4 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

One-third of military service members have opted not to receive COVID-19 vaccinations

I wonder how much longer they stay "optional"?

Probably as long as it's on emergency authorization status.  My guess is that they'll have enough data on the vaccines by this summer or fall to get full authorization for use.

I’ve got both rounds of the Pfizer shot. No major side effects, except for this strange lingering craving for brains...

4 hours ago, jazzdude said:

Anyone on AD get the vaccine through non military channels? Have the opportunity to get it through my wife's work (healthcare worker), who's vaccinating immediate family of their employees, but not sure if Tricare or flight med are going to be weird about it.

Reserves on AD orders, so not sure if it’ll be exactly the same, but I got the 1st Pfizer shot last night. Local Public Health was offering up extras and it was a “can you be here in 30?” call. My wife got her shot (healthcare worker, as well) and heard them saying they had extra doses, so she gave my number.

I tried to get it at the base clinic the same day and they had extras, but got told by the AD folks I needed a higher-up-the-chain-than-worth-it auth to get it because I’m Reserves. I’m on long term AD orders, downrange two weeks ago with issues due to potential crew exposures/sickness and looking like I might be headed out again this coming week, so I didn’t think it was crazy to inquire. But, I guess it’s a bigger hurdle for me to get an available dose than for them to give the extras to the retirees.

Reserves only offer it during UTAs and those filled rapidly, so gist I’ve heard is to get it on the outside, if possible. 

I haven’t run it through the wickets yet, so no info on whether there’s any pushback. There’s no cost involved, so Tricare should be a non issue and it didn’t sound like there was going to be one from flight med outside the 48 hour DNIF. Then again, I haven’t handed them the card yet because shit weather and I’m not flying in that window, so maybe the pee pee smack is coming...

Zero side effects from it, besides a little soreness in the arm. Less than Tetanus or Typhoid, so not really even worth mentioning. Second shot is fragged ~3 weeks out and supposedly public health just calls for scheduling it. 

11/10, would recommend over a few of the ass kickings I’ve heard from perfectly healthy folks that were unfortunate enough to not have the Diet COVIDs.

Same here. 
My son has also been sent home twice and quarantined three times (the last time because he got COVID from his Grandmother.)  We have a family friend and her son has been sent home and quarantined six times so far this school year.  One of the local high schools had to send home 43 students from one class the first day because the teacher didn't build a manual seating chart to document where everyone was sitting (CDC requirement).  One of the kids in the class had a family member with COVID so they sent the entire chorus class home for 14 days.
We have a family friend that teaches at my son's school and at one point just before Christmas she told us 40% of the students at our son's middle school were out on out quarantine.  She also told us the kids were remarkably disciplined about wearing masks and washing hands (shocking with a bunch of 13 year olds), and that most of the students caught back up and recovered on school work and syllabus.  When out on quarantine they don't go to full virtual learning but the teachers post all class and homework so if they have a positive influence at home they can stay on course.  We've been lucky, even with my son out three times he maintained 5 A's and one B.
All of that being said, we don't have a single documented case of student to student or student to teacher transmission.  IMHO Florida got it right opening school back up so soon.

Kids have not been sent home. We get emails if someone pops by contact or symptoms. I believe they tell folks if their kids were exposed. So far, mine have been good. This is a private Catholic school, so not a huge population.


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!RemindMe in four years...we will look back on 2020 corona virus as the most disastrous government intervention in the history of American public health.

total disaster and fear based response

amazed how easily americans can be lied to, deceived, freedoms taken away, businesses shut, schools closed, travel stopped...all in the name of "keeping them safe"...and most americans WILLINGLY are giving up their freedoms in the name of "safety"

really is incredible. fear is a hell of a weapon.

Edited February 19, 20214 yr by BashiChuni

4 hours ago, BashiChuni said:

!RemindMe in four years...we will look back on 2020 corona virus as the most disastrous government intervention in the history of American public health.

total disaster and fear based response

amazed how easily americans can be lied to, deceived, freedoms taken away, businesses shut, schools closed, travel stopped...all in the name of "keeping them safe"...and most americans WILLINGLY are giving up their freedoms in the name of "safety"

really is incredible. fear is a hell of a weapon.

100% agreed. So many sheeple just let it happen; including me, admittedly, not only being military but currently having an opportunity that could get snatched away very quickly, my efforts to push back on the madness have been modest at best. What was that quote from one of the founding fathers about those who desire security over liberty?

12 hours ago, BashiChuni said:

!RemindMe in four years...we will look back on 2020 corona virus as the most disastrous government intervention in the history of American public health.

total disaster and fear based response

amazed how easily americans can be lied to, deceived, freedoms taken away, businesses shut, schools closed, travel stopped...all in the name of "keeping them safe"...and most americans WILLINGLY are giving up their freedoms in the name of "safety"

really is incredible. fear is a hell of a weapon.

Watched the Mars Perseverance landing yesterday, and all I heard from the dual-masked NASA folks was "MmmmfffMMmffhh..."  After hearing them mumble, you could then discern a good deal of heavy breathing, trying to recover from talking a little bit.  When it landed, they all cheered, then huffed and puffed.

What a mixture of jubilation and sadness.

13 hours ago, BashiChuni said:

!RemindMe in four years...we will look back on 2020 corona virus as the most disastrous government intervention in the history of American public health.

total disaster and fear based response

amazed how easily americans can be lied to, deceived, freedoms taken away, businesses shut, schools closed, travel stopped...all in the name of "keeping them safe"...and most americans WILLINGLY are giving up their freedoms in the name of "safety"

really is incredible. fear is a hell of a weapon.

'They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.'

It seems (from TV) that the top end virologists are beginning to worry that as this virus mutates they may not be able to control the mutations if they spread.  The concern seems to be that herd immunity may not be all that effective as a cure and the resolution may devolve to (just like the old days) "survival of the fittest". (when a virlogist uses that phrase it gets your attention).   What the medics can't control..Mother Nature will...

14 hours ago, Alpharatz said:

It seems (from TV) that the top end virologists are beginning to worry that as this virus mutates they may not be able to control the mutations if they spread.  The concern seems to be that herd immunity may not be all that effective as a cure and the resolution may devolve to (just like the old days) "survival of the fittest". (when a virlogist uses that phrase it gets your attention).   What the medics can't control..Mother Nature will...

"Top end virologists"  Says who?

I am not a fan of Laura Ingram but was scanning around and watched an interview on her show last night.  She had two "Top End Epidemiologists", one a fellow at Stanford, the other at Harvard.  Both were in lock step agreement that we will achieve herd immunity by April. 

Having had a nasty case of COVID I am especially sensitive to news about mutations and how immunity may be impacted.  I have yet to see a single scientific article that says any of the mutations is more deadly.  Thus far the only proven change is some of the variants have higher transmmisability.  The real problem is in your first few words "from TV", it is the sensationalistic press that is driving a fear narrative on mutations.  Cases in point:

Headline from the Atlantic The Mutated Virus Is a Ticking Time Bomb - first line of the article "there is much we don’t know about the new COVID-19 variant"

Headline from the NY Times Covid-19: The U.S. Has Its Own New Worrisome Variants - near the top of the article "It’s not clear yet whether this shared mutation makes the variants more contagious"

Headline from Vox How the new Covid-19 variants could pose a threat to vaccination - but they go on the clarify "While there’s no evidence they cause more severe disease, more cases mean further stress on hospitals and, after that, a rising death rate"

The BBC had a very good article explaining the mutations and clearly stated from the science  "Although there is no information that infections with these strains are more severe, due to increased transmissibility"

To even further demonstrate the disconnect among "Top virologists" you might look at the Great Barrington Declaration - Which has signatures from thousands of "Top end doctors, virologists, epidemiologists, scientists and other medical professionals advocating to immediately end the lockdowns and go to a "focused protection approach.

 

3 minutes ago, ClearedHot said:

"Top end virologists"  Says who?

I am not a fan of Laura Ingram but was scanning around and watch an interview on her show last night.  She had two "Top End Epidemiologists", one a fellow at Stanford, the other at Harvard.  Both were in lock step agreement that we will achieve herd immunity by April. 

Having had a nasty case of COVID I am especially sensitive to news about mutations and how immunity.  I have yet to see a single scientific article that says any of the mutations is more deadly.  Thus far the only proven change is some of the variants have higher transmmisability.  The real problem is in your first few words "from TV", it is the sensationalistic press that is driving a fear narrative on mutations.  Cases in point:

Headline from the Atlantic The Mutated Virus Is a Ticking Time Bomb - first line of the article "there is much we don’t know about the new COVID-19 variant"

Headline from the NY Times Covid-19: The U.S. Has Its Own New Worrisome Variants - near the top of the article "It’s not clear yet whether this shared mutation makes the variants more contagious"

Headline from Vox https://www.vox.com/22213033/covid-19-mutation-variant-vaccine-uk-south-africa - but they go on the clarify "While there’s no evidence they cause more severe disease, more cases mean further stress on hospitals and, after that, a rising death rate"

The BBC had a very good article explaining the mutations and clearly stated from the science  "Although there is no information that infections with these strains are more severe, due to increased transmissibility"

To even further demonstrate the disconnect among "Top virologists" you might look at the Great Barrington Declaration - Which has signatures from thousands of "Top end doctors, virologists, epidemiologists, scientists and other medical professionals advocating to immediately end the lockdowns and go to a "focused protection approach.

 

Excellent press analysis on how journalist use emotion to influence your perception of a topic. 

 

Excellent press analysis on how journalist use emotion to influence your perception of a topic. 
 

100%. It’s all clickbait and it’s maddening. They throw around words like “mutation” and “highly transmissible” in the headline but when you read it, as CH illustrated, it’s all just hollow bullshit.

It drives me insane.

Well, back to the end of day 5 of my 14 day ROM...

9 minutes ago, Scooter14 said:

Well, back to the end of day 5 of my 14 day ROM...

 

Ha, like the ROM, which appears to do nothing but make certain people FEEL better.  They had people in ROM for 70+ days because they kept testing positive.  Some ended up with psychological issues...that's really taking care of your people.

58 minutes ago, SocialD said:

 

Ha, like the ROM, which appears to do nothing but make certain people FEEL better.  They had people in ROM for 70+ days because they kept testing positive.  Some ended up with psychological issues...that's really taking care of your people.

I would say 70+ days is easy with some of the things going on Ive heard about. 

 

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, FLEA said:

I would say 70+ days is easy with some of the things going on Ive heard about. 

 

Nothing would surprise me.  The worst I heard was someone was ~100 days into their 120 day deployment and still in quarantine, with leadership not knowing what to do.  All logic and common sense has left the room.  I heard a rumor of a suicide after prolonged isolated quarantine, but I honestly don't know that to be true.  

 
Ha, like the ROM, which appears to do nothing but make certain people FEEL better.  They had people in ROM for 70+ days because they kept testing positive.  Some ended up with psychological issues...that's really taking care of your people.

Can't use the rapid test for 90 days after having COVID, because you'll likely show positive despite not being infectious.

But that often gets lost in the policy... Even at hospitals.

13 minutes ago, jazzdude said:

Can't use the rapid test for 90 days after having COVID, because you'll likely show positive despite not being infectious.

But that often gets lost in the policy... Even at hospitals.

 

I exited ROM 92 days from when I tested positive for COVID.  I guess I'm just lucky I didn't come in "close contact" with someone who had covid-like symptoms during ROM.   Would have been painful being in ridiculous cycle of quarantine for no apparent reason.

100%. It’s all clickbait and it’s maddening. They throw around words like “mutation” and “highly transmissible” in the headline but when you read it, as CH illustrated, it’s all just hollow bullshit.

It drives me insane.

Well, back to the end of day 5 of my 14 day ROM...

I’m on day 8 of 14 in Korea quarantine. I feel like I’m in jail. Can’t step outside the room without an escort, get an hr of escorted yard time every day, COVID test on day 1 and day 12 with a complete room isolation until negative results, you have to have a mask on any time you open your door, and we get 2 hots and a box lunch everyday. And the WiFi sucks. Light at end of tunnel, I retire when I get back to the States.


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Reflecting on life before and after your Korea jail time, how does it make you view non quarantine life?

Reflecting on life before and after your Korea jail time, how does it make you view non quarantine life?

I have no frame of reference. First trip here and I came to quarantine straight from the airport. Will report later.


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5 hours ago, MyCS said:

I went to public schools and I'm not a doctor. But this doesn't make sense at all. They have only inoculated 40M of 300M+ people. How does that add up to herd immunity? That 40M took about 3 months. Maybe the government timeline is more realistic.

Everyone leaves out the confirmed people who have already had COVID which is another 30M.  While they are saying people who have had should still get the vaccine, of the 111 Million world-wide confirmed cases there are only 25 confirmed reinfection cases which is a rate of 0.00002 %, to me that proves your immunty lasts far longer than they want to admit.

I believe they some of the "top virologists" also postulate that there a large segment of the population who have had COVID but are not aware.  I've read several studies and articles that suggest between 30% and 80% of the people who get COVID are asymptomatic and unaware they have had the virus.  Dr Fauci has been using the 40% number. 

There is also disagreement over the number it will take to get herd immunity.  Dr Fauci is saying 70% to 80%, many others say it will be the more typical 50%.  The numbers above have some big variations that make it difficult to calculate a certaintity

Whatever  "science" you choose to believe one thing is certain, something has changed and the infections rate is dropping dramtically.  The U.S. high was on Jan 8th, 2021 with 300,619 new cases per day (holiday bump?), as of yesterday the U.S. infection rate had fallen 78% to 69,740 per day.  If you look at the trend line you will see that since January the trend line drops faster than BQZips Mom's panties at a frat party.  That drop has continued as even more and more places are opening up.

 

 

On 2/18/2021 at 10:51 PM, FDNYOldGuy said:

Reserves on AD orders, so not sure if it’ll be exactly the same, but I got the 1st Pfizer shot last night. Local Public Health was offering up extras and it was a “can you be here in 30?” call. My wife got her shot (healthcare worker, as well) and heard them saying they had extra doses, so she gave my number.

I tried to get it at the base clinic the same day and they had extras, but got told by the AD folks I needed a higher-up-the-chain-than-worth-it auth to get it because I’m Reserves. I’m on long term AD orders, downrange two weeks ago with issues due to potential crew exposures/sickness and looking like I might be headed out again this coming week, so I didn’t think it was crazy to inquire. But, I guess it’s a bigger hurdle for me to get an available dose than for them to give the extras to the retirees.

Reserves only offer it during UTAs and those filled rapidly, so gist I’ve heard is to get it on the outside, if possible. 

I haven’t run it through the wickets yet, so no info on whether there’s any pushback. There’s no cost involved, so Tricare should be a non issue and it didn’t sound like there was going to be one from flight med outside the 48 hour DNIF. Then again, I haven’t handed them the card yet because shit weather and I’m not flying in that window, so maybe the pee pee smack is coming...

Zero side effects from it, besides a little soreness in the arm. Less than Tetanus or Typhoid, so not really even worth mentioning. Second shot is fragged ~3 weeks out and supposedly public health just calls for scheduling it. 

11/10, would recommend over a few of the ass kickings I’ve heard from perfectly healthy folks that were unfortunate enough to not have the Diet COVIDs.

Weird how different everyone does it. My guard base had a "open-season" day for the vaccine on sunday of last UTA. By appointment only on Saturday and Sunday you could just stroll up and get it if you wanted to. 

On 2/21/2021 at 6:19 AM, ClearedHot said:

 That drop has continued as even more and more places are opening up.

Don't worry, they'll keep shifting the goal posts to keep the game going.

 

On 2/21/2021 at 6:19 AM, ClearedHot said:

The U.S. high was on Jan 8th, 2021 with 300,619 new cases per day (holiday bump?), as of yesterday the U.S. infection rate had fallen 78% to 69,740 per day.  If you look at the trend line you will see that since January the trend line drops faster than BQZips Mom's panties at a frat party.  That drop has continued as even more and more places are opening up.

Down from 69,740 to 55,195 in two days...something has changed.

3 minutes ago, ClearedHot said:

Down from 69,740 to 55,195 in two days...something has changed.

My bet would be 2 months removed from the Holidays, winter months, people are staying inside their own homes?  I can't see the vaccine having this much of an effect so early.

Or the virus is running its natural course and running out of viable targets and dying off?