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Post by mich64 on Apr 19, 2021 18:52:59 GMT
Great news Kerouac!
My sister and brother-in-law are getting their shots (Pfizer) as I type. My brother got his shot on Friday, AstraZeneca. They lowered the age limit for the Pfizer to begin tomorrow for those 40 to 59. People 60 and over can still book appointments for the Pfizer. So I wait, since I am 57. A bit frustrated that they will not open up health conditions zones 2 & 3 as many of us with the health conditions in those zones are advised by our doctors to not take the AstraZeneca. Now that they have opened the AstraZeneca for 40-59, I think I am in for a long wait until whatever number it is that they are trying to achieve with the AstraZeneca.
And also great news for you and your husband bjd!
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 20, 2021 6:02:13 GMT
Had to laugh yesterday, Keir Starmer, the Labour opposition leader thought he'd have a good photo opportunity by visiting a pub in Bath run by a staunch Labour supporter. Unfortunately the Landlord was so pissed about Labour's response to the Tory policies about lockdown, feeling they were in opposition to nothing, he kicked Starmer out of the pub and banned him - even having a tussle with the bodyguards. www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-56805144
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 20, 2021 17:53:05 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 20, 2021 18:00:43 GMT
Will it never be over?
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Post by Biddy on Apr 21, 2021 2:04:51 GMT
infection rates are going up here too in the US. So far we in the Bay Area are doing OK. Pretty high vaccination rates here.
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Post by questa on Apr 21, 2021 2:17:24 GMT
I had my annual flu shot yesterday. Chatting with the nurse afterwards we concluded that the various vaccinations will probably act like the flu shots and need re-formulations each year to keep up with the coronavirus's morphing. The virus we are facing now is not the same as March 2020, and by next year it will be changed again, just like the present flu vaccine does. Whether or not it will be a savage 'season' or a milder one will depend on what variants are floating around. They are all part of the corona family, from the common cold to whatever is coming next.
The nurse had retired 15 years ago but comes in to do the flu jabs at our mobile clinic. She wasn't busy so we had a quick 2 metre chat.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 21, 2021 20:54:07 GMT
I'm throwing this information in here even though it is not specifically about covid-19. Most of us in this discussion thread have either had or are trying to get the vaccine, and we're probably all shocked by people who aren't eager to get it. I'm assuming most of us have been inoculated in the past for various diseases once feared as killers. Except for the polio vaccine, of which I was acutely aware as one of the first children in the US to get that inoculation, I remained blithely confident in shots protecting the public. My own child was born in 1970 and was duly vaccinated with the entire recommended array. That was necessary for him to go to school, but of course crucial for his protection. It wasn't until a few minutes ago that I found out that the mumps vaccine came along just in time for him and his age group. This is a fascinating article on the development of that vaccine that prompted me to look up more on Dr. Maurice Hilleman and his quest to protect children around the world ~ vimeo.com/ondemand/hilleman/225443290?autoplay=1
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 22, 2021 5:27:54 GMT
I've not been vaccinated against mumps and it never occurred to me the reason why is because of when the vaccine was released. I always thought it was years before it was.
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Post by bjd on Apr 22, 2021 6:37:37 GMT
From the Wikipedia page:"The first experimental mumps vaccine was licensed in 1948; developed from inactivated virus, it only had short-term effectiveness."
I caught the mumps in the 1980s but had a very mild case compared to the neighbour of the same age who also got it. When I told my mother about it, she told me I had been vaccinated in England as a child.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 22, 2021 7:55:41 GMT
My stepfather got the mumps as an adult in the navy, and it made him sterile right in line with its reputation.
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Post by bjd on Apr 22, 2021 12:43:23 GMT
Lots of "childhood diseases" are more serious in adults than in kids. Mumps is indeed one.
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Post by questa on Apr 22, 2021 14:52:40 GMT
Kids with whooping cough make my blood curdle. We feel so helpless while they are having to do the fight for themselves. Mumps has dire consequences for boys sometimes and girls can get an abdominal version (rare)The humble chicken pox often shows up in adults as shingles...I hope you have all had your jab for that one...given at age 50+ Measles is nasty. Not only is it able to make the sufferer deaf or blind at the time but can show up 10 years later as SSPE which is a lingering fatal disease. In Oz babies are also vaccinated for meningococcal B. The new kid on the block is the Human papillomavirus (HPV). This is given in 2 doses to both genders of kids at beginning of teen age. It knocks out the sexually carried virus which causes warts and cervical cancer.
I must be one of the few in Oz who has seen a kid with Diphtheria...and that was my 1st week on the ward and she was going home next day. Mainly I remember the smell of membranes that nearly choked her.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 22, 2021 15:34:35 GMT
Scabies, tuberculosis, polio, scarlet fever, rickets and even bubonic plague have reappeared here with the chaotic arrivals of refugees. You island countries have it much easier. Until the rich countries understand that they must provide major health care to the developing countries, this will continue.
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Post by mickthecactus on Apr 22, 2021 16:34:16 GMT
As a 6 year old I had measles and whooping cough at the same time.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 22, 2021 16:55:47 GMT
I think my mother had everything imaginable back in the 1930s. It's almost a miracle that she survived.
I only had mumps, measles and chicken pox which just about everyone had back then, at least where I lived.
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Post by mossie on Apr 23, 2021 7:37:50 GMT
In my day it was routine to have these childhood diseases. I remember my mother tied a scarf round my mumps swollen face to kid me that it eased the pain and still bear the scars of picking at chicken pox spots. To have them conferred immunity and I think helped us to build a resistance to some of todays afflictions.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 23, 2021 12:05:47 GMT
Today is the first anniversary of Trump suggesting that injecting disinfectant might cure covid.
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Post by tod2 on Apr 23, 2021 16:02:17 GMT
I wonder how he thinks about that now....I bet he thinks " Ï was right. I was right all the time. You see, I was right if the did it my way"
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Post by bjd on Apr 23, 2021 16:07:26 GMT
Tod, he and his wife (and his daughter) all got vaccinated. He could have tried the bleach just to prove how right he was, but unfortunately he didn't.
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Post by tod2 on Apr 23, 2021 16:11:43 GMT
Oh what a come down. But people like him have absolutely no shame.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 23, 2021 16:14:07 GMT
The American disinfecting cleaning product Lysol ("Leezul") is a very recent arrival in France and they make a point in their commercials of saying that it kills all bacteria and viruses ("including covid-19"), but apparently you are supposed to use it on floors and other surfaces and not drink or inject it.
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Post by tod2 on Apr 23, 2021 16:30:22 GMT
OMG - A statement like that would have dire consequences here. Like the man who sat eating his meal in front of a steam iron. All because his doctor told him to eat his food with iron.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 23, 2021 16:42:19 GMT
Meanwhile, we have new things to worry about even as vaccinations progress and (relatively) strict measures remain in place in many countries. Clean and careful Japan has now embarked on its 4th wave and things are not looking good. Only 1% of the population has been vaccinated (why?) so the country is extremely vulnerable. Some people are even saying that the Olympics are in jeopardy.
And uninfected Australia is suddenly infected in Perth, which is in lockdown.
No place is safe.
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Post by mossie on Apr 23, 2021 18:18:38 GMT
This is a very nasty virus and capable of springing a surprise. Luckily this country seems to have done the right thing, if sometimes s bit slow off the mark. I'm just afraid the guard will drop and we will get another wave, people have been restricted for so long it is beginning to get a nuisance and resolution will waver. Keep fingers crossed.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 23, 2021 18:24:01 GMT
People being fed up with restrictions after a year is the biggest problem everywhere. The older generations mostly seem to put up with it (although I see some rebellions regularly) but young people can't seem to be able stand it anymore. I am not optimistic.
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Post by fumobici on Apr 24, 2021 5:43:29 GMT
The mayor of my nearest in-country city, Seattle (Vancouver BC is nearer to me but across a closed border and in much worse shape now) has announced today that she believes we will have enough supply of vaccines to have fully 70% of Seattleites vaccinated as soon as the end of next month. If only we can persuade the people to get them. We are approaching the point here where the limiting factor will be demand rather than supply.
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Post by whatagain on Apr 24, 2021 19:09:37 GMT
India is getting out of control. They went from 120 k a day 2 weeks ago to about 350 k now. Since most deaths occur after 2 weeks, those 120 k yield 2.5 k deads a day, or 2 pc. So in 2 weeks from bow, they should mayhematically lose 7 k people a day, but more probably 10 k or even more, as health system is collapsing. No beds, no oxygen... And who knows how many cases a day they will have in 2 weeks... 700 k? 1 million ?
Comparing to Belgium where over the same period we came from to close to 5 k a day to under 4 k today. And we are less than 1 pc of their population. So they are close to our ratio, but we have a much better health system and are going downwards.
Plus, we count everybody, and in case of doubt, we count as a covid case. How many Indians in remote villages or in slums are just (conveniently ?) Forgotten ?
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 24, 2021 20:44:53 GMT
we will have enough supply of vaccines to have fully 70% of Seattleites vaccinated as soon as the end of next month. If only we can persuade the people to get them. I am so upset about this I can hardly see straight. When I read about employers being asked to give incentives to workers in order to coax them into getting the vaccine, my blood boils. What about firing their ignorant asses? Not getting fired should be a compelling incentive. Also, A) we have a moral and practical imperative to protect others; and B) if they're that damned stupid, why do you want them working for you anyway? Whatagain, I believe you are correct in that if all cases were correctly counted it would be even more impressive and terrifying than it already is.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 24, 2021 22:20:16 GMT
If Biden were to announce that - because of reduced demand in the US - we will start sending most of “our” vaccine doses to India or other places in short supply, anti-vaxers might just get worried enough to get vaccinated while they can.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 24, 2021 23:06:58 GMT
You are undoubtedly correct, Kimby. Using the kind of reverse psychology that works on children would be just the ticket for the anti-vaxers, the it's-just-another-flu, the fear of Bill Gates, etc. crowd.
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