Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

Same arm. Had the option, but I wanted the use of one arm if the shots made both sore.

 

Missouri hospital won’t enforce Biden COVID vaccine mandate over fears staff may quit

 

My only edit: remove the word “survivable.” Fuck them.

 

I was thinking along your lines but thought I’d be nice tonight.

I wonder how Governor Abbott would feel if in the morning Southwest announced it was moving the 9,000 jobs at its headquarters to, say, Albuquerque.

 

Gov. Abbott is probably trying to get the Spurs, Mavs or Rockets to trade for Kyrie Irving.

 

We’re into deer season now, and this story from late July seems relevant … and ominous.

On Wednesday, the US Department of Agriculture released some rather disturbing news: a survey of wild deer populations has found that large numbers of the animals seem to have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The finding indicates that there's a very large population of wild animals in North America that could serve as a reservoir for the virus, even if we were to get its circulation within the human population under control.

Probably not an error
Why check deer in the first place? The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is studying a variety of species "to identify species that may serve as reservoirs or hosts for the virus, as well as understand the origin of the virus, and predict its impacts on wildlife and the risks of cross-species transmission." This is the same group that identified the spread of the virus to a wild mink in 2020.

Using a captive deer population, the USDA had already determined that deer can be infected by the virus, although the animals display no symptoms. So although direct interactions between deer and humans are relatively limited, checking the wild populations made sense. The USDA checked populations in a total of 32 counties in four different states, obtaining blood samples to look for antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2.

The antibodies were quite common, ranging from a low of 7 percent of the samples in Illinois to a high of 60 percent in Michigan. All told, a third of the deer tested had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

The USDA also took reasonable precautions to make sure the data was accurate. Agency scientists tested samples that were around prior to the pandemic to confirm that the rate of false positives was low (it was). The researchers also ran antibody tests using two different machines to make sure the conclusion wasn't due to some sort of hardware problem (it wasn't). So in all likelihood, a large number of deer have been exposed to the virus.​

Over half the deer tested in Michigan have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2

 

Get vaccinated.

Wear a mask.

Thanks.

 

My Pfizer booster and maybe flu shot (unclear response from pharmacy) is/are scheduled for Friday afternoon. After first shot back in February my arm was slightly sore, the way it is after the first day of playing catch in spring. Second shot I had no side effects at all. So I have no real expectations of a strong reaction, which might be jinxing myself, but there you are.

 

Already received my flu shot. Will get my Pfizer booster when I return from my road trip.

 

I really feel like an idiot not getting a flu shot for a bunch of years before 2019. That will never happen again.