The View from the Hermitage, Day 436

Half of US adults are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Including people under the age of 18 drops the percent to 39. People under 24 are especially lagging in vaccinations. They may be at lower risk of dying from covid but could still face long-term effects. At least 10,000 vaccinated people were infected with covid through the end of April, but the CDC no longer investigates mild cases. They only look into cases that result in hospitalization or death. 

How much do you trust people to be honest about their vaccination status? As expected, that varies. Eighty-eight percent of people surveyed would trust the responses of family or friends, while 71 percent would trust the responses of coworkers. For people one meets but who are outside the immediate social circle, the trust percentage drops to 38. Thirty-one percent of people surveyed would trust the vaccine-resistant. (I have to interject here that I would not at all trust someone I knew to be vaccine-resistant but who said they had been vaccinated. I'd need to see their CDC vaccination card.) People dining indoors or at a bar or nightclub and people attending outdoor sporting events of concerts would be trusted by 25 percent of people surveyed, virtually identical to the 24 percent  who would trust people at an airport. To be a good data scientist, I should report that there was a 3.2 percent margin of error.

In something of a call center reversal, desperate patients in India are turning to doctors in the US. Many of the connections are made through the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. The US doctors cannot write prescriptions but can offer guidance on how to use steroids or other medications Indian patients can get on their own in India. They can also offer guidance on how to interpret symptoms and lab results. Nineteen countries including Nepal, Iran, and South Africa are most at risk of running out of oxygen. Nepal, for example, now needs more than 100 times as much oxygen as it did in March. The US State Department's Level 4 travel warning for Japan--"Do not travel to Japan due to covid-19"--is somewhat moot. Right now, Japan has closed its borders to all but citizens and residents. The unknown "they" say that this warning will not complicate preparation for the Olympics that most of Japan wants nothing to do with. 

Finally, today is the first anniversary of the death of George Floyd. Has there been much change, real or imagined? How many officer-involved shootings have happened in the 12 months since Mr. Floyd died? Do Black lives matter more now than they did a year ago? I don't think such questions can easily be answered, especially out of context. I'm not sure what would have to happen to convince me.

Not a long post, but life is getting in the way. The new prescriptions glasses I got last week have never felt right, beyond the normal period of time getting used to new lenses. I'll see another optometrist on Friday to see whether their take on the prescription agrees with the first optometrist. There were no surprises at today's physical. I shall be looking into the shingles vaccine and have appointments in July for a bone density scan and a pneumonia vaccination. Growing older can be so inconvenient.