COVID19 Update - Day 269

US Tests: 173,432,900*

US Cases: 14,146,191*

US Deaths: 269,791*

Worldwide Cases: 65,842,942*

Worldwide Deaths: 1,518,560*

* - Numbers are a lower bound.  True numbers are being suppressed by the Trump administration

How does one date during a pandemic? A friend of mine asked me this question recently.

My answer: Agonizingly.

Take for example this weekend, when once again I was planning to spend the weekend with my girlfriend at my place.  And for the second time in as many weekends, I'm sitting home alone writing my sad, pathetic blog.

Where did I go wrong this time?  Well, two things went wrong, actually.  For one thing, I got a stinking cold.  Again.  At least, I'm pretty sure it's just (another) mild cold.  But because it *could* be the #TrumpVirus, I had to go and get tested.  Again.  Only this time, it seemed like they kept the swab pressed against my brain for something like four or five hours.  Of course if I'm lucky, I'll get a negative result back sometime tomorrow, and I can see my sweetie after all.

But our plans were already wrecked even before that happened, because my son came home from college last Wednesday (the 25th) for Thanksgiving.  And we all knew there was some risk there --- recall that one of his roommates tested positive earlier in the fall --- but after the first couple of days back, it seemed like maybe everything would be okay.

But then on Black Friday, we learned that his OTHER roommate had tested positive.  And even though my son tested negative with a rapid test on Saturday, my girlfriend still wanted to wait almost 2 full weeks before once again sharing a bubble.  And I don't blame her --- as I mentioned a few days ago, rapid tests are practically useless when testing someone who is asymptomatic, like my son.

The upshot being, instead of spending a fun evening in one another's arms, cuddling on the couch and watching The Good Place (she's never seen it), we instead met in the parking lot of a Chipotle, ordered takeout, and then each sat in our individual cars and talked to each other via speakerphone before putting on our masks and spending a couple of hours walking around a lake while maintaining a more-or-less 6 foot separation the whole time.  No, we did not hold hands, not even while wearing gloves.

*sigh*

At least the silver lining is, thanks to my cold and subsequent #TrumpVirus test, we MAY end up cuddling this weekend after all.

And when can I get the goddamn vaccine, anyway?  I addressed this question last week, but the New York Times published some answers a couple of days ago which I like better, so let's take a look at those:

January: Keep in mind that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require a second dose a few weeks later to be effective. So an initial batch of 40 million doses would be enough to vaccinate only 20 million people.

By early next year, Pfizer and Moderna are likely to be able to ship about 70 million doses per month, Moncef Slaoui, a top federal vaccine official, told The Washington Post yesterday. People will likely receive the shots at doctor’s offices, hospitals and pharmacies, as well as at specially created clinics in some places, my colleague Katie Thomas says.

February and March: The next priority groups are likely to be people over the age of 65 (and especially those over 75); people with medical conditions that put them at risk of death if infected; and essential workers, like those in education, food, transportation and law enforcement.

One exception to this second wave of vaccine recipients may be people who have already had the virus, making them immune from it for at least some period of time.

If other companies in addition to Pfizer and Moderna receive approval for their vaccines, the total number shipped each month could reach 150 million by March, Slaoui said.

April, May and June: The most likely scenario is that even people who don’t qualify as a priority — like healthy, nonessential workers younger than 65 — will begin receiving the vaccine by the spring. The vast majority of Americans could be vaccinated by early summer.

I have a bit of a reputation for hating Minnesota winters.  But now I have one more reason to feel as though spring can't get here soon enough.