The average daily rate of US vaccinations is down almost 50 percent from the April peak. The lowest per capita vaccine rates can be found in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Wyoming, Idaho, Georgia, and Tennessee. That the states named are on the list does not surprise me; I would have predicted most of them if asked. Concern is growing now that summer could bring clusters of new outbreaks. New York and Maryland are joining Ohio in holding vaccine lotteries as incentives for vaccinations. The vaccination rate in Ohio has gone up since the lottery incentive was added, so I expect it will work elsewhere as well. And getting vaccinated may help people get dates; several dating apps have added a vaccinated badge to profiles. The White House thinks this is a good idea, by the way, though what goes up on a profile is there on an honor system.
Remember how yoga in Alabama schools might turn kids into Hindus? Yoga has now been approved and Alabama conservatives are not at all happy. They did manage to get the use of the words "namaste" and "om" banned. I can only smile and shake my head slowly in response to this last note. Will the words by themselves turn kids into Hindus?
India now has recorded over 26 million cases. The daily numbers have gone down slightly, though. It seems that covid in India now comes with an increased chance of getting mucormycosis otherwise known as "black fungus." This is a rare, fatal infection. Over 7,200 people in India have been reported as having it, and 219 have died. The increased risk of contracting the condition could be due to an overuse of steroids to treat the covid. Diabetes may also play a role; India has the second highest rate of diabetes in the world. So far, five Indian states have declared epidemics of mucormycosis, and more are expected to follow.
The International Olympic Committee vice president in charge of preparations has said that the Olympics will go on even if Tokyo is under a state of emergency noting, "Provided that we can protect the Japanese public, the most important thing is giving athletes a chance to compete." Could someone explain to me, please, how bringing in thousands of people from all around the world will not endanger the Japanese public?
WHO says that covid deaths could be double or triple the "official" reported numbers. The current official number is 3.4 million, while WHO says it could be six to eight million from the virus or related causes. WHO estimates that the 1.8 official death reports from 2020 could really have been three million. Just another thing about the novel coronavirus that we will never know for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment