O.T. "A touch of the covid"

[brian Rupnow]

Something is seriously astray with the vaccine supply in Canada. My old mother who is 100 years old got her shot last week in the nursing home she lives in, but they didn't have enough vaccine to give any to the people who work there, nor to my wife and I who are listed as "essential caregivers". I don't really know who is at fault, but I certainly know something is very wrong.----Brian

[old mart]

Sorry to hear of problems in the USA and Canada with the vaccine rollout. In the UK, we seem to have managed to get something right for once with our vaccine program.

[A.K. Boomer]

Without mentioning any names as we DO need to avoid that, at least were climbing out of the "denial phase" in allot of ways and I do hope that makes the situation more tolerable in critical area's that were lacking - takes time to play catch up with such a big machine and large order,,,

my state just opened to 50% capacity up from 25% because our numbers are a little better --- this is an incredible juggling act going on, some will think too little too late and others will see it as being an unsafe move, the effects are wide spread but there's also no doubt some are getting hit way more than others financially and yet others are getting hit with the reality of the covid including losing multiple family members,,, this is the proverbial "rock and a hard place" and we all have to understand why it creates such a divisional effect...

[Dan Dubeau]

You guys get vaccines? Our government may have dropped that ball...

Boy did they ever.... Very fortunate that my wife got hers. She essentially won a lottery system when they discovered they could get 6 does from a vial instead of 5 and had some extras. But now we're back to under supply, and no real plan to get us back on track, just a lot gum flapping and finger pointing.

[J Tiers]

You guys get vaccines? .........

Supposedly. yes. And it does happen, for favored people (at least part of the MO legislature, for instance) but not everywhere. Larger population areas, no. Rural areas, yes, although a lot of that may be the huge numbers of anti-vaxxers and Covid deniers that populate this place...... there may not be enough vaccine, but maybe enough people refuse it so there is enough left for those who do not.

You would almost think that someone is trying to scuttle the entire vaccination program.

[old mart]

It's a shame that in the USA, the Pentagon wasn't authorised to take over the whole vaccine logistics problem and appoint somebody like General Groves of Manhattton Project fame to just get it done, coordinating the army, navy and airforce along with commercial haulage firms.

[Peter.]

Sorry to hear of problems in the USA and Canada with the vaccine rollout. In the UK, we seem to have managed to get something right for once with our vaccine program.

One of the most positive things to come from Brexit, albeit unintentionally. Whilst the EU spent time considering, debating and deciding on the merits of the various vaccines soon to be available the British government fast-tracked the approval process and slammed in orders for millions of doses. Of course it helps that Astrazenica have large facilities in the UK and have been pouring billions of investment into them for the past few years (even before Covid) but the biggest reason we have got in at the front, as I see it, is because we were not hampered by the EU beaurocratic machine.

[hammernanvil]

I don’t believe for a second the the flu just
vanished. They are calling everything covid,
why is that? Well, I have my thoughts.

[Baz]

My little corner of London edge is well ahead of the game. I was done on Saturday despite still well under 70 somewhat to the annoyance of my sister who is older than me and still waiting. Of course it had to be the day the news claims it doesn't work against the SA version. Not telling my work in case they think it makes it alright to ask me to go into the office. Nearly a year without having to mix with people has meant no colds and other bugs and even less hayfever than normal. Never appreciated just how much ill health (ie all of it) came from mixing in public.

[A.K. Boomer]

I don’t believe for a second the the flu just
vanished. They are calling everything covid,
why is that? Well, I have my thoughts.

It would be hard for me to actually believe that the flu would not take a major major hit with all the quadzillion bottles of hand sanitizer sold - mask wearing - and people running in the opposite direction when someone coughs or sneezes, covids 100 times easier to catch so if were actually putting a huge dent in it with those practices then just imagine how much were putting the hurts to the common cold or flu... just my counter thoughts.

[Jim Stewart]

I don’t believe for a second the the flu just
vanished. They are calling everything covid,
why is that? Well, I have my thoughts.

Ridiculous.

Has it occurred to you that the flu should be much less common with so many people staying home, wearing masks, social distancing, washing hands?

-js

[J Tiers]

Jim S has it in a nutshell...... Nobody is getting the 'flu, the precautions are too much for it. Well, the covid deniers are likely still getting the flu, if there is any of it circulating. But that is the point, with all the folks wearing masks, etc, there just is not very much 'flu out there.

It's a shame that in the USA, the Pentagon wasn't authorised to take over the whole vaccine logistics problem and appoint somebody like General Groves of Manhattton Project fame to just get it done, coordinating the army, navy and airforce along with commercial haulage firms.

Someone like that would never have made it to the top these days, he'd be a career lieutenant just from having annoyed the do-nothing brass hats by not following procedures to the letter.

Probably turn out the way having the old Air Corps carry the airmail did. (that was a disaster)

[Willy]

I don’t believe for a second the the flu just
vanished. They are calling everything covid,
why is that? Well, I have my thoughts.

So how many people have you seen or talked this winter that actually had a cold or a flu? Not many I suspect.
Normally this time of year I avoid folks that show the symptoms of either, this year it's compulsory by law.

[danlb]

During flue season of 2019-2020 I avoided people with colds and flu symptoms. Almost made it but a brat coughed on me while I was paying for my dinner. 2020-2021 I have had no symptoms of a cold nor flu. Maybe all this hygiene stuff works, just like the scientists say it does!

Dan

[lakeside53]

It would be hard for me to actually believe that the flu would not take a major major hit with all the quadzillion bottles of hand sanitizer sold - mask wearing - and people running in the opposite direction when someone coughs or sneezes, covids 100 times easier to catch so if were actually putting a huge dent in it with those practices then just imagine how much were putting the hurts to the common cold or flu... just my counter thoughts.

The best way to look at this without indulging the conspiracy theories is to look at other counties. Take NZ and Australia for example. Their flu cases fell off a cliff last April when masking and lockdowns (real) were put in place, never reappeared, and they went through an entire fall/winter flu season with almost no covid either. Data is easy to find.


In my tiny world... we have about about150 employee ON LOCATION, covid protocols in place, and strict hygiene all over. Almost NO absenteeism from colds/flu this winter... normally rampant due to the close working environment. Oh, we had 3 cases of covid. All from "apartment sharing or spouses" and no workplace secondary transmission (we do aggressive contact tracing including by video review). Like it or not, masking and all the other precautions do work. I'm sick of it all, but will stay the course until the risk dies away.