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COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Discuss anything that doesn't fit elsewhere on the site. As a reminder, religion, politics and weaponry are prohibited.
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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by Bbrou33 »

Oh and to follow up on my last post from November about my internal feelings in whether to go home to Louisiana for the holidays or not.
Ultimately I decided to not go. And while I knew I was making the right decision, hearing that my 2 best friends and their wives became positive with covid a few days after Christmas just fully confirmed it.
Both friends caught it from spending Christmas with family who were carrying covid. It would've been inevitable that I would have seen my friends and possibly ended up inside with them. Very possibly catching and spreading it to my family.
What upset me most about the news is that both have very young daughters (younger than 2) yet still did the big family gathering.
Luckily all are doing better now, other than one who still cannot taste or smell.
Anyway, I'm glad my family is still safe. I'll see then soon enough when I'm vaccinated and things are less dangerous.

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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by Spirit of the Watch »

Got the Pfizer vaccine today. Then went immediately to work. Felt great👍


Also, I've heard really stupid thoughts.... from people who went through the same immunology and serology classes as me. Including beliefs the vaccine is short term immunity (yes, your antibody count goes down but you form memory cells..... which is very basic probably covered in bio 101).

Regardless, here's video if you know a hesitant person. Best to get ahead of thoughts becoming belief on this.


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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by Dub Rubb »

Spirit of the Watch wrote:Got the Pfizer vaccine today. Then went immediately to work. Felt great[emoji106]


Also, I've heard really stupid thoughts.... from people who went through the same immunology and serology classes as me. Including beliefs the vaccine is short term immunity (yes, your antibody count goes down but you form memory cells..... which is very basic probably covered in bio 101).

Regardless, here's video if you know a hesitant person. Best to get ahead of thoughts becoming belief on this.


Thanks for this! My mom(a nurse) already got both rounds of the Pfizer vaccine and was just really sore and had aches after round two. It only lasted a day or so and she's feeling great. My wife(a pre school teacher) is gonna get her first on Saturday and she feels good knowing many a nurse that has gotten theirs.

I can get in on round 4 (or 1-D as they are calling it) since I am an essential worker and plan on being first in line.

This early adoption has caused some friction in friendships, but whatever. I am sick of hearing about how it was rushed. Corona viruses ain't new. Yes, this strain is, but still. Also, it's pretty cool what the world can do with literally every country working on a single virus, and the funding to support it. The efforts put into these vaccines is unprecedented in this timeframe, but I don't feel corners were cut.

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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by Stretch44 »

Thought this was an interesting article on the future of COVID-19.

https://api.nationalgeographic.com/dist ... ve-with-it
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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by balcorn80 »

Hey guys new guy here. This thread has been a very good read...

Also I'm stoked to see others getting the vaccination.

I received #1 of the Moderna yesterday.

I encourage others to get it of the have the chance...

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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by balcorn80 »

I don't know what it's like elsewhere to get it, how you figure out when\who qualifies. I don't even know how they do it here in oregon. I'm a volunteer at the local food bank and somehow they got us approved for some doses as essential workers. I went back and forth about feeling bad that I got a spot in line. But finally decided as long as I'm using my "immunity powers" for good I should not feel bad about it.

I lost my grandmother almost 3 weeks ago. She was diagnosed with covid(90 years old) though that's not what took her. Between dimentia and her digestive system being 90 years old, it was just not up to snuff anymore.

My grandfather(also 90) was also diagnosed. He's at home doing ok, getting through it I guess(my aunt and uncle live with him and were his and grandma's caretakers. Now they are just his) and he has had an in-home covid nurse to check in on him too. The funeral is this upcoming week. I'm not attending, as I am staying home to help run the family business(we breed australian labradoodles) so my mom and dad can go.


I live far up in the hills, almost to mt. hood outside of Portland, OR. My life has been pretty untouched. Except for this aspect, the one of death. My parents' home(and my work) is a half mile down the road. My wife and I both work there so we have not had employment issues. Since we work at my parents' farm, we see my parents almost daily. Which has been the norm since before this...

But losing my maternal grandmother in July(who lived next door to my parents, so .75 miles away from me) and my paternal grandmother at the beginning of this month has been tough. Not because I want them back(they were both ready to go home and I do not blame them). But because my family is big on family reunions. So much so that half the parties they have get called reunions and I'm like "but I just saw you last month"(not that I'm complaining or anything. We can always not go if we don't want. No one cares). And not being able to have actual parties and gatherings is hard. Because it seems like half the folks want to do it anyways. And that's hard for me. I get it. I want to be "over" this too. But until we ALL are, I cannot.
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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by Dub Rubb »

balcorn80 wrote:I don't know what it's like elsewhere to get it, how you figure out when\who qualifies. I don't even know how they do it here in oregon. I'm a volunteer at the local food bank and somehow they got us approved for some doses as essential workers. I went back and forth about feeling bad that I got a spot in line. But finally decided as long as I'm using my "immunity powers" for good I should not feel bad about it.

I lost my grandmother almost 3 weeks ago. She was diagnosed with covid(90 years old) though that's not what took her. Between dimentia and her digestive system being 90 years old, it was just not up to snuff anymore.

My grandfather(also 90) was also diagnosed. He's at home doing ok, getting through it I guess(my aunt and uncle live with him and were his and grandma's caretakers. Now they are just his) and he has had an in-home covid nurse to check in on him too. The funeral is this upcoming week. I'm not attending, as I am staying home to help run the family business(we breed australian labradoodles) so my mom and dad can go.


I live far up in the hills, almost to mt. hood outside of Portland, OR. My life has been pretty untouched. Except for this aspect, the one of death. My parents' home(and my work) is a half mile down the road. My wife and I both work there so we have not had employment issues. Since we work at my parents' farm, we see my parents almost daily. Which has been the norm since before this...

But losing my maternal grandmother in July(who lived next door to my parents, so .75 miles away from me) and my paternal grandmother at the beginning of this month has been tough. Not because I want them back(they were both ready to go home and I do not blame them). But because my family is big on family reunions. So much so that half the parties they have get called reunions and I'm like "but I just saw you last month"(not that I'm complaining or anything. We can always not go if we don't want. No one cares). And not being able to have actual parties and gatherings is hard. Because it seems like half the folks want to do it anyways. And that's hard for me. I get it. I want to be "over" this too. But until we ALL are, I cannot.
This is one of those times where I prefer the "thanks" button over the "like" button. I would have had trouble "liking" your post, but am very thankful for your sharing of it. Stay strong bro. And when you are feeling down, surround yourself with all those puppies. That's gotta help you feel better! At least a little! Thanks again bud, and sorry for your loss. Good to see you over here as well my friend.

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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by pdsf »

balcorn80 wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:51 pm I don't know what it's like elsewhere to get it, how you figure out when\who qualifies. I don't even know how they do it here in oregon. I'm a volunteer at the local food bank and somehow they got us approved for some doses as essential workers. I went back and forth about feeling bad that I got a spot in line. But finally decided as long as I'm using my "immunity powers" for good I should not feel bad about it.

I lost my grandmother almost 3 weeks ago. She was diagnosed with covid(90 years old) though that's not what took her. Between dimentia and her digestive system being 90 years old, it was just not up to snuff anymore.

My grandfather(also 90) was also diagnosed. He's at home doing ok, getting through it I guess(my aunt and uncle live with him and were his and grandma's caretakers. Now they are just his) and he has had an in-home covid nurse to check in on him too. The funeral is this upcoming week. I'm not attending, as I am staying home to help run the family business(we breed australian labradoodles) so my mom and dad can go.


I live far up in the hills, almost to mt. hood outside of Portland, OR. My life has been pretty untouched. Except for this aspect, the one of death. My parents' home(and my work) is a half mile down the road. My wife and I both work there so we have not had employment issues. Since we work at my parents' farm, we see my parents almost daily. Which has been the norm since before this...

But losing my maternal grandmother in July(who lived next door to my parents, so .75 miles away from me) and my paternal grandmother at the beginning of this month has been tough. Not because I want them back(they were both ready to go home and I do not blame them). But because my family is big on family reunions. So much so that half the parties they have get called reunions and I'm like "but I just saw you last month"(not that I'm complaining or anything. We can always not go if we don't want. No one cares). And not being able to have actual parties and gatherings is hard. Because it seems like half the folks want to do it anyways. And that's hard for me. I get it. I want to be "over" this too. But until we ALL are, I cannot.
Thanks for sharing. I appreciate your concern, makes sense to me. I have friends who let their guards down during family gatherings and they ended up catching it all at the same time. I am not saying it will happen for sure, but the risk is there. It's been more than a year since I saw my families and close friends. I have some friends here in Atlanta and they have been great.

I used to live in Oregon and I really miss it.

I got my second Pfizer dose on Wednesday. I did not feel any side effects apart from a slightly sore arm after the first dose, but that's not unusual for me as I get that with a flu jab anyway. After the second dose, I did feel a bit slow for slighty more than half of Thursday - I was still able to work though, albeit a bit more challenging to keep up with the pace. I am feeling fine today (Friday). My friends who have had the Pfizer shots reported similar experiences. The nurses who administered the shots for me were both wonderful in their demeanor and they had mad skills!! I hardly felt the shots at all.

The process of getting the shots went smoothly here in my county, but I understand that's not always the case in other places. Everyone seemed a bit anxious, but patient, and everyone adhered to social distancing rules without need for reminders. Staff members did their best to explain the procedures to people so everyone knew what to do before they even got into the building, which was nice to see.

Anyhoo, I hope everyone is doing well.
Last edited by pdsf on Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by BostonCharlie »

pdsf wrote: Fri Jan 29, 2021 6:51 am ... and they had mad skills!! I hardly felt the shots at all. ...
Glad to hear it! Having been donating blood regularly the past year+, I so appreciate good needle skills.
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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by BostonCharlie »

Bad choices by EU leadership might have a long-term impact on the bloc's recovery from the virus. I can imagine this having major political consequences. Especially since the recently Brexited UK is doing so much better with vaccinating its population.

From the WSJ here (paywall):

"Israel has vaccinated 55% of its population, the U.K. 14% and the U.S. 9.4%, against just 2.8% for the EU. ..."
...

With Europe’s vaccine drive struggling to keep up with infections, voters are growing impatient, adding pressure on governments already made unpopular by a year of on-again, off-again lockdowns, a stubborn infection surge and the daily litany of thousands of deaths.

Under fire, the EU has imposed a potential export ban on vaccines while opposition politicians across the bloc are talking of nationalizing manufacturers.

Yet many of the European Union’s difficulties seem to be self-inflicted, according to dozens of health experts, pharmaceutical executives and EU and national-government officials familiar with the negotiations.

While other governments were wooing vaccine makers with subsidies and immunity from liability in case of side effects, the EU focused on pushing prices down and slowing negotiations, which resulted in late orders. It also spread its purchases widely to reduce risk, signing deals with companies that are still months away from approved shots. And it was slow to authorize the vaccines it had purchased.

As a result, vaccination campaigns in the EU started late and were vulnerable to manufacturing hiccups. In January, the makers of all vaccines approved for use in the EU— Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC—announced cuts in deliveries because of manufacturing bottlenecks, forcing governments to slow or pause vaccinations.

Critics of the EU’s approach said the problems began last June, when the European Commission took over an effort by Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy to jointly negotiate with vaccine manufacturers—an initiative that was already behind those in the U.S. and Britain. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reeling from earlier criticism when Berlin had halted shipments of protective equipment on their way to hard-hit countries, backed the move.

But negotiating vaccine purchases wasn’t something the commission had done previously. Its main role is to draft European legislation that it submits to member states for approval. “They are not used to being so hands-on,” an official from a large EU state said.

So the commission took the playbook it knew, that of bare-knuckle trade negotiations that can take months, even years to conduct. It approached the vaccine talks as an exercise in extracting the best-possible deal, not the fastest, said an EU official briefed on the negotiations.

...
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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by BostonCharlie »

Just a PSA to check on the seniors in your life to make sure they are lined up for any vaccination opportunities in their area.

I say this because our county's waitlist application can only be filled out online, which is a barrier for some old timers. My mother wouldn't even know about the waitlist if I weren't on the lookout, and she is pretty web savvy.

I heard one account of a local senior community where the management seems to have dropped the ball -- they promised to get everybody vaccinated, but there's been no progress (or information) about it for months. Hearsay, it's true, but even the possibility is enough to cause concern.

Meanwhile, what the heck is going on in Texas?! (source) On the source page, when you hover over a county it shows its case rate, and some are much worse than the color indicates. These hot-spot counties make a ring around Austin.

new_cases.png
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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by Split-Time »

BostonCharlie wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 8:59 pm Just a PSA to check on the seniors in your life to make sure they are lined up for any vaccination opportunities in their area.

I say this because our county's waitlist application can only be filled out online, which is a barrier for some old timers. My mother wouldn't even know about the waitlist if I weren't on the lookout, and she is pretty web savvy.

I heard one account of a local senior community where the management seems to have dropped the ball -- they promised to get everybody vaccinated, but there's been no progress (or information) about it for months. Hearsay, it's true, but even the possibility is enough to cause concern.

Meanwhile, what the heck is going on in Texas?! (source) On the source page, when you hover over a county it shows its case rate, and some are much worse than the color indicates. These hot-spot counties make a ring around Austin.


new_cases.png
Yes! My wife’s family has five who are eligible based on age and four have received the first round. The fifth was potentially exposed to someone and is not currently eligible. My wife did have to spend a good bit of time on the phone. This is admittedly a small sample size, but given that Alabama has been referred to as the “worst” state for rollout, I take this as very promising!

If there are people if your life who are eligible, or will soon be, please offer to help them through what ever the process is based on your location.
Last edited by Split-Time on Sun Feb 07, 2021 4:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by watchpalooza »

BostonCharlie wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 9:50 am Bad choices by EU leadership might have a long-term impact on the bloc's recovery from the virus. I can imagine this having major political consequences. Especially since the recently Brexited UK is doing so much better with vaccinating its population.

From the WSJ here (paywall):

"Israel has vaccinated 55% of its population, the U.K. 14% and the U.S. 9.4%, against just 2.8% for the EU. ..."
...

With Europe’s vaccine drive struggling to keep up with infections, voters are growing impatient, adding pressure on governments already made unpopular by a year of on-again, off-again lockdowns, a stubborn infection surge and the daily litany of thousands of deaths.

Under fire, the EU has imposed a potential export ban on vaccines while opposition politicians across the bloc are talking of nationalizing manufacturers.

Yet many of the European Union’s difficulties seem to be self-inflicted, according to dozens of health experts, pharmaceutical executives and EU and national-government officials familiar with the negotiations.

While other governments were wooing vaccine makers with subsidies and immunity from liability in case of side effects, the EU focused on pushing prices down and slowing negotiations, which resulted in late orders. It also spread its purchases widely to reduce risk, signing deals with companies that are still months away from approved shots. And it was slow to authorize the vaccines it had purchased.

As a result, vaccination campaigns in the EU started late and were vulnerable to manufacturing hiccups. In January, the makers of all vaccines approved for use in the EU— Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC—announced cuts in deliveries because of manufacturing bottlenecks, forcing governments to slow or pause vaccinations.

Critics of the EU’s approach said the problems began last June, when the European Commission took over an effort by Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy to jointly negotiate with vaccine manufacturers—an initiative that was already behind those in the U.S. and Britain. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reeling from earlier criticism when Berlin had halted shipments of protective equipment on their way to hard-hit countries, backed the move.

But negotiating vaccine purchases wasn’t something the commission had done previously. Its main role is to draft European legislation that it submits to member states for approval. “They are not used to being so hands-on,” an official from a large EU state said.

So the commission took the playbook it knew, that of bare-knuckle trade negotiations that can take months, even years to conduct. It approached the vaccine talks as an exercise in extracting the best-possible deal, not the fastest, said an EU official briefed on the negotiations.

...
Interesting to read this account, as it does not represent much of the news we have heard here. What is reported here is that volumes and shipments were committed to start by a particular date to Europe some time ago....the deal was done. They negotiated as the EU, because this is the normal apparatus and the structure is there...to go country by country individually would be like having each US State negotiate their own agreements and would take a long time. The process was actually quick and efficient, and as a result the EU was one of the first to have an agreement. The producer was happy to have a commitment to buy, and EU was expecting to be able to be able to rely on the negotiated dates to plan vaccination infrastructure. This was the problem...the EU had a contract too early and expected the producer to honor it. As the procucer engaged with other countries outside the EU, it became clear that others would pay more to get vaccines as quickly as possible, and would go to another vaccine producer if they could not get a guarantee. The producer had a dilemma. Rather than honor the agreement with the EU, they decided to allow customers to pay for prioritization in the production / shipping queue. As the vaccines were produced, shipments to higher paying countries were prioritized over the ones to the lower paying EU.

It is unclear at what point this was made clear to the EU (either they were re-engaged and offered a chance to pay more for earlier delivery, or as they claim here the EU found out only when it was notified of delays to the agreed shipping. The vaccination centers were setup and ready in January, and that is the first time we heard about the “unexpected shipping delays” and outrage by our leadership. Either way, it is true that the producer is prioritizing shipments to the higher paying countries (Israel and Malta paying the most), and delaying those to countries who do not pay more, like the EU. The EU resisted this extortion. Not sure I would categorize that as making bad choices or consider it the fault of “bare knuckle” negotiations. The drug companies in question DID agree in those negotiations to a price with contracted ship date, and only later came back to claim exemption due to demand outpacing production...with shipping delays artificially created due to diverting production to those who pay more. By most EU accounts, if anyone is using bare knuckle tactics here, it is the producer.

A lot of people here are upset that EU leadership did not just give in and pay more...which is where much of the local criticism comes from.
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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by Bbrou33 »

Received second vaccine 25 hours ago. I had a full day of errands and strenuous activity after, which included shoveling snow and a pretty intense gym workout.
So far, knock on wood, no symptoms at all. I took 2 Tylenol extra strength right before the vaccine, 2 ibuprofen about 8 hours later, then 2 Tylenol pm before bed. Just proactively.
Now compared to many of my friends and coworkers, I feel lucky. They all had fairly rough flu like symptoms. Nothing that lasted longer than a few hours, but still very noticeable symptoms.

That's my story.
I got the Moderna vaccine

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Re: COVID-19 Impacts- No Conspiracy Theories

Post by BostonCharlie »

Disclaimer: I know nothing about this stuff except what I read online. Googling around about painkillers and the vaccine, I am seeing credible advice to avoid some painkillers if possible. I never would have even thought about it, except my mother mentioned reading something about it.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/painkillers- ... 1736388027
...

Certain painkillers that target inflammation, including ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin and other brands) might curb the immune response. A study on mice in the Journal of Virology found these drugs might lower production of antibodies — helpful substances that block the virus from infecting cells.

If you’re already taking one of those medications for a health condition, you should not stop before you get the vaccine — at least not without asking your doctor, said Jonathan Watanabe, a pharmacist at the University of California, Irvine.

...

If you do need one, acetaminophen (Tylenol) “is safer because it doesn’t alter your immune response,” he added.

...
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