Monday, February 22nd, 2021
Well before the pandemic hit I and a few friends planned to do a Blue Cruise to celebrate our graduates. EM and I have organized three of these in the past and we have a preferred captain and boat. Thrice we have spent a week sailing the Turkish Ageas for a week, and it has always been a fantastic experience.
This year we were planning on two weeks. Well over a year ago today I reached out to Osman and tentatively booked his boat. I then assembled participants to fill the six cabins for the two weeks. Some will only do one week, others like us, mum and my friend D have signed up for two. It was all great. Then Corona came and with it a number of uncertainties. Osman bey has been very accommodating, not asking for a deposit since October. Now however he wants us to commit, which given the general environment is hard for some.
Everything t is just too uncertain still. While some of my friends have expressed reservations about paying the deposit now, they are all still “in” and willing to make the payment. One had the brilliant idea to see if we could take out a cancellation insurance, and she has kindly offered to explore the options. With Corona everything is just so uncertain.
Likewise, we are struggling with university choices. EM is rather partial to IE Madrid in Segovia as she really likes the courses they offer, but she is concerned that she has never seen the place. As a result, I am currently looking into options of flying to Spain for spring break. From what I have managed to establish it seems rather easy. One simply needs a negative PCR Test not older than 72 hours to be able to skip quarantine. Flight options also look agreeable. So, we may find ourselves on the way to Spain at the end of March.
It is somewhat strange for something as normal as hopping onto a plane to go check out a place becoming such a production. It would be so nice if we could plan and travel like we used to.
Over the past twenty-four hours the USA has seen 57k new infections bringing the total to 28.7 million with death in excess of 511k. Overall this spells good news as the USA is no longer a pariah state.
As governments are trying to get the pandemic under control difficult choices arise. Vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible or vaccinate equitably? While I am all for equity, the hard to reach may be better served if we are closer to herd immunity sooner, especially given latest findings from the UK which corroborate findings in Israel which indicate the vaccines stop transmission.
With the roll out of vaccinations picking up experts attempt to predict how the next 18 months will unfold. It does not look like things will return to normal very soon, though social gatherings are likely to pick up over the summer. By autumn all Americans should be vaccinated, but it is unclear how further waves of infections will pan out given immunity is likely to be temporary and booster shots may be required.