The FDA has officially authorized both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for children down to six months in age. Pfizer's regimen is three shots; Moderna's, two. These will by no means end the pandemic, but will help more people return to something resembling normal. Parents who have been working from home so as not to send an unvaccinated toddler to day care may now be more comfortable with the idea of day care. I have only ever encountered one parent who was not vaccinating their children. When I helped administer a cooperative preschool, we had one family affiliated with Christian Science. Instead of a doctor's statement that their child had been vaccinated, they provided a signed form on which they agreed to keep their child away from school should any childhood virus start to appear.
The Omicron variant may actually pose less risk for long covid than the Delta variant. Between December 2021 and February 2022, 4.5 percent of long covid cases were in people who had Omicron compared with 10.8 percent for people who had Delta. In this study, one in 23 people who caught covid went on to have covid symptoms for more than four weeks. Note: The study relied on self-reported data.
Some evidence is emerging that vaccines tailored to fight the BA.1 variant of Omicron may not be very effective against the BA.2 variant and its successors. Can we come up with modifications to vaccines that keep pace with the developing variants? I'd like to think that we can, but I'm not that optimistic.
Children in Japan no longer must follow mokushoku at school. The term refers to "silent eating." Children were not permitted to talk during meal time, a measure put in place to help stop the spread of covid. Some school districts were worried that no talking was affecting the social and emotional development of children as young as six years. Desks must still face forward and children are asked to speak quietly. Children will continue to wear masks for the pre-meal communal chorus of Itadakimasu, a message of thanks for their meal. Parents are still divided on the mask issue. Some say that removing the ban is premature. While children are no longer masked during meals, they are masked for every other school activity with the exception of physical education. They do not have to wear masks when walking to or from schools.
The day after tomorrow is Father's Day. I will not be giving The Professor a gift, at his request. I did offer to make him a special dessert or dish. He has requested blueberry muffins, so blueberry muffins will serve as a gift. Don't tell him, but I would have made them anyway.
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