Discombobulated

[flowerbug]

a taste of bittersweet:

Flu Has Disappeared for More Than a Year

Mask wearing, social distancing and other steps to stop COVID-19 have also curtailed influenza

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[digitS']

There's only 1000 people living in this nearby town!

And, here's the story with some interviews in the town from the Seattle Times:

Outbreak in town of Republic is a cautionary tale about COVID vaccination

Superspreader events from poker and karaoke nights in the tiny town of Republic have exposed the state's vaccine divide. It seems to track with whether you trust government or not — suggesting this pandemic may take longer to quell than...

www.seattletimes.com

"town motto: 'not on the way to anywhere but here' " Yeah, I didn't know that but that was my impression of many of the residents of Republic. If you want to explore the thinking a little further, click the last link in the article's text "gut-level deal."

digitS'

 

[flowerbug]

i think we dodged the bullet here so that is good, neither of us has felt bad or noticed any difference over the usual. *whew!* sadly, the pod person is sick and we worry about them.

next shot for me Tuesday.

 

[flowerbug]

2nd vax is done, so far pretty much the same as the first shot.

two more weeks and then we see what comes next.

 

[digitS']

"It's been a success."

Free Beer!

Free beer offer results in more vaccinations than all Erie County first-dose clinics last week

"It's been a success," said County Executive Mark Poloncarz. "We figured it would be pretty good, but now we're seeing the results."

buffalonews.com

 

[flowerbug]

"It's been a success."

Free Beer!

Free beer offer results in more vaccinations than all Erie County first-dose clinics last week

"It's been a success," said County Executive Mark Poloncarz. "We figured it would be pretty good, but now we're seeing the results."

buffalonews.com

when you consider what an ICU hospital stay runs it may make a heck of a lot of sense for the state to offer incentives to people to get more people vaccinated...

i may have to talk to Mom about how many kilos of chocolate it will take.

pod person made it through without any lung troubles, it all stayed in their head, but they did lose their sense of smell and taste.

 

[digitS']

1930

 

[flowerbug]

my attempt to bribe Mom didn't work. i didn't think it would...

America is finally winning its fight against the coronavirus

There's no need to cherry-pick the numbers. It's good news all around.

www.axios.com

 

[flowerbug]

recent weeks hospitalisation stats:

4/27	3,533	857	534	2,142	185,900	17,429	1.90%	1,985	50
4/28	3,392	843	547	2,002	190,200	17,467	1.78%	1,947	54
4/29	3,237	852	536	1,849	193,500	17,576	1.67%	1,822	47
4/30	3,135	803	529	1,803	196,900	17,611	1.59%	1,730	54
5/3	3,012	788	513	1,711	171,900	17,771	1.75%	1,616	51
5/4	2,947	767	510	1,670	173,400	17,897	1.70%	1,772	50
5/5	2,861	741	477	1,643	175,900	17,939	1.63%	1,691	59
5/6	2,716	726	478	1,512	179,400	18,054	1.51%	1,637	51
5/7	2,564	699	448	1,417	182,100	18,084	1.41%	1,563	47
5/10	2,355	666	431	1,258	147,300	18,239	1.60%	1,318	40
5/11	2,245	640	421	1,184	149,200	18,338	1.50%	1,660	48
5/12	2,205	616	405	1,184	151,400	18,355	1.46%	1,483	42
5/13	2,158	613	378	1,167	153,400	18,467	1.41%	1,393	43
5/14	2,048	550	378	1,120	155,100	18,500	1.32%	1,524	38
5/17	1,781	487	313	981	107,400	18,627	1.66%	1,290	42

i hope we can get case numbers down as much as we did last summer. it sure helps to be able to be outside and to be warm again.

 

[so lucky]

So what would it take to get a person to get vaccinated? 50 bucks? A steak dinner? If you wouldn't do it for 50, would you do it for 100? (Like the old joke about "Would you have sex with me for $100?")
I have had an idea for quite a while on how to get people to quit smoking. Especially people on limited incomes. It involves paying them, while monitoring them and blood testing. So far I haven't pitched it to Medicaid. But I might.