san diego: dialed in: CoViD-19: Waning Immunity Demands Boosters | J&J Requests Booster EUA | California Oil Leak Ignored For Hours

Downtown San Diego From Coronado Ferry Landing (Taken 10.6.21)

Yes, it's almost 2 in the morning and I'm barely finishing up my post for the day. My dad's situation hasn't changed and so while my mom has been spending time with him, we've been entertaining my uncle since my cousin had to return to LA for work. And it was my niece's birthday so we got together for some pizza.

We kind of have a circuit of restaurants that everyone can agree on when we have visitors, though not really places we would frequent on our own. Tuesday was Village Pizzeria at the Coronado Ferry Landing. The food is good, but prices are kinda premium because of the location and view, or at least more than I'd spend on a good pie elsewhere. Still, if we're going to keep eating out, it was nice to once again sit outside on an patio that was mostly empty.

Dinner was fun but talk got political which is a terrible idea. My uncle lives in Indiana so he's in a different world when it comes to politics, so my eyes were bulging out of my face at some of the nonsense he was spewing while talking to my brother in law. It was like listening to Peter Doocy right at my very own dinner table and just as ill-informed. He makes fun of me for masking when I interact with staff and was boasting that in Indiana there's "no mask requirement nonsense," blatantly oblivious to the irony that he's the only person in my entire extended family who has had COVID-19. Later he was trying to get us to go to a casino. Um, no thanks. Naturally when I got home I watched the unhinged nutjobs at the County Board of Supervisors meeting on YouTube. You know, I think I know some stuff about stuff, but I wish I was so sure of myself as some of the public speakers are so sure of the nonsense they spew.

I didn't follow the news super close today but the oil leak off our coast was ignored for hours by the Coast Guard and the oil company itself, which made the impact far greater than it would've been otherwise and it's disgusting. The Catholic Church of France revealed 70 years of child sexual abuse and the numbers are staggering: estimated 330,000 victims by over 3000 priests. That is 110 victims per priest. I cannot even wrap my head around that number. One bright spot in the news was that the Dept of Defense announced implementation of what they're calling "continuous vetting" which basically surveils members of the military and contractors, especially with security clearances, for criminal or questionable activity. THIS is how you drain a swamp. COVID-19 is still here, it's still with us, and we're still over 70,000 cases a day, so maybe we can all rein in the victory dances. I'll be making my appointment for a booster and flu shot this week.

Stay safe out there.

COVID-19:

Delta Variant Acquitted in Need for Pfizer Boosters. Kind Of. — Variants likely not the main reason for booster shots, large study says - MedPage Today (10.4.21)
Johnson & Johnson Announces Submission of Emergency Use Authorization Amendment to the U.S. FDA to Support Booster of its Single-Shot COVID-19 Vaccine. - Janssen (10.5.21)
- Submission includes data showing a booster increased protection to 94 percent against moderate to severe/critical COVID-19 in the U.S.
- Substantial increase in immune response when booster was given at six months
- The Company’s single-shot vaccine has demonstrated strong and long-lasting protection and durable immune responses in clinical studies
Few Masks. Sick Kids. Packed ERs. How One District’s First Four Weeks of School Went Bad. In their own words, parents, faculty and a student chronicle the beginning of the school year in Georgia’s Cobb County, where leadership loosened COVID-19 protocols and a wave of children were infected. - ProPublica (10.5.21)
Model predicts natural COVID-19 immunity wanes fast, re-infection likely - CIDRAP (10.4.21)

For unvaccinated, reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 is likely - UNC Charlotte EurekAlert (10.1.21)

Why U.S. pandemic management has failed: lack of attention to America’s epidemic engines - STAT News (10.5.21)
Masks and Respirators for the 21st Century: Policy Changes Needed to Save Lives and Prevent Societal Disruption - JHU Center For Health Security (10.5.21)

WHO - Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 5 October 2021

Globally, the number of weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to decline. This is a trend that has been observed since August. Over 3.1 million new cases and just over 54 000 new deaths were reported during the week of 27 September to 3 October 2021. Cases this week decreased by 9% as compared to the previous week, while deaths remained similar.