Coronavirus

[mikeyank]

So here we are, almost fourteen months after Jay started this thread. We've been through hell and now seem to be on the other side. I believe I heard that 65% of Americans have received at least one shot of vaccine and President Biden announced a goal of having 70% in that category by July 4th. Getting as many people as possible vaccinated as quickly as possible is the only way to get life to return to as normal as possible. But we sure have so much reason for optimism now that we didn't have a year ago at this time.

 

[kgmets]

So here we are, almost fourteen months after Jay started this thread. We've been through hell and now seem to be on the other side. I believe I heard that 65% of Americans have received at least one shot of vaccine and President Biden announced a goal of having 70% in that category by July 4th. Getting as many people as possible vaccinated as quickly as possible is the only way to get life to return to as normal as possible. But we sure have so much reason for optimism now that we didn't have a year ago at this time.

I totally agree! We can't do everything we did pre pandemic, but what we gradually can do now while vaccinated is so much better that a year ago being virtually confined to home with no vaccine yet in existence!

 

[tampa24]

I totally agree! We can't do everything we did pre pandemic, but what we gradually can do now while vaccinated is so much better that a year ago being virtually confined to home with no vaccine yet in existence!

Definitely! At least for those of us who are vaccinated we're not so worried that an unlucky trip to the grocery store could kill us.

 

[BrokeStraightBoys]

I thought it was interesting how they lifted masks restrictions today. I'm not sure how I feel about this because I feel like everybody will be like of yeah I'm vaccinated so I never need to wear my mask. I am hoping this will prompt even more people to get vaccinated.

 

[tampa24]

I thought it was interesting how they lifted masks restrictions today. I'm not sure how I feel about this because I feel like everybody will be like of yeah I'm vaccinated so I never need to wear my mask. I am hoping this will prompt even more people to get vaccinated.

I have the same dilemma of wanting to feel hopeful with the news that we are reaching an end to some of the most burdensome restrictions, while still feeling some trepidation at lowering my guard. For those diehard Trumpers and virus deniers who resisted wearing the masks all along, how do we know if that person standing next to us in the restaurant or grocery store without a mask is really vaccinated? If an unvaccinated "never vaxer" was outright asked in public (either by legitimate employees or fellow citizens) if they were vaccinated, I'd fully expect them to lie and say they were.

 

[mikeyank]

I have the same dilemma of wanting to feel hopeful with the news that we are reaching an end to some of the most burdensome restrictions, while still feeling some trepidation at lowering my guard. For those diehard Trumpers and virus deniers who resisted wearing the masks all along, how do we know if that person standing next to us in the restaurant or grocery store without a mask is really vaccinated? If an unvaccinated "never vaxer" was outright asked in public (either by legitimate employees or fellow citizens) if they were vaccinated, I'd fully expect them to lie and say they were.

But what we need to ask is if they are any risk to our health, the fully vaccinated or just to the unvaccinated? From what I’ve been hearing from the health experts is that if we are fully vaccinated, we are safe from serious illness or death. I believe the CDC, Dr. Fauci and President Biden.

 

[juanjo]

But what we need to ask is if they are any risk to our health, the fully vaccinated or just to the unvaccinated? From what I’ve been hearing from the health experts is that if we are fully vaccinated, we are safe from serious illness or death. I believe the CDC, Dr. Fauci, and President Biden.

I do trust the CDC and Dr. Fauci. I especially respect Fauci as I remember him from the early days of the AIDs epidemic. He was the only one who was paying attention to the disease and did not shy away because it was most common among gay folks. He was even criticized by some gay folks who had a variety of crackpot ideas about where the disease came from and how it spread.

That being said, I have modified my behavior somewhat. I do not wear a mask outside unless I am around large groups of people or forced into close proximity to people I do not know. Indoors, I am not wearing a mask in small groups of people I know well. However, in stores, etc., I will continue to wear a mask until a little more time has passed. There are idiots out there who refuse to be vaccinated and refuse to follow any protocols because their own selfish desire for "comfort" is greater than their responsibility to the rest of us.

I saw a report in the WaPo yesterday about a man who had been vaccinated but had now tested positive. He had no symptoms which is good news for him and also supports the current scientific consensus on vaccinated people being infected with COVID. But as it is possible that I could be infected and have no symptoms, I will still wear a mask so that I am not going around exposing others, vaccinated or not. I do not care to a vector in spreading this disease and I do not want to be the reason another human being suffers from infection from this disease, even a covidiot.

Numbers are dropping dramatically in areas where vaccinations are reaching high numbers. The positivity rate for California is below 1% which means the disease is not spreading widely and will peter out. But other states, like Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, etc., have much higher rates of positivity. Oklahoma was around 10% which is very troubling. Hopefully, by later this summer there will be enough people vaccinated that the numbers of new cases collapse. Then I'll discard the mask.

However, I have pondered this carefully and I am seriously considering wearing a mask when in crowded public areas, both indoors and outdoors during winter flu season. I used to always be amused by the Asians I would see riding transit or walking down the street in San Francisco wearing masks in the winter. There were always those I would see masked on plane rides. I have reconsidered my position. This past winter is the first winter I can recall where I had not so much as a sniffle. When I was still working full-time I traveled between 100k and 150k air miles a year and had regular bouts of flu and colds. I had a friend who was a flight attendant and he always said that this was a common issue for his profession. I do not fly as often as I once did but I have decided that during flu season, I will be using a mask any time I am around large groups of strangers - like grocery stores, box stores, etc.

 

[dande01]

Both Eddie and I got our first shot (Pfizer) today....but I still would wear my mask and I notice most are still wearing there mask down here in South Florida in the stores and in public areas. I don't have an issue with wearing a mask.

 

[Jaybifla]

Both Eddie and I got our first shot (Pfizer) today....but I still would wear my mask and I notice most are still wearing there mask down here in South Florida in the stores and in public areas. I don't have an issue with wearing a mask.

thats awesome. So happy you both got vaccinated, and I’m glad you are noticing others wearing their masks in public, especially in South Florida.

 

[kgmets]

I do trust the CDC and Dr. Fauci. I especially respect Fauci as I remember him from the early days of the AIDs epidemic. He was the only one who was paying attention to the disease and did not shy away because it was most common among gay folks. He was even criticized by some gay folks who had a variety of crackpot ideas about where the disease came from and how it spread.

That being said, I have modified my behavior somewhat. I do not wear a mask outside unless I am around large groups of people or forced into close proximity to people I do not know. Indoors, I am not wearing a mask in small groups of people I know well. However, in stores, etc., I will continue to wear a mask until a little more time has passed. There are idiots out there who refuse to be vaccinated and refuse to follow any protocols because their own selfish desire for "comfort" is greater than their responsibility to the rest of us.

I saw a report in the WaPo yesterday about a man who had been vaccinated but had now tested positive. He had no symptoms which is good news for him and also supports the current scientific consensus on vaccinated people being infected with COVID. But as it is possible that I could be infected and have no symptoms, I will still wear a mask so that I am not going around exposing others, vaccinated or not. I do not care to a vector in spreading this disease and I do not want to be the reason another human being suffers from infection from this disease, even a covidiot.

Numbers are dropping dramatically in areas where vaccinations are reaching high numbers. The positivity rate for California is below 1% which means the disease is not spreading widely and will peter out. But other states, like Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, etc., have much higher rates of positivity. Oklahoma was around 10% which is very troubling. Hopefully, by later this summer there will be enough people vaccinated that the numbers of new cases collapse. Then I'll discard the mask.

However, I have pondered this carefully and I am seriously considering wearing a mask when in crowded public areas, both indoors and outdoors during winter flu season. I used to always be amused by the Asians I would see riding transit or walking down the street in San Francisco wearing masks in the winter. There were always those I would see masked on plane rides. I have reconsidered my position. This past winter is the first winter I can recall where I had not so much as a sniffle. When I was still working full-time I traveled between 100k and 150k air miles a year and had regular bouts of flu and colds. I had a friend who was a flight attendant and he always said that this was a common issue for his profession. I do not fly as often as I once did but I have decided that during flu season, I will be using a mask any time I am around large groups of strangers - like grocery stores, box stores, etc.

Excellent analysis! Thanks to the mask wearing, this past flu season was virtually non existent. It appears that the fully vaccinated are highly unlikely to test COVID 19 positive, and in the rare event of a positive test result, will be asymthomatic. That's not bad at all.

 

[chac54]

Both Eddie and I got our first shot (Pfizer) today....but I still would wear my mask and I notice most are still wearing there mask down here in South Florida in the stores and in public areas. I don't have an issue with wearing a mask.

Hydrate well, I had a few friends that did not drink a lot of water the day of and after the shot and they had some stronger side effects. The one that told me to had minimal reaction, she was just super tired for a day.

 

[tampa24]

Both Eddie and I got our first shot (Pfizer) today....but I still would wear my mask and I notice most are still wearing there mask down here in South Florida in the stores and in public areas. I don't have an issue with wearing a mask.

That's great news David! All my best to both of you.

 

[tampa24]

 

[tampa24]

From Wiki:

"Rick Wiles (born August 20, 1953)[1] is a far-right American conspiracy theorist,[2] pundit, and senior pastor at the non-denominational Flowing Streams Church. He is the founder of TruNews, a website promoting racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, and antisemitic conspiracy theories.[3][4][5]

Wiles has said that Jews seek to obtain control of countries to kill millions of Christians, and has described Jews as "deceivers" who "plot, they lie, they do whatever they have to do to accomplish their political agenda."[6] In February 2020, YouTube permanently banned the TruNews channel.[7]"


Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Wiles

**********************************************************************

He did survive Covid by the way. But his wife, his daughter-in-law, other family members and a grandson got it also.

 

[Jaybifla]

well, I’m not praying for him…..lol. I don’t wish death or illness on anyone, but I have no sympathy for this man, who in this video called people like me, “idiots”. Fuck him.

 

[Jaybifla]

And if there is a God, stories like these demonstrate that God has a sense of humor.

 

[tampa24]

well, I’m not praying for him…..lol. I don’t wish death or illness on anyone, but I have no sympathy for this man, who in this video called people like me, “idiots”. Fuck him.

Yeah. He's a real piece of work. He's maybe what you might call a CINO. A Christitan in name only. Not only does he not walk the walk, he doesn't even try to talk the talk.

One of my favorite sayings from those claim to be righteous, pious and religious and then spew (and/or act out on) all kinds of hatred and contempt for their fellow man...is:


"If you were accused of being a Christian...........would there be enough evidence to convict you?"

 

[tampa24]

As I'm sure I've mentioned earlier somewhere in this thread I got my vaccines done as quickly as I possibly could. It took me a little longer than I would have liked only because I was too young in Florida (under 65) when the vaccines first rolled out. But because I'm in a high risk population group being immuno-suppressed due to a transplant, I did get an exception with other younger transplant patients in March to get the Moderna vaccine. I've been fully vaxed (two weeks after my second dose) since the second week of April.

Long story short, yesterday I got tested after having a cold for about a week...and I have Covid. So if you were wondering if people who were vaccinated really could still get Covid, I can confirm the answer is yes. I'm assuming that it's the Delta variant. We keep hearing that it's more contagious and that the symptoms are worse. And we can assume for all of those reasons that it's more deadly. So it makes sense that if Covid is able to break through the vaccines, that it would probably be the Delta strain.

I'm actually doing pretty good right now. I'm currrently in no need of hospitalization or aggressive medical treatment. They told me at the walk-in clinic where I got tested to just go home immediately. You know... Go directly home, do not pass go, do not collect $200. They told me to quarantine for 14 days. The usual suggestions of pushing lots of fluids, eat well, get plenty of rest. Then at the end of 14 days, come back and re-test. And if I test negative at that point, then I can assume I'm good.

I was given the option of a standard test that would take 2-3 days to get the results. Or I could do the rapid test that would take about 10-15 minutes. The catch with that one is that it isn't processed through insurance and costs $80 out-of-pocket. Since I still have some stimulus money left over, and because I didn't want to be on pins and needles for up to 3 more days, I opted for the rapid test. So from the time they took the swab it was less than 15 minutes before they came back to me with the positive result.

Also the swab they used (for the rapid test at least) was only about a double sized standard Q-tip swab. It was not the long wooden stick they had used in other Covid tests or for the standard flu swab. She told me that she would go up both nostrils, but only mid way. It wasn't the one that looks like it could reach above your forehead from the inside, or feels like they're shoving it into your third eye. With as small as it was and how low they went, I think even model James Dawn would approve. haha

Obviously from the tone of my post you can assume that I do not feel awful. I don't feel great, mind you. But I feel like I have a mild to moderate cold. The twist to the standard cold symptoms is that I have also some muscle aches and I have lost taste and smell. Oddly I still get a little sense of the taste of salt in my food. But that's about it. Not really any others flavors besides salt. And trust me when I tell you that the first week I thought I had a cold, it was worse. It felt like a really bad cold. But I was in denial beacuse I'm vaccinated for one. The other part is that the worst of the first 5 days I never ran a fever, and my sense of taste and smell was fine. I still have been very fortuante in that I haven't run a fever. But on the evening of the 6th day the taste and smell went AWOL.

So for now I am quite stable and each new day feels better than the last. I'm in contact with my PCP and my nephrologist. They approve of me just staying quarantined and staying the course, with the usual caveat to go to the ER if my symptoms worsen. I'm convinced that it's because I got vaccinated that I am having such mild syptoms to Covid. Given my weaker immune system I'm pretty sure I would either be hospitalized or worse right now without the vaccine. So for the vaccine I am very grateful.

I'm not thrilled that I got a breakthrough infection or what that entails for the future of myself and the country in general as we were hopefully on track to get back to a normal pre-Covid life. But nobody promised that life on Earth would be easy. *Sigh*

 

[Jaybifla]

I’m so sorry, Tampa. Hang in there…you’ll be ok. The vaccine has always meant to protect us from serious illness and death and not necessarily the virus itself, so you’re doing all the proper protocols, and I admire you so much for that.
Look on the bright side. You have 14 glorious days to put up with me on the forum…lol. Sending you love and we’ll wishes.

 

[BrokeStraightBoys]

Sorry to hear that Tampa. How many days has it been? How safe are you in day to day life? I hope it passes quickly without any issues. Feel better.