Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Oxford, Florida: Valentine's day, welfare, to live in)

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

12% capacity at an indoor concert??? It's like I've died and gone to heaven. Time to binge all my favorite bands this summer without worrying about someone bumping and spilling beer on me or having short women ask to stand in front of me than inviting their 20 friends to come join them.

Only sports teams it looks.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

Only sports teams it looks.

Darn.


While that was an attempt at a (bad) joke, I truly do miss live music.

[jtolpin]

Things look promising from this. Restaurants get some leeway, hopefully casinos too (biased on that one)

I dont know if Im close to going to restaurants yet.

On another note, I get my 2nd vaccine tomorrow.

[rach5]

Originally Posted by jtolpin

Things look promising from this. Restaurants get some leeway, hopefully casinos too (biased on that one)

I dont know if Im close to going to restaurants yet.

On another note, I get my 2nd vaccine tomorrow.

From the perspective of those that are not yet eligible - it's starting to get more worrisome again. In RI, cases have stopped declining, and this week appear to be increasing slightly again (we started relaxing restrictions in early Feb if I recall correctly). More and more openings every week, and of course more contagious variants. I wish they'd hold off until at least the high risk populations have received at least one vaccination...

[msRB311]

So we can go to a sporting event but no word on when offices will be opening up it seems.

[OutdoorLover]

This news from Germany and their vaccine progress - "Germany has more than 1 million unused doses sitting in storage — partly because people are reluctant to take them. Once hailed for its coronavirus response, Germany has administered just 15 percent of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine it has received, the country's health ministry said in a briefing Wednesday."

So Germany may actually be more screwed up than we are.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/g...orage-n1258855

[redplum33]

"The restrictions would allow about 2,000 fans at basketball and hockey games at T.D. Garden, about 4,500 spectators at Fenway, and about 7,900 people for a football game at Gillette."

Boston sports fans allowed back in the stands next month

[rach5]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

This news from Germany and their vaccine progress - "Germany has more than 1 million unused doses sitting in storage — partly because people are reluctant to take them. Once hailed for its coronavirus response, Germany has administered just 15 percent of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine it has received, the country's health ministry said in a briefing Wednesday."

So Germany may actually be more screwed up than we are.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/g...orage-n1258855

I think people's concern is that AZ was pretty much found ineffective against the South African variant in one study (I seem to remember 10% effectiveness). https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/w...nited%20States.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by rach5

I think people's concern is that AZ was pretty much found ineffective against the South African variant in one study (I seem to remember 10% effectiveness). https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/w...nited%20States.

Disclaimer that I am not really on top of the B.1.351 performance, but from what I know anyway (1) There hasn't been a lot of rigorous testing against B.1.351, and (2) what they've found so far is that all the vaccines are less effective against it.

So this isn't an actual efficacy trial, but here is a simple study on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against B.1.351. "Researchers tested the engineered virus against blood taken from people who had been given the vaccine, and found a two- thirds reduction in the level of neutralizing antibodies compared with its effect on the most common version of the virus prevalent in U.S. trials."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN2AH2VG

For what it's worth, I think both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech are working on follow-on shots that will provide better protection against B.1.351, and for now, I think the prevalence of B.1.351 is still fairly low in the US and Europe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zOt6E206GI

For my part, I'd take what they have for now and look to get something else later. It's not like getting vaccinated is a big deal when weighed against the potential issues if you become a patient, it's basically an errand vs a significant risk of death or debilitating complications. I just don't get these people who want to opt out.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by rach5

I wish they'd hold off until at least the high risk populations have received at least one vaccination...

They are waiting until a month from now. I estimated from the census that there are 1.5M 65+ in Mass, and 480k have already gotten one shot. That number being doubled by March 22nd seems realistic. The Red Sox would need some lead time to hire the staff they would need.