Covid-19 discussion, continued...

The hospitalizations - especially the ICU numbers - should really start dropping the more they can get the nursing home residents vaccinated. Hopefully, anyways. 

posted by friendfromlowry

The hospitalizations - especially the ICU numbers - should really start dropping the more they can get the nursing home residents vaccinated. Hopefully, anyways. 

The precautions seem over the top but Thry are the most susept

posted by Verbal Kint

So the follow up question was not..."relief for who?  you think the staff can survive on government handouts in NYC?"

Good point - Covid relief was based on salaries, and restaurant/bar workers are paid mainly in tips.

Of course, they'd get more unemployment benefit if they declared all their tip income on their tax returns...but most probably report only about 20%.

posted by friendfromlowry

The hospitalizations - especially the ICU numbers - should really start dropping the more they can get the nursing home residents vaccinated. Hopefully, anyways. 

Whats the % of nursing home or nursing home age patients in ICU for this?  90%??

posted by Spock

Whats the % of nursing home or nursing home age patients in ICU for this?  90%??

I don't know if it's that high, but the burden on the hospitals is very real.

I had a cousin, with multiple comorbidities (not in a nursing home, but over 65), turned away twice after testing positive.  She ended-up being life-flighted and intubated in an induced coma for 2 weeks.  She's been in a nursing home for a few weeks recovering, finally.  Her husband became quite miserably sick, but was also refused admittance.

It seems the main criteria to be admitted now is when your oxygen drops to dangerous levels.  And, unfortunately, most of the therapeutics available require some sort of hospitalization and administration of the drugs early in the course. Most of us can't access those treatments because we don't have the money or connections to be given a bed over sicker people.

posted by Spock

Whats the % of nursing home or nursing home age patients in ICU for this?  90%??

Idk if it’s as high as 90% but definitely a majority. It’s hard to predict. It always seems the obese are in more trouble than the elderly. People ages 50s - 70s with a high BMI seemed to have worse outlooks. Just my experience. 

It should be a wake up call for older, out of shape people. Time to get rid of the belly. 

So in typical "orange man bad" fashion, the latest is how the govt is withholding the vaccine or that Pfizer doesn't know where to send millions of doses.

The reality is they've apparently decided to guarantee a supply of the second dose.  Note, the first dose provides some efficacy but you really do need the second dose.

I don't really understand this approach, either.  But it's not "incompetence" deserving criticism.  Fair to debate, though, if it's a bad decision because it's overly conservative. 

Seems a no-brainer to vaccinate as many people as you can, and have confidence Pfizer and Moderna aren't going to have major production disruptions.  Easy to say, until a disaster hits.  The Pfizer second dose is 3 weeks later, so it's not like you're going to accumulate this massive backlog.  And they probably aren't even withholding that much, maybe just a few days or a week to ensure any supply disruptions don't prevent someone getting their second dose.

My guess is that certain people are wanting the Moderna vaccine to take the led here.  Follow the money.

Looks like Moderna just got approved too. Almost 6M doses next week. Quite the scientific feat. 

posted by iclfan2

Looks like Moderna just got approved too. Almost 6M doses next week. Quite the scientific feat. 

There's a little over 40M people aged 65 and older - in theory, they all could have their 2nd dose by the time Biden is inaugurated.

Except I have no idea how many doses are going to low-risk healthcare workers and first responders.  I think we might be prioritizing tens of millions of people who shouldn't be.  There's a lot of people in healthcare who probably don't have any more risk of exposure than other essential workers in food, for example.

And then on top of that, you're delaying the rollout because you're setting aside second doses that could be giving millions of people their first doses today.

posted by gut

There's a little over 40M people aged 65 and older - in theory, they all could have their 2nd dose by the time Biden is inaugurated.

Except I have no idea how many doses are going to low-risk healthcare workers and first responders.  I think we might be prioritizing tens of millions of people who shouldn't be.  There's a lot of people in healthcare who probably don't have any more risk of exposure than other essential workers in food, for example.

And then on top of that, you're delaying the rollout because you're setting aside second doses that could be giving millions of people their first doses today.

Very true.  Here's a story about disgraced former governor of Alabama Robert Bentley receiving his shot today.  Keep in mind he resigned from the governorship 3 years ago for campaign finance fraud, because he used state funds to renovate a beach house into his own personal vacation home and banging his press secretary.  The right-wing swamp in Alabama is deep.

https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2020/12/former-gov-robert-bentley-receives-covid-19-vaccine.html

posted by gut

There's a little over 40M people aged 65 and older - in theory, they all could have their 2nd dose by the time Biden is inaugurated.

Except I have no idea how many doses are going to low-risk healthcare workers and first responders.  I think we might be prioritizing tens of millions of people who shouldn't be.  There's a lot of people in healthcare who probably don't have any more risk of exposure than other essential workers in food, for example.

And then on top of that, you're delaying the rollout because you're setting aside second doses that could be giving millions of people their first doses today.

My work sent out an e-mail survey, and we have three choices: Get it now (next week), wait a while to get it (unsure what that timeframe is), or refuse it. They say there's no intention to make it mandatory. Then you answer a few questions about your on the job covid exposure, medical history, etc. This is all suppose to determine your priority of getting it. So I think there is some effort to avoid giving it to any and all healthcare workers right off the bat. 

So now that I have antibodies, where do I make money on selling blood?

posted by Spock

So now that I have antibodies, where do I make money on selling blood?

Somewhere where people aren't against getting AIDS?

posted by Spock

So now that I have antibodies, where do I make money on selling blood?

I think you can go to a plasma center

Wowzers a whole $600! Probably the amount they came up with when they asked themselves "what is the least amount of money we can give the people to keep them from rioting?" I don't personally need the money but we have some pretty desperate families out there right now and this does very little to help. Also, they need to be going by money made this year. What someone made last year means practically nothing.

posted by Rotinaj

Also, they need to be going by money made this year. What someone made last year means practically nothing.

Indeed.  Should just cut that check to everyone.  Although reminds me of when GW did this back in the day, I think it might have been $800 in stimulus after the dot com crash.  Kind of useless at the end of the day.

We'll see.  Retail has been dying a slow death for years - the pandemic just accelerate that a few years for some places.  Like 15% of bars and restaurants fail every year in normal times, and when demand bounces back so will those jobs.  Watch - there will be a boom in new bar & restaurant openings this summer as demand skyrockets.  The real economic damage has been very transitory, and propped up with an extraordinary $3T stimulus.

Unemployment benefits are, I think, topped out at around $400-$500k per week.  A waitress or bartender would probably get half of that, running out after 26 weeks or so.  And what did all the stimulus packages give them - an extra $600 per week for 2 months and another $1200 in one-time payments?  So if you've been out of work for 9 months, as many people in the service industry have been....someone who is probably technically at the poverty level has pulled in maybe half their income in stimulus and unemployment benefits.

That said, not that different than other recessions.  This one just happened to come wrapped in a pandemic, with some extraordinary stimulus benefits as a result.

posted by sportchampps

I think you can go to a plasma center

Kind of surprised CC hasn't already been a regular seller of plasma, and sperm (your welcome for that imagery).  Although I don't think they pay extra for covid antibodies.

Selling plasma sounds completely not worth it. 

posted by Rotinaj

Wowzers a whole $600! Probably the amount they came up with when they asked themselves "what is the least amount of money we can give the people to keep them from rioting?" I don't personally need the money but we have some pretty desperate families out there right now and this does very little to help. Also, they need to be going by money made this year. What someone made last year means practically nothing.

I still have a hard time understanding how there can be so many 'desperate' people when just about every manufacturing company is trying to hire people.  At some point, if you are in one of the industries that the government has destroyed, you need to move to another sector where desperate employers can't find workers.