Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Wednesday, March 31st, 2021

Cherry Blossoms

This morning I made the impromptu decision to take a half day of work given it is spring break and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

This is now our fifth spring in DC and we had not been to see the cheery trees in full bloom at the tidal basin, so we went today. As the forecast said rain, I thought it might not be so crowded, and it was not, though for a cloudy Wednesday morning there were surprisingly many people. Then again it is spring break which explains why so many folks with kids were there.

A significant part of the area was cordoned off which made traffic flow and parking into a major nightmare. After going up Independence and down Constitution Avenue not finding a single spot, we opted for a no “standing, no parking at any time” area by the Washington Memorial and popped over to the tidal basin for a view and a photo op.

Alas, no long walk as I had planned. Instead we made our way to check out Gravitas, a restaurant deep in South East where I have made a reservation to celebrate EM’s coming of age. I have requested outdoor seating as indoor dining is one of the main ways to get infected, and we want to dress for the occasion even though it is supposed to be only 9C on Friday. I am hoping the weather forecast will be inaccurate as it so often has been in recent months. We spied heater on the outdoor patio, but no tent or other enclosure. I think we may just need to bring a few blankets to wrap around our legs – just in case. Also, no summer dresses I guess, more like winter coats, sadly. Even if sitting outside for three hours is not the greatest of prospects, I am looking forward to the evening and given this is a Michelin star rated restaurant I am certain they will do what they can to make their patrons comfortable.

Post swim it was on to work. No calls until 17:00, so I had time to focus and think, which is very much needed. EM is at work, and I have the house all to myself. Something I realize I will need to get used too, as this will become the norm once she heads off to university. My only remaining chore for the night is to pick her up at 21:45.

Infections, just like inoculations, continue to increase. We are up another 63k to bring the reported total to 31.1 million. Also, hospitalizations are on the rise again. These numbers are the result of people behaving as if things are back to normal, when they are not, or not yet at least with B1.1.7 spreading. Scientists believe the world needs to be faster in vaccinating everyone to avoid vaccine resistant strains from emerging. I guess that means mass vaccination in Brazil as a starting point. Not sure how to achieve this feat with a government in denial even if they had enough doses for everyone.

There is lots of good news on vaccine research. The BioNTech vaccine produced by Pfizer shows to be safe and highly effective in phase 3 trials conducted with 12-15 year olds. Out of the 2269 teenagers who have received the vaccine not a single one contracted COVID, suggesting a 100% efficacy. Pfizer has shared trial results with the FDA and it is expected that vaccination of adolescents could begin before the coming school year. This is less relevant for us as EM will be eligible for a shot as of April 27th.

COVID vaccinations applied in real life show to be very effective. Washington State has reported 100 cases of people testing positive for COVID well over two weeks after having received their second doses. That is 0.01% of those inoculated, so very small number of people. Only eight of these had severe symptoms and needed to be hospitalized, so far none of these have died.

At the same time research conducted by the NIH indicates that immune responses triggered by the current vaccines are effective against variants also and reduce transmission. 

There is a chance we may return to life as we once knew it and sooner rather than later.