Coronavirus prep
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paperpudding wrote: »Over here (Australia) I thought it is the smarter ones goes to university and then the rest either do TAFE (college)or other regular jobs. Not sure if it's different to there. I certainly didn't think I was up to going to uni. I know I was a lot more sensible than some of my friends that went to uni and totally had no common sense even in later life now.
as a fellow Australian I don't think I would agree with that.
People who are more academic tend to do University degrees.
People who are doing more hands on courses - trades etc, - tend to go to TAFE - thats what TAFE stands for - Technical And Further Education
and anyway there are different sorts of smart - some people are book learning smart (academic) and others are smart in different ways.
2 of my children went to University and 1 went to TAFE and became a qualified tradesman.
I wouldnt say the 2 are neccesarily smarter in life - they just had the inclination and aptitude for academic study
and all may or may not have common sense and good judgement.
No problem. We don't tend to agree with many things lol. Have a great day. I Think we did agree and we just worded things differently really. I'm not great with words I know.
yes, maybe.
My post wasnt in direct opposition to yours anyway - was just giving my own view going on from what you said.
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It's fine but I'll stay out of here from now on. Take care.3
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Here in Finland we’re starting to hit the second wave, and I’m pretty scared of what will happen to the society. If we go into lockdown in the fall season, the mental health crisis will be huge. It’s so dark, last year we got 19 hours of sun in the entire month of November, and we usually don’t get snow until December so it’s really just cold, wet and dark for a month straight (or more, depending on how October and December go). Even if it’s technically light out, it’s usually so heavily cloudy it’s just gray everywhere. On November 30th the sun ”comes up” around 9AM and goes down 3.30PM, so the vast majority of the day is really just darkness. If we’re locked in and socially isolating on top of that, I don’t know how we can survive. On a joke note, Disney+ is going to have a killer year as they’re launching here in September.
This is what I'm worried about, I'm in the UK. My job involves looking after the well-being of young people in education, it 's getting worse. Goodness knows what it'll be like once we get into the murk in the winter.5 -
littlegreenparrot1 wrote: »Here in Finland we’re starting to hit the second wave, and I’m pretty scared of what will happen to the society. If we go into lockdown in the fall season, the mental health crisis will be huge. It’s so dark, last year we got 19 hours of sun in the entire month of November, and we usually don’t get snow until December so it’s really just cold, wet and dark for a month straight (or more, depending on how October and December go). Even if it’s technically light out, it’s usually so heavily cloudy it’s just gray everywhere. On November 30th the sun ”comes up” around 9AM and goes down 3.30PM, so the vast majority of the day is really just darkness. If we’re locked in and socially isolating on top of that, I don’t know how we can survive. On a joke note, Disney+ is going to have a killer year as they’re launching here in September.
This is what I'm worried about, I'm in the UK. My job involves looking after the well-being of young people in education, it 's getting worse. Goodness knows what it'll be like once we get into the murk in the winter.
Fall/winter is a worry here, with regular flu, schools reopening, covid continuing. and the people with no common sense (definitely not limited to college age people, there are plenty of people of all ages in this category). They were clearly wrong about their hot weather theory of it slowing it down. New cases have declined somewhat in the US, but experts say that testing has slowed down again.5 -
My friend a science fiction writer wrote this to honor her sister in law who passed away last month from Covid. It's chilling.
http://www.elizabethmoon.com/site/Bring.Out.Your.Dead.html10 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »Things are getting crazy locally with Monday being first day of on campus classes. This week was party time since the campus March closure.
Left KY this morning and drove straight south nearly to the AL border to pickup a cultipacker. I did not see any face mask usage and was told it was business as usual in West TN which seemed factual based on the 5.5 hours we were in the state.
I expect the pandemic being fake news mindset will be changing for many soon. I'm not sure we'll ever recover from this mental health crises that seems to be world wide.
Yup. That sounds about right. It's like that in the Eastern part, too.
Schools started here Monday on a hybrid schedule despite being in the Red category still: masks required in the city schools, only suggested but not required for all the county schools. I haven't asked my teacher friend how that's looking. She works in the city schools. I'm forgotten here in the corner. None of my "friends" have time for me. They are out living their lives and having a fine, busy ol' time. I wouldn't know what anywhere else looks like at this particular moment besides Kroger. That's the only place we go besides one other grocery outlet place. No, scratch that: hubby know what it looks like. I'm always at home unless it's a doc appt. Walmart was a joke when we were forced to go there to get an order for something we needed the same day. Hubby went in and was the only customer wearing a mask and people were not keeping their distance. Kroger has masking about 85-90% during the times he goes (morning). The other grocery place almost no wearing and if an employee has one, it's hanging around their neck. We don't go anywhere else. Exposure risk is just too great. We pay more to order online at Target or Amazon. I'm not ordering from Walmart again unless it's a home delivery. A couple weeks ago, hubby had gone to the grocery stores and got takeout. Between those 3 places, he brought a grocery item or food home that was germed. One of my kids got very sick and spent a week on the couch with fever, severe fatigue, lack of appetite, and no other symptoms. Wasn't COVID, but was definitely a virus according to the pediatrician. Doc wanted my daughter tested, and it was negative, even though I told her we never see any human besides my elderly Dad next door. He's practically a hermit anyway besides shopping at Kroger and Walmart during senior hours. The kid's finally back to normal. Can't wait to see the bills from the test and bloodwork. We had to cancel our camping trip that week. We lost money on it.
Meanwhile the kids are doing their homeschool work here at home. My college freshman's classes are all online now. Only lab or experience-based classes are going to be in-person on campus. We have to venture on campus though this week to pick up her books. At least they require masks.
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How to prep for near and long term is becoming more stressful as the game keeps changing.
Murray State University starts physical classes tomorrow so students from many states are back in town. At 11 PM last night there were about 20 cars lined up at McDonald's drive through only option. Kids were socializing in the parking lot.
The county sheriff two years into his second term after retiring from the KY State Police has announced he is resigning tomorrow to go back to the family farming operation. He had stated this was going to be his last term as sheriff but with his inside knowledge this move two years early concerns me. There was a riot downtown yesterday between those wanting to remove Robert E Lee from the courthouse lawn and Harley riders. With students coming in from everywhere and the MSU organizations parties COVID-19 risks are zooming up.
I get it that college students can be less than rational but we have masses of 50-70 years olds in denial making it all about religion and politics. I am concerned because several of my family work at the local hospital and in law enforcement and the daughter has to drive on campus each day attending classes with strangers from far away places. Worse some classes are online starting 15 minutes after on campus classes when she requires 30 minutes to get back home and get online.
The emotional state of people at large is the worse I have ever seen in my 69 years and wish my wife and daughter did not have to be in the middle of this 5 days a week. The hospital staff is so stressed out locally and around the world. The same goes for those working in food services and grocery stores. How does law enforcement break up a riot knowing they are walking into a high COVID-19 risk with unmasked people fighting? I get it that the sheriff with options is moving back to the family farming operations. Few have such options.
We are being told these are good time compared to the upcoming flu season.8 -
Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Yes, same here. I never got the extra yardwork done as expected. Work from home became more like work a lot more and have less time for myself.JustSomeEm wrote: »Yeah, totally get this. I had to set hard limits for myself with times/behaviors with regard to work and home life when I was doing most of my working from home. And even now with those hard limits, on work from home days extra work time has a tendency to creep into my 'home time'.
I'd been working remotely since 2011 and learned to balance the unscheduled (but fairly regular) late night working with things like longer lunches and garden breaks.
I did notice that when the lockdown started my coworkers new to WFH were working later than usual. Two of them especially who use to always hit the door right at 6 PM became more available.5 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Yes, same here. I never got the extra yardwork done as expected. Work from home became more like work a lot more and have less time for myself.JustSomeEm wrote: »Yeah, totally get this. I had to set hard limits for myself with times/behaviors with regard to work and home life when I was doing most of my working from home. And even now with those hard limits, on work from home days extra work time has a tendency to creep into my 'home time'.
I'd been working remotely since 2011 and learned to balance the unscheduled (but fairly regular) late night working with things like longer lunches and garden breaks.
I did notice that when the lockdown started my coworkers new to WFH were working later than usual. Two of them especially who use to always hit the door right at 6 PM became more available.
I see the staff dealing with customer support issues evening and weekends since we have been WFH for over two years now. Their view is why not respond since they are at the computer because they will have to deal with it the next day or Monday anyway.
By the way I like the rich colors of your cat photo. We have many outside cats thanks to the daughter but until 2 months ago we never had an inside cat. She is orange, black and white and positive for the daughter in these times.8 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Yes, same here. I never got the extra yardwork done as expected. Work from home became more like work a lot more and have less time for myself.JustSomeEm wrote: »Yeah, totally get this. I had to set hard limits for myself with times/behaviors with regard to work and home life when I was doing most of my working from home. And even now with those hard limits, on work from home days extra work time has a tendency to creep into my 'home time'.
I'd been working remotely since 2011 and learned to balance the unscheduled (but fairly regular) late night working with things like longer lunches and garden breaks.
I did notice that when the lockdown started my coworkers new to WFH were working later than usual. Two of them especially who use to always hit the door right at 6 PM became more available.
I agree, I actually schedule my WFH days this way on purpose now. Rather than force myself to buckle down and work when my head or focus just aren't in it, I'll take time to do something else and then simply work a little later to make up the time and get my work done. I'll even sometimes log back on after dinner and finish a task I neglected if I get a second wind.
Despite everyone I've ever worked with insisting it's not possible, I am way more productive later in the day, a true night owl. So WFH has allowed me to lean into that and do the bare minimum required in the morning, then utilizing more productive hours later in the day more efficiently. Whenever we get out of this mess, I'll be asking to WFH at least a couple of days a week permanently!
On a less positive note, I am getting more and more pushback from my parents and brothers family to "stop living in fear". My mom and SIL are focused on disinfecting everything constantly, but are totally fine with all of us gathering for indoor family meals for hours, and intend to continue to do so after school starts. I tell them we need to be protecting my parents by avoiding all gathering together, indoors specifically, but they blow it off.
I'm already dreading having to be the family party pooper come the holidays. It is even harder to imagine missing Thanksgiving and Christmas knowing my family will be gathering anyway. It would be so much easier if everyone was on board with having a different, safer holiday plan this year.14 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
The opposite is true on my street. Lots of us are taking the opportunity to do home improvement tasks. One neighbor painted their foundation, my OH started pressure-washing the patio, killed that washer, bought another, finished the patio, and then pressure-washed the fence. This inspired another neighbor to pressure-wash his deck, and then paint it. Etc. (I think it's an environmentally irresponsible waste of water during a drought, but...)
On the inside, we finally got around to going through more of his mom's stuff - she passed away 3 years ago. I scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees and took everything out of the frig and cleaned it. This is NOT normal for me, lol.
Same here! I've been doing much more sorting things out, and my husband has been organizing the kitchen like crazy.
I also learned how to bake bread (my husband has known how for a long time) and am trying a lot more recipes. Onion bread, roasted garlic bread, olive bread, sweet potato cornbread. Just made Cornish pasties for the first time a couple of days ago, and I want to make piroshki soon. Also making different curries. Also making my own spice blends instead of bottled mixes.
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kshama2001 wrote: »
The opposite is true on my street. Lots of us are taking the opportunity to do home improvement tasks. One neighbor painted their foundation, my OH started pressure-washing the patio, killed that washer, bought another, finished the patio, and then pressure-washed the fence. This inspired another neighbor to pressure-wash his deck, and then paint it. Etc. (I think it's an environmentally irresponsible waste of water during a drought, but...)
On the inside, we finally got around to going through more of his mom's stuff - she passed away 3 years ago. I scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees and took everything out of the frig and cleaned it. This is NOT normal for me, lol.
Same here! I've been doing much more sorting things out, and my husband has been organizing the kitchen like crazy.
I also learned how to bake bread (my husband has known how for a long time) and am trying a lot more recipes. Onion bread, roasted garlic bread, olive bread, sweet potato cornbread. Just made Cornish pasties for the first time a couple of days ago, and I want to make piroshki soon. Also making different curries. Also making my own spice blends instead of bottled mixes.
I didn't pay a lot of attention to my FaceBook feed before the pandemic, but started to in an effort to consume less news. So many of my friends took up baking! And there were so many posts lamenting flour and yeast shortages, lol.0 -
For those of you who have not yet had your fill of Apocalyptic fiction, "On the Media" rebroadcast their 2017 segment featuring interviews of authors of this genre, specifically SLOW apocalypses.
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-apocalypse-now-2020-08-14
Jeff VanderMeer's highly acclaimed "Southern Reach" trilogy sounds interesting, and I have just downloaded the book featured in the interview, "Borne," from my library.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_VanderMeer
I've already had Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series on my reading list, but am going to let "New York 2140," which I just downloaded from my library, skip ahead in the queue.
Also downloaded "Gold Fame Citrus" - while she admits how inaccurate her science is, the passages she read in the interview made me think I will like it for other reasons.1 -
My niece brought her kids up to see my mother. Inside, none of them wearing masks; now I have to isolate from my parents for two weeks. I was furious.
If anyone has Kindle Unlimited they can read my book for free. It's an apocalyptic romance: Something Begins. No pandemic. I've been avoiding anything in the apocalyptic genre myself. Somehow, I don't find them enjoyable when living through one.4 -
SummerSkier wrote: »My friend a science fiction writer wrote this to honor her sister in law who passed away last month from Covid. It's chilling.
http://www.elizabethmoon.com/site/Bring.Out.Your.Dead.html
Powerful fiction writing.4 -
My niece brought her kids up to see my mother. Inside, none of them wearing masks; now I have to isolate from my parents for two weeks. I was furious.
If anyone has Kindle Unlimited they can read my book for free. It's an apocalyptic romance: Something Begins. No pandemic. I've been avoiding anything in the apocalyptic genre myself. Somehow, I don't find them enjoyable when living through one.
Yes, I'm over the apocalypses caused by pandemics but am always up for good SF.
I don't have Kindle Unlimited but I should still be able to find your book on Amazon, yes? But I didn't. You're probably not allowed to post the link here yourself, but would you Friend me and send me the link?1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »My niece brought her kids up to see my mother. Inside, none of them wearing masks; now I have to isolate from my parents for two weeks. I was furious.
If anyone has Kindle Unlimited they can read my book for free. It's an apocalyptic romance: Something Begins. No pandemic. I've been avoiding anything in the apocalyptic genre myself. Somehow, I don't find them enjoyable when living through one.
Yes, I'm over the apocalypses caused by pandemics but am always up for good SF.
I don't have Kindle Unlimited but I should still be able to find your book on Amazon, yes? But I didn't. You're probably not allowed to post the link here yourself, but would you Friend me and send me the link?
Funny, I had to sign out of amazon and search again to see it wasn't showing up. If you search the title under kindle romances it's on the second page. Don't buy the paperback - too expensive.1 -
baconslave wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »Things are getting crazy locally with Monday being first day of on campus classes. This week was party time since the campus March closure.
Left KY this morning and drove straight south nearly to the AL border to pickup a cultipacker. I did not see any face mask usage and was told it was business as usual in West TN which seemed factual based on the 5.5 hours we were in the state.
I expect the pandemic being fake news mindset will be changing for many soon. I'm not sure we'll ever recover from this mental health crises that seems to be world wide.
Yup. That sounds about right. It's like that in the Eastern part, too.
Schools started here Monday on a hybrid schedule despite being in the Red category still: masks required in the city schools, only suggested but not required for all the county schools. I haven't asked my teacher friend how that's looking. She works in the city schools. I'm forgotten here in the corner. None of my "friends" have time for me. They are out living their lives and having a fine, busy ol' time. I wouldn't know what anywhere else looks like at this particular moment besides Kroger. That's the only place we go besides one other grocery outlet place. No, scratch that: hubby know what it looks like. I'm always at home unless it's a doc appt. Walmart was a joke when we were forced to go there to get an order for something we needed the same day. Hubby went in and was the only customer wearing a mask and people were not keeping their distance. Kroger has masking about 85-90% during the times he goes (morning). The other grocery place almost no wearing and if an employee has one, it's hanging around their neck. We don't go anywhere else. Exposure risk is just too great. We pay more to order online at Target or Amazon. I'm not ordering from Walmart again unless it's a home delivery. A couple weeks ago, hubby had gone to the grocery stores and got takeout. Between those 3 places, he brought a grocery item or food home that was germed. One of my kids got very sick and spent a week on the couch with fever, severe fatigue, lack of appetite, and no other symptoms. Wasn't COVID, but was definitely a virus according to the pediatrician. Doc wanted my daughter tested, and it was negative, even though I told her we never see any human besides my elderly Dad next door. He's practically a hermit anyway besides shopping at Kroger and Walmart during senior hours. The kid's finally back to normal. Can't wait to see the bills from the test and bloodwork. We had to cancel our camping trip that week. We lost money on it.
Meanwhile the kids are doing their homeschool work here at home. My college freshman's classes are all online now. Only lab or experience-based classes are going to be in-person on campus. We have to venture on campus though this week to pick up her books. At least they require masks.
I live in west TN and nobody here is taking it seriously.
As to classes - my WFR certification expires in a few days and I haven't been able to find a class to re-certify yet. However, I was able to re-certify the BLS (it's required for all professional medical certifications, including my WFR). I did it as a hybrid class: online learning, tests + in-person skills assessment. The in-person was modified for Covid because a big part of the point of BLS is team CPR. Obviously we can't team up on a single CPR mannequin because there is too much risk involved. So they just assessed our individual skills. Anyway, at least I won't have to worry about that whenever I am able to re-certify the WFR (hopefully within another month or 2, but I'm not holding my breath).3 -
The novelty of a novel virus has worn off... not a good thing when it is long lasting, not quick burning.kshama2001 wrote: »Anybody else here notice their house/yard gradually getting more unkempt during this pandemic? It's the opposite of what I would expect. I'm already a stay at home person. I figured with extra time from curtailed outside activities, I'd get more done at home - DIYs, deep cleaning, major yardwork. That's not what's happening, though. I'm actually doing less than before. Letting stuff go. Just recently started realizing it. Better formulate a plan to fix this before it becomes habit!
Is it just me, or is this a thing?
Yes, same here. I never got the extra yardwork done as expected. Work from home became more like work a lot more and have less time for myself.JustSomeEm wrote: »Yeah, totally get this. I had to set hard limits for myself with times/behaviors with regard to work and home life when I was doing most of my working from home. And even now with those hard limits, on work from home days extra work time has a tendency to creep into my 'home time'.
I'd been working remotely since 2011 and learned to balance the unscheduled (but fairly regular) late night working with things like longer lunches and garden breaks.
I did notice that when the lockdown started my coworkers new to WFH were working later than usual. Two of them especially who use to always hit the door right at 6 PM became more available.
I agree, I actually schedule my WFH days this way on purpose now. Rather than force myself to buckle down and work when my head or focus just aren't in it, I'll take time to do something else and then simply work a little later to make up the time and get my work done. I'll even sometimes log back on after dinner and finish a task I neglected if I get a second wind.
Despite everyone I've ever worked with insisting it's not possible, I am way more productive later in the day, a true night owl. So WFH has allowed me to lean into that and do the bare minimum required in the morning, then utilizing more productive hours later in the day more efficiently. Whenever we get out of this mess, I'll be asking to WFH at least a couple of days a week permanently!
On a less positive note, I am getting more and more pushback from my parents and brothers family to "stop living in fear". My mom and SIL are focused on disinfecting everything constantly, but are totally fine with all of us gathering for indoor family meals for hours, and intend to continue to do so after school starts. I tell them we need to be protecting my parents by avoiding all gathering together, indoors specifically, but they blow it off.
I'm already dreading having to be the family party pooper come the holidays. It is even harder to imagine missing Thanksgiving and Christmas knowing my family will be gathering anyway. It would be so much easier if everyone was on board with having a different, safer holiday plan this year.
I have NO idea what the holidays will hold this year. Not looking forward to having to make those decisions. We are the only ones in my husband’s family that don’t live on the same road (we moved 6 hours away 3 years ago). I think WE are OK not going, but it will be a HUGE deal to everyone else.
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"On a less positive note, I am getting more and more pushback from my parents and brothers family to "stop living in fear". My mom and SIL are focused on disinfecting everything constantly, but are totally fine with all of us gathering for indoor family meals for hours, and intend to continue to do so after school starts. I tell them we need to be protecting my parents by avoiding all gathering together, indoors specifically, but they blow it off.
I'm already dreading having to be the family party pooper come the holidays. It is even harder to imagine missing Thanksgiving and Christmas knowing my family will be gathering anyway. It would be so much easier if everyone was on board with having a different, safer holiday plan this year.[/quote]"
@kimny72
Sorry that you find yourself in that situation. I know that the holidays will be tough for my husband and me as well, but we already talked about it and decided that we are not going anywhere or allow people in our house to celebrate the holidays either. Since our kids and their families don't live near by, and getting together involves traveling either by car or plane, it makes the decision easier to handle.
Parents are working (two are school teachers, one of my son WFH, and the other one is a first responder), two grandchildren are in middle school and two in college. Everybody is busy and in contact with people, while my husband and I are up in age and hubby has some mild underlying conditions that could exacerbate his health in case of infection. Nobody is willing to take a risk.
I am also thinking that this year I will send money and/or gift cards so they can buy themselves what they need. I don't want to go shopping to any store; although I may order something on line and have it shipped to their addresses.
I hope that your family understands the reality of what we are still experiencing. Better safe than sorry until we get an effective vaccine, but I am sure that many people will find themselves in a similar situation in November and December. Good luck to all of us!
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University is definitely not some elite thing above college here (US). Mainly, college is an undergrad only school (some of which are among the hardest to get into, and the benefit is you get taught by professors, not grad students, and they are evaluated on teaching as well as publications), and university is a school that has undergrad and grad students, some of which are very competitive (Yale, Stanford), but still might have more grad school teaching and bigger classes than some of the best colleges, and some of which are less hard to get into but still good (my state school, U of IL), and some of which are awful (same with some colleges) and a waste of money. Minimal research should show any reasonably intelligent person which is which. There's no clear division in quality between schools known as colleges and those known as universities.
Yes. The American distinction between school, college, and university is a bit strange compared to other parts of the world.2 -
SummerSkier wrote: »My friend a science fiction writer wrote this to honor her sister in law who passed away last month from Covid. It's chilling.
http://www.elizabethmoon.com/site/Bring.Out.Your.Dead.html
I dunno. Might have seemed chilling to me if what is going IRL weren't going on. In the midst of this, it seems anticlimactic.1 -
Better safe than sorry until we get an effective vaccine
Do you really think we will get an effective vaccine? There's never been a vaccine for a coronavirus before, viruses mutate all the time, and we can't even get a decent vaccine for the flu half the time (it seems like anyway). Not to mention there will be no long term studies to see what effects any vaccine will have long term....just seems like hoping for a vaccine is a pipe dream at best
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It just doesn't seem realistic - and honest question, will you be happy to live the rest of your life isolated from friends and family? Because that could happen if we don't come up with a vaccine. I mean we can hope for a vaccine that is long term proven both effective and safe but what will our mental health be if we avoid all people/activities for so long? Will you be willing to take one that hasn't had any long term studies on it? Isn't that risking health issues just as much as Covid?2 -
Better safe than sorry until we get an effective vaccine
Do you really think we will get an effective vaccine? There's never been a vaccine for a coronavirus before, viruses mutate all the time, and we can't even get a decent vaccine for the flu half the time (it seems like anyway). Not to mention there will be no long term studies to see what effects any vaccine will have long term....just seems like hoping for a vaccine is a pipe dream at best.
It just doesn't seem realistic - and honest question, will you be happy to live the rest of your life isolated from friends and family? Because that could happen if we don't come up with a vaccine. I mean we can hope for a vaccine that is long term proven both effective and safe but what will our mental health be if we avoid all people/activities for so long? Will you be willing to take one that hasn't had any long term studies on it? Isn't that risking health issues just as much as Covid?
The flu vaccine is actually very effective, the problem is there are many versions of the flu and they don't always predict the correct ones. Even so, if everyone who could get the vaccine every year did get it, we would have a better chance on any given year of at least approaching herd immunity and greatly reducing flu transmission.
One of the primary reasons there are no coronavirus vaccines is that the common coronaviruses are not dangerous and the dangerous ones are not common. It's simply not budget conscious. C19 is I think the first coronavirus to warrant the time and resources to develop and produce a vaccine.
My understanding from researchers I follow on social media is the two major vaccines being tested in the US are being built with ingredients already being used in other vaccines. Assuming phase 3 of either trial shows efficacy, I will be in line for a jab as soon as I'm allowed. As more data comes out, it sounds like a measurable percentage of people end up with long term side effects like chronic fatigue, heart inflammation, circulatory issues, even those who had a mild illness. Could be as high as 40%. Serious stuff.
It is quite possible that at least in the beginning, continuing boosters will be required to maintain some level of immunity.
Having said that, of course there's no guarantee. If there is no vaccine, efforts will have to switch to increasingly efficient testing and treatment to avoid the millions of deaths seen in 1918. I'll worry about that bridge if we get there, which hopefully we won't. But I'm not going to throw caution to the wind now because I might have to throw caution to the wind later. We don't know enough yet to give up IMHO.19 -
@kushiel1
I will take one day at the time. Too soon yet to determine what the outcome of a vaccine or the pandemic will be. For the time being, I stay at home with my husband as much as possible. I don't want my kids to have to worry about us; they have enough taking care of their families.
With respect to my mental health... everybody knows that I am nuts, so they probably wouldn't notice the difference
Edited to add that kimie already said what I was thinking in posting, so no need to repeat it because she did a good job. I am a biologist and I follow the science, but under the present circumstance I prefer not to start elaborating more than is needed.
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@kushiel1
I will take one day at the time. Too soon yet to determine what the outcome of a vaccine or the pandemic will be. For the time being, I stay at home with my husband as much as possible. I don't want my kids to have to worry about us; they have enough taking care of their families.
With respect to my mental health... everybody knows that I am nuts, so they probably wouldn't notice the difference
Edited to add that kimie already said what I was thinking in posting, so no need to repeat it because she did a good job. I am a biologist and I follow the science, but under the present circumstance I prefer not to start elaborating more than is needed.
I'm glad to hear someone who has some scientific background sign off on what I've gleaned myself! I try to vet the folks I follow online, but you never know.7 -
WFH... I keep the same hours I did in the office. 7:30 to 3:30 most days (Monday I do 7 to 3) unless there is a late meeting or something odd happening, which is rare. I do this because (a) that is what hours I need to be available for my job and (b) I don't want work to bleed into my ME time. I need that balance due to my anxiety, depression, and physical health. So when it is time to log off, I log off and get away from my work computer.
I am just so done with things. My health is in the toilet because of all of this. The stress. The anxiety. The isolation. I seem to have no drive and no will power any more. My support system is no where near what it was. No in person contact, especially with work, has really gotten to me.19 -
WFH... I keep the same hours I did in the office. 7:30 to 3:30 most days (Monday I do 7 to 3) unless there is a late meeting or something odd happening, which is rare. I do this because (a) that is what hours I need to be available for my job and (b) I don't want work to bleed into my ME time. I need that balance due to my anxiety, depression, and physical health. So when it is time to log off, I log off and get away from my work computer.
I am just so done with things. My health is in the toilet because of all of this. The stress. The anxiety. The isolation. I seem to have no drive and no will power any more. My support system is no where near what it was. No in person contact, especially with work, has really gotten to me.
I'm really sorry you're going through all of this. It has been hard. Harder for some than others.
I'm not going to minimize what you're going through. It's a difficult reality for many. Have you thought of maybe going for a walk or trying to find some socially distant activities? Isolation is very hard. Perhaps adopt a pet so you're not so lonely if you can afford to do that.8 -
SummerSkier wrote: »My friend a science fiction writer wrote this to honor her sister in law who passed away last month from Covid. It's chilling.
http://www.elizabethmoon.com/site/Bring.Out.Your.Dead.html
Chilling indeed. I haven't come across her stuff in a while, but then I don't get to read as much as I used to. She's great.
So sorry for her loss.
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Crazy how much regulations are changing week to week. Medical procedure this week, as of a couple weeks ago I was supposed to have a CV test 72 hours prior. Never got a call so I called them, evidently now they aren’t requiring them anymore. Not sad about that!1
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