Appalachian Trail thru-hikers – Return to normalcy in the fall? – The Vatican aligned with Darwin – Initial results of the two vaccines –Evening statistics
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has requested hikers to postpone their plans for thru-hiking this year on account of the COVID virus. About 3500 hikers attempt to hike the entire length of the trail each year, of whom only about a quarter succeed. The shelters can become fairly crowded during the peak months of thru-hiking, making social distancing out of the question. But last year the ATC made a similar recommendation and it was not much regarded. During one of my last day-hikes along the AT in Pennsylvania, I happened to meet a trail maintainer. He was surprised when he learned that I had done the greater part of my hikes in the state as there-and-back. He told me that, contrary to my assumption that shuttle services would not be available on account of virus-related restrictions, shuttle drivers were still in operation, not willing to give up a significant portion of their income. A number of towns are located 10-15 miles from the trail itself, and thru-hikers often use shuttle services to stay overnight in such areas. I would suppose, also, that the trail towns such as Damascas and Harpers Ferry will be only too glad of the business that the thru-hikers will bring to them during a time when the virus has been causing economic hardships for all businesses in the hospitality industry. I doubt, therefore, whether the ATC’s recommendation for this year will have much effect.
Dr. Fauci struck a hopeful note today during an interview on the “Today” show. He said that the COVID virus appears to be plateauing among the national population, which means that as people continued to get vaccinated the virus will eventually recede. If, as is hoped, about 70%-85% of the population is vaccinated by September, conditions could begin to return to normal by autumn and they could become fully normal by February, 2022.
Conspiracy theories proliferate by the hundreds. Of course they have always done so in the past, but the resources provided by Internet make them more obtrusive than ever. One of the most imaginative is one based on photographs of 80-foot-long giant skeletons (all of them, needless to say, photo-shopped), claiming that humanity is descended from a race of giants. “The Vatican and The Smithsonian destroyed most and threw some into the bottom of the ocean,” according to one tweet. “Because having to explain how they existed contradicted the evolution of mankind from apes.” The Vatican as a champion of the theory of evolution? One can imagine the perplexity that the monsignors in Vatican City must be feeling upon hearing such an unusual accusation hurled at them.
Pfizer and Moderna, the two approved vaccines, have been distributed to a significant number of people by now, and data is starting to come in about their side effects and effectivity. Both vaccines had side effects of injection site reaction, fatigue, headache, and muscle pain. Pfizer has slightly less frequent occurrence of the first three symptoms, and significantly less of muscle pain than the Moderna vaccine. On the other hand, the Moderna vaccine appears to be somewhat more effective at preventing the most severe types of COVID. Both seem to be effective preventatives of the variants of the virus that emerged from South Africa and Brazil.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 101,400,862; # of deaths worldwide: 2,182,193; # of cases U.S.: 26,163,644; # of deaths; U.S.: 439,487.