The virus continues to be a stubborn pest in any parts of Europe. This report from France shows that part of the problem is (understandable) vaccine hesitancy. Understandable, because of the Astra Zeneca concerns. https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1392845981188767745
Interesting. The thought is this is an incentive for those hesitant to vaccinate to now be vaccinated. This skeptic sees it as permission for unvaccinated folks to go without masks. How will anyone know?
Not a fan of CDC guidance under both Administrations. Too inconsistent and therefore too much mixed messaging. Slow to react on certain things like aerosol transmission. Much to impulsive with respect to masking and distancing.
In the U.S., we’re in a much better place than we were last year, thanks to vaccinations. Hopefully the vaccinations will protect us from the variants of concern. However, compared to where we were last May and June we’re NOT in a better place in terms of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Allowing numbers to simmer, if you will, over the summer could lead to more ripples or possibly even waves come fall and winter.
I’m fully vaccinated. I mostly wear a mask outdoors in an urban setting, unless I’m in an uncrowded park. I also always wear a mask and distance in public indoor places. Do I fear getting the virus and becoming severely ill now that I’m vaccinated? No, I don’t. But, do I know that I can contract the virus and transmit to an un-vaccinated person? Yes. And, until that risk is much smaller than it currently is – we’re at or around the 70%-80% fully vaccinated range – I’ll continue to be careful. I believe that this should be the CDC’s message. That’s not alarmist or overly risk-averse. It’s common sense.
I agree re CDC under both admins. I was reading comments on the link I posted after o posted here. To a tee nearly every comment was the same as mine. I will surely continue wearing my masks.
Latest world map showing where case growth intensity. See link below. The darker the color, the more intense the case level/growth. The U.S. is getting lighter, which is a good thing.
I do have an issue with the map, as it depicts Greenland in gray, indicating that there is no data available from Greenland. That is not true. The Greenlandic public health authorities in Nuuk regularly update their case count. The grand total for the entire pandemic is 31 (no deaths and only 1 hospitalization, a person who recovered). They do fairly regular testing. Certainly more testing than many other countries. https://twitter.com/paimadhu/status/1392937583408201735/photo/1
Hastily written piece on the CDC change in guidance on masking in public indoor spaces (for fully vaccinated folks). See link below. The change in guidance occurred on the same day the Yankees announced that 8 fully vaccinated members of their organization have tested positive. This includes a reinfection (Gleyber Torres, who had Covid-19 in December 2020). I am not worried about these people getting very sick. But it shows that fully vaccinated can (rather easily with the J&J and AZ vaccine) contract the virus, and then of course they can transmit to vulnerable, un-vaccinated people. Why then CDC would say ditch masks and distancing INdoors is beyond me. You do that when community transmission levels are really low. They are not, at least not yet. The competence level of our federal government is astoundingly low. Doesn’t matter who’s in charge. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2021/05/13/covid-19-outbreak-among-8-fully-vaccinated-members-of-ny-yankee-organization-implications-for-cdc-guidance-on-masking/?sh=60b4bc023412
Thank you Joshua. The vaccines are life changing and for the most part life saving. It is worrisome that to some they seem to indicate that we are back to “normal” if we are vaccinated.
For one, I sure breath easier. But I have every intention of remaining cautious. Vaccines have only been available for a few months
Joshua. Do you know if they were asymptomatic and it was caught during routine testing.
Found it. Nevin had mild symptoms. Others asymptomatic. So we have the potential for a fair amount of asymptomatic folks running around and the CDC decides to have their masks removes
Remember that ship I keep mentioning 🙁
As I said in the article I am not concerned about these folks getting (very) sick. Vaccines do work to prevent serious illness. The point is that vaccination does not necessarily protect against contracting and therefore transmitting the virus, especially the J&J and AZ vaccines (they’re just not as good as the Pfizer/Moderna vaccines). This means that until we get community transmission way down (still have 40k cases nationwide) to, say, 5k/10k per day, we need to be cautious. Indoor masking in public spaces and having space between people is NOT difficult and not a deprivation. Gosh, are we Americans that soft that we can’t handle that? When Biden says that we’ve sacrificed for the past 15 months I roll my eyes. Come on. Really. Sacrifice? Good lord.
Yep. Even though fully vaccinated folks may not get terribly sick, they can infect an unvaccinated adult or a child. Also, it is still too soon to know any of this for certain because of newer variants. It will take a while still to determine the vaccines’ efficacy where they are concerned.
As I type that, I realize we have not heard much about the California double variant. Joshua??
So far – and this will probably remain true – it’s not been efficient at transmitting. California case numbers reflect that. They’re tumbled like a rock. Not every mutation makes the virus more efficient. In fact, many don’t. I feel like it’s a trial and error `method’ that viruses adopt when they mutate. As they seek any advantage they can to survive they sometimes hit upon something successful, and other times not. The B.117 is a very successful variant. Likewise, the P.1 and B.1.617 variants (all lineages) appear to be very successful.
C-19 for 5-14 is ready.
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Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
The virus continues to be a stubborn pest in any parts of Europe. This report from France shows that part of the problem is (understandable) vaccine hesitancy. Understandable, because of the Astra Zeneca concerns. https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1392845981188767745
Interesting. The thought is this is an incentive for those hesitant to vaccinate to now be vaccinated. This skeptic sees it as permission for unvaccinated folks to go without masks. How will anyone know?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/health/cdc-masks-guidance.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR3KuuqIIayX5fBWkhAlsL4xR–5ssXhjnKgrBabve8uD_IBi_fC7LTXYVc
Not a fan of CDC guidance under both Administrations. Too inconsistent and therefore too much mixed messaging. Slow to react on certain things like aerosol transmission. Much to impulsive with respect to masking and distancing.
In the U.S., we’re in a much better place than we were last year, thanks to vaccinations. Hopefully the vaccinations will protect us from the variants of concern. However, compared to where we were last May and June we’re NOT in a better place in terms of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Allowing numbers to simmer, if you will, over the summer could lead to more ripples or possibly even waves come fall and winter.
I’m fully vaccinated. I mostly wear a mask outdoors in an urban setting, unless I’m in an uncrowded park. I also always wear a mask and distance in public indoor places. Do I fear getting the virus and becoming severely ill now that I’m vaccinated? No, I don’t. But, do I know that I can contract the virus and transmit to an un-vaccinated person? Yes. And, until that risk is much smaller than it currently is – we’re at or around the 70%-80% fully vaccinated range – I’ll continue to be careful. I believe that this should be the CDC’s message. That’s not alarmist or overly risk-averse. It’s common sense.
I agree re CDC under both admins. I was reading comments on the link I posted after o posted here. To a tee nearly every comment was the same as mine. I will surely continue wearing my masks.
Latest world map showing where case growth intensity. See link below. The darker the color, the more intense the case level/growth. The U.S. is getting lighter, which is a good thing.
I do have an issue with the map, as it depicts Greenland in gray, indicating that there is no data available from Greenland. That is not true. The Greenlandic public health authorities in Nuuk regularly update their case count. The grand total for the entire pandemic is 31 (no deaths and only 1 hospitalization, a person who recovered). They do fairly regular testing. Certainly more testing than many other countries. https://twitter.com/paimadhu/status/1392937583408201735/photo/1
Hastily written piece on the CDC change in guidance on masking in public indoor spaces (for fully vaccinated folks). See link below. The change in guidance occurred on the same day the Yankees announced that 8 fully vaccinated members of their organization have tested positive. This includes a reinfection (Gleyber Torres, who had Covid-19 in December 2020). I am not worried about these people getting very sick. But it shows that fully vaccinated can (rather easily with the J&J and AZ vaccine) contract the virus, and then of course they can transmit to vulnerable, un-vaccinated people. Why then CDC would say ditch masks and distancing INdoors is beyond me. You do that when community transmission levels are really low. They are not, at least not yet. The competence level of our federal government is astoundingly low. Doesn’t matter who’s in charge. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2021/05/13/covid-19-outbreak-among-8-fully-vaccinated-members-of-ny-yankee-organization-implications-for-cdc-guidance-on-masking/?sh=60b4bc023412
Thank you Joshua. The vaccines are life changing and for the most part life saving. It is worrisome that to some they seem to indicate that we are back to “normal” if we are vaccinated.
For one, I sure breath easier. But I have every intention of remaining cautious. Vaccines have only been available for a few months
Joshua. Do you know if they were asymptomatic and it was caught during routine testing.
Found it. Nevin had mild symptoms. Others asymptomatic. So we have the potential for a fair amount of asymptomatic folks running around and the CDC decides to have their masks removes
Remember that ship I keep mentioning 🙁
As I said in the article I am not concerned about these folks getting (very) sick. Vaccines do work to prevent serious illness. The point is that vaccination does not necessarily protect against contracting and therefore transmitting the virus, especially the J&J and AZ vaccines (they’re just not as good as the Pfizer/Moderna vaccines). This means that until we get community transmission way down (still have 40k cases nationwide) to, say, 5k/10k per day, we need to be cautious. Indoor masking in public spaces and having space between people is NOT difficult and not a deprivation. Gosh, are we Americans that soft that we can’t handle that? When Biden says that we’ve sacrificed for the past 15 months I roll my eyes. Come on. Really. Sacrifice? Good lord.
Yep. Even though fully vaccinated folks may not get terribly sick, they can infect an unvaccinated adult or a child. Also, it is still too soon to know any of this for certain because of newer variants. It will take a while still to determine the vaccines’ efficacy where they are concerned.
As I type that, I realize we have not heard much about the California double variant. Joshua??
So far – and this will probably remain true – it’s not been efficient at transmitting. California case numbers reflect that. They’re tumbled like a rock. Not every mutation makes the virus more efficient. In fact, many don’t. I feel like it’s a trial and error `method’ that viruses adopt when they mutate. As they seek any advantage they can to survive they sometimes hit upon something successful, and other times not. The B.117 is a very successful variant. Likewise, the P.1 and B.1.617 variants (all lineages) appear to be very successful.
C-19 for 5-14 is ready.