2021 A COVID Odyssey

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A virus anywhere in the world is a virus everywhere in the world. Wealthy nations of the world are hoarding vaccines. This has been referred to as Vaccine Nationalism or Vaccine Apartheid.

Astra Zeneca/Oxford, Pfeizer/BionTech, and Moderna said that together they will produce 5.3 billion doses of vaccine in 2021. That is enough for 3 billion people, over 1/3 of the global population.

The majority of those doses have already been set aside.  The European Union, America, Canada, Japan, and England have already pre-ordered half those doses. Canada had 9 doses for every one of its residents and the US has ordered just over 7 doses per person. These countries only account for 13% of the global population. For poorer countries there will not be much to go around. Most people in poor countries will have to wait until 2023.

There are dangers to Vaccine Nationalism. Granted rich countries will have the first access, and will begin to recover from the pandemic and economically, but the poor countries will have to wait. The virus does not respect boarders. No wall will keep it out. Counties believing they are safe while the virus rages in poor countries are very foolish. It does not work. Global economies are based on open commerce and travel. COVID-19 loves to travel. Every plane flight can ignite an outbreak anywhere in the world.

Drug patents will result in hundreds of thousands of deaths for poorer nations. South Africa and India hoped to have patents suspended for the duration of the pandemic so cheap generic vaccines could be mass manufactured for poorer countries. The motion was overruled by wealthy nations. Multinational drug companies are very effective at lobbying governments. Patents bring huge profits to the drug companies and allow then to control the prices. However these companies received billions of dollars in public funds for research and development. Profit, or death in poorer nations? The answer is easy for the richer countries. The South African variant of the virus is infecting people who have had the Pfeizer vaccine. The virus is mutating and spreading from poor countries and America is the perfect petri dish.

President Joe Biden said, “We’re going to start off and ensure Americans are taken care of first, but we’re then going to try to help the rest of the world.” He said it was clear that the pandemic would not be over until it was ended everywhere. “We’re not going to be ultimately safe, until the world is safe,” he said.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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This is the first live theater I have documented in more than a year in my sketchbook. When I first moved to Orlando over 20 years ago, I went to a performance by the Shakes at the Lake Eola Bandshell. Because the the pandemic they have returned to bring live theater to the bandshell.

Across thee street a bar was blasting it music since it was Friday night but thankfully when the show began they turned the music down.

The crowd around the box office was a bit unnerving, but then I was shown that there were markers on the pavement to allow 6 feet of distance while waiting in line. Every other row of the seating was blocked off with yellow ribbons and seating blocks were separated by ribbons as well to maintaining social distancing.

A woman with purple hair had a band aid on her shoulder indicating she had just gotten her vaccine shot. Several other woman wore flower garlands in their hair and bright spring dresses. There was hope in the air. I was exited to finally experience live theater again.

William Shakespeare‘s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is well suited for an outdoor performance. The columns on stage opened up to showcase forest greenery illumined by strings of lights. Unrequited love was turned on it’s head with love potions which resulted in one woman falling in love with an ass. By ass, I don’t mean a Florida Man, but a donkey. The central moon remained illuminated throughout and the forest was at times mysterious and at others joyous thanks to the lighting design. I had considered a tablet to capture the lighting but decided screen glow might be a distraction. I needn’t have worried since there was no one nearby.

Overall it was a fun evening with laughter and caricatured socially distanced acting. When characters were meant to hug, they did it from at least six feet apart. Actors always wore their masks except when they were on stage and they all were tested for COVID-19 three times a week. In return the audience wore masks as well. I admired how well the Shakes promoted social distancing. It was an absolute joy to be in an audience again. The evening signified that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel.

In NYC pop up performances have started outdoors as well. In NYC, The Shakespeare in the Park Stage will feature a free production of Merry Wives, which will run for 8-weeks, starting on July 5, 2021. Adapted from The Merry Wives of Windsor. Tickets for Broadway shows are available for performances in the fall.

These arts revivals will help pull people together, connect people to themselves, and to each other. With vaccines in arms, the arts are also helping the community heal. I felt my lines and washes were documenting a monumental return to a new normal. This too shall pass.

One Third Develop Neurological Disorders

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In an Oxford University study of more than 230,000 mostly American patients, one in three COVID-19 survivors were diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric disorder within six months.

Researchers who conducted the analysis said it was not clear how the virus was linked to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, but that these were the most common diagnoses among the 14 disorders they looked at.

The study published in Lancet Psychiatry Journal, found that anxiety, at 17%, and mood disorders, at 14%, were the most common, disorders, and did not appear to be related to how mild or severe the patient’s COVID-19 infection had been.

Among those who had been admitted to intensive care with severe COVID-19 however, 7% had a stroke within six months, and almost 2% were diagnosed with dementia. And while the neurological effects are more severe in hospitalized patients, they are still common in those who were only treated in an outpatient setting, the researchers note. “This is a very important paper. It confirms beyond any reasonable doubt that COVID-19 affects both brain and mind in equal measure,” said Simon Wessely, chair of psychiatry at King’s College London.

5 States: 44% of Cases

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CNN reported that five states account for 44% of the COVID-19 cases in the past week according to data from Johns Hopkins University. New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey had more than 196,400 of the country’s 453,360 cases reported in the last week, according to data available the morning of April 7. 2021.

Michigan has been hit especially hard with 6,600 cases a day over a week as opposed to 1,350 daily cases five weeks ago. The highly contagious and deadly B.1.1.7 variant of the COVID virus has helped cause the spike in cases. People are also experiencing pandemic fatigue and are taking fewer precautions giving the virus plenty of opportunity to spread.

The B.1.1.7, first identified in the UK, is now the most common strain of coronavirus in the United States, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said April 7, 2021.

With more-transmissible variants adding up, surges like Michigan’s may soon be seen more widely, even though vaccination rates have increased nationally, epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm said. The CDC says more than 16,200 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been confirmed in surveillance testing in the US, and B.1.1.7 has been found in every state. This number does not represent the total number of such cases circulating in the United States, but rather only those found by analyzing samples. Florida has more that 3000 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, more than any other state.

The US has averaged 774 Covid-19 deaths a day over the last week. According to the latest CDC data, 19.4% of the total US population was fully vaccinated as of the morning of April 7, 2021; and 57.4% of people age 65 and older are fully vaccinated. But the US has a long way to go before reaching herd immunity. Dr. Anthony Fauci has estimated 70%-85% of the population needs to become immune.

Future of Cruising

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There had been at least 3,689 COVID-19 or coronavirus-like illness cases on cruise ships in U.S. waters, “in addition to at least 41 reported deaths,” the CDC said last October 2020. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all people avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide. That’s because the chance of getting COVID-19 on cruise ships is high, since the virus appears to spread more easily between people in close quarters aboard ships.

Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis (R) is threatening to sue the federal government if the CDC doesn’t allow cruises to restart by the summer. The cruise industry is worth billions of dollars for the state’s economy, according to the Associated Press (AP).

University of Florida epidemiologist Cindy Prins told AP it’s “too early” for cruises to resume, given the higher risk of the virus spreading among passengers mingling on ships for long periods. She noted that “testing and symptom screening are not perfect methods of prevention.” Prins added companies would have to limit passenger numbers, with crews required to show they’re fully vaccinated in order to lower the risk of the virus spreading — something DeathSantis opposes, and no industry leader addressed. DeathSantis also opposed COVID-19 vaccine passports.

Florida became one of the world’s epicenters for the virus last July, forcing DeathSantis to pause the state’s first round of reopening. He fully lifted restrictions on restaurants last September, as part of a commitment to reopen the economy, saying “we’re not closing anything going forward.” He never set up a statewide mandate to wear masks.

Major U.S. cruise lines are accepting bookings for June 2021 trips out of Florida ports, a Spectrum News review has found. The bookings come as Norwegian Cruise Line this month canceled all cruises through June 2021. “The timing for re-start in the U.S. continues to be uncertain,” On April 6, 2021 Carnival said in a statement to Spectrum News. On April 6, 20211, Carnival Cruise extended its pause of all operations out of U.S. ports through June 30, 2021.

COVID-19 Double Mutant

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A new COVID-19 variant known as “Double Mutant” is responsible for a surge in coronavirus cases in a a region of India that includes Mumbai. The existence of the newly discovered variant was first disclosed by India’s government on March 24, 2021. It is called a double mutant because it contains two mutations of the COVID-19 virus.

One day late, on March 25, 2021 one case of the Double Mutant was found in the San Francisco Bay area in California.

Dr. Benjamin Pinsky, a Stanford doctor, said, that this double mutation has a mutation in the spike protein which is found in the California variant and also a mutation that is found in the South African and Brazil variants.  “We do have some information on experiments on the individual mutations (California, Brazil, South African) suggesting that antibodies will be less able to neutralize this India variant.” Pinsky said. “So this rapid spread across the globe is pretty impressive, and also a bit concerning.”

The city of Manaus in Brazil was one of the hardest hit in the world with a conventional strain of the coronavirus, and it now there’s a lot of substantial reinfection with the new Brazilian variant, Dr. Stefano Bertozzi, professor of health policy and dean emeritus of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, said at a UC San Francisco forum last month.

Dr. Benjamin Pinsky said, “Vaccines may be slightly less effective in preventing moderate disease or moderate illness with this particular variant, but the vaccines are still very effective and people should get vaccinated as soon as possible.” “We don’t know how those two mutations behave when they’re paired together.”

The emergence of the new variant underscores how important it will be to quickly vaccinate as many people as possible. The only way to stop the proliferation of mutations is to stop the spread of the virus through vaccines. If you are vaccinated, the immunity produced is believed to be better than immunity produced by surviving COVID-19. If you are vaccinated an get infected by one of these new variants then the result wold be a mild to moderate illness, likely not ressulting in hospitalization or death.

 

Sold Out Superspreader

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Globe Death Field in Arlington Texas will be the first Major League Baseball stadium to reopen at full capacity – roughly 40,000 seats – since the pandemic began. This decision was made one month after Texas Governor Greg Abbott ended the state’s mask mandate and insisted that businesses to reopen fully.

Everything is big in Texas including stupid. Half hearted measures will be in place for safety, like a gentle request that fans should wear masks except for while eating, guzzling beer and yelling. Over 38,000 fans packed the stands on opening day April 5, 2021.

“We made a commitment to everybody [season ticket holders] that they could hold tickets if we would allow them for the proper Opening Day,” executive vice president and chief revenue and marketing officer Joe Januszewski told MLB.com. “We’re going to honor that, so in order to do that, obviously we would be at a full capacity.”

When asked about the full capacity decision, President Joe Biden said, “They should listen to Dr. Fauci, the scientists and the experts. But I think it’s not responsible.” Biden warned about potential surges, citing the jumps in European nations that have reopened, and reiterated that vaccinations need to increase before businesses can reopen fully. “We have to get to the point where enough people have taken the vaccine, so we diminish the possibility for it to spread,” he said.

Texas ranked 47 out of all 50 states in percentage of the population to receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. “I worry we’re in for the perfect storm. We’re lifting restrictions, the B.1.1.7 variant is here in a big way, and we’re lagging behind on vaccinations. None of that is good news,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, the Dean of Baylor College of Medicine. “We’re going to be in a much better shape in a couple of months from now. I don’t quite understand the urgency to lift restrictions.”

Ivonne Galanes

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Ivonne Galanes grew up in Puerto Rico and always wanted to be an artist.  She attended Pratt Institute in NYC. She loved the museums in NYC, the Frick Collection, MOMA, the met. You had to take two days to see the Met. Every chance she got she would take a subway and go to the Met. At Pratt she studied anatomy. A class went tot he Columbia School of Medicine. One cadaver had all the skin stripped off  so you could see all the muscles. The body was from a Hollywood actor from a Hercules movie. She studied at Pratt for two years and went back to Puerto Rico after getting sick. The school shut off the heat in the winter to save money. Years alter she went to an atelier in San Juan and she was always painting.

Her father was an art director and she followed in his footsteps. After college her day job was always in an advertising agency. She would paint at night and weekends. She made a name for herself. She started as a graphic designer. This was before computers. You had to know how to draw. Her father taught her since she was a little girl. Her training started way before college. She could sketch up an idea during the course of a meeting with clients.

Ivonne loves science. Her feet might be on the ground but her head is in the stars. That is where the creative ideas come from. Early in her career colors in her painting were dark but after she got divorced the colors became more vibrant.

She had a friend who was at Pulse Nightclub on the night of the shooting that killed 49 and he was one of the survivors. She did a painting called Angel of Healing. The wings were a rainbow of colors. The angel had his hand on his heart. The friend who survived fell in love with the painting and he bought it. Ideas for paintings are in the air and she just grabs them. If she tries to sit down and think about an idea it will not happen. It is random. She picks up the signal.

 

Second COVID-19 Vaccine Shots

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Once again Pam and I got up a 5AM to drive to the Valencia College campus FEMA site to get our second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Since this was our second dose we were directed to a line that went straight inside the tents essentially bypassing several registration tents that e waited in the first time around.

We gave our drivers licenses and vaccination cards to a worker and she entered the information into her phone which was hooked up to a tiny printer. She printed out a sticky label that I was to wear though the remaining process. As we went to the next tent another helper checked my label against the drivers license and I was told that my last name had been misspelled. I had to go back to get the information changed.

Ultimately we ended up in a holding tent with multiple switchbacks waiting to enter the tent here shots were administered. The site was officially to open at 7AM and there were only minutes before we would be let inside. I decided there wasn’t enough time to sketch all the people waiting. But the minutes dragged on and 7AM became 7:15 and onward.

A woman walked her way backwards in the line and kept asking “Are you Janet?” Who was Janet, and was she the cause for the hold up? Dammit Janet. It turned out she wasn’t looking for Janet, she was asking if people were Spanish. No one who spoke only Spanish would likely respond to someone asking asking questions in English. Regardless several others walked back through the line asking the same question. Then someone started shouting the question loudly from the sidelines. Finally a National Guardsman shouted the question in Spanish and several hands went up. This was unsettling. Something was up. Then everyone was given pens. The computer system had gone down and we had to fill out a Vaccine Screening and Consent form.

I immediately filled out my form incorrectly by putting my first name in the last name field. Then came a series of questions which required me to check NO…

Are you experiencing fever, chills, cough, soreness of breath, difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle of body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea? Well I always have a headache, and allergies have been really bad this year so I have had a cough and runny nose. I checked NO.

Have you tested positive for COVID-19? NO

Have you had a serious reaction to a previous dose of vaccine. Well I got a headache and aches. NO

Have you had any vaccinations in the last 14 days. How long ago was the first dose I got? I don’t know. NO

Have you had any COVID-19 antibody therapy in the last 90 days? NO

Have you received a previous dose of the COVID-19 vaccine? NO. Oh wait, YES! Hell I already checked the box wrong! OK cross it out and put a big circle in the YES column. But everything else had been filled out with check marks. Would the one circle on the page cause some alarm?

The line started to move as I was still filling out the form. I was directed to seat number 8 and I took off my jacket and sweat shirt. Pam sat diagonally across from me. The sweatshirt got stuck on my baseball cap and mask. I couldn’t just remove the cap since the mask was tied over it. I struggled with my head wedged in the hoodie for what seemed an eternity and finally pulled the sweatshirt over my big head ripping off both my cap and mask. Mortified, I quickly re-masked. I don’t think anyone noticed. I made sure my sticker was on top of my pile of folded clothes. It was chilly outside. The National Guard officer scanned my sticker and had me roll up my sleeve. Before I had time to wince, the shot was in and I was getting my sweatshirt back on. No one ever took my form. I guess the computer system was back online.

After Pam and I both got our shots, we were directed to a tent where we had to wait for 30 minutes to be sure there were no severe reactions. This is when I finally got my sketchbook out and sketched the guy in front of us as he waited for the moment he could return to life as normal. I got the VAX!!! The next day I have a headache and feel achy but that means the vaccine is working. Soon life can return to a new normal though I will still wear my mask, social distance and wash hands often until research proves I can not infect others.

COVID-19 Deaths Under Counted in Florida

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A study published by The American Journal of Public Health this month says that Florida has under reported its coronavirus deaths by thousands of cases. The report stated that the impact of the pandemic in Florida “is significantly greater than the official COVID-19 data suggest.”

Researchers came to their conclusions by comparing the estimated deaths in the state from March to September and compared that figure to the actual number of recorded deaths, or the “excess deaths.”

Moosa Tatar, public health economist at the University of Utah and lead researcher of the study said, “I am sure that COVID-19 is responsible for most of these excess deaths.” According to Tatar’s study, nearly 5,000 deaths should have been included among the listed COVID-19 fatalities, but were instead attributed to other causes.

In May 2020, Rebekah Jones, a data scientist who helped create the state’s Covid-19 data dashboard, was fired from her role running a COVID-19 dashboard for the Florida Department of Health. Jones claims she was fired after refusing to falsify state Covid-19 data. Jones has harshly criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis‘ handling of the pandemic and filed a whistleblower complaint. She was fired and later her home was raided by police who took all her computer equipment. She has been running her own dashboard to keep track of Florida’s COVId-19 statistics. Her dashboard was back online in a few days when donors helped her get a new computer.

Governor DeathSantis has been less than forthcoming in releasing data to keep the public informed about the pandemic. He has consistently withheld information until media outlets sue the state to get the information released. Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani said, “The governor does have a habit of picking the most positive numbers and ignoring the bad numbers. He hand selects data to fit a narrative rather than acknowledge the reality for people.” She said, “Access to even the basic tools to make decisions doesn’t seem like a priority for the governor.”

An investigation by the South Florida Sun Sentinel published in December found that the DeSantis administration worked to minimize bad news about the pandemic and spread misinformation, with some officials withholding crucial data about the spread of the virus.

According to the CDC, Florida has confirmed more than 33,000 deaths due to COVID-19 and more than 2 million cases of the coronavirus. Some 9.4 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in the state. Florida has the fourth-highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the country, according to the Johns Hopkins University website that tracks national and international data.