Category: News

On Thursday the CDC released new guidance that says fully vaccinated folks can begin to go about business as normal sans mask.

Of course, there are still local, state, and building based rules and ordinances to follow, but this is a good sign that we’re starting to come out of this. Hooray!

And, of course, because we can’t all be adults, there are people who are eager to strip off their masks despite being unvaccinated and dare people to say anything or ask for their “vaccine passport” (which they’re all too happy to share how to counterfeit) or so they can bully anyone else they see in public wearing as mask. Because, you know, being a jerk is cool or something.

So file this under “I can’t believe this has to be said” but allow me to submit the following:

If you see someone wearing a mask in a situation where you don’t think they’re necessary, mind your own business and move along. They’re not hurting anyone.

But, also, let’s consider this legitimate concern:

Outdoor settings are safe w/o masks & distancing

But indoor settings still pose risks

How can you know if the maskless person next to you is vaccinated?

Do you feel comfortable indoors except w/ family & friends you know?

Want to go to a shop, church, or gym w/ no one masked?

— Lawrence Gostin (@LawrenceGostin) May 13, 2021

(The following is a Twitter thread I’m reposing here because I can.)

The “risk” of the new CDC guidelines is that it relies heavily on personal responsibility and the honor system – if you aren’t vaccinated you should still wear a mask but there’s no way to regulate or enforce so we have to take it on faith.

Sure, there are going to be people who are unvaccinated who take advantage of these lax rules and throw their masks away. They might even identify themselves by being the first to mock anyone who is still wearing a mask.

Don’t be that guy. Get the shot(s), it’s readily available.

If you still want to wear a mask despite being vaccinated that’s fine and understandable. It’s going to take a while to reset from the last 15 months.

But also keep in mind the purpose of masks wasn’t to keep you safe from others but to keep others safe from you. If you’re vaccinated you’re not spreading COVID. You’re now part of the solution.

Ultimately, be safe. Do what you feel you need to do to be safe. And don’t be a jerk to others about it.

Original Twitter thread

Of course, the moment I share this there’s that ONE troll that shows up:

It is FDA approved, perfectly otherwise healthy people have died from this, you can spread it to people who have legitimate reasons for not getting vaccinated, you have to get a flu shot every year too so that argument is weak, wear a mask, don't be a jerk. https://t.co/XcNBy8XnPo

— Jᴀsᴏɴ Kᴇɴɴᴇʏ 😷 (@jasonkenney) May 14, 2021

This ain’t over yet. The new guidelines are a great sign, but they rely heavily on a responsible public being, well, responsible. And I’d like to believe we can do that. But if the last 15 months have proven anything…

Adoption Is Low for COVID-19 Exposure Apps, Rendering Them Effectively Useless (via USA Today via Daring Fireball)

Fewer than half of U.S. states offer Android and iOS tools for the “exposure notification” system the two companies announced last April, which estimate other people’s proximity via anonymous Bluetooth beacons sent from phones with the same software.

Most people in participating states have yet to activate these apps. Those who do opt in and then test positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 must opt in again by entering a doctor-provided verification code into their apps.

That second voluntary step generates anonymous warnings to other app users who got close enough to the positive user for long enough — again, as approximated from Bluetooth signals, not pinned down via GPS — to risk infection and to need a COVID-19 test.

So if your copy of one of these apps has remained silent, you’re not alone.

“Nobody in my circle has gotten the phone alert,” said Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics in Baltimore and editor of a 2020 book on the ethics of digital contact tracing.

Virginia rolled out COVIDWISE last summer (Spring? Time has lost meaning.) to some fanfare but limited adoption that never really improved. Earned media, some billboards and other advertising spots pushed it to a degree, but then nothing.

Having been tested for COVID twice, at neither point was I given any literature or told about the app by the two different facilities. How hard would it have been to work with localities or companies to include a note in utility or other bills?

So adoption has been low, and probably mainly among a core audience taking COVID most seriously, so those who are more likely to be following physical distancing recommendations and trying to limit their exposure to begin with. Making the apps even more useless.

As some folks sweat the effectiveness of COVID vaccines on the market, NYTimes points out that studies for all five vaccinnes have shown they essentially eliminate COVID deaths:

By those measures, all five of the vaccines — from Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax and Johnson & Johnson — look extremely good. Of the roughly 75,000 people who have received one of the five in a research trial, not a single person has died from Covid, and only a few people appear to have been hospitalized. None have remained hospitalized 28 days after receiving a shot.

To put that in perspective, it helps to think about what Covid has done so far to a representative group of 75,000 American adults: It has killed roughly 150 of them and sent several hundred more to the hospital. The vaccines reduce those numbers to zero and nearly zero, based on the research trials.

Zero isn’t even the most relevant benchmark. A typical U.S. flu season kills between five and 15 out of every 75,000 adults and hospitalizes more than 100 of them.

There have been multiple days of demonstrations and riots throughout the United States in response to the death of George Floyd. There’s a lot to be said, but it’s tough to approach the right way. Noting it here, maybe for posterity, maybe to come back to with clearer thoughts in the near future.

What I can say now is that I do understand that my place as a white male who grew up in the suburbs gives me a very limited, very different, very sheltered perspective. I can tell myself it’s an objective view, but it’s tainted by my experiences that, while not invalid, are significantly less relevant than so many others impacted and involved.

Just stay safe, everyone. And respect each other.

So the same audiences pushing the theory that COVID originated in a Wuhan lab are now pushing a video with an anti-vax doc who says it’s caused by a bad flu vaccine.

Sure we’re getting some conflicting messages from the government, but c’mon, conspiracy theorists, be consistent!

It’s absurd that the same folks who “question the Deep State” don’t question the myriad of crazy theories that outright contradict each other in an effort to find whatever they can to support their hypothesis.

If you supposedly care about the TRUTH and accuracy so much that you’re not taking doctors and government at face value, apply the same metric to the dude running data they got via an anti-vax Facebook group through an Excel spreadsheet to share on their YouTube channel.

If you aren’t subscribed to Ross Catrow‘s Good Morning, RVA you really should be. It’s a great daily recap of significant RVA news and insights from a dude who’s paying attention.

Today’s issue captures a lot of my thoughts and head scratching as Northam tries to steer Virginia toward Phase 1 of reopening on May 15th:

 This is incredibly frustrating. What was the point of announcing all of those data-based guidelines if Northam just had his sights set on May 15th anyway? What happens if the data don’t cooperate and get in line for his new two-week deadline? Northam’s also switching his messaging to “safer at home” instead of “stay at home,” but, as always, safer at home for whom? Phase One sends employees at “restaurants, recreation, and personal care business such as hair salons and spas”—mostly working-class people—back to work. Folks who are privileged enough to have good insurance and can work from home are encouraged to continue doing so. Here’s a quote from the Governor, take a second and think about who the “you” in this quote is: “Here’s the bottom line…You’ll be able to get your hair cut, but you’ll need an appointment. It means you can go out to eat again, but restaurants will use less of their seating to spread people out. Phase One means more retail establishments can be open, but they’ll have to operate at lower capacity.”

“Think about who the ‘you’ in this quote is…”

These aren’t high paying jobs with great insurance benefits that are opening up.

There is also the issue of, sure, things are open, but where are the kids going to go?

Carberry can’t work because there’s no one to watch her 4-year-old son, Robbie. Robbie’s child care center is closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Carberry’s family lives far away. Carberry is a single mother with less than a dollar in the bank.

“I get the emails to see if I’m available. I told them, if I had child care, I’d be there,” Carberry told HuffPost. Before COVID-19, in a pinch, Carberry could find someone in the neighborhood to watch Robbie. Now, with social distancing, that’s just not possible. “It’s not like I can reach out to the church and find some ladies to fill in,” she said. “Nobody wants to get their family infected.”

In Virginia, daycare facilities remain open, but are bound by the state’s social distancing guidelines and restrictions on groups larger than 10 people. Classrooms that used to hold 30 children can now only hold 8 and two caregivers. Facilities that used to have 140 children are now at 40 and hard pressed to open to more due to spacing restrictions.

This is going to hurt people who are being told to come back to work but simply can’t due to lack of childcare – potentially impacting unemployment benefits.

The solution isn’t to just throw open the doors of schools and daycares (see reaction to Dr. Oz for more on that…) but policy wonks are going to have to figure out how to structure these Phases in a way that doesn’t leave families with children on the outside looking in.