After touring a Pfizer facility, President Biden on Friday emphasized the safety of approved coronavirus vaccines and said there would be enough available for all Americans by the end of July. https://t.co/WWczibHh0j pic.twitter.com/31vqHgzQ16
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 19, 2021
we always Discourse quotes like this as though the president’s target audience for reassurances is millennials who miss bars and not boomers with pre-existing conditions watching cable news https://t.co/nlCLQQUcAZ
— counterfactual (@counterfax) February 19, 2021
The US only administered 959,000 vaccine shots today, bringing the total to 61.3 million, or 18.5 doses per 100 people. The 7-day moving average fell visibly to 1.32 million shots per day. 12.9% of Americans have received at least one shot; 5.4% are now fully vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/B1VBOlaF91
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) February 21, 2021
The US had +69,617 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total to over 28.7 million. The 7-day moving average declined to below 71,000 new cases per day, its lowest level since October 25. pic.twitter.com/4rCBl8j9j0
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) February 21, 2021
When can the United States reach herd immunity? It’s complicated https://t.co/QDvJQ2Iz2Q
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 20, 2021
======
For all of you interested in the global availability of COVID vaccines.
A team at Duke University is producing this new data source in which they track the global production and distribution of COVID vaccines. This is very useful.https://t.co/b3ulx83CA1 pic.twitter.com/MHvq9dAnP6
— Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) February 20, 2021
Malaysia to start COVID-19 vaccination drive early as first doses arrive https://t.co/OrwCs597r7 pic.twitter.com/wLOF7IchKD
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 21, 2021
India's Serum Institute says prioritising domestic vaccine needs, asks for patience https://t.co/UAx3ITUI6D pic.twitter.com/wVVXysts82
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 21, 2021
Pope Francis and Italy's president have marked the nation's first annual day to honor health care workers, exactly one year after the nation's first native case of COVID-19 emerged. A year on, Italy has seen more than 95,000 coronavirus deaths. https://t.co/1rxM3ZSJql
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 20, 2021
Mayor of French city of Nice calls for weekend coronavirus lockdown https://t.co/PTPk9uvXJR pic.twitter.com/XDwxgylkJR
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 21, 2021
COVID data will determine how quickly UK emerges from lockdown, Hancock says https://t.co/Qdoz6Om2F1 pic.twitter.com/nF4dERIyMj
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 21, 2021
Germans are shunning the AstraZeneca vaccine. Healthcare facilities report several hundred thousand AstraZeneca vials going unused & no-shows at scheduled appointments. Officials in Italy, Austria & Bulgaria also signaling resistance to the British vax https://t.co/f89Q7UuoNW pic.twitter.com/1rxju6kkTb
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 21, 2021
Russia confirmed 12,742 new coronavirus cases Sunday, bringing the total number of reported infections to 4,164,726 https://t.co/noZvhaeQzq
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) February 21, 2021
Israel starts reopening as number of COVID vaccinees nears 50% https://t.co/xXKJtZWdg2 pic.twitter.com/8hJAC9Cb10
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 21, 2021
Australian PM is vaccinated as rollout begins https://t.co/3j2aaZXbwT
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 21, 2021
Australia won't advertise COVID-19 vaccine on Facebook but vows publicity https://t.co/qko3iRdCU4 pic.twitter.com/BtGzZNLLdL
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 21, 2021
Anti-vaccination protests held in Australia ahead of rollout https://t.co/RqnEAnihvL
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 20, 2021
Tanzania’s leader says his country is "covid-free." The facts are proving him wrong. https://t.co/0qUbXHapHD
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 17, 2021
Every trend in the #COVID19 #pandemic is pointing in the right direction — except one: Rising numbers of mutant forms of #SARSCoV2 that can spread more easily, cause worse disease and defy vaccines. Remain vigilant, everybody. https://t.co/XkLnjJPR0I
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) February 20, 2021
======
Health officials say that even after getting fully vaccinated against COVID-19, people should still wear masks, social distance and avoid crowds until more people receive their shots. https://t.co/ukpeHpuSd7
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 20, 2021
Pulse oximeter readings are a matter of life or death. I’m glad @US_FDA responded to my concerns that they may be less accurate for people of color. The agency needs to better regulate these devices to make sure they don't give racially biased results. https://t.co/mXbQNjnDIa
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 20, 2021
Israel’s Ministry of Health says benefits of #PfizerVaccine 14 days after 2jab are:
• 95.8% preventing illness cases
• 98.0% preventing fever and/or respiratory symptoms
• 98.9% preventing hospitalization
• 99.2% preventing severe illness
• 98.9% preventing death— Noa Landau ??? ????? (@noa_landau) February 20, 2021
A clinical trial has been launched to see if bovine immunoglobulins (antibodies) prevent COVID19 side effects. 3 institutions are testing a food supplement, EnteraGam, based on immunoglobulin-rich cow serum. Product is dried. The antibodies detect viruses https://t.co/62ch3MndN9 pic.twitter.com/EnDkTv8Pwb
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 20, 2021
Fujifilm to restart clinical trial of Avigan to treat COVID-19: media https://t.co/ab0wedMF35 pic.twitter.com/U6PL2aSTdj
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 21, 2021
======
How will we know if the B.1.1.7 strain will lead to a 4th surge in the US?
Florida. It accounts for >15% cases now, leading the country
I look at cases, testing, hospitalizations there each day.
So far so good. Still early https://t.co/CRHnqk3Kn4 pic.twitter.com/8ZR5Ev5g7W— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) February 20, 2021
Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsom of California were hailed as strong leaders at the beginning of the pandemic. But nearly a year on, they're now both embroiled in distinct political woes. https://t.co/7duYYY5im8
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 20, 2021
The pandemic has shuttered brothels in Nevada, the only state with legal prostitution. While sex work seems incompatible with social distancing, the industry says brothels could reopen safely with precautions, like massage businesses. https://t.co/AknoqWXcjx
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 20, 2021
A skateboarding world champion is among five people prosecutors in Southern California have charged with organizing parties that were possible superspreader events amid the pandemic. https://t.co/8enGmfJk60
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 21, 2021
Thread, h/t Rikyrah –
The line at the Liacouras Center for the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium’s 24-hour, walk-up vaccination site wraps around the building multiple times. There are over a thousand people waiting in snow and freezing cold. People who arrived at 9 a.m. have yet to get in. pic.twitter.com/c7QXq4UKKh
— Ellie Rushing (@EllieRushing) February 19, 2021
YY_Sima Qian
On 2/20 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Hebei Province
Hebei Provincial Health Commission reported that 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 146 domestic confirmed cases (127 moderate and 19 mild) & 9 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province:
Heilongjiang Province
Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission reported that 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 15 domestic confirmed (12 moderate and 3 mild) & 24 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.:
Jilin Province
Jilin Provincial Heath Commission reported that 17 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 37 domestic confirmed (1 critical, 1 serious, 34 moderate and 11 mild) & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases:
At Shanghai Municipality, 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are 14 domestic confirmed cases remaining.
Imported Cases
On 2/20 China reported 7 new imported confirmed cases, 6 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:
Overall in China, 38 confirmed cases recovered, 20 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation and 1 was reclassified as confirmed case, and 705 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 423 active confirmed cases in the country (193 imported), 2 are in critical/serious condition (none imported), 316 asymptomatic cases (274 imported), 3 suspect cases (all imported). 7,929 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
On 2/21 Hong Kong reported 20 new cases, 1 imported & 19 domestic (6 of whom do not yet have source of infection identified).
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY yesterday:
New cases = 174. Reported deaths at 1108. Positivity at 2.3%
215 in the hospital, 63 in the ICU
40% hospital beds available, 37% ICU beds available.
My BIL got his first jab yesterday. My sister is on some Virginia state list but has no idea when they’re going to get to her. Her husband was #505; she’s somewhere in the 50,000s. In the meantime she spends a few hours a day refreshing the CVS website looking for vaccination openings, but the only CVS in her area is inside a Target store and they have no openings yet.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 3,297 new cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 283,569 cases. He also reports five new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,056 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.42% of resolved cases.
There are currently 33,304 active and contagious cases; 209 are in ICU, 91 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 4,456 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 249,209 patients recovered – 87.9% of the cumulative reported total.
Six new clusters were reported today: Jalan Persiaran Cemerlang, Jalan Cemerlang Besi, Jalan Kota Kulai, Jalan Kelapa Mawar, and Jalan Pandan Ria in Johor; and Perusahaan Baru in Penang. All are workplace clusters.
3,291 new cases today are local infections. Perak tops the list today, reporting 1,215 cases: 1,187 in existing clusters, including 1,046 in Jalan Changkat Jong cluster; 16 close-contact screenings; and 12 other screenings. Selangor reports 864 local cases: 339 in existing clusters, 456 close-contact screenings, and 69 other screenings. Johor reports 430 local cases: 157 in older clusters; 103 in Jalan Persiaran Cemerlang, Jalan Cemerlang Besi, Jalan Kota Kulai, Jalan Kelapa Mawar, and Jalan Pandan Ria clusters; 93 close-contact screenings; and 77 other screenings.
Sarawak reports 185 cases: 47 in existing clusters, 95 close-contact screenings, and 43 other screenings. Penang reports 127 cases: 34 in older clusters, 20 in Perusahaan Baru cluster, 25 close-contact screenings; and 48 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 122 local cases: seven in existing clusters, 64 close-contact screenings, and 51 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 122 cases: 63 in existing clusters, 33 close-contact screenings, and 26 other screenings.
Sabah reports 85 cases: 15 in existing clusters, 45 close-contact screenings, and 25 other screenings. Melaka reports 65 cases: 54 in existing clusters, four close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings. Kelantan reports 30 cases: 23 close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings.
Kedah reports 15 cases: three in existing clusters, five close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings. Terengganu reports 12 cases: six in existing clusters, and six close-contact screenings. Pahang reports nine cases: six in existing clusters, two close-contact screenings, and one other screening. Putrajaya reports seven cases: six in existing clusters, and one close-contact screening. And Labuan reports three cases: one close-contact screening, and two other screenings.
Perlis reports no new cases today.
Six new cases today are imported: four in Selangor, one in Johor, and one in Kuala Lumpur.
The deaths reported today are a 62-year-old woman in Terengganu with diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease; an 82-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, stroke, and chronic kidney disease; a 76-year-old man in Terengganu with lymphoma; a 74-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and heart disease; and a 29-year-old non-Malaysian woman in Selangor, DOA with hypertension.
In other news, the first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, consisting of 312,390 doses, arrived today at Kuala Lumpur International Airport; the arrival of the vaccine was livestreamed on social media by the Ministry of Health, and doses were immediately shipped out to various states. Phase one of vaccination begins on Friday, and will cover frontline workers and the PM.
Dang! Scooped again by Anne Laurie!
gkoutnik
Doesn’t matter – good news either way. As soon as I read that up top, I thought, “Hooray! Amir’s one step closer to safety!!”
mrmoshpotato
@Amir Khalid:
Sad trombones all the way down!
Anne Laurie
I think of them as tributes to you, dear comrade.
Looking forward to hearing you’ve gotten your shots!
Amir Khalid
@Anne Laurie:
Phase two for at-risk people starts in about two months. With my medical history, I’ll be in that group. Vaccination signups open in a few weeks; we’ll be able to do it via a hotline, at government and private hospitals and clinics, or with the MySejahtera Covid-19 tracking phone app. I’ll let you guys know when I’ve done that.
Ramalama
@YY_Sima Qian: How thorough are the contract tracers in Hong Kong? As in, how far back do they go for people who’ve tested positive for Covid-19?
Punchy
KC metro down to ~200/day. Thats enormous improvement from the >1000/per of a few weeks ago….
Ken
And how do we disentangle the effects of the new strain, from those of spring break next month?
sab
@Amir Khalid: I am simply amazed that Malaysia has done as well as it has with no vaccines to date.
Amir Khalid
@sab: Despite the ongoing political crisis here, the government has not really dropped the ball in handling the pandemic, and the Ministry of Health has been totally professional. And we aren’t encumbered by the kind of anti-science politics that exists in the US and some other countries.
sab
@Amir Khalid: American “exceptionalism” reaches another new low.
I have immigrant in-laws. I think a lot of our “exceptionalism” has been accepting new people. Other countries do that well also, but we don’t have an ancient culture they have to blend into. We build as we go along. Worked well for a couple of centuries. Lately needs serious tweaking.
Correct me if I am totally misunderstanding the world.
Baud
Book ’em, Dano.
Anya
I don’t understand why Israel is not vaccinating the West Bank. It would earn them a great deal of international good will.
Amir Khalid
@Anya:
On the other hand, it would also save Palestinian lives.
PaulB
“Sunny blue skies usually bring a smile. But the Las Vegas staple mocked Riley Elliot on Tuesday. Seated in his slowly deteriorating 2012 Honda, Elliot decided to document a dark moment for a TikTok video. Through tears, he unleashed his frustrations as a food delivery driver struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A trick bag where gig economy companies can pay low wages if tips are part of an employee’s income, but customers don’t always tip.”
Anya
@Amir Khalid: Definitely. I didn’t mean to discount Palestinian lives. I was just saying that because Netanyahu doesn’t care about saving Palestinian lives.
PaulB
Regarding this comment: “The 7-day moving [vaccination] average fell visibly to 1.32 million shots per day.”
That’s because Bloomberg changed its methodology. They had been using CDC data in conjunction with data directly from some of the states.
PaulB
“Millions of jobs that have been shortchanged or wiped out entirely by the coronavirus pandemic are unlikely to come back, economists warn, setting up a massive need for career changes and retraining in the United States.”
YY_Sima Qian
@Ramalama: I am not following the COVID-19 response in Hong Kong all that closely. Historically, the public health authorities in Hong Kong has had a good reputation, but I consistently see ~ 25 – 33% of new cases do not have sources of infection identified. Now the authorities in Hong Kong may not be able to be as intrusive in contact tracing as their counterparts on Mainland China, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, or even Taiwan, and the population may not be as cooperative.
Barney
Can anyone say what “we always Discourse quotes like this…” means? The anonymous tweeter has an icon saying “the Discourse”, so this capital letter seems important to them. But who is the “we” they’re talking about? The statement seems pretty wrong, too (unless “we” doesn’t mean “people in general” but some special group with a weird take). Why was this person’s random, badly-expressed take relevant to Balloon Juice?
rikyrah
Why the rejection of Astra Zeneca?
rikyrah
The Black Doctors Group in Philadelphia referred to in the last tweet wound up vaccinating 4,000 in Philly in 24 hours. Not bad for a non-profit working with a shoestring budget.??
rikyrah
Fair Economist
@rikyrah: The AstraZenica vaccine is far less effective than the mRNA ones. The mRNA vaccines are about 95% effective against symptomatic disease while the AstraZenica is “only” about 76%. That’s still pretty good and way better than nothing, but a lot of people don’t want the “inferior” vaccine. IMO if it’s currently AstraZenica or nothing, I’d take the AstraZenica and then get an mRNA booster later, as is currently suggested for those who have had COVID.
AstraZenica is also nearly useless against the South Africa strain, although I don’t recall anything about the others being tested against it.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Florida lies about the numbers. Useless data.
The Moar You Know
There is never going to be “herd immunity” for COVID as that’s just not how this virus works. You can get it twice. You can get it more than twice.
I wish journalists – people at best with a degree in journalism, not anything else – would start paying attention to people with experience in infectious diseases rather than pulling bullshit out of their asses based on something they heard from a drunk uncle whose been watching too much Fox News.
No surprise today’s offender is the New York Times. It usually is.
There’s only one way out of this and it is going to be vaccinating 80%+ of the population. Which is going to require some unpleasantness and political will and backbone.
trollhattan
Sacramento County, CA new cases are down by roughly 80% from the post-Thanksgiving peak of about 1,000/day (8-day) rolling average, so the trend is good with reliably sunny, warm days ahead soon. I expect daylight time to help by getting more folks active outdoors rather than in.
Vaccine counts were down last week and it looks like the crap national weather has slowed the supply, because NO appointments are available. Hopefully that gets corrected this week.
Will be learning more about the looming back-to-work scheme my group is facing come March. They do not seem to be addressing spacing people appropriately for eight-hour stints in a 60 YO building. The office is just like the Home Depot checkout line, right?
JR
I have to say I do not blame the Germans or the British for not wanting the AstraZeneca vaccine. The actual data (which was published in the Lancet) is trash — literally the worst-run, most confused study I have ever seen. Under normal circumstances that trial wouldn’t have been published in a major journal, nor would any regulatory authority authorize the vaccine based on those data.
Add that to the fact that it is much less effective than either of the mRNA options (or the protein vaccine developed by Novavax but not yet approved anywhere, or even Sputnik) and if I were given the choice between the AZ vaccine now and the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine a few months later, I’d wait.
trollhattan
@The Moar You Know:
School opening seems daunting given the vaccines haven’t yet been approved for kids. Measles yes, Covid no on their vaccination cards for the foreseeable future.
The Moar You Know
@trollhattan: My sore spot. Wife’s a teacher. California is refusing to even consider vaccinating teachers until at least mid-March (more likely May, the way we have bumblefucked our rollout in CA) but wants the schools open right now. Our district has been trying to force the teachers back five days a week, full classrooms since December.
This is insanity that will kill, in this state, tens if not hundreds of thousands of people. And it’s being supported at all levels, from the district to the state and all the way up to the office of the President. I guess teachers are not an important Democratic constituency. They certainly do not feel like they are, the ones I’ve been talking with. And they’re not going to forget that, in their hour of need, they were told to fuck off and get back in the trenches.
Freemark
@Anya:
@Amir Khalid:
I do not doubt the Palestinians will also have an incredible amount of vaccine hesitancy if the vaccine comes from the Israeli government. For very good reason.
scav
@Freemark: But that in no way provides cover for the Israelis not making it available. Are the resistant Ultra-Orthodox not being offered the jab?
Sloane Ranger
OK, got up late to find the UK Coronavirus dashboard had already been updated to show today’s figures so here they are,
There were 9834 new cases today. This is a decrease of about 470 from Saturday and a reduction of 16.2% in the rolling 7-day average. Usual weekend warning applies. Cases by nation,
England – 8408 (down @550)
Northern Ireland – 263 (down 13)
Scotland – 827 (up 24)
Wales – 336 (down 27).
Deaths – There were 215 deaths within 28 days of a positive test today. This is a decrease of 27.4% in the rolling 7-day average. Dearths by nation, England – 190, Northern Ireland – 4, Scotland – 5 and Wales 16.
Testing – not updated.
Hospitalisations – There were 18,462 people in hospital on Thursday, 18 February and 2469 on ventilators as of Friday, 19th. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions is down by 20.9%.
Vaccinations – On 20 February a total of 17,582,121 people had received the 1st dose of a vaccine and 615,148, their 2nd dose. According to the Health Secretary one third of adults have already received at least 1 dose and the plan is for all adults to have at least 1 jab by the end of July.
I do not understand the hate on the Astra Zenaca vaccine. A few months ago people would have fought to have any vaccine that was offered and, despite claims to the contrary, the jury is still out on the comparative effectiveness of ALL the vaccines in a real world setting. As an NHS doctor has said publicly, take what you can get and be grateful you live in a developed country.
Freemark
@The Moar You Know:
Yep, have multiple teacher friends are they are feeling quite screwed. And it’s always ‘kids aren’t as affected and are less likely to spread the virus if safety protocols are taken’. No teacher I know expects nearly any safety protocols to be taken in their schools.
JR
@Sloane Ranger: The data are the problem with the AZ vaccine. The trial was incredibly sloppy and there is no way that under normal circumstances a drug or vaccine would have been approved with data like that. And that’s aside from the fact that it isn’t very effective at all.
There were many, many problems with that trial. But here’s a good one: They accidentally gave a small subset patients a half-dose for their first dose and then a full dose for their second dose. Then they retrospectively discovered that the accidental dosing regimen was better than the standard dosing regimen. They also had very large gaps between the first and second doses because of manufacturing issues. And this is only the beginning of the problems with that trial.
The J&J vaccine is equally poor (if you can trust the results of the AZ trial at all) however, it at least was studied in a well-conducted clinical trial.
I’ll say it again, the AZ vaccine is hot garbage. I’d take Sputnik before that — at least the trial for Sputnik was actually well conducted. Plus Sputnik appears to be much more efficacious.
Freemark
@scav:
Where did I say it offered them cover? It is pretty obvious they had no cover way before the pandemic. Just pointing out that as a Palestinian would you take a vaccine directly offered through Israel? Your suggestion is that as soon as the Israeli’s offer Palestinians vaccines they have cover and if the Palestinians refuse then it’s on them.
The Moar You Know
@Freemark: Yeah. The kids aren’t affected but they sure as shit are infected. The teachers in my district that have DIED weren’t going out partying like the board implied they were. Most of those who have gotten sick had locked themselves in their homes with no social contact at all. They got that virus from somewhere. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where.
And also, in a district where the janitors have NEVER cleaned a classroom (I’m not kidding, I don’t know why they even have classified staff here) there aren’t going to be any safety protocols. The district has been telling teachers that have gotten sick that they either admit to having violated safety protocols (in other words, lie to protect the district) or they won’t get sick pay, just unpaid leave. I shit you not.
Lest you think this is some poor underserved district, think again. We’re one of the top 10 districts in California in terms of funding, in a solid blue county.
Like I said previously, the teachers are going to remember in 2022 and 2024 who had their backs. As of right now, that is a group that consists of nobody.
Sloane Ranger
@JR: Your choice. Personally, if I’m offered AZ when my turn comes, I’ll take it.
scav
@Freemark: Fairs fair. Where did I say anything about Palestinians not having the right to distrust anything offered by the Netanyahu govt? I was advocating for them to have exactly the same right to refuse as the Hyper-Orthodox (for admittedly very different reasons).
trollhattan
@The Moar You Know:
Pick a different county?
JAFD
Greetings from New Jersey, fellow jackals !
Got my second shot this morn. Was postponed from Thursday, snow and/or sleet and/or freezing rain falling that day.
As I mentioned, gym at Essex County College fitted as mass vaccination facility. 24 curtained booths for actual shots, 125 chairs for ’15-minute-observation’ after. So figure 500 people can be vaccinated per hour, 4000 per day, 20,000 per week. There are 5 of these sites (3 school gyms, a former KMart and Sears) for the 800.000 people in Essex County, so if we had the vaccine, we could probably give every grownup two jabs by Memorial Day.
Walked to supermarket from there, got sackful of food, came home.
How do I feel right now ? I’m 70 years old, it’s February, 29 F out, I ain’t a winter-loving person. Am going to have brunch, read papers on line, take nap. If I feel worse than expected, will update you.
Stay healthy, happy and hydrated !
Freemark
@scav:
@scav:
That was my point. You were making assumptions not in evidence. Israel is wholly responsible for making Palestinians are vaccinated and in a reasonable time frame. And in a way that allows Palestinian to feel safe in doing so. Offering the vaccines directly from Israel certainly isn’t good enough.
Freemark
@The Moar You Know: Agree on all points.
The districts here in Pennsylbama aren’t going to come close to meeting all safety protocols as recommended by the CDC. I have seen no federal or state agencies that have even offered to certify class rooms are meeting safety standards before teachers are sent back in.
Catherine D.
@The Moar You Know: Our health department (Tompkins Co, NY) reserved this past week’s pitiful allotment of vaccine (which didn’t arrive due to storms) to P-12 school personnel and grocery workers. Frustrating to have competent people with a plan totally lacking doses.
J R in WV
@Freemark:
I don’t trust the CDC’s recommendation at all at this point — if they don’t want to vaccinate all school staff in order to get people back to school, there’s something wrong with management. Bad wrong.
Regarding the AstroZenica vaccine, if they had been first and had no competition, they would be in tall cotton, very competitive against other vaccines, with good data from their phased trials, but none of those conditions are met.
The other vaccines have better effectiveness results, cleaner test data, and were first past the post.
Brachiator
@scav:
The early news stories I read suggested that the Palestinian authorities wanted independent control of getting people vaccinated.
Kent
Teacher here from WA which is in the same boat. No vaccines in the pipeline for teachers until God know’s when but pressure to re-open the schools.
My own theory is that there is an unstated racial element to it. Teaching is a heavily white and middle class profession, even in minority areas. I think the public health officials and leaders are aware of this and reluctant to rush a largely white cohort to the front of the line when they are already catching grief for the fact that they are lagging way behind in vaccinating people of color.
For example, here in WA, people over age 50 who live in multi-generational households can get vaccinated in group 1B but not teachers over age 50 who work with multi-generations. Why is that? Only thing I can figure out is race. Multi-generational households (people taking care of grandchildren, etc.) are more likely to be families of color. Teachers are more likely to be white. Note, your own kids don’t count as multi-generational. Only if you are taking care of family that is not your own biological children like parents or grandchildren or other relatives.
They are trying to tilt the playing field such that more people of color get vaccinated, without creating an overt preference for people of color.
Tell me I’m wrong.
trollhattan
@Kent:
IDK the degree of separation between county and state policy and will just observe that Sacramento County seems to hew closer to State guidelines than some other counties seem to. The clinic I went to seemed to have mostly front-line workers in attendance, but of course that’s just a snapshot. Teachers and school employees have had vaccine access since Feb 16.
scav
@Brachiator: Which can be arranged. See for example the effort in Philadelphia in this very thread. I really get the impression there’s not much actual practical daylight between most of us on the subject.
Eural Joiner
@Kent: honestly, I think you’re wrong…at least where I sit here in South Carolina. We’re in the same boat – “open schools! …but no vaccines for teachers” – and it appears that the motivation here is based around our governor’s (and the GQP’s) red hot hatred of public schools. He’s blaming everything on teachers and constantly attacking public education on an almost daily basis.
Origuy
@The Moar You Know: Santa Clara County is supposed to start allowing teachers to sign up starting February 28. Also, this starts March 1:
sab
@The Moar You Know: One of the things DeWine in Ohio has done right is bumped teachers to the head of the 1b tier. Ahead of the 65 year olds.
Now he is pissed because the unions still don’t want to open up. Teachers got their first shots week of Feb. 1. Second shots Mar. 1. He has said if city schools don’t open by Mar. 1 then no second shot, since whole point if first shot was to open schools.
I was on the union’s sides until efficacy rates came out. Now I am with DeWine. If one shot after a month means 90% protected, then it’s time to open up,
Kent
Well, I don’t know about South Carolina:
But I do know that here in Democratically-controlled Washington. I can get a vaccine as part of Group 1B if I am over 50 and part of a multi-generational household (taking care of one or more grandkids in my home). But I cannot get a vaccine if I am an over 50 teacher who takes care of 150 other people’s children per day in a packed and poorly-ventilated classroom.
Explain the logic of that to me.
Suzanne
@The Moar You Know: Here in PA, teachers aren’t in the current priority group, and the goal is to reopen all of the schools after Spring Break (so first week of April). Mr. Suzanne is an educator, but he was only able to get his shot because he has an autoimmune condition that is on “the list” of high-risk conditions. Most of the suburban and rural districts are open at least for hybrid learning, but our kids haven’t been inside a school building in almost a year.
Suzanne
@Kent: I think it’s potentially sexism, actually. Lots of people resent teachers, because they’re still mostly women. I keep citing that book “White Working Class” by Joan Williams, but she has some insight here about how men respect police and firefighters but distrust teachers.
Here in PA, teachers are not prioritized the way first responders are, but anyone over 16 with a high-risk condition qualifies in Phase 1A, and that category is sufficiently broad to include almost half of people over 16. (Obesity is one of the high-risk conditions, so Phase 1A is very large.) I am hoping that that is going to work out well.
Part of what makes this whole vaccination rollout so frustrating is that it’s different everywhere.
Suzanne
FYI, I got my first dose of Moderna on Friday and my arm still hurts, though much less than yesterday.
evodevo
@JAFD: see how you feel in 10-12 hrs or so…took that long for us (both 70+) to start feeling bad after the second shot of Moderna…mine took the form of insane arthritis pain for several hrs and the hubby was aches/pains + indigestion. We both took a tylenol/ibuprofen and it went away within a couple hrs. Fine after that…
Geminid
@Amir Khalid:
@Anya: The facts and debate concerning Palestinian Covid-19 vaccination are fairly well covered by Mideast sources such as Al-Jazeera and the Jerusalem Post. Basically, Israeli is far into the process of vaccinating its own citizens, both Jewish and Arab, but has left the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to their own resources. The Russian Sputnik 5 vaccine is only now arriving in these territories. The Israeli government claims that the Oslo Accords leave responsibility for such health measures with the Palestinian Authority, which itself controls only part of the West Bank. Others, like the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz, maintain that as an occupying power, Israel has a legal duty as well as a moral one to ensure that the Palestinians are vaccinated.
Israeli premier Netanyahu is running for reelection, though, and he knows he wins votes by vaccinating Israeli citizens, not Palestinians. Israel’s fractious coalition government has in many ways been stumbling through the pandemic, but early on Netanyahu realized that an early and effective vaccination effort could be his ticket to reelection. Netanyahu has three criminal cases hanging over him that he may be able to stave off if he remains Prime Minister, so he is highly motivated.
I follow Israeli politics through the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel. Although it is paywalled, Haaretz is better, one reason being its willingness to forthrightly report on injustices done to Palestinians. And whether by accident or design, such articles, like the editorial concerning Israel’s duty to the Palestinians regarding Covid-19 vaccination, are often not paywalled.
Chris T.
Obviously we just need ideal kids in ideal classrooms.
Now if you’ll pardon me, I’m going out to round up my spherical cows from my frictionless fields…
rikyrah
@sab:
Nope
No opening for schools until after second shot
Barney
@JR:
So it seems a very effective vaccine after all.