Tuesday, July 27, 2021

CoViD-19: Stick Supplants Carrot: California, VA, NYC, Bay Area Bars Mandate Vaccines | San Diego's Funded Projects | Humane Society Waives Adoption Fees Through Sat |

  

6 year old Orangutan Aisha at San Diego Zoo (Taken 7.26.21) 

Mondays are such big news days but I was glad to have forced myself out of the house for some time at San Diego Zoo, even though with the monsoonal air I was sweating just by standing still. I noticed a lot of the primates off exhibit and was wondering if that was because it was later in the day or because they're being abundantly cautious about COVID. It was specifically the ones whose exhibits are open air or only have a fence between them and humans, so my hunch is COVID precautions, but then why not just require masks again? It's the Zoo's busiest time of year so it definitely qualifies as "being in a crowd". Either way, we were masked for the duration. I didn't explore a lot --it was so muggy and crowded, but I did spend time with the orangutans and it was pretty special because Aisha and Satu came right over to me at the glass. Unfortunately that meant I was surrounded by a crowd pretty quick and had to move away, but I got this silly pic of AIsha. I've still never figured out how to adjust my settings through the tinted glass, but I'll keep trying. 

The big news today was that lots of vaccine mandates were declared. New York City, the State of California, Veterans Affairs, and even the business group with over 300 Bay Area bars all issued some variation of vaccine mandates or mandatory weekly testing. I hope it works and I hope they all stick, because as Governor Gavin Newsom said today, people making the choice not to vaccinate is now affecting the rest of us. It isn't a personal choice when you willfully endanger everyone around you. Ideally this expands nationally to congregate care, health care, and jails and prisons, at the very least. As I mentioned yesterday, media is finally focusing on percentage of the total population vaccinated and it's far more grim than just singling out vaccinated seniors or just eligible adults, and goddamit, I want to go to shows again. It reminds me of a comment a friend made on a conference call when asked how he incentivized vaccination among his employees and he said he offered extended furlough if they didn't. Ha!

I'm gonna try to start listings but they might not be done by 6am. Sorry. They haven't really fit back into my schedule and it's hard to square promoting live events when I'm not even sure they should be happening at all unless San Diego venues step up and require proof of vaccines or a negative test. This week is Tiki Oasis and hopefully it doesn't just become a massive superspreader event. 

Stay safe out there. 

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