Joshua, I raised an eyebrow at the words “impending doom” also. But then it seems we need to get the attention of far too many in this country. I’m not sure, however, if that gets attention or just shuts people down. If over half a million deaths doesn’t get our attention, I have no idea what will
Perhaps this is targeting our leaders. I’m thinking Baker sees it which would explain why he and Polito were a bit defensive in the last presser.
U.S. made a good decision not to authorize use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Not only is it less effective than the 3 vaccines the U.S. approved, it has concerning and a growing number of adverse events. Canada is pausing AZ vaccinations in certain age groups. Germany is considering it, following a report of 9 clotting deaths.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about ALL the vaccines. So far, it appears that the ones the U.S. has approved are very safe and effective.
Is that AZ vaccine the one with blood clots as a side effect?
In response to the “impending doom” message by the CDC, I thought I heard on the radio this morning that Biden is considering issuing a nationwide mask mandate. Did I hear correctly?
Vicki, I totally agree.
I also think there’s implicit misogyny in some of the criticism of Walensky (many pointed to her becoming emotional, as if that’s a negative!). As a nation we’ve become numb to the numbers. We’re losing more than 1,000 people a day to a now preventable disease. We’ve lost more than 560,000. Cases are rising rapidly again. [Even I was stunned at the increase in recent days. I think we may go back over 100k per day again, which is unsettling]
So, when Walensky shows she cares it’s a good thing. I wish Redfield and others would have shown more compassion and concern. They did not.
My problem was with the phrase “impending doom.” It’s fine that she used it, but in America, where optimism is a quasi-religion, it doesn’t go over well with people.
MA school positivity rate = 0.76%
All the more reason to get schools open again for full time in-person learning. Do you agree, Joshua?
That is from pool testing which has tested 159,000 students out of over 900,000.
As you know, I like numbers. This is positivity in the last month. Remember, that schools do not report all positives. Even in my small corner of the world, I know of positives not reported and also contact tracing not done. Of those 2,531, I wonder how many were exposed and ultimately positive.
Feb 25 through March 24, 2021
Students 1,856
Staff 675
Total 2,531
If we use percents, and please someone check my math, that calculation of 0.76 is based on only 17.7 percent of our student population….and that 900,000 doesn’t include staff
Philip, I need to add that if teachers are safe and parents want kids in school, then that should be a choice. However, full remote should also be a choice. The here and now episode I posted the other day was an excellent example of how one thing we can learn from this is that one size does not fit all.
The caveat is keep it honest and don’t change restrictions just to fit the scenario.
Amen Vicki!
🙂
Philip, on the AZ vaccine, yes, it’s the clotting problem that has led to deaths. They’re not entirely sure that it’s related to the vaccine. But, there appears to be a correlation (with no proven causation).
Biden wants states to (re)issue mask mandates, but he has NO authority to impose a nationwide mask mandate. It’s up to governors. The only thing Biden can do is issue a mask mandate at all federal facilities, which includes VA facilities, post offices, most airports, Amtrak stations, and federal courthouses and offices.
On schools, I am for in-person schooling as much as possible. But, I get it if some parents are reluctant to send their children to schools. I believe we’ll be in a much better place this summer and early fall. By then, risks should be minimal to all involved.
I’m curious to hear her thoughts today. I’m hoping she doesn’t walk her comments back.
Bottom line, school kids need to get vaccinated ASAP during this upcoming summer so normal school activities can resume in the fall with no more remote learning except on those days with major snows. Frankly, I don’t understand why children were not part of the original vaccine trials. It would certainly save a lot of time if age were not a factor. Just my personal opinion but I bet in the end, all vaccines will be deemed safe for all ages. Let’s hope so.
Joshua had an excellent explanation a day or two ago. Not sure if you saw it? If you can’t find, I’ll see if I can. Listening to Baker now.
Joshua, this has me curious. If we are not using AZ and if it has a risk, are we doing anyone favors by sharing
AZ is the one that was originally sent to South Africa. It was found to be insufficiently effective against the variant there, and I believe it was then sent on to other countries in hopes that it would be useful where the South African variant wasn’t dominant. I hope it didn’t cause other problems…
I agree. As Joshua said earlier, clotting is also a problem. Makes no sense that we pat ourselves in the back for giving that to other countries.
Why are we offering a useless and even potentially dangerous vaccine to other countries? I thought Biden had far better sense. When I sit down in the chair come Thursday morning, before I roll up my sleeve, I am going to immediately ask which company’s vaccine I will be getting. If it’s AZ, I’m outta there!!! Thanks for the heads up everyone!
No worries about getting AZ vaccine as it’s not approved for use here. You’ll only get an approved vaccine. Good luck, by the way!
Also, AZ vaccine isn’t useless (it’s being used extensively in the UK and with success), but it’s not quite as effective as the other vaccines on the market, it has been associated with clotting issues, and the company hasn’t been as transparent as it ought to be. Canada has approved the AZ vaccine but doesn’t have sufficient supplies. Same with Mexico. A counterpoint to this is that today Canada temporarily advised against the <55 getting the AZ vaccine pending Health Canada's (Canada's FDA) investigation.
I knew we were not going to have AZ; but if it has clotting issues, why in heavens name are they still using it.
Still makes me raise an eyebrow that we give what we won’t use and what has demonstrated issues to other countries.
AZ vaccine does appear to have serious risks associated with it, albeit for very small numbers of people (vaccine has been administered tens of millions of times). Keep in mind, that no drug or vaccine is 100% risk-free or safe. Not even aspirin or Tylenol, both of which kill over 150 people every year in the U.S. (usually as a result of over-use, or drug-drug interaction). My guess is that when all is said and done the AZ vaccine will be considered relatively safe. Yet, at this point, caution is advised.
I do understand. Thanks Joshua.
Reviewing global data today:
– India continues to see significant increases in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
– Brazil is peaking in all 3 indicators at very high levels
– Europe may have peaked last week. Still high numbers, but there appears to have been a downward turn as a result of strict lockdowns (and continued vaccinations, though that pace is still slow). Will have to monitor this week.
– Israel has 0 deaths today for the first time since last year. It has now fully vaccinated close to 60% of the population.
– U.K. continues to trend in the right direction – all indicators on a downward trajectory.
– U.S. is trending in the wrong direction on all 3 indicators. Note, this is not a massive surge, but it is a wave (a ripple at least) and it’s not just cases that are increasing.
Chile’s current problems with Covid-19 should be a warning sign to political leaders in the U.S. Chile’s vaccination rate surpasses the U.S. and even U.K., yet its’ hospital ICUs are at a breaking point . The critical mistake the Chilean government made was to ease restrictions on travel, business and schools too early and too fast (not staged), creating a false sense of confidence that pandemic was over. Sound familiar? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/world/americas/chile-vaccination-cases-surge.html
Note, I am not saying this will happen here, as we don’t have as much of the P.1 variant (that scares the living hell out of me) as Chile. Still, as I’ve said all along, caution is best at this point. I do NOT think it’s a good idea for there to be fans indoors, for example. Fenway Park is one thing; an indoor arena is a whole different ballgame (pardon the pun). Let’s first make sure we’ve vaccinated 70% of the population, which is doable by the end of May, then open everything up.
Voted for Baker, like him personally. But I find his indifference not only annoying, but idiotic at this point. I am not in favor of a strict lockdown like they have in the UK (though I do understand it; and it has driven indicators to very low levels). But what I’ve been seeing for many weeks now in this state is little or no mitigation. I am NOT talking about masks. I am talking about distancing rules and gathering size limits. Went grocery shopping today and it was jam-packed. It was insane. No distancing by anyone, really, which even pre-pandemic is annoying (I hate it when customers breath down your neck). At one point I waited to get milk at a distance from a woman who was making her selection. She said “oh, you can get what you want, I’m masked.” Well, no. That’s not how it works. My flimsy surgical mask and yours do a little bit of good, but not nearly the good that keeping distance and reducing gathering size does. No wonder this is happening:
1,683 COVID-19 cases reported in Massachusetts today; the highest Tuesday report in 7 weeks. I predict that later this week we’ll approach 3,000 cases and test positivity across the state will go above 3%, with 10% in a number of locales.
Most new hospital admissions since Jan 17 (33 new admissions).
Two days in a row of high ICU admissions.
The admissions are younger folks. We will have more deaths of younger folks, as is happening across Europe. It will be less than there because of our vaccination campaign. But, at this point can’t we all mitigate more than we’re doing to help prevent a death.
Boy, Joshua, I could not agree more. I watched his presser today. My daughters did as well I hopes that with dr Walensky present that baker would understand that we are far too relaxed ….under his direction.
The entire show..and it was a show…was embarrassing.
C-19 for 3-31 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Joshua, I raised an eyebrow at the words “impending doom” also. But then it seems we need to get the attention of far too many in this country. I’m not sure, however, if that gets attention or just shuts people down. If over half a million deaths doesn’t get our attention, I have no idea what will
Perhaps this is targeting our leaders. I’m thinking Baker sees it which would explain why he and Polito were a bit defensive in the last presser.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/03/29/982302294/cdc-director-fears-impending-doom-if-u-s-opens-too-quickly
U.S. made a good decision not to authorize use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Not only is it less effective than the 3 vaccines the U.S. approved, it has concerning and a growing number of adverse events. Canada is pausing AZ vaccinations in certain age groups. Germany is considering it, following a report of 9 clotting deaths.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about ALL the vaccines. So far, it appears that the ones the U.S. has approved are very safe and effective.
Is that AZ vaccine the one with blood clots as a side effect?
In response to the “impending doom” message by the CDC, I thought I heard on the radio this morning that Biden is considering issuing a nationwide mask mandate. Did I hear correctly?
Vicki, I totally agree.
I also think there’s implicit misogyny in some of the criticism of Walensky (many pointed to her becoming emotional, as if that’s a negative!). As a nation we’ve become numb to the numbers. We’re losing more than 1,000 people a day to a now preventable disease. We’ve lost more than 560,000. Cases are rising rapidly again. [Even I was stunned at the increase in recent days. I think we may go back over 100k per day again, which is unsettling]
So, when Walensky shows she cares it’s a good thing. I wish Redfield and others would have shown more compassion and concern. They did not.
My problem was with the phrase “impending doom.” It’s fine that she used it, but in America, where optimism is a quasi-religion, it doesn’t go over well with people.
MA school positivity rate = 0.76%
All the more reason to get schools open again for full time in-person learning. Do you agree, Joshua?
That is from pool testing which has tested 159,000 students out of over 900,000.
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/low-positivity-rate-found-in-mass-schools-after-pool-testing-baker-says/2341503/
As you know, I like numbers. This is positivity in the last month. Remember, that schools do not report all positives. Even in my small corner of the world, I know of positives not reported and also contact tracing not done. Of those 2,531, I wonder how many were exposed and ultimately positive.
Feb 25 through March 24, 2021
Students 1,856
Staff 675
Total 2,531
If we use percents, and please someone check my math, that calculation of 0.76 is based on only 17.7 percent of our student population….and that 900,000 doesn’t include staff
Philip, I need to add that if teachers are safe and parents want kids in school, then that should be a choice. However, full remote should also be a choice. The here and now episode I posted the other day was an excellent example of how one thing we can learn from this is that one size does not fit all.
The caveat is keep it honest and don’t change restrictions just to fit the scenario.
Amen Vicki!
🙂
Philip, on the AZ vaccine, yes, it’s the clotting problem that has led to deaths. They’re not entirely sure that it’s related to the vaccine. But, there appears to be a correlation (with no proven causation).
Biden wants states to (re)issue mask mandates, but he has NO authority to impose a nationwide mask mandate. It’s up to governors. The only thing Biden can do is issue a mask mandate at all federal facilities, which includes VA facilities, post offices, most airports, Amtrak stations, and federal courthouses and offices.
On schools, I am for in-person schooling as much as possible. But, I get it if some parents are reluctant to send their children to schools. I believe we’ll be in a much better place this summer and early fall. By then, risks should be minimal to all involved.
Good comment and agree with all.
Thanks Joshua.
https://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/after-impending-doom-warning-cdc-head-join-baker-boston?utm_content=massachusetts&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=blasts&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR3DLzefW001nvPFGmrhEKbkg71q82tYja39Okmrba4zu8QAgWAj1l_43yc
I’m curious to hear her thoughts today. I’m hoping she doesn’t walk her comments back.
Bottom line, school kids need to get vaccinated ASAP during this upcoming summer so normal school activities can resume in the fall with no more remote learning except on those days with major snows. Frankly, I don’t understand why children were not part of the original vaccine trials. It would certainly save a lot of time if age were not a factor. Just my personal opinion but I bet in the end, all vaccines will be deemed safe for all ages. Let’s hope so.
Joshua had an excellent explanation a day or two ago. Not sure if you saw it? If you can’t find, I’ll see if I can. Listening to Baker now.
Joshua, this has me curious. If we are not using AZ and if it has a risk, are we doing anyone favors by sharing
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-mexico/u-s-to-share-4-million-doses-of-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-with-mexico-canada-idUSKBN2BA22S
AZ is the one that was originally sent to South Africa. It was found to be insufficiently effective against the variant there, and I believe it was then sent on to other countries in hopes that it would be useful where the South African variant wasn’t dominant. I hope it didn’t cause other problems…
I agree. As Joshua said earlier, clotting is also a problem. Makes no sense that we pat ourselves in the back for giving that to other countries.
Why are we offering a useless and even potentially dangerous vaccine to other countries? I thought Biden had far better sense. When I sit down in the chair come Thursday morning, before I roll up my sleeve, I am going to immediately ask which company’s vaccine I will be getting. If it’s AZ, I’m outta there!!! Thanks for the heads up everyone!
No worries about getting AZ vaccine as it’s not approved for use here. You’ll only get an approved vaccine. Good luck, by the way!
Also, AZ vaccine isn’t useless (it’s being used extensively in the UK and with success), but it’s not quite as effective as the other vaccines on the market, it has been associated with clotting issues, and the company hasn’t been as transparent as it ought to be. Canada has approved the AZ vaccine but doesn’t have sufficient supplies. Same with Mexico. A counterpoint to this is that today Canada temporarily advised against the <55 getting the AZ vaccine pending Health Canada's (Canada's FDA) investigation.
I knew we were not going to have AZ; but if it has clotting issues, why in heavens name are they still using it.
Still makes me raise an eyebrow that we give what we won’t use and what has demonstrated issues to other countries.
AZ vaccine does appear to have serious risks associated with it, albeit for very small numbers of people (vaccine has been administered tens of millions of times). Keep in mind, that no drug or vaccine is 100% risk-free or safe. Not even aspirin or Tylenol, both of which kill over 150 people every year in the U.S. (usually as a result of over-use, or drug-drug interaction). My guess is that when all is said and done the AZ vaccine will be considered relatively safe. Yet, at this point, caution is advised.
I do understand. Thanks Joshua.
Reviewing global data today:
– India continues to see significant increases in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
– Brazil is peaking in all 3 indicators at very high levels
– Europe may have peaked last week. Still high numbers, but there appears to have been a downward turn as a result of strict lockdowns (and continued vaccinations, though that pace is still slow). Will have to monitor this week.
– Israel has 0 deaths today for the first time since last year. It has now fully vaccinated close to 60% of the population.
– U.K. continues to trend in the right direction – all indicators on a downward trajectory.
– U.S. is trending in the wrong direction on all 3 indicators. Note, this is not a massive surge, but it is a wave (a ripple at least) and it’s not just cases that are increasing.
Just to be clear, Europe may have turned a corner every so slightly as a whole, but many countries – France, Germany, Italy – are still peaking. https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210329-france-eyes-stricter-lockdown-as-covid-19-patients-in-intensive-care-near-5-000
Chile’s current problems with Covid-19 should be a warning sign to political leaders in the U.S. Chile’s vaccination rate surpasses the U.S. and even U.K., yet its’ hospital ICUs are at a breaking point . The critical mistake the Chilean government made was to ease restrictions on travel, business and schools too early and too fast (not staged), creating a false sense of confidence that pandemic was over. Sound familiar? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/world/americas/chile-vaccination-cases-surge.html
Note, I am not saying this will happen here, as we don’t have as much of the P.1 variant (that scares the living hell out of me) as Chile. Still, as I’ve said all along, caution is best at this point. I do NOT think it’s a good idea for there to be fans indoors, for example. Fenway Park is one thing; an indoor arena is a whole different ballgame (pardon the pun). Let’s first make sure we’ve vaccinated 70% of the population, which is doable by the end of May, then open everything up.
Voted for Baker, like him personally. But I find his indifference not only annoying, but idiotic at this point. I am not in favor of a strict lockdown like they have in the UK (though I do understand it; and it has driven indicators to very low levels). But what I’ve been seeing for many weeks now in this state is little or no mitigation. I am NOT talking about masks. I am talking about distancing rules and gathering size limits. Went grocery shopping today and it was jam-packed. It was insane. No distancing by anyone, really, which even pre-pandemic is annoying (I hate it when customers breath down your neck). At one point I waited to get milk at a distance from a woman who was making her selection. She said “oh, you can get what you want, I’m masked.” Well, no. That’s not how it works. My flimsy surgical mask and yours do a little bit of good, but not nearly the good that keeping distance and reducing gathering size does. No wonder this is happening:
1,683 COVID-19 cases reported in Massachusetts today; the highest Tuesday report in 7 weeks. I predict that later this week we’ll approach 3,000 cases and test positivity across the state will go above 3%, with 10% in a number of locales.
Most new hospital admissions since Jan 17 (33 new admissions).
Two days in a row of high ICU admissions.
The admissions are younger folks. We will have more deaths of younger folks, as is happening across Europe. It will be less than there because of our vaccination campaign. But, at this point can’t we all mitigate more than we’re doing to help prevent a death.
Boy, Joshua, I could not agree more. I watched his presser today. My daughters did as well I hopes that with dr Walensky present that baker would understand that we are far too relaxed ….under his direction.
The entire show..and it was a show…was embarrassing.
C-19 for 3-31 is ready.