I understand we were on the brink. Have two close relatives who nurse in the hospitals and a buddy who runs one of the hardest hit hospitals in NYC. A big, maybe the biggest, issue was we didn’t know what to expect. Now we do. Not only are the numbers way down (and will continue to decline as more get vaccinated), we have theraputtics and treatments that handle patients to a far better outcome. Our hospital system is in pretty good shape. My point was /is shutdowns were primarily setup to prevent overhaul. We are not at risk of that now. Many have shifted their attitude from that to not tolerating any infection spread. Not possible unless everyone gets vaccinated. That’s how infectious disease works. Also not realistic to lockdown enough to stop spread cold. Not in America. Way too big with way too many variables including freedom.
We still do it too. I know it’s overkill but I just can’t seem to stop it. I will absolutely stop that once I’m vaccinated. I also have some friends who I used to have lunch with on a regular basis. One is moving and has been asking me to get together and I’ve been politely declining. I think I might finally accept. I’d also like to spend a little time with my parents. I will continue to wear a mask and follow guidelines but I will start living a lot more normally.
Actually, the shift that is more prevalent is toward “going back to normal”, even before getting vaccinated. I.e. people are getting less careful about social distancing, or doing riskier things like eating in indoor restaurants, even before they themselves and others around them are (able to be) vaccinated.
I agree. When I look at my neighbors. friends and family, I feel like we are the only ones still distancing, etc. I’ve had multiple people talk to me about getting together or going out without thinking we might not be doing that. My neighbor just told me both her college aged daughters are going on spring break. Their school cancelled break but since everything is virtual they feel there is no reason they can’t do their work somewhere else. I am seeing tons of pictures of friends on vacation and at sporting events for their kids. LOTS of team pics without masks. I feel like everyone is just done.
We are planning a road trip to see my parents next month. We haven’t left town in a year and just planning this brings so much joy. They both got shot#2 last week. Mom is 87 and Dad is 91, so even before Covid there was always the chance that each visit might be the last. We will meet my fully vaccinated sister there.
Yeah, exactly. If I could post pictures, I could show you a very eerie one of a field hospital in Central Park at night, and it was full. We were also told NOT to go to the hospital unless we couldn’t breathe, so if everyone who had symptoms from Covid showed up at a hospital back then, the hospital system would have failed completely.
Anyway, I do get what @rickle1 is saying. It does sometimes feel like the goalposts are being moved. However, if we can keep the spread as low as possible for just a few more weeks, we have a better chance of not having to fight deadlier variants before children are eligible for the vaccine.
Why can’t you post pictures? Seems like with your number of posts…you should be able to.
It seems like the goalposts are being moved in the opposite direction that @rickle1 is saying. I.e. more along the lines of “reopen everything now, even before everyone has had a chance to get the vaccine”.
Well we went to eat out indoors for the first time since our vaccination. Our favorite local/regional chain place closed last year, but I found they had one location open an hour away! So excited. We got there and the bar half was first come first serve, but all tables were being used and full. The other side appeared to have every other table roped off and a 20-30 min wait. We waited.
And 40 min goes by… And then a party of 40!!! Comes in. They have a reservation. And they were seated in the half that was supposed to be spaced out. But they completely packed in over half the space. Only two tables were not being used. I told H I was not comfortable and we left. Not to mention, being seated after a party that big, we would never get our food.
We went to Moe’s. It was just us and another dad/son. It was good. 1:10 after our initial check in, I got a text our table was ready. No thanks. They had to.be violating 50% capacity restrictions.
Some people have a large collection of masks of different levels of effectiveness (e.g. from N95/KN95/KF94 to simple cloth masks).
Some of them, after getting fully vaccinated, give their better masks to others who have not had a chance to get vaccinated, since the people who have not had a chance to get vaccinated have greater need for better masks (both to protect themselves and reduce the chance of inadvertently infecting others), although they will still wear their other masks in public situations which are indoors or where distancing is not assured until after vaccine general availability. (Obviously, this does not apply to people who need to wear better masks at work, such as health care workers.)
Wow, our friends are having a 1st birthday party for their granddaughter in a month. It’s going to be large with extended family and individually packaged food. H and I think we will wave and run, not stay for the talking and eating. We are so close to having most folks vaccinated as a nation and H and I are high risk, even tho we’ve been fully vaccinated.
At high risk of what exactly? Spreading it? Or are you still concerned about catching it even after vaccination? What evidence is there of the disease seriously affecting anyone who has been fully vaccinated?
I think if we gather in large groups with unvaccinated people, chances of possibly getting variants increase. When there is a larger group, it’s harder to know if everyone present is vaccinated and whether their version of “careful” jives with yours.
I’m not sure how well the vaccines will protect against variants. If they don’t protect well, H is at risk due to gender and age. I’m at risk due to bad lungs and being > 60.
Maybe things and guidance will be clearer in a month, before the party.
If the party is in a month, unless Hawaii is much farther along than everyone else, assuming some of the people at the party are not middle-aged or older, surely some will NOT be vaccinated. Probably can count on that.
You’re in a mild weather state - any chance the party will be outside?
The party will be outside and our state positivity rate us only about 1%. I suspect there will be in SCU atex people present as well as elders and young children. I’m just very nervous.
What I have found, is that if you just don’t show up at a party people forget about you. Of course this is not including the bride or groom’s parents, etc. If you show up and leave early, they notice. People are caught up in the party fun and just socialize with who is there.
I am fully vaccinated but my husband isn’t, and it seems like it could be quite some time before he is. So I continue to be pretty careful.
I do want to resume normal hair cut schedule when we’re both fully vaccinated, and we will definitely travel some when it’s safe.
This is hilarious.
We will reach full immunity one week from today. To celebrate, we will eat at a restaurant for the first time since March, 2020, but it will be outdoors. The weather won’t be desirable for outdoor dining, but they have heaters, and I plan to keep my coat and hat on.
Other changes include getting haircuts, going to the dentist, scheduling doctor appointments that were postponed, and doing our own grocery shopping rather than curbside. Oh, and I’m getting a pedi/mani next Saturday.
We will still mask up, social distance, and wash our hands.
We will socialize with other vaccinated people, but probably still do that outdoors. Our kids won’t be vaccinated until May or June at the earliest, so we won’t visit them until they reach full immunity.
My walking partner and I will walk side by side again, instead of 6 feet apart, after she reaches full immunity in four weeks.
I’m surprised at how many are saying they will eat IN a restaurant. Regardless of the spacing of the tables, and the wiping down protocols, it’s the aerosols that spread Covid. The air circulation in a restaurant can move those aerosols over 20 ft away from the source. We won’t eat indoors until the number of cases decrease significantly.
But if you’re fully vaccinated then those aerosols won’t spread it to you (at least not in any serious form, and in most cases not at all). You are more likely to die in a car crash driving to the restaurant than of COVID. So I’m not understanding why the number of cases matters to your decision?