Some 325 days ago when I started this series of blog posts, there were many days--most days even--in which every article on the front page of The Washington Post concerned the novel coronavirus. That didn't seem to happen in the daily local, but the novel coronavirus generally occupied maybe half of the front page. Today, the only front-page mention of the virus in the Post can be found in two teasers of articles inside the front section. One, about the death of Capt. Tom Moore the 100-year-old British vet who walked around his garden and raised $45 million for the UK's National Health Service, mentioned that this was done "early in the pandemic." The other plugged an article about Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. The first mention of the coronavirus in the local paper was on the fourth page. Out-of-sight, out-of-mind?
I'm worried that the existence of the various vaccines is diverting attention from the mitigation measures that would slow the spread and help with the totality of getting hundreds of millions of people hundreds of millions doses of vaccine. I check in on a couple of area listservs, and the reports of which businesses enforce mask-wearing and/or distancing have in large part been replaced by reports of "why can't we get vaccinated now?" or "why are [insert group name here] getting the vaccine before [insert another group name here]?" Maybe it's general impatience, a fed-up feeling that this has gone on for as long as it has. I can be very impatient but am not really feeling that way now. It's going to take a while, folks. It's going to take a while.
In more general coronavirus news, Dr. Fauci is saying that 70 to 85 percent of the US population should be vaccinated before the country can start returning to normal. Yes, I typed that sentence right after an admonition for us to be patient. As long as enough people get vaccinated and the virus doesn't throw an unexpected curve ball, we'll get there. Dr. Fauci is also counseling against hosting or attending Super Bowl parties on Sunday. The Super Bowl could be a super spreader. We usually watch the Super Bowl more for the ads than the game, so it was disappointing to read that some companies traditionally associated with the classic commercials will not be running them this year. It was not disappointing to hear that some of them are using the money they would have spent on ads and air time for coronavirus relief.
People who still decline to accept the seriousness of the coronavirus should perhaps be told of an incident in California's prison system. A covid-19 outbreak at one men's prison led to the transfer of high-risk inmates from that prison to two other prisons that between them had had only one case of covid-19. One month later, those two prisons between them had more than 1,300 cases. The virus is all too real and all too deadly.
There continue to be issues with vaccine availability. Demand from European countries is slowing delivery of vaccines to Canada, possible leading to Canada's ordering from an American company. China says that it will provide 10 million vaccine doses to developing nations, but I don't know how those countries might be chosen. I can't be sure, but I don't think Mr. Biden has said anything specific about how the US might help vaccinate the Third World.
It did not surprise me to read that younger adults and middle-aged people cause the most covid spread.Through mid-August 2020, 75 percent of new infections came from adults aged 20 to 49 with the 35 to 49 year-old subgroup contributing more than the 20 to 34 year-old subgroup. The group dying the most from those transmitted infections? Yes, mostly older people. I remember most of my 20s. I did things then without thinking that I would not do now after thinking twice and twice again. I can't say for sure that I would have been adamant about mask-wearing and social distancing then. There's a certain air of imperviousness in that decade.
It also did not surprise me to hear that Dolly Parton twice declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Xpot. The first time, she said that her husband was ill. The second time, she said that she did not want to travel during the pandemic. I hope conditions change so that she can accept the medal from Mr. Biden. The same with Bill Belichick, who also declined Xpot's invitation.
3 comments:
70-85% vaccinated is wishful thinking, I feel, if all of a certain group who's against everything progressive (~30% of American voters) stay stubborn about it. People don't seem to be as willing to be cooperative as they were in the 60s when polio inoculations were the big thing. As much as social media allow folks to stay in touch with many at once, it's also an easy way to spread falsehoods and worries, as we've seen.
We also mostly watch the Super Bowl for the ads, and I haven't seen much hype about them. I did read that the poet Amanda Gorman will be part of the half-time show.
As for Dolly, if she accepts a medal from Biden people will vilify her for being political about it. Maybe there's another way she can be recognized for her generosity.
My (perceived) imperviousness ended when my first child was born. Having another human being completely dependent on you for its survival really sharpens your perspective on Life, doesn't it?
I think refusers may be bigger than 15% of the population however once they've been sick their antibodies should give them some protection. There was some modelling here in January based on antibody tests that said that 1 in 5 people in England may have had covid. That's 20% with antibodies before vaccination starts. We're still jabbing the groups of people who would be seriously affected should they be ill, once the younger groups start being called I think the take up will start to fall off.
I looked at one of the vaccince calculator for the uk (it estimates when you will be called based on your age and risk factors) and that is using an estimate of 70% takeup. The flu jab for healthcare workers had a 74% take up in 2019/2020 so it looks like Janet's 30% is right on the money.
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