Re: CORONAVIRUS-Updates, discussion, etc

[TrueCrazyLion]

Great to hear you’re feeling good Lenz! Sounds really positive

[Kaere]

I know Aggie is curious. Health Canada approved the vaccines for teenagers and now Alberta has opened up vaccines for anyone 12 and up. They staggered the scheduling, so 30+ opened up for appointments today - mine is scheduled for May 20, it'll be the JJ or Moderna one. Scheduling for 12+ opens up on Monday.

I don't feel relieved or anything like that, I don't live in fear of the virus. But it is nice to finally see the beginning of the end of it. It's so boring to deal with lol.

[Rogue]

That's very good news Kaere! It's interesting to see Canada is already ready for 12+ ages. We are currently only vaccinating those over 50. You might be the Islands first JJ recipient which is attractive being just a single dose.

[TrueCrazyLion]

Brilliant news K!!!!!  Not long to wait either! Happy to hear this!

On the subject of 12+ year olds being vaccinated:
I actually saw a similar news item being reported from the USA last night on The Daily Social Distancing Show(Satirical and fun show on US current affairs, hosted by Trevor Noah) saying that the Pfizer vaccine was being approved to be given to 12-15 year olds in the US. 
Must be a North American thing!

[Kaere]

I don't know if it's legit readiness tbh but Alberta infection rates are the highest in North America. Dopey people out there not taking restrictions seriously, the provincial gov't is too spineless to do anything that might tick off it's base (like in the US), and I think provincially this is the only tool they think they have left to try to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed. I think Health Canada approved it to help the Alberta gov't as a last ditch effort to keep the infection numbers under control.

[Agartha]

That's fantastic news, K! Either vaccine is good, what matters is that it will make your immune system ready for covid. Will you allow your kids to have it?

[Kaere]

Yes, I'm going to schedule their time slots when the website opens up on Monday.

I was wrong - it'll either be Pfizer or Moderna, J&J is still waiting in the wings for some reason.

[Agartha]

That's so good you can book your boys already! I can't wait for my kids to be given an appointment!

[Rogue]

Gorilla's contract covid...


https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300407572/eighteen-of-20-gorillas-at-us-zoo-have-contracted-covid

[TrueCrazyLion]

That makes sense from the point of view that they’re genetically so similar to us, and they’re also at much greater danger from other viruses such as colds and flu too, which make us unwell but are usually unpleasant rather than life-threatening for us.

I remember one time about a year ago(I think), I was watching a nature documentary where one guy was in Africa filming gorillas, and he pointed out that they must be shielded from human viruses like flu, because they had no immunity and if they caught these viruses it could devastate their population; the presenter pointed out that in order to protect the gorillas they were filming, he and the camera crew had to stay at least 5 metres away from them at all times.
By autumn 2020 that sounded alarmingly familiar! I don’t know when the documentary in question was made, but they completely foresaw social distancing and advocated its benefits! LOL

Hope these guys in the zoo can survive it. They might need to be vaccinated as well! :-/

[Agartha]

Poor gorillas.... infected by a zookeeper!!

I remember leopards in a zoo getting covid too.... it seems many mammals can get it!

[TrueCrazyLion]

Yeah, it seems to be able to jump to members of the cat family; just the other night I read that it can apparently infect pet cats too. 
It’s alarming, not just for the health and safety of these animals, but also because it gives the virus more opportunities to mutate and combine with other nasty ones

[Kaere]

We are under another state of emergency... needing proof of vaccination to go into certain stores, do certain things. Our ICU's are massively overworked right now. So much so, that they're trying to convert regular beds to ICU beds and now are talking about triage.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/emergency-covid-triage-alberta-1.6178253

I'm so angry. Anti-vaxxers are putting everyone's well being at risk. 75% of the patients in our ICU's right now are covid unvaxxed or single vaxxed people.

What about the kids who can't get vaxxed yet? Taking people off ventilators to give someone else a chance to survive, turning away car crash victims, turning away kids unless they have organ failure...

I'm so angry and sad.

[Rogue]

That does sound a dreadful situation coming again. The article you linked Kaere is hard to read in relation to the denying of care. What awful decisions are being forced on front liners, and on critical patients.

[TrueCrazyLion]

Horrendous. I’m so sorry to hear this, it reminds me of the situation in Italy at the start of the pandemic. It sounds heartbreaking.

This is a controversial opinion, but I’m starting to think antivaxxers should be forced to have the vaccine if they refuse it for no good reason. Not even to protect them, but to protect the rest of us and to protect our healthcare systems around the world. I think there’s an increasingly strong argument for it.

[Agartha]

Kaere you are right, antivaxxers deny what health professionals are saying it's true but then they decide to be treated by health professionals when they become really ill.... they are hypocrites who are allowing the pandemic to continue and they take up beds that people with other diseases may need.

Antivaxx are selfish.

[Kaere]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/kenney-military-alberta-health-care-1.6181646

[TrueCrazyLion]

Heartbreaking to read about… My heart goes out to yourself and everyone else living in it and being directly impacted by it.

It looks to me like a situation moving close to anarchy.

[Agartha]

It's pretty bad here too, hospitals are turning away patients because they have no beds and no staff (fingers crossed the number of hospitalised patients keep on dropping).

Queen Elisabeth hospital is really struggling right now, and I know patients who have had their operations cancelled because they can't cope.

Nicola Sturgeon has asked the army to help the ambulance service because they cannot cope and people have been waiting for over six hours to be seen by paramedics.

[Rogue]

I fear our east coast states are heading in the same direction as Alberta and Scotland 

Then it will only be a matter of time till it catches us out here.

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