The school district next door to mine jumped on this immediately and has already lifted the mask mandate for people who are vaccinated. As far as I can tell, they're requiring no proof whatsoever of said vaccination, which means that tomorrow there will be a bunch of unvaccinated 14 and 15 year olds going to school with 16 and 17 year olds who can now say, "oh, I'm vaccinated" and not wear masks. I understand what the CDC is trying to do, and I understand the fine line they're trying to walk, but I'm not so sure about this one.

I see a ton of different takes on this, and the messaging hasn't been at all clear, and it's totally confusing. I see a LOT of people saying, "the vaccine doesn't mean you won't get covid, it means you won't die from it." And I think they understand this to mean that the vaccines aren't really stopping transmission at all, just making symptoms so mild people aren't noticing? My understanding is that our best evidence right now is that this isn't true--the vaccines DO stop the vast majority of people from contracting even mild or asymptomatic cases. BUT I also think that in correcting this, some people swing too far in the other direction and say things that suggest that it's literally impossible to contract covid if you're vaccinated. Which obviously is also not true; no vaccine is 100% effective, and no one's claiming covid vaccines are. I think that distinction is getting lost: for the vast majority of people, the vaccine stops you from contracting covid at all, not just serious cases (what "the vast majority" means varies somewhat between different vaccines), but there will be some small percentage of vaccinated people who do still contract covid, but even for most of THOSE people, the cases will be milder than they would be without the vaccine. And I'm not at all sure I just said it any clearer than anyone else, so maybe that's why the messaging is so tricky.

The studies I've read about so far have suggested that vaccines prevent transmission because they prevent infections in the vast majority of people, even mild and asymptomatic cases. That's always been my biggest concern about J&J, particularly in a still largely unvaccinated population. That's great news that there aren't any documented cases of transmission in breakthrough infections, and I certainly hope it holds up, but I can also understand why MLB is going to take a cautious approach, given the stakes involved (i.e. a whole, whole lot of money, for one thing).

MLB isn't requiring anyone to get vaccinated, so there are plenty of unvaccinated people around on the teams (I read that the Yankees hit some threshold (85% maybe?) vaccinated that allowed them to operate under less strict precautions), so it certainly makes sense to me to continue with regular testing. I know the early evidence on vaccines preventing transmission is good, but presumably the people who DO get breakthrough cases can still spread it to unvaccinated people--which would be a major headache in this kind of situation with so many people in close contact and traveling all over the country.

We were there last in early April and it was still pretty chilly/windy, so we didn't do a ton of beach time. We went to Folly Beach, but that was mostly because that's the side of town we were staying on. It was nice, but I mostly just remember how cold we were. Oh! The USS Yorktown is another great place with young kids! They just turn you loose in a giant aircraft carrier.

Charleston is great...Fort Sumter is a great trip with younger kids--we saw a ton of dolphins on the boat over, and then the fort itself is fun to explore. Charles Towne landing is another good, kid-friendly historic site--it's on the site of the original settlement, so there are recreated buildings/boats/etc. plus a small zoo with animals native to the area.

Jekyll Island is my favorite beach vacation spot, and it would tick all those boxes. It's owned by the state, so development (and therefore crowds) is limited, with lots of natural areas. And really interesting history because it was a winter resort for all those Gilded Age robber baron types before the state took it over. There's a tram tour that takes you around the historic district, which appeals to younger kids, too, because you get to ride on a big red tram 🙂 . There's a small water park, too, although I've never been because we avoid summer. Oh, and our favorite part is that there are dedicated bike paths to take you all over the island; you don't have to drive at all unless you want to.

I haven't seen this confirmed anywhere, but someone on twitter said the Yankees used J&J vaccines--which isn't nearly as effective against mild covid as moderna or pfizer. We'd need to know how many people had been exposed total to know whether 7 infections is notable or not, I think. If there were a ton of exposures and a handful of mild/asymptomatic infections, then the vaccine's still doing what it's supposed to do. A baseball team is an unusual setting because everyone is getting tested frequently, right? (I assume it's still true that they're testing everyone every couple of days like last year?) So it should yield some interesting information, since that's not being done most places and wasn't done during the vaccine trials either. My dad works at a nursing home and has also reported mild/asymptomatic cases in vaccinated people there--but everyone there is tested weekly, so they're catching asymptomatic cases most places wouldn't.

I made an appointment for my 15 year old for Friday (this place specified that it was for 16+ only through Wednesday, but let me sign him up for after that). And he'll get the second dose just a few days before we leave for our 2 month long summer trip, so perfect timing. Now there's only the 8 year old left waiting.

I had the same concerns about Happy Masks, but from what I can tell nanofiber filters like they use can indeed be washed and reused a lot without losing much effectiveness. In addition to their own testing, I've found stuff like this: https://www.fastcompany.com/90480804/these-face-masks-are-designed-to-be-washed-and-reused . I don't know how similar nanofiber filters from different manufacturers are, but I eventually decided I was as convinced as I was going to get without learning a lot more...chemistry? whatever I'd need to learn to understand how filters work better. More anecdotal Happy Mask support: my husband has worn them (usually layered with a surgical mask) all year teaching high school, had covid + students in his room at least 3 or 4 times during the year, and no problems. I kept considering getting him kn95s instead, but the Happy Masks fit him well and are relatively comfortable, and relatively comfortable is really important when you're wearing masks 8+ hours every day.

I think she definitely should go SOMEWHERE for vacation, but the vast majority of the US has more pleasant weather in July than Florida does! I live in north Georgia, and my only rule for summer vacations is "go somewhere cooler than Georgia."

17 year old had both doses of pfizer--no side effects other than a mildly sore arm.

Ah, interesting. I've been going back and forth about whether to have mine tested, and that kind of tilts me toward no. I don't have any reason to think my vaccine wasn't effective, and I don't think there's anything I could do about it right now if the antibodies came back negative anyway. I know of three people other than my NP who had their (spike) antibody tests done--my mother and stepfather's both came back showing antibodies and then I have a friend who had hers tested because she was concerned that a medication she used to take for cancer would interfere with antibody production--hers came back positive, too. My husband just got tested the other day but doesn't have the results yet. We definitely wanted to test his because he takes an immunosuppressant.

I went to Aldi for the first time in a year a couple of weeks ago, and I was amazed at all the new things--a whole line of keto stuff! fun! And they completely remodeled my Target since I was there last. I knew that had happened, but it was exciting to finally see it in person 🙂 . Oh! and they redid my favorite thrift store, too.

We've had good luck with zinus, too (we had one in our last travel trailer and will likely buy one to replace our mattress at home soon)

He can get his antibodies tested if he's worried the vaccine didn't do the trick. My NP offers it to everyone, and says she plans to check her own every couple of months. You just have to make sure it's the "spike" test that tests for the antibodies from the vaccine specifically and not a general covid antibody test. Unless there's something different about J&J vs. the MRNA shots WRT to antibodies.

oops--I skimmed to see if anyone else had said it, but I didn't skim thoroughly enough!

Important note re: this is that 69% of American adults are overweight or obese. It would be considerably more surprising if it WEREN'T true that the majority who have been hospitalized and died were overweight. Particularly when you consider that other high risk factors like diabetes and high blood pressure are correlated with being overweight or obese.

But she said it IS masked soccer. Sounds like the safety precautions for the team itself ARE what she's comfortable with and that it's this other kid who should be finding another activity if he has a problem with them.

We did a little of this a few years ago when mine were middle school aged. We didn't come close to finishing, so I don't have very thorough answers, but I did think it was well done and that there was a lot of material--I think it would likely work as a full year course, and it would be easy to add in extra projects if needed. You're actually inspiring me to go look at it again and seeing if my now high schoolers would be interested in it for an elective next year.

Oh, I guess I'll have a 10th grader, too! Current plan: Math: Finish Harold Jacobs Geometry by mid-year and start Foerster's Algebra 2 English: I'll be doing AP lit with his 12th grade brother, and I always have them read the same stuff--so he'll do that but not take the exam yet. I'm thinking of something like deep dives into 4 longer works (Hamlet, Huck Finn, Invisible Man, Beloved? or Middlemarch? I've never read Middlemarch--anyway, still thinking, but definitely Hamlet and Huck Finn) and then a bunch of poetry Science: Chemistry through Well Trained Mind Academy Social Studies: AP government, probably a low key econ, possibly AP Human Geography, too Foreign language: Spanish 3 WTMA If we don't do AP HUG we'll need to figure out something for an elective--maybe something at our homeschool co-op. Beyond that he plays French horn in a local youth orchestra and takes lessons in that plus piano. And historically he does a lot of theater, but he hasn't for the past couple of years--I'd like for him to get back into that (and so would he), so we're looking into possibilities for that.

Jerry Maguire The American President Two for the Road the Pride and Prejudice miniseries

4 kids, all homeschooled all the way through (so far at least)--oldest is finishing his second year of college and youngest is 8.

I'm not especially bothered by name changes, but I'm not really interested in interacting with people who aren't here for conversation and dialogue about a variety of topics but just want to argue about their own niche pet issues. I can get that anywhere on the internet. So if someone comes here or comes back and immediately starts fighting on one or two threads about a single thing and doesn't post anywhere else, I don't consider that a useful addition to the boards.

ah, okay...I only knew that they told us in Georgia that if we lost our card they could print out the info from the state registry. Yeah, unless something changes, I imagine it will be a situation where if you really want to lie about it you can. Which is probably also true of any required vaccines. I looked on DS's schools website for what kind of documentation they require (for all vaccines, not covid specifically), and this is all it is: the record must include the month/day/year of each immunization the record must be in English or be accompanied by an English translation