I was going to suggest maybe it’s most prevalent amongst Christians who don’t attend church, but then… … clearly it’s not just that. Would be interesting though to see a breakdown of how unvaccinated against Covid status lines up with various denomination and/or church attendance. Just as a curiosity. They’re not coming up with this out of their own opinions, they are imploring people to follow public health advice so that more people don’t get hospitalized and die. That is in no way comparable to a pastor telling someone how to treat their disease. They are telling people to follow public health advice. People who tell people not to mask and not to be vaccinated are in fact the ones coming up with their own opinions and spreading them as fact, because those are not accepted paths for health and safety right now. The whole “sheeple” thing is a sad irony on multiple fronts at this point. First, because it’s almost always said by people who consider themselves Christian, yet are using the word “sheep” as an insult. Hopefully I don’t have to explain what’s sad about that. Second, it’s people who throw around the “sheeple” term who are so tragically being led to their own illness and deaths by people who don’t care one whit about them. It’s truly awful and tragic.

FWIW, many of the scented Schmidt’s cause irritation here (lavender and the cedar and juniper containing ones), but the unscented is fine for most people here. I’m sensitive to heavy baking soda concentration (as are many people) so use the sensitive Schmidt’s, which uses arrowroot powder instead. Schmidt’s and Bubble and Bee are the only natural ones that have cut it here. (As far as store-bought. Years ago I used to make my own with coconut oil and baking soda and that worked really well also.)

😭 I’m so sorry. Prayers for that little baby to be better soon 🙏.

https://kollecteusa.com/collections/blunakf94/products/bluna-kf94-kids They have a tiny size in another brand if you need one for a 2-4 year old.

Yes! Our didndrive-through for flu and is going to again this year, but would it be great if they could offer other things as well.

And this is the thing with ivermectin that I think people who aren’t fanatical about it might not realize is happening. It’s one thing for people to think it might help them if they get sick, but it seems most of the time, they think ivermectin is a miracle drug that will keep them healthy if they get Covid, and the vaccine is poison.

That is disconcerting. Early in Summer I decided to finally get my younger two in for check ups, since things are looking so much better, but the office was so booked that their appointment isn’t till the end of this month. They are too young to be vaccinated, and I was already feeling uneasy about it because the ventilation situation at the doctor’s office is very poor. Small exam rooms with no windows that you’re in for at least an hour. We’ve had to do it multiple times during the pandemic, but with Delta, I really don’t think I want to take currently healthy kids into that situation until numbers drop again, especially hearing stories like this. I wish they would offer some kind of outdoor well-child screenings right now for healthy kids.

Yeah, it could have worked out so different than it did. Operation Warp Speed accomplished what it needed to, but was then undermined by people both spreading vaccine misinformation and downplaying the seriousness of Covid. I wish we could rewind and have people handle it like grown ups 😢.

I’m so sorry. The losses are so tragic and made all the more so by the senselessness of most of them at this point. The political antivax contingent really does seem like a death cult at this point. Willing to give their lives in devotion to “leaders” that have never had anyone else’s best interest in mind 😢. I hope your other friends will pull through this okay.

I agree. It makes no sense, since so many stores change their signage to align with the CDC within 24 hours of the first announcement. although even then, a lot of them change the sign to say something like, “in accordance with CDC guidelines, masks are encouraged for the unvaccinated” when the guidelines did more than just encourage them. Anyway, now that the CDC is saying that masks should be worn by everyone indoors, there has been no similar rush to reverse the policies. I am seeing masking by the general public has gone way back up what it was, but still much less than before the May CDC announcement. And I’m particularly seeing that stores don’t seem to be requiring them of their employees, which surprises me. When the majority of their clientele is masked, it seems to be common courtesy to have the employees mask in return.

It’s so sad that the researchers doing this research are being treated this way by people who claim that others are the one with the agenda. These researchers are doing exactly what the ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine enthusiasts keeps saying no one is doing: “The goal of the TOGETHER trial is to determine the effectiveness and safety of the initial treatments of high-risk adults within 48 hours of being diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection, who are not requiring hospitalization, Using repurposed, widely availiable, and economically feasible drugs.” https://www.togethertrial.com

This study might be proof that Facebook surveys on things like this really don’t give good data, I’m thinking. I went looking at it because you said they list Native Americans as one of the top three most hesitant groups, which is at direct odds with what I’ve read. Despite obstacles, Native Americans have the nation’s highest COVID-19 vaccination rate (just realized this is a brand new article, and I’ve been reading the same thing for months, so it hasn’t changed). If they have an error this big, I expect it might the rest of their data as well. I’m actually formulating a research idea that even a high school student could do. It would be possible to run some surveys on FB about things that there are good, peer reviewed studies about, and then compare FB data to the peer reviewed data. Would be interesting.

That's a great tip! Like a DIY earsaver.

I find my KF94s more comfortable than my Happy Mask. They are easier to breathe in for me and form a better seal. I can always feel a tiny bit of air escaping near my eyes in the Happy Mask.

I can't remember--what size person are you looking for the medium for? In our family, we have found child or large seems to cover the whole range with Bluna masks. The child (Small) ones fit all the way up to my very small 12 year old, and the adult (large) ones fit my very small 16 year old. Is BeHealthy out of BOTN masks? They are the only ones I get some mediums of, though I'm finding the ear loop attachment point is a weakness and they don't last as long. The Posh Adult masks run small and are great for a teen or small adults, if that's what you're looking for. BeHealthy seems to have had a run on masks (like everywhere else) and I saw the same thing last night on their site. Things would be in stock, and then out of stock by the time you get to your cart. So crazy, as I've been ordering from them since January and never seen anything out of stock before. I just got my first order from Kollecteusa.com which I was worried would ship from Korea and take forever, but it didn't. It took well under a week, via FedEx. They still have lots in stock, including the Blunas. FWIW, the black Blunas are slightly stiffer fabric, and don't collapse at all when breathing (while still fitting just as well as the white): https://kollecteusa.com/collections/blunakf94/products/blunak-kf94-black eta: Looks like BeHealthy still has plenty of the Posh KF94 masks, which are my favorite. I have a very small face and they also fit well on my small faced teen: https://behealthyusa.net/collections/posh-large/products/posh-kf94-mask-30-days-pack

I recall in the clinical trial data, when I was still between doses for my Moderna, seeing that after two weeks out from the first Moderna, the efficacy was already very close to the two dose number. I can’t recall the exact number anymore. I would expect overtime though, the efficacy of having had only one shot would fade faster than with two.

You’re being cruel. True. This really crossed the line, though.

This is what I expect, but I also think it’s likely we will move onto boosters for the elderly next. Israel did so very soon after doing them for the immune compromised.

I'm sorry to hear. I hope he and his grandson feel better soon. I know two vaccinated people who got it (they are married, got it from their unvaccinated adult daughter), and it was like a cold for both of them, worse for one than the other

Yes. Every KF94 I've tried has a nose wire (I wouldn't think they could pass their certification without it). For what it's worth, the 3M Aura 9205 or 9210 N95s seem to do a really good job of preventing glasses fog. They have a massively strong nose bridge metal strip. I don't know why any masks are made without nose wires, really. There's no way to begin to get a good seal without one.

I recently saw these on really good sale at Office Depot, if you need something really quickly. This. I trust the KF94s better (buying from a trusted site like this one) than the KN95s just due to the counterfeit issue. I also find the boat shape of many of the KF94s fits more faces better than the cup shaped KN95s. I like Bluna for faces in an average size range, and BOTN large for bigger faces. Both have adjustable ear loops, and that’s important to for fit. Home Depot does have n95s available now. The 3M Aura flat fold mask have that same boat shape that fits many faces well. PS— we rotate our disposables and hang them to air out between rather than throwing them out after each use. They get thrown out after the ear loops snap or they have been worn a lot. Testing showed they retain their performance even through many, many wears, as long as they don’t get really wet. If his work will get them really dirty, that might not work.

Same. That was awesome. That particular auto correct has been making me crazy the entire pandemic. There are so many things about auto correct that make me crazy; and most are totally fixable.

I think waiting is very wise. This isn't a locked in stone thing, and kids can feel certain they will always feel a certain way about something (wanting kids, for example) and later have it turn out quite different. I think your decision to not do any of the lifting for this part of things makes very good sense. I think for a permanent decision as big as this, someone should be able to show the maturity to be able to take care of arrangements themself. It was actually something that produced maturity in my kid, as they always had me take care of anything like this for them, but this was motivating enough that they did things they had never done before (phone calls, talking to insurance company, appointments, etc. Unfortunately, it really didn't result in improved mental health, even though they are happy with it. They are actually functioning worse than they were before surgery.

Exactly.

Yeah, the nibling thing just isn't happening here. None of us (nb kid included) like that term at all, and this is the first I've heard pibling, and that is even worse to me for some reason 😳. If people want new words, can't they pick some better ones that that? We have the same chest bdd thing as instigating factor, and exactly the same scenario with the ASD. Sibling has ASD, and never thought about it for oldest, but the older they get, the more on the spectrum they seem. Sensory issues have been an issue since childhood, though. FWIW, if I had to choose between my kid wearing a binder for life or having the surgery, I would definitely pick the surgery, because binders are really damaging to the body. It's one of the things that bothers me about the fact that they are given away as freebies at events to trans kids, and that their are charities celebrated for mailing them in unmarked packages to kids, etc. They cause harm and I don't think they should be sent to kids like they are a positive, healthy thing. (I just realized it's kind of ironic I'm saying binders are damaging to the body when surgery clearly is as well, and surgery is removing function at the same time, but I'm saying in an omniscient world where I knew my kid was going to bind the rest of their life and never want to use their breasts for anything at all. Top surgery actually has lots of collateral damage in addition to losing the ability to breastfeed, as far as losing any erogenous sensation and potential for losing all sensation in that area entirely.) Obviously, none of this is any part of my decision for my adult child. This is the way here as well. I don't actually agree that not picking up on they/them is only in people over 60 or people being purposefully obtuse. We end up with confusion here frequently, where we don't know if just one kid or multiple of them are being referred to. It's a real thing and we haven't found a way around it other than using kid's name in place of pronoun in those cases. Without enough context, it can be quite ambigous at times.