I knew right away what kind of day it was going to be when I finished brushing my teeth and walked back into the kitchen. I didn't hear the familiar burbling of the coffee maker, and my first thought was, "Oh, no! I forgot to start the coffee again!"
But as I walked closer, I saw the light was on. I had started it. Huh, I thought, it must have finished brewing really fast. However, when I pulled my mug out to add the sugar and cream, it was filled with plain water. Confused, I opened the top...and the coffee grounds were bone dry.
That's when it hit me. Last night, I'd been so tired, I'd filled the mug -- but hadn't put the water into the coffee maker. And that, friends, sealed my decision not to sign up to work Sunday. Which I didn't do.
As if that weren't enough, when I got home, I emptied my lunch box, and thought I put my Dr Pepper into the fridge. Turns out, I didn't.
Don't even ask...
But some good news! I heard from my friend who has the COVID. They'd had a few rough days -- her, her husband, and her mother who lives with them --, but they're all on the mend now. I'd gotten a wee bit concerned when I hadn't heard from her in almost a week, and I'm so relieved to hear they're doing better.
Speaking of COVID, the guys did a video on herd immunity.
For those of you who may not know, herd immunity is achieved when so many people, either through exposure or vaccination, have developed immunity to a disease that it's not so easily transmitted. How much immunity that is varies depending on who you ask, and which disease you have, but it varies anywhere from 60% - 95% of a population. The consensus for COVID-19 is 60% - 75%.
Now, this is my completely unprofessional, non medical, totally my own opinion opinion, but I think we might already be there. At least here in Mississippi, I think we might have achieved herd immunity already, which is why the numbers of new cases has dropped so drastically lately. Here is why I think so:
Mississippi has a population of approximately 3,000,000 people, pending census results. We've had a total number of 296,154 COVID cases as of 3:00 PM March 3, 2021. Of this number, 6764 have died. which means 289,390 people have immunity from contracting and recovering from the virus.
Mississippi has as of 8:00 AM this morning, March 4, 2021, is reporting that 690,874 vaccine doses have been administered. Of those reported doses, 247, 339 people have confirmed receiving both vaccine doses, and are considered fully immunized, and 443,535 are at least partially immune. In addition to this, according to state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting the vaccine does prevent transmission of the virus.
That gives us a total of 732,925 at least partially immune citizens, or 24.4% of the population.
Now, add to that, the fact that a percentage of people have contracted the virus, but did not get sick from it, therefore were not tested, nor counted in the case numbers. We may never know that number, but in some studies it's been estimated to be as high as 45%.
Add one more factor: those who've already got natural immunity due to exposure to one of the other coronavirus variants. Again, we may never know without mass testing what this number is.
Adding 24 plus 45 and you get...69% of the population of MS. That's herd immunity, or at least very close to it.
Again, this is just my non medical opinion, so take that for what it's worth, but I think it may be almost over.
BTW, I'm now eligible to get the vaccination, but I'm going to have to discuss the risks with my doctor, due to certain allergies I have. I was advised not to get the flu shot, due to my egg allergy, but my reactions to it (before I knew I had allergies) were -- although uncomfortable-- never life threatening. I'll have to do more research, then call my doctor to talk it over with him.
And finally, it's the Eleventh day of the siege:
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