Thursday, May 13, 2021

CoViD-19: Fully Vaccinated May Opt For Masklessness (When Allowed) | 12-15 Year Olds Line Up For Shots | Things Are Looking Up | Newsom Announces Small Biz Relief Initiative |

  


Today was such a perfect day. Darren and I had drinks in the speakeasy last night, slept in this morning, and by the time I woke up, Darren had taken Nova to get her first shot at San Diego High. She was feeling fine when they got home, Darren cooked us some haddock and black cod from our latest KnowSeafood box and when I was done watching Jen Psaki and part of the COVID Response Team Briefing we loaded up the car for today's adventure.

We went to Rancho Penasquitos Preserve, parked at the spots on Camino Del Sur, and did the approximately 2 mile hike out to the waterfall and back. I was a little worried Ficus wouldn't make it but we stopped a lot and gave her lots of water and it was totally worth it. Everyone is now totally zonked out. Afterward we stopped at H Mart and loaded up on our favorite fixins, inspired by Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) because I started reading her memoir, Crying In H Mart, last night. 

I have a lot to say about the new CDC guidance, mainly that EVERYTHING they have put out from the beginning of the pandemic has always been "guidance" or "recommendations". Our mask requirement is by a State Health Order and reinforced by a San Diego Health Order. California mandated masks before the national recommendation and every single news outlet seemed to completely miss that States and Counties can still make their own rules, simultaneously that businesses may still choose to require masks, which is still easier to police than vax cards, and no kids are fully vaccinated at this moment in time, so kids must still wear masks per previous guidance. It isn't hard, but there is nuance, and it sucks that we lived for four years under the last admin who could only chant in three word slogans and so we suddenly seem incapable of deciphering any nuance. And the CDC isn't exempt from being confusing and full of poor messaging because now they're saying mask wearing is a personal health choice but for over a year we've known that it was not a personal choice because I protect you and you protect me. A little more emphasis on the FULLY VACCINATED 35.8% and that the reason this is changing now is because we have enough supply for everyone to choose to vaccinate would've been nice. But no, so now we're potentially gonna have mask wars as bad as ever. So frustrating. 

Stay safe out there. 

  • COVID-19:
  • White House: 
    • Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, May 13, 2021
      • Today's Psaki-don't-take-no-shit Moment 
        Q    Yes.  Senator Tom Cotton says the nation’s wealthiest colleges are indoctrinating young people with what he calls “un-American ideas.”  He’s proposing a new tax targeting the largest private endowments.  He says it would raise $2 million a year.
        I wonder: Does the President believe that our largest — our wealthiest schools are indoctrinating our youth with un-American ideas?  And would he support such a tax?  Is it a good idea?

        MS. PSAKI:  Now you’ve intrigued me.  What are the un-American ideas that are indoctrinating our youth?

        Q    The legislation doesn’t lay out the precise —

        MS. PSAKI:  Oh, he’s not specific about the indoctrination by leaders from universities?

        Q    Well, he’s been critical, for example, of the 1619 Project.  He’s been critical and spoken about critical race theory.  He’s — he’s claimed that there’s a liberal bias on campus that targets conservatives — I think would be a way to put it.

        MS. PSAKI:  What’s he going to do with the money?

        Q    He wants to use it for programs for — my mind — I’m having a hard time coming up with the word — when you have job training, those sorts of things.

        MS. PSAKI:  Well, without much detail of where he thinks our youth are being indoctrinated, it sounds very mysterious and dangerous, but — although I don’t think that — I don’t think we would think — we believe that educating the youth and next — the leaders of the — future leaders of the country on systemic racism is indoctrination.  That’s actually responsible.

        But, I would say, if he’s trying to raise money for something, then our view is there’s lots of ways to do that.  We know that a number of corporations hugely benefited financially during the pandemic.  They could pay more taxes.  We think the highest 1 percent of Americans can pay more taxes.  And if he wants to have a conversation about worker training, we’d love to have him over and have that conversation.
    • Readout of Oval Office Meeting with Senators Capito, Barrasso, Blunt, Crapo, Toomey, and Wicker
    • Remarks by President Biden on the Colonial Pipeline Incident
    • FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration to Invest $7 Billion from American Rescue Plan to Hire and Train Public Health Workers in Response to COVID-19
  • CDC:
    • When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated; How to Protect Yourself and Others (Updated 5.13.21)
      • If fully vaccinated, you may go maskless in indoor and outdoor settings regardless of size of crowd. This does not include congregate settings such as jails and prisons, health facilities, or public transportation and airplanes
      • In general, people are considered fully vaccinated: 
        • 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
        • 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine
        • If you don’t meet these requirements, regardless of your age, you are NOT fully vaccinated. Keep taking all precautions until you are fully vaccinated.
      • Why the change? 
        1. Case rates have come down drastically
        2. Real-world studies show vaccines are effective outside of trials
        3. If you're vaccinated, unlikely to get asymptomatic disease and transmit to other people
        4. US has enough supply for everyone who is eligible 
      • Still deferring to local jurisdictions on rules which should be looking at case rates, transmission
      • This guidance is intended for individuals to feel safe taking off masks when appropriate and CDC will be examining and updating various sector guidance for different settings across the board. Will still need to look at what this means for schools and camps. For the time being children should still be wearing masks. 
      • If you're not vaccinated, your risks are still the same if you don't wear masks.
      • Science is showing that vaccines may not be as effective for immune-compromised, specifically people with cancer, undergoing chemo, people who've had organ transplants. But they are quite effective for other underlying conditions as evidenced by success in senior nursing facilities and the like.  
  • California Governor:
  • News:
  • Other Reading:
  • Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 5.13.21 (10:20pm):
    • 161,149,912 Known Cases
    • 3,344,388 Known Deaths
  • US COVID-19 Stats 
    • CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
    • JHU
      • 32,853,003 Cases
      • 584,487 Deaths
    • CDC Data Tracker:
      • +34,934 New Cases/32,643,851 Known Cases 
      • +761 New Deaths/580,837 Known Deaths
      • 339,165,445 Doses Delivered
      • 266,596,486 Doses Administered
      • 154,624,231 Partially Vaccinated (46.6%)
      • 118,987,308 Fully Vaccinated (35.8%)
  • California COVID-19 Stats:
    • State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
    • Vaccination progress dashboard
    • Aggregate California ICU Bed Availability: 33.8%
    • R-effective: 0.88
    • Doses Delivered/Doses Administered
    • Partially Vaccinated/Fully Vaccinated
    • 1,443 New Cases/3,659,641 Total Cases (3.6 new cases/100k)
    • 46 New Deaths/61,351 Total Deaths (0.1 new deaths/100k)
    • 1.1% 7-day test positivity rate
    • 1,810 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-44 patients, -2.4% from prior day)
    • 407 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (-16 patients, -3.8% from prior day)
    • 2,276 ICU beds available (-7 from prior day)
  • San Diego County 


  • State Data:
    • Southern California ICU Bed Availability: 36.2%
    • R-effective: 0.85
    • 94 New Cases/278,402 Total Cases
    • 4 Deaths/3,729 Total Deaths
    • 4.1 cases/100k population (Assessed on 5/11. Unadjusted Case Rate)
    • 1.7% Test Positivity (Assessed on 5/11)
    • 2.0% Health Equity Positivity (Assessed on 5/11)
    • 158 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (+3 patients, +1.9% from prior day)
    • 48 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (0 patients, 0% from prior day)
    • 192 ICU beds available (-14 from prior day)
  • County Data:
    • Youths Start Getting COVID-19 Vaccinations Around the County & Update - County News Center 
    • 190 New Cases/278,591 Total Cases 
    • 0 New Daily Deaths/3,729 Total Deaths
    • 3,735,305 Doses Received/3,250,026 Doses Administered
    • 1,754,766 Partially Vaccinated/1,298,773 Fully Vaccinated
    • Total San Diego Population of 12+ is 2,802,581, updated from 16+ population yesterday.
    • 1% Daily Test Positivity/1.4% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/1.6% Test Positivity (14-day average)
    • 3.7 cases/100k population (Assessed on 5/11. Adjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons.) 
    • 96.8% Case Investigation 
    • 1.4% Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations (134 patients. -18% over 30 days)
    • 30% ICU Capacity (39 patients. -26% over 30 days)
    • 58 Staffed ICU Beds Available
    • New/14 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
  • Universities:

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