Mom recently got her COVID-19 vaccine and had a fever for a week. I'm still pro-science and pro-vaccine, but seeing how much media is being pushed to emphasize the safety of getting vaccinated, I feel like they weren't completely forthright about the severity of the potential side effects. I can even see why some people are saying that the vaccine gives you the virus. I'm sure it wasn't COVID, but the side effects were similar to the symptoms of the virus and could be misinterpreted as such. I'm already nervous about her getting the second dose, because I hear the second one is harsher than the first and the side effects this time around were already so intense. Oh well, if her sensitivity to the vaccine is this bad, maybe she would be even more sensitive to COVID, so this is still the less dangerous option.
My brother also got his first dose. He'd been wanting one for awhile since he works a front-line job, and he hasn't had any side effects. I think he's the last person in my circle to get the vaccine, but apparently only about 45% of Canadians have received their first dose. Crazy that over half of Canadians still don't have it, but everyone I know does. I even know some people with both doses. Must just be the circles I run in.
Most of the people I know have gotten the Moderna vaccine, but apparently Pfizer is most common, and we'll be leaning mostly on that going forward. China's developed the Coronavac, I think better known as Sinovac, and Russia's developed Sputnik V. Everybody's disparaging each other's vaccines nowadays, saying that they don't work. I don't know why. I hope that everyone's vaccines work.
Sputnik V has the funniest name though, because "sput" sounds like "spud", which means potato, and it's from Russia, and vodka is made from potatoes. I had a Russian studies class when I was in university too, and learned some classical Russian medical practices, including the use of vodka presses.
Canada is developing its own home-grown vaccine, Medicago, but it's only in phase 2 clinical trials. At the earliest it won't be ready until later this summer, after most people have received their first dose. We're not mixing vaccines at this time, so what's the point? Apparently we might put it toward countries that are still in need of vaccines, which isn't so bad.
I was disappointed to learn that looking at efficacy rates for vaccines is fairly unreliable. The reason for this is that the way trials are done is by having some number of people take a vaccine, an equal number take a placebo, and then have them integrate into a community that is known to contain the virus. From then on, they keep track of who gets sick and how sick they get. This is how they rate the level of efficacy.
The unknown factor is how much of the virus is present in the community. For example, Pfizer and Moderna have some of the highest efficacy rates, whereas AstraZeneca has been held under scrutiny with a much lower rate. However, Pfizer and Moderna held their clinical trials in a time and place where the rate of COVID was much smaller than when AstraZeneca conducted there's. I'm not saying AstraZeneca is as good as Pfizer or Moderna, but it's not accurate to compare them based on their efficacy rates at face value. Somehow, I thought these clinical trials were being held in a controlled environment, consistent across all vaccine trials. I guess that would ignore a lot of human rights.
India's COVID rates are spiking fiercely nowadays. During the first wave, I speculated how they could be doing as well as they were, considering their high population and population density. Well, it looks like it did get to them eventually. Despite having a comparable number of total cases, their deaths per million rate is still only a fraction of the US or Brazil's, due to the sheer number of people living there.
If anyone's COVID numbers are suspect, it's Tajikistan's. They have the highest number of total cases to have fully recovered. Their trajectory during the first wave was pretty standard, but at one time, their numbers tapered away and just... stopped, and they declared themselves to have eradicated COVID. This is despite the fact that they haven't reported any special measures taken against the virus, and their neighbors all report cases. This goes to show you that, just like vaccine efficacy, COVID tracking by nation can't be taken at face value.
Alberta's COVID rates have become worse than Ontario or Quebec's, who previously had the highest numbers. I've got to be honest, when I imagine Alberta, I picture wide open plains, not necessarily conducive to viral spread. They do have Edmonton though, which is a large urban city.
I recently got some masks from Old Navy and they really are superior to the five-pack Hannes brand I got from Walmart that I've been using. The ear straps are adjustable and generally just gentler than what I've been using. Plus, my Walmart masks were all a solid black, and set against my nearly black beard, so they just made it look like my facial hair was covering my mouth. I have a number of new patterns that show up well against my beard. I bought a pack of warm colours and a pack of cool ones, so I can match to what I'm wearing. I have solids of both warm and cool, as well as plaids. Probably my most fun mask is one with anchors on it, and my tackiest is blue camo.
Masks are now not just utility, but also fashion. I remember taking an uber, and the driver was dressed exceptionally well, but he was wearing a red plaid mask which clashed with the rest of his attire. I noticed.
We finally got through the last bag of oats and capellini pasta (the only pasta left after all the others were panic-bought) that I got while supply shopping during the first wave. We finally got through the rice I had pre-COVID and got into that giant sack of rice I was so proud to get. Obviously I've been eating things other than first wave rations, but still, other than rice, I've run down my initial stock.
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