Saw a story in several reliable news outlets, including NBC Nightly News, a few weeks ago that a nursing home worker declined to be vaccinated and got covid. 22 vaccinated residents contracted it from her and one died. Majority of cases were mild. Granted, the one who died may have been medically fragile anyway, but I’m amazed at the slice of Americans who refuse to participate in the vaccination process. On the other hand, it happened in my state, so maybe not so amazed…
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All of us are fully vaccinated. I have a D21, so I was aware that being vaccinated was the best way to ensure she could participate in as many activities with her friends as possible. She is virtual, but many of her friends are getting pulled out of class and sent home to quarantine because of close contact with a student who has Covid.
There is going to be a student lead prom. Outside, with masks- we now have no mask mandate outside, but we will try to enforce it. I will be chaperoning. I am also having kids over for dinner and pictures- it will be the most people I have had in the house since this started.
If there’s anywhere that ought to be requiring vaccines of all employees, long term care facilities are it IMO. When my son worked at one it was even required that he get a flu shot. These places are supposed to be protecting the old and fragile.
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It is an adjustment for both the patients as well as the medical professionals.
For a year, our front door was locked and we did temperature screenings outdoors before allowing one patient in at a time. We asked COVID screening questions when patients made appointments, again over the phone the day before and a third time when they checked in.
A couple of months ago, we unlocked the front door and corralled patients to an indoor check-in station (similar to a hostess at a restaurant) where we did the temp screening and COVID history. Last month we ditched the temperature screening and the phone calls the night before. When patients make appointments, we ask if they are vaccinated.
My staff are fully vaccinated but still choose to wear N-95s and face shields when working with patients. After a year, it makes them feel safer and it is a hard habit to break.
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We had a dinner party at our home Sunday night. We had basically 6 couples (My D was also home). Everyone but one couple (who are anti vaxers in general), were 100% vaccinated. I was not happy that my H invited them, but it was too late for me to do anything. They do tend to isolate themselves anyway. we are not concerned with any of us vaccinated being asymptomatic carriers to them, as they have chosen this; only concern would be if somehow they unknowingly had Covid would any of us vaccinated get it. I do tend to think that the odds of 11 people vaccinated and 2 unvaccinated was ok; like I said I would not have invited them, but it was too late. (wish H would consult me; this was his gig). The other good news is that this couple lives rurally and cases in my state in rural areas are very low right now. If we were in a surge I would have put my foot down.
We need to return to normal as we can. What I have always done is watched the case numbers in my area. When things surged (pre vaccine), I was much more careful and double masked. When cases were lower I did more. i yearn for the days when we can go to trade shows again. I believe Covid is here to stay, but at one point is it lumped with other viruses? AT one point is not a stigma when you have Covid? I think we are probably a year away from that, but maybe, just maybe , the fall? Please 
I went to the Cardiologist last week. They required masks and did a temperature check. I always feel quite young in the waiting room of this group. My cardiologist said it has been a stressful year. She said all of her patients are vaccinated, all of the staff is vaccinated. She can’t wait to not have to wear a mask all day every day.
Ditto. In Dec 2019 and then again in late January/early February, I had two separate viral infections. Both times I was really REALLY sick. I always manage to get one or two of these every winter, and then an additional bad one in summer. Since COVID, I haven’t had any illnesses at all. I’m pretty sure I know why.
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There are certainly a lot of good things we’ve learned from covid that help reduce other illnesses - hand sanitizer, not serving yourself at buffets, hand washing, giving people a little room to spread out.
I hope a lot of these practices remain. For me, I’m throwing in not-so-much hugging, staying home when you are sick, wiping off shared surfaces like keyboards and counters more than once a decade…
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A friend of ours called winter buffets “All you can eat flu bars” long before Covid hit.
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I worked in higher education and had a number of students from China & South Korea. They always wore masks during cold/flu season, and they didn’t get sick. My coworker & I used to joke that we ought to learn from them and wear masks. Hindsight is 20/20.
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I went to a live theater performance last night. It was on the roof of a hotel with the city skyline as back drop. Seating was at cafe style tables for two, three or four, depending on the number in your party. The tables were about eight feet apart. Maybe 30 tables altogether. The musicians and dancers were masked the entire time and the singers took off their masks to sing and then put them back on. The sound was incredible, the weather was perfect and it was so good to see live theater after so long.
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Since my normal temperature is 97.3 those temperature checks will never catch me. I think asking questions is still probably a good idea.
As a nurse, I can state that in my multi decades career as a nurse, almost everyone runs about 97.2 It’s almost a joke in the OR.
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I know this sounds odd- but I noticed I am laughing more. Like I used to. I had not realized that I wasn’t since probably March 2020, until I started laughing out loud lately.
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Saw my doctor in early January. He was grumpy, looked and acted totally worn out. Saw him again yesterday----totally different guy! Relaxed, smiling and laughing again. Was just wearing a disposable mask you can buy anywhere. In January he was wearing some sort of plastic contraption that seemed to have a removable filter. Definitely had COVID fatigue back in Jan.
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I’ve been fully vaxxed for a week. My D lost a significant amount of weight over the past year and will be starting a new job at the end of May so she essentially needs a completely new wardrobe. Since sizing is an issue she preferred to shop in person. Even if most fitting rooms are closed she’d still be able to hold things up to her body to get an idea of her new size. She is still home with me so we went shopping the other day. I went into 4 stores in one day - fully masked as required. It wasn’t that long ago that I wouldn’t go into more than 1 store in a week so that I could easily keep track of my whereabouts. It was so weird.
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I know there will be judgements, but I went to get my hair colored and since GA removed all Covid orders, that means that people working in restaurants, hair salons, etc are no longer required to be masked. This was the case at the Salon I go to. I was fine with this as I inquired that everyone working there is full vaccinated. Also I was if I desired, my stylist would mask. I was told that so far no customers have left because of this change and that the staff is so happy.
@sdl0625 so what did you observe at the hair salon - did everyone NOT wear masks or what was your estimate of the % of people (customers and staff) masked while you were there.
Everyone, including the other clients did not wear masks. I would assume anyone not comfortable would cancel their appointment? The person I use is in very high demand and I suspect that their clientele are less of the “cautious” types. My D has an appointment next week and she is still very much a masker (and been vaccinated), so I wonder what she will do. She has not had anyone else do her hair. In some sense I think that loyalty will win out, but I am going to ask her if she is going to change persons, ask that they wear their mask, or go with it.
Sad to see the new vaccine rates slowing down but not unexpected. I know the next phase is to reduce the massive vaccine sites and replace with thousands of pharmacies, dr. office, etc. Hopefully that’s effective. Anecdotally, our local FEMA site , run by the Nat Guard, was about as efficient as anything I’ve ever seen. And it was positioned in a central area, actually in a pretty poor part of town (so it should have been easy for a lot of very local folks to get vaccinated).
Essentially we’re getting to a point where if you want the vaccine, you can get it without much hassle. There will be those that never get it for their own personal reasons. I wish them well but I won’t be too concerned about being unmasked around them. The odds of catching covid after vaccination are quite small. The odds of serious illness after vaccination are miniscule. The odds of death after vaccination (from covid) are essentially 0%. Way more other things move past the risk factor once vaccinated. Although the odds of passing on covid to others is very small (post vaccine), I was quite concerned for others. Fast forward to today. If they don’t want to get vaccinated, I’m not that concerned about their health as it pertains to covid going forward. I certainly won’t be masking to protect them. They need to protect themselves.
As things open up, time for me to get back to normal.
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