Coronavirus prep
Replies
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SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »Well the CDC says it is now okay to not wear masks outside or indoors unless in super close quarters like a bus/train. How does everyone feel about going maskless now?
I think this guidance was premature. There's still a lot of virus out there. We do mitigation testing at my workplace, and still have people testing positive, including fully vaccinated people. Those fully vaccinated did not get very sick, had mild symptoms, but some passed it on to unvaccinated family members, who did get quite ill.
It's going to make it really hard for individual businesses to enforce mask rules. People can just say they are vaccinated, even if they are not.
I think that in my area, where there is really high mask compliance, we'll see a very slow change, not people just suddenly flinging off their masks.
I know I'm still going to wear mine in grocery stores, at work, and any indoor public places. Outside for a walk, no.
Individual businesses can still require masks.
From the CDC:
For now, if you’ve been fully vaccinated:
You will still need to follow guidance at your workplace and local businesses.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html
Yes, but it's going to make it more difficult for those businesses. They are going to have to deal with more arguments from people, as they no longer have CDC guidelines and local ordinances to point to. They are going to hear a lot of "But, I'm vaccinated, and the CDC said..."
I understand it's in the fine print that you still need to comply with workplace and business guidelines, but that's not in the headlines that people are reading.
In Chicago, at least, I see no changes. Indoor rules are still followed, as well as outdoor retail (like the garden store I went to today and I'm sure the big green market I'll hit tomorrow).
I saw a bar owner on Twitter talking about the new rules that late hours closing can recommence if it's only vaccinated people, and a friend of a friend who owns a bar expressed similar sentiments -- if you can card people, you can check vaccination cards.5 -
Also here downtown is FAR from fully open. I've heard from coworkers that traffic from the northern and western burbs is bad, but LSD is still far from normal rush hour traffic and has way worse traffic heading south from downtown in the evenings, which is weird. Traffic on some other internal streets is and has been as bad as ever, but not from my northside neighborhood to the Loop at all. The actual Loop is more populated than at some points, but still nothing near normal and a huge number of normal lunch places are closed.
I'm planning to start experimenting with the L again now that I'm fully vaxxed + 2 weeks, but it's hard to do when the L will take twice as long as driving (pre covid driving would take as long or longer in the morning).1 -
Where I live, although plenty are reasonably not wearing masks outdoors (and they are still required indoors), and I live in a neighborhood where I assume most are vaccinated, I think there's more potential issue with people scared to resume normal life because of any risk at all, even risk similar to what we always faced. But that's just what I'm seeing.3
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Where I live, although plenty are reasonably not wearing masks outdoors (and they are still required indoors), and I live in a neighborhood where I assume most are vaccinated, I think there's more potential issue with people scared to resume normal life because of any risk at all, even risk similar to what we always faced. But that's just what I'm seeing.
There are only about 20 employees working in person at my office right now, and anyone who hasn't shown the GM their vaccine card must still wear a mask, the rest of us don't have to. I've been dropping by once a week to do the onsite tasks I can't do from home, and this week I decided to stop masking. And I was surprised by how weird it felt. Like one of those dreams where you're at work and realize you forgot to wear pants
It wasn't necessarily fear (though as a worrier I can't help but worry that something will go horribly wrong and I'm sure that was part of it). I don't know, I just felt like I had forgotten something the whole time! I actually held a folder in front of my nose & mouth at one point as I walked down the hallway without realizing it, and when I did, I was like, what are you doing lol? 14 -
snowflake954 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »I'll give a report on Italy. We're moving along with vaccinations. Doing 65+ now and I'm in that group, so last day of May is my appointment for 1st dose--Pfizer. Husband lucked out and is all done (slipped into a cancellation slot).
Our problem is: vaccines ordered are not arriving as promised. AZ is especially the culprit, and the UE is cancelling future contracts with them. Pfizer arrivals are slow too and it was announced that instead of receiving the 2nd dose 2 weeks after it will be extended to 40 days. Sigh, that'll effect me. Better half than nothing.
COVID is slowing here. As the days get longer there are fewer infections and rules are being loosened. For now bars and restaurants have to have tables outside and everything must close at 9:30pm and everyone must go home. Soon this will be moved to 11:00pm, and people will be seated inside again. Masks and distancing are still required. Schools are open, as are museums. Soon theaters, cinemas, gyms, and pools etc. will open with caution. We now have a 3.5% transmission rate. Deaths are way down. So, things are looking up.
I've kept up with my exercising since October--stretching and yoga at home, and powerwalking, running for 45 min every morning around the park. I think we've missed 5 days, for rain, in 7 and a half months. However, I miss the pool. I can't wait until it opens, and I can get back in the gym for some strength training.
I just got a message from the health dept. My 1st dose of Pfizer is confirmed for May 29th. The 2nd dose has been pushed back to July 3rd. I was expecting it, but I'm just so disappointed now that it's happened. I'd like to tell them to shove it.
Our second shot was extended to 16 weeks. I got my first March 3 and my second was booked for April 8 - then they emailed me to say it was pushed back to June 28.
I was a bit pissed at first, but after looking into it I am now 100% on board with getting everyone their first shot more quickly by extending the second dose. I wouldn't want to get my second shot while other at risk people were still waiting for their first.
I am surprised though that you are only getting yours now. I thought Ontario was bad with the rollout, but we are down to the 30+ age group next week here and everyone 18+ is supposed to be eligible by the end of May (but I guess that is an effect of giving only the first dose).
Our third wave surge seems to have peaked so hopefully now that about 50% of our population has their first dose the worst is behind us.
"Eligible" and "vaccine appointment availability" are two very different things, however. We've been going in two week spurts here because supply has been so limited, although supposedly that will improve in June. And I'm hoping they're right because in July the second shots will be due for the March patients.
When I checked the city health department’s site yesterday, it said you can book your appointment either online or by calling a service phone to leave your number and they will call you back. They made it very clear to only call once even if you don’t hear from them soon, as they will only call people back when they have appointments available, and that can take more than a week after a person has called them. 2nd shots are extended to 8ish weeks, I think.
A friend recently found out that whenever new age groups are opened, they open online booking at midnight. I don’t know if that’s the case elsewhere, but at least here it’s definitely worth it to stay awake until midnight the night before, so you can book it as soon as the clock hits midnight and the opening date rolls in. A friend group with eligible people talked about it this week, and the difference between booking at midnight and in the morning was that the midnight bookers got appointments booked about a week earlier.
Yeah we did that here for my daughter. She got a shot booked on the main provincial site but it was a bit of a drive and two weeks away. We have “pop up” clinics that are local and only book a week in advance - so I logged on right before midnight and right at 12 a whole day of open slots opened up 5 minutes from our house 7 days away so I booked that and cancelled the other one. She went on her lunch break and was there and back without having to miss any work.
That’s why I am so confused about people posting that they can only get Pfizer in limited places in Australia (and maybe other countries). Here they are giving it everywhere - pharmacies, pop up clinics, hockey rinks, community centres, workplaces. There must be a way to transport it because we are doing it here.
The real question is why enough doses aren't arriving in Europe---they were ordered.
Yeah I am shocked about that. We had a super slow roll out compared to the US and we seem to have loads of vaccine now. Did Europe maybe order Astra Zeneca first and then decide to switch to Pfizer after the side effects or something? I think Canada went all in on all the vaccines from the beginning to hedge our bets, but Pfizer is the one we have the most of and has the most regular deliveries coming in right now. I think it is also the one we will be sticking with going forward, from my understanding we have already secured booster doses for the next few years in case we need them.
Nope, EU went all in on all vaccines and has ordered
- 600 million doses of Pfizer
- 460 million doses of Moderna
- 400 million doses of Astra Zeneca
- 400 million doses of Johnson & Johnson
- 800 million doses of vaccines that are still in development / aren’t approved yet
Total population of EU is about 445 million people, including children who aren’t eligible. That’s about 6 doses per citizen even if you count every single person regardless of whether they’re actually eligible.
From what I understand, the biggest delivery issues were/are because some biological instabilities in vaccine production, as well as export bans that prevent vaccine and equipment manufacturers from shipping deliveries out of their own countries.
I honestly don't understand it then. We have no domestic production at all, and were late getting vaccines, and Ontario (my province) has 50% of adults vaccinated with first dose. Not sure why Europe is behind except maybe because we only have 37 million people here in Canada so the amount we need is just a drop in the bucket comparatively?
I mean I heard a doctor from our vaccine advisory committee on the radio last week saying there is no need to take the minute risk of Astra Zeneca because we are "swimming" in mRNA vaccines. So idk.4 -
snowflake954 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »I'll give a report on Italy. We're moving along with vaccinations. Doing 65+ now and I'm in that group, so last day of May is my appointment for 1st dose--Pfizer. Husband lucked out and is all done (slipped into a cancellation slot).
Our problem is: vaccines ordered are not arriving as promised. AZ is especially the culprit, and the UE is cancelling future contracts with them. Pfizer arrivals are slow too and it was announced that instead of receiving the 2nd dose 2 weeks after it will be extended to 40 days. Sigh, that'll effect me. Better half than nothing.
COVID is slowing here. As the days get longer there are fewer infections and rules are being loosened. For now bars and restaurants have to have tables outside and everything must close at 9:30pm and everyone must go home. Soon this will be moved to 11:00pm, and people will be seated inside again. Masks and distancing are still required. Schools are open, as are museums. Soon theaters, cinemas, gyms, and pools etc. will open with caution. We now have a 3.5% transmission rate. Deaths are way down. So, things are looking up.
I've kept up with my exercising since October--stretching and yoga at home, and powerwalking, running for 45 min every morning around the park. I think we've missed 5 days, for rain, in 7 and a half months. However, I miss the pool. I can't wait until it opens, and I can get back in the gym for some strength training.
I just got a message from the health dept. My 1st dose of Pfizer is confirmed for May 29th. The 2nd dose has been pushed back to July 3rd. I was expecting it, but I'm just so disappointed now that it's happened. I'd like to tell them to shove it.
Our second shot was extended to 16 weeks. I got my first March 3 and my second was booked for April 8 - then they emailed me to say it was pushed back to June 28.
I was a bit pissed at first, but after looking into it I am now 100% on board with getting everyone their first shot more quickly by extending the second dose. I wouldn't want to get my second shot while other at risk people were still waiting for their first.
I am surprised though that you are only getting yours now. I thought Ontario was bad with the rollout, but we are down to the 30+ age group next week here and everyone 18+ is supposed to be eligible by the end of May (but I guess that is an effect of giving only the first dose).
Our third wave surge seems to have peaked so hopefully now that about 50% of our population has their first dose the worst is behind us.
"Eligible" and "vaccine appointment availability" are two very different things, however. We've been going in two week spurts here because supply has been so limited, although supposedly that will improve in June. And I'm hoping they're right because in July the second shots will be due for the March patients.
When I checked the city health department’s site yesterday, it said you can book your appointment either online or by calling a service phone to leave your number and they will call you back. They made it very clear to only call once even if you don’t hear from them soon, as they will only call people back when they have appointments available, and that can take more than a week after a person has called them. 2nd shots are extended to 8ish weeks, I think.
A friend recently found out that whenever new age groups are opened, they open online booking at midnight. I don’t know if that’s the case elsewhere, but at least here it’s definitely worth it to stay awake until midnight the night before, so you can book it as soon as the clock hits midnight and the opening date rolls in. A friend group with eligible people talked about it this week, and the difference between booking at midnight and in the morning was that the midnight bookers got appointments booked about a week earlier.
Yeah we did that here for my daughter. She got a shot booked on the main provincial site but it was a bit of a drive and two weeks away. We have “pop up” clinics that are local and only book a week in advance - so I logged on right before midnight and right at 12 a whole day of open slots opened up 5 minutes from our house 7 days away so I booked that and cancelled the other one. She went on her lunch break and was there and back without having to miss any work.
That’s why I am so confused about people posting that they can only get Pfizer in limited places in Australia (and maybe other countries). Here they are giving it everywhere - pharmacies, pop up clinics, hockey rinks, community centres, workplaces. There must be a way to transport it because we are doing it here.
The real question is why enough doses aren't arriving in Europe---they were ordered.
Yeah I am shocked about that. We had a super slow roll out compared to the US and we seem to have loads of vaccine now. Did Europe maybe order Astra Zeneca first and then decide to switch to Pfizer after the side effects or something? I think Canada went all in on all the vaccines from the beginning to hedge our bets, but Pfizer is the one we have the most of and has the most regular deliveries coming in right now. I think it is also the one we will be sticking with going forward, from my understanding we have already secured booster doses for the next few years in case we need them.
Nope, EU went all in on all vaccines and has ordered
- 600 million doses of Pfizer
- 460 million doses of Moderna
- 400 million doses of Astra Zeneca
- 400 million doses of Johnson & Johnson
- 800 million doses of vaccines that are still in development / aren’t approved yet
Total population of EU is about 445 million people, including children who aren’t eligible. That’s about 6 doses per citizen even if you count every single person regardless of whether they’re actually eligible.
From what I understand, the biggest delivery issues were/are because some biological instabilities in vaccine production, as well as export bans that prevent vaccine and equipment manufacturers from shipping deliveries out of their own countries.
I honestly don't understand it then. We have no domestic production at all, and were late getting vaccines, and Ontario (my province) has 50% of adults vaccinated with first dose. Not sure why Europe is behind except maybe because we only have 37 million people here in Canada so the amount we need is just a drop in the bucket comparatively?
I mean I heard a doctor from our vaccine advisory committee on the radio last week saying there is no need to take the minute risk of Astra Zeneca because we are "swimming" in mRNA vaccines. So idk.
We did get a later start than many countries (at least the US) because the approval process took longer. We’re catching up though, 43,7% of eligible Finnish citizens have received at least one dose. I can’t speak for all of Europe as countries and cultures are vastly different, but at least here the vaccination process, scheduling and distribution has been pretty efficiently organized. Apart from the AZ blood clot issue causing vaccine hesitancy and media panic, the only problems, from what I’ve seen, have been in vaccine availability.5 -
It will be interesting to see in what direction my workplace goes. They answer to a global company as well as local and state laws of course. They cannot require folks to get vaccinated nor can they ask if they are. They have followed requirements and CDC recommendations to the letter.
We are a manufacturing facility, and we have a weekly managers' call to review cases, isolations, and how well people are following social distance and mask requirements. There are typically anywhere from 1 to 2 cases per week and over the entire time frame we have had 1 death. Many of the support teams who do not need to be on the floor (like me) have been remote for over a year now. I expect starting in June we will be returning. As far as I can tell there has been no community contagion within the workplace with most of the cases from outside contact. They do contact tracing as well.
Will we relax the masking requirements?
Will the statistics show increases if we do?
A significant # of the folks I interact with have been vaccinated but total is unknown of course.
There are always a lot of unknowns but such is life. I do not think we can do anything but take reasonable precautions to be safe while having a good quality of life. To me wearing a mask in the grocery for 20 minutes is easy but for that checkout clerk wearing it for 8 hours that's rougher.
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@kimny72 I'm anxious to hear what TWIV has to say about this development.
I'm am with those who are still masking. I have one 12-15 (has had 1st dose) and one under 10 child in the household. Both have suspect autoimmune issues. So all the vaccinated in the house are going to continue with outdoor distancing, and indoor masking and distancing, until these 2 are protected. Community spread has never gone down here, there are many, many anti-vaccine folks, and we are just on the slow decrease from a mini-surge here from Gov. Lee releasing all business and capacity restrictions and local govt releasing mask mandates, that were poorly followed to begin with. So it's nice that so many are celebrating, but it's unwise in our opinion considering our area's predilections, and until my kids with wonky systems are fully safe, we will continue to be fully safe. If I read on the local news' Facebook pages one more comment about how the person "identifies as vaccinated" I will literally scream out loud.
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@baconslave Yeah I see a lot of pundits on social media say "if you trust the science and you're vaccinated you should stop wearing a mask". And that's such an oversimplified translation of what the CDC is saying. It's true in a vacuum. And it might only be true temporarily. There are still a lot of people in situations like yours, or with medical conditions that may affect their reaction to the vaxx, or in areas that are just now getting access. But I'd bet most of the restrictions in the US will be lifted within the next week or two. The gov of VA ended mask mandates as of midnight last night and said capacity restrictions will end May 28. Last I looked, VA was just approaching 50% vaccinated.3
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@baconslave Yeah I see a lot of pundits on social media say "if you trust the science and you're vaccinated you should stop wearing a mask". And that's such an oversimplified translation of what the CDC is saying. It's true in a vacuum. And it might only be true temporarily. There are still a lot of people in situations like yours, or with medical conditions that may affect their reaction to the vaxx, or in areas that are just now getting access. But I'd bet most of the restrictions in the US will be lifted within the next week or two. The gov of VA ended mask mandates as of midnight last night and said capacity restrictions will end May 28. Last I looked, VA was just approaching 50% vaccinated.
My corner of TN is 30% or less depending on the county. Mine in particular is 24%. We have ample vaccine. We literally can't give it away.7 -
baconslave wrote: »If I read on the local news' Facebook pages one more comment about how the person "identifies as vaccinated" I will literally scream out loud.
What does ”identifies as vaccinated” mean? Are people saying they identify as vaccinated because they believe for some reason they have immunity without vaccination and their conviction is as good as the vaccine, or is this some sick joke that allows them to ignore safety procedures unvaccinated people need to follow? I’m genuinely confused.
Edited to add: stuff like this is why I refuse to read comment sections of news outlets.6 -
baconslave wrote: »If I read on the local news' Facebook pages one more comment about how the person "identifies as vaccinated" I will literally scream out loud.
What does ”identifies as vaccinated” mean? Are people saying they identify as vaccinated because they believe for some reason they have immunity without vaccination and their conviction is as good as the vaccine, or is this some sick joke that allows them to ignore safety procedures unvaccinated people need to follow? I’m genuinely confused.
Edited to add: stuff like this is why I refuse to read comment sections of news outlets.
I don't want to veer off into the political, but they are making fun of people who identify as a different gender while making fun of the CDC. They're saying they are not going to get vaccinated and not wear a mask.
I had to rephrase those sentences multiple times to try to take the teeth out of how I feel about it lol.19 -
baconslave wrote: »If I read on the local news' Facebook pages one more comment about how the person "identifies as vaccinated" I will literally scream out loud.
What does ”identifies as vaccinated” mean? Are people saying they identify as vaccinated because they believe for some reason they have immunity without vaccination and their conviction is as good as the vaccine, or is this some sick joke that allows them to ignore safety procedures unvaccinated people need to follow? I’m genuinely confused.
Edited to add: stuff like this is why I refuse to read comment sections of news outlets.
I don't want to veer off into the political, but they are making fun of people who identify as a different gender while making fun of the CDC. They're saying they are not going to get vaccinated and not wear a mask.
I had to rephrase those sentences multiple times to try to take the teeth out of how I feel about it lol.
Ugh. I was afraid this was somehow related to mocking gender identities. Definitely not going to comment on this particular one further, my life does not need these kinds of politics. Stay safe, folks.7 -
@baconslave Yeah I see a lot of pundits on social media say "if you trust the science and you're vaccinated you should stop wearing a mask". And that's such an oversimplified translation of what the CDC is saying. It's true in a vacuum. And it might only be true temporarily. There are still a lot of people in situations like yours, or with medical conditions that may affect their reaction to the vaxx, or in areas that are just now getting access. But I'd bet most of the restrictions in the US will be lifted within the next week or two. The gov of VA ended mask mandates as of midnight last night and said capacity restrictions will end May 28. Last I looked, VA was just approaching 50% vaccinated.
This is why I've followed this thread from the beginning, because it is so fascinating to see what is going on in other areas of the world.
By contrast, I live in a province which just extended the stay-at-home order until June 2nd, where masks remain mandatory indoors, where I cannot buy anything but essential items in person (non-essentials are curbside only), restaurants are takeout only, and even golf courses are closed. I think there are restrictions on other outdoor activities as well but I haven't really paid close attention since I'm not going to be camping or fishing.
Apparently over 50% of the adult population of the province has received at least one vaccination dose so far.12 -
baconslave wrote: »@baconslave Yeah I see a lot of pundits on social media say "if you trust the science and you're vaccinated you should stop wearing a mask". And that's such an oversimplified translation of what the CDC is saying. It's true in a vacuum. And it might only be true temporarily. There are still a lot of people in situations like yours, or with medical conditions that may affect their reaction to the vaxx, or in areas that are just now getting access. But I'd bet most of the restrictions in the US will be lifted within the next week or two. The gov of VA ended mask mandates as of midnight last night and said capacity restrictions will end May 28. Last I looked, VA was just approaching 50% vaccinated.
My corner of TN is 30% or less depending on the county. Mine in particular is 24%. We have ample vaccine. We literally can't give it away.
Memphis is actually raffling off a car trying to encourage people to get vaccinated. Makes me a little sick, thinking of all the people in India who would do anything for a vaccine, we have them and don’t care.
Read an article this morning, I can’t remember the exact percent of fully vaccinated here but it’s about 25%, plus antibody studies suggest another 25% or so have had it. So locally we are about half. Still in the three digits of new cases every day.5 -
A little update from Belgium: all our statistics are freefalling. The numbers of hospitalisations and patients on icu have plummeted, and we have a 98% of people over 65 that have had their first dose. The further administration of doses is slow due to the limited availability and I (51 and healthy) will have to wait till mid June for my first dose.
Luckily it is very well organised and all appointments are made automatically, I will get a message about a week in advance that will communicate date and time.
We still have to wear masks in places where distancing is limited, but a lot of other restrictions have been eased: we can go eat out outside with a max of 4 per table, schools are open again and we will be able to go to work again in a limited capacity (1 day/week and 20% off workforce) as from June 1st. However, we were also reminded that with freedom comes responsibility (and the Indian variant is looming) and thus Hubbie and I haven’t been eating out just yet, we will wait for at least our first dose. Our manager also stated that she won’t open up the office until everyone is vaxxed, which I appreciate.
Counting down the weeks now to get back to a slightly more normal life.15 -
Well my neighbor's workplace has decided that vaccinated get to go mask free, unvaccinated need to continue masking. My neighbor doesn't want to wear a "mask of shame" around her office as she is one of a handful unvaccinated, so she has finally decided to go get it done! Glad to see at least one case where the CDC's incentives worked as they intended!
Before you ask, no she has no medical reason to not get it. She was just on the fence about it for the usual excuses.24 -
I'm happy to stop masking, but I have to say it's been nice not getting sick at all over the last 14 months, not even a little cold. For that reason, I may still wear them when I'm going to be inside for extended periods, or at clinics, etc... I will continue to wash hands frequently, and apply sanitizer when exiting a public place... sanitizer is something I will continue to keep handy, a bottle in my car and a small vial in my handbag.13
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Running or walking outside where it isn't crowded - I have unmasked
Anything indoors with a fair number of people, such as in restaurants and grocery stores - I will still mask for the foreseeable future
How do I know if all unmasked folks have been vaccinated?
I am looking forward to getting together with vaxxed friends and family. Can't wait until we can have a family gathering again. Mom turned 95 last January and one aunt turned 90 last February and we couldn't have a big party then. Maybe a big party for my uncle's 97th birthday in July and celebrate the others late? I hope so!15
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