Coronavirus

[Morgan]

Glad it went well. I have been concerned for people standing in line and really- this team as the exception, many do not have the computer connectivity necessary to get signed up easily, though perhaps eventually.
I get my second Pfizer shot tomorrow and plan to use a "Grumpy Day" whether I need it, or not.

[studentforever]

Well I am the dregs when it comes to vaccinations. I got my letter at the latest possible time not to 'breach' Nicola's promise. I have a slot in 2 weeks time. When I last looked at the calendar Feb had 28 days this year so how the 16th is before the middle of the month doesn't make mathematical sense. It wouldn't be so bad but Scotland is so far ahead that they are starting on the younger age cohort next week!! Still, I should be getting it even if I seem to be the last in the village in my cohort and I suspect the younger cohort live in Edinburgh (seat of Scottish Government and Nicola's seat!!). Everyone I've met so far seems to find that the worst is a slightly sore arm and feeling a bit lethargic for a couple of days. Hope I eventually follow the trend.

[AvastMH]

Well I am the dregs when it comes to vaccinations. I got my letter at the latest possible time not to 'breach' Nicola's promise. I have a slot in 2 weeks time. When I last looked at the calendar Feb had 28 days this year so how the 16th is before the middle of the month doesn't make mathematical sense. It wouldn't be so bad but Scotland is so far ahead that they are starting on the younger age cohort next week!! Still, I should be getting it even if I seem to be the last in the village in my cohort and I suspect the younger cohort live in Edinburgh (seat of Scottish Government and Nicola's seat!!). Everyone I've met so far seems to find that the worst is a slightly sore arm and feeling a bit lethargic for a couple of days. Hope I eventually follow the trend.

I don't blame you for being cynical about Nicola's organisation I bet they just say 'the middle' was the 'middle third' of the month or something like that.

[Michael]

You're all ahead of me. Nothing but vague promises and a sliding window that's wide enough to accommodate a truck. I.e. I should get a vaccine sometime.

Just for fun we watched the movie Contagion last night. It was eerily very prophetic:

• Confusion at the start about what was happening
• Denial about the source
• Reluctance to take bold action at the start (don't panic people, consider the market etc)
• Conspiracy theories about the W.H.O and U.S. C.D.C.
• Internet blogger advocating homeopathic cures
• Fighting over the limited supplies of the above
• Panic buying and hoarding of supplies
• Some people taking precautions, others aggressively not
• Emergence of more infections variants
• Hospitals and other services collapsing under the strain
• Mass graves, a hospital set up in an armory
• Doctors and nurses dying, lack of PPE
• Black market and hijacking of vaccines

Other than the fact that their virus was much more infectious and more deadly, 27 million dead versus 2 million for the Corona virus, the main difference was in the vaccine rollout. (It wasn't clear if the 27 million was worldwide or just in the U.S. I think two million is the current worldwide death toll.) They had a lottery based on your birthday: i.e. if you were born on March 10, go get your vaccine. And, of course, all the actions and reactions by people were more extreme that what we've seen during this pandemic. I.e. what were a few instances in the real world were widespread and more exaggerated in the movie. I found it very interesting that it came out ten years ago and, other than the exaggerated responses by all in the movie, it did foretell many of the issues people had to confront in this past year.

We sort of had a mental checklist as we watched the movie: Yup, seen that. Yup, that happened in New York. Oh yeah, a hospital in California was setting up an ICU in their parking garage. I really gotta try injecting bleach, but I did get my 50 rolls of toilet paper, even if I had to knock that little old lady down.

[studentforever]

It isn't the time I'm getting the jag which upsets me it's the constant trend of politicians changing their minds, massaging the figures, delaying the release of inconvenient data and then blaming the rest of the population while they and their cronies bend the rules. Yes, I have made a mistake. I had my mask in my pocket but I saw a friend just inside the supermarket who I hadn't seen for ages. We had checked up on mutual acquaintances when I realised my mask was still in my pocket! Hasty retrieval and fogged up specs.

There is a list of groups within the population in order of vaccine priority. This is drawn up by independent committee JCVI to give best reduction in mortality. I should be in group 3. Many of the locals being vaccinated ahead of me are in group 4 and Nicola claims to be starting group 5 before I will actually get my jab. I live on the edge of an urban area near to Glasgow Airport - not exactly the same as out in the highlands up a single track road. I feel as if I am being devalued and taken for an idiot who can't understand basic data. The best of all is that there isn't anywhere you can ask what is going on. The Health Board organises it - your GP has no input for anyone not housebound or under 80. The website has no contact info. You only get contact numbers when you get your letter!! If you get missed you have to find someone locally to give you the number fron their letter. There is no excuse for getting the ages wrong - your NHS id can be decoded to give your date of birth.

I could go on about political spats, back tracks, evasions etc for pages. My general description is ' Couldn't organise a booze up in a brewery'. Tho only one who seems reasonably competent is the import who organised the vaccine procurement, unlike the import who organised our so called 'world beating' test and trace who was a complete disaster. I feel better for getting some of that off my chest!!!

[Michael]

I'm with you on all those points. They keep saying only 2-3% of cases are from travellers coming into the country, but we already have the UK and South African variants in at least three provinces, and they are spreading locally. They don't seem to understand that the 3% viruses that came in with travellers will soon be roaring through the population. B. C. won't close the provincial borders because:

• It's not legal (although the Atlantic provinces are doing it and have been doing it for about a year)
• There are too many roads (most of them, 16, are on the B.C./ U.S. border where there are already customs and immigration people) and the states in Australia seem to be able to have police on every road crossing a border. There are very few roads between B.C. and Alberta because of the limited number of passes in the Rockies, and there are only two roads between B.C. and the Yukon.

There are only four ferry terminals on Vancouver Island, but they won't stop people from coming here. They recommend non-essential travel, and most people follow the suggestions. But the rules should be made for the ones that think those rules don't apply to them. If you want to come to B.C., go into a hotel quarantine for 14 days, as in Australia. If you want to come to Vancouver Island, go into a hotel quarantine for 14 days. If you agree to that, I suppose your travel was essential.

Had they done things like that a year ago, life here would be as normal as it is in New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, Vietnam and etc.

In the meantime, we carry on and hope for the best.

[Randi]

I have had nice messages from my supermarket pharmacy and my HMO saying that they will update me as soon as they have some information.
There seem to be temporary vaccination sites springing up here and there, but they are not so easy to find and they fill up very fast.

[studentforever]

That is one thing I will say for the NHS, if the system works then they will contact you. Because we have a policy of not wasting a dose then if they find that they have spare doses at the end of the day then they can find an arm to stick them in. A friend of mine with 'health conditions' went for her jab and since she lived very close by was offered a spare dose for her husband if she could get him there for 5pm. They also have a policy of not selling to the private providers at the moment, which the licensed producers have agreed to, so you can't buy yourself protection either.

[AvastMH]

I bet you think this is a calming picture of a cream tea to cheer us up in the face of political idiocy.
I was thinking more of throwing the loaded scones at the naughty people who let us down and especially those who don't allow you to contact them.
Either way - enjoy!

[Hanibal94]

Joan: Glad to hear you got it, and haven't had serious side effects!

Rosemary: Sorry to hear about your troubles! Gotta admit, it sounds like the general situation in Britain is pretty bad, with Brexit and everything.

Here in Germany, the situation seems to be getting better, as infection rates have been slowly but steadily dropping for a while.
The vaccine rollout has been rather slow, however, and I just saw an article stating that scientists have discovered a "combo mutant": A couple viruses of the variant B1.1.7 (the one from Britain) had the same mutation as the Brazil/South Africa variants!
That is not good at all, as it could lead to a variant that infects people more easily AND is more resistant to vaccines!
It's not yet clear if this variant will appear in the wild enough to become dominant - the scientists saw it in 11 of 200.000 viruses - but it's still not a nice thing to think about.

[AvastMH]

It's not yet clear if this variant will appear in the wild enough to become dominant - the scientists saw it in 11 of 200.000 viruses - but it's still not a nice thing to think about.

No it's bad to think about....I've crossed all my fingers, but there's not quite enough room in my slippers to cross my toes. They are crossed in spirit.

[Randi]

Joan: Eat the scones and drink the tea. Leave the dirty dishes for the idiots. (Optionally, tie them up with the table cloth.)

Chris: Yes, with such a huge number of cases, there will indeed be a lot of mutations, and a mutation that helps it spread will take over. Last I heard, the faster spreading mutations were supposed to become the dominant ones here in March

[AvastMH]

Joan: Eat the scones and drink the tea. Leave the dirty dishes for the idiots. (Optionally, tie them up with the table cloth.)

Ah - The Third Option. I'll cover all possibilities - they can do the washing up and I'll then tie them up in the teacloth.

[Randi]

Alaska Marine Highway System Updates Travel Protocols.
New Federal mask mandate applies to ferries and terminal facilities

[ggordon]

Washington state is in Phase 1 of vaccinations, but it seems to change every few days as to who is in Phase 1. It turns out I slipped into Phase 1 just long enough to get the vaccine and a few days later was back out. I am guessing that even though I am no longer in Phase 1 I will still be able to get the second dose even though I am no longer eligible to get vaccinated.

The state initially set the age limit at 70 for phase one. Then the federal government put out a guideline that everyone over age 65 should be given immediate eligibility. The state then lowered the age to 65, which made me eligible. However, the clinics were so overwhelmed by the number of people eligible relative to the available supply that they have now raised the age to 75.

So far the clinic has not cancelled my appointment to receive the second dose.

[Michael]

I'm just glad these people aren't in charge of Old Weather!!!

[studentforever]

Most of ours studied politics at Uni so tend to be proud of 'never understanding maths' and they hadn't reached statistics or probablilty theory when they opted out. They are also pre-disposed to please everyone who could possibly vote for them and cope with the fallout when they can't deliver using lots of hand waving and bluster. Following the science seems to mean, I find a person with a science degree who will tell me what I want to hear. Most of the politicians gave up science as well so are unable to judge the quality of the scientific argument either. Maggie was unusual - she had a degree in chemistry.

[studentforever]

You couldn't make it up!!!
On Monday 1st I got a letter in a white envelope telling me that my jab was to be on 16 Freb.

This morning, I got in from my early morning shop, checked the mail and behold a BLUE envelope with a different appointment, no reference to the other one. So, I phoned the number on the letter And took 3 goes to find the right number to press for my particular problem (it had a very long introductory message). Eventually got through to the right person who informed me brightly that the appointment for the 16th had been cancelled. NOT BY ME I replied. So thank heavens, I am driving and was getting myself down to the centre anyway. If I had been one of the elderly patients who was relying on family to take time off work to drive them down it would have been much more difficult, even more so if I was a confused elderly person who didn't tell the family till much nearer the time.

[AvastMH]

Shocking!! I'm so glad that you were able to put them straight on the cancellation idea. It's no laughing matter though. As you rightly point out there are other people who are older and less able to get around who would be floored by that happening to them.
I'm glad that you can get along - and even more excited that February now has 32 days in it to celebrate Feb 16th being the middle of the month

[Randi]

How is Alaska leading the nation in vaccinating residents? With boats, ferries, planes and snowmobiles.