Day 75 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

The vaccine is here…or is it?

Tuesday. 10/10/20

Are we really supposed to believe Big Pharma [Pfizer] when they say a Covid-19 vaccine is ready and 90% effective? 41,000 people were divided into two groups, one group given the placebo and one given the vaccine. Then, they’re turned loose into society to see who gets the virus? And only 94 people contracted Covid-19? Is it just me, or does this sound incredibly unscientific? None of these results are published and there are no peer reviews thus far. Of course, the stock market jumped. What a surprise.

What if the majority of the 41,000 were actually quarantining or sheltering in place during this time period, depending on which state they reside in? What if the 41,000 people were “turned loose” into society, but really didn’t go anywhere? Regular citizens in blue states are wearing masks, social distancing, and generally following the rules - maybe their risks of contracting Covid-19 are already low so, yeah, only 94 people out of 41,000 in a California trial would really have nothing to do with the potency of the vaccine. Where do the 41,000 people live? A sample group of Republicans would be a better choice to test vaccine efficacy. ‘Trumpers’ never mask or practice social distance. Did you see Thom Tillis at the Rose Garden super spreader event? He was hugging everybody - it was disgusting - and then he caught the ‘rona.’

Another more accurate test would be to inject 41,000 college students with the vaccine and then turn THEM loose on campuses, so they can attend Covid-19 parties where the virus runs rampant. Seriously, the majority of super spreader events occur at meat-packing plants, cruise ships, college campuses, prisons, and the White House Rose Garden. We need to deploy the 41,000 participants in these settings.

Also, what is NOT sufficiently addressed in the media is the fact that the Pfizer vaccine is a TWO-dose vaccine, that must be spaced three weeks apart. Remember the 3-shot series for Hep. B? Most people don’t bother returning for Hep B shots 2 and 3, thereby rendering the vaccine useless. What a logistical nightmare!! So, first you have to vaccinate 330 million people, then 330 million people have to return three weeks later for their second vaccination. L. can’t even get an appointment for a pelvic exam without waiting 6 months.

In the case of the Covid-19 vaccine, due to our fucked-up health care system, many Americans will try to report for Shot no. 2 during the 3-week period only to be told there are no available appointments. Then, they will have to start the process all over again. Think about it - when’s the last time you were able to make a routine doctor’s appointment within a 3-week period? Try never. Everybody knows that if you’re sick or need medication, you have to report to Urgent Care or the ER.

Finally, the vaccine is unstable at room temperature and has to be kept at MINUS 118 Fahrenheit at all times!!! If this were a private sector enterprise like, say, Blue Apron or Hello Fresh, where meat is packed on ice and successfully delivered to the customer, STILL COLD and ready to prepare for dinner the evening you receive it, then, yeah, I would be inclined to think that it’s possible to store and deliver a vaccine in the same way. I might have a little faith in this program. BUT, this is our federal government!!! Or, state governments, depending on how this program will be run. What did Ronald Reagan say? “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” The American public doesn’t stand a chance.

Fauci says the vaccine will be coming in January. Uh-huh…this is the same person who said “China is handling the virus and it won’t cross our borders” AND “Don’t bother wearing a mask - it’s not necessary.” On two of the most important aspects of this entire pandemic fiasco, Fauci called it wrong. Why are we still listening to this guy? And that goes for the CDC and the WHO.

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7:15-8:00 - I wake up to my alarm. Shower. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up.

8:00-8:30 - Downstairs and I take the dog outside, then grab a few gardening tools and clean out the fountain. It was clogged with leaves - the birds were having problems bathing in it as there was not enough water. Done and I quickly go inside. Cheese for the dog and coffee for me. I go to work.

8:30-10:30 - Only one class this morning and it’s a short lecture, followed by a documentary. I post the Discussion Board and catch up with attendance. I continue working on my script for the module I’m designing for Thursday’s class.

-A student emails me, upset that he didn’t have time to complete the chapter review quiz yesterday. It was posted from 9:30-10:05, but the student says he needs to listen to the Audio Lectures TWICE in order to be fully prepared for the 10-question, multiple-choice quiz. He asks me to open the quiz for him so he can take it now. No.

I inform the student that the chapter review quizzes are designed to be completed in 15-minutes; however, I give the students an extra 15-minute cushion, for a total of 30 minutes, which is plenty of time to complete the quiz. I remind him that this is a “synchronous” class which means course content is posted in real time, adding that if we were actually meeting in a classroom, I would A) Lecture, then B) Distribute a chapter review quiz. I explain that, BC - Before Covid - instructors never gave the same lecture twice, during the same class period, and it’s the same concept with virtual instruction.

HOWEVER, I add that yesterday’s lecture was only 40 minutes and this is a 90-minute class. I inform him that, conceivably, he actually COULD have listened to lecture twice and still had 10 minutes to complete the chapter review quiz. Sidebar: I know he did NOT replay lecture because he was probably late to class and started listening to lecture after 9:00 instead of when class started at 8:30. I don’t hear from him again.

-The “dumbest student I’ve ever taught’ is one of two students who does NOT have Netflix and are unable to watch the assigned documentary. No matter - I have an alternative assignment for these two, consisting of a podcast and a podcast quiz. I send the link to both students and the normal one starts listening to the podcast immediately. The “dumbest student I’ve ever taught” begins emailing me erratically, again in the form of garbled text messages, except this is email, saying that the link doesn’t work. I know this is wrong because I’m actually listening to the podcast right now.

I send him the link to the podcast over and over again, saying in each email, “This email marks the 2nd [3rd, 4th, 5th] time I have provided you with the link to the podcast.” The student then starts requesting the podcast quiz and the same thing occurs - I send him the podcast quiz again and again, saying in each email, “This email marks the 2nd [3rd, 4th, etc.] time that I have provided you with the podcast quiz.” This goes on from 8:30-10:05. The last five minutes of class, the “dumbest student I’ve ever taught” confirms receipt of both the link and the podcast quiz. He will have to finish the assignment for homework.

The other student? He finished listening to the podcast and submitted the answers to the quiz by 9:30. Score = 10.

Class is over, thank god.

10:00-10:45 - I continue working on my “script” [lecture] for Thursday’s class. TOMORROW is Veteran’s Day and it’s the first day off that I’ve had in 4 weeks, since my 8-week accelerated class began. I will NOT do work tomorrow during the hours of 8:00-5:00. I’m planning a nice day for myself and I’m pretty excited about it - I have a few ideas. Of course, I’m stil honoring our veterans in spirit…

I check the Huntington for tomorrow and there are no reservations available!! Will I ever get to go to the Huntington? OMG - this keeps happening.

10:45 - I leave for my therapy appointment. I have some apple slices and almond butter in the car.

11:00 - 11:30 - Ok, so I have a 25-minute therapy appointment. I mask, my therapist doesn’t, and she sits approximately 12 feet away. Seriously, her chair is at the door and I’m on the couch, against the wall, all the way across the room. There is no ventilation, however. No open windows, no fan, nothing.

At 11:10, she starts COUGHING. First she coughs into a paper towel, citing allergies. She drinks some water. She coughs again and decides to put on one of those basic, blue surgical masks because she can’t stop coughing!! She has never masked before so this is a concern. We continue talking, but she starts coughing again and dons a more heavy-duty mask that covers her entire face to just below the eyes, still coughing. She pulls her mask down several times to drink water and says, again, that her allergies are acting up.

I start mentally calculating the rates of infection as indicated by the article from Spain, in the El Paiz newspaper that I referenced in an earlier blog. In a regular bar or restaurant, if one patron is infected and the rest of the patrons are WEARING MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING, in 2 to 4 hours, at least one customer will STILL contract the virus IF there is no ventilation, no open doors or windows, etc. I’m masked, now she is, but there is no ventilation in this room. We are 12 feet apart, however, and I’m only there for 25 minutes, thus reducing the potential viral load….Horrified, I’m certain I’m going to get sick and this realization has plagued me for several days.

I leave my session, greatly unsettled. I’m not sure if I should start quarantining now, wait for symptoms…I don’t know what to do. But, I was, and remain, very upset.

11:30-12:00 - Return home and I start hosing down the astroturf.

12:30 - B. texts that he is enroute for our coffee date.

1:00- 5:00 - B arrives. Although I said I didn’t need Starbucks, he brought coffee anyway, which is much appreciated. We talk politics and then B. goes over his notes from my combined Chapter 13/14 lecture that he listened to on his walk the other day. As stated earlier, B. is an excellent student.

L. leaves to go to R.’s house.

5:00 - 6:00 - B. leaves and I prepare a feast for myself, with my mashed sweet potatoes, pork chop, and the salad that I made last night. I take everything upstairs and have a glass of champagne with dinner. it’s an excellent dinner and I eat until I’m stuffed, while I read Money Diaries.

6:00-10:00 - I finish my script for Thursday’s lecture, which includes designing/creating the PP slides. I send the PP slides to L. so she can format them into Google slides.

L. returns from R.’s house.

10:30-12:30 - I prepare audio clips to play between the slides I created for lecture. I’ve selected three semi-short podcasts to embed into lecture and I think they’ll be PERFECT supplementary material.

12:00-2:30 - I record lecture. It’s a long one. As I play the podcasts during lecture, I design the accompanying chapter review quiz.

2:30 - 4:00 - I’m finished!!! I think this is the best lecture ever!! Instead of just musical clips between the slides, I’ve inserted brief poems about immigration, read by various poets. It’s gonna be great! Unfortunately, I’m exhausted, but I’m OFF tomorrow - I don’t have to wake up at 7:30!!! Yay!

Night time ritual. Bed.