CDC Notifies States, Large Cities To Prepare For Vaccine Distribution As Soon As Late October

[Jonfw2]

I think the discussion needs to be had about what the end game is. I don’t think zero Covid is a realistic goal. The currently administration needs to give metrics about when things can start to return to normal. By mid summer, if anyone who wants a Covid shot can get one, and hospitalizations and deaths are very low, can we go back to normal?

Additionally, the messaging about the vaccine has been poor. Why is it taboo to tell people “get the vaccine so things get back to normal?” Instead we get “get the vaccine and you still have to have all the restrictions for the foreseeable future.”

Covid fatigue is really starting to hit me. I have the day off work and I spent part of it watching pre-Covid Disney vlogs. I miss those days.

Hang in there, buddy. I watch WDW walkthroughs almost every day while I'm working.

 

[DLgal]

Yeah, this one looks like media and politics, not reality. The media ran with a shocking soundbite taken out of context, and some politicians looking to score points are grandstanding on their replies to the out-of-context clip. I would be more than shocked if anything came of it.

I am a little concerned about the possibility of testing requirements for air travel, though. That is firmly and easily within FAA jurisdiction, so it could be viewed as low-hanging fruit for restricting movement. I know the airlines are opposing so hopefully that will be a check on the idea, because around me at least, it is still very hard to guess how long it will take to get test results - we've experienced everything from 24 hours to a full week - so it would be hard to feel confident about being able to satisfy a "within 72 hours" (or whatever) requirement. Which, of course, might be part of the point... deterrence via difficulty... but I still hope they don't choose to go that route until/unless the testing infrastructure is able to support it as a good-faith requirement that travelers can be reasonably expected to meet.

There are a plethora of private labs that do fast turnaround Covid tests for air travel. Google "covid test near me travel." These are NOT ever going to be free tests. Expect to pay "$150-300 per test, depending on how fast you need the results. All those airport testing programs simply contract out to these types of labs. Aroundhere, there are no less than 15 places I can go, today, to get a Covid test out of pocket. It's only hard to get free tests around here...

 

[jlwhitney]

I think the discussion needs to be had about what the end game is. I don’t think zero Covid is a realistic goal. The currently administration needs to give metrics about when things can start to return to normal. By mid summer, if anyone who wants a Covid shot can get one, and hospitalizations and deaths are very low, can we go back to normal?

Additionally, the messaging about the vaccine has been poor. Why is it taboo to tell people “get the vaccine so things get back to normal?” Instead we get “get the vaccine and you still have to have all the restrictions for the foreseeable future.”

Covid fatigue is really starting to hit me. I have the day off work and I spent part of it watching pre-Covid Disney vlogs. I miss those days.

I think normal needs defined because there are many sources that have hinted at normal being everything open but with masks, social distancing and such and that is not normal. The everyday person sees normal has no masks and can go and travel and not have to worry about what the restrictions are.

 

[disneypharm]

I think the discussion needs to be had about what the end game is. I don’t think zero Covid is a realistic goal. The currently administration needs to give metrics about when things can start to return to normal. By mid summer, if anyone who wants a Covid shot can get one, and hospitalizations and deaths are very low, can we go back to normal?

Additionally, the messaging about the vaccine has been poor. Why is it taboo to tell people “get the vaccine so things get back to normal?” Instead we get “get the vaccine and you still have to have all the restrictions for the foreseeable future.”

Covid fatigue is really starting to hit me. I have the day off work and I spent part of it watching pre-Covid Disney vlogs. I miss those days.

I certainly understand how you feel. I also feel the Covid fatigue recently. With things changing daily because of new variants, people not following the rules in some states (eg, still fighting about wearing masks), and so many people not willing to get the vaccine, it is impossible to know when things are truly going back to normal. I would rather hear the scientific facts than a rosy picture of what we want to see. It has been great to hear from Dr Fauci and Dr Gottlieb recently about how hopeful they are that anyone can get vaccines by April-May. It has been great to hear that the mRNA vaccines are working against the new variants. So, for now, we all wait and hope that things will get better but do our part by masking up and getting the vaccine when it is available to us.

 

[Jonfw2]

To the “normal” convo, Disney just said they expect all mask and distancing rules to be gone by 2022.

 

[jlwhitney]

To the “normal” convo, Disney just said they expect all mask and distancing rules to be gone by 2022.

Where did you see/hear this?

 

[godisney14]

Where did you see/hear this?

The exact language from the CC was:
“But do we believe we’ll be in the same state of 6 foot social distance and mask wearing in 22? Absolutely not.”

This means exactly what was said...they believe. Not that there will or won’t be. Unless Chapek has a magic ball into the future, that’s about as accurate as predicting the World Series winner for next season.

 

[godisney14]

Additionally, the messaging about the vaccine has been poor. Why is it taboo to tell people “get the vaccine so things get back to normal?” Instead we get “get the vaccine and you still have to have all the restrictions for the foreseeable future.”

Maybe because no one knows how the pandemic will evolve over the course of this year.

By the way, no one realistic has ever said the goal is to be zero COVID. I keep seeing that argument for no reason, though.

And some CA school districts have opened up for at least in-person hybrid learning this week.

 

[TLSnell1981]

To the “normal” convo, Disney just said they expect all mask and distancing rules to be gone by 2022.

possibly just in time for their anniversary later this year.

 

[Farro]

To the “normal” convo, Disney just said they expect all mask and distancing rules to be gone by 2022.

Glass half full

The exact language from the CC was:
“But do we believe we’ll be in the same state of 6 foot social distance and mask wearing in 22? Absolutely not.”

This means exactly what was said...they believe. Not that there will or won’t be. Unless Chapek has a magic ball into the future, that’s about as accurate as predicting the World Series winner for next season.

Glass half empty

(I'm thirsty so I'll take a full glass please)

 

[TLSnell1981]

Glass half full



Glass half empty

(I'm thirsty so I'll take a full glass please)

The CDC will never present the optimistic position..too much liability. JMO

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

There are a plethora of private labs that do fast turnaround Covid tests for air travel. Google "covid test near me travel." These are NOT ever going to be free tests. Expect to pay "$150-300 per test, depending on how fast you need the results. All those airport testing programs simply contract out to these types of labs. Aroundhere, there are no less than 15 places I can go, today, to get a Covid test out of pocket. It's only hard to get free tests around here...

But again that's your area and you're also in CA though I don't know if you're near the other poster.

Around me even the private labs vary on time for PCR tests. Each place you get a PCR covid test has a capacity to be super fast or not so fast depends on their demand. Rapid antigen tests are totally different for sure. Now these days with the cases being lower their turn around time is likely more reliant than it would have been say in the fall when you may have been running into more issues.

In my area this week all of the county's run covid testing was shut down due to extreme cold with ice/snow issues (we're in an artic blast right now and it presently feels like -5) but as far as I know the state one's stayed open and the private ones probably did too but I don't have full confirmation of that.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I think the discussion needs to be had about what the end game is. I don’t think zero Covid is a realistic goal. The currently administration needs to give metrics about when things can start to return to normal. By mid summer, if anyone who wants a Covid shot can get one, and hospitalizations and deaths are very low, can we go back to normal?

Additionally, the messaging about the vaccine has been poor. Why is it taboo to tell people “get the vaccine so things get back to normal?” Instead we get “get the vaccine and you still have to have all the restrictions for the foreseeable future.”

Covid fatigue is really starting to hit me. I have the day off work and I spent part of it watching pre-Covid Disney vlogs. I miss those days.

Well, I think. the good news is that we're definitely "getting there". What "there" is.....I think is still up in the air a bit. I've been hearing/reading that we're coming to the "inflection point" of this pandemic. There is no doubt that cases are plummeting right now which is great news. The vaccine roll-out is picking up steam...also great news.

The inflection point part is....the variants, how many people actually get vaccinated....and what percentage of the population needs to be vaccinated/ previously infected for us to reach herd immunity. We've heard anywhere from 70% all the way up to 90%. It's a bit of a race of vaccinations vs. the variants right now....to prevent the spread of the more transmissible variants we are aware of, and preventing new, more dangerous variants that completely escape the vaccine from popping up.

I'm hopeful for a much more normal summer for sure. 2019 normal? I don't think we'll see that this year, but hopefully we'll get there by 2022.

 

[Jonfw2]

Here's another number for everyone, lest you think I cherry pick countries that are improving:

Worldwide daily cases are down 44% from their high.

 

[Colleen27]

There are a plethora of private labs that do fast turnaround Covid tests for air travel. Google "covid test near me travel." These are NOT ever going to be free tests. Expect to pay "$150-300 per test, depending on how fast you need the results. All those airport testing programs simply contract out to these types of labs. Aroundhere, there are no less than 15 places I can go, today, to get a Covid test out of pocket. It's only hard to get free tests around here...

Around me, the private testing facilities don't appear to be any faster than the publicly funded ones. Out of curiosity, I checked with a travel-oriented medical clinic we used for some of my daughter's travel vaccines that weren't available through the health department or the major retail pharmacies. They say they "make every effort" to return results within the 72 hour window needed for international travel but that it cannot be guaranteed. I don't know about you, but if I was going to spend $150 for something that is available for free at a dozen other places in the same area, I'd want something better than "make every effort".

It isn't hard to get free tests around me at all. The only problem is the uncertainty about how long results take. My son was tested twice at the same facility, after co-workers tested positive. Once he had the results in 36 hours (and on a weekend, no less) and the other took 4 full days. Our county site has generally managed 48 hour turnaround, but at times has taken as long as 4-5 days. Probably right now, with cases dropping precipitously, some of the free sites would come in quick enough for travel requirements... but as with the paid sites there's no guarantee, which would make for a very powerful deterrent against planning any travel in the first place if testing were to become mandatory.

Maybe because no one knows how the pandemic will evolve over the course of this year.

By the way, no one realistic has ever said the goal is to be zero COVID. I keep seeing that argument for no reason, though.

I agree no one can predict the future. But some of the metrics out there are essentially setting the goal at zero covid. Look at California, simply because they've published the most detailed data-based metrics.... a sustained average of 1 daily case per 100K residents is the bar for reopening all sorts of things *with precautions*. At that point, colleges can hold classes at 50% capacity with masks and barriers. Disney can reopen with limited capacity, masks, barriers, and a reduced experience. Etc. So if the standard for limited reopenings with mandatory precautions is 1 case per day per 100K, I don't think it is unreasonable to feel like the standard being set for "normal" is at or very, very close to "zero covid".

 

[Jonfw2]

I agree no one can predict the future. But some of the metrics out there are essentially setting the goal at zero covid. Look at California, simply because they've published the most detailed data-based metrics.... a sustained average of 1 daily case per 100K residents is the bar for reopening all sorts of things *with precautions*. At that point, colleges can hold classes at 50% capacity with masks and barriers. Disney can reopen with limited capacity, masks, barriers, and a reduced experience. Etc. So if the standard for limited reopenings with mandatory precautions is 1 case per day per 100K, I don't think it is unreasonable to feel like the standard being set for "normal" is at or very, very close to "zero covid".

The more recall signatures Gavin Newsom gets, the more the "science" changes on those numbers.

 

[Jonfw2]

The more recall signatures Gavin Newsom gets, the more the "science" changes on those numbers.

I just realized I should say goodbye just in case.

 

[Jonfw2]

Now up to an average of 1.7 million shots per day. Should be at 2 million soon.

 

[Joe in VA]

Cases continue to absolutely fall like a rock in the US. Down over 30% from last Friday (100,000 today vs 132,000 last week). Cases are going to really have to rocket for the variant doomsday prognosticators to be correct.

 

[Jonfw2]

Cases continue to absolutely fall like a rock in the US. Down over 30% from last Friday (100,000 today vs 132,000 last week). Cases are going to really have to rocket for the variant doomsday prognosticators to be correct.

South Africa now down almost 90%- nearly back to its lows throughout Covid.