Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021

Inspired

Today turned out far busier than anticipated, but rather productive or maybe creative is the way to phrase it correctly. I was on calls from 06:00 -11:00, more or less non-stop. However, all of these gave me great insights and were rather inspirational. I have a bunch of ideas for Sudan. Also, I have an additional research to help me wrap my head around this troubled country.

This is what I love about my work – figuring out ways to get things done to help build a better world for all. It is why I do what I do. Granted, there are times when it is not easy, when our processes and people are our worst enemies. Those are times when I get impatient, am frustrated, and want to quit.

And then there are days like today, when I see the opportunities to make the world a better place for all. Sometimes things magically fall into place and today was one of those days spouting ideas. This did not stop me from going for my daily swim, which today was full of thought. The repetitiveness of the movement has something Zen to it, and there are days, like today, when this allows me to dive deep into thoughts and formulate ideas into concepts.

Of course, when back at the laptop I want to get ahead of myself and shot of a hundred emails to make things happen. Well, I did not. I shall first coral different parts of the organization, talk to people, get their buy in and then jointly draft a plan. There is too much to be done. It will take a village to move the needle. But it is very energizing.

I have all the confidence in the world that things will fall into place.

The home front has been quiet today, which was a relief after emotions ran high in my household last night, with tears being shed. This pandemic is beginning to get to us emotionally far more than we had anticipated. EM is stressed and I am truly fed up. We want our lives back. Be with friends, date, travel, practice and so on. The fact that there is light at the end of the tunnel given all the positive vaccine news just increases the sentiment of being done. I tell myself to continue to hold out. We are hopefully in the home stretch, making a final effort to be vigilant and safe before we get our shots. Surely it is a question of weeks, maybe months before we get there. But the closer the idea of an end comes the less stamina I find I have.

The vaccination roll out in the US at least is picking up speed with 1.55 million people receiving a shot every day. This, like all things in the USA is unequitable as wealthy white people flood clinics in poorer neighborhoods to get ahead of the line. While the shot cannot come soon enough for me, I feel I need to play by the rules.

From all I have read so far, the efficacy rate of the three vaccines licensed or about to be licensed in the USA are not comparable. This presumably also holds true for Sputnik (Russia), Sinovac (China) and AstraZeneca- Oxford (UK) as all of the trials were done differently, measuring different things during different stages of the pandemic. All of them have one thing in common: they prevent severe illness and can greatly help reduce the spread.

Today Russian trial results were published. They indicate an efficacy of 91.3% somewhat vindicating the roll out before trial completion. Sputnik V is also easy and quick to produce, does not require special storage and can be easily distributed. This spells hope for many lesser developed countries,as despite all the talk about “solidarity” and “only if everyone around the globe is vaccinate will we all be safe”, rich countries have first access to shots. Sputnik V may change that along with AstraZeneca-Oxford, which has given licenses to India for production and shipment to low income countries.

Somewhat bizarre a new Corona test method: anal swabs.  However given mass detection of virus is conducted through checking sewage this makes sense, though I am not sure how a respiratory disease ends up in the digestive tracts!

US numbers continue to look good with only 108k new cases added to the tally of now 27 million reported cases.

Let’s keep it that way. Mask up, maintain distance, get a shot if you can.