I ordered my free tests from the government yesterday. I would not be shocked to know I have Covid. My boss just got his second shot this week and his brother has tested positive.
Every bone hurts. Even the little ones.
Yup. You used to be able to get 2 for $14 from a couple of sources, but prices have gone up recently and i don’t think there are any for less that $10/test, except for this brand new government program, which is not yet proved.
I suspected the coworker who gave me the test kit was unvaccinated. I was chatting with her on my way out yesterday, and she mentioned two coworkers and said they’re ‘the only ones in the office not vaccinated’. So by implication, this coworker actually was vaccinated. Of the two unvaxxed coworkers, one is rather conservative and has had COVID. The other one is pregnant (due in Summer), and my coworker said she thought the pregnant coworker had been trying to become pregnant for a while. That may be the reason she has declined the jab. (The vaccine jab.)
The vaccinated coworker who was out with COVID last week came to the office yesterday, feeling fine. (I wasn’t there.) She took a rapid test at the office, and it was positive so she went home.
As of last Saturday, the cost is required to be reimbursed by my health insurance. But yes, up until then, it was out of pocket for home tests. PCR tests at testing sites are free, though.
That’s the case here as well. Except when you want rapid results, then you pay extra (if you need a test to board a plane, for instance) good thing the home tests are being reimbursed, those things add up quickly.
Damn, there are lots in the Danish supermarkets. This evening I saw some at 25 DKK (a bit under $4). AFAIK they are not subsidised by the government, so I guess they make money on them.
When the first rapid test was approved, the news release said it would cost $5 per use. So you are paying about what they expected. They cost more in the US because… I think because the whole US healthcare system is fucked up.
sorryantivaxxer.com seems to be down.
It’s back up.
In other chit-chat: Our admin is still not feeling well, but she’s testing negative. Her husband, who we’ve met and is a really likeable guy, has COVID, as do her daughter and Kindergarten-aged granddaughter.
Boston hospital takes unvaxxed patient off heart transplant list.
“Post any transplant, kidney, heart whatever, your immune system is shut off,” Caplan said. “The flu could kill you, a cold could kill you, COVID could kill you. The organs are scarce, we are not going to distribute them to someone who has a poor chance of living when others who are vaccinated have a better chance post-surgery of surviving.”
If your “immune system is shut off,” does vaccination actually make a difference?
Ugh, sorry to hear that. Hope they recover soon.
There are lot of parts to the immune system. What they try to shut off is that part that makes new antibodies to novel proteins. So… maybe if you get vaccinated before you need to go on immune suppressive drugs, the vaccine does you some good?
I’m trying to imagine someone willing to take immune suppressive drugs for the rest of their life, and do all the other stuff you need to do to maximize the odds of a transplant working, but who is adamantly opposed to getting a vaccine. And… I’m failing. I wonder if this is just one of several red flags that the guy isn’t going to follow the playbook, but it’s the one that made the news?
Not to mention getting some stranger’s body part. He doesn’t know where it’s been!
…a story I missed:
Anti-vaxxers in NZ tried to drive the Prime Minister off the road.
Dangerous bastards.
I’ve gone out to get takeout for lunch twice this week. Both places were pretty lax about masks for their employees. This has really disappointed me, because I like the food at both places, but now I’m inclined to avoid them until omicron subsides. It’s disappointing because eating takeout is just about the only thing that separates the days for me while I’m not commuting, and the sameness is kind of driving me bonkers.
Not sure where to put this. I don’t think it merits its own thread (but I might be wrong about that…maybe it does).
What is the root of the anti-vaxxer movement in other countries, specifically countries I thought weren’t as stupid as we are, namely Germany, New Zealand, France, the UK. Over here, I assumed anti-vax was part of anti-science conservative Trumpers, groups that want Biden to fall flat on his face and otherwise fail at his job. “Come & Take It!” frontier types, gun-totin’ redneck deplorables and the like. But who are the anti-vaxxers elsewhere and what is their gripe? Are they the same as our home-grown anti-intellectual/anti-science types?
… Te Pūnaha Matatini recently did a study on dis-info here in NZ.
The full study is here, and it’s worth a read.
Some key parts:
So where is it coming from?
The same people seeding disinfo campaigns around the world. The Bannons, the Murdochs, the Mercers. Bannon even has his own conspiracy show here, “Counterspin Media.” David Farrier (from Netflix’s Dark Tourist) picks that apart here:
The rapid surge in disinformation in August was one of the primary reasons why the August Delta outbreak was hard to eliminate and eventually lead to the change in strategies. And they are doing stuff like this: