I hope everyone is healthy and safe, regardless of where you live.
I am on the verge of being fully vaccinated! I am scheduled to get my second dose next Sunday. I look forward to being fully vaccinated, even if there are certain public health precautions I should follow even after vaccination. Next week, I will make sure to give a full report of how the second dose went and how I felt after the shot.
Thankfully I have not heard of any other deaths of friends of friends, friends of family, colleagues of family, etc. in the past week, so that is nice for a change. I know that a couple of my COVID update posts recently have been on the sorrowful side, so it’s nice not to have tonight’s post be on the sorrowful side as well.
In other positive news, the hospital closest to where I live is under somewhat less stress from COVID now than it was a number of weeks ago. While a significant number of hospital beds and ICU beds are still taken up by COVID patients, those numbers are not as high as they were several months ago. To give my readers a contrast of how much things have changed in this regard, at one point nearly 80% of ICU beds were taken up by COVID patients at the hospital closest to where I live,[1] but now that number is down to 43%.[2]
The test positivity rate in my part of New York City is 7.9%, which is slightly down from where the test positivity rate was at this point last week. People continue to get vaccinated, but with my neighborhood’s numbers the way that they are, and with my city’s numbers the way that they are (test positivity rate is just above 6%), it’s a reminder that COVID is still very much going around.
One disclaimer I should add to this post is that the situation I’m reporting on is the situation in New York City, and in my part of New York City, at that. What may be the case where I live is not necessarily the case nationwide in the United States. I offer this reminder as I hear about parts of the United States going through yet another wave of this virus.
I’m more than happy to hear how my readers are doing. Hopefully everyone else is staying healthy!
[1] https://blindinjusticeblog.com/2021/02/18/coronavirus-update-from-new-york-city-february-18-2021/
Blind Injustice 
Hey Brendan. Glad to hear that you’re on to your second shot and things are calm. Here in British Columbia we’re experiencing spikes and a third wave. Travel (even within our own province) is for essential purposes only and the numbers are climbing in ICU and death. It’s just crazy. Basically near back to lock down. Heavy sigh. Stay safe. This isn’t over yet.
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Nope, this is not over yet. I’m sorry to hear that you all are going through another spike, as well. Do you know what variant is ravaging you all? For awhile, it was a UK variant that slammed my part of the United States.
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I believe it’s the variant from India that is currently causing issues. But that being said there seems to be new ones all the time.
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Yeah, there are new variants all the time, with any disease. The variant from India seems pretty scary though.
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yeah. The whole thing is exhausting and disheartening. I guess the one main positive is that the weather is getting better and it’s nice to sit outside. Take Care Brendan.
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I had my second dose 12 days ago and so far no side effects at all… not even a sore arm. Washington state is going into its 4th wave now, but my little town up in the corner of the state has had very few cases, compared to Seattle. But I’m still wearing my mask and staying as much as possible.
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I’m glad you had no side effects from even the second dose. That gives me hope as I prepare to take my second dose on Sunday.
Also, it’s smart of you to continue wearing your mask. With all these variants, it’s important to be cautious like that in case the vaccines aren’t effective against one of these variants.
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That’s great news Brendan! My husband and I are getting our second shots on Tuesday.☺️
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Yay! That’s great news!
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My mum was just asking me about how’s America going. Because I have this blog and some friends in the US, and I said “I don’t actually know” lol
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Yeah. Another thing to keep in mind if your mum asks that question is that America’s a really big place (though Australia is slightly larger than the lower 48 states–1.2% larger), so what the situation may be in one part of the country is going to be different from how it is in another part of the country.
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True!
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