COVID-19/Coronavirus thread

[Tony]

On 4/6/2021 at 3:27 PM, BrianAnderson said:

Amen. 

I don't really read this thread very much to keep my sanity ... but blindly following orders is wild to me. Free will of mind and spirit along with a free market. Rangers and Rangers fans can do what they want. So can every other team. (kind of - still controlled by government). Don't the rangers have socially distanced sections as well? So you're not forced to sit in an area where not comfortable -- that's a choice. Free market will win when given a chance... I was skeptical what the crowd would look like yesterday in Texas ... but from what I can tell, at least for a home opener people want to get back out. If by week 3 crowds are sparse? I'm sure the Rangers will reverse course. 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, BrianAnderson said:

 

It's not a surprise that the US was hit harder... we are a fat nation. Europe was hit harder... not as fat, but still fat ... 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/04/health/obesity-covid-death-rate-intl/index.html -- TEN TIMES HIGHER! TEN TIMES! If we spent even 5% of the money we spent on Covid pushing an obesity narrative we'd be way better off. 68% of American's are overweight! 7 out of 10!!! How many ads and commercials have you seen where they say a mask cuts transmission and improves your chance of living by 98% or whatever the number is .... now i know being fit doesn't stop transmission, but what if they pushed it saying 90% stronger chance you survive? I dunno, i'm a weirdo. I think we're missing the boat here ... we're so focused on this issue that we miss like the top 20 other issues that make our society continuously sick. Thanks for coming to my TED talk haha. I get too worked up about this subject lol - i think it's better to go back to getting worked up about the sox only hah. I'm not anti-safety, and respect all of your opinions and keeping it safe too, just worried about how this all ends (unpayable debts pushed on future generations, inflation, still a sick society, permanent job loss, etc. etc.)

The report found that every country where less than 40% of the population was overweight had a low Covid-19 death rate of no more than 10 people per 100,000.

Vietnam had one of the world's lowest Covid-19 death rates, with 0.04 deaths occurring per 100,000 people. The country's overweight population comes in at 18.3%. Other countries on the low death rate list with similar patterns include Japan, Thailand and South Korea.

But in countries where more than 50% of the population was overweight, the Covid-19 death rate was much higher -- more than 100 per 100,000.

 

 

This is where you lose me. When it comes to COVID, people should be able to do what they want with a mask. Free will. Let people make their own decision, crazy how much money we’ve spent pushing a “narrative”

But when it comes to the choices we eat with food, you want the government to spend more money telling us what to eat? Not to mention all the other contributing elements to obesity (food deserts, high cost of fruit/vegetables compared to wheat/grain)

There is no doubt the US has a obesity problem, and I would agree with you that we should spent more energy talking about the issue and taking steps to fix what I outlined above. But you lose me with your previous post about freedom of will. It seems like you just have a problem with the government telling us to wear masks. 

[StrangeSox]

Good news/bad news day again.

Hospitalizations continue to rise, and younger people are leading the way this time.

[Balta1701]

22 minutes ago, StrangeSox said:

Good news/bad news day again.

Hospitalizations continue to rise, and younger people are leading the way this time.

Interestingly, hospitalizations in young people are occurring at a greater rate in Michigan than they did at the peak of case numbers last fall, so roughly 2x as many hospitalizations of younger people with half the cases. It really does seem like this variant is several times worse for young people.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/05/us/michigan-covid-surge-patients-variants/index.html

[Balta1701]

4 hours ago, BrianAnderson said:

The problem is the glossing over of some instances and focusing on others. Not talking about you specifically. Just overall. I flew on a plane last month and it was packed. Every single seat taken. So much so American was offering $200 to change your flight. That has been going on for how long now? But that is largely ignored by media. Texas has been open for 3 weeks and that part is ignored. Then we latch on (not you, society, media, people who want their narrative to win, etc.) (also i get im probably on the other side of this in the equal and opposite way so i am just as guilty) to events like Opening Day at Texas and say that will be the spreader event. it's almost like people are cheering for this to continue. We've got to the point that the most vulnerable are protected. The rest of society has the choice to resume life or not resume life to a pretty good chance of certainty. 

There will be variants. This is not going away. And maybe I'm a bad person ... but like everything in the world, there are consequences for actions. At this point it's just life IMO. you're going to lose some people, but we've reached the tipping point on the scales where i think we move forward. 

It's not a surprise that the US was hit harder... we are a fat nation. Europe was hit harder... not as fat, but still fat ... 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/04/health/obesity-covid-death-rate-intl/index.html -- TEN TIMES HIGHER! TEN TIMES! If we spent even 5% of the money we spent on Covid pushing an obesity narrative we'd be way better off. 68% of American's are overweight! 7 out of 10!!! How many ads and commercials have you seen where they say a mask cuts transmission and improves your chance of living by 98% or whatever the number is .... now i know being fit doesn't stop transmission, but what if they pushed it saying 90% stronger chance you survive? I dunno, i'm a weirdo. I think we're missing the boat here ... we're so focused on this issue that we miss like the top 20 other issues that make our society continuously sick. Thanks for coming to my TED talk haha. I get too worked up about this subject lol - i think it's better to go back to getting worked up about the sox only hah. I'm not anti-safety, and respect all of your opinions and keeping it safe too, just worried about how this all ends (unpayable debts pushed on future generations, inflation, still a sick society, permanent job loss, etc. etc.)

The report found that every country where less than 40% of the population was overweight had a low Covid-19 death rate of no more than 10 people per 100,000.

Vietnam had one of the world's lowest Covid-19 death rates, with 0.04 deaths occurring per 100,000 people. The country's overweight population comes in at 18.3%. Other countries on the low death rate list with similar patterns include Japan, Thailand and South Korea.

But in countries where more than 50% of the population was overweight, the Covid-19 death rate was much higher -- more than 100 per 100,000.

 

 

First of all - there's a reason I haven't flown in 14 months. You'll have to scroll back 300 pages, but there's posts in here by me saying "Yeah filling up a plane right now is a really bad idea, and no, you really shouldn't fly right now" when people asked. If the standard is that I'm not allowed to comment on one bad idea without commenting on all the others every single time, well that's not particularly effective at anything. That's just a red herring. Both are bad! The right decision was always to come up with a legit plan to beat this thing into submission, and as an outcome put the country in a position where cases can be tracked to their source. But because of the choices of political leaders throughout the last year, that never happened. We even have conflicting data about whether opening schools has been key in outbreaks or not, and that's one of the biggest calls people had to make!

Second, there are only variants because we are allowing this bug to remain in the wild. Variants only occur when there is diversity in the virus. The British B.1.1.7 variant is thought to have originated with a single person in England who got the virus while having a compromised immune system. They held onto the virus for a while and remained contagious since their immune system couldn't fight it off quickly, and then eventually passed on a version with multiple mutations that made it several times easier to transmit and more deadly. This was something like a 1 in 100 million event globally - the right person had to get the right version of the virus at the right time and then still pass it on and start a chain. If you want to avoid variants popping up - having fewer cases and thus less diversity available to the virus is your best defense!

Third, you just highlighted a whole bunch of Asian countries where mask wearing was adopted early and without a fight from the population. In other words, deaths are extremely low in those countries because, compared to the US, cases are extremely low. Vietnam has a population of 96 million and has 2700 known covid cases. The US's population is just over 3x that, and the US has 30,000x or more as many COVID cases. That's a testament not to obesity, that's a bold statement that the US Could have done better and chose not to do so.

Next, no one really knows how many Americans have had this thing, but it's probably something like 1/4 to 1/3 of the population. That killed 600,000 people. COVID deaths in this country over the last 12 months are comparable to the deaths from heart disease, and that's with trillions of dollars spent to contain this thing. And we genuinely don't know the long term consequences of this, but it's entirely possible that a number of people have lost years from their lives and had substantial declines in their quality of life from this thing. Saying "yes we should spend more money on Elder care" or "We should provide better health insurance" - I fully agree with those things, and none of that changes how absolutely awful this bug has been.

Finally, you'll forgive me if saying "There are consequences for actions" doesn't really work with a virus because the consequences are likely not born by you. Irresponsible behavior by a whole lot of people made this year worse, and many of the ones who were irresponsible sloughed off the consequences onto someone else. Some actual responsibility by people last year could have prevented a whole lot of suffering.

[caulfield12]

9 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

First of all - there's a reason I haven't flown in 14 months. You'll have to scroll back 300 pages, but there's posts in here by me saying "Yeah filling up a plane right now is a really bad idea, and no, you really shouldn't fly right now" when people asked. If the standard is that I'm not allowed to comment on one bad idea without commenting on all the others every single time, well that's not particularly effective at anything. That's just a red herring. Both are bad! The right decision was always to come up with a legit plan to beat this thing into submission, and as an outcome put the country in a position where cases can be tracked to their source. But because of the choices of political leaders throughout the last year, that never happened. We even have conflicting data about whether opening schools has been key in outbreaks or not, and that's one of the biggest calls people had to make!

Second, there are only variants because we are allowing this bug to remain in the wild. Variants only occur when there is diversity in the virus. The British B.1.1.7 variant is thought to have originated with a single person in England who got the virus while having a compromised immune system. They held onto the virus for a while and remained contagious since their immune system couldn't fight it off quickly, and then eventually passed on a version with multiple mutations that made it several times easier to transmit and more deadly. This was something like a 1 in 100 million event globally - the right person had to get the right version of the virus at the right time and then still pass it on and start a chain. If you want to avoid variants popping up - having fewer cases and thus less diversity available to the virus is your best defense!

Third, you just highlighted a whole bunch of Asian countries where mask wearing was adopted early and without a fight from the population. In other words, deaths are extremely low in those countries because, compared to the US, cases are extremely low. Vietnam has a population of 96 million and has 2700 known covid cases. The US's population is just over 3x that, and the US has 30,000x or more as many COVID cases. That's a testament not to obesity, that's a bold statement that the US Could have done better and chose not to do so.

Next, no one really knows how many Americans have had this thing, but it's probably something like 1/4 to 1/3 of the population. That killed 600,000 people. COVID deaths in this country over the last 12 months are comparable to the deaths from heart disease, and that's with trillions of dollars spent to contain this thing. And we genuinely don't know the long term consequences of this, but it's entirely possible that a number of people have lost years from their lives and had substantial declines in their quality of life from this thing. Saying "yes we should spend more money on Elder care" or "We should provide better health insurance" - I fully agree with those things, and none of that changes how absolutely awful this bug has been.

Finally, you'll forgive me if saying "There are consequences for actions" doesn't really work with a virus because the consequences are likely not born by you. Irresponsible behavior by a whole lot of people made this year worse, and many of the ones who were irresponsible sloughed off the consequences onto someone else. Some actual responsibility by people last year could have prevented a whole lot of suffering.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/06/health/covid-neurological-psychological-lancet-wellness/index.html
 

Such as this “brain fog” aftereffect. Honestly wonder how many of those calling for “free will” know someone in their family who has been affected or not...despite all the anecdotal evidence about people under 40 requiring lung transplants.  Just look at Moncada and Eduardo Rodriguez, two world class athletes in their primes. 

[StrangeSox]

1 hour ago, Balta1701 said:

Interestingly, hospitalizations in young people are occurring at a greater rate in Michigan than they did at the peak of case numbers last fall, so roughly 2x as many hospitalizations of younger people with half the cases. It really does seem like this variant is several times worse for young people.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/05/us/michigan-covid-surge-patients-variants/index.html

Hospitalizations are up 165%-653% in every single age range including children in Michigan right now.

 

 

 

It's Spanish Flu redux. We'll have to see if the CFR for all of these hospitalizations increase as well, but it's not like hospitalization is a great outcome itself. 

[StrangeSox]

44 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

 

Second, there are only variants because we are allowing this bug to remain in the wild. Variants only occur when there is diversity in the virus. The British B.1.1.7 variant is thought to have originated with a single person in England who got the virus while having a compromised immune system. They held onto the virus for a while and remained contagious since their immune system couldn't fight it off quickly, and then eventually passed on a version with multiple mutations that made it several times easier to transmit and more deadly. This was something like a 1 in 100 million event globally - the right person had to get the right version of the virus at the right time and then still pass it on and start a chain. If you want to avoid variants popping up - having fewer cases and thus less diversity available to the virus is your best defense!

A lot of poorer countries have plans to vaccinate 20% of their population by mid-2023 or so. There's going to be a lot of breeding grounds for new variants for years to come.

 

Enough people have decided that this level of suffering and death is acceptable, though. They'll personally be fine, probably.

[Balta1701]

29 minutes ago, StrangeSox said:

A lot of poorer countries have plans to vaccinate 20% of their population by mid-2023 or so. There's going to be a lot of breeding grounds for new variants for years to come.

 

Enough people have decided that this level of suffering and death is acceptable, though. They'll personally be fine, probably.

Hmph, apparently this is true:

Quote

The contracts the Trump administration signed with the vaccine manufacturers prohibit the U.S. from sharing its surplus doses with the rest of the world. According to contract language Vanity Fair has obtained, the agreements with Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen state: “The Government may not use, or authorize the use of, any products or materials provided under this Project Agreement, unless such use occurs in the United States” or U.S. territories.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/04/why-the-us-still-cant-donate-covid-19-vaccines-to-countries-in-need

[he gone.]

3 hours ago, Tony said:

 

This is where you lose me. When it comes to COVID, people should be able to do what they want with a mask. Free will. Let people make their own decision, crazy how much money we’ve spent pushing a “narrative”

But when it comes to the choices we eat with food, you want the government to spend more money telling us what to eat? Not to mention all the other contributing elements to obesity (food deserts, high cost of fruit/vegetables compared to wheat/grain)

There is no doubt the US has a obesity problem, and I would agree with you that we should spent more energy talking about the issue and taking steps to fix what I outlined above. But you lose me with your previous post about freedom of will. It seems like you just have a problem with the government telling us to wear masks. 

My problem is not much with the government telling us to wear masks, it's the path they take to get there. I think masks are a simple solution that shouldn't be controversial. I just want consistency, clear messaging, and no moving of the goal posts to benefit some, while keeping others shut down. My problem with the general handling of covid is how do you turn it off? how long until you need a passport to go to a sox game? i  think they'll follow suit of yankees/mets.

And people have free will to eat what they will - god knows Americans do. I personally think it's disgusting how people eat, but their freedom to do so. We subsidize the shit out of so much in America and misspend so much money. Imagine just some of that money went into food deserts as you say, or subsidizing fruits, vegetables, etc. Or subsidize and teach people to start their own local businesses centered around health iniatives. 

[Balta1701]

5 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

My problem is not much with the government telling us to wear masks, it's the path they take to get there. I think masks are a simple solution that shouldn't be controversial. I just want consistency, clear messaging, and no moving of the goal posts to benefit some, while keeping others shut down. My problem with the general handling of covid is how do you turn it off? how long until you need a passport to go to a sox game? i  think they'll follow suit of yankees/mets.

And people have free will to eat what they will - god knows Americans do. I personally think it's disgusting how people eat, but their freedom to do so. We subsidize the shit out of so much in America and misspend so much money. Imagine just some of that money went into food deserts as you say, or subsidizing fruits, vegetables, etc. Or subsidize and teach people to start their own local businesses centered around health iniatives. 

Let's just be fully honest - the reason why there has been so much "moving of the goalposts" and "lack of consistency" started at the very top. A year ago today one of the President's top advisors was out saying how they were going to dump hydroxychloroquine doses out onto the states as fast as possible.

And yes, the farm subsidy program is awful and needs dramatic reform. It also does a huge amount of environmental damage.

[CentralChamps21]

4 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

My problem is not much with the government telling us to wear masks, it's the path they take to get there. I think masks are a simple solution that shouldn't be controversial. I just want consistency, clear messaging, and no moving of the goal posts to benefit some, while keeping others shut down. My problem with the general handling of covid is how do you turn it off? how long until you need a passport to go to a sox game? i  think they'll follow suit of yankees/mets.

And people have free will to eat what they will - god knows Americans do. I personally think it's disgusting how people eat, but their freedom to do so. We subsidize the shit out of so much in America and misspend so much money. Imagine just some of that money went into food deserts as you say, or subsidizing fruits, vegetables, etc. Or subsidize and teach people to start their own local businesses centered around health iniatives. 

First of all, no Bears fan should ever use the "moving goal posts" analogy post-Parkey

Secondly, there was no consistency from the beginning because there was a period of time where we didn't know exactly how it spread and how seriously things needed to be locked down and how much masks and distancing worked. By the time the scientists got a good grasp on what needed to be done, people yelling and screaming about lost small business income drowned out the scientists and we've never had anywhere near the level of compliance we've needed to get through this.

[caulfield12]

9 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

My problem is not much with the government telling us to wear masks, it's the path they take to get there. I think masks are a simple solution that shouldn't be controversial. I just want consistency, clear messaging, and no moving of the goal posts to benefit some, while keeping others shut down. My problem with the general handling of covid is how do you turn it off? how long until you need a passport to go to a sox game? i  think they'll follow suit of yankees/mets.

And people have free will to eat what they will - god knows Americans do. I personally think it's disgusting how people eat, but their freedom to do so. We subsidize the shit out of so much in America and misspend so much money. Imagine just some of that money went into food deserts as you say, or subsidizing fruits, vegetables, etc. Or subsidize and teach people to start their own local businesses centered around health iniatives. 

Multiply that subsidy by a factor of 5-10x in China.   Misspending or misallocation of resources into state operated enterprises and unnecessary public infrastructure just to boost GDP growth instead of small and medium sized enterprises.

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, Balta1701 said:

Hmph, apparently this is true:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/04/why-the-us-still-cant-donate-covid-19-vaccines-to-countries-in-need

“President Joe Biden, well on his way to reaching a new goal of vaccinating 200 million Americans by the end of April, is taking initial steps toward helping other nations ramp up shots, including by boosting global manufacturing and appointing a top global health expert who previously advocated for shipping vaccines from the United States' surplus abroad.

Diplomats view the developments as a sign Biden is moving toward sharing some of the hundreds of millions of doses the United States will have left over once every American is vaccinated. But the President remains wary of sending vaccines overseas before people in the United States have access, and administration health experts continue to caution that extra doses may be needed as the virus mutates and the pandemic persists.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/06/politics/vaccine-diplomacy-joe-biden-administration/index.html

[StrangeSox]

About that social distancing and masking

 

 

e: there are about 55 people whose faces you can see in that photo and at least 25 who aren't wearing their mask, not counting the group of four in front who we can generously assume are a family/household unit.

Edited April 9, 2021 by StrangeSox

[caulfield12]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/penn-law-professor-predicts-businesses-will-require-vaccination-proof-140423925.html

[StrangeSox]

 

 

 

[RTC]

On 4/8/2021 at 6:50 AM, Dick Allen said:

Thanks for asking. She is pretty much the same. I took her to a pulmonologist yesterday. She had 8 tests and has to go to the hospital today for 2 more. I think she has had over 20 vials of blood taken the last couple of weeks, and every test comes back normal, except for her elevated white blood cell count. The issue is, if it is the vaccine, (and while in the beginning they were saying it could be, but not really buying it, now I think they are thinking it's really possible), they have no treatment. 

Another issue is she was diagnosed with asthma a little over a year ago. Last fall she had a really bad cough. Her primary thought it was related to the asthma, but they did give her a CT scan in November. She called several times for the results, and never got an answer. We figured no news is good news. When all this started, her primary looked at her records and eventually saw the CT scan,  which she missed earlier, and now they think she may have fungal pneumonia which she would be walking around with for about 5 months since the CT scan. Of course, there doesn't seem to be one test that can give the answer. It's very bizarre. She has top of the line insurance, and gets this type of care. The pulmonologist basically told her that her neurologist blew her off yesterday. I could only imagine what people with shitty or no insurance must get.  

All the best, my friend. 

[The Beast]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/real-world-israeli-data-shows-south-african-variant-better-at-bypassing-vaccine/

Well, that’s not good but hopefully they are working on boosters. I wonder how the other vaccines hold up.

[Balta1701]

5 hours ago, The Beast said:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/real-world-israeli-data-shows-south-african-variant-better-at-bypassing-vaccine/

Well, that’s not good but hopefully they are working on boosters. I wonder how the other vaccines hold up.

Moderna is virtually identical to Pfizer so basically expect it to see a similar result.

We already know J&J is less effective against it since some of their testing was done in South Africa.

[caulfield12]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/11/opinions/voting-for-vaccine-opinion-column-galant/index.html

 

The "hesitant" 30% and their role in achieving herd immunity...interestingly, or not surprisingly, many members of the US military are refusing to get the free shots.

Also, there's a brewing debate in states like Michigan and Minnesota whether the government should redirect more resources and mRNA vaccines in order to "flood" hot zones and tamp them down...or run the risk of letting them spread to other states by maintaining the current "equitable distribution" plan based on population per state.

Bad news on J&J.

Even worse news here in China on vaccines.  Pretty discouraging, if that 50.7% rate is the effectiveness against the deadly variant currently ravaging Brazil.

Edited April 12, 2021 by caulfield12

[greg775]

Can I make a few comments all over the map? Feel free to blast me or scream at me. I haven't posted much in a while and figured some might want to see how I'm feeling about COVID in our world.

-- Best wishes to Dick Allen's wife. I truly am saddened about her problems and wish her well. And wish Dick well in getting her 100 percent healthy.

-- My brother is a nurse in a juvenile detention facility in Chicago. After few to no problems the last many months, suddenly 60 percent of the youngsters in there have COVID now, he said. This is a recent development.

He's had his first shot. I pray he doesn't get COVID and the kids there are safe. He did say of all the infected juveniles none of them have had to go to the hospital or anything. This is in a Chicago suburb.

-- My cousin, 30, drove to Indiana Saturday to get Johnson and Johnson vaccine because he only wanted one shot. He did have a problem. He fainted within five minutes after getting the shot. He fell but some people caught him and he hit his head on a shelf but did not sustain injuries. They gave him juice and water and food and he declined to get checked out via ambulance and is OK. Not trying to stir anything up, but he did faint and the person who administered the shot told him she was going to truly insist rather than suggest people wait 15 minutes before leaving after the vaccine is administered.

-- I was scheduled to finally get my first shot (Pfizer after checking sign ups all over town every day) in a drive-through clinic at the fairgrounds in my car on Friday. Well, I spoke to a friend who bled badly after getting Pfizer No. 1 and I spoke to a few others who had some pretty bad symptoms after getting Pfizer-ed. So on Thursday my friend texted me and said a certain small drugstore was well stocked and I'd assuredly be able to get in there.

I checked and it would be Moderna. My brother and sister in law had a sore arm, nothing else from Moderna and I talked to somebody else who had no problems at all. The way my brain works ... I felt more comfortable going to a small drugstore than a drive through at the fairgrounds, so I went and got Moderna Thursday at the mom and pop drugstore. I sat down and the shot-giver said, 'Do you have any reservations?' I said 'actually I do. I watch too much TV.' She said I might have a sore arm but I should be fine. I got good vibes from her. I got the shot and indeed for 48 hours my arm was pretty sore. No big deal there. I'm not a big baby. It went away after 48 hrs.

My next shot is in 2 or 3 weeks. They will text me to come in.

My point to you is, though I am going to be fully vaccinated soon and have made the decision to vaccinate, I am a little surprised that so many people in my life I consider intelligent to brilliant don't AT ALL share any of my concerns (that I do not voice out loud; I keep them inward). I am concerned about all the little snippets I see on social media from people that are saying, 'Don't get vaccinated. In 8 months when there are new variants attacking your body your immune system will be toast to those varients.' Yes I worry that this is some scam and I will ultimately die as part of this vaccine experiment. It's just me. I was wondering if any of you know folks reluctant to grt vaccinated.

Thanks for letting me share this. I am going to be fully vaccinated as soon as humanly possible (I checked the lists every day until I got in the drug store) and I am obeying the recommendations of all my loved ones and friends who have told me to get vaccinated. Here's hoping for a normal world. I'd like to go to some plays this summer in KC and some minor league and big league ballgames.

Please tell me if you have any relatives or loved ones as nervous as I've been re. the vaccine.

[Quin]

34 minutes ago, greg775 said:

Can I make a few comments all over the map? Feel free to blast me or scream at me. I haven't posted much in a while and figured some might want to see how I'm feeling about COVID in our world.

-- Best wishes to Dick Allen's wife. I truly am saddened about her problems and wish her well. And wish Dick well in getting her 100 percent healthy.

-- My brother is a nurse in a juvenile detention facility in Chicago. After few to no problems the last many months, suddenly 60 percent of the youngsters in there have COVID now, he said. This is a recent development.

He's had his first shot. I pray he doesn't get COVID and the kids there are safe. He did say of all the infected juveniles none of them have had to go to the hospital or anything. This is in a Chicago suburb.

-- My cousin, 30, drove to Indiana Saturday to get Johnson and Johnson vaccine because he only wanted one shot. He did have a problem. He fainted within five minutes after getting the shot. He fell but some people caught him and he hit his head on a shelf but did not sustain injuries. They gave him juice and water and food and he declined to get checked out via ambulance and is OK. Not trying to stir anything up, but he did faint and the person who administered the shot told him she was going to truly insist rather than suggest people wait 15 minutes before leaving after the vaccine is administered.

-- I was scheduled to finally get my first shot (Pfizer after checking sign ups all over town every day) in a drive-through clinic at the fairgrounds in my car on Friday. Well, I spoke to a friend who bled badly after getting Pfizer No. 1 and I spoke to a few others who had some pretty bad symptoms after getting Pfizer-ed. So on Thursday my friend texted me and said a certain small drugstore was well stocked and I'd assuredly be able to get in there.

I checked and it would be Moderna. My brother and sister in law had a sore arm, nothing else from Moderna and I talked to somebody else who had no problems at all. The way my brain works ... I felt more comfortable going to a small drugstore than a drive through at the fairgrounds, so I went and got Moderna Thursday at the mom and pop drugstore. I sat down and the shot-giver said, 'Do you have any reservations?' I said 'actually I do. I watch too much TV.' She said I might have a sore arm but I should be fine. I got good vibes from her. I got the shot and indeed for 48 hours my arm was pretty sore. No big deal there. I'm not a big baby. It went away after 48 hrs.

My next shot is in 2 or 3 weeks. They will text me to come in.

My point to you is, though I am going to be fully vaccinated soon and have made the decision to vaccinate, I am a little surprised that so many people in my life I consider intelligent to brilliant don't AT ALL share any of my concerns (that I do not voice out loud; I keep them inward). I am concerned about all the little snippets I see on social media from people that are saying, 'Don't get vaccinated. In 8 months when there are new variants attacking your body your immune system will be toast to those varients.' Yes I worry that this is some scam and I will ultimately die as part of this vaccine experiment. It's just me. I was wondering if any of you know folks reluctant to grt vaccinated.

Thanks for letting me share this. I am going to be fully vaccinated as soon as humanly possible (I checked the lists every day until I got in the drug store) and I am obeying the recommendations of all my loved ones and friends who have told me to get vaccinated. Here's hoping for a normal world. I'd like to go to some plays this summer in KC and some minor league and big league ballgames.

Please tell me if you have any relatives or loved ones as nervous as I've been re. the vaccine.

Greg, I say this genuinely: I'm really, really happy that you got your first shot.

My neighbor was skeptical of getting a vaccine - she's 59, got trust issues with the government and medical companies, etc. 

But she's tired of having to test every two weeks for work, her family coming over uninvited (her mom lives with her), and all that. Her employer was organizing vaccinations, but with J&J. She didn't feel comfortable with that, so they're working on getting her Pfizer.

It did help her fears in general after she talked to my fiancee and I - I got Pfizer, fiancee got Moderna (second shot in a few weeks), and our roommate got J&J. None of us had side effects. The important thing is that you get one of them and are safe.

[hogan873]

My youngest two (16 and 18) are scheduled for their first shots this week.  There's a Facebook page a guy created that was all about supporting local restaurants when COVID started, and it has morphed into a restaurant/bar appreciation page.  The moderator has also been posting links to open vaccine appointments, and that was how we were able to snag appointments so easily.  By easily I mean going to the page immediately and securing an appointment as soon as possible.  It took about 2 or 3 tries for each, but once you reserve a spot, you have 5 minutes to fill out the info and confirm.

Both of my younger kids work with the public (Walmart and TCBY), so I'll feel a lot better once they're fully vaccinated.

[Harry Chappas]

My wife got an appointment on Friday for today at Mariano's....funny thing, I do the grocery shopping for our family.  As I was leaving today I handed her a list of items to get while she waits the 15minutes after the shot.

[Dick Allen]

23 minutes ago, Harry Chappas said:

My wife got an appointment on Friday for today at Mariano's....funny thing, I do the grocery shopping for our family.  As I was leaving today I handed her a list of items to get while she waits the 15minutes after the shot.

My dad got his shots at a Mariano's.