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Post by Geo 🇺🇦 🌻 on Aug 1, 2021 18:21:52 GMT -5
My county declined to implement a new mask mandate as they didn’t really implement a good way to enforce it the first time around and not wanting to force vaccinated folks to wear a mask. They also cited a high vaccination rate with 56 percent fully vaccinated and 70 percent with at least one dose.
That said, there are more people masking up anyway in public and more people are getting vaccinated so that’s good.
School districts here are making masks optional in the fall, mainly because there are too many loud parents that protested requiring masks. However, now there are concerned parents that want masks starting to mount a defense for requiring masks for the fall.
On the other side of the state line, they do have a mask mandate but the mayor there was promptly sued by the state of Missouri so it remains to be seen how enforceable said mandate is.
There are positive things happening in my community in terms of vaccinations and people voluntarily wearing masks, but it does feel like every measure would be met with a messy fight so it’s tiring to hear about it all sometimes.
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Post by Carolyn on Aug 5, 2021 9:09:58 GMT -5
They started forcing people to come back into the office on Monday without a mask mandate until yesterday when heavily pressured by the governor. And... it will surprise no one that three days later, we got a Covid-19 alert email that someone on the 6th floor had it. *Sigh*
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Post by Huntress on Aug 5, 2021 11:43:59 GMT -5
Boy oh boy, things are getting wacky here.
Mask mandates: none, can't remember the last time we actually had that in force. Until what, May? Vaccination numbers: middling. Those who wanted it got it and after that the entire effort has been floating dead in the water. Case numbers: soaring. We're currently at the same level that we were at last November. Only, y'know, it's summer and everyone is running from event to festival.
About a week ago the Estonian Auditor General published a really rather biting report saying that the PM had requested that he provide an overview of the vaccine et al situation, and the vaccine situation is that there ain't no actual official plan and hasn't been since the previous one expired in May. The PM replied by suspending her holiday and rallying to get back to office and to start Handling This Sitch. Cue biting articles in the media pointing out that Surprised Pikachu Lady had no business not knowing that the vaccination situation is as bad as it is since that's anything the media's ever written about for months and she's supposed to, well, have an overview of everything, being the big boss and all. A few people in the health board were sacked (gotta roll some heads to show effort), mask mandate was reinstated in public transport starting this Monday and new restrictions were imposed on events/movie theaters/gyms/spas and what have you, stating that you need a vaccine passport or negative test to enter. In other words, a move well overdue and one everyone should've seen coming ten miles away.
Media and social media now: people being SHOCKED and APPALLED that they can't suddenly get into movies and gyms any more.
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Post by Ginz ❤ on Aug 5, 2021 15:53:15 GMT -5
Countries where mask mandates were ever lifted baffle me. I understand it's first world countries that have much wider access to vaccines than we do here, but it still sounds bonkers to me. You are not allowed to enter any sort of store or business without a mask here, and I dread the day that changes... I hope it's not anytime soon, especially because it seems like the Delta variant is definitely spreading. I'm only half-immunized right now, waiting for when I'm able to get my second dose. But even after I get it, you will not catch me without a mask. I have some cute ones that match my outfits too!
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Post by Gelquie on Aug 5, 2021 17:50:32 GMT -5
A few people in the health board were sacked (gotta roll some heads to show effort), ...Y'know. That really explains a lot about that whole trend of "firing over transgressions, even minor ones in contexts where the person just needs training". Guess some things never change. Anyway, mandates are being reconsidered and reinstated in the states after months of many people going "yay, we're free!" only to realize belatedly "oh wait, no we're not", and there is so much Shocked Pikachu from everyone who hasn't been paying attention. Some are more miffed than others. It almost seems like the whole vaccine thing has reached a plateau in the Statues and I'm not really sure what can be done about it. It's easy to say "wait until Covid goes through those unvaccinated folk until they understand," but that's really kind of a disservice to those who may be trapped or deceived into that situation, those who are medically more vulnerable, or those who just don't have good access. People aren't proportionally affected. It does seem from my observations like a fraction of unvaccinated people are more willing to step in line to leave the ranks of the unvaccinated, in light of Delta, so at least there's that. I notice the mask recommendations haven't really caught on so well in my area. The numbers are reflecting pandemic levels of cases again. I'm vaccinated, but I still mask; no need to take a risk with a more tricky variant if I don't have to. It looks like some people keep waiting for official FDA approval for the vaccines, and I'm kind of surprised it hasn't happened for some of it yet. Apparently it takes about 6 months for the FDA to approve something, and we're past that for the mRNA vaccines here, and the mRNA vaccines haven't had that controversy. I wonder what's going on.* There was an interesting point that I saw brought up in a news article. In the states, there's the idea floating around of giving people a Covid booster shot in light of the variant and rise in cases. I've been uncertain, as I don't know how much of that is unvaccinated. But I found a stronger argument in this article. Tl;dr: WHO is recommending that no booster shots happen until more of the world has access to the vaccine at all. Because the Delta variant rose in and ripped through a place that did not have huge supply of vaccines, so if we want to prevent more tricky variants and future surges, it's better to get more places vaccinated At All than to focus on first-world countries with huge access. Basically, it's an inequity argument*, but it's also an argument for tackling the pandemic on a whole scale. Which I generally agree with, but who knows what agencies in each rich country will ultimately say. Concern with public image and all. *(I'm sure there are nuances to this, but I don't know them. I'm not a global expert and I'm not going to pretend to be.)
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Post by Huntress on Aug 6, 2021 2:59:40 GMT -5
A few people in the health board were sacked (gotta roll some heads to show effort), ...Y'know. That really explains a lot about that whole trend of "firing over transgressions, even minor ones in contexts where the person just needs training". Guess some things never change. Well, the overall stance (and also the overarching problem) seems to be that prior to all this, the Health Board was a pretty boring and inconsequential government office with cushy public office jobs. A lot like the Rescue Board, where my mom used to work and which is basically the office half of firefighters. They mostly made PSAs about the flu season and took dangerous toys off the market. Then BAM, global pandemic, suddenly all eyes are on them, they have no idea what up, the national mask stock expired in 2009 and they're way out of their depth. Buuut that was a year and a half ago and the floundering has since continued. This whole thing has been an exercise of "how fast can we all learn?" (Also, apparently the sacked chancellor was previously in the Ministry of Economics and had a big ugly case of corruption in 2010 whereupon she quietly shuffled to another cushy public position that nobody expected to be much trouble. So hey, Eastern Europe as usual, guh.) Interestingly, one thing that's been helping overcome the vaccination plateau here are vaccine buses. You'd think that it'd be more convenient to set up a time and show up when it's best for you, but we recently started getting vaccine buses that set up shop in crowded hotspots such as marketplaces and the interest is staggering. Hundreds of people lining up to casually get a shot alongside getting their milk and pork chops. There's a pretty sizable segment of people who aren't opposed per se, just that online registration is scary/dunno where I put my ID card reader/eh, I'll deal with it later/insert a long slew of reasons that take priority at this present moment. And once you stick the option to get it Right Here Right Now under their noses, the classic impulse-buyer mindset kicks in and they're all "sure, while I'm at it". The public sentiment everywhere seems to be that everyone should be ready and rearing to jump through whatever hoops it takes to get vaccinated, and those who don't must be opposed, but that grey area in the middle is still pretty big.
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Post by Carolyn on Aug 7, 2021 18:30:25 GMT -5
I think accessibility is definitely a huge issue, so having it be at shopping places or malls or somewhere it's convenient... that will help. Some folks want to, but it has to be right there and easy to obtain, I suppose? Kind of like flu shots. If they're around, free or close to free, and easily accessible, people will say, "sure. Why not?"
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Post by Thorn on Aug 11, 2021 5:45:59 GMT -5
Got my first dose of vaccine today!
I was doing a stocktake at work, had finished a shelf and was looking around to find out what to do next. There was a strange lady in the store!! She was all "I need one more!" So I volunteered, as I may otherwise need to wait months for my first vaccine. They had spare vaccines left at the end of the day they needed to use, so wandered the mall looking for employees who still needed one. I was really nervous, as I hate needles (the thought I may need to get blood tests soon is freaking me out too), but it went fine.
I got the pfizer vaccine, and my second dose is on the first of September. The vaccination card is lilac, it looks so cheery!
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Post by Thorn on Aug 11, 2021 21:02:11 GMT -5
Me: *gets my first vaccination yesterday, book second for three weeks away* The Government, today: "The standard guideline will now be that doses should be given six weeks apart!"
What timing. I can choose to rebook my second shot, but I think I'll stick with my current date regardless.
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Post by Carolyn on Aug 11, 2021 22:09:20 GMT -5
That's wonderful, Thorn!! So glad you got one
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Post by Thorn on Aug 11, 2021 22:21:37 GMT -5
That's wonderful, Thorn!! So glad you got one Thanks! =D It turns out they're speeding things up so I probably could have got one in October anyway, but still nice to get it out of the way.
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Post by Carolyn on Aug 13, 2021 9:17:42 GMT -5
My office has been forcing people back for one week. We just had 4 positives in 2 days in our building and a positive on the shuttle bus (more like the sketchiest van with no openable windows) we take for safety to our vehicles parked off-site because it's a dangerous inner city and there are "don't become a statistic" signs hanging up in the hall. I chose Thursday and Friday because those are the quiet days but by gosh am I not a happy camper right now.
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Post by Celestial on Aug 14, 2021 11:02:13 GMT -5
Anti-vaxxers are the worst.
I saw a bunch of people today putting up leaflets on cars. Picked one up and saw immediately it was fearmongering against vaccines by using official statistics combined with false claims ("children cannot get COVID") to scaremonger. I tried to remove the leaflets but they saw me and confronted me.
It was a genuinely infuriating conversation. First of all, they sued the classic "think of the children" on me, and also dismissed by choice to never have children with a "well, you never know what will happen." Then told me that the vaccine I had made me part of an experiment. Also untrue: the vaccines have been thoroughly tested. They claimed that so many people had died of side effects, or were injured. When I tried to counter and brought up the smallpox vaccine, one of them was genuinely stumped. But another hit me with this gem: "vaccines cause smallpox".
At this point, it became futilie to argue and I realised it. I let them go, and debated about whether to remove the leaflets. I was too exhausted to do it and risk another confrontation.
The whole encounter left me literally shaking with rage. How dare they?! How dare they scaremonger about something so utterly lifesaving under the guise of "protecting the children"?! I hate them so much and I wish I had the guts, the mental energy, and preparedness to counter their lies and false presentation of statistics. But I suck at debates, and they were so deep in their fear and scaremongering that I knew I could not break through to them. I wish I had though.
I don't understand such people. All I know is it makes me despair to think that there's so many like them out there, stopping our progress out of this pandemic and from defeating illnesses in general.
Plus I know if I had kept going, they might have eventually spat out "vaccines cause autism" which...cheers, nice to know you'd rather have a kid who is dead than like me.
(Also, to hell with these people who think I will ever have kids even though I've had personal experience and legitimate medical professionals both say "yep, those would be bad for your mental health")
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Post by Kat on Aug 15, 2021 5:10:20 GMT -5
Hey guys.
Guess which country just got its first lambda variant case. Apparently it's a 35-year-old woman.
Great.
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Aug 17, 2021 15:01:00 GMT -5
You know what time it is. It's back to school time.
My school is going back to its regular scheduling. Social distancing is still highly encouraged, masks are highly encouraged among the nonvaccinated, all that. It's going to be weird, as this'll be the closest thing I've had to a regular life ever since the pandemic even started.
Speaking of which, I'm finally getting a vaccination. My school is hosting vaccine workshops and I scheduled an appointment for next Wednesday. Thankfully, I don't have classes on Thursdays, so if I get bad side effects, I won't have to worry about missing a class.
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