Covid vaccination status?

[Duke87]

Wasn't NYC setting up random checkpoints at some point?

Only to ensure that people had filled out the form. No further followup.

Even doctors vary by quite a bit.

Okay so it sounds like there is a lot more variation in NY since different places are sorta setting their own policy. In CT, doctors' offices have guidance from the state on how to handle this so it's more consistent.

Which, that fits in well with the broader trend that CT has been far more organized about all this than NY has.

[Rothman]

Wasn't NYC setting up random checkpoints at some point?

Only to ensure that people had filled out the form. No further followup.

Even doctors vary by quite a bit.

Okay so it sounds like there is a lot more variation in NY since different places are sorta setting their own policy. In CT, doctors' offices have guidance from the state on how to handle this so it's more consistent.

Which, that fits in well with the broader trend that CT has been far more organized about all this than NY has.

My daughter has been involved in contact tracing and vaccination appointments.  CT has been a disaster compared to NY on the vaccination front.  They have literally run out of slots for appointments and do not automatically schedule the second appointment, causing horrendous problems -- especially with the requirement that your second appointment must be at the same location as the first.

[Scott5114]

Even doctors vary by quite a bit.  My eye doctor has only a simple temperature check.  That's it.  Supercuts is more restrictive. 

The temperature checks are such theater it's kind of silly, especially since not everyone who catches it presents a fever. At the casino my wife worked at, security does a temperature check for anyone entering the building, employees and customers. One time she went in and got a reading of 91° (clearly a bad read). Didn't matter, it was under 100°, so she was waved through. Hypothermia is some other department's problem.

I went to Supercuts here in Norman and they didn't do any sort of check, other than presumably enforcing the city mask mandate (although nobody challenged it when I was there).

My retina specialist, on the other hand, won't see you if you've been anywhere outside of the area any time even remotely soon.  This was true even for travel to rural podunk PA exactly two weeks before during the month of July, back when cases were really low (and lower there than here), and during which I only got out of the car for a lunch/gas/bathroom stop at a Sheetz.  Rather than applying nuance they just had a blanket ban.  I found that out the hard way.  My other doctors are in between.

That sounds like they are practically begging people to lie to them about whether they've been out of state...

[bm7]

My retina specialist, on the other hand, won't see you if you've been anywhere outside of the area any time even remotely soon.

This is one thing I don't understand, many people consider travel of any kind to be dangerous. Merely traveling does not make you any more likely to get it, and often times people are traveling to places with less people infected than where they live, which means they're probably actually less likely to get sick. For a while, my work said that if any of us travel outside the state, we should tell them and then not come in to work for a week afterwards, as if somehow the act of crossing a state border makes you more likely to be sick.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

My retina specialist, on the other hand, won't see you if you've been anywhere outside of the area any time even remotely soon.

This is one thing I don't understand, many people consider travel of any kind to be dangerous. Merely traveling does not make you any more likely to get it, and often times people are traveling to places with less people infected than where they live, which means they're probably actually less likely to get sick. For a while, my work said that if any of us travel outside the state, we should tell them and then not come in to work for a week afterwards, as if somehow the act of crossing a state border makes you more likely to be sick.

The operating assumption seems to be that if you're leaving your state, you're doing it for some nefarious purpose like partaking in activities your state doesn't allow but more lax states still permit or are less restrictive about. The images of what's happening in Miami this week where there have been clashes between police and visitors and the city basically being shut down after nightfall feed into this, and the spring break images of last year where you had people throwing tantrums and stating "who gives a shit, I wanna party".

[Scott5114]

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, since there's no statewide mask mandate, you're probably more likely to catch it visiting the next city over that has no mandate of their own than if you were to travel to, say, Colorado, or any other adjoining state that has a mandate.

[SSOWorld]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

[hotdogPi]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

Pretty much everyone wears a mask indoors here, including southern New Hampshire.

[Jim]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

Not the case around here in upstate NY in my experience.  Sure, some aren't quite over the nose, some might be fairly useless neck gaiters, but as far as the rate of reasonable compliance in places where you're supposed to be wearing one, I'd put it way over 99%.

[SD Mapman]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

Not the case around here in upstate NY in my experience.  Sure, some aren't quite over the nose, some might be fairly useless neck gaiters, but as far as the rate of reasonable compliance in places where you're supposed to be wearing one, I'd put it way over 99%.

Might be an Eastern thing, what mandates there are out here are basically ignored outside of purple/blue towns. In the red rural parts of Colorado (since that state was brought up), nobody cares what Polis has to say, and there's an active movement to remove him from office over the mandates (not that it'll go anywhere even if it does get on the ballot).

[Rothman]

My retina specialist, on the other hand, won't see you if you've been anywhere outside of the area any time even remotely soon.

This is one thing I don't understand, many people consider travel of any kind to be dangerous. Merely traveling does not make you any more likely to get it, and often times people are traveling to places with less people infected than where they live, which means they're probably actually less likely to get sick. For a while, my work said that if any of us travel outside the state, we should tell them and then not come in to work for a week afterwards, as if somehow the act of crossing a state border makes you more likely to be sick.

It's also about you bringing the virus from your state to wherever you're going.

[JayhawkCO]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

Not the case around here in upstate NY in my experience.  Sure, some aren't quite over the nose, some might be fairly useless neck gaiters, but as far as the rate of reasonable compliance in places where you're supposed to be wearing one, I'd put it way over 99%.

Might be an Eastern thing, what mandates there are out here are basically ignored outside of purple/blue towns. In the red rural parts of Colorado (since that state was brought up), nobody cares what Polis has to say, and there's an active movement to remove him from office over the mandates (not that it'll go anywhere even if it does get on the ballot).

It's not just the eastern part of the state.  Down the street from my house, someone set up a 'Recall Polis' station on the side of the road in front of a Big Lots.  Not sure what that's supposed to accomplish.  That said, it's a real shocker than the eastern counties were the ones with the highest per capita infection and death rate.

Chris

[J N Winkler]

It's not just the eastern part of the state.  Down the street from my house, someone set up a 'Recall Polis' station on the side of the road in front of a Big Lots.  Not sure what that's supposed to accomplish.  That said, it's a real shocker than the eastern counties were the ones with the highest per capita infection and death rate.

There is a fair amount of continuity in terms of climate, culture, and topography with western Kansas, where some counties (e.g., Gove) have had close to 1% of their population die of covid.



In other news:  I now have an appointment for my first shot.  I'm getting Moderna at 12.45 PM this Saturday, March 27, at the Hunter Health Clinic, which is accepting all comers age 16 18 or over and does not have to adhere to state or county criteria since it receives its doses through the federal community health clinic program.  (For nostalgia's sake, I would have liked to have been vaccinated at our old downtown library, but it is a county-run site for which I am unlikely to be eligible until May 1.  I think it is preferable to be vaccinated sooner rather than later, given that our county is likely to drop its mask mandate this week.)

Edit:  Had to amend minimum age since, unlike Pfizer, Moderna is not approved for the 16-18 age group.

[hbelkins]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

Not the case around here in upstate NY in my experience.  Sure, some aren't quite over the nose, some might be fairly useless neck gaiters, but as far as the rate of reasonable compliance in places where you're supposed to be wearing one, I'd put it way over 99%.

I haven't been able to figure out why neck gaiters are getting such a bad rap. They have the same functionality as a mask.

[JayhawkCO]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

Not the case around here in upstate NY in my experience.  Sure, some aren't quite over the nose, some might be fairly useless neck gaiters, but as far as the rate of reasonable compliance in places where you're supposed to be wearing one, I'd put it way over 99%.

I haven't been able to figure out why neck gaiters are getting such a bad rap. They have the same functionality as a mask.

The articles I read basically said they don't stop nearly as many potential particles, hence why they're easier to breathe through. If the air gets through more easily, so does everything else.

Chris

[Max Rockatansky]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

Not the case around here in upstate NY in my experience.  Sure, some aren't quite over the nose, some might be fairly useless neck gaiters, but as far as the rate of reasonable compliance in places where you're supposed to be wearing one, I'd put it way over 99%.

I haven't been able to figure out why neck gaiters are getting such a bad rap. They have the same functionality as a mask.

The articles I read basically said they don't stop nearly as many potential particles, hence why they're easier to breathe through. If the air gets through more easily, so does everything else.

Chris

They kind of make people look like terrorists or car jackers too.  I'm kind of surprised someone hasn't come up with some of 80s ninja style looking mask.

[vdeane]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

Not the case around here in upstate NY in my experience.  Sure, some aren't quite over the nose, some might be fairly useless neck gaiters, but as far as the rate of reasonable compliance in places where you're supposed to be wearing one, I'd put it way over 99%.

I haven't been able to figure out why neck gaiters are getting such a bad rap. They have the same functionality as a mask.

The articles I read basically said they don't stop nearly as many potential particles, hence why they're easier to breathe through. If the air gets through more easily, so does everything else.

Chris

Not only that, I've read that they can split particles and make things even worse than if you didn't wear anything at all.  I'm not sure why they're still legal for the purposes of complying with a mask mandate.

[jakeroot]

I have a friend who works in HVAC. They all used to wear neck gaiters, but recent data showed it may not be as effective. They all wear masks now instead.

I have noticed a rather distinct urban/rural divide with the neck gaiters. I live in the city, and gaiters are exceptionally uncommon. When I tread into the suburbs and rural areas, I see them a lot more.

I heard gaiters were more comfortable, but I've found the adjustable masks to be quite comfortable, personally. I have a large head so I struggled a lot early on.

[hotdogPi]

When I first heard about gaiters (without ever seeing what one looked like), I thought there was some kind of mask called a gator, likely because of its shape being similar to an alligator or an alligator mouth.

[Max Rockatansky]

When I first heard about gaiters (without ever seeing what one looked like), I thought there was some kind of mask called a gator, likely because of its shape being similar to an alligator or an alligator mouth.

I have a raptor mask (kind of gator looking) I wore around town a couple times the week leading up to Halloween.  I don't recall getting any weird looks (granted I really couldn't see) at any of the stores I went to, I certainly was never questioned. 

[JayhawkCO]

I wore a buff early in the pandemic before masks were as ubiquitous to buy.  It was comfortable (I use it when mountain climbing), but if it doesn't do anything (or if it makes it worse) then obviously I'm going a different direction.  I've also read that it's worse to wear a mask outside if you're doing strenuous activity than to forego one altogether.  Basically you sweat into the mask making it more likely to "catch" particles in the air. 

Chris

[davewiecking]

Pfizer #1 in the arm. 1:45 appointment; arrived 1:35; vaccinated 1:55. Out the door at 2:10 with a card telling me to report back on 4/13.

[webny99]

Even states with mandates have shoddy compliance, both in people wearing them and in enforcement.

Not the case around here in upstate NY in my experience.  Sure, some aren't quite over the nose, some might be fairly useless neck gaiters, but as far as the rate of reasonable compliance in places where you're supposed to be wearing one, I'd put it way over 99%.

Agreed with this from Western NY as well. I'd say 98-99% is a reasonable estimate. We also started with it much earlier than other parts of the country - April or May, as I recall? There has been very good compliance throughout the pandemic that's understandably starting to slip a little bit now.

[Max Rockatansky]

I wore a buff early in the pandemic before masks were as ubiquitous to buy.  It was comfortable (I use it when mountain climbing), but if it doesn't do anything (or if it makes it worse) then obviously I'm going a different direction.  I've also read that it's worse to wear a mask outside if you're doing strenuous activity than to forego one altogether.  Basically you sweat into the mask making it more likely to "catch" particles in the air. 

Chris

Outside of experimenting once on an 8 mile run I haven't worn a mask during exercise.  The conclusion I came to was that it was really easy for me to dodge people by six feet. 

[JayhawkCO]

I wore a buff early in the pandemic before masks were as ubiquitous to buy.  It was comfortable (I use it when mountain climbing), but if it doesn't do anything (or if it makes it worse) then obviously I'm going a different direction.  I've also read that it's worse to wear a mask outside if you're doing strenuous activity than to forego one altogether.  Basically you sweat into the mask making it more likely to "catch" particles in the air. 

Chris

Outside of experimenting once on an 8 mile run I haven't worn a mask during exercise.  The conclusion I came to was that it was really easy for me to dodge people by six feet.

When I'm on a trail that's in the mountains and you don't have the ability to step off, I keep my mask handy so I can put it on when someone approaches. But, bluntly that's more of a courtesy for the other person than it is my fear of catching it outside with a breeze blowing and only being within 6 feet of someone for 2 seconds.

Chris