Day 3 - Teachers are eligible for the vaccine.

Waiting for the J&J vaccine…

I don’t get it. When Moderna and Pfizer were conducting their vaccine trials, I made the point that these studies were problematic in previous blog posts. I’m not a scientist but I noted that, in my opinion, the sample size was flawed and that location was everything when it came to determining the efficacy of the vaccine. The studies worked like this: Several thousand people were given the vaccine and several thousand people were given a placebo. Then, they were told to go out and live their lives while Big Pharma processed the data.

I felt it mattered where the participants resided. What if a significant portion of the people in the trial were living in California, for example, where a mask mandate has been in effect for a year? Or, what if a majority of the placebo group were living in Georgia, where there was no mask mandate and Covid-19 cases were spiking? When I proffered my opinion to those in the medical community they assured me that the vaccine trials were scientifically sound and this is the way studies are conducted.

Enter Johnson and Johnson. With just 73% effectiveness, J&J, with it’s one dose fits all and regular refrigerator storage, is at the back of the pack when compared to Moderna and Pfizer, with their 90%/95% efficacy rates, respectively. And yet, nobody in the J&J trial had to go to the hospital and nobody died. What I don’t understand is the new narrative trickling out of the medical community wherein they state, “Well, J&J is probably just as effective as Moderna and Pfizer because J&J’s study started TWO months AFTER Moderna/Pfizer’s trial, when Covid cases were really spiking, so J&J is just as good.”

Isn’t this what I’ve been saying all along? That where the individuals resided when they participated in the vaccine study matters? That it also matters whether or not the participants were in a masking state/locality or a non-masking state/locality? Now, the medical “scientists” are saying that it actually mattered WHEN the trials were conducted. Here is the most important question of the day: If J&J might actually have BETTER than 75% efficacy, doesn’t that mean Moderna/Pfizer might actually be worse than the 95% they touted? After all, their trial was done at a time when Covid wasn’t raging through the community like it was when J&J unleashed its participants. HOWEVER, the medical community refuses to “go there.” The CDC and WHO continue to hype up J&J - “Don’t worry, J&J is probably just as effective as Moderna and Pfizer…oh…Moderna and Pfizer efficacy? Uh…you know what?…they’re all good…get any vaccine you can…” But they won’t “hype-down” Moderna and Pfizer.

If nobody in the J&J study was hospitalized or died AND you only need ONE dose of the J&J vaccine, why on earth would I opt for a 2-dose vaccine, with a shelf life of 2 days, that makes you so sick you’re bedridden the second time it’s administered? I say again, “What’s in that second dose? And why does it make everyone so sick?” I happen to think that J&J is probably on par with Moderna/Pfizer. College No. 1 has ordered Instructors to return to the classroom in August. I’m going to hold out for the J&J vaccine as long as I can.

3/3/21. Wednesday.

8:30-9:15 - I’m up so I go downstairs to greet the animal. She’s still asleep, but rolls over so I can rub her tummy. I pat her three times, she gets her toy, and outside we go. It’s going to rain, so I bring in my patio cushions. The dog goes potty and we return inside: chicken for her treat, coffee for me. Kitchen duty. L. left dishes in the sink last night.

9:15-9:30 - I check my DE class and the Anonymous Grader rejected my Syllabus assignment, but approved my Discussion Board assignment. The bad news is I have to make changes to the Syllabus and resubmit; the good news is I’m able to move forward to Module 11, for the next assignment.

It appears that the Anonymous Grader only reviews assignments on Wednesdays.

9:30-9:45 - I check email at College No. 2. Nothing important.

9:45-10:30 - Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up.

10:30-10:45 - I check my French Cinema class for the next assignment. My teacher put the class into two groups. Group #1 has to answer a prompt about Au Revoir Les Enfantes and post their response to the Discussion Board. Then, Group #2 is supposed to respond to two students. The only problem is I can’t figure out which Group I’m in. Where is this even posted? I check the FAQ section and two other students posted the same question with no response. I “second that”, then email my teacher. This is confusing…

10:45 - 3:30 - B. arrives with coffee, croissant, and donuts. We talk politics and have a “deep dive” discussion about a podcast series we both listened to separately, To Live and Die in LA.

-L. leaves for work. She says she’ll be home around 7:00.

3:30 - B. leaves with plans to return at 6:00.

3:45-6:00 - I work on my DE Syllabus re-submission. The Anonymous Grader wants me to add a “Netiquette” section to the Syllabus [proper etiquette on the internet] and I also have to post the Syllabus to a Canvas “Page”, NOT a Canvas “File” which is where I had originally posted my Syllabus. It wasn’t good enough for the Anonymous Grader. It’s impossible to cut-and-paste the Syllabus into a “Page” and I have to insert it line by line, which takes forever.

I finish just in time before B. returns.

6:00-8:00 - I boil some eggs and have the last piece of L.’s avocado bread. B. returns with a huge burrito which I refuse to eat. Cocktail hour!!! and B. and I talk politics.

-L. returns from work and comments that B. and I haven’t moved from the kitchen the entire day. She doesn’t realize he left at 3:00 and is back.

8:30-12:00 - B. and I go upstairs for TV time. I’m anxious to resubmit my Syllabus assignment - maybe the Anonymous Grader will check the DE class tomorrow, too??? - and ask L. when she’s available, since she has to screen shot the revisions, save them to a Google link, and then post the link to the DE text box. This task will take around 15 minutes.

L. says she cannot spare 15 minutes for me until midnight - it’s 8:00 p.m. now. I can’t quite believe she is not available until midnight, but what can I do?

-B. and I watch Episode 5 of The Investigation (The Submarine Case) and then I propose Promising Young Woman. B. likes it.

12:00 - 1:00 - B. leaves and I’m too exhausted to knock on L.’s door and ask her to air drop the Syllabus assignment for me. Night time routine. Bed.