D&D and the rising pandemic

[Cadence]

16 people for Thursday night modern (MtG) this week.

First in-store pre-release in ages this weekend. My son isn't hold enough to be vaccinated, but played at a side table in a mask with a fan blowing from behind him. He was ecstatic to be able to be there.

 

[Zardnaar]

Outbreaks in various "safe" countries last month or so. Vietnam, Taiwan, Fiji, Singapore

Redirect Notice

Vietnam's variant hybrid of UK and Indian variants.

Vietnam detects a suspected new coronavirus variant that's a hybrid of the UK and India strains | CNN

Vietnam's health ministry has detected a suspected new coronavirus variant which it said appears to be a hybrid of two highly transmissible strains.

www.google.com

Still reasonably low in the grand scheme of things. Taiwan has gone from virtually no deaths up to 400+. Vietnam around 57 iirc.

 

[Umbran]

And, to help with that long tail of vaccinations, my state has gone into the vaccine lottery business.
Five fully vaccinated people ages 18+ will each win $1 million.
Five fully vaccinated people ages 12-17 will each win a college scholarship for $300,000.

You have to register and be able to provide proof of vaccination to win, of course. Registration opens July 1st.

 

[Horwath]

And, to help with that long tail of vaccinations, my state has gone into the vaccine lottery business.
Five fully vaccinated people ages 18+ will win $5 million.
Five fully vaccinated people ages 12-17 will win a college scholarship.

You have to register and be able to provide proof of vaccination to win, of course. Registration opens July 1st.

Do not know really what to say about this.

Do we really have so little trust in science?

I had Covid and got 1st dose of Moderna, waiting 2 weeks for 2nd one.
In Croatia we also have, cannot find a nicer word; but some kind of collective stupidity about vaccination.
We have more than enough vaccines for everyone to get one shot at least, but we are at 40% one dose and about 17% both doses.

People here whining about clubs not working and bars and restaurants only working until 24h, but when you ask them about getting vaccinated, most say that they wont do it.
Well, how exactly do you thing this will end, you st%#$"# &$#$ ?!?!

Wish that government just puts in 1000€ fine for anyone refusing vaccination without valid medical reasons.

 

[Umbran]

Do not know really what to say about this.

Do we really have so little trust in science?

I totally get where you are coming from with this, but in Massachusetts, that's not the issue. Our actual vaccine hesitance rates are ludicrously low - on the order of only 5%. About two-thirds of our population is at least partially vaccinated. And our rate for people completing the course and getting the second shot is over 95% as well.

Instead, we have two other basic problems about getting to that final third:

1) Folks who are elderly, don't have cars, have to work several jobs or long hours, etc, are hard to get to come in for vaccines. The state is working on this issue by slowly shutting down the big centralized mass-vaccination centers (that were very efficient, but you had to drive to), and putting the resources towards getting vaccines into local areas - into pharmacies, doctor's offices, running mobile vaccine clinics, and so on, to make it convenient, targeting those communities with lower vaccination rates.

2) Getting some of these people off their butts. Especially men, aged 20-40. They look at the world, see case rates plummeting, see restrictions lifting, think they are macho, and decide that they don't need to bother.

The lottery is mostly about the second issue - folks who just need that little bit more motivation. Apparently in Ohio, their lottery did a good job motivating just that demographic.

 

[Janx]

And, to help with that long tail of vaccinations, my state has gone into the vaccine lottery business.
Five fully vaccinated people ages 18+ will win $5 million.
Five fully vaccinated people ages 12-17 will win a college scholarship.

You have to register and be able to provide proof of vaccination to win, of course. Registration opens July 1st.

hmm, $5 million vs. college scholarship?

Give me the $5 million and I'll decide on my own education path.

if you truly got $5 mil (taxes on prizes or payout schedules are weird), that's a $100K salary for 50 years.

Surely outside of Harvard, one can go to college for less than that a year.

It's like they're screwing young people over on this prize. Adults can retire, you get to work hard.

 

[Hussar]

Screwing over young people? The hell you say. No, no one would ever screw over the younger generation.

 

[Umbran]

hmm, $5 million vs. college scholarship?

Sorry, no. That was a typo. 5 people in $1 million each.

The scholarships are $300,000.

 

[Horwath]

The scholarships are $300,000.

Damn.

when do you pay up your scholarship debt? In pension?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Onset of parosmia- a disruption of the senses of smell and taste- has been linked to C19. The afflicted sense smells and flavors of things OTHER than what they are actually smelling or tasting. Imagine (as one interviewee related) all fruit tasted like soap.

And apparently, it is long lasting. The people interviewed for this article all suffered this as a symptom of Covid, and have experienced this disorder for over a year.

Distorted, Bizarre Food Smells Haunt COVID Survivors

Marcel Kuttab first sensed something was awry while brushing her teeth a year ago, several months after recovering from COVID-19. Her toothbrush tasted dirty, so she threw it out and got a new one. Then she realized the toothpaste was at fault. Onions and garlic and meat tasted putrid, and...

www.yahoo.com

I think that of all the non-lethal effects of Covid infection, THIS is one that would hurt me most.