didn't shut down while the wave grew and grew because xmas shopping season I highly suspect. The wave became scary beyond all measure, they only shut things down after xmas shopping. Hospitals became overwhelmed, people died unnecessarily. But xmas shopping. So now I think that's all anyone in authority really cares about. The business of America is consumerism. And they will say it's mild until the day after xmas or so, when woops, this thing is NOT MILD. Oopsie ... (And then I had to hold my nose to keep Newsom lest complete lunatics take over the asylum, sigh, talk about someone I did not want to vote "for")
I don't know anyone who is "cowering in fear," though probably some should be.
I see plenty "cowering in fear". They seem to be afraid that there are nanobots in vaccines, that there's a world-wide conspiracy about covid, that this is all Another Scheme By The Government to rule them with an iron first, that sort of thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
Preserving Xmas shopping - somewhat, but it doesn't hold a candle to preserving pharma profits. Why else can't the patents created with massive taxpayer subsidies be released to the rest of the world to save lives? Why instead the push for boosters we were told just a couple months ago are not needed unless one is immunocompromised? Why the push for boosters that may not even work on omicron?
Pharma profits....
OK, how profitable is the pharma industry, compared to other common sectors? Where does this show up, in their bottom line? Is it reflected in dividends, or ...? Like, is pharma the above-everything-else investment sector of choice? If so, is capital seeking out these above-the-norm returns?
Interested people want to know...
Our governor has proposed eliminating the term booster, that it should just be a part of the three shot regime to be fully vaccinated.
Will all the childhood boosters for things like measles, mumps and rubella be renamed too in order to be politically correct?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogar
You know, the 69 different doses of vaccines excluding covid that are required by the time a child reaches age 18. Or the 50 doses required by age 6.
Do you think the recent issues that led to J&J being unrecommended in the US are a fluke? Or could perhaps the skyrocketing numbers of autoimmune disorders be related to the proliferation of shots?
Don't ask the government, the universities, the scientific journals, the medical institutions, or the pharmaceutical companies if you want an objective answer. It reminds me of a joke I heard about Rhode Island - the church, the government, and the mob there are all one and the same.