Tag: #Vaccines

  • Covid in The City: Part 3 (But Could be Part 6?)

    I really wanted to write about Tottenham getting back to form and playing Liverpool to a draw. I even thought about putting a sport post together, and talk about the Cowboys as well.

    But alas, it was not to be.

    Because Covid is back in New York City. It feels like this is the third wave that has hit the City, but when I look at the US cases graph, this is like the 6th spike we have been through since the start of this whole thing.

    We can’t get away from it.

    Even though NYC has a 71.6% full vaccination rate, and Manhattan has an 80% full vaccination rate, I cannot deny that the lines of people getting tested, have been growing every day for a week, and now are wrapping around the block. The running of ambulances all day and night has started up again. Just about everyone is in a mask now on the street.

    Covid is back.

    Is it Delta, or Omicron?

    Who knows, but it is starting up again. And it is depressing and disheartening. New Yorkers had taken this thing serious. 70% to 80% was considered herd immunity, and we are there. Once more kids get vaxed, it looked like we were going to close in on 85% to 90%.

    But it feels like even if we do hit those numbers, it won’t stop people from getting sick.

    I have friends right now that are documenting their infection, and in one case reinfection of Covid.

    It has created a feeling malaise, and add that to the general oddness of this Christmas, and it makes a potent combination resignation going into 2022.

    I’m trying to stay upbeat, but a third year of a plague feels really awful. I wish I had a more creative way of saying it, but I have used up all the adjectives.

    It’s just awful.

  • Kid Vaxed

    Today is the day that our kid gets their first dose of the Covid vaccine. We have waited for this day since March of 2020. I know that we are still a long way from no masks, but this will allow us to take a deep breath and relax.

    Once the second does is taken, we can go back to a restaurant as a family, or go to a movie. This will allow the kid to be outside without a mask on. And then there are playdates and maybe even sleepovers again.

    But most importantly, if for some reason one of us does become sick, all the other members of the home are now safe.

    The interesting thing that I have learned recently, is that my daughter will be in the minority when it comes to kids vaxed in her classroom. I knew that there would be parents that wouldn’t want to have their kids vaxed, and I know some that want to wait and see how things are in six months, and then get it. I thought the breakdown to vax v. not-vax would be 50/50, but it’s closer to 2/3 not vaxed. That did surprise me.

    Look, I’m going into this situation by trusting that other parents are making the best decisions for their family, also meaning that I trust that they are being responsible parents. I have seen no evidence that leads me to believe otherwise.

    Here is the interesting thing that I have noticed about this information, or at least when I share that information with friends. My more liberal friends think the parents that aren’t letting their kids get vaxed are MAGA-Trumpers, and my conservative friends think the exact same thing. I am pretty sure, like 99% sure, that the parents who aren’t letting their kids get vaxed do not support, nor did they vote, for Trump. When I try to explain that politics really isn’t playing a part in these family’s decision, my friends, on both sides, really don’t believe me. They think that not get a kid vaxed is a political decision. That there can be no other explanation.

    I don’t know why these parents aren’t vaxing their kids, because they haven’t shared it with me, and I’m not going to ask. I’m going to continue to respect other people’s family’s and the decisions that they make.

    My choice is to vax my kid.

  • Missing the Joy of the Holidays

    I have been trying to get in a Christmas mood, but it just isn’t taking. It’s a bit easier when the kid is around, but I think every parent would give that answer. We have done all the things that we normally do. We have decorated, made cookies, and gone out shopping. We have watched Christmas movies, wrapped gifts, and made our plans for Christmas-Eve.

    But it’s still not taking.

    Last year was weird, don’t get me wrong. The first Christmas under Covid wasn’t great, but it did feel a little like we were stealing a piece of normal back. That, out of all the awful changes, this was one old thing that was good to be doing. I think it also helped that Trump lost the election, and the first vaccines were going out, which made it feel like the world was getting better.

    I did think that by the time we hit December 2021, that we would be putting Covid behind us, the kid would have a vaccine, and no more masks. That’ll teach me to be optimistic.

    But, I don’t think I want to be a person that stops being optimistic. That today can still be a good day, and tomorrow can be even better. That I don’t have the answers but I know it will work out.

    It’s the old theatre adage; A shitty dress rehearsal makes for a great opening night. Today might be bad, but tomorrow it will all come together.

    Anyway, kind’a got off subject there. I was talking about Christmas and the Holidays.

    Let’s focus on the positive, as that is what I tell the kid to do.

    We are going to see a movie in a theatre this year. We’ll get lobster rolls on Christmas Eve, and Mom and Dad will toast a martini, though it might be a bourbon this year. Christmas coffee cake will be made, and the kid will not be able to sleep, anticipating Christmas morning.

    And we’ll be together. Which is what really counts.

  • ODDS and ENDS – Euro 2020/21, Summer Camp, Sleep!

    “Odds and Ends” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    Again, I will be talking about Euro 2020/21. As of this moment, Switzerland just got bounced by Spain, and Italy and Belgium just started. Though I was completely wrong about Sweden last week, I still hold that the final will be Belgium against England. Yes, over the Fourth of July Weekend, I will be rooting for England.

    Finally, some good news with Summer Camp, as it has taken up my whole week. The pediatrician’s office got the revised vaccination form to me today; a whole day earlier than they said. The weight taken off, not only my shoulders, but my wife’s shoulders, is enormous! The kid will get to go to summer day camp! She gets to be around kids again! We all get a break from each other! I feel like I won the lottery!

    One last thing. After my wife’s birthday, which was in the middle of June, I decided that I would do another thirty days of no alcohol. I did it last year as a sort of detox and reset on getting healthy. I was told that when you stop drinking you begin to notice changes such as, the ability to sleep through the night, your complexation clears up, you become more focus, and relaxed, and you lose weight. When I did it last year, I noticed none of those benefits. Nothing. I couldn’t sleep, I had a bad complexation, I was foggy, not relaxed, and I put on weight. Sure, it was the middle of the pandemic, but I thought I would have got something. This time around, I can report that I am, in fact, sleeping better, and through the night. As for the other benefits, again, nothing. Seems to be that I might have to do this five more times before I start seeing all the benefits at once.

  • Summer Day Camp Anxiety Continues!

    Okay, it’s feeling like two steps forward and one step back over here.

    I was informed yesterday that the kid was lacking two vaccines which she needs to be cleared for camp. I called our pediatrician’s office, and was able to get an appointment today for the kid to get the vaccines. That all went according to plan.

    We made it to the doctor’s office, got in right away, the nurse was awesome and gave the shot to the kid without any panic or tears. All good.

    Now, to verify that the kid has received the shots, I just need a vaccination form signed by the kid’s doc for verification… which will take three business days… And Monday’s a holiday. And the camp starts on Tuesday, 9am.

    Ung…

    I was given the, “we’ll do our best to rush it.” The is no reason for me not to trust the staff at the pediatrician’s office. They have been great with everything we have ever needed in the past six years. I need to trust them.

    And I have been in work situations before where the most honest answer I could give was, “I will do my best.” Most of the time, I still got yelled at by the client, so I don’t want to be the guy who browbeats his way into getting what he wants.

    Sure, worst case here is that she misses the first day of camp… But, I don’t want to disappoint my kid.