COVID-19 thread

[rotting bones]

Both my wife and I got COVID right now. It's an approach to immunity! (Not the one we wanted or would recommend.)

Oh no. Get well soon.

[Linguoboy]

So since my flatmate isn't working, I left all vaccination scheduling matters to him. Today he demonstrated what it's like to troll the sites looking for appointments and, cheese and rice, what a mishegoss! There are four different pharmacy chains offering appointments in the Chicago area. Each has its own site with its own interface. Some allow your to browse availability without first creating an account; others don't. None of them is very explicit. One pharmacy seemed to have plenty of appointments available, but whenever we tried to schedule one, it failed and kicked us back to the start. "That means there aren't any appointments for the second dose available on the right dates," he told me. Nothing on the site tells you this, of course, it's just something he figured out by trial and error.

Then he showed me my registration with the county. They have me classed as Phase 2, which I was until about two weeks ago when they reclassed workers in higher ed as "essential". The city made us 1c; the county, which had eliminated Phase 1c, created something called "1b+" to accommodate us. But there seems to be no way for me to change the classification in my profile so I can't use the county site to schedule an appointment in any case. (We're currently in 1b; the city moves to 1c next Tuesday. So I can't schedule appointments at city sites since, technically, they're still on 1b and I don't qualify.)

Any of the above information could be wrong, by the way. I'm still not confident I'm reading the websites correctly. (The county, for instance, still includes Phase 1c in its diagrams even though there's no corresponding text which discusses it.) We chatted about this in a work meeting today. One of my colleagues said she took a day off to schedule an appointment and failed, after which she concluded she'd probably just have to keep trying for a several hours a day for about a week to get one. She turned out to be correct. (I think about the aggregate loss of productivity that means and it's just staggering. Gotta keep everyone productive at any cost--except socialism!)

[Ares Land]

So since my flatmate isn't working, I left all vaccination scheduling matters to him. Today he demonstrated what it's like to troll the sites looking for appointments and, cheese and rice, what a mishegoss!
(...)
(I think about the aggregate loss of productivity that means and it's just staggering. Gotta keep everyone productive at any cost--except socialism!)

Ouch. All of this is absurd and awful...

[Emily]

my county website is set up fairly confusingly, and most "locations" it lists just take you to the state covid website, which makes you enter your search again, and won't show you any results if there are no appointments available but also won't tell you what the search radius is so you don't even really know what areas are included in your search. neither website includes updates from (though they do link to) grocery store and pharmacy websites. there were no appointments at albertsons/vons. ralph's (kroger in other parts of the country) had appointments "available" but wouldn't let me book them because they didn't have an available appointment for shot #2! i finally got an appointment for rite-aid, which said that if you book an appointment for the first shot they'll include/guarantee shot #2

heard from a little birdie that, at least at the county-run locations, if you go in person first thing in the morning and tell then you've been trying hard to get an appointment but haven't had any luck, they'll put you on a waiting list and let you get one at the end of the day, since they have to thaw vaccines for every single appointment that day but there are always cancellations and no-shows, and they would rather give vaccines to people who don't have appointments than throw them away

[Ares Land]

heard from a little birdie that, at least at the county-run locations, if you go in person first thing in the morning and tell then you've been trying hard to get an appointment but haven't had any luck, they'll put you on a waiting list and let you get one at the end of the day, since they have to thaw vaccines for every single appointment that day but there are always cancellations and no-shows, and they would rather give vaccines to people who don't have appointments than throw them away

Seconded. I heard pretty much the same advice. (Apparently you can even call them during the day, if the tale call in person at all.)

[Linguoboy]

This is why yesterday, when my flatmate managed to snag an appointment at the local ward event (yet another layer of official bureaucracy doing its own thing), I filled out the same paperwork and came along too, hoping there'd be a no-show. I was already on the official waitlist, but I thought actually being there ready to go would carry more weight; he hoped the same and tried to make a case for me while he was being processed. No joy, but at least I got out in the fresh air for a bit and saw a tiny corner of Chicago I'd never seen before.

(BTW, he did manage this morning to book me an appointment on one of the pharmacy sites but had to cancel it when I told him it was during the one work event in the entire week I couldn't ditch or cancel. Two hours later, I met with several colleagues and we decided we hand no real choice but to cancel that work event. I told him and we just laughed; what else could you do? Two hours after that--3:30 pm on a Friday afternoon, mind you--I got an email from my doctor's office saying--surprise!--they had doses after all[*] and I was eligible and would I like to schedule a shot next week? So all in all it was a real rollercoaster day.)

[*] If you go to the state website, they say, "Your best bet is to see if your health care provider is offering vaccines." So when I first became eligible two weeks ago, I immediately checked there and they were like, "We got nuthin', you should check the city site."

[alynnidalar]

It really drives home the amount of privilege involved in getting a vaccine, even if you're in an eligibility group and there's (theoretically) appointments in your area. If you're someone who works all day at a job where you can't be on a computer or phone browsing for appointments, or don't have good internet access, or work for a crappy employer and can't take time off to get vaccinated, or don't have steady transportation to a vaccine site... what exactly are your chances of actually getting one?

[Linguoboy]

A nurse I know recently posted to social media asking for assistance getting some of the seniors he works with registered. They don’t have computers or smartphones and they’re not all that tech savvy anyhow—and even if they were making sense of these websites would still be a formidable challenge! Theoretically they’re all 1a or 1b, yet here they are still unvaccinated.

At least the local clinic I called today lets one schedule entirely by phone. No wonder they’re out of vaccine before inoculating all the seniors among the clients they serve. (They were kind enough to call me back and tell me they were waitlisting me.)

[Ares Land]

....and schools are closing; daycares too. For three weeks (yeah, right.)

From a global perspective, hey, we were lucky so far; they barely closed this year.
On a personal level: oh shit, here we go again...

Oh, and everyone will have to access to mid-June. No explanation on why the campaign has been taking so long and why it will go quicker now has been offered. (More realistically: by June we'll be done with the one-legged cross-eyed WWII veterans and we'll be starting on the dyspeptic retired veterinarians. Unless, of course, we face a critical triplicate forms shortage, or a factory implodes in Ruritania or something. About our only hope is that Covid does go away when temperatures rise.)



(Oh, and fortunately we did get really mild cases of Covid, so that's behind us.)

[Travis B.]

My question is why is the US doing so well, all things considered, compared to the rest of the world in getting the vaccine into arms while Europe, especially the EU, has been so incompetent about it? Usually I am used to hearing about how the US is the armpit of the First World, yet in this case the US is the complete opposite.

(Oh, and I am getting my first shot in little under half an hour.)

[Vijay]

Maybe because we're also the most desperate

[Linguoboy]

My question is why is the US doing so well, all things considered, compared to the rest of the world in getting the vaccine into arms while Europe, especially the EU, has been so incompetent about it? Usually I am used to hearing about how the US is the armpit of the First World, yet in this case the US is the complete opposite.

I don't know that we're doing that much better at getting the doses we have into arms than anyone else. As to why we have a better supply, there's this:

That raises the question of why keeping costs down would be a higher priority over matters one would presume to be more pressing like reducing the number of new COVID cases and deaths...

His argument is that that’s basically what the Union is designed to do, that it’s essentially a “producers’ cartel” which tends to drop the ball when it’s called upon to do anything else.

In any case, here’s the link: https://www.eurointelligence.com/column/vaccines.

I still haven't followed up to see what the basis is for his claims. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some force majeure involved as well. The current administration just floated the idea of forcing the pharmaceutical companies to give up patent protection. It's a reminder of the kind of power the USA has over them if it decides to wield it.

Europe also had the misfortune to get hit earlier and harder than the USA and this is happening again with the new variants. They're just starting to really become a problem here now that we've already got about a quarter of the population immunised and we're heading into summer again. So yeah, a lot of us this is nothing more than dumb luck (a.k.a. God's plan if you're a Dominionist).

[Linguoboy]

(Oh, and fortunately we did get really mild cases of Covid, so that's behind us.)

I'm very relieved to hear this.

It seems like most all of the people I know who have contracted it have gotten mild cases. I'm not sure how much of that is reporting bias, though, since it's much harder to keep up with people these days. I go for months without hearing even from folks I used to see often. Some I haven't heard from in a full year. Are they fine or are they on death's door? Who knows? I try to check in regularly with the high-risk folks but even there I know I'm not getting everyone.

[Ares Land]

(Oh, and fortunately we did get really mild cases of Covid, so that's behind us.)

I'm very relieved to hear this.

It seems like most all of the people I know who have contracted it have gotten mild cases. I'm not sure how much of that is reporting bias, though, since it's much harder to keep up with people these days. I go for months without hearing even from folks I used to see often. Some I haven't heard from in a full year. Are they fine or are they on death's door? Who knows? I try to check in regularly with the high-risk folks but even there I know I'm not getting everyone.

That's awfully kind of you! And your situation really sucks too... I hope you'll get good news from everyone eventually.

My question is why is the US doing so well, all things considered, compared to the rest of the world in getting the vaccine into arms while Europe, especially the EU, has been so incompetent about it? Usually I am used to hearing about how the US is the armpit of the First World, yet in this case the US is the complete opposite.

(Oh, and I am getting my first shot in little under half an hour.)

I heard all kinds of versions. We counted on Sanofi, the largest pharmaceutical company around here and the Sanofi vaccine didn't work out. The UK negotiated better than us, the US has an export ban while we export vacccines. Macron is an assweasel.
Or the French bureaucracy is holding things up.
All of this is likely true to some extent. (We did count on Sanofi, French bureaucrats are awful, Macron is an assweasel.)

That said, and while I'm probably too French to stop grumbling and complaining non stop... I still think we got a better deal than you guys. We will be vaccinated, eventually, but the economic and social consequences are a lot less severe and will likely remain so, long term.

(For starters: I got three weeks sick leave for COVID. With daily check-up calls. My sister and my brother-in-law are in the hospitality industry: they've been on paid leave for a year.)

[Travis B.]

That's a word that I learned today - "assweasel" - for some reason I now feel like I have to find a use for it somewhere, somehow.

[Vardelm]

That's a word that I learned today - "assweasel" - for some reason I now feel like I have to find a use for it somewhere, somehow.

Make a conlang called Assweasel?

Is the "ss" a geminated /s/ or just in the intersection of 2 different stems <as> & <sweasel>?

[Vijay]

Make one conlang for each?

[Linguoboy]

This week my employer held a vaccination event on campus and several colleagues were finally able to get their shots. I also heard from a clinic where I'd been waitlisted that they had appointments and, finally, from the County itself. Outside of Chicago, Illinois is about to begin offering shots to anyone 16 and over who wants them.

At the same time, the UK variant has arrived and is surging amount younger people here. Our 14-day infection rate has leapt 58% and my alma mater had to shut down in-person classes after 60 students became infected. So it's damn hard to say yet whether we've turned the corner or are on the cusp of a fourth wave.

[Ares Land]

I hope you're getting your shots as soon as possible!

And take good care of yourselves, everyone. The British variant is an awfully contagious little beastie.
(Some of the most careful people we know got infected, and honestly we wonder how on Earth they could catch it.)

Today I heard that the nose swabs they use for tests will pierce your brains. Also, my mother is now convinced the AstraZeneca vaccine will kill you, and my father wants to 'wait a bit'. I had to bit my tongue not to ask 'wait for what? respiratory failure?'
I'm sure they'll be fine: there's a special providence for fools and drunkards, as they say; but they are seriously testing my sanity.

[Linguoboy]

I hope you're getting your shots as soon as possible!

First day I was offered an appointment. I get my second a week from Tuesday. Pretty much everyone I know is jumping at every chance. Since we know have a situation where people who are already immunised have spent a lot of time learning how to jump through the various hoops, I've been trying to connect them with others who are still struggling to navigate the system. It seems like, in every possible way, the pandemic just reinforces existing networks of privilege. If you're well-connected and technically savvy--congratulations! You'll be immunised before someone who may be far more vulnerable but lacks those advantages.

Also, my mother is now convinced the AstraZeneca vaccine will kill you, and my father wants to 'wait a bit'. I had to bit my tongue not to ask 'wait for what? respiratory failure?' I'm sure they'll be fine: there's a special providence for fools and drunkards, as they say; but they are seriously testing my sanity.

At the risk of sounding morbid (but when have I ever been worried about that?), I'm glad my father kicked it a year and a half ago. If he were alive, I'd be worried as hell about him and unable to attend his funeral if the worst occurred. As it is, we just keep putting off the final scattering of his ashes and the divvying up of his library.