2 COVID Vaccines Approved, End to Pandemic in Sight??

[dfrecore]

AstraZeneca announced their vaccine is 90% effective.  AstraZeneca expects to have up to 200 million doses ready by the end of 2020.

I'm leaning towards taking one of these vaccines myself.  However, I do have an open mind looking at the safety of these vaccines.  Your life is back to normal once you take this vaccine.  There are no more mask-wearing or worrying about getting your loved ones sick, which is going to make the vaccine quite tempting.  But by the time there is a vaccine available for us regular people to take, this COVID outbreak will probably be almost over.  I wouldn't be surprised if new COVID cases drop below 10k per day by Feb 1, 2021.  I'll be tracking the data on sites such as https://rt.live/

Qantas Airlines announced all passengers would need to be vaccinated before boarding international flights.  I expect other airlines to follow suit.  A lot of countries likely won't let people in without proof of having received a vaccine.  If companies start to require their workers to be vaccinated, too, it may become a de facto law to be vaccinated in the U.S.

A lot of my family work from home so getting together is less risky.  However, given we're in a red zone, so this isn't the best idea. It will be warm this Thanksgiving, so there an opportunity for outdoor activities, which is a lot safer.  This virus isn't just about dying or not dying.  It's about a long recovery time and possible long-term permanent damage to your health.

New hospitalizations are skyrocketing. It’s going to take 4-7 days before most people start showing symptoms after Thanksgiving and then another week before they need to go to the hospital.  The problem we have now is every place in the country is having a surge, so you can't just shift around resources.  Hospitals are nearing the breaking point.

God help us.

Be safe, everyone, this Thanksgiving holiday.

Overall in the US, 8% of all hospitalizations are covid, and % of total hospital beds being utilized is 63%.  We also don't know what's normal for this time of year during a non-covid year, so it's really hard to say if 63% is high, low or average.  But it's certainly not "nearing the breaking point."