Coronavirus Impact III

Once I'm in Mudrick's tax bracket, I'll let you know if he's correct.

PS. I don't know anyone in Mudrick's tax bracket.
 
Batutta said:
To be expected. As mentioned from the data, the amount of people leaving California in 2020 didn't change much over previous years but because of the pandemic no one replaced them in greater numbers as usually happens.
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The Census reflects the population shifts over much longer time spans than 2020.
 
ahalpert said:
My wife just told me that her friends have reported abnormal menstruation following the vaccine, and there are various news reports about it as well: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/cor...-some-report-changes-to-menstruation/2494064/

Heavy periods, light periods, intermittent spotting, post-menopausal women having periods, people on birth control that causes them not to menstruate suddenly having a heavy period. People think the vaccine may affect the uterine lining, at least temporarily.

It may be wise for women who may have more children to hold off getting it until more information comes out. You really don't want to monkey with your fertility.
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Another one to file under "F'n Florida"... There is a private school in Miami that said it will not hire any teacher that gets a covid vax and is heavily discouraging any students from getting it. According to the article, at least part of the decision is based on the debunked "claim" that those that have had the vaccine can "shed" the vaccine to others and cause harm to a females reproductive system. Why does it seem like some of the dumbest **** comes from those that are supposedly educated and responsible for education.

"This was not an easy decision to make," the letter stated. "It was a consensus from our advisors that until this topic is investigated more thoroughly, it is in the best interests of the children to protect them from the unknown implications of being in close proximity for the entire day with a teacher who has very recently taken the Covid-19 injection."
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"The school said it won't employ anyone who has been vaccinated "until further information is known."
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Leila Centener, Co-Founder and CEO of the Academy:
"tens of thousands of women all over the world" have reported reproductive issues from being in close proximity with someone who has been vaccinated — a claim that top medical experts have debunked.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/miami-private-school-won-t-employ-teachers-who-get-covid-n1265462
 
One thing that I haven't seen anyone talk about is the updated CDC social distance guidelines for those fully vaccinated: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/participate-in-activities.html .

If you check the bottom of the page for what you should do when the chart recommends a mask, it just says, "Fully Vaccinated People: Wear a mask." There is no recommendation for 6 feet of distancing (or even hand washing) like it does have listed for unvaccinated people: "Unvaccinated People: Wear a mask, stay 6 feet apart, and wash your hands."

That's a huge difference in my mind and is further incentive to get the vaccine.

As for me, I'm four days past my second Moderna shot, and am looking forward to actually going out into the world for more than just necessities.
 
That chart really sums up the convoluted and complex messaging the CDC is engaging in. In my area, people have been taking those particular common sense outdoor mask-less liberties since last summer, and these suggestions can only be described as "An abundance of caution". And I think the slow roll will continue, with quotes like these from Fauci...“We hope that within the next 5 or so months, we’ll be able to answer the very important question about whether vaccinated people get infected asymptomatically,” he said, “and if they do, do they transmit the infection to others.” So early fall to endorse what is already tested and known???

https://www.healthline.com/health-n...know#Vaccines-may-reduce-virus-infectiousness

With literally BILLIONS of dollars in the US being spent on ads and programs targeting vaccine awareness, I just can't help but think the wrong messaging is being used to get us to the crucial point with the vaccines. While "The good of the many" is a fine thing, human nature craves concrete and immediate rewards. After more than a year of "doing the right thing" that civic muscle starts to ache a bit. I personally count "doing the right thing" as a distant #3 in my life... after family safety and self safety, which were really the only two motivators for me in vaccing up.

If the ultimate goal is getting as many people vaccinated as fast as possible, it's not too late to change things. Imagine how much more effective a message that comes with a concrete and significant reward? I you want enthusiasm for the vaccines and true coming together, imagine this... "If 75% of people over 16 have at least one shot by the end of May, June 1rst is nation wide mask burning day." That's an easily achievable goal in the US, and would push fence sitters to move on it. But #Onestepcloser, an actual ad campaign I've seen on the Telly, by its very nature implies the shot isn't the end goal of this misery, and things won't change very much for you if you do get the shot.

Oh, and lastly, the media could actually help rather than just drive confusion and panic. To point, mark my words, within a month the term you'll hear most often on the cable in every Covid story will be "Super Variants". Because old vanilla "Variants" ain't scary enough.
 
Jim Arthurs said:
And I think the slow roll will continue, with quotes like these from Fauci...“We hope that within the next 5 or so months, we’ll be able to answer the very important question about whether vaccinated people get infected asymptomatically,” he said, “and if they do, do they transmit the infection to others.” So early fall to endorse what is already tested and known???

https://www.healthline.com/health-n...know#Vaccines-may-reduce-virus-infectiousness
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The thing is, though, it is NOT tested and known. That was the whole point of the article. Good science is, unfortunately, somewhat slow, and you can't just extrapolate from limited data, especially when people's lives are on the line. I encourage everyone to read the entire article, but here's a summary:



...health experts caution that until the majority of people are vaccinated, we should continue to wear masks in public, regardless of our vaccination status. ... it’s based on what we know — and don’t know — about the effectiveness of the vaccines.

...scientists don’t fully know yet how much the vaccines reduce transmission of the virus from a vaccinated person to others. ... Most trials weren’t designed to show whether the vaccines also block asymptomatic infections — those that don’t cause symptoms.

... None of the vaccines are 100 percent effective at preventing infections. So even if people don’t get very sick with COVID-19, they may still contract an infection and can potentially transmit the virus to others.

Several research groups are measuring “viral load” — the concentration of coronavirus particles — in people who have been vaccinated.

In a study ... researchers found that people who had been vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and later contracted an infection had lower viral loads than unvaccinated people ...

The ... research was an observational study, not a randomized controlled trial, so a number of factors could have affected the results. Results may also be different for different vaccines. In addition, while a lower viral load suggests less infectiousness, the researchers say we don’t currently know the “infectious dose” of the coronavirus for people.

Additional studies are needed, they say, to determine whether vaccines prevent transmission.

Researchers ... are currently recruiting 12,000 college students to take part in this type of study. ... Half of the students will be randomly selected to receive the Moderna-NIAID vaccine on the day they enroll in the study. The rest will get their first shot 4 months later. ... Researchers will also track infections that occur in close contacts of students in the study who contract an infection. This will allow researchers to see whether people with an infection are less likely to transmit the virus.

“The degree of transmission from vaccinated individuals will be determined by the infection rate in the close contacts,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of NIAID, said last month at a White House news briefing, when announcing the study.

“We hope that within the next 5 or so months, we’ll be able to answer the very important question about whether vaccinated people get infected asymptomatically,” he said, “and if they do, do they transmit the infection to others.”
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Jim Arthurs said:
If the ultimate goal is getting as many people vaccinated as fast as possible, it's not too late to change things. Imagine how much more effective a message that comes with a concrete and significant reward? I you want enthusiasm for the vaccines and true coming together, imagine this... "If 75% of people over 16 have at least one shot by the end of May, June 1rst is nation wide mask burning day." That's an easily achievable goal in the US, and would push fence sitters to move on it.
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I get what you're saying, but that's more of a political promise than one backed by science. There can't be concrete rewards when we don't have concrete data. We could even hit 100% vaccination, but still have the CDC recommend wearing a mask because one of the COVID variants (or some new one) ends up not being fully contained by the vaccine.

While I'm sick of playing it safe myself, the science is going to come incrementally. Without that hard data and evidence, we'd be relying on a bunch of people's gut decisions - maybe decisions that end up being the right ones, but how many "common sense" ideas end up not actually being true. Gut decisions based on historical data might be fine for some public policy, but it absolutely should not be the standard when people's lives are on the line. A bad decision could kill thousands of people. It's just not worth it.
 
filmguy123 said:
... The best thing we could have done is pull an Australia and lock down the nation for 6 months, that seemed to work out better for countries that did so. Guess how that response would have gone here in the States? Not so great I think..
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I have family and friends in Melbourne. Some of them would be quite happy if Dan Andrews fell down a hole and was never seen again.
 
I was feeling very down. I had spent the last 3 months applying for a PPP loan. I was approved two months ago but my lender withheld distributing funds to me. The SBA announced on Thursday there are no more funds. I tried contacting them but they will not help me.
 
ahalpert said:
oy, they're saying you would have to take it prophylactically? like, take it all the time just in case you contract covid?
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No, the preview article just hints at that as one potential use case (and of course people in hundreds of nations take this inexpensive medication regularly to prevent parasites). Several articles on PubMed regarding its effective use in even advanced cases of respiratory distress... some dating back almost a year.

We give it to our goat and pigs and some dogs regularly. It's known and safe, and apparently effective here. Sad news is it can't protect or treat Border Collies (who often have a genetic sensitivity)
 
Peter C. said:
I was feeling very down. I had spent the last 3 months applying for a PPP loan. I was approved two months ago but my lender withheld distributing funds to me. The SBA announced on Thursday there are no more funds. I tried contacting them but they will not help me.
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Same here. I was told the fund has been exhausted. And today I read in the news where a guy received millions in PPP and used it to buy exotic sports cars.

I have not received a cent in COVID-related assistance from government. Not a cent from any of the stimulus packages or from PPP.

I am miffed by that but at the same time proud of that. Few can say they financially weathered COVID all on their own, without a cent of help from anyone else.
 
JPNola said:
Same here. I was told the fund has been exhausted. And today I read in the news where a guy received millions in PPP and used it to buy exotic sports cars.

I have not received a cent in COVID-related assistance from government. Not a cent from any of the stimulus packages or from PPP.

I am miffed by that but at the same time proud of that. Few can say they financially weathered COVID all on their own, without a cent of help from anyone else.
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That's terrible to hear. Did you apply for the PPP? Many of the programs you have to act quickly, have the necessary documents and meet the specific requirements. In my case, I made the mistake of applying through a small credit union who farmed out the loan to a unrepeatable out of state entity that's not even a bank (Biz2Credit). The government pays lenders at least $2,500 for every loan they process. Greedy lenders like mine must have taken too many loans than they could process. Over the past few days I discovered there is no one to go to if things go wrong. The SBA has no desire to police bad lenders and will do nothing to help me.
 
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I got hosed both times on PPP. Several weeks ago I saw on my banks website that they were working on a way to use gross income to figure loans. I guess they didn't figure it out or figure it out in-time, because now they are closed to PPP loan applications(were supposed to be open till May 31st). And I have friends that got at least $25K from both rounds each time(last year and this year, and supposedly you were only eligible to get it ONCE). Hell, one of my friends used $8K of his to buy a new boat motor. Frustrating as hell...

I mean, I guess I can say I weathered the storm on my own, but I also left ~$50K on the table that others got and were way busier than me.
 
JPNola said:
I applied late. I was reluctant to apply at all seeing as my income wasn’t down in 2020.
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I wasn't well informed. But once I started the application process I was surprised how funds were allocated. How I understand it the more you made the more you were entitled to. I used my 2019 tax return and the calculation was made off of Schedule C gross profit not on how much your business went down during the pandemic.

I didn't apply to last year's PPP because I didn't know the loan was guaranteed to be forgivable (I never heard of such a thing). When my income went to zero for six months last spring I had no desire increase my debt. If I put it in the bank, the interest rates are almost zero.

I read that mostly big business got last year's PPP loans because lenders would be paid a commission on percentage of the entire loan. If it took the same time to approve $100,000 loan why would you waste your time with a $10,000 loan. This time around they paid flat rate so the banks would loan to small business owners and sole proprietors. The banks have been making loads of money. The government could have used the income tax records to identify who actually reports as a business and send them aid directly but instead they funneled it through the banks so they could profit off it.

I heard about the a second draw PPP loan but found out I'm not entitled because only people received the first draw can get the second draw. So if you got money you can get more money but if you didn't get any then you are not entitled to anything. It's laughable how it's structured. I don't like taking hand outs but it hurts double when millions of people got it who didn't even need it... I convinced my close friend to apply for the PPP who was hesitant. She felt bad for me because she applied long after I did and received her money in a week. I can't be bitter because at least I was able to help someone.
 
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Run&Gun said:
I got hosed both times on PPP. Several weeks ago I saw on my banks website that they were working on a way to use gross income to figure loans. I guess they didn't figure it out or figure it out in-time, because now they are closed to PPP loan applications(were supposed to be open till May 31st). And I have friends that got at least $25K from both rounds each time(last year and this year, and supposedly you were only eligible to get it ONCE). Hell, one of my friends used $8K of his to buy a new boat motor. Frustrating as hell...

I mean, I guess I can say I weathered the storm on my own, but I also left ~$50K on the table that others got and were way busier than me.
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Isn't it a loan though? It's not going to be forgiven, will it?
 
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