The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 230 (730)

Beware the Ides of March ... or perhaps the Ideas of March? This is the final post of this blog's second year. Tomorrow is two years from my initial post on Monday, March 16, 2020. Did I think then I'd still be doing this every day two years later? It never crossed my mind how long I might be doing this. If it had, I might have gotten discouraged early on and quit. It has not been all pandemic all the time; many of the 2020 posts concerned the presidential election as well as the pandemic. That split attention has been absent of late. If I were to start posting about the war in Ukraine--the other big thing that weighs on my mind these days--it would not be pretty. I cry when I get angry, and just don't get me started on it now. 

So, back to the pandemic. I found a great term in reference to vaccines for children: the "Goldilocks dose." It's strong enough to offer lasting protection but not so strong that it causes worrisome side effects such as fevers. Even children, no, especially children should be able to grasp the meaning of that.

Even with the pandemic, there are people who never seem to have gotten covid even in two full years. Throwing out that they may have had an asymptomatic case and never known it, their lack of infection might be due to being vigilant about vaccines, masking, and distancing. They may also have remained totally isolated which is to say more isolated than I've kept myself. That would be pretty darn isolated. Though many cases are caught within one's own household, household transmission is not a given. Living and breathing the same air together does not guarantee transmission of any germ. Finally, just as some people seem preternaturally unlucky, some people are just plain lucky.

Covid cases are surging in the Asia-Pacific region. The region is seeing some of the world's steepest spikes. South Korea and Vietnam see new records daily in terms of number of cases. China has locked down 37 million people as Hong Kong and Taiwan also try a "zero covid" approach. The Chinese lockdowns will further disrupt the global supply chain. Still, there are some signs of a return to something resembling normal. Australia has reopened to vaccinated tourists and is about to lift its two-year ban on cruise ships. Some Australian states are loosening masking requirements and no longer tracing contacts. Japan is considering removing the quarantine requirements for foreign business people and students. Elsewhere, the UK is ending its remaining international travel restrictions this week. One aim is to offer "greater freedom in time for Easter." Iceland and Ireland are also dropping border requirements. 

Here at home, the number of people who "think Covid is little or no risk" is up, and interest in masking is down. In a recent poll, 64 percent of respondents want all restrictions lifted, though three in four do say that they'd put masks back on if infections increased. Health-wise, 83 percent think that their physical health is good, and 84 percent think that their emotional well-being is good. These are the highest responses for both questions since May 2020.

Finally--and this ties to the situation in Ukraine--Pfizer is stopping all clinical trials going on in Russia and donating all the profits from activities in Russia to Ukraine. While I understand Western aversion to what would amount to World War III should boots go to ground or planes go to airspace, I am sickened by what the Russians are doing and fear that no case for war crimes will ever be made. Even with case and conviction, I don't think the responsible person(s) will ever be made to pay. As for Ukraine's comedian turned president, I like something I read on Axios this morning: When life gives you shit, shine! He certainly has. Slava Ukraini!