The View from the Hermitage, Day 464

I mentioned yesterday doing my six-month check on the resolutions I made for 2021. I called up the relevant post from December 31, 2020, and discovered that among those resolutions was to keep this blog going until I was fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Snap! My second injection was on April 13; the two-week take-effect period ended on April 27. I had no idea I had said I would stop then. So today I've been going back and forth on stopping versus continuing. I would have noticeably more time each day. I might still be reading the array of news sources I've been reading, but I wouldn't be taking notes and thinking about how something from Source A juxtaposes perfectly with something from Source D. I actually have been trying to make time for some other, non-pandemic writing; I'm working on a poem right now. Stepping back from this blog would give me more time for that. The ten or so faithful readers would find themselves with a few more minutes in each day as well. Would they miss reading it? I'd likely miss writing it more ... or would I?

The Delta variant now accounts for 20.6 percent of new US covid cases. Delta is thought to be responsible for a six-fold increase in hospitalizations in Springfield, Missouri. Most new patients are unvaccinated and did not seem to have taken basic precautions. More spikes could be on the way given that the prevalence of Delta continues to double every two weeks. 

If Delta isn't scary enough, we now have the Delta Plus variant, still only a variant of interest but one that could become a variant of concern. Delta Plus was first seen in Europe in March but was not publicized until June 13. So far, Delta Plus is considered highly infectious and may show resistance to monoclonal antibodies cocktail treatments. It may also be able to bypass any immunity provided by both a vaccine and a past infections. Some sources say Delta Plus is cause for worry but not panic. Besides India, Delta Plus cases have been found in the UK, US, Canada, Portugal, Poland, Switzerland, Russia, Turkey, Japan, and Nepal. 

Eight members of the Ugandan Olympic team are in quarantine in Japan after a coach tested positive on arrival despite pre-departure vaccination and testing. One pundit noted that this happened when a team of 100 arrived. How about the rest of the 100,000 or so athletes, staff, journalists, etc. on their way? So why are they still having the Olympics? Can you say, "Money"? The new national stadium cost $15.4 billion. The world television rights cost $4 billion. NBC Universal is paying $1.25 billion for their broadcasting rights. Do you think the IOC wants to pay back over $5 billion? The payments made to national Olympic committees, $549 million, are just a drop in the bucket.

A couple of quick international notes includes that Canada may relax border restrictions before July 21 if their numbers keep going in the right direction. I wonder if we would reciprocate. Indonesia's total cases are now third in Asia after India and Iran and first in Southeast Asia. China could keep their border restrictions in place for another year. Russia just recorded 546 covid-related deaths, the most in one day since February. Fewer than one percent of Africa's people have been even partially vaccinated. Africa is looking more like India every day.

US vaccinations have slowed to a crawl. We're at 65.4 percent of people being partially vaccinated and won't hit the 70 percent POTUS wanted by July 4. Virginia is about to hit 70 percent, though, so hooyah for my state! Some states and countries are offering incentives tied to getting vaccinated. Then there's President Duterte in the Philippines who said, "You choose, covid vaccine or I will have you jailed. ... Don't get me wrong, there is a crisis in this country. I'm just exasperated by Filipinos not heeding the government." 

Interesting fact I learned today: the Speaker of the House of Representatives does not have to be a member of the House though every Speaker has been. XPot was evidently approached about whether he might like to be Speaker should the Republicans regain control of the House in the 2022 election. He did think about it but declined.