PlagueWatch 2020-23 - Coronavirus

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Must read this morning -- not for its depth but for its simplicity -- is the NYTimes Morning Briefing.

Disappointing that NYT no longer offers free articles about COVID. Unless I'm doing something wrong.

[budwom]

I think I heard via the media that the Sinovac was somewhere around 50% protective, give or take, if you trust the trial results. And i guess if they were making up trial results whole cloth, they probably would've come up with better numbers than that...

yeah, it's probably 99% "effective" in China...

[PackMan97]

Disappointing that NYT no longer offers free articles about COVID. Unless I'm doing something wrong.

Worked for me...but I always open in a private/incognito window.

[Tappan Zee Devil]

Two of Mrs. TZD's former colleagues (retired teachers in Westchester) just got vaccine appointments for the end of March.
One in Binghampton and one in Plattsburgh.
Those are serious road trips!

[budwom]

Two of Mrs. TZD's former colleagues (retired teachers in Westchester) just got vaccine appointments for the end of March.
One in Binghampton and one in Plattsburgh.
Those are serious road trips!

ah, Bucolic Plattsburgh. Here's a comprehensive list of things to do in Plattsburgh:

OK, you can take the Cumberland Head ferry over to Vermont, short trip, still runs in the Winter, kind of nice.

p.s. and I'd advise watching for cops on the Northway (I-87)...no one's on the road, you can go real fast, and you'll get a ticket, too.

[CameronDuke]

Coach K said during the ACC's weekly teleconference that both he and Duke Football head coach David Cutcliffe received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine last week.

[camion]

Vaccination #1 done in Greenville, SC

I registered online about on January 10 in group 1B or 1C. On January 13 they changed the criteria and I became 1a having sufficient old fartedneess. I received a call one day later and scheduled an appointment for today January 18.

I arrived at 10:45 for my 11:00 AM appointment, having already downloaded and filled out the one page consent form from their website. They took my drivers license and medicare card, and assigned me to chair 3 of 4. I got my shot (Moderna) at around 10:55 and then walked around exercising my arms for

My medical facility:
Ingles Pharmacy at Cherrydale Point in Greenville, SC. They pretty much have their act together. Everyone in the building was masked, staff and customers. It was uncrowded and they moved the vaccination line efficiently.

[LasVegas]

Vaccination #1 done in Greenville, SC

I registered online about on January 10 in group 1B or 1C. On January 13 they changed the criteria and I became 1a having sufficient old fartedneess. I received a call one day later and scheduled an appointment for today January 18.

I arrived at 10:45 for my 11:00 AM appointment, having already downloaded and filled out the one page consent form from their website. They took my drivers license and medicare card, and assigned me to chair 3 of 4. I got my shot (Moderna) at around 10:55 and then walked around exercising my arms for

My medical facility:
Ingles Pharmacy at Cherrydale Point in Greenville, SC. They pretty much have their act together. Everyone in the building was masked, staff and customers. It was uncrowded and they moved the vaccination line efficiently.

Speaking of SC, what’s it like down there? I had a difficult time finding out about any restrictions. Especially when it comes to restaurants and beaches.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Speaking of SC, what’s it like down there? I had a difficult time finding out about any restrictions. Especially when it comes to restaurants and beaches.

Metrics I have seen for SC and Greenville in particular are very poor in regards to infection and testing. I pay attention because it's about an hour from me, and we get tons of visitors from Greenville.

[Skydog]

Disappointing that NYT no longer offers free articles about COVID. Unless I'm doing something wrong.

Off topic (so feel free to delete mods) but I urge you to subscribe, for the online edition at least. The NYT - while far from being without fault - does more in-depth investigative reporting than any other publication in the world. Democracies depend on this kind of reporting, and more so in the day of social media saturation. Many of the great posts on this and the election thread are based in part on their reporting. Whether it is painstakingly unearthing decades of Trump’s tax avoidance or *finally* shining a light on the Harvey Weinstein’s of the world they are always digging. So if I never read another article I will still feel my sub $ is well spent. I subscribe to WP & N&O for the same reasons. (Although N&O investigative reporting has dropped due to $ pressures.) Advertising has dried up for newspapers- they need all the help they can get.
(Climbs gingerly off of soap box.)

[Kdogg]

Speaking of SC, what’s it like down there? I had a difficult time finding out about any restrictions. Especially when it comes to restaurants and beaches.

Restrictions? What are those?

Seriously, the only statewide restrictions are no alcohol sales after 11pm. The governor has recommendations on gathering sizes but no laws. Cities/counties have their own mask rules (or not). Beaches are open because only the governor can close them. Two weeks ago the positivity rate was in the 30% but has come down to mid teens along the coast.

[Bluedog]

Off topic (so feel free to delete mods) but I urge you to subscribe, for the online edition at least. The NYT - while far from being without fault - does more in-depth investigative reporting than any other publication in the world. Democracies depend on this kind of reporting, and more so in the day of social media saturation. Many of the great posts on this and the election thread are based in part on their reporting. Whether it is painstakingly unearthing decades of Trump’s tax avoidance or *finally* shining a light on the Harvey Weinstein’s of the world they are always digging. So if I never read another article I will still feel my sub $ is well spent. I subscribe to WP & N&O for the same reasons. (Although N&O investigative reporting has dropped due to $ pressures.) Advertising has dried up for newspapers- they need all the help they can get.
(Climbs gingerly off of soap box.)

Yeah I bit the bullet and subscribed to NY Times this year too. Find it also much more intelligent and less "headline centric" than sites like CNN and similar who are just trying to grab eyeballs. It's COVID and politics tracking have also been superb. At $56/year promotional pricing, it's a pretty good deal too.

[JasonEvans]

From CNN.com:

NY Gov. Cuomo asks to buy Covid-19 vaccine doses directly from Pfizer

At a news conference Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he sent a letter to the president of Pfizer asking if the state could buy Covid-19 vaccine doses directly from the company.

In the letter, Cuomo expressed frustration, saying, “After myself and seven other governors called on the Trump Administration to release more doses, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said that relief was on the way. To Date, however, the federal government has not acted on that promise – in fact, New York will received just 250,000 doses this week, 50,000 fewer than the week prior.”

In a statement provided to CNN, Pfizer responded to Cuomo’s comments, saying, “We appreciate Governor Cuomo’s kind words and the pride he expressed in his letter that Pfizer is a New York-headquartered company. Pfizer is open to collaborating with HHS on a distribution model that gives as many Americans as possible access to our vaccine as quickly as possible. However, before we can sell directly to State governments, HHS would need to approve that proposal based on the EUA granted to Pfizer by the FDA.”

[mph]

From CNN.com:

Lobbying for direct state purchases of the vaccine may be a good way of calling attention to OWS failures and creating some positive PR with your constituents but i think it’s a very bad way to address vaccine shortages. It’s also a clear step in the opposite direction of the Biden plan which calls for a more centralized approach to fighting COVID.

[LasVegas]

Restrictions? What are those?

Seriously, the only statewide restrictions are no alcohol sales after 11pm. The governor has recommendations on gathering sizes but no laws. Cities/counties have their own mask rules (or not). Beaches are open because only the governor can close them. Two weeks ago the positivity rate was in the 30% but has come down to mid teens along the coast.

Thanks for this.

My family will be fully vaccinated, minus our young kids, for our beach trip in late July.

[budwom]

Yeah I bit the bullet and subscribed to NY Times this year too. Find it also much more intelligent and less "headline centric" than sites like CNN and similar who are just trying to grab eyeballs. It's COVID and politics tracking have also been superb. At $56/year promotional pricing, it's a pretty good deal too.

I agree with this...now just add The New York Times Book Review (it's a pricey $200) and you have much of the pandemic reading weaponry that you need..the Book Review has loaded me up with tons of great book ideas...

[dudog84]

We passed a milestone in the past 24 hours that should not go unremarked. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, we lost 405,399 Americans during World War II. We've lost more than that in less than a year of COVID. Who would have ever thought?

[MChambers]

We passed a milestone in the past 24 hours that should not go unremarked. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, we lost 405,399 Americans during World War II. We've lost more than that in less than a year of COVID. Who would have ever thought?

This thread will observe its one year anniversary Sunday. If you look at the early posts, no thought it would be this bad.

And the coronavirus is still going strong.

[Nrrrrvous]

Can anyone explain why Virginia’s numbers doubled and tripled over the weekend? Hoping it’s some reporting errors or something and not the true numbers.

[budwom]

Clarifying stat from Vermont yesterday: thus far in the state 168 people have died from the virus, and only 8 have been younger than 60.