Forgot to add program is only as long as supply lasts so if interested be sure and sign up as soon as you think you might be. If accepted into program it will pay a portion of your internet bill each month for six months after the president announces end of pandemic. Then you have to notify service provider and begin paying as usual before pandemic. It will also give money towards purchase of phone but only 20 bucks so how anybody is going to be greatly helped by that I don't know, maybe one of those prepaid cell phones or unless they mean monthly? Still 20 bucks is 20 bucks and it's a simple form.

Wow, I didn't know anything about Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett and how the Moderna vaccine was developed until tonight. She was on Laurence O'Donnell's special tonight. She explained how COVID vaccine research has been going on for years and she was able to figure out the basis for the Moderna vaccine over a weekend!

I'm so glad I got the Moderna vaccine now that I know this - had my second shot on Tuesday!

They should plaster the airwaves and internet with PSAs and campaigns with her in them. She is a highly articulate 35-year-old viral immunologist who is one of the main people who developed the Moderna vaccine. So impressive.

Here is an article about her:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00338-y

Yeah, it's good news that those of us who are fully vaccinated don't need to wear masks based on the data and I think they are trying to also use it as an incentive and reward. Unfortunately, those who have no intention of getting vaccinated don't wear masks and are really obnoxious to people at stores and in other public places needing to enforce masking.

A few weeks ago a man over the age of 65 was making fun of me for wearing a mask. Really, dude, you are the one who is way more at risk than me. Maybe he got vaccinated, but I doubt it.

It's kind of weird because once my 2 weeks are up I won't need to wear a mask but other people around me aren't going to know whether or not I am vaccinated, so it's kind of a strange situation.

I agree with nhplowboi that it shouldn't be up to people like Gemme, him, and his staff to protect the vulnerable since they were first in line to have access to the vaccine. Maybe they should have waited a bit since it does take time to get through both shots and 2 weeks after that but they are also saying the evidence has been here for a while and it's overdue.

Unmasking data..
 

It wasn't even a full 6 months since the first vaccine was administered that they gave the all clear to remove masks.

IMO that seems too short of a time for collecting such important & valuable data!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that people who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks in most indoors settings. This new guidance comes in response to promising evidence that not only do vaccines provide protection from severe cases of COVID-19, but they are also effective at preventing the vaccinated from passing the disease to others.

“The science is clear: If you are fully vaccinated, you are protected, and you can start doing the things that you stopped doing because of the pandemic,” the CDC said in a statement. The new guidance does include some exceptions. Fully vaccinated people are still encouraged to wear masks when visiting health care facilities, flying, using public transit or in certain congregate settings.

Local update on how Covid affects us here at home.
 

For weeks now, since January, people contracting Covid19 has been well over 600 + (brand new cases) daily. Until today. Today our metro area had only 300 new cases. If ppl make sure to get vaccinated and follow mask use and other social distancing measures, our tri-county area will be lowered to Low Risk, which will then lead to other measures being slowly lifted.

Our board meeting today spoke to these daily concerns, as we all try to find some level of safety that seemed present before the pandemic brought us to a halt.

It is going to not be easy to transition because of many reasons we read about daily.

There is so much to be grateful for, and surviving the pandemic is a story being written every day.

I am so glad i am still here.

Q!
 

Im not vaccinated and I wear a mask in stores that require it and dont wear one when I don't have to, nor will I be an arrogant asshole to people about their choices on wearing or not wearing one, nor will I get in line with people being asshats towards each other based on personal preferences!

And if I was ever to get covid, I sure as heck aint gonna go on a rant, screaming at the people in town on public social media forums, blaming whoever for the mess.. ahem sharon stone and others!

Im sorry but the government failed us, period, IDC what political party, the whole government failed us!

HuffPost

15 Miami-Dade Public School Staff Members Die Of COVID In Just 10 Days.

No doubt this gives parents concern.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/15-miami-...021517732.html

Parents are overly anxious to get kids back in school. They need to cool their jets or they'll end up with no kids. Believe all learning ought to be remote until we can get CoVid-19 under control and/or a children's dose gets released. We have those Trumpsters to thank for all this mess. But, will we ever without a vaccine mandate. The mandate's got to have teeth, though.

Caution/attention: Be Aware!
 

Posted Sep 06, 2021 1:00 PM
TOPEKA— The Kansas Department of Health reported 3,952 new coronavirus cases in Kansas on Friday. That is more than twice as many new COVID-19 cases than the state reported Labor Day weekend a year ago.

Ks-

Why are parents so overly anxious to get their kids back to a mediocre education system and risk their deaths is beyond me!!!!


BROWN CENTER CHALKBOARD What international test scores reveal about American education. By Louis SerinoFriday, April 7. 2017

Has U.S. school performance been improving over the past two decades? The results of two international tests—the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Assessment (TIMSS)—shed some light on this question. Both were administered in 2015, an event that only occurs every 12 years. Inside the 2017 Brown Center Report on American Education, report author Tom Loveless takes advantage of this rare opportunity to illuminate trends in American students’ aptitude compared to previous years and to their international counterparts.

The PISA test scores did not bring great news about the American education system, as the United States continues to hover around the international mean for reading and science literacy. On the mathematics literacy section, the U.S. even notched its lowest score to date at 470; this represents a decline from the previous two tests, but it is not statistically significantly different from its first-ever score in 2003. Overall, American PISA scores on all sections have been relatively flat over the test’s history, with no statistically significant change between the score on each section’s first year and the 2015 scores.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown...can-education/

Just as doctors feared, more children are getting hit hard by Covid-19 as the Delta variant tramples across the country.
 

And the school year just started.

"What we're seeing now is extremely concerning," said Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez, associate professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. "This virus is really going for the people who are not vaccinated. And among those people are children who don't qualify for the vaccine and children and teens who qualify but are choosing not to get it."

Among the latest sobering statistics:

-- A record-high 2,396 children were hospitalized with Covid-19 as of Tuesday, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

-- An average of 369 pediatric Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospitals every day during the week ending September 6, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

-- More than 55,000 children have been hospitalized with Covid-19 since August 2020, according to CDC data. Many of those children had no known preexisting conditions.

-- While childhood Covid-19 deaths are still rare, that number is increasing. As of Wednesday, at least 520 children have died, according to CDC data.

Doctors say it's critical to protect children against the Delta variant -- not just for the sake of their health, but to preserve in-person learning and help prevent more aggressive variants from setting the entire country back.

It's just my opinion but to my way of thinking, nobody seems to be listening to the science anymore!
 

~~~
It's just my opinion but to my way of thinking, nobody seems to be listening to the science anymore! Ever since the variant of Delta arrived instead of proceeding cautiously schools have rushed open, sporting events are hosting capacity crowds, and no thoughts are being considered except to mask back up!

To me it seems every unvaccinated person is bearing the brunt of being the cause & forefront of this debacle and not GREED of the almighty dollar!

(CNN)As students and staff return to school, the highly transmissible Delta variant of Covid-19 has caused cases, hospitalizations and death rates to soar across the country. Children under 12 are particularly vulnerable to infection as they are not yet eligible for vaccination, including the FDA-approved Pfizer vaccine.

Contrary to research early in the pandemic, children are just as likely to become infected as adults. According to the CDC, Covid-19 infection rates for adolescents aged 5 to 17 were as high as in adults 18 to 49, and higher than rates in adults over 50.

There have been 4.8 million cases of Covid-19 in children since April 2020, according to the American Association of Pediatrics, making up about 15% of all documented cases in the United States. In the last month, the number of new weekly cases has surged to near-peak levels.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/01/us/us...ata/index.html

Eatonville Middle School students go back to remote learning due to COVID-19 outbreak. .
 

EATONVILLE, Wash. - School officials said classes were canceled Friday because of a number of COVID-19 cases. Students at Eatonville Middle School will return to remote learning for about two weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

"Your actions will affect how well our community prevents the spread of the virus. Everyone should take these steps: Stay close to home, wear a mask when you leave home, limit your interactions to a small circle of friends and family," said Eatonville School District Superintendent Gary Neal.

Officials did not say exactly how many students and staff tested positive.