Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: insurance, how much, school)

[robr2]

Originally Posted by bohemka

My wife has been teaching for more than a week while wearing a mask in a classroom setting, and she hasn't lost her voice. But it's still available. Please, take it.

Rim shot. I'll get my coat.

I believe that teachers here in Burlington have had the ability to mic up for years.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by bohemka

My wife has been teaching for more than a week while wearing a mask in a classroom setting, and she hasn't lost her voice. But it's still available. Please, take it.

Rim shot. I'll get my coat.

Man, you're playing with fire, buddy. One of the trigger points for an argument in my house is when I ask my SO to not talk so loudly! (It's usually followed by a, "well that's because you never listen", and goes downhill from there)

[bohemka]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Man, you're playing with fire, buddy. One of the trigger points for an argument in my house is when I ask my SO to not talk so loudly! (It's usually followed by a, "well that's because you never listen", and goes downhill from there)

Oh, I only get away with these horrible jokes here because it's a virtual vacuum. And I don't mean it, either. The only truth to that was that she is teaching in a mask five days a week right now and hasn't had a single complaint (except the commute).

[BostonMike7]

Has the commute really changed much for others?

My AM commute down I-95 has been a consistent 17-19 minutes since March where it used to be 50-60min both directions.

Afternoon commute has changed. Hovering around 30-35 min now with some standing traffic where I could do it in same time as above previously.

[bohemka]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Has the commute really changed much for others?

My AM commute down I-95 has been a consistent 17-19 minutes since March where it used to be 50-60min both directions.

Afternoon commute has changed. Hovering around 30-35 min now with some standing traffic where I could do it in same time as above previously.

My wife's commute has only changed because she's driving into Boston instead of taking the train. Driving vs. public transit is quite a bit of added stress and wasted time. She used to accomplish quite a bit while riding the train, but that bonus productivity time is lost now in an effort to try to be safer.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Has the commute really changed much for others?

My AM commute down I-95 has been a consistent 17-19 minutes since March where it used to be 50-60min both directions.

Afternoon commute has changed. Hovering around 30-35 min now with some standing traffic where I could do it in same time as above previously.

It seems to be a rule that afternoon commutes are worse than morning commutes. That has held true for almost every commute I've had except for one where I worked further north than where I live being north of Boston.

[sawyer2]

On a positive note

"Speaking to TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones, Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted “a safe and effective vaccine” by the end of the year. He said colleges should not send students home, but rather keep them sequestered on campus. He urged Americans to wear masks and observe social distance over Labor Day weekend and said he’d like to see “a full-court press” against a “twindemic” of coronavirus and flu this fall."

https://www.today.com/video/dr-antho...20-91005509862

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by sawyer2

On a positive note

"Speaking to TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones, Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted “a safe and effective vaccine” by the end of the year. He said colleges should not send students home, but rather keep them sequestered on campus. He urged Americans to wear masks and observe social distance over Labor Day weekend and said he’d like to see “a full-court press” against a “twindemic” of coronavirus and flu this fall."

https://www.today.com/video/dr-antho...20-91005509862

I am confident that we will have a safe and effective vaccine. There are actually over 200 vaccine development programs worldwide. They're not all going to fail. Even the big funding from Operation Warp Speed, is going to some 6-8 programs.

Now, our first vaccines across the finish line may not be our best vaccines. Several vaccine biotechnologies are really getting their first big test with this effort, and those tend to be the ones that are simpler and quicker to develop (e.g. RNA vaccines). They may well work great, but these approaches don't have a track record.

The more "traditional" platform is the antigen protein vaccines, like those being developed by Novavax and Sanofi/GSK for Warp Speed. There are no guarantees, but because these programs use an approach that's been clinically proven many times, these would be considered to be lower risk as a general category. These vaccines will likely trail in the "race", because the process development is more complex and time consuming. From what I have seen, they won't lilkely be more than 6 months behind the front-runners though.

[BostonMike7]

Interesting observation with regard to Australia's Flu season this year. As you know, their winter is our summer so they are in the middle of flu season there.

https://www.immunisationcoalition.or...Stats-2020.pdf

https://globalnews.ca/news/7275558/c...n-coronavirus/

Huge drop-off in cases of flu

[sawyer2]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

I am confident that we will have a safe and effective vaccine. There are actually over 200 vaccine development programs worldwide. They're not all going to fail. Even the big funding from Operation Warp Speed, is going to some 6-8 programs.

Now, our first vaccines across the finish line may not be our best vaccines. Several vaccine biotechnologies are really getting their first big test with this effort, and those tend to be the ones that are simpler and quicker to develop (e.g. RNA vaccines). They may well work great, but these approaches don't have a track record.

The more "traditional" platform is the antigen protein vaccines, like those being developed by Novavax and Sanofi/GSK for Warp Speed. There are no guarantees, but because these programs use an approach that's been clinically proven many times, these would be considered to be lower risk as a general category. These vaccines will likely trail in the "race", because the process development is more complex and time consuming. From what I have seen, they won't lilkely be more than 6 months behind the front-runners though.

Agreed - it is quite a leap into the spotlight for mRNA technology, but the data so far is promising.

Admittedly, I wasn't a huge fan of Moderna management pre-COVID .... thought that there was quite a bit of smoke and mirrors ...... but I hope that they succeed, along with the traditional antigenic approach.