Bitter Pouty Post

It feels as if all my friends are going on vacation, meeting up, going to Hawaii. 

Enjoy your Prague Summer, I say, we’re going to be locked back down when it gets cold. I don’t see any way to get the US sufficiently vaccinated. And now this Delta variant is causing new cases in half the states, so the virus is not only back on the upswing but 1,000 times more communicable. In fact, Saint Louis has already gone backward and re-instituted the indoor mask mandate.

On top of that, this week Pfizer said the shots we got last spring are losing effectiveness, after which they they said oopsies, and apologized to Dr. Fauci, and then clarified the immunosuppressed could still get a booster maybe, and thank you.

Evidently Biden wants people going door to door dispensing shots, but I don’t see that resulting in anything but door-to-door gun displays. What might work is the 1917 model: arrest anyone without a mask. 

It’s sour grapes, I know, and small-minded. You people having fun, you will pay, says the shut-in. (Except for the people in New Zealand, you have fun, you made rules and followed them like rational people.)

Comments

[KC]

It is very frustrating to me that it is not just the people who are having irresponsible fun who will pay, and also it is very frustrating to me that people in the US seem unable to grasp the difference between "zero protection" and "some protection" and "more protection" and "nearly-complete protection" and "complete protection" - yes, the vaccine provides less protection against the delta variant, and against transmitting the delta variant, than it does against the original, but *OY* people it still does a chunk. And masks (when everyone's wearing them, not just the especially-vulnerable) do a hefty chunk more. And we don't want to kill people, so can we just behave responsibly for once?

And some people are having non-irresponsible fun (outdoor, still socially distanced gatherings where everyone is fully vaccinated, for instance). And then there's New Zealand, yes, where they have made better choices as a society than the US has. :-)

[TheQueen]

KC - I was again thinking today that perhaps in September they will sneak a little covid vaccine in with the flu shots. Maybe a bit for delta, and some for this new Lambda variant in Peru.

[Big Dot]

Thanks for the recognition, guys. We in NZ did have the benefit of being literally distanced so we could see what was happening, and get sorted before it arrived (though we still did have lockdowns, and 25 deaths overall). We've had plenty of hiccups, and there are still various crazy lapses coming to light but, generally, we took smug pride in behaving sensibly so that we were able to return to near-normal quite fast. We do know how lucky we are. But the enemy is continuously at the gates and we're currently having problems with our bubble with Australia, so the end is not in sight (if it ever will be). I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for sensible people being threatened by the behaviour of the selfish and stupid.

[TheQueen]

Big Dot - Australia! I know, I keep hearing about outbreaks there. I wag my finger southward and caution them to stay away from New Zealand. And sensible is a relative term. I know there are people who would be dismayed that I pet my neighbor’s dog. There’s always someone stricter out there.