Duncan Knob and Strickler Knob – The Pfizer vaccine receives FDA approval – A rally turns against Trump – Vaccine mandates increasing – Margaret Cirko’s sentence – Evening statistics
I went with the Vigorous Hikers on a loop in the Massanuttens that included Strickler Knob and Duncan Knob, two rock piles that involve a good deal of agility to reach the top. Duncan Knob in particular is rated as a Class 3 scramble, the only peak in the Massanuttens that is rated at this level of difficulty. Its panoramic view of the eastern Massanutten ridge and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and of the main western Massanutten ridge, Short Mountain, and the Shenandoah Mountains to the west is one of which I am especially fond. Unfortunately, however, the heat was so intense that it greatly interfered with a route that I usually enjoy. The shade and the higher elevation, which have been mitigating factors for the other hikes I’ve done this summer, had no effect here. The climb up to the junction with the Duncan Knob trailhead via the Gap Creek Trail, which on ordinary days is strenuous but not exorbitantly so, was very difficult for me today. Even though I was drinking a good deal of water, I became somewhat dehydrated; when I returned to car I was obliged to take a salt tablet to restore my equilibrium. We literally did not see a single other person on any portion of the route we took; which means, I suppose, the most people were displaying a higher degree of sanity than we did.
It’s official: the Pfizer vaccine now has full FDA approval. Perhaps that will persuade some of those reluctant to take the vaccine into while it still had EUA status to accept it now. Polls indicated that about a third of those who refrained from taking any vaccine were waiting for the FDA decision. There is no timetable for full approval of the Moderna vaccines, since it has not yet submitted its data. Various physicians who have encountered patients resisting the vaccines are not overly optimistic that this step will have much effect. The summation of Dr. William Luking, who practiced family medicine in Reidsville, North Carolina, for almost 30 years, is typical. He said that it was once rare for his patients to push back against his medical advice by citing the government’s support or its lack thereof, but that that has changed in recent years. “Suddenly everybody’s a medical expert in this, but it’s medicine via misinformation,” he said. “It’s really concerning the direction we’ve taken.”
So great is the resistance towards vaccines in certain areas that Donald Trump was roundly booed in at a rally in Cullman, AL, after urging the crowd to take the vaccines. Previously he had encouraged his followers to refuse the vaccines in the hope of discrediting the Biden administration, so it is only just that his current attempt to obtain praise for introducing the vaccines during his administration has fallen to the ground.
More cities and other entities, in the meantime, are establishing vaccine mandates for their workers. Chicago did so yesterday for its health care workers. New York City, which had already done so, has added one for workers in its school system as well. The Pentagon is currently setting up a vaccination requirement for military personnel (it could not do so previously as long as the vaccines had only EUA status). Governor Bel Edwards of Louisiana has announced vaccination requirements for state workers (with submitting to weekly testing as an option for the unvaccinated) – a significant step, since the state government is by far the biggest employer in Louisiana. More than 680 colleges are either currently requiring the vaccine or in the process of setting such a requirement up. George Mason University, which is about a mile from my house, is an example; it has required all students to receive a vaccine by August 1st.
Margaret Cirko is in prison. She is the woman in Luzerne County, PA, who, in April, 2020, intentionally coughed and spat on the produce of a Gerrity supermarket, while saying, “I have the virus, now you’re all going to get sick.” The store was forced to discard $35000 worth of food as a result. She pleaded guilty to a felony weapons of mass destruction charge in June and in consequence was sentenced to one to two years in jail plus eight years of probation; in addition, she has been directed to pay back the money that the store had lost as a result of discarding its produce. It’s a reasonable outcome. The sentence is perhaps on the light side, but even if she ends up spending a few months in prison she may be discouraged from embarking on future exploits of this nature.
Yesterday’s statistics as of 9:00 PM (not a misprint; I was late in getting statistics yesterday evening) – # of cases worldwide: 213,273,952; # of deaths worldwide: 4,453,032; # of cases U.S.: 38,813,549; # of deaths; U.S.: 646,663.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 213,936,012; # of deaths worldwide: 4,463,654; # of cases U.S.: 38,962,160; # of deaths; U.S.: 648,089.