The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 482 (982)

Dr. Fauci has given what is probably his last White House COVID briefing, expressing optimism that we will not be seeing a winter COVID surge. He said that between infections and vaccinations, people have "enough community protection that we're not going to see a repeat of what we saw last year at this time." He did urge Americans to get the appropriate booster. The White House response coordinator also stressed the importance of boosters noting, "Nothing I have seen in the subvariants makes me believe that we can't manage our way through it effectively, especially if people step up and get their vaccine." Only 35 million Americans have so far gotten the latest booster; the government purchased enough doses for almost five times as many people. There are some concerns at the federal level about the XBB subvariant; so far, though, XBB has led to jumps in cases but not hospitalizations. 

A Japanese brokerage firm estimates that 49 cities or one-third of China's population and two-fifths of the economic output are under partial or complete lockdowns. This is a sharp increase from last week. The Chinese population has little immunity, having had very few infections and very few vaccinations. Only one-third of Chinese citizens aged 60 or older have never gotten a booster.

COVID misinformation is still out there. A representative from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security noted that getting vaccines made is one thing, and that vaccines don't matter unless "a missing social behavioral piece" is addressed. The estimate is that five to 30 percent of unvaccinated Americans have been influenced by COVID misinformation. Misinformation, especially in social media, is usually issued by a right-wing group or personality, making our current political divide even more deadly. I wish I had a solution, but I don't. I'd love to hear ideas on the subject.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. When I am not preparing or consuming food, I plan to enjoy family time. In other words, there will be no post here tomorrow. See you on Friday!