Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

xpost We had good luck searching for slots/shots through https://getmyvaccine.org.

horseshoe, i guess i don't see the proper use of language (biden's insha'Allah for instance) as appropriation so much as it is an attempt to broaden the conversation in the name of inclusivity and, as you say, as a somewhat unthinking show of a kind of worldliness? But, having lived through 2001/2002 to now in NYC I can certainly see how this perspective:

I think because in my lifetime Muslims have gone from a group no nonMuslims I knew cared about or knew anything about to a much-feared and hated group. And learning about Muslim culture became a thing because of the fear. With complex results.

Cultural assimilation of speech and attitude and art and evolving politics has been a necessary survival tactic as a transplant from proud redneck country to thriving and often beleaguered urban metropolis, much as it was in my youth adjusting from a liberal intellectual upbringing to the rigorously xenophobic and christian-centered public schools i suffered through. I can certainly see how the internet flattens the conversation to make potentially sensitive language as if everything has air quotes. Thanks for providing the perspective.

i am sorry to keep posting about this, but i think part of what irritates me about the use of expressions like "insha'Allah" in non-Muslim circles is that it seems to presume that you are not going to be in the presence of a Muslim? Like everyone will share the winky perspective on the way you're using it? whereas i have been in the presence of white non-Muslims using it that way, though they likely didn't know i was Muslim. i don't have a winky perspective on "insha'Allah"!

People without faith use the language of faith differently than those of faith, whose language it is. Treating "insha'Allah" as just a foreign phrase like "joie de vivre" or "weltschmerz" is culturally tone deaf.

yeah, that gets at the heart of it. like Muslims use "insha'Allah" jokily with each other, but Allah means something to them.

also they use it to clown each other sometimes but they also use it sincerely.

Hot off the press:

The CDC has released in a new study within the hour that shows that the two dose mRNA vaccines reduce infection (not just symptoms or severity, but infection) by 90% after the two doses and 80% even after just one dose.

xp -- do non-muslims actually use it as a winky joke though? (and it also isn't really a thing with ironic channers either)

yes, we do, but in the context of also using it sincerely, so the irony is gentle. and generous.

i don't even use the expression anymore because i'm not really a believer anymore, but religious Muslims use it in my presence.

i do feel like there's a longstanding fascination with the word "Allah" in Western culture, esp Anglo American culture, given the history of the British empire, that is inherently Orientalist, as rob pointed out about "-istan." Like, the word "Allah" doesn't give me an exotic frisson; it just means God.

My boyfriend's (white) teenaged kids use it jokily but then they are absolutely terrible people growing up in an in some ways very diverse NYC world but one in which they are also always superior to the "diverse" ppl.

the ironic usage would be if your friend who’s always late says that they’ll make it to your lunch date on time, insha’Allah; you might echo soulfully, “insha’Allah!” meaning, “yeah, right.”

That was the ironic by Muslims usage I meant. For context my mom sometimes uses it that way, but any time I talk about any desirable event that is set to happen in the future, she quickly says “inshaAllah” sincerely because she believes that helps good things happen!

Like they have friends who are Muslim and they also have friends who are Puerto Rican (two specific examples) and they feel free to appropriate anything from those cultures they want because they're "conversant" in it because of their friends.

Anyway great news about the age eligibility!

I think the concept of Anglo-American doesn't hold up in this instance.

yeah, that is different than middle aged white dudes using it and is probably how it's going to become a decontextualized thing in the long run. i guess that's fine.

xp why?

well you're the one who mentioned boris johnson xp

Indeed, the British Empire does cast rather a considerable shadow in the UK however.

Lol, there are no appointments available within 25 miles within the next 5 days.

― What's a vaccine? (PBKR), Monday, March 29, 2021 1:19 PM (fifty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

PBKR, keep checking. Seems like Walgreens keeps adding more appointments from time to time. I mean, as of Friday morning, I was seeing the same thing, two hours later was that massive drop a lot of folks got in on.

― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, March 29, 2021 1:21 PM (fifty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Walgreens in my area open up new online appointments just after 6AM every day. I lurked a "vaccine finder" twitter bot for a few days and saw the pattern, then got up early on Sunday and got in on my first try. If there are Walgreens in your area it might be worth a try. I also noticed that places like Walmart opened up their new appointments just after midnight.

My guess is that even if we see another modest uptick now, cases and hospitalizations will be low by summer, as they were last summer.

Lockdowns started when the US passed 1,000 cases total. This time last year, we were at 60,000 cases total. We're currently averaging 58-59,000 new cases a week.

In the middle of last summer, the US had 468,000 active diagnosed cases. Today we have 432,728.

Call me a snowflake, but I still feel like half a million is not super-"low," when other countries bring in harsh, three-day lockdowns and masks at ten cases.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was extremely worried about the escalating situation.

"I didn't sleep last night, so I am very worried. I am very concerned," she said. "I know this is a really big call, I know it's very tough – we've got Easter coming up, we've got school holidays coming up. But let's do it now and let's do it right and let's see if we can come through it the other end."

The lockdown will stretch until at least 5:00pm on Thursday.

Thanks for all the vaccine tips - does Ticketmaster charge a service fee for your appointment?

Don't give them any ideas.

I've seen that Walgreen's, at least around Chicago, has not really been sticking as much to the scheduled 6 a.m. drops, they seem to be staggered at different times of day now too.

Thanks for all the vaccine tips - does Ticketmaster charge a service fee for your appointment?

― What's a vaccine? (PBKR), Monday, March 29, 2021 3:52 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

have you tried stabhub

lol

That one I posted, btw, I was curious and looked, and it immediately found a couple that were reasonably near my zip code, at least, so keep trying! (The place near where we'll be this week, fwiw, there are literally hundreds.)

Talked to my neighbor, who is 59 and in unfortunately fine health, and not tech savvy enough to have gotten a vaccine yet. :( She has only tried calling Walgreens at the end of the day. Hopefully gave her some good tips.

Same energy:

"I didn't sleep last night, so I am very worried. I am very concerned," she said. "I know this is a really big call, I know it's very tough – we've got Easter coming up, we've got school holidays coming up. But let's do it now and let's do it right and let's see if we can come through it the other end."

The lockdown will stretch until at least 5:00pm on Thursday.

and

'CDC Director Wallensky says she's worried about "impending doom" as COVID-19 cases tick up again. Says she's "scared" about the increases and begs Americans "just hold on a little while longer. ... We are just almost there, but not quite yet." Says she'd seen cases stagnating at 40K-50K but now they're on the rise to about 70K. "I'm just worried that we're going to see the surges" that the country had in the winter, she adds.'

My Walgreens strategy worked for the Twin Cities metro area fwiw. This is the twitter bot where I saw the pattern of how appointments were opened up: https://twitter.com/MNVaccineAlerts

I know she's the director of the CDC and all, but I find it hard to believe a surge in cases now would lead to the same level of hospitalizations and deaths it did in the winter with so many more vaccinated, so I'm not sure what the "impending doom" is about. And warmer weather is coming.

i think her point is that thousands of deaths, many more times than died on 9/11, 100% of them avoidable, that would be bad?

Right, I feel like "another wave 10% as bad as what we've already experienced" is ... actually also a historically terrible thing to allow to happen by any measure except "how was your 2020, america?"

isn't there also some evidence now that the newer variants are more lethal?

I thought they were more transmissible, but not more lethal. Though, honestly, I may be behind on new info on the variants.

This is where I got that idea: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-variants-death-analysis-ontario-1.5964296

There's also this: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-covid-third-wave-younger-patients-1.5955838

I'm unsure if anyone outside of Ontario has come to these conclusions though

I'm just hoping to get jabbed before temps hit the 70s on the regular and everyone who has been cooped up for a year+ goes buck wild while I look forlornly out my window at the world *tear.

I find it hard to believe a surge in cases now would lead to the same level of hospitalizations and deaths it did in the winter

I also find it hard to believe that 50-70,000 new cases per day would lead to the same level of hospitalisations and deaths as 290,000 new cases per day, and wish she hadn't suggested that it would

Six deaths in 14 months, ten new cases in a week, a three-day lockdown / mask mandate, and 20,000 people contacted for tests by the neighbouring state if they crossed the border:

"I know this is a really big call, I know it's very tough – we've got Easter coming up, we've got school holidays coming up. But let's do it now and let's do it right and let's see if we can come through it the other end."

70,000 cases daily, "I'm not sure what the "impending doom" is about":

'CDC Director Walensky becomes emotional during today's covid briefing, saying she's ditching prepared remarks because she's scared of rising case numbers in the US. "Right now, I'm scared...I so badly want to be done...so I'm asking you to just hold on a little longer."'

I know this has sort of passed, but I say 'Insha'Allah' sometimes, but only when I'm visiting my old place of work, the Muslim burial ground where I used to help with services and dig graves. I would never use it outside of that context.

Re: redneck areas, of course there are people fighting the good fight in such areas...and there are also lots of non-white people in those areas, too, particularly if we're talking about the southern Midwest and south. That alone is enough for me to think any white person who dismisses such areas is not just a snob but a racist.

Xp the weekly average for COVID deaths in the US has fallen by 50% in the last 30 days. Thanks to vaccination it will likely continue to drop.

Xp the weekly average for COVID deaths in the US has fallen by 50% in the last 30 days. Thanks to vaccination it will likely continue to drop.

Hey fun fact: hospitalisations are no longer falling nationally, and they’re rising pretty quickly in a few places.

Deaths tell you about the situation a month ago.

UGH. Michigan hospitalizations surging DESPITE over 30% vaccinated.

->8202 new cases TODAY
-> 12% test positivity rate (ave 7 day)
-> hospitalizations way up (2300 currently inpatient)#MarchMadness #COVID19 https://t.co/llc2VNy8Mk pic.twitter.com/GPt7x600cI

— Vinny Arora MD MAPP (@FutureDocs) March 29, 2021

30% vaccinated is also a little misleading - how many of those people got their first shot a month ago or more?

1,000 deaths a day is still *checks notes* bad imo

ugh zing

On a positive note, if u want proof the vaccines work, look at this graph

https://i.ibb.co/tYqJM2L/JPAZCM6-BABCMRHMNFWH3-VKRLSU.gif

18-59 year olds in general acting like everybody has been vaccinated at the same rate as 60+ year olds is approximately the least surprising thing, hope they don’t die.

Re: redneck areas, of course there are people fighting the good fight in such areas...and there are also lots of non-white people in those areas, too, particularly if we're talking about the southern Midwest and south. That alone is enough for me to think any white person who dismisses such areas is not just a snob but a racist.

― it's like edging for your mind (the table is the table), Monday, March 29, 2021 7:40 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

This. Growing up in S. Illinois was a lot more diverse and moving to E. PA was a lot less diverse and way more racist.

younger hospitalizations also means that hospitalizations are going to become less predictive of deaths. Even in Michigan, the uptick in critical care and ventilators, so far, is not very big. Obviously v much hope not to be wrong, but I am still optimistic.