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The Delta Variant

by SK-B | Health

I superficially looked at the CDC site, and learned 2 things about delta:

1. CDC sayszz the Delta Variant is one and a half times as contagious as Alpha (which I understand is the first new iteration after original Covid-19. What they mean is that if a person infected with Alpha would (under a particular set of circumstances) infect 2 additional persons; then a person infected with Delta, under the same set of circumstances, would infect 3 people. (Of course a major epidemic management goal would be to get the that number down to .9 or less.).

Only 55.8% In Windham County Are Fully Vaccinated, Says CDC

by cgrotke | Health

According to the CDC’s website, 64.4% of the total population of Windham County has had at least one does of a COVID vaccine.  55.8% are fully vaccinated.

Keep this in mind as we crow about Vermont’s high vaccination rates.  We haven’t hit 70% in Windham County yet. We’re much closer to “half way there” than the “almost 100%” people like to assume.

An Open Letter To The Unvaccinated

by RDavis | Health

If you are choosing to not get the COVID vaccine then you need to accept complete responsibility for your behavior. That means acknowledging the fact that you may be responsible for the suffering and death of others. It means that you should make an effort to keep away from other people while you wear a mask. But your selfish behavior has made it clear you will not make the effort to protect others.

American society is putting a lot of effort and money into trying to convince the unvaccinated to get the shot, but those efforts are resulting in less than adequate outcomes. The time has come to give up on the unvaccinated and start punishing them for putting the rest of us in danger.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

by Lise | Health, Nature

It’s an ill wind that blows no good…  Just kidding. As most of us are probably aware, there’s been a lot of smoke in the air recently, although what zephyr it blew in on I have no idea.  We noticed it last night around sunset, and by the time we went to bed, we could see this strange fog enveloping the area, detectable even in the dark.  The trees seemed really distant, we could only see one star, and when a car drove by, there was complete white-out and all the trees disappeared.  Although the National Weather Service forecast was calling it “haze,” it seemed pretty smoky to me.

This morning, it cleared off, but after noon, it rolled back in like gangbusters.  I was surprised to discover that not only can you see the smoke, you can smell and taste it too. I even noticed my eyes burning which is normal if you’re in a smoky environment, but frankly, you just don’t expect to be in a smoky environment as a result of a fire 2500 miles away.  

Cutting to the chase, it’s worth noting that for this afternoon at least, out air quality puts us in an Orange zone as indicated on the EPA air quality web page; this means “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.  If you cross the river to NH or drive over to NY, the adjacent areas there are Red zones — which is simply “unheathy air.” You can see the regions highlighted on the map at the link below.

Minority Rules in Government and COVID

by RDavis | Health

It’s bad enough that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his band of idol-worshipping Trumpies are controlling much of what goes on in congress, but many of their supporters around the country are also in control of the course of COVID.

Federal politics has always been less than representative of the will of the people and that kind of imbalance has increased over the last few years. Even though Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate they have great difficulty passing any significant legislation because of issues like the filibuster and the need for 60 votes for bill passage. This situation has all but crippled the body politic and it will continue for the foreseeable future.

That future is starting to look at little grimmer when it comes to COVID in this country. A minority of Americans are determining the course of COVID because of their refusal to get vaccinated. The unvaccinated are not a monolithic group but it seems clear that states that lean Republican and places that have bought into the Trump lies have the lowest vaccination rates.

Why Don’t We See More Masks?

by RDavis | Health

Engaging in usual forms of commerce makes one believe that the pandemic is a thing of the past. I find it extremely frightening that more people are not wearing masks in public because the science does tell us that not enough people have been vaccinated to provide the kind of herd immunity that we might need to protect all of us.

Fifty four percent of the U.S. population has received a first dose of vaccine and 47% have received a second dose. That means that as you go about your daily business about half of the people you see should be wearing masks. Of course, the vaccination numbers vary by state. Vermont has a vaccination rate of 82% for a first dose and 75% for a second dose. Massachusetts is at 70% for a first dose and 61% for a second dose.

Even with those numbers we still should see a quarter to a half of the people we engage with on a daily basis wearing masks. It is just not happening. Most places, as well as the CDC, have lifted mask restrictions for vaccinated people and have let the unvaccinated rely on their conscience to do the right thing.
Guess what? It ain’t working. The daily numbers of new COVID cases and deaths are declining but more than 600,000 Americans have died from the disease and it has become clear that most of the recent deaths are in people who have not been vaccinated.

Brattleboro Heat Advisory Notice

by Not Signed In | Health

 The Town of Brattleboro urges everyone to drink plenty of water, wear light clothing, and stay out of the heat as much as possible during the current heat wave. 

People who need some cool air can visit the Senior Center at the Gibson Aiken Center (207 Main Street), Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main Street), the Central Fire Station (103 Elliot Street), or the West Brattleboro Fire Station (16 South Street). 

Town of Brattleboro COVID Update June 4, 2021

by Not Signed In | Health

” WHAT IS NEW TODAY 

• Effective today, the Selectboard has terminated the Townwide emergency order that required face coverings to be worn inside all facilities (public, private, and non-profit) where the public is invited. Individual organizations and building owners can still require face coverings at their own facilities. 

The Town of Brattleboro thanks everyone for complying with the Townwide “mask order” during the 54 weeks that it was in effect. 

• The public may now enter the Gibson Aiken Center without an appointment. 

The number of spectators is still limited for indoor programs. Masks are still required at all times while in the building. 

• At this time, masks are still required inside all Town of Brattleboro government facilities. “

To Mask Or Not To Mask

by RDavis | Health

Many of us have been wearing masks for over a year and have looked forward to the day when our faces could be on full public display. The Coronavirus is showing signs of receding, at least in this country, and vaccination numbers are increasing.

The CDC has said that fully vaccinated people can do away with masks in most public places and that they do not need to social distance. Exceptions include public transportation such as buses, airplanes and hospitals.

The new CDC guidelines are confusing a lot of people as well as states and municipalities.

Close Your Mouth And Take A Deep Breath

by RDavis | Health

Breathing is something most of us don’t think about very much. It just happens and we take breathing for granted because we haven’t been educated enough about how breathing affects the functioning of our body, except when we are not breathing.

I recently read a book titled Breath by James Nestor and it has caused me to make some small changes in my life and to be more thoughtful about how I breath. In the introduction to his book Nestor says, “This book is a scientific adventure into the lost art and science of breathing. It explores the transformation that occurs inside our bodies every 3.3 seconds, the time it takes the average person to inhale and exhale. It explains how the billions and billions of molecules you bring in with each breath have built your bones, sheaths of muscle, blood, brains, and organs, and the emerging science of how these microscopic bits will influence your health and happiness tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and decades from now.”

When Should I Stop Updating COVID Regional Dashboards?

by cgrotke | Health

Are the daily summaries still useful to you? The numbers are going down in general, but they aren’t at zero and new variants are making their way through the system. When should I stop summarizing the data?

I was thinking that perhaps if we hit zero cases in Vermont for 5 days in a row, that could be a signal to call it quits. But NH still has a pretty high transmission rate (around 3%), and MA isn’t at zero yet, either though their numbers have impressively declined.

What say ye? Let me know what you’d like…

No One Is Protected Until We Are All Protected

by RDavis | Health

Americans and others in the wealthiest countries may only have temporary protection against COVID unless there is more of a worldwide effort to vaccinate people in poorer countries. The science tells us that the longer the virus thrives and is able to mutate in countries with low vaccination rates the more the character of the pandemic changes.

The U.S. and other wealthy countries have hoarded millions of doses of vaccine and that has proven to be a very short-sighted way to deal with a pandemic. There are few places on the globe not affected by COVID and that means that we have to accept the fact that control of the virus depends on global cooperation. The needed level of cooperation has been slow to evolve.

A New Effort To Lower Prescription Drug Prices

by RDavis | Health

Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced two bills in the Senate that would lower the cost of prescription drugs. Here’s a part of the press release his office issued on March 23. “Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Ro Khanna, (D-Calif.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Cori Bush (D-Mo.), along with more than two dozen colleagues, on Tuesday introduced sweeping legislation to drastically reduce the cost of prescription drugs in the United States. The package of bills includes: The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act to peg the price of prescription drugs in the United States to the median price in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan; The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs under Medicare Part D; and The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act to allow patients, pharmacists and wholesalers to import safe, affordable medicine from Canada and other major countries.

Nursing Home Selectivity

by RDavis | Health

Nursing homes are the kind of places that care for the sickest and most vulnerable among us. That is certainly true and, for the most part, these facilities do an excellent job of caring, comforting and maximizing the potential of their residents.

But there is one area of nursing home policy that has always bothered me and when I talk to people about it they are surprised unless they have had experience with the rules around admission and discharge.

Nursing homes interview patients before admission to make sure they can provide the proper care for a potential resident. That is a standard process and it protects both the patient and the facility. There are times when admission is not appropriate and when that happens families end up in a state of chaos.

Growing Old Is Not For Sissies

by RDavis | Health

As we age our bodies, with few exceptions, start wearing out. Every creature lives and dies and in between those two ends they age. Some of us are able to accept aging better than others but no matter our outlook, we all have to deal with bodily changes that annoy and pain us.

As parts wear out such as knees and hips it can become a matter of choosing the right time to replace them now that we have the technology and expertise available to us. Most people that choose to have new knees and hips are happy with the outcome and they are able to get on with their lives much easier with less pain and greater mobility. Those are the relatively easy aging body parts to deal with.