Coronavirus SF: January 15, 2021 Update

Hello coronavirus-sf subscribers!

We’re about 4% of the way into the new year! 😛 Things have been eventful. The virus growth rates have tapered lower a bit in recent days. We’ve survived the winter holidays! 😎 I’ve been limiting my intake of the news in favor of mental health. In truth, not everything is doom and gloom. I feel excited that some friends in real life (healthcare workers) have already gotten the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine!

According to ca.gov, “We expect to have enough supplies to vaccinate most Californians in all 58 counties by summer 2021.” Yay! 🎉 Signups are being rolled out to those ages 65+ already. My friend’s parents are scheduled to get their first doses later in January!

I marked my calendar for next Tuesday (1/19) to sign up at sf.gov/covid-19-vaccine-san-francisco to get notified when the vaccine is ready for me. SF is planning 3 public vaccination sites at Moscone Center, City College, and Bayview (sfchronicle). For those in other Bay Area counties, kpix.com/vaccine has links to county-specific sign ups.

Yesterday, a friend and I virtually gathered to watch and discuss the Exploratorium’s livestream with two UCSF professors and physicians about the vaccine. If either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna vaccine were available to me right now, I’d get it! Apparently, the efficacy rates of the two vaccines are virtually identical (around 95%).

Yes, vaccines! 🎉 Also, I hear there’s a Presidential inauguration next Wednesday (1/20). I plan to shelter-in-place that day, just in case. On my flight from Northern Virginia to SFO on January 7, there were some peaceful folks who had gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol the previous day. I was glad that they were safe, regardless of which politician they supported — and I was definitely keeping my mask on to continue to avoid deadly viruses. 😷

Happy vaccine signups! 😃

— Xian

Originally published at https://mailchi.mp.