Sunday, January 31, 2021
There has been no proper snow in DC for the past two years, but of course climate change does not exist.
The snowstorm announced two days ago caused a buying frenzy yesterday, people were expecting electricity and heating outages and were generally in a state of anticipation. When I woke around 04:00 not a snowflake had fallen. And given yesterdays’ brilliantly blue skies and shining sun, this did not seem surprising. Well, when I got up at 07:30 there was a powdering of snow on the outside of my window.
It continued to snow throughout the day. To reach some 10cm by late afternoon. We had no problem clearing the walkway and the driveway and freeing the car of its white coat, so I could get to the pool without any problem, begging the question what all the fuss had been about. As usual I arrived early and found a free lane, so managed to swim for 40 minutes instead of my allotted 30. Just thinking I should have gotten there even earlier, which had not worked yesterday as everyone had showed up for their slot.
The remainder of the day was spent at home, calling my cousin and a friend. Surprisingly someone I had thought of as a friend for years, who had gone MIA over the past nine months, also called tonight to wish me "Happy New Year". Now that came as a surprise; honestly I had note xpected to hear from him ever again. No idea why teh silence had aenused, but over the summer I had made several attemots to socialize outdoors, none of which seemed to suit, and then I heard nothign for months. It was a pleasant enough conversation. Let’s see when next I hear from him, cautiously optimistic, but not in a rush.
Staying home and lounging around bed all morning, I made great progress on my book: ”The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennet, hoping to finish it tomorrow and move on to the Midnight Library” by Matt Haig in preparation for the book club at the end of the February. The further I get into the book (finished the first two-thirds today) the more I enjoy hte read. The theme fits well with my recent reads of "The Waterdancer" by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a local authoer and "The Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson as all are concerned with the theme of being of color in America and the hisotry of slavery.
As it was a Sunday with no plans, I made a more elaborate lunch then usual. Pancooked cod with fried squid (which did not beomce crunchy as I had hoped), a lime-butter sauce and oven roasted vegetables. Brussel Sprouts for me, Sweet Potatoes for EM. She then headed of to her BF and I lit the fire and began to entertain myself with writting this before reemerging myself in my book. All in all, a very relaxing Sunday. Reday to read up on Sudan tomorrow!
The USA has added 144k new cases, but thankfully the spread is slowing and hospitalization rates are below 100k for the first time in months. Total reported infections in the USA are now 26.6 million. Only a small portion of cases have been detected, hence it is safe to assume that some 100 million Americans have now been exposed to the virus.
Given committed vaccine deliveries by Moderna and Pfizer, the manufacturer of the BioNTech vaccine, as well as the additional 100 million doses which Johnson & Johnson will provide, there is a chance that 200 million American resident swill be vaccinated by June; that is if the vaccine roll out improves. That is by no means a given. The Biden administration has suggested a US$ 1.9 trillion Corona relief bill to fund of this among other things. The question remains, if they can manage to get the bill passed as the GoP, despite all its calls for unity, has suddenly rediscovered the importance of fiscal discipline, which of course had not been top of mind when they passed a US$ 2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy in 2019. Also, it turns out the previous administration lobbied congress to deny states aid for vaccination rollout after spending billions supporting big Pharmaceuticals to develop vaccines. Here I thought the Republicans were the prolife party. Maybe not.
Countries around the globe are facing shortages in vaccine procurement, this not only effects European and American producers, but also the Chinese. While issues may vary by producers my take is, more firms should be licensed to produce vaccines, even if they receive the licenses for only 12 or 24 months
. I am very much hoping, the USA can still procure the 200 million doses form Pfizer and Moderna and the other 100 million form Johnson & Johnson to have most of the US population vaccinated by June, so we can all return to some form of normalcy.