The second link research was payed for by acpjournals is a group of retail organizations including Starbucks etc.  So they have reason to use anything to discount use of masks.  It's like me conducting research that beer consumption causes great wisdom.

It made Bud Weiser

And this is a valid point, a reason why I like to know who is doing the research and who is funding it!

It also begs the questions, you know ACP is funded by retail how?  Do you have any documentation?

The second link research was payed for by acpjournals is a group of retail organizations including Starbucks etc.  So they have reason to use anything to discount use of masks.  It's like me conducting research that beer consumption causes great wisdom.

My wife got her second shot yesterday so we will now loosen up our social life isolation a bit, more trips to the store, more eating out and more entertaining than in the past year.   

And this is a valid point, a reason why I like to know who is doing the research and who is funding it!

It also begs the questions, you know ACP is funded by retail how?  Do you have any documentation?

The second link research was payed for by acpjournals is a group of retail organizations including Starbucks etc.  So they have reason to use anything to discount use of masks.  It's like me conducting research that beer consumption causes great wisdom.

It was funded by the Salling Foundations.  A site that links or publishes a study in not necessarily the funding source.  Look for a header that says "Role of Funding Source" right before "Results".

I got the second stick on Friday.  It was delayed a week because of the weather the week before.  I don't plan on any changes.  I'll still wear a mask where it's required, but I never worried too much much before anyway.  I have a lot of underlying health issues, but I also have O negative blood.  I figure if it's going to happen, it's going to happen.  Life is short enough without worrying about something I can't control anyway.

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/abs/10.7326/M20-6817
Primary Funding Source:
The Salling Foundations.
Salling Group
Ownership structure
Salling Group is 100% owned by Købmand Herman Sallings Fond and Købmand Ferdinand Sallings Mindefond, which together make up the Salling Foundations. This means that profits from Salling Group are only used for two purposes: investment in the company and donations via the Salling Foundations.


Some of its companies

føtex food convenience
For days when shopping should be as quick and easy as possible, convenience is the key word. The føtex chain today operates a number of supermarket food convenience stores in the capital, where the range is adjusted to busy life in the big city. Here prepared meals, easy meal solutions, freshly baked bread and butcher-carved meat take centre stage in the stores.
Carl’s Jr.
The combination of fresh ingredients, authentic American style and a well-known brand has really found its way to the hearts of Danish burger fans. Carl's Jr. has experienced massive growth in Denmark, where burgers are more popular than ever before.
Salling Group has had the rights to establish Carl's Jr. restaurants in Denmark since 2013. The restaurants are in attractive locations on shopping streets, close to the motorway or in one of our Bilka hypermarkets, which makes it easy for Danes to combine a shopping trip with a meal.
Carlsjr.dk
Skagenfood meal boxes
Meal boxes delivered directly to the door are winning more and more ground with Danes. Not only is it easy to unpack quality goods and put them in the refrigerator, but it also takes care of the difficult everyday art of finding the evenings’ and week's meals.
Salling Group entered the market for meal boxes in 2017, when we invested in Skagenfood and bought 80% of the company. Since the acquisition, Skagenfood has experienced enormous growth, with an increase in turnover of 50% in just one year. This positive trend will continue over the next few years with more innovative meal boxes and new food trends that will inspire Danes to exciting everyday meals. Day-to-day, Skagenfood is operated in North Jutland as an independent company.
Skagenfood.dk
Starbucks
A meeting over a good cup of coffee or one to go. Danes love good quality coffee, and as the official franchise partner, the group is operating a growing number of popular Starbucks coffee bars in Denmark, both in connection with føtex supermarkets and Bilka hypermarkets, and at exclusive locations like the City Hall Square in Copenhagen.
Our own brands
At Salling Group, we produce a host of private label lines. Customers can find our own brands throughout føtex, Bilka and Netto, and we are proud to cover everything from canned tomatoes to detergents. Our goal is to meet all our customers’ everyday needs, regardless of price and quality.
Vores®
Vores® is Salling Group’s biggest line of private label goods, and it contains everything needed in everyday life. We always have hundreds of different products to choose from, and the range is constantly being developed and extended. Before goods can be a part of Vores, one of the things we do is let our customers test and approve their quality. That's why we call them Vores (Danish for ‘Ours’).
Levevis
With Levevis, we make it easy for our customers to choose the products that are good for both people and the environment. The Levevis line contains both organic groceries and a new selection of groceries that are gluten and lactose free. In addition, the line consists of a wide range of personal care, household and baby products that do not contain perfume. The products bear different labels that place certain requirements on the manufacturer and product, clear information about which can be found by the customers on the packaging.
Princip
Princip is for customers who do not want to compromise on the quality of their food. Princip consists of exquisite quality, gourmet moments and delicious flavours for every taste and for every occasion, and the line offers luxurious foods at competitive prices.
Budget
Budget is the name of our line of basic products at fixed low prices. The line is continually being developed from the basic idea of giving customers an inexpensive alternative within as many product categories as possible. Budget covers both food and non-food items, and the orange packaging means it is always easy to recognise.
ØGO
If customers prefer products that are good to animals, the environment and the wallet, then they should look on the shelves for ØGO's products. ØGO is Netto’s very own line of organic products at good prices, and it offers a large selection of organic goods for all everyday meals.
VRS
VRS is our own clothing brand, and today it is a recognised fashion brand in the textile industry and sold exclusively by Bilka and føtex. VRS consists of a large selection of fashion wear, sportswear, everyday clothes, underwear, shoes and accessories for the whole family.
Premieur
Premieur are high quality products for customers who appreciate good flavours and local delicacies from all over the world. Premieur is sold exclusively by Netto.
SCO
Salling Group is one of Denmark’s largest bicycle dealers. This is due not least to the fact that we have SCO, a classic Danish bicycle brand that Salling Group bought and relaunched in 2017, where both quality and design received a major boost.

Thank you.

I have not watched Saturday Night Live in decades, but occasionally I will check out a clip. This one was making the rounds because it featured a parody of our beloved Michigan Governor. On rare occasion these things can hit close to home. In this clip at the 53 second mark a statement was made that probably has more truth in it than I would care to admit: "Getting the vaccine should not be a competition, but Americans will only want to get it if someone else can't."

Now I understand! The rollout was pure genius!! By creating shortages it does inspire competition. If the vaccine had been rolled out and everyone could get it at the same time, there would have been no sense of urgency. Eventually (probably sometime in the fairly near future), everyone that wants one will get it. However, by doing it this way, when all is said and done, the compliance rate will be much higher than it would have been otherwise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5rXK8HCL1Y

My wife and I got our second Moderna vaccines today. The process really improved in the last fours weeks. It was pretty good before but now it was really fast.

We thought that maybe there were less vaccines being given but we were told by one of the staff members that they have just gotten faster.

We arrived early for our first shot and were about 15 minutes behind schedule. It took awhile to get through all the checks. In the end, it was about two and a half hours.

This time we arrived well before our appointment time and our line (there is a line for each 15 minutes appointment block) started moving immediately.

We sailed right through. We were done by the time our appointment was supposed to start. And that included the 15 minute post shot wait to see if we have a reaction.

They moved the super center from the Disneyland parking lot to inside the Anaheim Convention Center. There were folks everywhere, from the street to the exit directing you to where to go.

As someone who has worked on process improvements for years, I can say that the improvements were remarkable.

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News report I saw yesterday, said the three companies will have produced 400 million doses be end of April.
The hard part will be getting them administered.
 

Starting tomorrow, here in AZ, they are giving shots to 55 and older.

Here in Virginia we have plenty of capacity to administer shots and plenty who want it.  Our issue is supply.  They have said that we will most likely not have enough supply to meet the need for group 1b until late April.

Starting tomorrow, here in AZ, they are giving shots to 55 and older.

They are a bit on the slow side here in New Mexico. Still in the 75+ phase.

I just got the first dose of Moderna in my home...not planning on making any changes to my routine...I have rarely worn a mask...only when medical people weren't comformtable with me not having one in their presence...I hang around with a lot of homeless in my neighborhood...YAY Portland!  Pfffbbbt!

The question often comes up about where are we at in terms of reaching herd immunity.  There is a radio program in the SF Bay Area called "Ask an Expert".  It has provided me with the most up to date factual information pertaining the pandemic.  Back in May it projected that vaccines like the Moderna and Pfizer would be ready for emergency approval by late Fall.  It also stated that the government was funding several of these efforts long before we ever heard of "Operation Warp Speed"

The segment that was on yesterday discussed herd immunity.  It was pretty enlightening in terms of what we can be doing after getting the vaccine.  Here's a link to the broadcast:

https://www.radio.com/kcbsradio/news/are-we-close-to-reaching-herd-immunity