The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 109 (609)

Two-thirds of all new covid infections in the world are happening in Europe. It is the only region in the world where covid cases and deaths are steadily rising. According to WHO, European cases rose seven percent and deaths rose 10 percent over the past week. Dutch towns canceled the arrival of Sinterklaas that would otherwise have been celebrated this weekend. Germany may still cancel its famed Christmas markets. The most likely factors contributing to Europe's status include a low vaccination rate, waning immunity from early vaccinations, growing complacency over masks and distancing, and relaxation of mitigation restrictions. WHO's regional director for Europe notes, "The message has always been: do it all. Vaccines are doing what was promised: preventing severe forms of the disease, and especially mortality. But they are our most powerful asset only if used alongside preventive measures." How bad are things, really? "We've returned to the dark days of the pandemic," according to an Italian doctor. I don't know if the country of Russia is considered solely in Europe or split between Europe and Asia, but it is now the world leader in covid deaths for the first time since the start of the pandemic. 

Three snow leopards at the Children's Zoo in Lincoln, Nebraska have died of covid. They tested positive a month ago. Some Sumatran tigers also tested positive, but they have presumably recovered. The range of animals that get and die from the coronavirus is a bit unnerving. 

Ivermectin and bleach have company in the coronavirus's collection of strange medicines. You can supposedly removed the effects of vaccination via a bath containing baking soda, epsom salts, and borax. It won't remove the vaccine's effects but it won't kill you either, though borax is considered "potentially caustic and harmful." Then there is the practice of "cupping." This has been done for reasons other than counteracting coronavirus vaccines. Some athletes say it can relieve post-workout soreness by increasing blood flow to the "cupped" areas. You hold a jar upside-down over a candle or heat source then place it on your skin (or you have someone else do this to you because I sure as heck can't imagine doing it to myself) so that the air in the jar can cool in to your flesh. It leaves a red circle the size of the cup or jar's mouth and resembling the imprint from a tentacle of an octopus. (I say this having seen the hickey a giant Pacific octopus left on Son #2's arm during a behind-the-scenes visit at the Vancouver Aquarium.)

New York State is opening 10 of its covid mass vaccination sites to children ages five through 11. They hope to expand to include the other three sites eventually. I wonder, though, if kids will be freaked out by the sheer size and "busyness" of a mass site. Most kids are probably used to getting shots in a smaller, less overwhelming location such as a doctor's office, clinic, or drugstore. If it gets the shots into kids' arms,  though, that's what really matters. New York City is setting up clinics in over 200 of its public schools, and would like to take half-day vaccine clinics to each of over 1,000 schools. 

Speaking of schools, school nurses are being put on the front lines facing vaccine-hesitant or pandemic-doubting parents. They have gotten threatened when ordering quarantines for groups of students such as sports teams when one member tests positive. They're just doing their job, enforcing health regulations they didn't set and can't change. 

Finally, New Mexico has joined California and Colorado in expanding booster availability to all adults ages 18 and older. Boosters can be obtained two months after receiving a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or six months after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. I imagine that boosters will eventually be available for all adults nationwide, something that will not at all please the WHO.