by ezs | Nov 10, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – vaccine mandates are on, off, on again – with court cases across the US and Europe. Meanwhile CDC moves away from getting to herd immunity – meaning breakouts, variants and Covid becoming an endemic disease.
Weekly update from The Seattle Times.
Friday –
Thursday – case numbers plateauing in Washington State; rising elsewhere in the US again. Austria discusses “lockdown for the non vaccinated”, The Netherlands warns of new lockdowns. Continued legal challenges against vaccine mandates for staff.
Wednesday – the roll call of cases and deaths continues across Europe and Russia.
Tuesday – US Government (via the NIH) and Moderna arguing around patents.
Monday – this week I’ll get a booster, as will the eldest child. Moderna for both – so Pfizer-Pfizer-Moderna. International travel restrictions into the US start being lifted.
This time last year – post election, lots of new cases, folk urged not to travel for Thanksgiving. 1M new cases in the US per week.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Nov 1, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – US rollout of vaccine to kids starting.
Friday – European restrictions on vaccine requirements landing – similar to much of the US and other parts of the world
Thursday – slowly, slowly the UK hospital and death rates are ticking up; slow following the wave of positive cases. Graphic from The Guardian.
WHO: “Europe at center of pandemic” with >500k more deaths to follow.
Wednesday – US to start vaccination of children aged 5-11.
Tuesday – UK death rates climb, multiple European countries reporting new peaks of cases.
Monday – “vax” is the OED word of the year. JHU estimates “at least 5M deaths from Covid”. Australian border re-opens after almost 20 months.
This time last year – US hitting a million new cases per week; this was the build up to the massive, pre-vaccine, spike. Election day. Masks and politics.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Oct 26, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – Negative covid tests here in the house; putting the last few weeks to rest.
Meanwhile – cases continue to decline in Washington State and across the US. Cases continue to surge in the UK.
Friday – non-vaccinated refusers, vaccine mandates, protests.
Thursday – back to the list of locations where cases are surging. Singapore and across SE Asia, much of Europe and especially Eastern Europe.
Wednesday – AY.4.2 variant is now >9% of UK cases; not unexpected to see variants emerge from the vast pool of positive cases in the UK; this one is of concern. Meanwhile >43k cases in the UK, cases surge in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Tuesday – Those UK numbers are still terrifying. Planning a trip to England later this year to close out some business; and I am wondering about the safety and wisdom of such a trip.
Monday – out of isolation. First booster (Moderna) in the house. Looking back – just four months ago, in June 2021, I was wondering “when to stop the covid blogging“. With over 80% vaccinated locally then, and >93% 12+ fully vaccinated now – it certainly felt like the beginning of the end. Locally the mask and vaccination mandates are enforced; but there are still lots of under-vaccinated areas of the county and state.
This time last year – on the rapid climb into the winter infections wave of 2020, pre-vaccine and huge numbers of cases, hospitalisation and sadly deaths.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Oct 21, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – slight uptick in cases in Washington State; but a good 6-8 weeks of downward trend now.
Friday – Plenty of reports on mixed boosters – anecdotally it looks like “MMM”, “MMP”, “PPM” in order are the most effective. One of the house is getting Moderna booster (“MMM”) next week.
Thursday – boosters, mixed boosters – both approved by the CDC and FDA. Children 5-11 will soon be eligible. That’s another big vaccination target to remove transmission vectors. If there can be >80% vaccination Covid will move from being a pandemic to endemic. As noted last year – that means an annual “covid shot”, probably in conjunction with a flu shot, targeted at the current variant of concern. In the UK >50k cases, much discussion about the real, non-symptomatic rate being above 100k. What this looks like (plans B and C) for winter isolation and protecting NHS and other key workers). New variant “AY.4.2” more infectious than delta.
Wednesday – 3% of Washington State employees are gone after not meeting the vaccine deadline. In context – that’s less than the “normal” attrition rate through retirement or moves. School north of Seattle closes because of Covid outbreak.
Tuesday – Washington State University fire their high profile football coach. Multiple Washington State Patrol staff leave WSP.
Monday – Tests for all of the family. Two positive, two negative. Isolating in the home.
This time last year – Continuing ramp of European cases, stable in Washington State.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Oct 19, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – positive test for the house member. That’s thoroughly annoying. I’ll save my rant for private.
NZ hosts “vaxathon” – over 2.5% of the population jabbed in a single day.
Cases in Washington State trending downwards.
Friday – Uh oh – a house member has been exposed to COVID through a potentially unvaccinated co-worker. Off to get tested in an abundance of caution.
Thursday – US travel restrictions lifting. Still >40k daily cases in the UK.
Wednesday – Russia >30k cases. Still generally high transmissions around the globe.
Tuesday – Moderna to join Pfizer in approval for booster shots. Mixed boosters also to be considered.
Monday – Cases still dropping in Washington.
This time last year – European wave, looking forward to Thanksgiving being a super-spreader event.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Oct 12, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – we’ve been out a few times in the last month – and every time it’s been to vaccination required, masks required venues. Bands, movies, sports. This is going to become the new normal; and it’s been made easier with the higher vaccination rates in the Seattle area.
In Washington State, positive cases are declining. In King County >80% adults and around 70% of all residents are fully vaccinated.
Friday – Good numbers coming from US CDC about vaccination numbers – but it’s still very skewed.
Thursday – flu shot. Good line of folk getting first, second or booster Covid vaccines.
Wednesday – flu shot booked for tomorrow, reported shortages.
Tuesday – UK still at >30k cases per day, 100k kids off school.
Monday – Russia urging vaccinations. Booster shots live in the US.
This time last year – the beginning of the massive Covid ramp in the UK.
I wrote this week retrospectively; so shorter notes.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
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