Covid And The Rest of Us

[mommasita]

We are in the middle of our press conference ( Quebec), and apparently we will receive our first shipment of the vaccine next week, and with approval we will start vaccinations some time next week. I believe 20,000 people in our CHSLD, which is long term care here. I am not sure if that is workers and/or residents.

We are being told of the ARMY being in charge of logistics, and of how many locations in each city. Also that more shipments are arriving by the end of the year and next year.

I think each Province will have a conference. We were also warned of our increasing hospital numbers, ICU, ETC.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We our in the middle of our press conference ( Quebec), and apparently we will receive our first shipment of the vaccine next week, and with approval we will start vaccinations some time next week. I believe 20,000 people in our CHSLD, which is long term care here. I am not sure if that is workers and/or residents.

We are being told of the ARMY being in charge of logistics, and of how many locations in each city. Also that more shipments are arriving by the end of the year and next year.

I think each Province will have a conference. We were also warned of our increasing hospital numbers, ICU, ETC.

So happy to hear about the vaccines!!!

 

[mommasita]

So happy to hear about the vaccines!!!

Yes, most definitely. I was listening in French, and typing in English. Lol. and oh

boy only after can you see how badly that can go, our/are.

 

[elphaba91]

In Victoria we are on day 39 of zero cases, although that streak will likely end soon; we started accepting international arrivals yesterday and they suspect one is positive, although quarantined in a ‘hot’ hotel.

From Monday we are now in ‘COVIDSafe Summer’ restriction levels. We can have up to 30 visitors at home and gatherings of 100 outside, restaurants have no limits on numbers as long as there is 2 square metres per person, no limits on funerals and weddings and seated entertainment venues can have 75% capacity up to 1,000 people (for big theatres that’s only 50% though). I am going to a Christmas concert at a theatre next week and am SO excited! I’ve also booked two lots of theatre tickets for early February.

We also now only have to wear masks on public transport, in taxis, in indoor shopping centres and in large stores (e.g. supermarkets, department stores, Ikea), but must carry a mask at all times in case you can’t distance.

 

[ronandannette]

In Victoria we are on day 39 of zero cases, although that streak will likely end soon; we started accepting international arrivals yesterday and they suspect one is positive, although quarantined in a ‘hot’ hotel.

From Monday we are now in ‘COVIDSafe Summer’ restriction levels. We can have up to 30 visitors at home and gatherings of 100 outside, restaurants have no limits on numbers as long as there is 2 square metres per person, no limits on funerals and weddings and seated entertainment venues can have 75% capacity up to 1,000 people (for big theatres that’s only 50% though). I am going to a Christmas concert at a theatre next week and am SO excited! I’ve also booked two lots of theatre tickets for early February.

We also now only have to wear masks on public transport, in taxis, in indoor shopping centres and in large stores (e.g. supermarkets, department stores, Ikea), but must carry a mask at all times in case you can’t distance.

Congrats and enjoy! I'm wondering though if Australia is also in the desperate hunt for vaccine? Do you have any information on when it will be available there and how it will roll out?

 

[BadPinkTink]

https://www.independent.ie/world-ne...eive-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine-39839349.html
Margaret Keenan, 90, is the first patient in the United Kingdom to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech covid-19 vaccine at University Hospital, Coventry, administered by nurse May Parsons, at the start of the largest ever immunisation programme in the UK's history.
Jane Kirby and Richard Vernalls
December 08 2020 07:21 AM

Grandmother Margaret Keenan, 90, born in Enniskillen, Fermanagh received the jab at about 6.45am in Coventry on Tuesday, marking the start of an historic mass vaccination programme.

Jabs will be administered at dozens of hospital hubs across the country from Tuesday – dubbed “V-Day” by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Mrs Keenan, known to family and friends as Maggie, received the jab at 6.31am from nurse May Parsons at her local hospital in Coventry.

NHS nurse May Parsons said it was a “huge honour” to be the first in the country to deliver the vaccine to a patient.

Speaking at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, she said: “It’s a huge honour to be the first person in the country to deliver a Covid-19 jab to a patient, I’m just glad that I’m able to play a part in this historic day.

Mrs Keenan, who turns 91 next week, is a former jewellery shop assistant who only retired four years ago.

 

[BadPinkTink]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-55216347
First Pfizer-BioNTech jab in NI given
By Marie-Louise Connolly & Lesley Anne McKeown
BBC News NI Health team

The first Covid-19 vaccination in Northern Ireland has been administered.
Sister Joanna Sloan - who will head up the vaccine roll out in Belfast - received the jab just after 08:00 GMT at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

Ms Sloan, 28, a mother of one, said she felt emotional and proud to be part of history.
She has been a nurse for six years and is due to get married in April.

 

[lisaviolet]

Yes, most definitely. I was listening in French, and typing in English. Lol. and oh

boy only after can you see how badly that can go, our/are.

Totally off topic but your post reminded me that sometimes I used to suddenly fly into French (not remotely fluent) instead of a Japanese word/phrase while living in Japan. . Like the mind was playing well I am speaking a foreign language! The brain is one fascinating body part!

 

[lisaviolet]

I had an interesting conversation at the doctor's office, about Covid. I go in once a month for a shot. My regular nurse is Indian and we have been discussing her family's experience in India most months.

She really struggled with her parents in the beginning, her father especially - refusing not to be a social butterfly. She even flew back very early in the pandemic and got stuck in India for a bit. She had to let her worry go, knowing that she couldn't control them and it was not good for her health to constantly worry.

Anyway, one of her cousins caught the virus early. And he quarantined for a long time - 21 days? But quarantine in some Indian households is almost futile, to be in complete isolation.

This week she told me he is doing well, no long term issues, but surprisingly enough he gave it to no one in the household. Including her uncle who is immune compromised. Whew and thank God.

She jumped off that story to tell me that she is convinced that there are different strengths of the virus, and that some transmit in such a straight line so to speak, while others do not. She also felt that simple measures were in fact life savers, because there is no other explanation for no one else in his household getting the virus. She meant the normal wash hands, wear masks, distance as much as can be. And she noted that relatives that get regular medical care immediately change their clothes.

I know none of this is new information. But it has been interesting hearing firsthand day to day information about another country, like we do on here. And hearing a health professional's thoughts on its complexity on one hand, and successful simplistic measures on the other.

 

[SirDuff]

Totally off topic but your post reminded me that sometimes I used to suddenly fly into French (not remotely fluent) instead of a Japanese word/phrase while living in Japan. . Like the mind was playing well I am speaking a foreign language! The brain is one fascinating body part!

I do that all the time. I'm a Canadian-Anglophone currently living in a French speaking part of Europe. I was in Austria and German parts of Switzerland over the summer and kept trying to answer in French (I'm not bad but not fluent). I cann it foreign language brain.

 

[elphaba91]

Congrats and enjoy! I'm wondering though if Australia is also in the desperate hunt for vaccine? Do you have any information on when it will be available there and how it will roll out?

We aren’t rushing the vaccine approval process as much as other countries (not saying what they are doing is a bad thing) and expect the first vaccines to be available in March. We have contracts for 4 different vaccines (each needing 2 doses) - Oxford/Astra Zeneca (initial 3.8 million doses imported then 30 million doses to be manufactured locally), University of Queensland/CSL (51 million doses), Novavax (40 million doses with an option for another 10 million) and Pfizer (10 million doses with the option to purchase more when available).

I don’t think they have specifically planned who will get the vaccines first (although it will likely be health care workers, aged care residents and the elderly) as it will depend on whether there are any outbreaks and whether each vaccine proves to work better in particular groups. As I am young and not an essential worker, it will probably be awhile before I get my vaccine. The vaccines will likely be done through GPs, vaccination clinics (e.g. in pharmacies), in aged care homes and in large workplaces, similar to how the flu vaccine is administered. The vaccine will be 100% free.

We tend to have a good vaccination rate (for childhood vaccines at least), so hopefully people will be happy to have the jab. There was talk of introducing measures like a “no jab no play” policy to prevent kids from going to daycare unvaccinated or cutting off government benefits, but I don’t think there are any such plans at the moment. I believe they will require proof of vaccination to enter the country without quarantine and I think they are also looking at how to assist Australians overseas to get the vaccine before returning.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Irelands Vaccine Priority list has just been announced. There are three possible groups I could be in, due to my job, but I'm not sure of the full criteria yet. I'm hoping that I will be in a higher group, so that I can go back to the office and not have to work at home as much.

Also this this the type of vaccines and the amounts that Ireland has ordered from The European Medical Agency. Our population is approx 5 million people,

Pfizer/BioNtech - 2.3 million doses
AstraZeneca/Oxford - 3.3 million doses
Janssen J&J - 2.2 million doses
CureVac -To be confirmed
Moderna - 0.88 million doses

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yes, most definitely. I was listening in French, and typing in English. Lol. and oh

boy only after can you see how badly that can go, our/are.

Totally off topic but your post reminded me that sometimes I used to suddenly fly into French (not remotely fluent) instead of a Japanese word/phrase while living in Japan. . Like the mind was playing well I am speaking a foreign language! The brain is one fascinating body part!

I do that all the time. I'm a Canadian-Anglophone currently living in a French speaking part of Europe. I was in Austria and German parts of Switzerland over the summer and kept trying to answer in French (I'm not bad but not fluent). I cann it foreign language brain.

Of course still off topic but here in the States Spanish is the 'useful' language to learn. When I was in 5th grade the elementary school I was at started a program that all 4th,5th and 6th graders (the grade level went up to 6th grade) would learn a small portion of Spanish. It was fine but I had almost zero retention of it, probably because it wasn't a rigorous learning either. (Random comment but the local high school here they have a public safety academy here and they teach them conversational Spanish). In middle school (next after elementary school) I took a trimester of French and fell in love.

In high school I took all 4 years of French. I had a wonderful eccentric French teacher. Sadly I was never able to afford to do trips to Quebec (of which there were two times I believe).

In college I took multiple semesters (I took college credit in high school and bypassed a few semesters of what college coursework would be) and one of the hardest things was transitioning from partial English spoken to no English spoken the higher the French course you go. In order to get a B.A. degree at my alma mater a certain amount of semesters of a foreign language was required.

I have better retention of French but I'm not the best speaking at it, I was always better at reading it. I doubt I could do it off listening alone. Y'all are impressive (said in my Midwest voice )

On a side note I had a friend from high school who in our freshman year of college decided to take Mandarin Chinese...why I don't know..but it impressed the heck out of me. Sadly she never retained any of it due to mental illness that set in (her whole family had history of that) but it was still impressive to me her dedication in going for it.

 

[mommasita]

Of course still off topic but here in the States Spanish is the 'useful' language to learn. When I was in 5th grade the elementary school I was at started a program that all 4th,5th and 6th graders (the grade level went up to 6th grade) would learn a small portion of Spanish. It was fine but I had almost zero retention of it, probably because it wasn't a rigorous learning either. (Random comment but the local high school here they have a public safety academy here and they teach them conversational Spanish). In middle school (next after elementary school) I took a trimester of French and fell in love.

In high school I took all 4 years of French. I had a wonderful eccentric French teacher. Sadly I was never able to afford to do trips to Quebec (of which there were two times I believe).

In college I took multiple semesters (I took college credit in high school and bypassed a few semesters of what college coursework would be) and one of the hardest things was transitioning from partial English spoken to no English spoken the higher the French course you go. In order to get a B.A. degree at my alma mater a certain amount of semesters of a foreign language was required.

I have better retention of French but I'm not the best speaking at it, I was always better at reading it. I doubt I could do it off listening alone. Y'all are impressive (said in my Midwest voice )

On a side note I had a friend from high school who in our freshman year of college decided to take Mandarin Chinese...why I don't know..but it impressed the heck out of me. Sadly she never retained any of it due to mental illness that set in (her whole family had history of that) but it was still impressive to me her dedication in going for it.

I love languages! I took German in College, as well as Spanish. I went to Italian school each Saturday for years as a child and hated going as all my friends were out having fun. The funny part was when I met my husband (as he is Italian, both parents born there), I thought great... but he never really learned to speak it .. so I had many years with my FIL until his passing, practicing it on the side. I so miss travelling in Europe

Out of all of these, French (to me), is the most difficult, aNd I speak it daily. Fifty years of it, and it is still the case.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I love languages! ❤ I took German in College, as well as Spanish. I went to Italian school each Saturday for years as a child and hated going as all my friends were out having fun. The funny part was when I met my husband (as he is Italian, both parents born there), I thought great... but he never really learned to speak it .. so I had many years with my FIL until his passing, practicing it on the side. I so miss travelling in Europe

Out of all of these, French (to me), is the most difficult, aNd I speak it daily. Fifty years of it, and it is still the case.

Okay now I feel a bit better about my French retention

You def. seemed to have had your plate full of languages but I find that really neat too though. I love that you were able to use that Italian with your father-in-law. How sweet German was a popular choice for people to take at my high school. My husband took a teensy bit of Spanish but let's be honest aside from really basic knowledge both of our experience with Spanish is the monorail spiel (which is actually my text messaging notification tone): "¡Por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas!"

My sister-in-law is dating a Pakistani (he has U.S. citizenship; I don't remember if he's dual citizen or not though) and all of us find ourselves listening with fascination (without having any understanding lol) when he's on the phone with is friends and relatives. He speaks Urdu.

 

[ronandannette]

@BadPinkTink - it is an auspicious day, to be sure. And I must say I find it really funny when a vaccination is referred to as “the jab”. Quite literal I guess but for some reason it just tickles me.

 

[BadPinkTink]

@ronandannette The Irish Government will announce more details about the different groups by the end of the week. The Irish vaccinations will start in January, once the European Medical Agency gives the approval.

 

[lanejudy]

more off-topic on the language bit -- I grew up in VT and we often watched Sesame Street on CBC (out of Quebec). That version of the show teaches French instead of Spanish. Every time I thought I had mastered counting to 10 in French, I'd get totally confused by watching the show on PBS (American version). At the time I had no idea they were different languages and I was sooo confused!

 

[ronandannette]

I had an interesting conversation at the doctor's office, about Covid. I go in once a month for a shot. My regular nurse is Indian and we have been discussing her family's experience in India most months.

She really struggled with her parents in the beginning, her father especially - refusing not to be a social butterfly. She even flew back very early in the pandemic and got stuck in India for a bit. She had to let her worry go, knowing that she couldn't control them and it was not good for her health to constantly worry.

Anyway, one of her cousins caught the virus early. And he quarantined for a long time - 21 days? But quarantine in some Indian households is almost futile, to be in complete isolation.

This week she told me he is doing well, no long term issues, but surprisingly enough he gave it to no one in the household. Including her uncle who is immune compromised. Whew and thank God.

She jumped off that story to tell me that she is convinced that there are different strengths of the virus, and that some transmit in such a straight line so to speak, while others do not. She also felt that simple measures were in fact life savers, because there is no other explanation for no one else in his household getting the virus. She meant the normal wash hands, wear masks, distance as much as can be. And she noted that relatives that get regular medical care immediately change their clothes.

I know none of this is new information. But it has been interesting hearing firsthand day to day information about another country, like we do on here. And hearing a health professional's thoughts on its complexity on one hand, and successful simplistic measures on the other.

I always take people’s anecdotal observations as being very valuable, especially when they resonate with the reality many are experiencing and trying to parse together to make sense of this situation. To me, it’s very consistent with why we are having such a monstrous time trying to get ahold of Covid. The transmissions are not “sensible” , KWIM? All the precautions in the world don’t protect some of us yet very unfavourable conditions (like over-crowding) don’t automatically lead to infection.

If only things were more linear in some way, we’d have so much better a shot at really knowing where to go or not go, what to do or avoid and what to close or leave open. Right now with contact tracing in such shambles, no dots are truly connecting and in many regions we are taking measures that won’t really help while ignoring things that might. So stressful and tiring when in the end it seemingly all boils down to masking, staying 6’ apart and washing our hands.

 

[piglet1979]

I never learned a different language. I tried Spanish and that last has a quarter (really a few weeks) in school. I dropped because I was failing and so far behind. In college I had to take a langue so I took sign language. This was so much easier to me.

DS is taking German. He loves it and is really go at it. He is in his second year of it. He can't wait to go to Germany one year. He laughs at me when I try to pronounce something in German from his homework. It is really bad.