NeonPunk posted:

It's over 24 hours from my novavax shot and I feel... just fine? Kinda disappointed.

Pingui posted:

One weird trick to curbing your untrustworthy lying eyes: gouge them out.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/wa-health-cuts-hundreds-of-jobs-as-federal-covid-funds-run-out/

Unfortunately affluenza isn't a real disease.

www.seattletimes.com - Sun, 31 Dec 2023 posted:

Washington’s Department of Health has cut over 300 employees who helped with the state’s pandemic response and hundreds more of these jobs are on the chopping block as federal COVID aid dries up.

The department already slashed 356 positions and will soon lose funding for 349 more. Funding for most of the jobs will lapse by July 2024 and all federal COVID-19 funds for staff will end by July 2025, according to an agency spokesperson, Roberto Bonaccorso.

Similar cuts are happening nationwide as federal COVID relief funding expires. Public health advocates are warning that as jobs like these are eliminated, it threatens to leave states in a weaker position responding to the next public health crisis. 

From January 2020 to October 2023, Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 hires cost nearly $316 million. The department’s total two-year operating budget for 2021-23 was $3.2 billion, with COVID funding accounting for about half of that total.

Jobs already cut by the Department of Health include positions in vaccine distribution, community outreach, COVID-19 testing services, contact tracing and tracking public health data. 

Other jobs involved developing COVID-19 guidance for public settings like schools, prisons and workplaces, supporting local health agencies when outbreaks happened and providing respirator-fit training in health care facilities.

It’s unclear to what extent the department will seek new state funding from the Legislature or move around money in its budget to save jobs that haven’t been eliminated yet.

In response to questions about this, Bonaccorso said in an emailed statement that “DOH is continuously evaluating what our agency activities are from the pandemic/endemic response and will match our request with our agency needs for the future of COVID-19.” 

A spokesperson for Gov. Jay Inslee noted in an email that the state’s current two-year budget does contain money for some affected programs, such as a mobile health clinic. They also said the governor’s budget proposal released earlier this month calls for additional spending for IT systems established or updated as part of the pandemic response.

“The governor’s supplemental budget continues to support the department’s transition out of emergency response and into recovery, incorporating COVID-19 activities into day-to-day public health operations,” the Inslee spokesperson added.

The job cuts in Washington reflect a national trend, said Brian Castrucci, an epidemiologist who leads the de Beaumont Foundation, a public health think tank. Castrucci likened the cuts to laying off soldiers after the “worst military conflict in history.” 

“It wouldn’t be a foreign nation which undoes our country, it would be a virus,” Castrucci said. “We are laying off the actual people who are here to fight against that possibility, after we lost a million American lives on American soil. It makes no sense.”

Castrucci pointed out that COVID-19 is here to stay, regardless of whether it’s still considered a pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency in May. 

“COVID is going to be a cause of death, if not a leading cause of death, for Americans for the foreseeable future,” Castrucci said. 

Here in Washington, COVID-related hires were not considered long-term permanent positions by the Department of Health. 

Bonaccorso said the agency will take steps to “try and help minimize the impacts of layoffs to the extent possible” and noted that an internal career fair was held last year. 

“Employees in COVID-19 funded positions are more than welcome and encouraged to apply for any job opportunities here at DOH that align with their experience and interest,” the Department of Health said in a statement. 

Castrucci said Washington is fortunate to have leaders who value public health — which makes it all the more concerning that the department is cutting so many positions. 

“If you’re an elected [official], and you’re allowing your health department to shrink right now, the blood of the next pandemic is already on your hands,” Castrucci said. 

“States have to step up and fund public health,” he added. “We maintain a police force without the federal government paying for it. Why can’t we maintain a public health workforce?”

Bruce Hussein Daddy posted:

There is nothing more important than Normal. At all costs we must avoid changes in our behavior, actions, perspective or ideas.

Platystemon posted:

gradenko_2000 posted:

welp, spouse woke up with a high fever and just tested clearly positive for COVID, which means it's only a matter of time before I catch up to her

time for round two - at least it's been more than eight months since (and ~three months since getting boosted)

Platystemon posted:

https://twitter.com/CliffMaloneyJr/status/1740438505929499103

Pingui posted:

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus | Opinion contributor

"I am glad to see that life has returned to normal."

Cabbages and Kings posted:

I'm going to go jam synthesizers with a group that's overall hard left, COVID woke but I'm still gonna be fascinated to see if anyone else is bothering to mask. On a holiday weekend following major family gatherings. During the second?? worst wave of the pandemic.

I've got my n95s and my RageApparel Rave Shawl to go over them. But I always pull it down just enough that the top of the n95 crests it. I'm not hiding my mask, I'm putting a hat on it.

Our older kid will be masking when she returns to the covid mines next week. The younger kid has zero mask experience (and also goes to a much smaller place where one of the people she population mixes with, is the child of my spouse's boss whom she works in a small office with, so we do all tend to get each other's poo poo... until now).

I've got an (expensive) rabbit air wall unit coming because I wanted something super quiet in here to also substantially help with weed and nail polish smells, but I also have stuff to build two corsis on the way, and I'm gonna mask around my friggin kids when they are sick, which is going to be weird at first but it seems like the alternative is definitely getting sick all the time and I am just loving done.

Older kid does also seem tired of being sick; I'll be curious to see how long she bucks social pressure and masks. Or, maybe there will actually be other kids masking again, I've seen some evidence of that and that brings me to



"things must be getting pretty bad out there!"

Platystemon posted:

lmao at the new community note on this

Cabbages and Kings posted:

I'm going to go jam synthesizers with a group that's overall hard left, COVID woke but I'm still gonna be fascinated to see if anyone else is bothering to mask. On a holiday weekend following major family gatherings. During the second?? worst wave of the pandemic.

I've got my n95s and my RageApparel Rave Shawl to go over them. But I always pull it down just enough that the top of the n95 crests it. I'm not hiding my mask, I'm putting a hat on it.

Our older kid will be masking when she returns to the covid mines next week. The younger kid has zero mask experience (and also goes to a much smaller place where one of the people she population mixes with, is the child of my spouse's boss whom she works in a small office with, so we do all tend to get each other's poo poo... until now).

I've got an (expensive) rabbit air wall unit coming because I wanted something super quiet in here to also substantially help with weed and nail polish smells, but I also have stuff to build two corsis on the way, and I'm gonna mask around my friggin kids when they are sick, which is going to be weird at first but it seems like the alternative is definitely getting sick all the time and I am just loving done.

Older kid does also seem tired of being sick; I'll be curious to see how long she bucks social pressure and masks. Or, maybe there will actually be other kids masking again, I've seen some evidence of that and that brings me to



"things must be getting pretty bad out there!"

Anne Whateley posted:

Xlear spray users, how is yours? Mine burns like fire and misery, and my mom was bragging about how her nose was superior because she didn’t feel it, but actually her bottle doesn’t burn at all. What gives?

Kragger99 posted:

Covid is stored in the balls?

Cabbages and Kings posted:

"things must be getting pretty bad out there!"

Steve Yun posted:

I got Flo and when I read the bottle it sounds like its main function is hydrating your nose, and that hydrated noses are better at fighting off infection?

are the other sprays more bacteriocidal

I want my sprays to have more murderous intent

quote:

If you come down with COVID-19 in the next few weeks and need treatment, you may not see a bill at all. During the transition, the government is encouraging health care providers and pharmacies “to continue to use federally acquired product until it is depleted or until it expires, at no cost to patients.”

quote:

You shouldn’t have to pay out of pocket for treatment in the next few years if you’re uninsured. Pfizer says Paxlovid will remain free for people without health insurance through 2028, and beginning in 2025 it will be free for people who are underinsured, also through 2028. More information will be available soon at paxlovid.com or by calling 1-877-219-7225.

Steve Yun posted:

Flo also uses iotacarrageenan maybe they just need to market it better

Pingui posted:

Just a brief reminder to all that this is the day before the commercial market takes over Paxlovid. It will still (nominally) be free for select groups, but if you have private insurance it is anyone's guess what will happen. Expect some kind of cluster gently caress at the very least, making it difficult to ascertain if the Paxlovid you just received is free, with a copay or entirely on you.

Also happy New Year to all.

Edit: lol, Petey beat me to it. Cheers Petey

Petey posted:

you have been holding up the sky in this thread for months! i just happened to go looking for this because i saw some tweets about people saying they were going into pharmacies for pax and having the pharmacists say "well, you might as well get this, because we're not ordering any once it goes to insurance."

i emailed my benefits provider to clarify this — they're usually pretty good about covering stuff — but i do have a bridge strategy if needed.

Steve Yun posted:

https://x.com/inkblue01/status/1741475427112178013?s=46

Rescue Toaster posted:

I'm genuinely curious, what sort of price range is a 'concierge doctor' in? A few thousand cash retainer a year? Tens of thousands? I'm curious to what degree that's an actual thing, though we all joke about it.

DickParasite posted:

We were right all along.

e:

I've seen that line attributed to Sam Neil elsewhere but it's actually John Glover who says it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mztpY7ma61Q&t=425s

John Glover is one of those dudes who can bring just a touch of weirdness to his roles.

e2:

Although Sam says "Things are turning to poo poo out there aren't they?" two minutes later:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mztpY7ma61Q&t=547s

gently caress I love this movie.

Oracle posted:

Does it? I’m seeing a lot of carrageenan in the ad copy for it but it doesn’t specifically say iota-carrageenan just ‘Carrageenan which is derived from red marine algae.’ Which really sets off my weasel detector, because kappa and lambda are derived from the same plant and are not shown to be as effective as iota (but they sure are cheaper).

Rescue Toaster posted:

I'm genuinely curious, what sort of price range is a 'concierge doctor' in? A few thousand cash retainer a year? Tens of thousands? I'm curious to what degree that's an actual thing, though we all joke about it.

Petey posted:

iirc peter attia charges $150K per patient per year to be their PCP