The View from the Hermitage, Day 355

Coronavirus vaccines are all over the news right now. Australia had been hoping to score doses from Europe, but that's not sitting well with some European countries. Italy has blocked the export of 250,000 AstraZeneca doses, and France may do the same. I wonder if Australia will join the number of developing countries that currently have no access to vaccines. Three countries that won't openly get vaccines are Tanzania, Turkmenistan, and North Korea. Those countries share little or no information with WHO; North Korea has openly said that they have had no cases. Houston, we may have a problem when it comes to future international travel.

Given Australia's travel restrictions, its citizens cannot engage in a practice sweeping the US, vaccine tourism. People are gaming the vaccination system by going to states with looser restrictions on who can get vaccinated when. Some 30,000 people have gone to Ohio. Over 82,000 have been vaccinated in Florida, and that doesn't include part-time residents. It's not vaccine tourism, but I know several people who have driven over an hour to another city in Virginia in order to get vaccinated. The Professor got his first shot here in town last night; he'll get his second, again here in town, in four weeks.

And there are still plenty of people who aren't going to make any effort to get vaccinated. A poll taken on February 26 found that 55 percent of Americans had already been vaccinated or wanted to be vaccinated as soon as possible. The remaining 45 percent were split about evenly as definitely won't get vaccinated and will wait and see before deciding. Another poll found one-third of Americans saying that they will not get vaccinated. Surprisingly, only 92 percent of doctors at the Mayo Clinic have been vaccinated. You would think that all of them would be, right? As a Mayo spokesperson noted, "Doctors are human beings." So much for herd immunity, I guess.  

The San Diego Zoo had eight lowland gorillas test positive for covid early in 2021. As a result, they have given an experimental vaccine to nine other great apes, five bonobos and four orangutans. If approved, the vaccine could also be given to mink, cats, and dogs, the other animals known to contract the virus. 

Dr. Fauci has donated his personal 3D model of the coronavirus to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. He made the donation during a virtual ceremony to present him the Great Americans Medal. In my humble view, he deserves a lot more medals and will probably get some. 

In non-pandemic news....

Dr. Seuss books have taken over the Amazon bestseller list. So far I have been unable to find the one I know we had and the one I think we had. They were not with the many other kids books on one of the bookcases. It is quite possible, perhaps probable, that they are in a box in the garage that has not yet been brought inside. Before we had our basement finished, a lot of books went into garage storage. 

New Zealand has been hit with three more earthquakes. The closest one registered 7.3 on the Richter scale. The other two measured 7.4 and 8.1.

The Economist has released its 2021 Glass Ceiling rankings, comparing countries on their parental leave, political representation, share of women in management and on corporate boards, the number of GMAT exams taken by women, and the cost of child care. Five of the six highest ranked countries were Nordic: Sweden was tops, followed by Iceland, Finland, Norway, France, and Denmark. Canada was 11th on the list. The US scored poorly on parental leave and political representation and landed in 18th place. I was surprised that the cost of child care was not cited as another factor hurting the US.

Finally, and possibly most interesting, the oldest known wild bird in history, a 70-year-old Laysan albatross named Wisdom, has hatched another chick. She was first banded in the year of my birth, 1956. The chick hatched on February 1 at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge where more than one million albatross return to nest each year or, in Wisdom's case, every two years. The father of the chick was Wisdom's long-term mate Akeakamai. Albatross find mates through a dance ritual. They mate for life, only seeking a new mate when their previous one has died. If 70 seems a ripe old age for bearing young, only two animal groups have an extended lifespan after their fertility ends, primates and whales.  

It's Mexican curbside for dinner tonight. Other than getting vaccinated, The Professor has had a most trying week and needs guacamole and a margarita.