Tuesday, May 11th, 2021

Pickle Crisis

The day turned surprisingly cold as it progressed with a low overnight forecast at 7C. I am so ready for warm summer temperatures and the constant teasers with two hot days every week do not help.

No outside office today, no lizzarding in the sun either. Just sitting with the laptop on the lap inside. It was even to cold to open the windows without freezing one’s feet.

Given the cool temperatures the rack of lamb, normally more of a winter dish, for lunch was just right. For variety though I would like to move onto summer fare, like elderberry soup with semolina dumplings! Oh well. As I was making lunch EM was roaming around the kitchen checking the fridge for who knows what to find we are out of pickles. Neither the kitchen ladder nor the basement pantry had any back-up. Apparently, there is a pickle crisis in our house. So before heading to practice today I shall stop at Rodman’s. A good opportunity for me to stock up on Ouma’s buttermilk rusks as well as some red wine; given the current chill.

Otherwise a thoroughly uneventful day I am sad to report. I will save my outrage over the latest US political issues for after the vote the GP takes on their house speaker. It promises to be ugly.

The downward trend of new infections continues with 30K reported over the past twenty-four hours to bring the US total to 33.5 million. The focus is shifting from the US to other hot spots. Things are really bad in India and neighboring countries. The Indian variant B1.6.1.7 seems to be even more vicious than the UK variant B1.1.7 from which the Indian version appears to be a mutant. Currently researchers believe the Pfizer vaccine will remain effective against the new Indian strain – happy news. And while the number of shots administered daily is decreasing in the USA (roughly 2 million/day), the number of shots in the EU are up to roughly 3 million/day.

The EU is not renewing its order of vaccines with Astra Zeneca and who can blame them after all the back and forth and eventual failure to deliver what was contracted/ promised? Also, the appetite for the shot developed by Oxford has seen a significant decline in demand following the public blood clotting debate, the pausing of its use and now the recommendation it be administered only to people older than 60. Instead the EU has secured an additional 300 million BioNTech shots to be administered between now and 2022.

Surprise, or rather not, following spring break in Miami, cases are on the rise as are hospitalizations and deaths, with the UK variant becoming the dominant strain. 

Studies find vaccines slow asymptomatic spread. This is wonderful news for all of us.