Closing in on Day 400, I should decide if that merits one of the two bottles of champagne we have on hand. In some respects, it feels as if the last year never happened. At least it had none of the things that normally mark a year. No vacations. No weddings to attend, though possibly a funeral or two. No graduation ceremonies. No moving into a dorm for a first year at university.
I had my second shot of Pfizer this morning. Going through the maze of switchbacks reminded me of why I like having TSA Pre-Check when I travel. It even felt like Disney World in a way. Most people had their noses to their phones. I was the only one I saw there with a book (Children of the Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings). As I was wondering if behind one of the masks there might be somebody I knew, there appeared someone I thought I might know. She was trying to figure out if I were me as I tried to figure out if she were who I thought she might be. We chatted briefly until our progress in opposite directions on the switchbacks pulled us apart.
Now I have two weeks in which to decide just what I might be comfortable doing other than medical and hair appointments and working early voting (where there will be plenty of mitigation measures). The Professor has suggested going out to dinner; I countered that I would only go if we could eat outside. As for travel, other than visiting Son #2 and DiL=, not gonna do it. Going back out into the world will not be easy. I have enjoyed being free of the social pressures that being social brings. One day at a time, I guess, one day at a time.
After yesterday's thoughts on school shootings, I must note that the Knoxville, Tennessee district attorney says what happened yesterday was not a "school shooting." Rather, it was an "officer-involved shooting at a school." While part of me wants to say, "Picky, picky, picky," the circumstances do differ from the usual school shooting in that students and/or teachers were not intended targets. Knoxville has been having serious issues with gangs, and it is likely this was gang-related.
Half of the adults in the US are expected to have gotten at least one dose of vaccine by the end of this week. Those getting vaccinated this week, though, will not be getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The CDC has recommended its use be paused while the issue of blood clots is considered. Six women between the ages of 18 and 48 developed blood clotting problems. One woman died, and another is in intensive care. US officials have said that one point of interest is whether technology shared by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson could be linked to clotting. That technology, an adenovirus platform, uses a second, weakened cold virus to deliver genetic information from the coronavirus to the immune system to spur the body to make antibodies. AstraZeneca uses a virus derived from chimpanzees, while Johnson & Johnson uses a human virus.
Issues with the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines could negatively impact vaccinating people in developing countries. AstraZeneca is being produced for free and is easy to transport and store at room temperature. Johnson & Johnson is a single dose cutting costs and making it easier to use in countries with shaky health systems. I hope they will still be able to use these two vaccines in the developing world, because I can imagine big problems with the temperature requirements of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Sweden currently has the highest new covid cases per person in Europe, at 625 new infections per one million people, Sweden also has more covid patients in ICU than at any time since the first wave a year ago. The European country with the case rate closest to Sweden's is Poland, with 521 new infections per one million people. Sweden's neighbors have much lower rates. Norway is 132, Denmark is 111, and Finland is 65, all new cases per one million people. Surveys show that Swedes have been paying less attention to recommendations in recent weeks.
The Austrian health minister has resigned, citing persistent health problems caused by overwork. In the past month, he has had two episodes of sudden fatigue as well as high blood pressure and tinnitus. He became health minister a short time before the pandemic reared its ugly head, a heck of a bad time to take on that job.
Remember the Ever Given, the container ship stuck in the Suez Canal for a week? It's still there, in the lake at the middle of the canal. Egypt says that the Ever Given cannot leave Egyptian waters until its owners pay $900 million compensation for the six-day blockage of the canal. I wonder how long that will take.
2 comments:
Post-vaccination: I'm not comfortable eating inside at a restaurant anytime this year, until the CDC declares herd immunity, but we've been discussing travel/staying at a motel for later this summer/later in the year. An issue if we fly may be cost of a rental car (shortages are known, as some rental agencies cut their stock last year when no one was traveling, and now there are problems with some manufacturers getting needed chips/parts), but we'd weight expense vs inconvenience or driving where we'd like to go.
The Austrian health minister has symptoms that sound suspiciously like post-Covid problems...
I will be off into the world just as soon as it is back to something that feels like normal because we have been restricted for so long. We're still a month away from being able to eat indoors at a restaurant so that option isn't even an option. It's still a bit nippy for outdoor dining to have much attraction for me, it was frosty again last night.
Sweden is interesting because they had a radically different approach to everyone else but it looks to have not worked out so well in the long term.
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