January 25, 2021

"You got vaccine priority over my octogenarian mother and my father. For what?"

109 comments:

gilbar said...

Well, if octogenarians want the government to do things; maybe they should join the NEA

wendybar said...

They are special. Didn't they tell you that?? Now shut up and sit down.

gilbar said...

Oregon Governor Katie Karen announce that school teachers there would get vaccinated Before old people; and, Oregon Hospitals Warn State's COVID-19 Vaccination Plan Could Trigger 'Potential Chaos'

How HARD is it, to realize that the vaccines should go to people that NEED them,
not people whose unions are political supporters of the governor?

Rusty said...

Well. Here in Illionis I'm told we, the over 60 crowd, are next in line after Politicians, medical personel, firefighters, policemen and women school teachers, the homeless, and by now I'm guessing anybody who voted democrat and any other stranger that walks through the door and then pensioners. They really don't want us hanging around. Covid is a good way to lower your SS/pension payments.

rhhardin said...

They should take all comers at any time. That distributes the vaccine fastest and reaches herd immunity fastest.

If you're old, stay hunkered down until herd immunity makes covid rare and then venture out for the vaccine. You're not the one spreading it.

tim maguire said...

Teachers unions have not exactly covered themselves in glory during this period. Most actual teachers have done fine.

David Begley said...

Retired law professors who also blog should be top of the list. Talk about essential workers!

Ron Snyder said...

Teachers have become droids to their Union. Teachers drank the Kool-Aid long ago. Teachers Unions and the teachers that support them are a cancer on our education system.

gilbar said...

here in iowa, 80% of covid deaths were people Over Seventy years old

A) not Many teacher Over Seventy years old
B) if you reduced iowa covid deaths by 80%, there wouldn't be many deaths

if you look at people over 60 years old, you're looking at NINETY TWO PERCENT of iowa covid deaths

So, YEAH! the scarcely available vaccines should go to people that are at danger of death

David Begley said...

During the Dem campaign in 2019, at nearly every event I attended there were two common questions. One about mental health and the other about teacher pay. The candidates were all in favor of the federal government paying local teachers.

Ron Snyder said...

Frack the Teachers- either they work face-to-face with students or they do not get paid or have any benefits. Some flexibility for teachers >55 or with critical comorbidity issues. Teachers in America suck right now, yet they believe themselves to be a privileged class.

Ann Althouse said...

"Retired law professors who also blog should be top of the list. Talk about essential workers!"

I'm in the group covered by the vaccine, but I'm told to wait until my health provider contacts me. That's fine. I don't need to go anywhere, and I accept lots of others going before me. It's not as though there's anything I can do with a vaccine that I can't do now. I'm fine living with the limitations. The main thing I can't do that I would do is go to a restaurant once in a while, but it's not a big deal to me.

tim maguire said...

Ann Althouse said...The main thing I can't do that I would do is go to a restaurant once in a while, but it's not a big deal to me.

I intend to get the vaccine as soon as it is available to me, but the things I want to do are closed to me not because I am not vaccinated, but because they're closed. Me getting vaccinated won't change anything except my own little contribution to herd immunity.

Humperdink said...

Got into a animated discussion with my SIL teacher over Covid this past year. It's union talking points all the way baby. She could not engage in a coherent discussion. I was embarrassed for her. It wasn't Rand Paul vs. George Stephanopoulos, but it was close.

MadTownGuy said...

Planned Grandparenthood®.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Ah the “party that worships science publicly” is making vaccination decisions based on political affiliation instead of risk from COVID. Showing that “science”is just another voice of authority progressives wield to cover for their deciding EVERYTHING based on politics instead of common sense or scientific principles or any other objective metrics. Whatever happened to “protect the vulnerable?” I get the feeling it was just talking point mirage used to unfairly criticize Trump admin.

Jersey Fled said...

Local 666 of the teachers union.

Greg Hlatky said...

All the teachers I see on the local news blubbering about how dangerous it is to "the students" to have in-class teaching are women.

Give them their damn shots and tell them to get their asses back in the classroom. Or they'll be fired.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

gilbar says; So, YEAH! the scarcely available vaccines should go to people that are at danger of death

Well...except those are the people that the Democrats WANT to die. Old people are inconvenient. They KNOW things. They remember the past. They have educations that weren't strictly government propaganda.

PLUS...old people are costly. Sucking up money for health care and getting Social Security Insurance payments (that they paid into for 50 years each). AND....they just have that old person smell.

Old people need to go!

(sarcasm...I hope)

gadfly said...

Octogenarians, when capable of reason, should be rationally discussing the irrationality of their younger kin. Even those of us whose medical conditions are relatively steady - general physical weakness and back pain in my case - face life expectancy of less than 10 years.

Our dependency on youngsters to get us through the day is increasing rapidly as we age. I remember back in 1967, when my four-year old daughter died of cardiac arrest after a tonsillectomy, my father told me that he should have been the one who died, not her. Dad died three years later after his second stoke at age 56. My point here that average life stats have increased miraculously since 1970 thanks to medical advances while pity remains the driving force regarding triage decisions that have become more commonplace during this pandemic.

Triage requires that we assess the societal contribution of individuals in any group facing live/die decisions and we ain't there yet. A relative, not yet 30, located in Michigan got her first dose of vaccine in Michigan last week because she is a teacher and her husband, a nurse, has not yet been offered the vaccine because his hospital isn't giving shots. Something is basically wrong when essential health care personnel caring for Covid-19 patients remain unconcerned about their own exposure.

BTW, I got my first Pfizer shot on the 15th and the second dose is scheduled for February 6. I thank my government for this early immunization opportunity but should I have gotten to the front of the line?

MadTownGuy said...

Ann Althouse said...
["Retired law professors who also blog should be top of the list. Talk about essential workers!"]

"I'm in the group covered by the vaccine, but I'm told to wait until my health provider contacts me. That's fine. I don't need to go anywhere, and I accept lots of others going before me. It's not as though there's anything I can do with a vaccine that I can't do now. I'm fine living with the limitations. The main thing I can't do that I would do is go to a restaurant once in a while, but it's not a big deal to me."

In Sunny SoCal where my sisters live, and where our Dad was being cared for in his own home by younger sis, he and she contracted COVID. She is an experienced caregiver who kept hom safely in his home for ten years after his dementia had progressed to where he couldn't handle his daily living activities alone.

When the virus started making the rounds she was diligent to sanitize, wash hands, limit travel and outside visitors. It happened that we were already there and we observed the same protocols.

We left CA for out east when we were able to do so, and she continued being careful throughout the lockdown. Two weeks ago they both noticed symptoms and got tested, which confirmed that they both had it. Symptoms were mild - she's in her sixties and he was 88. Looked good for both of them to recover and their doctor released them from quarantine. Then Dad got weak and his oxygen levels started to tank. She got him to the hospital where he was admitted and given oxygen. His levels came up the first day in, then nosedived, and by the wee hours of the fourth day he was gone.

Two takeaways -

1. You can get the virus even if you're complying with or even exceeding the governmental mandates. The virus doesn't care.

2. Why his doctors didn't have him go to the ER right away after he was diagnosed is beyond me. You could make the case that hospitals are overloaded, but he ended up there anyway and was high risk. While in hospital his specialist planned on administering "controversial" treatment interventions but his lungs were already too far gone. Could he have been made well? Hard to say, but I wish he had been given the opportunity.

iowan2 said...

here in iowa, 80% of covid deaths were people Over Seventy years old

A) not Many teacher Over Seventy years old
B) if you reduced iowa covid deaths by 80%, there wouldn't be many deaths


I have been asking the same question since March. I have NEVER seen a person in position to make a difference ask or answer.

What is the goal?

I fully accept and promote federalism for handling this. But Fake Fauci etal, should have defined and debated what the goal is. Then decisions are made to attain the goal

From the beginning, the goal should have been to protect the vulnerable. People over 70, and those with a short list of co-morbidities.

Now the vaccination schedule looks much the same. Medicos, cops. Then every single soul over 80, then 70, and so on.

rhhardin's plan of first come first served works with my system, by triaging the line. If your 80, or have diabetes, front of the line.

But I would love for someone to define the goal.

Humperdink said...

gadfly said: " I thank my government for this early immunization opportunity .... "

You mean Trump, don't you?

EdwdLny said...

They don't care. The dems are quite willing to exterminate the elderly, wholesale. Look at Cuomo, wolf etc. Kill them off and reduce expenses. Vile, hateful, evil people they are. Must be a requirement to be a lib politician.

Matt Sablan said...

"Something is basically wrong when essential health care personnel caring for Covid-19 patients remain unconcerned about their own exposure."

-- I honestly think that, like almost every decision state governments have made, that this just makes me think that the realistic solutions to COVID are practically non-existent besides "wait for things to happen," because if rational decision making could lower the threat, then they'd be making rational decisions. I think, quite frankly, they acknowledge COVID as dangerous, but not "shut down the country" dangerous, which is why their decisions on how to save lives are scattershot, random, and they don't bother following their own advice.

I've HAD COVID, by the way. So I know it is unpleasant, and people with weaker immune systems/other factors could have it way worse. But, I also realize that, if it really were the plague it's made out to be, Cuomo, Biden, and others would be acting in a much different fashion.

Unless they truly ARE incompetent.

Meade said...

MadTownGuy, I'm sorry for your loss.

iowan2 said...

A relative, not yet 30, located in Michigan got her first dose of vaccine in Michigan last week because she is a teacher and her husband, a nurse, has not yet been offered the vaccine because his hospital isn't giving shots. Something is basically wrong when essential health care personnel caring for Covid-19 patients remain unconcerned about their own exposure.

In Iowa the state set the priorities, and handed the implementation off to the county health bureaucracy. The Count Heath person set the priorities. My wife works in accounting at a medical clinic. She is on a list, after those with direct, daily patient contact.
A State/County that prioritized teachers over hospitals, is obviously running off of pure politics. Not anything sciency.
The correction is to vote all democrats out of office. To late for this event, but life keeps happening and lots of people have exposed their true colors. Like this experience in Michigan.

Sebastian said...

"A State/County that prioritized teachers over hospitals, is obviously running off of pure politics. Not anything sciency."

Do progs ever believe their own BS?

MayBee said...

MadTownGuy- I'm so sorry about your father.

My Governor keeps blaming Trump for not having enough vaccines (according to the CDC, we've distributed about half of the doses we do have. We've been good at getting second doses to people).

But getting doses to people over 75 is tricky. So she.....made a video with some other governors telling us to "have a plan" about how we'll get the vaccine when it's our turn. How unhelpful is that?
The governors need to think outside the box to get 75 year olds the information and registered, but they seem not up to the task.
Seventy five year olds aren't reading their Facebook posts and their tweets. You have to find a way to get to them. If my parents didn't have a daughter who could/would spend hours online, and an extremely concerned niece who kept me informed, they would have missed the shot. The sign up was online, and they would never do that. My mother in law spent hours on the phone lines-- there aren't enough. They aren't being creative. It drives me crazy how un-nimble these politicians are. My governor is.

I've known 3 people who have died from or with COVID: a healthy active 75 year old, a 70-something with comorbidities, and a 92 year old woman who fell in the shower and it seems she got COVID in the emergency room. We also have an 84 year old friend who got sick from it, but survived without hospitalization. The young people (under 60) who I know who have gotten it recovered without incident, although it was quite hard on some.

MayBee said...

And yeah, I guess my parents could kind of hunker down, but they still need groceries and ordering online has not really worked out for them.
More than that, they are in their 80s and have been vital, though there are some cognitive issues. I want them to be able to see their friends, their children, their grand children, and their great grands. I don't want them in a hospital room dying alone and the end of a beautiful life. That is the cruelty I couldn't stand.

curt said...

Meanwhile, here in the great Red state of Florida, I, a random 65 year old, have already had three opportunities to get the shot. Even as 36,500 out of staters and foreigners have travelled here to get the shot. Gov. Desantis finally had to impose a residency requirement to stem the flow of foreigners, after much wailing from the same women who favor open borders with South America.

Matt Sablan said...

I don't think it's a lack of creativity so much as a complete lack of understanding that not everyone is glued to their smartphone, while also just not understanding logistics. Like... why wasn't there a temporary, but massive, expansion of government phone services when they decided "shut everything down and call us to find out what's going on" was the way forward?

Government officials are some of the worst people when it comes to logistics.

Gusty Winds said...

Hank Aaron got the vaccine just a few weeks before he died.

Matt Sablan said...

I mean, people die every day. There are, undoubtedly, lots of people who will die shortly after getting the vaccine. It's hardly even really "correlation" except in the most technical of senses.

Gusty Winds said...

Does anyone expect members of the Teachers Unions to behave any other way but selfishly?

MayBee said...

Matt Sablan-

True. The governors and state health departments have known this was coming, and they could have spent time putting in phone lines, telling doctors and hospitals to go through their databases to get the names of all 75+ year olds. They could have hired people to go out into neighborhoods to let people know *how* to know it was time to get a vaccine. They could have distributed the shots to the big stores like Meijer and Kroger. They could have asked Chik Fil A to help them with logistics.

On my side of the state, the only way to get the vaccine in some counties was through the health department- not even the hospital systems. Talk about a bottle neck!
There are a million things they could do, but being able to blame Trump made them lazy

Merny11 said...

Two of my daughters are public school teachers here in WI. Their districts have remained open with kids in class 5 days a week, with no problems. . The neighboring ones have done all virtual. How can those districts NOT see and follow the success of the open districts? It’s just ridiculous.

Owen said...

MadTownGuy @ 7:06: condolences. And thank you for the details of how things went for you and your father. It’s useful to know more facts about how this thing behaves, how we can better defend against it or beat it. The fact that the medical care system did not immediately put your dad into hospital care is important: it reminds me that I should have a plan with my primary care physician to push the hospital bureaucracy if I come down with it. Otherwise I’m just another gomer to be pushed here and there. Maybe we should all do that, instead of waiting to be processed?

Oh Yea said...

I'm 64 with some medical conditions that increase my risks but not deemed sever enough for priority. However Ohio puts anyone under 70 and not a first responder, medical personnel or with a qualifying medical condition behind teachers that are overwhelmingly young, white and female. The deal is that they are supposed to agree to go back to the classroom or hybrid models by March 1. Now the teachers union is saying they still want the OPTION (turns out a lot of them are anti-vaccers) to get the shot but should not be required to return to the classroom until the kids get the vaccine, which everyone knows will be the last ones to get the shots. So to recap, they want to get priority to get the vaccine but want to delay returning to classroom as long as possible.

Gusty Winds said...

We allowed Dems and the Media to vilify HCQ and other early treatments. You know, the one’s that keep you breathing while your body fights the virus. Instead we heard stupid bullshit lies like “Trump said to drink bleach”.

Dems and the media weren’t interested in saving lives in 2020. They were interested in consolidated power. The Dem Governors’ executive order contamination of the Nursing homes in NY, NJ, PA, CA, and MA in March and April was a crime. We’re supposed to believe it was an oops?

Now, the Teachers Unions will hold communities hostage until every kid is stuck with the mRNA that nobody knows shit about.

stlcdr said...

gilbar said...
here in iowa, 80% of covid deaths were people Over Seventy years old

A) not Many teacher Over Seventy years old
B) if you reduced iowa covid deaths by 80%, there wouldn't be many deaths

if you look at people over 60 years old, you're looking at NINETY TWO PERCENT of iowa covid deaths

So, YEAH! the scarcely available vaccines should go to people that are at danger of death

1/25/21, 6:04 AM


Huh. Similar numbers in Kentucky. I believe I posted this before, 3 people out of 4.4 million under the age of 30 have died.

In addition, (un)surprisingly, the CDC updated their web site to break town the numbers by age group.

Levi Starks said...

You people just haven’t yet learned to think like good socialists.
The fact that 80 year olds are much closer to dear is exactly why they should be given the vaccine last.
Their ability to contribute to the collective is vastly diminished as compared to middle aged teachers.
From each according to their ability to each according to their need.
At this point their only “ability” is to consume the goods and services that society only has so much of.
And their main need is to simply die with dignity.

Wince said...

And if you are a Fairfax County teacher who got vaccinated and you are hiding behind your union, SHAME ON YOU.

To paraphrase David Lee Roth: Shot for Teacher.

Gusty Winds said...

My Dad is 80. Retired Emergency Room physician. My mother is 75. Retired RN. Both medically brilliant. Neither will touch the mRNA vaccine. They are BOTH very much against requiring is for school kids. They aren’t “anti-vaxers” either.

We had a normal Thanksgiving, and a nice Christmas. My mother simply tells her paranoid friends, “I am not giving up seeing my kids and my grandkids”.

To gain power Democrats pretended they were saving out lives by not allowing us to live.

MayBee said...

Our governor put Covid patients back in nursing homes and left an entire federally-built COVID hospital empty but for 3 patients. Her answer to this is she was following CDC guidelines, but surely someone paying attention enough to ban the purchase of seeds might have noticed that it wasn't working to put the people back in the nursing home when there was an empty COVID hospital right down the street.

You do sometimes think, I wonder if old people were sacrificed so Joe Biden could be elected.

MayBee said...

The CDC took its time coming up with a fancy scheme to make sure equity was built into the vaccination plan. Everyone should be pissed at that kind of time wasting.

I'm Not Sure said...

"But I would love for someone to define the goal."

If they define the goal, there's a good chance they won't reach it. Easier to just wing it and blame somebody else when things don't go well.

Curious George said...

"Covid is a good way to lower your SS/pension payments."

The vaccine may be better.

Curious George said...

"How can those districts NOT see and follow the success of the open districts? It’s just ridiculous."

The can see. It's just that their definition of success is different than yours, or most.

stevew said...

Proper distribution focused on protecting the most vulnerable is easily achieved; structuring an effective plan is not difficult. Here is what my home state of Maine is doing:

"The Governor, in consultation with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC), is dedicating the limited vaccine supply to older Maine residents, beginning with those 70 and older; additional emergency service personnel such as police and firefighters; and people who support infrastructure critical to Maine’s COVID-19 response."

daskol said...

Someone should start a Union of Old Farts and collectively blast the rest of us.

Ken B said...

The hypocrisy of the Covidiot denialists is on display. If covid is a HOAX then you should NOT want the old and frail to get vaccinated, because it would have no benefit, but carries a tiny risk. So if, like so many here, you called it a hoax or a harmless virus you should applaud this teacher.

wild chicken said...

Teachers Unions to behave any other way but selfishly?


They're doing exactly what they're supposed to do. Teachers are cucked beyond hope as it is, and no one else is lining up to teach the little shits. Probably a good half of new teachers quit after one year, and even one semester.

It's a shitty job.

Gusty Winds said...

Now the mask shaming Karen’s get a little fair play turn-about. Now they get humiliated for cutting in line on vaccine distribution. Wonderful.

wild chicken said...

Teachers Unions to behave any other way but selfishly?


They're doing exactly what they're supposed to do. Teachers are cucked beyond hope as it is, and no one else is lining up to teach. No discipline allowed, constant admin pressure to "entertain," stupid professional dev sessions, stupid parents, violent students.

Probably a good half of new teachers quit after one year, and even one semester.

Our district is going in-person this week but only because of political pressure. They're seriously understaffed. Hell, they'd probably hire me! But ugh, I'm glad I never went into teaching.

It's a shitty job.

daskol said...

Ken B, in between COVID hysteria and COVID denial is a huge space of folks who recognize it's very dangerous to some folks, and not so much to other folks. Old folks are like a fully laden camel, so why add more straw? You need to work on "steel man" argument.

Matt Sablan said...

"If covid is a HOAX then you should NOT want the old and frail to get vaccinated, because it would have no benefit, but carries a tiny risk."

-- This is a deliberate misreading of when people say "COVID is a hoax." If you listen beyond the reported soundbite, what people are talking about is the extent of the lockdowns and government response, along with the reported death rates (which there have been some very public one-offs where "guy falls off roof with COVID, counted as COVID death," and "motorcycle fatality counted as COVID death" that make people suspicious of the COVID death numbers). No one thinks that thousands of people are faking being sick; people DO think the government and media's response is not proportional to the issues, as seen by the way those in power routinely ignore their own edicts relating to COVID.

I know to understand that's what the vast majority mean by "COVID is a hoax," requires some additional reading comprehension, but it behooves people to actually *learn what the other side thinks and means* instead of just assuming the simplest, sound bitiest thing that people say people say is a literal reading of other people's thoughts.

There are probably a small percentage of people who think COVID doesn't really exist; then again, there are also people who swore they'd never take the Trump COVID vaccine and that it would never actually be done in time, and that even if it was done in time, Trump personally was murdering everyone with COVID he could anyway. That's the thing with the small percentage of crazy people; you have to separate them from what not-crazy people are saying.

alan markus said...

Gadfly, sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your young child in 1967.

Medical care may have evolved since then, but bad things still happen.

A nearby community (Milwaukee suburbs) recently lost a 7 year girl who went into cardiac arrest while under sedation during a routine dental procedure. Despite high quality EMS, a nearby hospital, life flight to Children's Hospital, etc., she died a few days later.

The young girl was special needs and nonverbal, but from what I saw, she was a shining light to everyone in her life.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ashley-and-luke

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Oregon Governor Katie Karen and Washington Governor Jay Ken couldn't organize their way out of a paper bag. Both have unemployment payment divisions that can't process applications and give away $100,000,000s to Nigerian fraudsters.

Here in Bellevue, Overlake Medical Center, a huge hospital/medical office complex, is only inoculating 30 people an hour for 13 hours a day. That's 390 injections a day. Pathetic. Reservations are already filled up through mid-March. Given enough doses, they could do 10 times that.

Matt Sablan said...

"Dems and the media weren’t interested in saving lives in 2020. They were interested in consolidated power. The Dem Governors’ executive order contamination of the Nursing homes in NY, NJ, PA, CA, and MA in March and April was a crime. We’re supposed to believe it was an oops?"

-- I think that it is more likely that Democrats simply don't think Republicans are smart enough or compassionate enough to actually come up with ways to save people, and in their politically bigoted blindness, just assume anything Republicans recommend is a callous way to murder people. Thus, stupid people, like Cuomo, assume any idea a Republican has is inherently wrong, at best, evil at worst, and so if they just do the opposite, they'll save more lives than if they didn't.

Remember: Cuomo received an award for how "well" he handled COVID. That's all you need to understand how seriously people are taking the government's response to COVID. The answer is: They're not taking it seriously. At all. Remember: Nancy Pelosi, "go mingle in the streets and go to restaurants" and Biden, "we shouldn't close our borders and should allow people to enter the country freely," are considered "Better" in their response to COVID than Trump -- who successfully initiated and completed Operation Warp Speed.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

The Ken B types have been running things many places and yet NOTHING HAS STOPPED THE SPREAD. At what point do you admit the shutdowns and bans have done nothing to COVID but have done much damage to the economy and so much more? How many deaths have your COVID theatre prevented Ken?

Matt Sablan said...

"At what point do you admit the shutdowns and bans have done nothing to COVID but have done much damage to the economy and so much more?"

-- "But it would have been worse," the same argument made when the stimulus failed to achieve an economy even as "bad" as the projections shown for "without a stimulus." It's a great, impossible to defeat, counter argument.

Curious George said...

"Ken B said...
...but carries a tiny risk."

A tiny risk? It's never been test on animals or humans. How is works is brand new, never been done.

The tiny risk for most of the population, including teachers, is Covid. The bigger risk could be this experimental vaccine.

alan markus said...

Late Saturday afternoon I got an alert on my online medical chart that I was eligible to schedule a vaccination appointment. Because I am over 65. When I logged on Saturday evening, only a few were booked. I checked yesterday afternoon and counted the slots available at 2 of the nearby locations. About 350 slots available. Today it is about half of that. Not exactly an overwhelming response.

My wife was at the clinic Friday. Being over 65 she was offered an appt. (she said no). While waiting in the lounge, she could overhear other 65 year olds being offered appointments. One took up the offer, everyone else said they can wait.

I too am in the "will wait" category - figure there are other people who need it much sooner than I do. Been avoiding the COVID for over a year, and the trendline for new cases in WI has collapsed. Back to what it was back in September.

I hope someone is noticing that the trendlines in most states were already on a downward slope before 1/21/21.

gilbar said...

my folks (88 and 92 years old) get a flu vaccine every year
I don't, because i consider the flu to be "harmless virus", for ME

know what i would consider "a hoax"? if they wanted to 'lock down' the country for the flu

You know who i think SHOULD get the covid vaccine? My folks
You know who i consider it to be a "harmless virus" for? for ME

It's interesting when people put words into your mouth, and don't even do a good job of that

alan markus said...

Meant to say been avoiding the COVID for almost a year, not over a year. Just seems like it has been that long.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

The teacher unions want to push Grandma off a cliff so their members can be protected from a virus where 99.99% of their members will survive. They're making demands that until the kids get the vaccine, they won't go back. The vaccine isn't approved for kids and kids don't get sick from COVID. The unions just want the teachers to work 5-hrs a week and get paid for 40. What a scam.

Joe Smith said...

Wait...teacher's aren't heroes anymore?

But if they do go back to work they can do synchronized dance routines and post them on Tiktok.

That was a good look for health care workers...not.

Anne-I-Am said...

Get a prescription for fluvoxamine (Luvox, an ancient SSRI) or ivermectin (for ringworm; impossible to OD on).

At the first sign of any symptoms, start one or the other.

Good data support both of these for limiting symptoms to those of the common cold.

Physicians who do their homework are using both of these drugs.

wild chicken said...

Thank you, Dr Anne Whoeveryouare.

AlbertAnonymous said...

Apparently my “privilege” puts me in a position where I couldn’t get the vaccine now even if I wanted to. So, I’ll gladly wait.

In addition, I’ll gladly bite my tongue and ignore the impulse to bitch and moan about the hypocrisy on full display as people and groups try to jump line because “they” think they’re more important/entitled/worthy to get the vaccine. That’s what always happens in government run programs/socialistic countries. But I’ll chalk up my new found “patience” to me attempting to sew unity rather than division.

What will be interesting is to see when/how all the hysteria/lockdown theater changes, and how the new admin and it’s government run news media describe/characterize/report it all. And if, they try to impose some sort of “requirement” that we can’t travel/work/attend events if we haven’t gotten the vaccine.

That I will NOT be so patient about. My body my choice, right?

Openidname said...

"iowan2 said...

"But I would love for someone to define the goal."

This.

What I find especially sinister right now is all the people (meaning people the news organs have located and have chosen to give a platform) who are saying that we all have to keep wearing masks, even if you're vaccinated or you've already had COVID. The only reason I've ever heard given is that otherwise, we couldn't enforce mask mandates, because we couldn't tell who needs to wear a mask and who doesn't.

What's the end game there? Some number of people are going to refuse to get vaccinated (40% of firefighters in L.A. County). Do we wear masks until the 350,000,000-th person in America either gets vaccinated or gets COVID?

Ken B said...

Curious George
Do you really not see that if the risk is more than tiny my argument is stronger? I was giving the denialists the benefit of the doubt. If they believe that covid isn’t dangerous at all but the vaccine is that makes it even more hypocritical of them to criticize this teacher.

Mary Beth said...

So if, like so many here, you called it a hoax or a harmless virus you should applaud this teacher.

Name them. Who here said the virus was a hoax? If there were "many" you should be able to make a list of who said the virus didn't exist.

As has been pointed out to you, the irrational rules are the hoax. Why was it safe to shop in the grocery or Walmart but unsafe to shop in the small stores? Why were the anti-lock down protesters risking everyone's lives but the BLM protesters were just fine? It is a hoax because the government is picking winners (those allowed to carry on as usual) and losers (everyone who had to shut their business and stay home) and it isn't based on anything rational.

BothSidesNow said...

I have not followed this too closely, but I did see that in DC there is a proposal to give priority to smokers, regardless of age. How bout that? How heartless would you have to be to complain about that?

gilbar said...

Ken B said...
Do you really not see that if the risk is more than tiny my argument is stronger?


I'll bite; What's you argument?
Seriously, WHAT is YOUR argument? What are YOU trying to say?
i don't want to put words in your mouth

Original Mike said...

Blogger gilbar said..."I don't want to put words in your mouth"

I see what you did there.

readering said...

I just missed the cutoff for vaccine now in CA. But felt less bad when a classmate in Scotland told me there one has to be 75 to get age-based priority. I guess more focus on essential workers.

hombre said...

This is a national disgrace. Public schoolteachers in the US are a failing profession if their goal is education, not indoctrination. Democrats love them because of the union money and their insemination of leftist dogma into the minds of vulnerable children. Hence they are willing to sacrifice the lives of the elderly to keep teacher patronage.

As I mentioned yesterday, in a just world grocery clerks would take precedence over teachers.

Jim said...

Warning: Finish your coffee before reading this!
.
.
.
Music therapists are getting vaccinated because they are "essential" workers. Words fail.

hombre said...

We are rapidly approaching the point at which prioritizing is not due to a shortage of the vaccine, but the incompetence of government in making it available.

In Democrat ruled communities like mine the media covers this up. The County medical officer in charge of the program appeared on the NBC affiliate to announce that only 50,000 doses had been administered because of a shortage of the vaccine. No questions asked by the talking heads. It took me five minutes to get on his own county website to establish that 105,000 doses had been delivered to the program. This was confirmed by the state website.

readering said...

Per LA Times:

Reopening Los Angeles campuses for students in kindergarten through 12th grade will require the vaccination of teachers and other staff, says L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner. The teachers union is going a step further, saying vaccinations alone would not be enough to operate schools safely until coronavirus case rates drop.

Rabel said...

Got the Moderna vaccine last Thursday at a drive-thru site. I qualified as over 65. No side effects.

The drive-thru was staffed primarily by National Guard and it went smoothly.

Inga said...

I’m waiting for my clinic to notify me that the vaccine is available and I can get it. I was notified days ago with a text that soon they would be notifying their patients and scheduling the vaccine, nothing yet. As for teachers getting the vaccine, I don’t begrudge them the vaccine, the ones who teach in person are on the front lines and there have been numerous cases of teachers getting it and surviving, but bringing it home to a spouse that doesn’t end up surviving it.

JSF said...

Democrats simply want to replay the movies Logan Run and Soylent Green for the Proles and live guarded away from their decisions.

But that is a repeat of the French Revolution.....

Democratic Elected official: It's good to be the King!

MayBee said...

I don't begrudge teachers. I begrudge the governors who have done a bad job rolling it out.
And if I had to begrudge anyone else, I would begrudge the young politicians and celebrities who got it for the pretend cause of encouraging others to get it.

Larry J said...

"gilbar said...
here in iowa, 80% of covid deaths were people Over Seventy years old

A) not Many teacher Over Seventy years old
B) if you reduced iowa covid deaths by 80%, there wouldn't be many deaths

if you look at people over 60 years old, you're looking at NINETY TWO PERCENT of iowa covid deaths"

I just checked the numbers here in Alabama. People 65 and older make up 17% of the confirmed number of cases and 79% of the deaths. If you add those 50 and older, they make up 38% of the confirmed cases and 95% of all deaths. The state is following the CDC guidelines, so front line health care workers, first responders, and those 75 and older get priority. The next phase will include those 65 and older. In our county, the goal is 10,000 people a week, but we have over 440,000 people so it's going to take many months before everyone has an opportunity to get vaccinated.

n.n said...

Planned Parent/hood. That said, there are early and even late stage effective, inexpensive, low-risk treatments to mitigate progression and disease. Keep the immune system functional and wash your hands to control fecal transmission.

DavidUW said...

Not like they're going back to teaching in person.

So indeed, "for what" are they getting vaccinated? so they can continue to safely "teach" remotely from Puerto Rico like the CTU chick?

Private schools have been open, even in many parts of California. Where are the outbreaks traced to them?

iowan2 said...

I don’t begrudge them the vaccine, the ones who teach in person are on the front lines and there have been numerous cases of teachers getting it and surviving, but bringing it home to a spouse that doesn’t end up surviving it.

Then the spouse of the teacher is at risk should have gotten vaccinated before the teacher.
My daughter teaches, her husband is not at risk.

But we keep talking past each other because nobody wants to define a GOAL

Skippy Tisdale said...

What's the difference between a Public School Teacher and a Doctor of Epidemiology?

A Doctor of Epidemiology doesn't think they're a Public School Teacher.

Skippy Tisdale said...

The hypocrisy of the Covidiot denialists is on display

I have never met a Covid-19 denialist and neither have you. They are akin to Unicorns.

Rabel said...

"I have never met a Covid-19 denialist and neither have you."

I've only met one in person but they are abundant in internet comment sections.

I'm Not Sure said...

Calling someone a "denialist" allows one to automatically disregard ideas that don't conform to one's thinking and is how some people deal with being presented with concepts that cause distress.

Karen of Texas said...

If people only knew about ascorbic acid and melatonin. Of course anyone who suggests you do research in this area will be accused of being a quack. *sigh* Dr. Paul Marik and his Math+ protocol should be something everyone should familiarize themselves with, too. You might need to advocate for yourself or someone you love.

Curious George said...

"Blogger Inga said...
As for teachers getting the vaccine, I don’t begrudge them the vaccine, the ones who teach in person are on the front lines and there have been numerous cases of teachers getting it and surviving, but bringing it home to a spouse that doesn’t end up surviving it."

There are 3.3 million full-time and part-time traditional public school teachers, 205,600 public charter school teachers, and 509,200 private school teachers. That's about 4 million teachers.

How many in your "numerous."

Karen of Texas said...

The more you know...

Frontiers | Reaction of Human Monoclonal Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 Proteins With Tissue Antigens: Implications for Autoimmune Diseases | Immunology

Autoimmunity In Your Future?

"An insufficiently vetted vaccine might mean trading freedom from COVID-19 to an autoimmune assault in the future."

"They cite specific examples of how vaccine-induced cross-reactivity has led to the onset of systemic lupus erythematous, demyelinating autoimmune diseases, narcolepsy, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome."

"...the development of most autoimmune diseases may take 3 to 18 years..."


There's a lot of science going on with regards to this thing. Most people are going to believe what they're going to believe regardless.

Future Immunity?

Science!

Epidemiology 101

Curious George said...

"wild chicken said...
Teachers Unions to behave any other way but selfishly?


They're doing exactly what they're supposed to do. Teachers are cucked beyond hope as it is, and no one else is lining up to teach the little shits. Probably a good half of new teachers quit after one year, and even one semester.

It's a shitty job."

Above average pay. Great benefits. Job security. Pension and early retirement. Summers off. Yeah, it's a stone cold bitch.

50% of teachers quit in the firsts year? BFD. Entry level positions suck. Try sales. Or ditch digging.

stevew said...

I don't get the flu vaccine and don't plan to get the Covid one. I'm not anti-vax, just not in a risk category that justifies taking a vaccine dose from others that are. Haven't had the flu since 1995. Rarely get sick. Am in excellent respiratory health.

Change my mind.

stevew said...

And I'm not a Covid denier nor have ever called Covid, the virus, a hoax. The panic and completely unjustified government policies like masks, distancing, and lockdowns are certainly built on top of a hoax threat.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Inga,

As for teachers getting the vaccine, I don’t begrudge them the vaccine, the ones who teach in person are on the front lines and there have been numerous cases of teachers getting it and surviving, but bringing it home to a spouse that doesn’t end up surviving it.

But, Inga, where are the teachers getting COVID from?

Their students? Vanishingly unlikely; yes, kids have died of COVID, but such cases are extremely rare. I'd say that a teacher is more likely today to die in a school shooting than to get COVID from a kid, and you know as well as I do that the school-shooting risk is minuscule. And that teachers weren't refusing to go to school because of it.

Other teachers? Well, that's more plausible, as in there's some risk distinguishable from zero. But the same goes for all other "essential" workers, and the teachers are basically the only ones kicking up this kind of fuss. When sanitation workers and plumbers and HVAC people and mail carriers and the like are getting as much support for their decision to walk off the job as teachers are, I'll start taking this seriously. But I'm afraid a lot of teachers just think that They Are Special, not like those pathetic proles without their precious degrees. Sure, teachers -- in-person teachers -- are "on the front lines." Put them in the exact same class as dock workers or flight attendants or baristas, and we can talk.

My hunch (and it is only that) is that teachers are not getting COVID from their workplace, but from casual contact elsewhere, just like the rest of us (or at least the "rest of us" who aren't forcibly crammed in to inaccessible spaces in nursing homes with verified COVID patients by governors' orders).

If any teacher (or worker in any of the many other equally risky professions I've just mentioned) has a spouse who is likely due to age, co-morbidities, or both to be susceptible to COVID, it's the spouse who needs to be vaccinated first, not the person supposedly "at risk."

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Curious George,

Above average pay. Great benefits. Job security. Pension and early retirement. Summers off. Yeah, it's a stone cold bitch.

Any teacher who thinks the gap between school years is "summers off" isn't a good teacher. Job security and pensions and bennies and even "above average pay" (they will fight about that, saying that "average" needs to be calculated wrt certification, i.e., degrees, and teachers are forced to have those), sure. "Early retirement" I haven't really heard of; most of the good teachers I know would rather keep working until practically forced out, though of course there are some who do bail the moment they're allowed to retire w/full pension, as there are others who try to get as many extra degrees as possible, and thereby move out of the presence of actual students and into administration.

Yet teaching is difficult work, if you are genuinely trying to teach. And the current COVID mess has made it infinitely harder for those who want to teach well.

All the same, would I rather my husband were a teacher or (say) a pipefitter? Not even f'in' close.

Ken B said...

This is clearly a case of favoritism, where the politically connected get to cut the line. So it’s no surprise Inga has no problem. I just described blue governance, which she wants.

Ken B said...

Wait until Biden unveils the racial quotas.

Marcus Bressler said...

Florida's Gov Desantis has made it easier to get the vaccine. I was going to wait but all I had to do last week was get online to the Publix supermarket site at 6 AM and it scheduled me for my first shot (last week) and my second in mid-February. Both at a Publix less than three miles from me. My 75 year old lady friend, who doesn't use computers, asked me to schedule her also. But I ran into a slight delay because she did not have her Medicare number available. When I was able to book her appointments, she did not want to travel to a Publix about 12 miles south "because blacks go there." As a result, she did not get scheduled. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by people's hidden prejudices when they finally appear, but I still am.

THEOLDMAN

Openidname said...

Individual teachers are, subject to the limits of all generalizations, smart and decent.

Not so in groups. The larger the group of teachers, the less smart and decent they are. Compare an individual to a faculty meeting, and then a faculty meeting to a union.

Ray - SoCal said...

In so Ca my 83 year old father in law got the Modena vaccine last week through Kaiser.

The way hcq has been vilified as a treatment is just evil. It round have saved so many lives in the us.

Unknown said...

The Teacher Unions are breathtaking in arrogance and have doubled down on their power trip now that Biden is in publicly supporting them. What is not understood in their hubris is that this open disregard for anyone but their own interests is infuriating a substantive number of parents including those on the center left and independents. Therefore, the term "school choice" is no longer seen as a right wing mantra; it is now viewed in a very favorable lens by people of all political leanings. In particular, school choice advocates are fighting for "funding the student, not the location" movement. This message is extremely appealing to all parents as they would have the economic power to educate their children and not be at the mercy of incompetent education bureaucrats or unions. People will not forget the flagrant arrogance or hubris of many teachers and their unions.

Ken B said...

“ People will not forget the flagrant arrogance or hubris of many teachers and their unions.”

Will politicians care?