barbara Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 1 hour ago, rockstaryuzu said: Hi satellites. The news from the second wave is depressing. Basically I think we'll be forced back into lockdown, kicking and screaming all the way. Not that it will make the slightest bit of difference to all of us essential workers. I will still be at work counting photons for cancer treatments until the zombie apocalypse and even through that. I suppose I should be grateful but I just want to stay home where it's safe. Anyway, on a less sour and perhaps more hopeful note, I'm sharing this lovely song which reflects on the situation and is absolutely beautiful. If you don't speak Korean, there are English subtitles, so turn captions on. Could be worse - you could live here where 40% of all people still don't believe it's real. There have been interviews with nurses in South Dakota (NO MASK MANDATE) who are distraught because they are dealing with patients dying of Covid who don't believe they could be because it's not real. Instead of having any sort of communication with family members in their final hours, they are arguing with the nurses. And then die. And the video is a must see - (over and over). We all share depression and sadness with all we've had to do without, but there will be an end - even if we don't know when. Life goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liv Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 So, as of Monday the 23rd, Toronto and a neighbouring region, Peel, will go into lock down again for a month. The cases have been spiraling lately and hospitalizations are following so they've finally decided to lock them down. It's about time, in my opinion. The numbers have been really rising quickly. Essential services will remain open, naturally, and only curbside pick up and delivery for retail/restaurants will continue... gyms, personal care etc will close... indoor sports facilities will be closed again... So training for the figure skaters i think will be once again put on hold...I wonder if the skaters will travel to rinks in the surrounding regions of Toronto in order to continue training. They are discouraging travel between regions, but if it's only a few elite athletes and they only go to train and keep distancing measures i don't see why that can't happen (not saying they should, but i think they would be a lot safer than the average person who will go to socialize and shop etc..) ... especially since we know that there will be many people in Toronto who will do so anyway, human nature being what it is. Part of the reason we are in this predicament again is because some people flaunted the rules and got careless and fatigued and did what they wanted... In my job, well, I get to be tested weekly now instead of every 2 weeks. I'm not looking forward to it, but if it helps me, helps keep my clients safe... and allows me to know that i"m healthy so I can visit my "bubble people", then it's ok. My mentality is suck it up and be responsible for others , rather than feeling my freedom is being infringed upon.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
river Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 In some good news, my state is now saying they expect to have the first few doses of COVID-19 vaccine available next month. Health care workers are the first ones prioritized to get the vaccine where I live, so hopefully two months from now I'll have finished the vaccine series. My parents will be in the next group after mine (although they live far away), then my husband is probably in the third group to get it. Of course, the responsible thing to do until vaccination is more widespread is still to wear a mask and socially distance - 94-95% effective isn't the same thing as 100%, but still. I'm ready to get this behind us. Now to just get through the next few weeks to months - our numbers (and almost everyone's, from the looks of it) are skyrocketing, and somehow I don't think the completely toothless mask mandate we have as of yesterday will help. People can just claim they have a medical reason to not wear a mask and cannot be asked for documentation to prove it, so... what's to stop someone from lying? But there is finally, finally, a light at the end of the tunnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbara Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Yay to the vaccines! I am hoping to get my two doses in, maybe, February? (Older person, no underlying conditions besides intense anxiety right now.) Masks, I believe, will be ever-present. But that's okay. The whole politicization of mask wearing in the states is so stupid and negligent. The general rudeness that has blossomed here will likely make it take longer to create the sort of thoughtful cultural attitude that the Japanese and Koreans demonstrate by wearing masks whenever they feel ill. But I can hope that we are able to accomplish that, though it will likely take years, never be universal, and a half a million people will be dead first. We can't legislate thoughtful behavior, and, obviously, even mask mandates will be disregarded by many. I think the most unfair statistic with this virus is that so many of the people dying and having long term effects are also people trying to stay healthy by following the suggestions. If it were only the rude and thoughtless people getting sick and dying, there would be a karmic element to it. Maybe not schadenfreude. But similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liv Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 I"m sure there will be a lot of people who will refuse the vaccine, considering the number of anti vaxxers that are out there in general. Add to that someone as untrustworthy as Trump saying he'll push things through asap, then the trust is not there. It's great that they have developed these vaccines, but it's also a bit sad that they may be the only thing that can help because so many people are just not following simple guidelines that are actually common sense. Letting it be a free for all with so many people dying as a result... and only being rescued by a vaccine... seems a bit like a societal failure to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstaryuzu Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 On 11/20/2020 at 4:41 PM, liv said: So, as of Monday the 23rd, Toronto and a neighbouring region, Peel, will go into lock down again for a month. The cases have been spiraling lately and hospitalizations are following so they've finally decided to lock them down. It's about time, in my opinion. I agree, and I wonder how long it will be before the rest of the province follows suit. Having this happen right before Christmas, though...eesh. Most retail places make 80% of their income for the year in the runup to Christmas. There are a going to be a lot of shuttered businesses come January. Of course health before money, but the longterm economic effects are going to be harsh. 21 hours ago, liv said: Letting it be a free for all with so many people dying as a result... and only being rescued by a vaccine... seems a bit like a societal failure to me. Yes. More than a bit - if this pandemic were a pop quiz on how well humanity does right by each other, we (the global we) would have scored a big fat '0'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunna Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 В 20.11.2020 в 22:27, barbara сказал: Could be worse - you could live here where 40% of all people still don't believe it's real. Or here where situation is similar. I don't know how many don't believe, but there's a lot that still don't wear masks properly, though they might not believe that mask is effective, cuz there's too much contradictive information. My mom needed to go to local clinic for sometime and said that a lot of doctors don't were masks, so what do we want from others then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunna Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 В 21.11.2020 в 04:36, liv сказал: I"m sure there will be a lot of people who will refuse the vaccine, considering the number of anti vaxxers that are out there in general. I will think twice about using our vaccine, cuz they talk about it so much in the news, they registered it on such early stage, that I don't have much trust in it's effectiveness and it's side effects are unknown. But at first vaccine will be used by medical stuff (already is for some), maybe for army, to use it for the whole country it will take a couple of years anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YuzuNekozuu Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 6 minutes ago, Lunna said: I will think twice about using our vaccine, cuz they talk about it so much in the news, they registered it on such early stage, that I don't have much trust in it's effectiveness and it's side effects are unknown. But at first vaccine will be used by medical stuff (already is for some), maybe for army, to use it for the whole country it will take a couple of years anyway. My country experienced a second lockdown, and we were halfway through our year end exams. Had to continue online and it was a total mess. Plans all cancelled, and the graduates have almost nothing in their testimonials People don't really trust the vaccines here too. Kinda like a bet on our lives,,, but ofc all thanks to the frontliners and the ones who had tested with the vaccines. Wear masks properly and don't go crowded places peooopleee. My shoes had been gathering dust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbara Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 3 hours ago, Lunna said: I will think twice about using our vaccine, cuz they talk about it so much in the news, they registered it on such early stage, that I don't have much trust in it's effectiveness and it's side effects are unknown. But at first vaccine will be used by medical stuff (already is for some), maybe for army, to use it for the whole country it will take a couple of years anyway. I have full confidence that our medical regulatory agencies will not be sending out vaccines that they aren't feel are safe and effective. It is a fast development but they have had the basic recipe for this vaccine for a long time - they just needed to gear it for this particular virus protein. And have worked tirelessly because it is a global emergency. Hey, I'm first in line as soon as I can get one (and it's second dose). The entire US could be vaccinated by next summer. The problem here will be the number of anti-vaxxers who are against all vaccines; and those groups who have had reason in the past to distrust the government regarding vaccines. 90-95% efficacy is remarkable and IF everyone gets their vaccines as soon as available, we could have this beat before fall. Covid-19 will still be endemic, like the flu, but won't be causing lockdowns and rampant death. Have faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liv Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 A question that we don't know the answer to yet. .... how long will the vaccine provide protection? i wish i had shares in some of these big pharmas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbara Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, liv said: A question that we don't know the answer to yet. .... how long will the vaccine provide protection? i wish i had shares in some of these big pharmas... That is true - we may need annual shots, like with the flu. And, like the flu, the virus will mutate some. We won't know yet how long it remains effective and also if it prevents contracting the virus completely, or just keeps us from getting really sick. A lot of uncertainty, still. But so, so hopeful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunna Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 19 часов назад, barbara сказал: I have full confidence that our medical regulatory agencies will not be sending out vaccines that they aren't feel are safe and effective. It is a fast development but they have had the basic recipe for this vaccine for a long time - they just needed to gear it for this particular virus protein. And have worked tirelessly because it is a global emergency. Hey, I'm first in line as soon as I can get one (and it's second dose). The entire US could be vaccinated by next summer. I have more confidence in US vaccine effectiveness than Russian one, honestly. Just because US has much more resources, laboratories, better medicine etc. Science and medicine here are far from the top-level, there's a reason why a lot of talented people go abroad if they want to work in the field. Also question is more about side-effects which couldn't be known that fast. Good thing if so much can be vaccinated fast, I just heard that mass production of a vaccine is a technological problem, but maybe not everywhere. I will be first in line if I can't travel without it though Also there's an opinion that you need only about 60-70% of population vaccinated, but I am not a researcher myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstaryuzu Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 22 hours ago, liv said: A question that we don't know the answer to yet. .... how long will the vaccine provide protection? Yeah, that is a serious question. Is there any way to even predict that before rolling vaccines out to the general public? Normally you'd conduct multiple-years long clinical trials... so no matter how much regulatory effort goes into these vaccines, any one getting it early on is still taking a risk. A calculated risk. Well, Yuzu takes calculated risks all the time, so I guess we're all going to get to feel like him for a while . Silver lining, I suppose. As for big pharma... they're not the only ones coming up with vaccines. My hospital announced yesterday that two of our research groups are just about to roll with clinical trials on vaccine candidates, and that they have a partnership with a local manufacturer to produce the stuff ( I didn't even know we had biotech firms like this in the city). So I could well be getting a home-grown solution from a small company for my vaccine. One of the research groups is headed up by a world-famous researcher who's won awards for his work on oncolytic viruses (i.e. using viruses to cure cancer), which actually makes me feel a lot better about it all. He's got tons of experience with novel and exotic viruses already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbara Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 There's a risk in going out of the house. We can take the teeny tiny risk of getting a vaccine, especially if it means we can return to something like normal life. Astra-Zeneca has now come forward with their vaccine and while they say 70% effective, that is with one method of immunization. A separate way (I think with a 1/2 dose and then a full dose weeks later) brings the efficacy rate up to over 90%. More are rolling out! And it is generally accepted that if 70% of a population has immunity to a virus, either through contracting it or being vaccinated against it, we can call that "herd immunity". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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