Pandemic Report
The latest CDC weekly news:
The latest statistics are largely similar to last week's except a modest uptick in test positivity rates. Again, we suggest that readers who are planning to travel during the upcoming holidays (Christmas and New Year's, social events like Christmas parties and going out for NewYear's Eve ), please update your COVID vaccine if you haven't since August.
Related new items of interest include:
- Mental health issues during the early pandemic including limited social engagements (work, school, church, shopping, etc.) are obvious but complex in nature: "In looking at the deaths of individuals 10 years old and above, the researchers found that 6.8% of suicide deaths in 2020, representing 2,502 cases, described an aspect of the pandemic, and 20% had no known circumstances described in death reports. "Although many individuals experienced heightened emotional distress during that time, and some had feared this would lead to greater suicide mortality in 2020, no overall increase materialized in most countries, including the US," said Kara Zivin, professor of Psychiatry at Michigan Medicine and professor of Health Management and Policy at the School of Public Health."
- "About 8% of US adults have ever had long COVID"
- "Our central conclusion, highlighting the value of COVID-19 vaccination, remains that vaccination is estimated to have saved approximately 1·6 million lives among adults aged 25 years or older among 34 countries, areas, and territories in the WHO European Region from December, 2020, to March, 2023."
- " New study shows covid-19 vaccine offers better protection when given during pregnancy versus before pregnancy"
- '"Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Effective in Children Aged 5 to 17 Years'
- "Needle-Free [nasal spray]: New Nano-Vaccine Effective Against All COVID-19 Variants"
- Relevant legal and political issues during the pandemic continued including:
- "Biden's COVID-19 Response Eroded Civil Liberties"
- "North Carolina's Supreme Court issued mixed rulings Friday for businesses seeking financial help from the COVID-19 pandemic, declaring one insurer's policy must cover losses some restaurants and bars incurred but that another insurer's policy for a nationwide clothing store chain doesn't due to an exception."
- "Trump Administration Pledges Relief to Children's Hospitals in COVID-19 Fight"
- Prosecutions against COVID relief fraud and other crimes continue:
- "Former Harlem Globetrotter Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison in COVID-19 Fraud Scheme"
- "A Southern California business owner persuaded victims to invest in his companies, claiming he could detect Covid-19 based on video, and then made lavish purchases"
- " Vancouver biotech exec who claimed drug would treat COVID-19 convicted in fraud case"
- " Suffolk County Corrections Officers Charged With Defrauding COVID-19 Relief Programs"
- "Albany midwife who issued fake COVID-19 vaccine cards sentenced to probation"
- "Former NC State basketball player sentenced in COVID fraud scheme"
- The battle against anti-vaxxers and other misinformation continues:
- "Fox News health commentator Dr. Kelly Powers was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in July 2020, months before COVID-19 vaccines were made available in the U.S. But social media posts are baselessly linking her death on Dec. 4 to the vaccines. There is no evidence that the vaccines cause or worsen cancer."
Other Notes
The blog had somewhat lower than usual pagereads over the past week. I've been working on a post discussing some of Trump's Cabinet picks. It'll probably be published by Monday. We are less than 20 posts from 500, our goal. I did much better on X/Twiitter. I think it's my most popular tweet ever: nearly 42K impressions with a personal high in likes 9over 100), retweets, bookmarks, etc. I think my previous high was around 35K. you can't plan these things One day I'm seeing trends like "she's 12", "Lion King' . I was mildly curious what those were all about, and then I figured it all fairly quickly; somebody posted an image I think of the movie poster of the young actress lead of a more 3-dimensional reboot of the lion King. The young actress is wearing like ceremonial gown showinf a low neckline showing CLEAVAGE. I don't want to republish it here because I don't want to promote it in any way. Now it's not like the little girl is built like Dolly Parton. I'm sure some girls develop earlier than others. But my tweet was one of outrage at her parents and Disney for using a young girl like that. Disney is a company built on family entertainment. Did Disney get feedback of parents before marketing the poster? I can't believe parents of tweenage daughter wouldn't object to this. We are in a time where young girls are getting pregnant and having abortions. We shouldn't be normalizing these kinds of things at least while the child is still a minor.
My Amazon nightmare continues over the prime membership kerfuffle.Briefly, Amazon last month billed my credit card an unfamiliar (147.34=$139 + sales tax) . I couldn't figure it out because they dudb't notify me, (I discovered recently there's a separate purchases webpage distinct from orders.) So. i disputed the trancsaction and the credit card issuer canceled the card over suspected fraud. I never canceled through the website. I called Amazon and found out it was my Prime membership. I call my card issuer back and say I want the transaction to go through. they netted out my provisional credit. I can only speculate what happened next. Amazon must have gotten notice of the dispute and cancelled the prime menbership and initiated a (partial ) refund. They never contacted me like,"Your card issuer has denied the purchase; do you want to use a different card?" They also never notified me they initiated a refund. And of course, customer service didn't know anything. So i'm telling customer service they still have my $147,34 and I want my membership reinstated plus days added for being without prime. they said, "We can't do that. you have to start a new membership." I said, "Wait a minute; I don't want to duplicate my prime fee'. Oddly, I initiate the transaction; at no time am I asked how am i goint to pay for it? Two days later, Amazon closes the new membership on their own , No discussion of a refund..
So, over the last few days, I find $139 pending on mty old account, i.e., not the sales tax. "Dude! You owe me the sales tax back too." No evidence yet they've processed that. Maybe it takes 3-5 business days and it doesn't hit the payment summary until card issuer processing. I'm waiting to see to see if the $8.34 hits pending on the old credit card.
The new card showed a higher than expected balance. And, yup, Amazom posted a $147.34 transaction there without my knowledge or consent. It's been over a week, and no evidence of a refund. So, to protect myself, I'ne disputed that transaction. I'll withdraw that when I see a refund. As for ever enrolling in Prime again they've botched this so badly it'll be a while if ever. I tried to keep it going but they themselves canceled twice. As I write, they haven't made either card whole yet.
WWE revived Saturday Night's Main Event tonight on NBC in ptime time. It used to be shown on off-weeks for SNL No title changes except as exoected Chelsea Green won the new Smackdown women's US title. They showed a handful of older retired star wrestlers. I thought Ventura hasn't lost a step from his old commentaries. .
