The View from the Hermitage, Day 447

Not much to report since I had no time this afternoon to look for anything. It was the last day of early voting and we had pretty much a steady stream of people in ones, twos, or threes. Everyone who wanted to vote got to vote, and that means fewer voters on Tuesday when, at my precinct, we're crowded into an instructional double-wide (aka a trailer) since school will still be in session. 

Anyway, Italy gave a record 600,000 vaccine doses on Friday bringing their total doses to over 37 million. They're second in the EU in terms of vaccinations, behind Germany and ahead of France and Spain. They are increasing the number of vaccination centers from 1,500 at the start of March to 2,666 now. Another 800 or so enters will open in the coming weeks. 

A 20-year-old in line to get vaccinated in England said his reason was that clubs might be reopening in three weeks. He said he has clubbing plans for about five days in a row, making up for the last 18 months. He evidently has forgotten that you are not fully vaccinated until two weeks after your second shot. As for reopening clubs, when they reopened in Thailand, there had been no single confirmed case of local transmission for several months. Thailand had recorded fewer than 5,000 cases total through November, but on one day in May recorded 5,800. Covid is laying bare the class differences, too. The rich are going abroad to get vaccinated and, should they get sick, convalesce at expensive hotels. The poor must wait for cots at free government field hospitals. Isolation is made difficult by the small houses for large or extended families. One man reported having isolated by living in his car.

I expect to write a longer post tomorrow since I'll have more time to go through the various sites I check each day. It will be hot as balls (an expression Son #2 uses), so staying inside will be better than being out, at least once the sun is up in all its glory.