Lockdown in California is over. Now up to counties to decide, but looks like a return to the colored tier system.
Colored tier system, and we're all in the lowest tier. Woohoo. This is what happens when a recall petition is circulated. Newsom is giving up and hoping to keep his job.
I think the big mistake was not making it abundantly clear what the criteria were for each "tier" and making the data available and transparent. There was too much uncertainty and arbitrariness.
Lack of transparency has been one problem. A bigger one is lack of enforcement. I've seen plenty of evidence that a lot of SoCal is blowing it off -- no masks, no distancing. If only we could keep them out...
I just hope people don’t become immune to the death toll. There are a lot of people out there that still think it’s overblown because it hasn’t touched them personally.
There was some question recently as to the effectiveness of the vaccines against new strains. This seems pretty positive, at least for the Pfizer vaccine. This makes me more confident we'll be able to see a game in person sometime this year. Very reassuring. Pfizer study reports the existing mRNA vaccine remains effective against both the new UK and South African #COVID19 variants as well as 14 other mutations. #SpikeProtein #N501Ymutation https://t.co/c2qCQzcxd3— Atul Gupta, MD (@AtulGupta_MD) January 8, 2021
I agree, but this is a matter of life and death. As a species, I think we are too stupid to survive this. I watched an African Cup game last night. Burkina Fasso vs Cameroon. Interesting game. The stadium was maybe 1/3 full? Maybe less? People sat in little clusters, so one assumes some social distancing going on, and a lot of people were wearing masks in the stadium. Still, I’m not confident that was good enough. Go humans!! - Mark
Fun video on (possibly) why we haven't found evidence of alien life: A theory suggests that a certain stage of evolution, there is an impenetrable (or at least highly improbable) barrier to moving forward. Examples given are varied, but human stupidity is one of them (we make our world unlivable, we blow up the world, etc).
Fascinating NYTimes interview of Fauci on what it was like working for Trump https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/24/health/fauci-trump-covid.html
What I want to know from Fauci is how the hell do we move forward, and can we do that quickly please.
That's not Fauci's domain, but the executive branch can ramp up new production facilities and call on the military to help expedite delivery. From what I am reading today, we are going to start seeing much more promising results within the next six weeks or so as millions more are vaccinated. Check out what's happening in Israel, for example. Will lives be back to normal? No, not for a while. But I'm starting to feel hopeful that we might even get to see a soccer game or two in the last half of 2021.
Moderna vaccine effective vs new variant: https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/covid-science-moderna-shot-protects-193511705.html
Corona viruses mutate less than Influenza viruses, but they still mutate as we have seen. The mRNA vaccines should be effective against most of the mutations, so I’m hopeful that we’re on the right track. Go Quakesfans!! - Mark
The recall petition was started back in June well before the latest lockdown orders. So, in other words, you're full of sh*t.
Too much news this last year, most of it consequential, for me to track the we-hate-Newsom-crowd. I know that the freedom fighters have been against any containment measures since the beginning. But the latest area restrictions made so many people angry -- imperiling many small businesses -- that they climbed on board. A governor who has presidential ambitions is going to be extra careful about how the MAGAts perceive him.
I find it strange that Oxford researchers are studying American data. Especially when they have so much probably better data from England's NHS. BTW, my nurse sister-in-law sent this youtube link that explains mRNA vaccine technology in 2 minutes. I found it very informative.