Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2021 Breaking News

[Bootb]

@ThelmaLou

Surely this won’t be allowed to happen!

How would you prevent it? Go to war with Japan?

[ThelmaLou]

Reductio ad absurdum is not appropriate here. We can ship them the necessary supplies.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

109,104,825 total cases
2,405,432 dead
81,128,354 recovered

In the US:

28,196,964 total cases
496,063 dead
18,153,126 recovered

Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:

@Snowboarder_Bo

108,730,569 total cases
2,394,125 dead
80,742,722 recovered

In the US:

28,106,704 total cases
492,521 dead
18,040,312 recovered

[PhillyGuy]

Pennsylvania counties are blaming ‘cumbersome’ state-provided software for vaccine registration problems

“PrepMod was a bit cumbersome,” she said. “We were kind of under a crunch to get our clinics up and running.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Health paid $852,000 for the software — and is now weighing whether to use it in soon-to-be-created mass vaccination clinics. But according to officials whose clinics serve Allegheny and four other counties, the program has serious flaws: It can’t create private appointment links, it overbooks clinics, it sends patients incorrect or conflicting scheduling reminders, and it lets people make appointments even if they aren’t eligible for the vaccine. . . .

PrepMod was created by Ms. Tate under a subsidiary of her organization, a software company for health providers called Multi-State Partnership for Prevention.

She has run vaccine clinics in communities of color for years, and last spring offered the software to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the New York Times [reported] earlier this month, but the Trump administration instead contracted with Deloitte. Ms. Tate, who according to the Times has sold PrepMod to 27 states and jurisdictions, has accused Deloitte and the CDC of stealing her intellectual property, claims the firm and the agency deny.

They have overlapping bugs. Whether that proves stealing of intellectual property is another question.

Working from home is popular with my software development colleagues. However, it impairs teamwork and makes it much more likely to miss bugs. That could be the problem here. Or it could be bad management. Or it could be hiring incompetents. Or, for a mess as big as this, it could be all of them.

[asahi]

What worries me in the post-vaccine era is the likelihood that people who have received the vaccine, or those who will have claim to have received the vaccine, will now insist that they be allowed to live life as before the pandemic: no masks, no distancing, no closures…everything as before.

[2_More_Bits]

This could be the subject of its own thread. I share the concern. How could it be otherwise?

[ThelmaLou]

@asahi

What worries me in the post-vaccine era is the likelihood that people who have received the vaccine, or those who will have claim to have received the vaccine, will now insist that they be allowed to live life as before the pandemic: no masks, no distancing, no closures…everything as before.

@2_More_Bits

This could be the subject of its own thread. I share the concern. How could it be otherwise?-

I started this one back in September 2020. It sort of fits the bill, so by all means, revive it.

A realistic look at the future in a COVID world -- 2020, 2021, and beyond

COVID is not just going away – poof! That’s a given. If and when an effective vaccine is developed (and that’s by no means an absolute certainty) there’s still manufacturing it, distributing it, getting everyone enough people to take it, etc. – let’s not pin our hopes on that happening on a mass scale any time soon. And that subject is already being thoroughly discussed in the Breaking News thread. I’m asking how and when you think life will return to anything approaching “no…

[FigNorton]

So y’all would be less worried if we just kept masking and social distancing for the rest of time even with a vaccine? I’m on precisely the opposite side of that worry. Once the bulk of the over 50 crowd is vaccinated why in the world would we keep closures and social distancing?

[puzzlegal]

@FigNorton

closures and social distancing?

I’d like to split this up into pieces.

1. Wearing masks
2. Maintaining space
3. Avoiding gatherings
4. Closing things

I think that after most of the 50+ year olds have been vaccinated we can open most of what’s been closed, and the vaccinated and the young can get back to gathering with each other. But i think we should continue wearing masks and maintaining distance in public until everyone who wants to be vaccinated can be vaccinated, and until the numbers drop way down. It’s polite. It protects people who can’t be vaccinated, either due to logistics or to personal medical issues. And it’s not very costly, the way shutting down everything is costly.

[FigNorton]

“Maintaining distance” means basically shutdowns for some businesses though. Most restaurants aren’t profitable at 25% capacity not to mention places where a crowd is the point like theaters. Walmart can take it but smaller stores need browsers, which is tough with 5 people max in the store.

[FigNorton]

Eta: I don’t love masks but I could accept that for a more extended period. But keeping six feet distance when the most vulnerable have been vaccinated? That’s not a reasonable request. Please don’t expect it.

[puzzlegal]

I don’t think it’s fair to pack people into restaurants until all the wait staff, etc. have had a chance to be vaccinated. Theater is probably okay with masks, especially if they can improve the ventilation.

[puzzlegal]

To be clear, i don’t think restaurants should be open at all right now, except for takeout and possibly outdoor dining. I think it would be far better if we just gave them money to stay closed. I’m paying my cleaning lady to not clean my house. I’d love to have some organized way to pay the local greasy spoon to not have table service.

(I expect to have the cleaning lady back, with masks, in a few weeks, if the numbers continue as they’ve been going.)

[FigNorton]

@puzzlegal

I don’t think it’s fair to pack people into restaurants until all the wait staff, etc. have had a chance to be vaccinated. Theater is probably okay with masks, especially if they can improve the ventilation.

I bet a lot of wait staff want to start making money again. I doubt that many 25 yr old waitresses would think it’s more fair to fully open theatres but not restaurants.

[Colibri]

@FigNorton

I bet a lot of wait staff want to start making money again. I doubt that many 25 yr old waitresses would think it’s more fair to fully open theatres but not restaurants.

Moderating

Let’s keep this thread to breaking news, and not start a debate about reopening or requirements. This goes for everyone.

Colibri
QZ Moderator

[puzzlegal]

Sorry

[ThelmaLou]

@Colibri

Let’s keep this thread to breaking news, and not start a debate about reopening or requirements. This goes for everyone.

This old-ish thread is available to discuss the future:

A realistic look at the future in a COVID world -- 2020, 2021, and beyond

COVID is not just going away – poof! That’s a given. If and when an effective vaccine is developed (and that’s by no means an absolute certainty) there’s still manufacturing it, distributing it, getting everyone enough people to take it, etc. – let’s not pin our hopes on that happening on a mass scale any time soon. And that subject is already being thoroughly discussed in the Breaking News thread. I’m asking how and when you think life will return to anything approaching “no…

[Leaper]

Two recovered Israeli COVID patients reinfected with South African strain

Of course, the implications are as of yet unclear. Things may become clearer if the variant suddenly surges and runs rampant across mostly-vaccinated Israel, but I’m a bit skeptical that’ll happen. (What vaccine were they using again?)

New Zealand locks down Auckland after 3 new local COVID-19 cases

I’m honestly stunned at this one. Where the fuck did it come from? How much tighter can restrictions get?

[PhillyGuy]

@Leaper

Of course, the implications are as of yet unclear.

True.

It may be that recovered COVID patients should get a vaccine. This is the recommendation in the U.S. but not Israel.

(What vaccine were they using again?)

Mostly Pfizer.

[LSLGuy]

Ref this line of discussion and the several posts which followed from it …

@asahi

What worries me in the post-vaccine era is the likelihood that people who have received the vaccine, or those who will have claim to have received the vaccine, will now insist that they be allowed to live life as before the pandemic: no masks, no distancing, no closures…everything as before.

See this thread from 2 weeks ago:

Should officials continue to encourage restrictions for vaccinated people? Should they expect such restrictions to be followed?

This thread on Reddit exemplifies the kind of discussion I’m talking about that I’ve seen multiple times when responding to similar statements by doctors and politicians. Is it harmful to tell people to obey restrictions even after getting vaccinated? Those who say so seem to think that it discourages people from getting vaccinated, because why take a “rushed” vaccine if it won’t make any difference to your life anyway, and that people are going to go hog wild after they get vaccinated, that nee…