Is it bad there??

[disneysteve]

This is just like when all the states were competing for the same PPE--all these different commercial entities are competing against each other for staffing. Even if they get the staffing--where are they going to set this up? (Sounds like Singuy is going to be busy!) I agree that this is more of a governmental swim lane for a more coordinated effort.

Setting it up is pretty simple. They can do it the same way they've been doing COVID testing. Stick a tent in the parking lot and line people up.

But we really need big central sites - gymnasiums, stadiums, conference centers. Our hospital system (5 hospitals, 13,000 employees) is doing all vaccination at one location - our education center. They've got about 20 stations set up so they can get through a few hundred people per day.

The reality is that giving someone an intramuscular injection really isn't difficult. You don't need a medical or nursing degree. You need 15 minutes of training. As long as there is staff on hand to address any issues or reactions, you're good to go. That's why I said we really need a national effort to recruit volunteers (or paid staff if we can create funding) to get this done.

[kork13]

Don't remember which thread we were discussing schools & COVID.... But this is the first COVID thread I found.

We got some fantastic news today that we're all very excited about... Our county school board voted to return to full-time, in-person schools starting 8 March! The hybrid thing we've been doing all year has been an impossible struggle with our kindergartener, and especially with DW due with DK3 on/about 10 March, this is a godsend.

I know alot of areas are not in a position to do this yet... But new cases in our county have been in single digits for a few weeks now, and they're still going to maintain the other standard COVID mitigation protocols such as masks, distancing to max extent, frequent sanitization & hand-washing, etc. that we're all using at work & around town.... The district also received some of the state/federal money for HVAC updates, so ventilation will be improved. So overall I'm feeling totally comfortable with (and grateful for) this decision.

ETA: I will acknowledge that this area is generally more conservative than not, & adherence to COVID protocols generally (around town, in stores, etc) hasn't always been stellar or uniformly followed... So I expect some of that bias has influenced this decision. Gratefully, our low population density has mitigated that negative factor. But that said, the schools have actually done a great job of following & enforcing public health/CDC guidelines, which I assume is why our hybrid model has lasted this long (vs. places in Texas & Oklahoma for example I've heard are long-since back to full-time in-person school).

[Like2Plan]

Our local county schools just restarted hybrid in person learning 2 days ago. (Of course, everything is shut today due to the ice storm in our area. ) Our county has put a focus on getting all the teachers (who want the vaccine) vaccinated. Hopefully, this will help because there are still a number of cases covid in the community (and positivity rates are very close to 10%).

[ua_guy]

I'm extremely disappointed with our governor and the school board/ unions decision to return to in-person schools. My sister is a teacher, she is in a "high risk" category for covid, and she has not yet been vaccinated. Literally cannot because supply is so limited and others are in line first.

My sister is beloved family and she shouldn't be REQUIRED to return to an unsafe situation without an opportunity to be vaccinated first. Major failure on behalf of quite a progressive state, governor, and schools here in Washington. I'm disgusted, actually.

My parents, who are in their 70's, have been vaccinated recently. While one incredibly huge weight feels like it's been lifted, hearing that schools are forcing my sister back into the classroom is crushing.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The cutting in line thing is what upsets me the most. I live in Los Angeles but was watching Hawaii's online news and the college athletes at the University of Hawaii were getting vaccinated until news leaked so they stopped. Things like that upset me.

[disneysteve]

The situation is definitely improving overall for various reasons, not the least of which is that some 57 million doses of vaccine have been given and they're vaccinating at a rate of about 1.5 million/day. Add in the 28 million who have already had COVID (there is some overlap between those groups, of course).

As for schools reopening, it's fine in certain low risk areas as long as proper precautions are taken. But in other areas, it's playing Russian roulette with the lives of the staff which is horrifying, but there is half the country that still to this day thinks COVID is no big deal and none of the closures and restrictions and masks were or are necessary. I have many friends who are educators, quite a few of whom are very high risk. They are terrified of being ordered back into the classroom.

[mumof2]

Australia has just started today with the vaccine...we don't feel in the "real ...need" to get it going as we have very few rare cases of community covid cases....so although we are glad for it to start going out and being given...life here is normal and has been for months...occassionaly we have a small outbreak but it is taken care of real quick....I just can't fathom what you all go through over there..it's hard to comprehend for us as we haven't really had to deal with it...but I feel for you all and now with all bad snow storms (Texas etc) it just puts more pressure on an already pressured system...I hope things improve for you all soon...

[mo0n]

Posting from Central Texas:

Our governor today announced that he's lifting the mask mandate next week and moving to open the State 100%. Just in time for Spring Break. Ay dios mio. I'll still be wearing my mask and whatnot, but not a fan of this at all.

And yes, it got pretty bad during the winter storm here two weeks ago. I came out of it unscathed but out of the group that I work with, I was the only one to. Everyone else lost either power or water or both for extended time. As someone who is in the very beginning process of building a custom house, I'm now wondering if I'm going to be able to get a plumber in the next two years.