KIP covid thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxm7Hu-IHJs

Guys guys guys the vaccine clinic wasn’t just in the Science Museum it was THE OLD LAUNCH PAD! pic.twitter.com/wi5cnog6nJ

— Alice Bell (@alicebell) May 8, 2021

and thread...

that gum commercial is... what's the german word for bleak, cynical, aspirant and horny? "Capitalism"?

It's a beautiful if chilly spring day. I just got back from dropping off my daughter's saliva test down the street (the New Normal is so weird), and on the way bumped into three neighbors for the first time in a year. One had gone a bit grey. Another was walking a big fluffy dog I last saw as a little puppy. All looked happy and healthy, and in fact I think a couple of them had lost weight. (The third is a part-time fitness instructor, so she doesn't count). The other day I saw a neighbor whose lanky teen had sprouted up to 6'2". It's all a bit like waking up from a coma, which I suppose it what it always feels like come springtime in Chicago.

for the first time since march 2020 my partner and i went inside a bookstore the other day, just wanted to grab one thing but ended up leaving with multiple bags of books like a couple of goofs, overwhelmed at rediscovering the concept of 'browsing'. they just had all these books, for sale, lying around everywhere!

Yeah

i cannot wait for local library to reopen, i had no idea i would miss wandering for hours browsing shelves ~so much~

I've got too many things I want to do now and not enough weekends! There's a new baby in the family (not mine) too!

Oh man. Visiting my uni library to drop off books, the student circulation task told me, "The sixth and seventh floors have reopened" (i.e. general collection). I went up for the first time since March 10, 2020.

i cannot wait for local library to reopen, i had no idea i would miss wandering for hours browsing shelves ~so much~

Ours has been open for some time, but I haven't been back yet. I've been thinking about going but as of the last time I looked into their COVID protocols and procedures, they were strongly discouraging browsing and effectively forcing you to come in, request exactly what you want and someone gets it for you. Which, fair play, I don't blame them at all - but browsing the shelves aimlessly was the big draw for me!

amazing. i’d be like maria on the hills in sound of music lmao

xpost

Our county libraries have been completely open since June 2020 with strict masking protocols. I've been working in them since the day they opened. To say they saved my sanity is an understatement.

although vaccinations have slowed in the US, vaccinations reported today (likely for yesterday) were much higher than last Monday (1.88 million to 1.19 million). if we can at least maintain 2 million/week a bit longer, hopefully we can get closer to the goal.

46% with 1 dose, 34.8% fully vaxed now.

Pfizer authorized for kids 12 through 15. Thankfully, a local place made appointments in advance, figuring it was down the pike, so we are officially all queued up for total family vaccination!

My cousin in AK who I've been very worried about because of her abusive boyfriend is now fully vaxxed and is on her first trip out of state since the pandemic. Just twelve days, and I wish it were more, but at least that's twelve days when she's safe. She stopped through Seattle for the weekend and it was almost like a pre-pandemic visit. We met up outdoors with a friend, got a drink outside at a bar, hung out with vaccinated family members, went to the beach - just a normal family weekend. It made a huge difference to my mood, both the normality of the visit and the temporary reprieve from worrying about her safety.

Intercounty travel re-opening, businesses and community sports facilities re-opening, got west at the weekend, ok exhale

Got an even earlier appointment for my 13-year old, so she gets her first shot tomorrow!

Hoping we don't have to wait too long for the next batch, weird having a kid under the limit right now. Good friends have two kids who can be vaccinated now, but two that can't. It's going to be a weird interzone for a bit here.

But in the spirit of the thread, fully vaxxed as of today!

a KIP for the US, vaccination totals the last two days have been lower than they were on the same day several weeks ago, but much higher than they were on the same day a week ago.

Yeah, that's been a bit of a surprise to see, even before the 12-15 cohort numbers kick in. Maybe a sign of some hesitant folks moving in the right direction?

Political polling has been an unreliable mess in recent years, so trusting all the undoubtedly politicized anti-vax responses they've been revealing over the past few weeks should be taken with the same grain of salt. It costs absolutely nothing for someone to tell someone on the phone or computer they will never be vaccinated, but there's potentially a price to be paid for actually refusing one. So we'll see how it all shakes out.

yeah even the friend of mine who became lured by Elon's COVID DEATHS ARE OVERSTATED THE PANDEMIC ISN'T THAT BAD is getting his J&J soon and he's afraid of needles.

the J&J? After we briefly yanked it from the market? *swoons*

yeah, his reasoning is "I don't think I can handle more than one shot".

Whatever works.

Anecdotally, I've heard of a lot of people attracted to the one-and-done proposition of the J&J. I also know one (vaxxed) person who said they would have refused it and waited, not because of the clots but because of J&J lying about the carcinogenic properties of baby powder. I said, well, if that's your standard, then good luck trusting any of these assholes. (KIP!)

Yeah, I had a friend who is holding out for the J&J, not because of the needles, but because of the "I don't want my precious genes fucked with". I held my tongue.

https://cdn.drawception.com/drawings/0k48w2yS67.png

precious genes (sic)

real life lol

first shot scheduled for 2 weeks tomorrow

New weekly The Economist/YouGov national poll shows vaccine reluctance hitting another new low.

- 69% of adults say they have been at least partially vaccinated, or plan to get vaccinated soon
- 17% say they will not get vaccinated
- 14% say they're unsure pic.twitter.com/OVLSuHyVrC

— G. Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris) May 12, 2021

The orange line for republicans is the important bit. undecideds have been breaking in the direction of getting the vaccine for months. the literally the last week or so is the first time there's been significant movement in the number of firm no republicans. fingers crossed it holds. it coinciding with the change in wording is a little fishy, but there's no discontinuities in the other lines there so looks like a coincidence.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E1MIPmxWQAAzPi0?format=jpg&name=medium

xpost I mean, 58% of the adult population we can confirm for certain have been vaccinated. so 69% as a floor seems reasonable for adults, but hopefully isn't the floor.

2+ weeks post-2nd-Pfizer and booked my first flight since 12/2019. Will be meeting the grandbaby born 7/2020 in person at last <3

Oh wow!

That's pretty awesome.

May it be the start of a long and beautiful friendship, Jaq.

Love

that’s excellent news jaq! <3

wooooo so great

Just got back from the friends and family (re) opening of my friend's place. It felt great to be in a room full of seated and (more or less) distanced people, everyone having a good time. Weird to think just a few months ago that would have been inconceivable. Def. felt more than a little like the last few steps to a finish line that's just come into sight.

This weekend was amazing. We had another couple (long since vaccinated) over for dinner inside for the first time since February 2020. Then I had a couple of friends over for a beer outside. Planning on starting up weekly ultimate (masked, for now) next week. I almost can't even believe it.

Played the first real gig with my band in forever, had the boys over afterward and stayed up late making egg tacos. Hosting an outdoor book publishing party for a friend today. Been doing indoor weekly potlucks again with the core group of friends. Life is amazing.

Mine was too: outdoor bars, a gathering in a friend's backyard. I can see the difference in people's attitudes.

We had a group of friends over a couple of nights ago, still outside (because it was nice), but everyone hugged and everyone was happy. Even the most anxious and neurotic of the bunch.

Went to the farmer's market this weekend for the first time since the pandemic. It shut down early in the pandemic, then opened with restrictions on how many people could shop, so I got out of the habit of going. It's in a new location now and open to everyone, and it's beautiful. Everyone was masked, but otherwise everything seemed very normal, people were just casually browsing, no one seemed stressed or in a hurry. It felt so nice to go to a public place just to spend some time there, not because I had a specific task to accomplish, and to be around other people who were doing the same thing.

My regular pub quiz teammate texted me earlier to say he's sitting in the pub in question and the quiz in question is on next Monday. First time since March 2020. Not sure how positive this is though tbf.

... as he says, he's been able to go an entire year without having to remember who won the Boat Race or the exact date we left the EU or whatever.