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River Cruisers: How Are Things Where YOU Are?


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9 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

I wonder what is going to be considered as "proof of vaccination".  I have heard some say that the cards from the CDC that we Americans receive upon vaccination are not official in any way.  If so, then how do we prove we have what we say we have?  The card has the date(s), vaccine name and batch number, and vaccination site.  What more do they need?

An article in the Washington Post last week discussed an EU meeting where The European Union on Wednesday launched a closely watched effort to create a joint vaccination passport for its more than 440 million citizens and residents.  One of the topics was modeling in some ways on the Israeli passes with QR codes allowing access to gyms and restaurants.

 

QR codes can be sent to a smart phone via text or emailed and printed.  Airlines do that for reservations and I just made an appointment for lab tests with LabCorp that instructed me to show the QR code on my phone or bring in a paper copy to check in.  Of course for cruisers from the US the question would be what government entity would be responsible for maintaining the database.

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I must admit that I do not understand the reasoning behind ranking the dustbin men over teachers, as after having taken all factors into account, they have a lower risk as they work much outdoors and only in small groups with short exposure face-to-face. Those in the sorting plants may be different but even there they do not meet that much.

 

A new favourable study about the AstraZeneca vaccine has been published, but I have only looked at a brief article yet, no details.

 

notamermaid

 

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Covid vaccine: US trial of AstraZeneca jab confirms safety https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56479462
Covid: What is the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55302595

Here are two links about the Oxford-AstraZeneca  confirmation of safety there are a couple of university links but cannot find them at the moment.

We watched what went on in Bristol last night, it’s only three quarters of an hour away why do people do this? 
I’ve just heard an interview with a lady complaining that the U.K. is doing nothing for others in this pandemic and when told that we were one of the largest contributors to Covaxe said it wasn’t enough we should do more! 
This will all come down to money which country comes out the other end with the most. Well we spent ours buying the vaccine that everyone else wants us to give to them, maybe a few pleases and thankyou’s earlier on would have gon3 a long way. Sorry feeling really miffed. CA

 

 

 

 

 

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@Canal archive may I suggest watching the volcanic eruption in Iceland instead of the news? Really odd people about, here as well, talking about German government dictatorship-like, blabla, etc. Can you believe that! They have no idea what real dictatorship is like.

 

I have been shown that there is a live webcam near that volcano, amazing, fascinating, more captivating than watching a fish tank. Perhaps you can find the site.

 

notamermaid

 

 

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1 hour ago, capriccio said:

 

 

QR codes can be sent to a smart phone via text or emailed and printed.  Airlines do that for reservations and I just made an appointment for lab tests with LabCorp that instructed me to show the QR code on my phone or bring in a paper copy to check in.  Of course for cruisers from the US the question would be what government entity would be responsible for maintaining the database.

 

In Ontario, they are using QR codes to confirm appointments for vaccines.  I think this is the way to go, as even printed out, they still work for confirmation by a quick scan.  I am hoping that there is some "standard" way of confirming vaccines, not only for travellers, but a lot easier for officials like customs having to check if people are ok to come into the country.

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Let us have another positive comment, shall we? "An EU commissioner has said Europe could reach COVID-19 herd immunity by July." Let's hope so. But here is one of the setbacks - about AstraZeneca: "...the company has only delivered 30% of its 90 million promised doses for the first quarter."

 

Here is the news digest from Deutsche Welle: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-digest-eu-commissioner-says-herd-immunity-by-summer-is-possible/a-56936285

 

In Germany, we have given 9 percent of the population a first dose of a vaccine and together with the people who have had it that means around 11 percent of the population have some immunity as of today. Not too bad.

 

notamermaid

 

 

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3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

@Canal archive may I suggest watching the volcanic eruption in Iceland instead of the news? Really odd people about, here as well, talking about German government dictatorship-like, blabla, etc. Can you believe that! They have no idea what real dictatorship is like.

 

I have been shown that there is a live webcam near that volcano, amazing, fascinating, more captivating than watching a fish tank. Perhaps you can find the site.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Even more fascinating than the webcam was seeing all the gawkers close up to the volcano. Very dangerous!

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23 hours ago, ural guy said:

If you were to serve as the hostess/tour director, I believe this web group could fill/charter one of the 110 passenger boats quite easily, for a nice week to 10 night cruise.  Board in Wurzburg or Nuremberg, sail to the Rhine and then Mosel.  Try and visit some of the smaller towns.

 

But I would be open to wherever you direct our Captain to sail.  I think it would be nice!  I'm sure that your fare +1 would be gratis for all you've brought to this board.  Thanks.  Brian

 

Thank you that is - lovely (notamermaid melting) :classic_smile::classic_smile:.

 

22 hours ago, Coral said:

I completely agree 🙂 We would have the best tour director/hostess in Europe!

Thank you, that is very kind. I am sure there are many better ones, but I will try to live up to the expectation. It would be lovely to sail, I like Nuremberg to Remich, how about September, a very pleasant time in a very pleasant climate? I think it would suit us all. I like smaller boat of 110m for comfort but also little risk of getting stuck in low water. It would also allow the ship to dock at a couple of extra ports in a small towns.

 

@Host Jazzbeau here is an idea, a CC members only cruise! Could that be arranged? Oh, I am dreaming, but as capriccio said, it is not so far fetched. Scylla AG has some nice ships for charter available...

 

All this planning is cheering me up. :classic_smile:

 

notamermaid

 

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A consensus has been reached and a decision made. Lockdown in Germany until 18 April, with special rules applying over the Easter weekend: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-imposes-strict-lockdown-over-easter/a-56948895

 

Our leader said it is a "new" pandemic, so I call it the Coronavirus B117 pandemic as it is the cause of us having lost the gains.

 

Do not do Spring break, look after yourselves and your loved ones. Stay safe.

 

notamermaid

 

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This afternoon I got my 2nd Pfizer shot.  So far no side effects, not even a sore arm.  I took 2 Advil a little while ago as a preventative measure.  It will be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow morning.

 

The guy who gave me the shot suggested I take a photo of my vaccination card in case I lose it.  Good idea.

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Hi Roz, congrats on that 2nd shot!🙂.  I get my 2nd one next week!  As for taking the picture?

My passport stays inside the top drawer of a desk and I am putting the card inside the passport. 

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Reporting in this morning with an update.  NO side effects whatsoever.  Amazing.  Believe me, I'm not complaining. 😁

 

@Lois R, good idea about putting the card in my passport case.  

 

@Canal archive, I don't know anything about the Suez being blocked.  Off to Google it to find out what's going on.  

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Roz, I saw the Suez Canal on the news early this morning......yes, a big ship is blocking it

and there were multiple vessels that were backed up!

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1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Hi Roz, congrats on that 2nd shot!🙂.  I get my 2nd one next week!  As for taking the picture?

My passport stays inside the top drawer of a desk and I am putting the card inside the passport. 

It is not a bad idea to have copies of both of them, actually.

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Interesting. They say beer doesn't travel well - at least English beer does not taste as good here from my fridge. So they are undecided a bit about the effect on wine. I can with assurance say that the price makes my head spin without drinking the wine!

 

notamermaid

 

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5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

Not necessarily. This slant in the media results from an imperfect understanding how clinical trials work, and from impatience and a demand for instant analysis. Not from you, notamermaid, but from some other sources which are surprising. 

 

When you do a trial of this magnitude, you have one or more interim analyses set up after a certain number of cases occur. They are designed to be preliminary looks at whether the outcomes are as expected, or whether there are surprises.

 

For example, if your study expects to see 400 outcomes, you might do an interim analysis of the first 100 or 200 to make sure it's working. But your confidence in those results is less than it is after you get all 400 cases in the analysis. That's simple statistics. 

 

AZ released their data from a scheduled interim analysis from February 17th. Normal procedure,  and it looked good. It's "late" because once the interim analysis happens, then the data have to be analyzed before release. You just don't release data without analysis (unless you're posting on Facebook or something). So the data isn't "outdated" - I think that's unnecessary pejorative and not true.

 

You don't start the analysis on February 17th and have an answer on the same day. What if, in their rush to push the data out prematurely, they made a mistake and had to retract it? Far worse.

 

Now they are getting inappropriate pressure to "update" their data, but by rights that shouldn't occur until the next scheduled interim analysis, and after the outcomesare properly adjudicated. Additional data may or may not change the conclusion of the interim analysis, but again that's why it's an interim analysis and not the final word. I know it's hard to be patient in this situation but give them time.

 

I don't see a problem here.

 

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9 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Not necessarily. This slant in the media results from an imperfect understanding how clinical trials work, and from impatience and a demand for instant analysis. Not from you, notamermaid, but from some other sources which are surprising. 

Interesting. Thank you for your assessment. As an amateur I cannot read much into these reports and would not have linked to it, if I had not thought it valid, seeing that I respect the FDA and other health authorities in the US. I must admit that I found the German reporting a bit less dramatic. The articles I found first were in German so I looked for an English language one.

 

Will see how it goes. The news of the EU and UK distribution problems is a bit more concerning at the moment. I read that the US is getting more Pfizer/BioNTech, etc. deliveries anyway. Great.

 

notamermaid

 

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53 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

As an amateur I cannot read much into these reports and would not have linked to it, if I had not thought it valid, seeing that I respect the FDA and other health authorities in the US.

 

No worries! It's a valid...point of view. I just don't agree with how it portrays the situation. I'm sure that some people would disagree with me. That's what makes medicine and science "fun" I suppose.

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The real problem is that this wasn't the typical media overreaction – this was a US government agency airing some dirty laundry in public, which is quite unusual.  That's the reason this is a red flag to the anti-vaxxers and anyone who has been leery of the A-Z vaccine in particular.  The question that will have to be answered is "What was so unusual and so important that the agency would take this unprecedented step?"

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We have had a bit of back pedalling from the government, so the strict added lock down day before Easter is out. Germany is back on track with vaccination, daily average back up to 200,000 and likely to increase soon. We have also had a delivery of over 1 million doses Monday/Tuesday (of all the three vaccines combined) so that is good. Some have been shifted to the border regions now, also the part of Rhineland-Palatinate that borders on Moselle in France.

 

23 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The question that will have to be answered is "What was so unusual and so important that the agency would take this unprecedented step?"

Yes, that strong reaction appears to have taken a lot of people by surprise and adds significance to the whole thing in people's eyes.

 

Belgium has also now added restrictions again. Paris is going downhill and they say that hospitals are getting quite full. In Prague in front of that famous church with the square we had in the photo quiz, i.e. on that square itself they painted white crosses for the pandemic dead.

 

Meanwhile, Poland is being inundated with infections due to B117, over 30,000 cases today, it is dire. They also report that children and young people are getting more infected by and severely ill from it. I have checked our statistics as such warnings have also come from Germany and Belgium. There is an uptick in hospitalizations for the ages 5 to 14, but not much yet. We can only hope this will not get worse.

 

This is a report from Poland: https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/03/19/british-covid-variant-now-dominant-in-poland-and-causing-increased-hospitalisation-of-children/

 

Personally I have not got a clue when I can go back to work. But it does not matter much. I have been able to talk to a relative about her vaccine and that she should talk to her GP, I want her prioritized. My elderly relative is now fully vaccinated and protected. She felt the second jab of the Pfizer vaccine more than the first, which is normal apparently. But her vaccine aches disappeared after a few days, now she just has the aches and pains of old age. My jab is still at least two months away, lots of time for reading and talking to doctors.

 

notamermaid

 

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7 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

My elderly relative is now fully vaccinated and protected. She felt the second jab of the Pfizer vaccine more than the first, which is normal apparently. But her vaccine aches disappeared after a few days, now she just has the aches and pains of old age.

I'm waiting for a vaccine against that!!!

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