Killed by active and deliberate state action.
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We couldāve spent the last few years frantically training as many nurses as possible as quickly as possible [1], but: no.
.
[1] By, for example:
- Massively boosting funding to nursing schools to increase capacity.
- Waiving student fees, increasing student support and raising nursesā pay in order to attract the students to fill those places.
- Streamlining nursing training with the goal of getting the students to a clinically useful level as quickly as possible.
- Paying whatever it takes to keep the existing corps of nurses in the profession while the reinforcements are being trained.
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That person in your SOās workplace is a reckless fuckwit. Fingers crossed you and your SO are spared testing positive.
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Heās not even feeling bad, so thatās a good thing. And, Iām better than yesterday, thank goodness. I tested negative, so maybe itās a plain cold, but that doesnāt make him any less a reckless fuckwit.
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Still more than a month until my booster vax appointment, but Iām easily capable of completely avoiding people until then. Never being within 100m of another human is a fairly effective Covid defence.
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Journal of the Corona Year ā Ermahgerd Omicron!
01/19
Since the pandemic began my mother has been wearing hand-made cloth masks. An acquaintance of a vague acquaintance made them for her. Occasionally she has expressed curiosity about N95 masks. Iāve advised her of good places to find them, but she has presupposed they are unobtainable and therefore never actually looked for one.
Recently, the local and national news have convinced her that N95 masks are the only way to avoid the omicron variant.
For the past two weeks itās all sheās talked about.
She is sure she needs one, but continues to hold to the idea that they are unavailable. She is positive they are only available to people who use computers.
So, I took matters into my own hands. When I was ordering groceries for her from Cub Foods, I ordered her a KN95 mask. It was delivered along with the food earlier today.
But now that she finally has one, she has decided to leave it in the package.
Why? Because she has convinced herself that N95 masks cost $80 each and have to be thrown away after a couple of uses. Like a great many people these days, she has picked information from news reports that reinforce her existing habits.
Later today, after work, I finally got my booster shot. It was delayed for a few weeks due to having had the disease itself.
I could have gone to a drug store. That would have been easy. But drug store employees donāt care for me when I want an under-arm deodorant from a locked cabinet. Do I really want them sticking needles in me?
So it was back to the mass-vaccination site at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. It felt good walking through the deserted streets again. It felt like going home. Everything at the facility was the same ā the same grey, temporary buildings on gravel. It was showing he signs of heavy use.
Due to the cold weather, the sign-in procedure had moved indoors. They had taken-over a few of the huts. Registration was carried-out through an open window.
The nurse didnāt get any of my humorous observations, such as: āItās easier to get a shot in the summer when we wear fewer clothes.ā Or, āsince this is only a half dose maybe Iāll only get half as sick.ā
After the injection I sat in the small portable building waiting for my 15 minutes to pass. The large barn-like waiting area isnāt used after the sun goes down and he shifts change. I felt all kinds of sensations surging through my chest. I even had a few moments of heart pain, as I did after the first dose. But this all died down before I left.
So far I feel great. Only soreness at the injection site. But Iām afraid to go to bed. The effects hit me about ten hours after the previous dose. If that happens agin, Iāll be feeling this one around 5:30 tomorrow morning.
1/20
Nothing much to report. Just a very sore arm and a bit of fever.
This evening Iām feeling normal.
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May I suggest that the nurse totally got your jokes but had heard them 50,000 times before?
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It seems to vary by location. There were two chain pharmacies in my area. The first one had surly, slow staff who I wouldnāt have trusted to put a band-aid on a paper cut. (That store closed, and good riddance to them.) The second has excellent, well-trained staff, and Iāve been happily getting my shots there for years now. Itās where I got all 3 of my covid vaccines, and the process was smooth as silk. 
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Iāve been using the same N95 mask for about a year. They are designed to be used once, but thatās by people working an 8-12 hour shift in dangerous conditions.
I only spend about 5-10 minutes in a store at most a couple times a week, only a few minutes of which are close to other people while waiting in line. And for most of the year, not even that much. Not sure how many 5-10 minute potential exposures = 8-12 hours of continual exposure.
Not saying thatās right, but I havenāt caught so much as a cold, let alone flu or covid. Mainly from not being around people, and secondarily from wearing the mask during the few minutes a week that I am.
I do think my old mask is approaching end of life because itās not fitting quite as tight anymore. My glasses fog up now, and they didnāt when it was new. But so far itās still good enough for a 5 minute shopping trip (got a can of Pringles because they were out of peanuts).
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They get an actual medical professional to do the jabbing. Itās not any of the regular staff.
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Population of 5.4 million. St. Louis has about half that, and 1,545 new cases per day.
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āDo your own thing but donāt make us look bad!ā or āDo your own thing but like we do our own thing!ā
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What the ever-lovinā fuck? I thought the Boston Kennedys were sāposed to beā¦I dunno, folks who were, if assholey, at least educated and notā¦I dunno, stark raving insane?
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I picked up a set of three when I went into the store to cash in my bottle-return receipt.
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FWIW, hereās the details on reusing N95 masks (and how long you can do so). iād get rid of yours, they are way past the safe to reuse window!
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Not long now until they stop being events and become statistics.
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Just goes to show how incredibly stupid the US response is. I am so fed up with the lack of leadership and care.
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