The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 90 (590)

I'm posting later than usual. I did not feel like rushing this morning trying to research and write anything before I left at noonish for an afternoon of early voting. Four hours and almost 400 voters. Thank the gods for take-out because I was in no mood to come home and try to make something. Ribs and sides from a Latin restaurant were better than anything I could have come up with.

It appears that while I was working voting the FDA approved Pfizer shots for children ages five through 11. There was an email newsletter from the local health district this morning saying that they would start vaccinating children in a week or two. They were asking parents to complete a survey saying at what setting they would prefer to get their child vaccinated--school, doctor's office, clinic, etc.

More information is emerging about the Delta variant. While it was definitely more contagious than the previous forms, it was evidently not as more severe as had originally been feared. In late 2020 and early 2021, about 1.2 percent of positive cases resulted in death. The same percent during the Delta wave was 1.2. Delta may be a bit more severe, though, because hospitalizations and death rates have held steady even as vaccination rates have risen.

The average daily covid case number in the US is now 57 percent lower than the peak on September 1, with cases declining in every region. A CDC model predicts an additional 20 percent drop over the next three weeks. Covid is still the leading cause of death for older age groups. The main reason is that many older people are not vaccinated. According to the CDC, in late August, 24 of every 10,000 unvaccinated Americans ages 65 and older were hospitalized with covid symptoms. For those in the same age group who had been vaccinated, only 1.5 of every 10,000 people were hospitalized. 

The US remains one of the least vaccinated developed countries worldwide. The US also remains polarized on the vaccination issue. The percentage of adults without college degrees who are vaccinated is 67; 82 percent of college graduates are vaccinated. The vaccination rate for self-identified Republicans is 58 percent compared with 90 percent for self-identified Democrats. The New York Times attributes much of the polarization to a "triumph of misinformation." 

Right now, Europe is the only region in the world reporting increases in covid cases. One wonders what the coming winter will be like. Vaccination rates vary greatly across Europe. In some eastern areas, only 24 percent of people have been vaccinated. The vaccination rate among EU nations is 74.6 percent, while Belgium has an 85 percent rate. The CDC just moved Ukraine to its level-four-don't-go-there category.