COVID vaccine works - we're saved!

See, chicken soup will do that for you. Though I must acknowledge that the 2 pints as follow up have a significant benefit on their own.Hope the rest of the week goes as well for you.

Well that was short-lived smugness.I've now got bad back ache. I never get back ache.At first I thought I must have pulled a muscle somehow but couldn't work out how, but then I find that it's a common late-stage Omicron COVID symptom.It's the gift that keeps giving.

Ok, so like 3 pints with each bowl of soup. That should do better for you.If you can't work out the kinks then you can sing!

According to Kidney Pain: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments, "Pain in your sides or middle to upper back could be coming from your kidneys." If that describes you, you might consider getting some medical attention.--Percy

It's lower back pain, and it fits Omicron symptoms but if it persists, I'll off to get poked and prodded.Feels a bit better today.

Infection rates for the UK have fallen pretty dramatically now.I'd like to give you a graph but the relevant one doesn't want to give me a jpeguk covid infections - Google SearchThis is reported infections but the plot is pretty much identical to the ONS survey results. The Office of National Statistics does statistical testing and sampling of the nation to determine real infection rates.Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, UK - Office for National Statisticsbtw, my back is significantly better now.

Here's some good covid news, at least as far as this wave is concerned. The Northeast has finally started to calm down (my own county has declined from a case rate high of 46 a couple weeks ago to 28 now). The rest of the country is a patchwork with some areas getting worse, some better, and most remaining the same, many at a relatively low level, meaning below 10. To me it looks like the case rate nationally has leveled off and should begin to decline soon.But covid isn't done with us. There will be another surge - end of August, beginning of September would be my guess. How bad a surge? Who knows? Will the drug companies update their vaccines for omicron? Will people take the vaccines? How bad future surges will be will depend upon the answers to questions like those.I know I say this a lot, but you do not want to catch this disease. Medical analysis reveals that even asymptomatic cases can have ill effects. This is not like the flu. Almost all people fully recover from the flu, but evidence is beginning to suggest that everyone who catches covid comes away less than they were, possibly permanently, too early to know.For something with this level of uncertainty caution would seem to be the watchword. If it turns out you were needlessly cautious, what have you lost? A few dinners out, a few sports events, a few trips or vacations, a few family occasions. They can be made up. You can make up for lost time. If the numbers continue coming down my wife and I will take a long vacation, probably a month or so with possibly a somewhat rural focus (think national parks) where the numbers are lower (though I'll have to sort through how legitimate are my suspicions that those numbers are artificially low because of a lack of reporting).But what if it turns out covid leaves nearly everyone diminished? Then everyone should have been cautious.Sidenote: Why did it take China two months of lockdown to end the covid outbreak in Shanghai? Since the disease passes in a week or two and people are only contagious for a few days, it seems that it should only have taken two weeks for a totalitarian government like China's to have shut down all non-hazmat contact and wipe out the disease there.--Percy

Lately I've been showing most all of the indicators of a Covid-19 infection, lethargy, sore throat, cough, breathing difficulties, aches and pains, short term memory problems ...Took several home covid tests and they all came back as not covid (when a negative actually is a positive) so made an appointment with my doctor.Kinda like the song... You're old, asthmatic, out of shape and it's pollen season.Didn't even give me some short'n bread.

I'm not getting any younger, either. On the plus side, that might mean that I won't live long enough to see the Republicans completely destroy the world.

PCR test came back negative which is a positive.One troubling thought though. We have vaccines and treatments for Covid-19.There is no real vaccine or treatment for what I have and what I have has a 100% mortality rate.

Edited by jar, : applin spallin

Yeh, life's like that.In other news, my back is very nearly cured.

There have been very slight changes in the hospitalization map, so I'm posting the map from May 19 with the map from today. Generally things look pretty good, with a low rate of less than 20 hospitalizations per 100,000 people in much of the country where figures are available. The east has improved slightly, the west has worsened slightly. Nationally, hospitalizations have risen by 16% in the last 14 days. As a trailing indicator this is to be expected since it was only about two weeks ago that the case rate showed signs of decline.--Percy

Another tale of why you do not want to catch this disease: And Just Like That, I Could Smell Exactly Nothing. This is from the NYT. Non-subscribers get 10 free articles per month.--Percy

We had dinner out last night. We didn't wear masks, because we literally had dinner out, as in outside. We had to walk through the restaurant and up the stairs to get to the rooftop patio. We didn't wear masks, but I held my breath while inside.Case rates in my county are down to 24 cases per 100,000 on a 7-day moving average, half what it was when at it's highest several weeks ago. How low before we'd risk eating indoors? Maybe 5?--Percy

You hold your breath walking thru the place? Percy, that sounds a bit paranoid. You have had all pokes + boosters, yes? But no mask?If you are that paranoid, and have reason, why are you not masked? Self-generated social pressure or do they actually throw things at you?I'm way old and paranoid. I mask everywhere, even out for my walks. I live in Phoenix, a thriving petri dish with very few masks. No one says a word. Not even an awkward glance. I do my best to make the mask just another common social sight like your glasses.I've been trying to think of a joke re holding your breath but I'm mentally at a loss right now so ... don't hold your breath.