Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[GoofGoof]

2M doses administered today. 1,621,693 daily doses for the 7 day moving average. Hopefully north of 2M daily doses by end of Feb with JnJ rolling in starting in March and pushing to 3M+ end of March.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[sullyinMT]

"Walmart has opened up vaccination appointments to people under 65 who are deemed highly vulnerable to COVID-19, a group eager for the vaccine, but who had previously been largely unable to get doses in Florida as Gov. Ron DeSantis stressed a “seniors first” approach."

"Speaking this week in Jacksonville, DeSantis said he “absolutely” wanted to enable hospitals to vaccinate people younger than 65 who have comorbidities, such as cancer patients, but seemed to explicitly rule out retailers taking on that role.

“Really, it’s either got to be in a doctor’s office or in a hospital for that to be done,” he said. “I would hate to have a place like Publix, where someone comes in and they’re 35 and they say they have a comorbidity, and then Walmart or Publix has to referee that.”

But when Walmart began booking appointments on its own portal this week, it listed among eligible recipients, “Florida resident deemed to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 by hospital providers.” It also lists Florida residents who are 65 and older, who live or work in a long term care facility and health care workers who provide direct care to patients.

Walmart representatives didn’t immediately comment on the company’s approach to administering the vaccine program."

Walmart mistakenly offered COVID-19 vaccine to medically vulnerable Floridians under 65

When Walmart launched its COVID-19 vaccine appointment website Thursday, it included among those eligible in Florida people younger than 65 deemed highly vulnerable to the disease, many of whom had…

www.orlandosentinel.com

Honestly, if it's your pharmacy chain, they can look at your Rx list and determine some of the comorbidities pretty easily (DM meds come to the front of my mind).

 

[GhostHost1000]

Fauci said today he expects most Americans can get vaccine by April and possible herd immunity by summer. So here’s hoping that happens and disney can relax masks and social distancing by fall

 

[GoofGoof]

So the question is does Walmart accept a "note" from a hospital? Do they verify it? Seems like it brings back the problem that was trying to be avoided by having hospitals do those exceptions.

It’s not really an issue. Here in PA and in many other states they already started the 16-64 with high risk crowd. When you sign up they ask you to check off what condition you have from a list to make sure you qualify and then when you arrive to get vaccinated you need to sign an attestation form. If you lie and get caught you face charges.

 

[GoofGoof]

Honestly, if it's your pharmacy chain, they can look at your Rx list and determine some of the comorbidities pretty easily (DM meds come to the front of my mind).

For smokers they make you light up a cigarette and blow those smoke rings out. Only a real smoker can pull that off

 

[Parker in NYC]

I was never prevented from visiting Florida. On the otherhand because my wife was still working she would have had to quarantine for 2 weeks upon her return to work if we came back, so we didn't go. In any case the existing travel restrictions for coming back from Florida are 10 cases per 100,000 average over the past week. Cases in Florida are trending down and hopefully by the end of March will be less than the 10 per hundred thousand and so there will be no bans in April. Those are decisions that are made State by State and not aimed at one State that currently ranks 15th in the US with 36 cases per 100,000 while NY and New Jersey are 44 and 43 respectively. Why not ban travel to areas controlled by Cuomo and Murphy with highers cases than Florida.

I'm all for the ban. Keep folks out of NYC until this thing is over.

 

[sullyinMT]

For smokers they make you light up a cigarette and blow those smoke rings out. Only a real smoker can pull that off

Easy. Buy an OTC drug test kit sensitive to nicotine and prove it. I'd use Zyn for a week or two to get a shot.

 

[Parker in NYC]

If they increase capacity and get close to their new limits, there’s no way they can get social distancing. Maybe the keep reduced capacity for TS restaurants or keep that super clear and unobtrusive plexi on everything.

Masks make sense, because they allow for closer to normal attendance targets as vaccine uptake increases. And without vaccinated kids, there’s no chance to really mitigate spread without them.

I also find the wording important. Some level of masking could mean for theater attendance or at attraction marquees/store entrances. Maybe we’ll be able to eat popcorn in the street or drink a Coke on a bus again.

They barely have decent social distancing now! I mean, not right now but if this holiday was any indication...

 

[ToTBellHop]

Fauci said today he expects most Americans can get vaccine by April and possible herd immunity by summer. So here’s hoping that happens and disney can relax masks and social distancing by fall

I’m sure Chapek was being conservative. I also don’t imagine it will be like Cinderella—stroke of midnight New Years Day, the masks go away. Maybe in the fall, masks will only be required indoors? A guy can dream...

 

[GoofGoof]

I’m sure Chapek was being conservative. I also don’t imagine it will be like Cinderella—stroke of midnight New Years Day, the masks go away. Maybe in the fall, masks will only be required indoors? A guy can dream...

I think he’s slow playing it. I have to go back and read the actual comments. Remember that TWDC is on a 9/30 fiscal year end not a calendar year so on the earning call when they reference year end it’s often 9/30 they mean not 12/31. I do think it’s likely that they wait a period of time after “herd immunity” is reached but Disney will follow the masses to some extent. If masks and distancing disappear elsewhere in society like concerts and MLB games then it’s unlikely they stay at WDW. I also agree it’s a gradual thing.

 

[Disney Experience]

It’s not really an issue. Here in PA and in many other states they already started the 16-64 with high risk crowd. When you sign up they ask you to check off what condition you have from a list to make sure you qualify and then when you arrive to get vaccinated you need to sign an attestation form. If you lie and get caught you face charges.

Yes, and that makes sense once it is open to all with any comorbidities in a state. In Florida they still have a lot of seniors needing shots , so I thought the allocation and determination in hospitals was for those they deemed at severe risk due to comorbidities, not just having comorbidities.

45.4% of adults in the US are considered to have comorbidities related to covid. So adding that competition for limited shots vs just a subset of that set of the population may not be best. Of course every day more shots administered and more people can be included.

Population based estimates of comorbidities affecting risk for complications from COVID-19 in the US

We used 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data (N=444,649) to estimate the proportion of US adults who report comorbidities that suggest heightened risk of complications from COVID-19. Co-morbidities included cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...

www.medrxiv.org

 

[correcaminos]

My point was CA up until this past week or so (which you quoted) was doing worse then FL and approaching April New york proportions, yet had the same "advantage" as Florida; warm weather. I'm not exonerating Florida as a whole, I think for example, the Super Bowl having 18k unvaccinated attendees, having a big boat parade to celebrate, and the pregame experiences near congested downtown, were dumb ideas. If anything, I am trying to say it puzzles me why Florida didn't surge as bad as Cali or NY/NJ for that matter did despite looser restrictions and more idiotic behavior. If that SB was in Cali, they probably would have only allowed the 7500 vaccinated workers, if at all.

It's getting better for Cali now (past 7 days). It's before then that things seemed out of wack

CA generally lacks humidity and both together are shown to slow spread when all else is equal. I liked the visuals on this article. If anyone tries to read this as warm and wet stop the virus, it doesn't so do not even go there

Experts reveal how to optimise heat and humidity to reduce Covid transmission inside the home

A new study shows that both temperature and humidity play a key role in the survival of Sars-Cov-2 and therefore the risk of transmission

www.telegraph.co.uk

First-hand knowledge of the vaccine rollout in Hillsborough County (Tampa) FL today, courtesy of my mother and father-in-law, who went together today to get their second doses of the vaccine, which thank goodness they did after a nearly four hour delay. 80 year olds stuck in their car in 8 lane traffic for hours.

The cause: reportedly the state took over from the county at the site today, and started denying the vaccine to folks who simply showed up like the card they received after their first vaccine dose told them to. Think of a Fastpass lane gone horribly wrong on a massive scale-- officials engaging in heated conversations with frustrated seniors who had every right to show up for their second dose, but were turned away because the state changed the rules at the last minute without telling them.

My wife and I were panicked after receiving calls from our frustrated parents, who were themselves suddenly panicked about possibly not receiving their second doses. But they were fortunate. Having not taken the return date notice on their cards for granted, they actively sought out actual follow-up appointments and brought additional proof of those appointments with them. So again, they are the lucky ones.

But there are a ton of extremely heartbroken, frustrated and disillusioned seniors in the Tampa Bay Area this evening. Keep them in your thoughts and hope the state gets its act together soon. The story is all over the news right now here and rightfully so. To think that we put our cherished elders through this because the state can't get its act together. Understanding that this thread now includes political discussion, am I allowed to express my anger and frustration at DeSantis and his administration for screwing this up? Enough is enough. He needs to be recalled and recalled now. If that is politically out of bounds for this thread I apologize and will remove the comment. But if the State of Florida thinks it's doing the job its citizens deserve in this crisis, they need to do some serious soul searching, get their act together and step up their game big time.

I am so very sorry. My MIL had hers through Hillsborough county and fortunately did not deal with that. She showed up 3 weeks after as told. My heart goes out to all missing their second dose right now.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I think he’s slow playing it. I have to go back and read the actual comments. Remember that TWDC is on a 9/30 fiscal year end not a calendar year so on the earning call when they reference year end it’s often 9/30 they mean not 12/31. I do think it’s likely that they wait a period of time after “herd immunity” is reached but Disney will follow the masses to some extent. If masks and distancing disappear elsewhere in society like concerts and MLB games then it’s unlikely they stay at WDW. I also agree it’s a gradual thing.

Agreed. Disney won’t be the first to remove masks but they won’t wait long.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I’m sure Chapek was being conservative. I also don’t imagine it will be like Cinderella—stroke of midnight New Years Day, the masks go away. Maybe in the fall, masks will only be required indoors? A guy can dream...

That would be “magical” here’s hoping some sense of normalcy returns sometime this year

 

[GimpYancIent]

I'm all for the ban. Keep folks out of NYC until this thing is over.

Agree.

 

[GoofGoof]

Yes, and that makes sense once it is open to all with any comorbidities in a state. In Florida they still have a lot of seniors needing shots , so I thought the allocation and determination in hospitals was for those they deemed at severe risk due to comorbidities, not just having comorbidities.

45.4% of adults in the US are considered to have comorbidities related to covid. So adding that competition for limited shots vs just a subset of that set of the population may not be best. Of course every day more shots administered and more people can be included.

Population based estimates of comorbidities affecting risk for complications from COVID-19 in the US

We used 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data (N=444,649) to estimate the proportion of US adults who report comorbidities that suggest heightened risk of complications from COVID-19. Co-morbidities included cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...

www.medrxiv.org

Yeah, that’s the problem. The CDC is recommending doing it that way so FL is the outlier. In my County in PA there are 800K people and 250K are eligible right now so about 1/3 eligible immediately with just 65+ and 16-64 with underlying conditions. It makes it impossible to get an appointment and will take a while to get through that group.

 

[ToTBellHop]

That would be “magical” here’s hoping some sense of normalcy returns sometime this year

Is there a way to hibernate until the ‘vid is gone and then be woken up like

?

 

[Disney Experience]

CA generally lacks humidity and both together are shown to slow spread when all else is equal. I liked the visuals on this article. If anyone tries to read this as warm and wet stop the virus, it doesn't so do not even go there

Experts reveal how to optimise heat and humidity to reduce Covid transmission inside the home

A new study shows that both temperature and humidity play a key role in the survival of Sars-Cov-2 and therefore the risk of transmission

www.telegraph.co.uk

I am so very sorry. My MIL had hers through Hillsborough county and fortunately did not deal with that. She showed up 3 weeks after as told. My heart goes out to all missing their second dose right now.

One of the things beyond just high end air filters in my home is that I had installed years ago was a Reme Halo. (https://www.rgf.com/products/air/reme-halo/). Pretty good system and a bit better than just having UV lights. Of course it is just my house and not an public indoor location so it was not an absolute necessity when I bought it for my home. RGF is a Floridian company, so I liked helping an innovative company that is local to the state.

 

[DCBaker]

I think he’s slow playing it. I have to go back and read the actual comments. Remember that TWDC is on a 9/30 fiscal year end not a calendar year so on the earning call when they reference year end it’s often 9/30 they mean not 12/31. I do think it’s likely that they wait a period of time after “herd immunity” is reached but Disney will follow the masses to some extent. If masks and distancing disappear elsewhere in society like concerts and MLB games then it’s unlikely they stay at WDW. I also agree it’s a gradual thing.

You can hear it at this link - the question begins at 49:33.

https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/app/uploads/2021/01/q1-fy21-earnings.mp3

 

[seabreezept813]

For smokers they make you light up a cigarette and blow those smoke rings out. Only a real smoker can pull that off

Everyone will suddenly be a social smoker..college all over again!