CoViD-19: Young Driving Pandemic - 1 in 4 San Diego Cases Among 20-29 Year Olds | Vaccine Breakthroughs Considered Exceedingly Low | AHA Supports Mandated Vaccines |

  

Rodney, Jake Najor, and me. Donate to Jake's GoFundMe (Taken 12.25.19)

Here's the link again to Jake Najor's GoFundMe. It has far exceeded the original goal, but as we well know, medical bills and living while in medical recovery is incredibly challenging. If that kid from Starbuck's got over $100k because some Karen yelled at him for asking her to wear a mask, we can make things nice and cozy for Jake. Jake's amazing girlfriend Sabrina said that he's doing better, but he's still in ICU and will be for at least a few more days, pending his improvement and ability to get surgery. He posted today, too, so it was great to see he's positive and going to beat this thing, even celebrating that he got to add jello to his hospital diet. I know how much he loves scrolling through his feeds, so I know he is seeing everything we're posting and can't wait for him to feel better and back to himself again. 

Today was a pretty chill day around here. Apparently my capacity for busy days is limited to once a week. I did all kinds of stuff yesterday topped off with a trip to Sea World, and today was just a TV day. Today's COVID-19 media briefing is worth watching as Dr. Fauci details breakthrough cases and vaccine efficacy. Jen Psaki is also worth watching too, because she's kinda like a cat just intending to play with a mouse before she accidentally murders it whenever she engages with Peter Doocy. And while I'm recommending YouTube links, this segment of Seth Meyers and Lorde day drinking which had me in tears by the end. I don't have any major plans for the weekend but hopefully it will be more comfortable weather and I can get some backyard and gardening time in. There are fun indoor and outdoor events this weekend, too, so maybe I'll brave ArtWalk of something. 

Stay safe out there.  

• COVID-19:
• Let's face it. We're not really learning anything new about COVID-19 these days. We know that Delta is dominating across the country, even if the US is only sequencing a small amount of cases. We knew the delta variant was coming and did nothing to stop it and so we are where we are. Lambda has now been detected in the US, too. Now it's a matter of what to do about it. I'm going to keep posting interesting articles and information, but it's really a lot of the same...more people need to get vaccinated, people are still dying though cases are still about a third of what they were in January and deaths are about 20% of what they were, anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers are mostly the same circle on a venn diagram and the desperate news will continue to platform these people to make it look like there's a debate even if it's only 12 stupid moms and their poor misguided children showing up to Let Them Breathe rallies. I don't expect the CDC will walk back masking guidance, but hopefully they get their shit together and get back to tracking breakthrough cases and break it down further between symptomatic and asymptomatic cases so people can get a real sense of their own personal risk instead of these blanket statements that if you're vaccinated you're protected without any qualifiers and the regurgitation of statistics 99.5%, 97%, 99.9%. And I don't know if you noticed in my post yesterday, but in one week, San Diego went from 96.6% to 40.7% for case investigations, which is not good because it could mean that the County is pulling back on pandemic- dedicated staff just as our numbers climb again. 
• Some Bars and Restaurants Requiring Vaccination or Negative Test Amid COVID-19 Case Spike. Several San Diego establishment owners are trying to decide what else they can do to help stop the spread of COVID-19 - NBC San Diego (7.22.21)
• COVID ACT NOW issued a COVID Alert for California: Risk increased on 07/22/2021 to Very High RIsk

• When will COVID-19 vaccines be fully approved—and does it matter whether they are? - Science Mag (7.21.21)
• Vaccine mandate is needed to stop COVID surge, says CA Assemblymember Buffy Wicks - KCRW (7.20.21) 
• "...it’s high time to make vaccinations mandatory as California’s COVID surge continues. (Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks) also wants businesses to start requiring customers to show proof of vaccination before they can enter.
  'Many counties in California would be in the purple tier if we were still using the tier system, which would mean no indoor dining [and] our schools would be closed. I do not want to go back to that,” she tells KCRW. “We need a cultural shift in the way that we approach vaccine requirements if we want to get out of this pandemic.”
• When will COVID-19 vaccines be fully approved—and does it matter whether they are? - Science (7.21.21)
• GOP Legislators in Missouri Oppose Vaccine Efforts as State Becomes COVID Hotspot. Representative Bill Kidd joked that he didn’t get a vaccine because he’s a Republican. Now he has COVID. - ProPublica (7.21.21)
• Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials
• Florida, Texas, and Missouri accounted for 40 percent of all cases nationwide.
• It’s important to remember, as I’ll get to in a moment, that infections after vaccination are expected.  No vaccine is 100 percent effective.  However, even if a vaccine does not completely protect against infection, it usually, if it’s successful, protects against serious disease. - Fauci
• 7 updates on breakthrough COVID-19 cases - Becker's Hospital Review (7.22.21)
• AHA Policy Statement on Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination of Health Care Personnel - American Hospital Association (7.21.21)
• COVID-19 vaccinations are safe.
• COVID-19 vaccinations are effective at reducing both the risk of becoming infected and spreading the infection to others.
• COVID-19 has a significant risk of transmission both before the onset of symptoms and in the absence of symptoms. These risks are substantially higher among unvaccinated individuals.
• Among unvaccinated individuals, COVID-19 infections pose a substantial risk of severe illness and death and may lead to long-term adverse impacts to health. These risks are higher among those individuals with certain underlying health conditions, like many patients in hospitals or who are seen in hospital-based ambulatory settings.
• To protect all patients, communities and personnel from the known and substantial risks of COVID-19, the American Hospital Association (AHA) strongly urges the vaccination of all health care personnel.
• The AHA also supports hospitals and health systems that adopt mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies for health care personnel
• White House: 
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, July 22, 2021
• Remarks by President Biden Before a Meeting With Business and Labor Leaders
• Remarks by President Biden at Signing of H.R. 1642, the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021
• Bill Signed: H.R. 1652
• FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Measures on Cuba
• Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate
• State Dept:
• Sanctioning Cuban Security Forces in Response to Violent Repression of Protests
• News:
• Shortages:
• An iPhone May Be Your Only New Smartphone Option as Chip Shortages Dominate Manufacturing - Yahoo! Finance (7.21.21)
• Tavares says chip shortage will easily drag into 2022. Stellantis is making decisions around changing the diversity of chips it intends to use, the automaker's CEO said, adding the visibility around chips is not great. - Automotive News (7.21.21)
• Other Reading:
• This is an old article that I found fascinating and terrifying last year. As many stories have come out about how fires can make their own weather as more than 80 fires burn across the west, this is the best explainer I've read.
• California Wildfires Can Create Their Own Terrifying Weather. Sparked by freak thunderstorms, the blazes changed wind patterns and could potentially lead to fire tornadoes and pyrocumulonimbus clouds. - Wired (8.21.20)
• This is a very interesting (and long) read. I absolutely disagree with the premise of the title, otherwise why would our state have the population of 22 others? I love California and I think that the recently signed California budget is evidence that there is will to make it better for failures that have accumulated over generations. But it brings up interesting points about NIMBYism, though with no comparison to other states, it seems a little aggressive. It feels like the homeowner class is trying to stop development everywhere, not just in California, especially if it means density, rentals in 'single-family home' tracts and the like. As I mentioned the other day, regulation may be too widely swathed, but I remember "smog days" as a kid and know that less regulation, less taxes, letting species go extinct so we can grow almonds for yuppies drinking almond milk is also not the way. There are so many people who are quick to say "if you don't like it, leave," but I assure you, I'd rather be a poor renter in California than a middle class homeowner in Kentucky or Arkansas and I'm pretty sure my travels to Texas are behind me. Not to say I won't travel, but there is nowhere I'd rather be than beautiful home-sweet-home California. 
• The California Dream Is Dying. The once-dynamic state is closing the door on economic opportunity. - The Atlantic (7.21.21)
• Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU7.22.21 8:21pm):
• 192,531,709 Known Cases
• 4,135,321 Known Deaths
• US COVID-19 Stats 
• CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
• JHU
• 34,282,698 Cases
• 610,190 Deaths
• CDC Data Tracker:
• +55,132 New Cases/34,248,054 Known Cases 
• +406 New Deaths/607,684 Known Deaths
• 391,998,625 Doses Delivered
• 339,763,765 Doses Administered
• 187,216,168 Partially Vaccinated
• 162,174,165 Fully Vaccinated 
• 48.8% of Total Population
• 57.1% of Population ≥ 12 Years of Age
• 59.7% of Population ≥ 18 Years of Age
• California COVID-19 Stats:
• State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
• Vaccination progress dashboard
• R-effective:1.3
• 49,060,085 Doses Delivered/42,214,612 Doses Administered
• 3,133,478 Partially Vaccinated/20,927,113 Fully Vaccinated
• 5,577 New Cases/3,778,047 Total Cases (8.7 new cases/100k)
• 31 New Deaths/63,695 Total Deaths (0.02 new deaths/100k)
• 4.9% 7-day test positivity rate
• 749 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (+67 patients, +2.5% from prior day)
• 615 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (+12 patients, +2.0% from prior day)
• 2,059 ICU beds available (+376 from prior day)
• San Diego County 
• Free Testing Sites and Schedule in San Diego
• Vaccination Locations San Diego
• Vaccination Dashboard
• San Diego County Of Education School Reopening Dashboard
• COVID ActNow Daily Updates for San Diego Metro
• State Data:
• R-effective: 1.56
• 473 New Cases/288,682 Total Cases
• 6.7% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)
• 1 Deaths/3,787 Total Deaths
• 210 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (+10 patients, 5.0% from prior day)
• 46 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (-6 patients, -11.5% from prior day)
• 243 ICU beds available (-6 from prior day)
• County Data:
• 717 New Cases/289,367 Total Cases 
• 0-9 years - 71  10%
• 10-19 years - 88  12.3%
• 20-29 years - 192  26.8%
• 30-39 years - 115 16%
• 40-49 years - 96 13.4%
• 1 New Daily Deaths/3,788 Total Deaths