Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

double mask with a surgical mask is great! but n95 or kf94 is better in terms of safety and comfort imo.

i am officially urging everyone on ilxor.com to upgrade to n95 or kf94.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/26/n95-masks-safest-next-best-options/

When I double mask, which we started about a month ago, it's the blue surgical mask underneath with a cloth mask on top. Definitely not ideal, but it works for us.

The issue I have is that, on the rare occasions I have to go into work, it's for extended periods and I was under the (perhaps incorrect) impression that it wasn't safe to reuse n95s after you've worn them for a long time.

it's no more dangerous to reuse an n95 than any other mask. the difficulty is you can't wash them as easily as a cloth mask and it feels weird to toss them in a way it doesn't feel weird to throw out a surgical mask. (although if you spent $5/day on coffee before covid then it's not more expensive than that).

i have five n95s right now and i rotate through them every five days and air them (in the sun if possible) on the other days. i'll probably do this until the they stop keeping a seal or look/feel gross, which i'm guessing is going to be after ... 10ish? wears each.

if money is an issue then kf94s are basically just as good as n95s and 1/3 the price.

Thanks! Just locked into the cloth mask paradigm early on (especially since my mom sewed a bunch and sent them to us) and never really pursued the n95 option again.

yeah me too. i had some nice-looking cloth masks! my wife spent hours sewing them. but they are unfomfortable and they work half as well as something that's comfortable :(

karl malone if you are still suffering with glasses steaming up, get these https://www.protectly.co/products/5-3pe-n95-mask (or whatever other n95 or kf94 looks good to you).

#n95streetteam

Yeah, as a glasses wearer I am def attuned to the "steam up your specs" concern. Gets kind of tiring when I have to consciously exhale my breath in a downward direction to try and reduce the fog, esp in the winter.

karl malone if you are still suffering with glasses steaming up, get these https://www.protectly.co/products/5-3pe-n95-mask (or whatever other n95 or kf94 looks good to you).

thank you very much, and you have a great memory! :) i switched back to contacts a while ago because my glasses were starting to cut into my nose and i wanted to give my skin a break. so most of the winter has been fog-free (although a bit more fuzzy). but i do prefer the clarity i get with glasses, so when i get a better-fitting pair i will definitely complement them with one of those sweet n95s.

what is it about it that helps with the steam? i'd guess because it fits tightly around the top, nose/bridge area? i have a very large, pointy, broken, elbow nose (probably the direct cause of a standard pair of warby parkers cutting into my nose), so i'm not sure a standard n95 can handle my problem

i've had luck with some anti-fog wipes

Yeah it’s the seal at the top xp

n95s I have have a bendy strip which can shape around your nose and stop the air getting out

oh that's supposed to go AROUND my nose

I've had some luck using a bit of tissue folded up and placed over the bridge of my nose, just under the top edge of the mask. Because it mashes down where there is a tight fit and stays slightly fluffed where the fit is looser, it traps some of the moisture that tries to escape up toward my eyeglasses, reducing fogging.

wondering about the bottoms and sides of those N95 masks, not sure they will fit my face. I will try them. I've been using a cloth mask made by a friend that holds two filters and that fits very tightly. So far that is the one I feel most comfortable with

it mashes down where there is a tight fit and stays slightly fluffed where the fit is looser

ooh baby

thank you very much, and you have a great memory! :) i switched back to contacts a while ago because my glasses were starting to cut into my nose and i wanted to give my skin a break. so most of the winter has been fog-free (although a bit more fuzzy). but i do prefer the clarity i get with glasses

I do! Just in my right eye. In fact, against my will, I have a full year’s worth of a daily astigmatism lenses! Pearle Vision smelled some sort of Obamacare deal and made me take them (at no cost to me). They irritate my eye, unfortunately, so I don’t wear them. My right eye is fucked up.

the woman whose husband tested positive at my partner's school came back negative so they're reopening next week.
partner tested negative. partner got her first shot.
this shit is stressful!

this shit is stressful!

damn straight! every single time my body feels a bit weird in any way it sets me wondering about possible covid-19 exposure until it goes away. and that's getting off easy compared to having a known source of exposure and having to test.

one of my close friends (for well over ten years) posted this today:

"I find vaccine-bragging to be incredibly tacky and in poor taste. If you don't like hearing this, just scroll on by please, and let me have my opinion."

On the one hand, she's a teacher, considered essential, and Florida isn't exactly going out of their way to bump teachers or other essentials to the top of the list.

on the other hand, that reaction seems a little...odd? I understand the anxiety of getting vaccinated and that seeing other people getting it can play into that, but I would also think they'd be happy that friends of theirs are getting it.

Even weirder is this friend is married to someone whose parents just publicly posted about their vaccine getting so...idk, obviously since I got it I'm not the best judge of it, but is this actually poor taste?

one side of me thinks it helps promote encouragement of getting vaccines, the other does sympathize. not going to like....confront or anything, just...this was the first person I saw elucidate this.

even more weird is I think what prompted this was another one of her teacher friends and boyfriend posting about how they got it because there were vials of vaccine that would go to waste otherwise that they got at closing time at one of the places, but this friend actually had COVID last year and it laid her out, and is also a teacher, so....

idk....this is why I only read social media an hour or two a day

I think it’s ok to be excited about getting vaccinated and on the margin sharing that excitement probably encourages others to get vaccinated.

I agree that I think it can only be a good thing for people to see their friends and family get the vaccine and have no serious complications, to try to counteract the rest of the crap on social media.

The good: my parents were finally able to schedule a vaccination appointment

The bad: They are currently in FL and the appointment is in MN, meaning they will being flying there and then isolating at their home in the woods until they get their second dose, returning to FL in March

aggravating

oh geez :/. sounds like a logistical nightmare.

I want to know whose idea it was to have FL vaccination appointments done via web registration, like queuing up for Ticketmaster

the 'getting in line' first started with the Unemployment website last year when it was clear that the DEO couldn't handle the volume - they'd make you 'enter the queue' like with Ticketmaster, and sometimes hours later, it was your ten minute window to file your unemployment claim!

I guess based on the ~overwhelming praise~ civilians heaped on the antiquated DEO system, DeSantis directed his web designers to do the same for vaccine pre-registration on the state-sponsored website. it's really dumb.

It's a good thing that people are being vaccinated and can understand the desire to share that but there's certainly something provocative when hearing that some specific people have had theirs without good reason or because of who they are not what they are.

I will say I've seen a couple of people on Twitter this week saying they got their first shot, but also saying they have no idea why they are considered "essential" and they only got the shot because their work handled it for them.

I can understand how that might frustrate, say, a teacher who still can't get an appointment.

My parents, both just over 65, won’t get theirs before fuck knows when because lol Quebec, whereas all of their friends back in Romania are already vaccinated.

my parents (>65) haven't heard a thing about when they will be vaccinated but Brony B who works at Fancy Company X not only gets his entire family vaccinated but also brags about it on social media? I personally find it nagl and it does not get me excited for vaccination whatsoever. I am plenty excited on my own.

Mom told me this morning she and Dad get their first shots on Saturday. Although I'd registered them through the Florida site, I'm afraid to ask if they found other means.

i would cut my foot off if i could get the vaccine today and it makes me extremely frustrated to think that i wont get it for what, 9, 10 months, or more? but the person whose fault it is has retired to mar a lago so what are ya gonna do, shrug. i'm beyond relieved that my parents and teacher siblings have been able to get shots.

Nothing even in the pipeline for my family members that are eligible, so I'm not hopeful at all. But I won't say much more since I've already had my hand slapped for being too despairing about the roll-out. Just to say that I can see absolutely see why the inconsistent roll-out and seemingly random approach to who has gotten the jab and who hasn't might be incredibly frustrating to those worried about their families.

I remain hopeful that a Biden administration will eventually get things rolling and I am happy to see the national distribution numbers keep creeping up, but its an absolute shitshow on the state and local levels in many places and we certainly haven't seen anything improve even the slightest around here.

I know a couple who were vaccinated recently because their child is on the autism spectrum, and as caregivers to a person with a disability they qualified as a priority.

I guess I don't begrudge them for getting poked, but. I'm in the same predicament and I figure I can wait while truly essential workers get protected. I'm not sure that intellectual disabilities are that much of a risk factor, compared to better-known and -documented medical conditions. My son's nonverbal and epileptic but otherwise healthy; he's been in school since November. We've heard nothing from our jurisdiction about bumping him (or us) to the head of the line.

Oh absolutely, don't get me wrong. I'm not worried about myself or my immediate family at this point, but I am, to put it mildly, disappointed that my father in law, who is both over 80 and had a very scary brush with pneumonia a few years ago, is still waiting to even get an appointment on the calendar.

US currently averaging administering about 1.3 mill doses per day. be nice if we can get that up to 2 mill, but that's probably a long shot for the immediate future.

A few states (like Florida) have seen their averages go down in recent weeks. not sure if whether lack of doses or something else

Apparently, the issue in Illinois is that the doses being delivered week after week are still decreasing.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/02/biden-administration-will-start-sending-covid-vaccines-directly-to-pharmacies-as-it-ups-shipments.html

I thought the Illinois deliveries were supposed to be going up? By 10K or so?

Even my mom, a retired 75-year old physician who is still licensed in two states (PA and DE) and wants to volunteer administering the vaccine, hasn't been able get the vaccine herself. Yet my 35-year old cousin in DC managed to get vaccinated, partly for bullshit reasons but partly for just being in the right place at the right time (which is kind of bullshit, too). My hope is this will be like the toilet paper shortage, a month or two of limits and frustration followed by a return to full shelves. Fingers crossed, I guess.

Sorry JiC, certainly not singling you out here, but when you look at the data, it very clearly isn't going to be "a month or two". There are still some very, very significant problems to be addressed in the supply and distribution chains.

I'm annoyed that people keep talking as if we are just around the corner from a magical land where vaccines are being jabbed left and right, on every corner, and I think it's getting people's hopes up to an unrealistic degree and taking unnecessary chances and pushing for reopenings that don't make sense at all.

I’d like to clarify — everyone should get the vaccine as soon as they can. Right place right time? Great, get stuck. It’s the public bragging I have beef with. Glad Brony B is vaccinated, don’t need to know how satisfied he is with it and himself. That’s also just a personal preference for privacy in general and an allergy to public boasting.

And I'm not saying ilxors are being unreasonable about things, but I've seen several friends and family, whom I'd assumed to know better and be doing better, saying things on social media that are effectively, "well since the vaccine is almost here we are more comfortable taking risk X, Y or Z". And again, these risks are all highly personal, calculated things for which I'm not going to fault anyone else for taking if it makes sense to them, but I do see an element of faith in an imminent vaccine that isn't yet backed up by the data.

Oh, I fully expect it to take months and months, I'm just hoping for a surprise. Biden has been president for, what, two weeks? Let's see where the power of the office plus actually taking things seriously might get us.

taking a bunch of risks because the vaccine might be coming makes zero sense even if it's only a week away, let alone months

yeah, generally vaccines don't help if you contract the virus before getting them. you don't avoid the flu if you expose yourself to someone with the flu and then get the vaccine 5 days later.

taking a bunch of risks because the vaccine might be coming makes zero sense even if it's only a week away, let alone months

100%, which is why it annoys me and makes me worry about more spikes in the near future. But I think Biden's rosy, "everyone who wants one will have it by summer" is feeding this idea that we're much closer that we actually are. Fwiw, the NYTime's tracker says that if the current rate holds, we will hit 70% on September 11, 2021.

I guess I'm confused about how people choosing to do risky stuff is the fault of Biden messaging

we can always find a way to blame centrist democrats