Coronavirus: Year End Recap

It is the start of 2022 and the Coronavirus epidemic is still with us. The biggest news is we have yet another variant - Omicron. This variant is supposed to be extremely contigious but most people who are infected with it only have mild symptons.

Testing kits are now available to purchase in stores over the counter which was not possible a year ago - although they are hard to find right now.

Cruise ships are sailing. People are flying. Domestic travel especially to National Parks is up as some countries are still restricting travel. I am hoping to travel to Spain this year after having to cancel our plans two years ago.

People are still wearing masks - and are required to do so indoors in California, but that is not necessarily a rule across the country.

Many people are still working from home or in hybrid situations splitting time between home and office.

Few shortages are hitting the news these days, primarily microchips for cars and delays on international shipping. Still, retailers announced strong sales during the recent Christmas season and Tesla delivered over 300k cars in the last quarter.

The government has cut or is rolling back most economic stimulus packages directed at shoring up the economy and people's psyche during covid showing confidence in the country's recovery.

Final covid numbers as of today according to the New York Times: Total U.S. deaths due to covid 826,000; in the world 5,450,000.

62% of population in the U.S. is fully vaccinated: 73% have at least one shot; 20% are fully vaccinated and have received a booster shot.

In history books, 2020 will be the year of the covid outbreak and 2021 will be the year of recovery not just for the U.S., but the world. I think if things continue taking the current course, getting better - vaccines are available, effective anti-viral drugs and pills are available to combat infection, and the current strain has mild symptoms - covid will become a footnote to everything great and hopefully not too terrible that 2022 will bring.

Take care and have an awesome 2022!

Coronavirus Family Vaccination

We have been vaccinated! Aside from sore arms and tiredness the 1st 2 days we had no side effects.

My wife received the J and J two days before the news broke about blood clots. That was over 3 weeks ago so she should be out of the danger zone. Also, the FDA has allowed the J and J shot to be used again.

I was vaccinated a week later during the J and J hiatus so I was left with the two-shot option. I received the Pfizer shot. I had no problem scheduling a shot 48 hours later through the city's Carbon Health site.

Last week, my sons booked their shots but they were cancelled. Not because of shortages, blood clots, or equity tiers but because of the Chauvin verdict.

Los Angeles city officials feared that its citizens would not be able to handle the jury's decision.

My sons received their shots a couple of days later - a couple of days after school reopening.

The vaccination program, early high infection rate in Los Angeles, and ongoing precautions seem to be putting the city in a great situation.

This week Los Angeles County made the numbers to move to the least-restrictive yellow tier for reopening meaning 1.9 new covid cases for every 100,000 residents. One more week of these low numbers and we will move from orange to yellow.

Yellow means that indoor fitness centers, bars, amusement parks, and stadiums would all be able to start operating or if operating already, increase their capacity percentages.

Being vaccinated means life is almost back to normal. A week ago, a coworker shook my hand. It was so odd, yet so normal. It felt really good. I did sanitize afterwards, but having that physical contact with someone who did not live in my immediate household over the last 14 months was liberating.

But we are not out of the woods yet. There is still negative news: deaths in India soaring, covid booster shots may be needed - for years, new variants keep appearing, so we still have to take precautions.

The entertainment industry just extended their covid safety measures that were set to expire today, April 30, to June 30. That means continued covid tests - I had seven in the last week alone.

As coronavirus' reign seems to be coming to a close, my blog posts will be weekly or every other week depending upon new coronavirus developments.

Take care and be safe.

Coronavirus - Mixed Messages

Coronavirus news has been all over the place from super positive to dire. Take a look at a few headlines I pulled today:

"California Oks indoor sports, concerts as COVID cases plunge" - AP News 4/2/21

"COVID: California reports most new cases in almost 4 weeks" - The Mercury News 4/3/21

"The final insult: Some dying of COVID while awaiting the vaccine" - AP News 4/3/21

The CDC said 30% of all Americans have been vaccinated so far. And my wife and friends (over 50) have secured appointments online for vaccinations at Cal State LA, CVS, and Walmart.

And then different states are doing their own thing. Half of the states are now vaccinating anyone over 16, the other half are only vaccinating people still people only over 50 unless you qualify for one of a dozen varying exceptions. Then there is this news:

"The CDC updated its guidance to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus or going into quarantine afterward." From

Yet as of today, states like Alaska and Hawaii are still requiring testing. Los Angeles "requires" any resident who travels more than 150 miles from LA and comes back to self-quarantine for 10-days. However, I don't know anyone in LA who is abiding by the quarantine.

Then there is the vaccination symptoms concern where like a box of chocolates you don't know what you are going to get. Most people I have spoken to have had side effects. Most with minor arm irritation but others have had slight fevers or belly aches to one person who said they were down and out with flu like symptoms for a week - but they were never sick enough to go to the hospital.

Overall, I feel that we are in a better place than a month ago. But it is a confusing time. The government has to balance positive news to keep hope alive with news that will keep everyone's guard up until everyone is vaccinated.

I do not envy our government officials.

What I do know is come April 15th, I will secure a vaccination appointment, continue wearing a mask, and continue being thankful for my health.

Take care and be safe.

Posts weekly.

Coronavirus - Sprint To The Finish Line

Coronavirus news keeps getting better and better.

As if to confirm that productions are ramping up across the board, I overheard a producer on one set tell a crew member that Hollywood is going full bore on filming right now. Everyone is busy, he said.

Less than a month ago, President Biden said that the vaccine rollout was going so well that by May 1st, every person over 16 will be eligible to receive the shot. Then Texas said they will move up that date in their state to March 29. As if not to be left too far behind, California moved their date for all adults to begin scheduling their vaccinations to April 15th.

President Biden on March 25th, said that by his 100th day in office over 200 million shots will be put into people's arms - that is over half of all Americans.

I keep hearing multiple people on set and even on the radio state how their entire families have been vaccinated already. The other day someone said they were planning on having a big family bbq on Easter as they have all been vaccinated.

Last week I walked into a taco shop and was asked if my tacos were for here or to go. I automatically said for here. When I sat down to eat, I realize that I had slipped back into my old pre-covid routine of indoor dining. Something I had not done in over a year. It was so odd, yet so familiar.

One common question on set is how much longer will we need coronavirus testing as more people are vaccinated. Testing is a huge expense to the entertainment industry, yet shutdowns are even more costly.

While the pace of vaccinations is rapidly increasing, there are constant reminders that we still have a long ways to go to return to our old normal.

Take care and be safe.

Posts weekly.

Coronavirus - There Is Light In The Darkness

The last two weeks have been filled with good news regarding the fight against coronavirus. The LA Times reported that during the 7-day period from 2/26-2/19/21, 2000 new coronavirus cases were running at 2,000 a day vs early January when they were at 15,000 a day. Considering all the talk about variants - South African, UK, even Californian, it appears the vaccinations and herd immunity are overpowering the potential negative consequences.

And regarding the vaccinations, according to the CDC, 66.5 million vaccine doses have been administered in the US and 20.6 million people have received both doses. That is a lot people. It is so many in fact that according to ourworldindata.com, we now rank at # 4 in the world in terms of total doses per hundred people after Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Trust me, I was very surprised too after all the negative news we are hearing about supply shortages.

Finally, it appears that the FDA'S approval of Johnson and Johnson's 1-shot coronavirus vaccine is imminent. Not only will this add more vaccine supply to the world's epic fight, but needing only one shot will greatly improve the simplicity of giving the shot and getting people fully vaccinated more quickly.

All this is good news, especially for international travelers. I had mentioned months ago my "fear" that countries my start insisting on vaccine passports before allowing people to travel into their countries. One passport for people who are vaccinated, one for people who are not. Last week, the UK officially advocated to the G8 that vaccine passports should be a thing. Perhaps they want to pressure anti-vaxers into vaccinating.

Which leads me to, yes there are still issues with people protesting the virus, others refusing to take it, a few cases of sabotaging supplies, and an overall shortage of supplies, but the fight is going in the right direction. I am looking forward to putting the virus era behind us.

Take care and be safe.

Posts weekly.

Coronavirus - Herd Immunity In Los Angeles

Los Angeles reported that 1 out of every 3 people in the County have been infected with Covid-19. We may be the first population group outside of Sweden to try herd immunity. Herd immunity to a virus is when 60-80% of a population has a virus' antibodies in their system. We are already at 33% infected. At this rate, in another couple of months we could hit 60%.

Los Angeles opened its first vaccination super center this weekend with a trial run for 2,000 people. They hope to inoculate 12,000 people a day when it is fully operational. That would be 120,000 people every ten days. Good numbers. I look forward to those numbers increasing as more centers are opened.

With the coronavirus' exponential spread and vaccinations hopefully increasing exponentially as well, we may have herd immunity even sooner and Los Angeles may go from a hot spot crisis zone to a beacon of hope.

I watched a CNBC report that Israel has enough vaccinations for everyone over 16 by March. It was quite fascinating as LA County's website predicts I will be vaccinated for Covid-19 sometime in May or June. How did Israel do it (Israel/US):

- Population 9 million / Los Angeles County 10 million (US 331 million) - Universal health care / Combination state run, private medical care (US is the only developed nation in the world without universal healthcare by the way) - Large vaccination centers have been running for over a month / LA opened first center Friday - Standby line for anyone if unused vaccine is available at end of day / nothing similar in LA - Reserved enough doses for entire population from 1 supplier / US reservations were spread across suppliers - some still waiting for FDA approval

Hopefully, the US can learn best practices from its fellow countries: universal healthcare, more vaccination centers, standby lines, follow up on research and target the most promising drugs to reserve in advance.

California has floated the idea of a standby line - online standby. A more expensive and time consuming process, but at least it is a step in the right direction.

In conclusion, there is hope. The two waves of coronavirus vaccinations and infections are rushing together. It seems like one way or another Los Angeles will acheive herd immunity much sooner than predicted and lockdowns will be a thing of the past.

Take care and be safe.

Posts weekly

Coronavirus - Acting Update

Los Angeles asked the entertainment industry to shutdown for 2 weeks because of the rapid spread of covid-19 sweeping the county. Friday, 318 deaths were reported along with 18,313 new cases in Los Angeles.

Through November, I only knew 1 person personally who had covid-19. Since Thanksgiving, I know 4 more people plus their family members who had become infected. I definitely understand the abundance of caution.

Still, asking yet another industry of thousands of people to stop working is tough. (Salons, gyms, servers, amusement parks, and others have already been forced to stop.) I recently had one job postpone a shoot for a month. Fortunately, I secured another gig to replace it. Yesterday, I saw more jobs posted for background actors to work than I had seen in a month. Still, Hollywood is super cautious. I imagine this is due to all the break outs on sets last December. One job posting said that they were going to pay a background actor to be tested 5 times in the next 9 days and to not work any of the 8 days prior to working a one day shoot. Another posting said that to be eligible, a background actor could not have worked any job in the past 4 weeks.

I am very glad Hollywood is taking precautions as nobody wants to get sick - but it takes a toll on the finances.

If only the coronavirus vaccine rollout was proceeding as smoothly as we had hoped. Only 6 million doses as of Friday have been injected across the country versus the 20 million the government had hoped for by 2020. NPR gave numerous reasons for the slow rollout, but whatever the reason, thousands of Americans are dying across the country daily because they have not been vaccinated.

I can only hope vaccination process speeds up for all our sakes and that Hollywood's more strigent precautions are effective in keeping its employees safe in the meantime.

Take care and be safe. Posts weekly

Thimerosal is Bad! Doctor Confirmed!

I knew it! I told our physician numerous times that thimerosal in a vaccine is a bad thing and I don't want my kids to have any shots with that preservative. Every time she would frown and insist that thimerosal is not harmful. It is an unfounded parent worry and that there is no medical evidence supporting that its harmful. Watch what this doctor, an infectious disease expert, on FOX News says about thimerosal in vaccines: