Florida set a record number of new cases too. It barely makes the news though any more locally, at least on the station I watch. They stopped talking about the number of cases awhile ago and only in past few days did they mention them because they were high. Finally heard them mention the positivity rate which I haven't heard in awhile either.
I would say most people in the stores don't wear masks here. People that work in grocery stores do almost always, but not customers. They are not required.
I had to get an eye exam in a mall the other day and no customers in the mall were wearing a mask in the main area. I was only going to the first store inside the door so I didn't have to go far. And people in the eye glass place were mostly wearing masks, all the employees and all but one of the customers. (more about that eye exam and other stuff at the end)
In various news...
Why you should upgrade your mask as the Omicron variant spreads:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/24/health/cloth-mask-omicron-variant-wellness/index.html
"We need to be wearing at least a three-ply surgical mask," she said, which is also known as a disposable mask and can be found at most drugstores and some grocery and retail stores. "You can wear a cloth mask on top of that, but do not just wear a cloth mask alone."
I wear a cloth mask with a simple thin particle filter paper of some sort. So two layers of cloth with that in the middle. Under that, up against my face, I wear a surgical like mask. Then I usually wear goggles too even though I don't know if that does anything.
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-does-booster-protection-omicron-covid-last-study-2021-12
"Booster protection against symptomatic illness caused by the Omicron variant dropped by up to 25% within 10 weeks, new real-world data found - though it's not yet clear whether everyone may need further doses in 2022."
That applies to Pfizer. Moderna booster seems to hold up better, even if you had Pfizer for the first too and then switched to Moderna.
That entire UK study is here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1043807/technical-briefing-33.pdf
Hopefully boosters hold up much better against serious illness. Early information seems like that is the case, but of course the Omicron variant is deadly too, it just seems like it is less so so far. (but we always have to consider there will continue to be variants and one might end up being as contagious as this one and deadlier than this one)
I try to stay in as much as I can, though some things you just have to go out for. It's good to get things like regular doctor's checkups and that kind of thing. Although my doctor, and all his staff, had no masks when I went over the summer so I am switching doctors in January. Good to get eye checkups too which I get into more at the end.
I've never once had a coronavirus test either since I stay in so much usually.
I didn't want to take a risk being around family for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I would have been around vaccinated people, but some of them I think are around family members, and others, that are not vaccinated. And as can happen, another family member in another state recently got it, though luckily they realized it just before they got together with others for Christmas and then they didn't get together. (and I haven't heard of it being anything other than minor, partly because they happened to be vaccinated)
Unfortunately a lot of people who are vaccinated are also going to get this variant. We might be on to the fourth shot soon for all of us, like Israel. They kind of went ahead of the research, but its seeming like it might be something we all might need. We are lucky this variant isn't as deadly though. I wish people would take advantage of that and take the time to get vaccinated. It helps slow the spread, protect against serious illness for this variant and in part against any other variant that could be deadlier in the future.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. It would have been nice if 2021 had been better than 2020 after the vaccines we had available, but maybe 2022 will turn out better.
It's probably the only ad I ever search for each year, but I always love watching Google's year end "year in search" ads. Usually very emotional, but really great.
And if you want to cry to other years' ads:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fmto8QIHxA9oU7PLVa3ntk
Now just something that I can sum up as, it's just better to go to the doctor when you think you need to, even if it's just helpful to do it because you just need a follow-up test.
I had to get new glasses so that was kind of needed too. And as it turned out I had high eye pressure which I needed to address, perhaps because I stupidly switched to a multi-vitamin that had iron in it. (a study suggests that taking supplemental iron in the form of a vitamin for example could possibly lead to that, though that's not definitive. that doesn't apply to dietary iron) I'm taking medicine (latanoprost) for what had been high eye pressure but within a few months I'll have to figure out which it was by stopping the medicine once the iron is out of my system. The stupid part, if it was the pill with iron, was that I switched from another multi-vitamin to this one which was more complete. It had iron in it, which can do weird things to me, but I thought I would stop taking it if it caused an issue. But by the time I ran out of what I had been taking, an ordinary One-A-Day like vitamin, I totally forgot the Walmart brand one I was taking had the iron when I started in mid-November. The reason why I switched to a more complete multi-vitamin was because my thyroid might be slightly underperforming (TSH just barely above the range, no symptoms other than cold feet) and I thought maybe this vitamin which had a little more of some things in it might work better and we would see how it would be the next time I went to the doctor. I didn't want to go to the doctor again right away to get specific tests, so I stupidly switched the vitamin. I used to give blood for 20 years but stopped in January 2020 because my global iron level, ferritin, was very, very low (which I had not known what that is) even though the hemoglobin was okay because I would take just enough iron to meet the minimum hemoglobin level for blood donation. I really never have known what my baseline is of iron in my body so I never have known if I would need iron on a regular basis.
It just pays to go to the doctor when needed. Don't ignore things and don't try to do things on your own. (I'm going in January for a physical) I'm taking a break on my site for a month or two while I sort some of that out, including getting new glasses. The first two pair I got are too heavy on my face and bothered me. I wanted the pair I had before, but a different location of the same eye store I was going to, but was closer to my house, quoted an insane price to me because I have astigmatism. (they were wrong about it being more and I didn't know what that was as the time because I was never told about it at my last exam 4 years ago) So I went to another eye place thinking that was the price in general and got frames I didn't know were going to bother me. The third and fourth pair I then got have a slightly wrong prescription in one eye, enough that I can't wear them, because I had a second eye test when my eyes were bothering me due to either the heavy glasses I got, maybe the eye pressure (though allegedly I may not have symptoms at the level I was at) and/or just thinking too much about it and not getting enough sleep that day. But the prescription was therefore off in one eye. I assume, maybe they just made a mistake and I'll have to figure that out this week. But eventually I went to an ophthalmologist and got some medicine. (everyone there was wearing a mask and it was a very clean setting as they ran various tests on my eyes) Didn't think about the vitamin switch at the time, so I'll have to ask about that when I go back in a month. But after the eye pressure was 31 in one eye and 32 in another, two days later it was 18 and 21 in my eyes after just one dose of medicine. (and one day without the iron pill, which I don't think would have done anything) So that's doing better, just need to get the pair of glasses I want now but I don't want to do an eye test right away again. (though after some adjustments and getting used to them, the first pairs of glasses I got aren't bothering me as much, but I still need to get the frames I had before) I am also using some artificial tears for two weeks because I think they said one eye was a bit irritated and that was supposed to help. (I'm guessing in part due to all the eye tests, lol) And then I can use those when my eyes bother me at the computer too much. (and I will take more breaks on the computer from now on, like every hour, and not work for extremely long periods of time in a row, like 24 hours or more sometimes when I was right in the middle of coding something which wasn't a good idea for lots of reasons lol)
Edit: I forgot to note that the eye exam with the ophthalmologist found no damage to my eyes. Also, eye pressure I think should be less than about 21 or 22. |