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Reacher

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7 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Yeah, pretty much. There are days where my energy is a little lower than I like, but I'm pretty much back to normal...

Thanks for asking...

Good to hear. I've had multiple friends/family test positive and for the most part it's been a week or so of down time and slowly but surely back to normal. Others I know haven't been that fortunate. Glad to hear things are looking up. 

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Sobering front page of the NYT showing a black dot for all 500,000 of the US COVID deaths. We’ve obviously been following this thing all along, but I’m still shocked to sit and think that at least 500,000 people are dead in the US b/c of COVID. That’s a staggering amount of loss. 

My Administrative Coordinator has had so many friends and relatives die over the last year. She’s very active in her church (through Zoom this year), but the number of older, black people she knows who have died is just brutal. Recently one of her Sunday school teachers was admitted to the hospital for something else. She caught COVID in the hospital, was placed on a ventilator, and died last week. 

 

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4 hours ago, 5fouls said:

In Indiana, the percentage of ICU beds in use by Covid patients is now 7.4%.  That's the lowest figure since the state began tracking the stat on 4/8/20.

Numbers are looking much better for most places. And the winter wasn’t quite as horrific as I expected. Happy to be wrong about that. 

Our governor has went full on movie villain at this point though. What a douchebag. It’s like he’s insulted that people question him about the nursing home deaths. 

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5 minutes ago, Lostin76 said:

Numbers are looking much better for most places. And the winter wasn’t quite as horrific as I expected. Happy to be wrong about that. 

Our governor has went full on movie villain at this point though. What a douchebag. It’s like he’s insulted that people question him about the nursing home deaths. 

I'll keep this as close to board rules as I possibly can. My clients in NY knew exactly what was coming last March/April when he made those decisions.

I'm actually impressed he was able to keep this quiet for 13 months but I'll stop at that to keep in line with board rules.

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4 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

I'll keep this as close to board rules as I possibly can. My clients in NY knew exactly what was coming last March/April when he made those decisions.

I'm actually impressed he was able to keep this quiet for 13 months but I'll stop at that to keep in line with board rules.

Not surprised by that at all. But yeah, board rules. 

If you lived in NY back then, you knew that it was going to be a deluge of cases and deaths pretty quickly. Hospitals were struggling to figure it out and nursing homes had no chance. 

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1 hour ago, 5fouls said:

While I agree Prison Workers should be vaccinated in early phases, I gotta say vaccinating prisoners before all at-risk people in the general population are vaccinated is just flat wrong.   

That's a tough one. I agree others should be in line first...but an employer (in this case corrections) has 70,000 employees in CA going in and out of one of the worst prison systems in the country. When they leave the prison they go to restaurants, bars, grocery stores,etc....

 It's almost safer to make sure the prisoners are healthy. Not to mention some of them are there on small time stuff....should they receive a death sentence for a $25 bag of crack? Just a thought. 

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16 hours ago, Seeking6 said:

That's a tough one. I agree others should be in line first...but an employer (in this case corrections) has 70,000 employees in CA going in and out of one of the worst prison systems in the country. When they leave the prison they go to restaurants, bars, grocery stores,etc....

 It's almost safer to make sure the prisoners are healthy. Not to mention some of them are there on small time stuff....should they receive a death sentence for a $25 bag of crack? Just a thought. 

The way I see it, delivery should be risk based- not occupation based. Doesn't a Walmart worker have more exposure than medical office employee? You can go on and on with this and ultimately you are just playing favorites. Prisoners in one state, teachers in another, etc.

Why not start with nursing homes, than people in their 90s, 80s, 70s, those fighting cancer, other high risk conditions etc.

Those are the most likely to be hospitalized and or die. Shouldn't they be our focus? Otherwise, you are ok with more people dying than is necessary. 

I'd carve out full time nursing home workers and hospital staff exposed to Covid patients for expedited vaccines. But why does my neighbor in her 30s who is an audiologist working from home need a vaccine because she used to see elderly patients? Or the a/c guy whose company has a contract with a hospital? 

In your example, I doubt anyone who sold a $25 bag of crack is spending much time in a state prison- especially these days. If so, probably not elderly with health issues to put at risk of death.

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12 minutes ago, Reacher said:

The way I see it, delivery should be risk based- not occupation based. Doesn't a Walmart worker have more exposure than medical office employee? You can go on and on with this and ultimately you are just playing favorites. Prisoners in one state, teachers in another, etc.

Why not start with nursing homes, than people in their 90s, 80s, 70s, those fighting cancer, other high risk conditions etc.

Those are the most likely to be hospitalized and or die. Shouldn't they be our focus? Otherwise, you are ok with more people dying than is necessary. 

I'd carve out full time nursing home workers and hospital staff exposed to Covid patients for expedited vaccines. But why does my neighbor in her 30s who is an audiologist working from home need a vaccine because she used to see elderly patients? Or the a/c guy whose company has a contract with a hospital? 

In your example, I doubt anyone who sold a $25 bag of crack is spending much time in a state prison- especially these days. If so, probably not elderly with health issues to put at risk of death.

All good points. Not to turn the thread around....but check out federal sentencing guidelines and rules. Thousands of people spending 15 years plus for $25 worth of crack...mostly in federal.

Anyway back to coronavirus. Glad to see Indiana rolling this one out so smoothly. All of my family members over the age of 65 have been vaccinated at least once. Many are getting second this week. 

 

 

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21 hours ago, Seeking6 said:

All good points. Not to turn the thread around....but check out federal sentencing guidelines and rules. Thousands of people spending 15 years plus for $25 worth of crack...mostly in federal.

Anyway back to coronavirus. Glad to see Indiana rolling this one out so smoothly. All of my family members over the age of 65 have been vaccinated at least once. Many are getting second this week. 

 

 

Super encouraging to see the speed of vaccinations increasing and cases going down. We have a new variant here in NYC that is freaking some people out, but hopefully it won’t reverse the trends. My dad and grandmother are both fully vaccinated in Indiana. We’ve been fully vaccinated for some time, but still behaving as if nothing has changed. 

Last year on this day my wife and I arrived in Mexico City for her birthday. It was an incredible trip to an amazing city - probably my favorite city I’ve ever visited.

Felt like the last big hurrah before the world changed. On our way home we were starting to see people in the airport wearing masks and we were like, “Man, these people are totally over-reacting.”

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21 minutes ago, Lostin76 said:

Super encouraging to see the speed of vaccinations increasing and cases going down. We have a new variant here in NYC that is freaking some people out, but hopefully it won’t reverse the trends. My dad and grandmother are both fully vaccinated in Indiana. We’ve been fully vaccinated for some time, but still behaving as if nothing has changed. 

Last year on this day my wife and I arrived in Mexico City for her birthday. It was an incredible trip to an amazing city - probably my favorite city I’ve ever visited.

Felt like the last big hurrah before the world changed. On our way home we were starting to see people in the airport wearing masks and we were like, “Man, these people are totally over-reacting.”

It is so weird how much mask wearing has evolved here.  I used to always chuckle a little when you'd see people in Asia wearing masks.  I even remember a student in class wearing one last year around this time and everyone being thrown off by it.  Even after masks are no longer required at places, I would guess we'll continue to see some people wearing masks for a really long time. 

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Some great up to date stats in here. 

After receiving the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus from China, it took Moderna just two days (two days!!) to generate the sequence of the vaccine. In less than a month, they produced the first clinical batch of the mRNA-1273 vaccine that has now seen tens of millions of doses distributed. It moved through clinical trials at warp speed, going from idea, to FDA authorization, to shots in arms in less than a year. In short, it's a modern-day medical miracle.

The COVID-19 vaccines – Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson to name a few - are the key to unlocking sustainable growth in the economy. They are critical for ending restrictions that have devastated small and medium size businesses from coast to coast. And the effect of reopening is more impactful than the trillions of dollars the government has thrown at the economy (and the spending isn't over). Government spending is a Band-Aid, while reopening heals the root cause of our economic ailment. As the data shows, vaccine distribution is well under way. The rollout hasn't been perfect, nobody will argue that, but it is accelerating, and the economy is following suit.

We believe it's possible – dare we say likely - that the US can hit herd immunity in mid-to-late April. The ramifications for the US economy of plummeting cases, declining hospitalizations, and fewer lives lost to the virus can hardly be understated. But the underlying details of the overall data are even more impressive.

So far, 82.1 million vaccine doses have been distributed with 65.0 million having been administered, and 44.5 million people having received at least one dose. That means 13.4% of the US population has some form of antibodies to COVID-19 through vaccination. And vaccine production is ramping up. Based on analysis from Bloomberg, the current delivery pace of 10 to 15 million doses per week is set to rise to 20 million next month, 25 million in April and May, and more than 30 million a week in June. We could move from 1.5 million shots administrated per day to levels two to three times higher.

We all know COVID-19 has more severe health impacts on some groups than others. Those aged 65+ have accounted for over 80% of reported COVID-19 deaths, yet this group makes up only 16.3% of U.S. population. Narrow in on those aged 85+, and it's even more severe. They make up 31.6% of COVID-19 deaths but account for only 1.8% of population!

As we continue to roll out the vaccine, these groups are – and should be – prioritized. Based on the latest data from the CDC, 41.3% of those 65 years and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 53.6% of those 75+ have received at least one dose. The accelerating pace of vaccinations give us the chance to have these groups heavily protected within the next few weeks. In fact, at the current rate of roughly 10 million vaccinations over the last seven days, the rest of those 65+ could get at least one vaccination within three weeks. For those over 75 it would only take seven days if that was the focus!

And remember, the vaccine doesn't just make it less likely that you catch the virus, it also significantly reduces the severity of symptoms (and risk of death) if you do contract. By treating those most vulnerable, the health data is reflecting massive progress. From the peak, cases are down 73%, hospitalizations are off 56%, and daily deaths have declined 38%.

Let's take this one step further. Add the CDC estimate of people who have already been infected with COVID-19 (the latest data is from December so the numbers are a conservative estimate of where we stand today) to those who have already received at least one dose of vaccine, and the numbers are even more promising for the 65+ age bracket, with an estimated 57.9% having some form of antibodies. Yes, the CDC wants those who have had the virus to still get the vaccine, but it doesn't change the fact that their natural immunity has an impact on reducing spread.

We are gradually seeing adoption of the reality that herd immunity could largely be here in just a few months. We expect more to follow as the data continues to improve. Math wins. It has been a long, sad, and destructive journey. Mistakes have been made, lessons have been learned, and as we reflect back on the response the grade is still pending.
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1 hour ago, Leathernecks said:

It is so weird how much mask wearing has evolved here.  I used to always chuckle a little when you'd see people in Asia wearing masks.  I even remember a student in class wearing one last year around this time and everyone being thrown off by it.  Even after masks are no longer required at places, I would guess we'll continue to see some people wearing masks for a really long time. 

It is so weird. I had a staff member ask me in late-December of 2019 if we would have to wear masks and I laughed. 

And there’s this - currently, one of my faculty is in New Zealand for his wedding (he’s from there). He and his wife landed and were immediately escorted to a hotel for a mandatory 14 day quarantine. No exceptions. Food is delivered to them. 

The crazy thing is no one wears masks in NZ anymore he said. They look out their window and talk to people on Facetime and it’s like COVID never existed. 

I think masks are here to stay for at least the rest of this year in many places. 

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