The Digglers covid update.

My wife has visited with vascular, muscular and heart surgeons within the past year and all have said to not get sick. We've been extra cautious and have been locked down for nearly 14 months now. Haven't seen my dad since December 2019. Haven't eaten out since March last year. I'm very thankful warmer weather is here and can get outside. I realize getting vaccinated isn't a cure but the way my wife and I see it is we can finally see our families in person masked upped and hug our loved ones again. Knowing we won't die of covid way out ways any fear of vaccination. I was a little cautious as I've never had any kind of vaccine since a kid. Never had a flu shot and never gotten the flu. Kick on wood, generally healthy. Yegpin 2022 has been announced and hope by then I feel safe to attend. Haven't played a new pinball machine since Jurassic Park. Feel like I'm missing out on so much fun.

India...It's grim. The country is going up in smoke.

" As India's crematoriums overflow with Covid victims, pyres burn through the night".

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/29/india/india-covid-deaths-crematoriums-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

"As India's second wave of coronavirus sweeps through the country, bodies are piling up faster than workers can cremate them or build new pyres."

" we used to cremate eight to 10 people (daily),"...""Now, we are cremating 100 to 120 a day."

Just had my yearly physical. The shingles vaccine is next for me, but the Dr. advised waiting 90 days after my last Covid vaccine shot. I have a friend who had shingles and it was not pleasant.

No signs of slowing.

005D1E34-84D2-44D4-A00D-BE0662BA25B4.jpeg

Yeah, that's my understanding too! The vaccine side effects are nothing compared to actually getting shingles. My first shot I had mild flu like symptoms, my second shot I felt like I had the full blown flu, bad enough I left work and went home and crawled into bed! Lasted 48 hours, then I was good! Both shots made my arm sore for about a week!

I know it’s just another anecdote, but I had heard lots of warnings about the second shot (Pfizer in my case) and had virtually nothing, very mild soreness for 24 hours and that was it. So I’ll wish that for you but as others have said, even if you get the very worst case, it will suck for a day or two but it’s tolerable.

It's every man for himself over there right now. Even being wealthy isn't enough to save you. In most countries the death spike lags the infection spike by a few weeks/months, not in India. Their hospitals have been broken.

I read yesterday that the Kumbh Mela wasn't supposed to happen until 2022, but they moved it up a year for some reason (politics, astrology??). Crazy!

To me it is evidence their testing regime was totally inadequate. It has finally gotten so bad that even their inadequate testing is detecting the spike.

As far as my community...last two weeks there have been as many cases amongst the students as there has been since the beginning of the school year combined. Big spike at high school sports, but trend holds true for middle and elementary too.

My daughter has a stay at home classmate that is infected and another that is basically stranded abroad...in India.

Just got a phone call from my mother (in tears), that my sister's husband (my brother-in-law) died in the hospital
after 2 weeks since contracting and battling covid.
Technically he may have had a heart attack, but was on Oxygen and had pneumonia
and other complications due to the Covid virus. Still do not have all the details. I will probably be driving down to Calif,
to help out with things once the dust settles a bit.
I know this will be very hard on my sister, as she already has her hands full taking care of our mother.
fortunately my sis recently got back her 2nd covid test result, as negative
(10-11 days after her first test when they discovered her husband tested positive.)

Just when it looked like we were about to come out of the pandemic, reality slams you in the face.
RIP Albert Bueche!

I'm sure it is. But when you need oxygen and they don't have any to give, I suspect death comes a lot quicker.

Stranded abroad? What Kool-aide was she drinking to take that trip?

1st grader so not much choice in the matter. Family went back to bury grandparent and stayed for festivals and now....

Poor thing is still logging into online class. The afternoon session is particularly tough.

Hopefully the parents are being more careful now. I imagine they are full of regret. That she is still attending classes online is a good sign.

During a pandemic, Zoom will suffice.

Pryanka Chopra is currently in London crying for India.

Small scale research into rna type (Pfizer Moderna etc) vaccinations for patients with previously confirmed Covid:

1) one shot boosts immune response measurably
2) second shot doesn’t appear to do much of anything

https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/april/penn-study-suggests-those-who-had-covid19-may-only-need-one-vaccine-dose

That is interesting. As you said it was a small scale study. Only 44 people were in the study. I don’t understand what one would have to gain by skipping the second shot. After all the shots are free. Taking a chance could result in dying. There are still a lot of variants .

Samples of the Sputnik vaccine had live adenovirus that could replicate.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sputnik-v-vaccine-covid-brazil-russian-vaccine-ban-efficacy-recombination/

Here's a great article that explains why so many people are skipping the second shot, and why they shouldn't ...

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/02/us/covid-vaccine-second-shot-missed/index.html

I got my second shot a few weeks ago now. Feeling fine so far. Very minimal effects for me.

Concerts in a few months... also my park, knotts. Scary farm, I know you are coming!

Just got #2.

I have a update about my girlfriends brother.

He has been in the icu for about 3-4 weeks now, and they just told him it will be at least another 2 weeks.

They told him after he leaves, he will either have to be on oxygen the rest of his life, or get a lung transplant, because the scarring in his lung is so bad.

This guy has never smoked, all of this is from the virus.

And what I don't understand, and I hope someone will chime in, is that starting tomorrow he can have 1 visitor a day.

I thought there were no visitors period allowed in hospitals right now?

And I have not heard if he has tested negative for the virus now, but wouldn't he have to for the hospital to allow visitors?

I am getting very worried, because my girlfriend is about to drive her Mom to visit him, and I do not want my girlfriend ending up bringing any of that back to my house.

I have been trying to stay very careful, and at this point I may have to lie and say I do not feel well and everyone needs to stay away from me, until I can go get a shot. (not sure if my age group can yet, last time I looked it was still for others older than me).

And honestly, I would prefer the one shot Johnson and Johnson shot myself.

Although I know several people that had the other 2 shot deals, and none of them had any problems.

(I just hate shots period, so to me 1 is always better than 2). (yes, I can be a wimp).

I think I heard that they were working on pills, I hope that is the case.

Also, I know that while someone coughing, sneezing, etc. is the main way this virus spreads, did they ever figure out if door handles and stuff like that is also a sure fire way of spreading?

I have not seen much news lately, the most I seen looked like being outdoors if around people is a lot safer?

I wouldn’t worry about touching surfaces, it is unlikely that you will get covid that way. This has been mostly spread through airborne particles. I wear N95 masks for this reason.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00251-4

9B2563FE-A4CB-4EF6-BA04-8AA841CA40ED (resized).jpeg

BREATHING. You forgot to list breathing around other people. It is very important to understand that the other person can look 100% healthy, and can literally just breathe in the same space, and pass the virus to you in tiny droplets.

As an example, have you ever “seen your breath” on a cold morning? Do you know what you are seeing is tiny droplets that have condensed from vapor coming out of your lungs? These are the very small and light ones that hang in the air.

Talk in the sun rays coming through a window in the fall, did you ever notice the little tiny drops coming from your mouth as you say the letter "P", "T" or "D"? Hard consonants where you can see them sometimes when the light is right.

This is what makes Covid-19 different. Asymptomatic (someone who appears healthy) transmission. Breathing and talking around a person that is infected with it can easily transmit it to you. They don't need to be a coughy sneezy mess to be sending it out around them.

Sorry to hear about your girlfriend's brother. Assuming your location is correct, in Georgia, vaccines are available for anyone 16 and older. https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine

The CDC recently said that that the chances of getting Covid from surfaces are 1 in 10,000. Very very low.

I think all 50 states are now doing vaccines for anyone 16 and up, so you should be good. And I would guess you can call around to see who has the J&J if that’s your preference. My sense is most areas don’t have huge waits anymore, so hopefully you can get the shot quick if you sign up today. Remember that it takes time after the shot to be fully effective (two weeks), so you have to factor that in too.

Getting the vaccine is starting to show up on the billboards around here. The billboards talk up how easy it is to get vaccinated.

And it is not because everyone is vaccinated. Far from it.

I did start calling, and found out real quick they all want me to use their website.

Of all the places that says they offer the J&J, after clicking it says not available yet, but supposed to be early this week.

And no walk ins yet.

I need to get one, I swear my girlfriends Mom is a super spreader.

I got my second dose (Pfizer) on Saturday morning. I felt great all day (other than a sore arm), then once I went to bed, I felt a little chilly. I asked my wife, and she said the house felt a bit cool to her. Within 10 minutes, my teeth were chattering. It took about an hour to fall asleep, and I woke up multiple times covered in sweat. Sunday, I napped probably 4 hours, and I had a headache, felt achy and foggy-head all day. Today, it's much better but I'm still tired and a bit foggy.

I do still feel it's worth the short term pain, but for those who have convinced themselves COVID19 isn't a big deal, I can understand the hesitancy to the vaccine. The goal of the vaccine is to generate a strong immune response, and in my experience, it succeeds brilliantly at that.

I read a news story today where they mention that there are offers available to get your vaccination card laminated for free. The CDC recommends that you don't do that because they say that the heat process will make the card unreadable and you won't be able to post any booster shots that you get later on the card. The CDC apparently recommends that you take a photo of the card to preserve it. First time I have heard anything about booster shots.
https://www.foxnews.com/health/dont-laminate-covid-19-vaccination-card-experts-warn

You have to be very diligent. We got ours because our doctor got our appointments at a local hospital. Call all the pharmacy nearby. You aren't limited by your locality.

If you are near a city outside of your state call places there. Many cities are slowing down sites because of lack of interest. You can place your name on the lists.

Many hospitals have relaxed the visitor rules, maybe because they are not as full.

I made a photo copy of my vaccination card and laminated the copy. This way I can keep the original safe, yet still carry around a laminated copy with me in case I need it.

I think they're just being realistic about where this thing is headed. Sounds iffy if we'll ever get to herd immunity in the US given the rate of vaccine refusal, and most of the world doesn't even have the supply to test whether their populations will take it. In that environment, Covid will be with us for the foreseeable future in some form, and will continue to evolve the way all viruses do, so boosters will be necessary both to top up fading immunity and address new strains as they emerge.

Had to make a pit-stop at a Winn-Dixie near the Ocala National Forest Saturday morning. The pharmacy tech was walking around the store offering the vaccine to anyone who wanted it. My first time seeing that, but I'm not really surprised considering the demographics.

First, very sorry to hear about the degree of damage your girlfriend’s brother is dealing with. My good friend just went through a double lung transplant and it’s a very intense process.

As for visitors in hospitals, both my mom and my MIL have been in the hospital recently and the rules have been one visitor at a time. Regarding Covid infectiousness, when I was trying to find out why I didn’t spread it to my entire office after working while sick, I came across some research that indicated that 80% or so of people stop being contagious after symptoms appear. So perhaps that may explain why it’s okay for him to get visitors now?

I hope you can get vaccinated sooner rather than later so that you can feel less “under siege”. Good luck, and I hope your girlfriend’s brother continues to heal.

Or like the fog that shows up on my glasses even when wearing a mask.

They just announced today that the University of Washington, where I work, will be requiring vaccinations for all students for Fall Quarter starting this September. I welcome this, 3 superspreader events that led to over 100 people being infected each time were at frat parties near campus... now all those kids will be vaccinated.

It's amazing what a difference a few weeks can make. Washington State opened up vaccines April 15th to everyone 16 and over with no restrictions. Up until then and for the next week or so, it was very hard to get a vaccination appointment, demand outweighed supply. But after the floodgates had opened for a few weeks, this is changing, the mass vax centers in the hockey and football stadiums suddenly were taking 100s of walkups per day and not even filling them all after being booked solid for months. Free vax clinics doing walk ups started popping up in a lot of public parks, often run by nursing groups or fire stations. It seems we are probably 2-3 weeks from the mass vax centers closing as 60-70% of the city of Seattle will be vaccinated and then it will just happen at local pharmacies and health centers.

I feel like now the country has to figure out how to convince more of the remaining 30-40% of the people they should get the vaccine. What strategies will work?

Joints for jabs like they did in NYC?
Bars are starting to do free shots for shots, I like that idea.
I think we also need a nation-wide marketing campaign about how people should do it as their civic duty, like voting, to help the country overcome the pandemic and get our businesses and economy back on track.

But ultimately, with so many new anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists, I think the only way to overcome it, will be to limit public resources and private businesses unvaccinated people have access too. I have an old girlfriend that's not getting vaccinated, she's given me the whole "the vaccine was too rushed" and "I don't trust the government and corporations" lines, but she works construction as an electrician and says she will do it if she is required to for work. So I keep hoping her work requires her soon.

I'll take the shot when the FDA officially approves it.

At the Walmart, near my house, they actually made an announcement over the intercom to the entire store that they had some shots available.
The Pfizer vaccine requires refrigeration and expires after a certain time period.
I was able to get mine 5 minutes before the shot was expired.

Don’t you mean CFIA?