More quickies than substance today, but sometimes the quickies are more interesting. The Los Angeles County Sheriff has said not for the first time that he will defy the county order to have staff members all be vaccinated. He says so many deputies would leave that the office could no longer fulfill their obligations.
Covid deaths in Brazil have gone over the 600,000 mark. The fourth health minister since the pandemic began compares mask mandates to birth control, saying, "Why would I pass a law to force people to use condoms? Don't even think of it." Will the death toll continue to rise? That could happen since Rio de Janeiro plans to hold a huge New Year's Eve party on Copacabana Beach.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the world has seen an estimated 76 million extra cases of anxiety and 53 million extra cases of major depressive disorder than would have otherwise been expected. Women and young people appear to be more likely to be affected than men or older people. One reason cited is that the pandemic has in general been harder on women financially.
Russia just set a new daily death record with 968 deaths in one 24-hour period. They also recorded 29,362 new cases in one day. At the same time, Russians are flocking to Serbia to get Western-made vaccines that have been approved by the WHO. The WHO is still reviewing the Sputnik V vaccine in light of issues at a production plant. Russians need WHO-approved vaccines to enter most other countries.
Singapore will be offering quarantine-free travel to vaccinated US travelers. At the same time, though, there were 3,590 new cases in Singapore on Friday, the most ever in one day. All the same, Singapore, I don't think I'll be visiting.
A scientist in the UK warns that high school students there could get herd immunity through infection rather than vaccination, if access to vaccine centers is not increased.
Finally a little bit of depth. Health systems in Colorado and Washington are removing unvaccinated patients from transplant lists. Transplant recipients who catch covid have a 20 to 30 percent fatality rate; the rate for the rest of the population is 1.3 percent. Organ transplant patients who are vaccinated before getting the transplant are 80 percent less likely to get covid. Also, in a new twist, vaccinated patients may also be considered for organs from covid-positive donors. Personally, I don't think I'd like to get an organ from a covid-positive donor. Some people are vaccine hesitant. Count me as transplant hesitant.
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