Covid-19 and Spring of 21

[Turkeytider]

I am a Family Physician who just ordered a Covid 19 test one my father. My practice is on the front lines of dealing with the Chinese virus. The only thing that will obviate this pandemic is the widespread administration of vaccine. The vaccine may require two doses months apart. It will require vaccination of a significant portion of the population to decrease the transmission of this virus. It will be many months before we see things return to more normal.

I can't see a Physician especially one on the front lines referring to this as "the Chinese virus."  Only 1 post makes me wonder all the more. Sorry if I am wrong but I do not think so. Even if I am wrong I will let the first hundred billion people take it and wait 10 years to see how it affects them before I will ever take a rushed and widely untested vaccine.

Just curious SD,what would constitute a "widely tested " vaccine in your opinion? Do you feel the phase IIIs are too small? You don`t actually mean you`d need to see 100 billion people over 10 years, do you?

I feel there needs to many years of testing as well as many years of seeing the results of those that have taken the vaccine to see what the side effects are if any and how bad they may be, could be the cure is worse than the cause. I feel it to be unwise to just take a drug without knowing the side effects over time.

Fair enough, friend. Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion on this matter.

[Neill_Prater]

Many of you are probably not old enough to have personally known someone who had polio. I am. Two people in my small hometown when I was growing up were confined to wheelchairs and could only walk short distances with the help of crutches and leg braces. My brother's first wife's father, a physician in the Navy, died from poliomyelitis when she was a child.

I was too young at the time to be aware of such things, but I have no doubt when the polio vaccine was first released in the 50's, that there were plenty of naysayers.

I hear all the arguments every year about the flu vaccine, even from family members: I took a flu shot once, and got sick. They don't work because they never get the right strain. I've even been told that it's a way for the government to get your DNA.

I have had, conservatively, probably 50 plus vaccinations against influenza, including the swine flu and H1N1, and the worst thing that's ever happened to me is a slightly sore arm a couple of times, which I suspect is more a result of the technique of the person administering the vaccine than the vaccine itself.

I am guessing that millions of those effected by the Spanish flu 100 years ago would have liked to have had the opportunity to try out a vaccine. My grandfather was a physician, beginning practice in 1903, and spoke of going for days at a time without ever going to bed, driven from one household to another, trying to do what he could for those infected with the virus. In the 70's an older gentleman I knew told of his entire family being afflicted, each too sick to try and care for anyone else. He thought they would all die. His fever was so high that it killed all the hair follicles on his head, so he had no eyebrows.

This whole attitude of so many regarding vaccines, masks, social distancing, personal rights, etc, etc, reminds me of a story I once heard about an extremely devout man who lived on the Gulf when a hurricane, not unlike those recently, brought deluges of rain and massive flooding.

When the water was a few feet from his home, a neighbor stopped by in his rowboat and tried to get the man to hop in and leave. The gentleman declined, stating he had faith in the Lord, and that he would be safe.

After the waters inundated his home, and he was forced to take shelter on the second floor balcony, a man in an airboat stopped and begged the man to jump in so he could take him to safety. Again the man refused, saying he had complete faith in the Lord, and new He would protect him.

Eventually the water rose to the man's roof, and as he straddled the peak, a Coast Guard helicopter hovered above and dropped a line, imploring the man over a bullhorn to slip into the harness and let them lift him to safety. Once again, the man waved them off and shouted that he had faith in the Lord.

Moments later, the horrified crew watched helplessly as the home collapsed and the man was swept away and pulled under by the current.

When the man appeared before God, he asked why he drowned when he believed he should have been spared because of his faith.

The Lord said, "I sent a rowboat, an airboat, and a helicopter, what more do you want?"

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[Turkeytider]

Many of you are probably not old enough to have personally known someone who had polio. I am. Two people in my small hometown when I was growing up were confined to wheelchairs and could only walk short distances with the help of crutches and leg braces. My brother's first wife's father, a physician in the Navy, died from poliomyelitis when she was a child.

I was too young at the time to be aware of such things, but I have no doubt when the polio vaccine was first released in the 50's, that there were plenty of naysayers.

I hear all the arguments every year about the flu vaccine, even from family members: I took a flu shot once, and got sick. They don't work because they never get the right strain. I've even been told that it's a way for the government to get your DNA.

I have had, conservatively, probably 50 plus vaccinations against influenza, including the swine flu and H1N1, and the worst thing that's ever happened to me is a slightly sore arm a couple of times, which I suspect is more a result of the technique of the person administering the vaccine than the vaccine itself.

I am guessing that millions of those effected by the Spanish flu 100 years ago would have liked to have had the opportunity to try out a vaccine. My grandfather was a physician, beginning practice in 1903, and spoke of going for days at a time without ever going to bed, driven from one household to another, trying to do what he could for those infected with the virus. In the 70's an older gentleman I knew told of his entire family being afflicted, each too sick to try and care for anyone else. He thought they would all die. His fever was so high that it killed all the hair follicles on his head, so he had no eyebrows.

This whole attitude of so many regarding vaccines, masks, social distancing, personal rights, etc, etc, reminds me of a story I once heard about an extremely devout man who lived on the Gulf when a hurricane, not unlike those recently, brought deluges of rain and massive flooding.

When the water was a few feet from his home, a neighbor stopped by in his rowboat and tried to get the man to hop in and leave. The gentleman declined, stating he had faith in the Lord, and that he would be safe.

After the waters inundated his home, and he was forced to take shelter on the second floor balcony, a man in an airboat stopped and begged the man to jump in so he could take him to safety. Again the man refused, saying he had complete faith in the Lord, and new He would protect him.

Eventually the water rose to the man's roof, and as he straddled the peak, a Coast Guard helicopter hovered above and dropped a line, imploring the man over a bullhorn to slip into the harness and let them lift him to safety. Once again, the man waved them off and shouted that he had faith in the Lord.

Moments later, the horrified crew watched helplessly as the home collapsed and the man was swept away and pulled under by the current.

When the man appeared before God, he asked why he drowned when he believed he should have been spared because of his faith.

The Lord said, "I sent a rowboat, an airboat, and a helicopter, what more do you want?"

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

I remember it, although I was very young. Yes, there were nay sayers, but what what I remember best was the abject terror that polio induced and the feeling that the vaccine was a godsend. Which it was. I think if there was a little deeper understanding of the process through which vaccines are developed and tested there wouldn`t be quite so much reticence on the part of many. As they`re apt to do however, as soon as the politicians became involved, and it became politicized, that was the ballgame. This is a biological entity that doesn`t give a damn about politics. The ONLY thing that matters to it is the availability of hosts. Us. All of us.

[Sir-diealot]

Many of you are probably not old enough to have personally known someone who had polio. I am. Two people in my small hometown when I was growing up were confined to wheelchairs and could only walk short distances with the help of crutches and leg braces. My brother's first wife's father, a physician in the Navy, died from poliomyelitis when she was a child.

I was too young at the time to be aware of such things, but I have no doubt when the polio vaccine was first released in the 50's, that there were plenty of naysayers.

I hear all the arguments every year about the flu vaccine, even from family members: I took a flu shot once, and got sick. They don't work because they never get the right strain. I've even been told that it's a way for the government to get your DNA.

I have had, conservatively, probably 50 plus vaccinations against influenza, including the swine flu and H1N1, and the worst thing that's ever happened to me is a slightly sore arm a couple of times, which I suspect is more a result of the technique of the person administering the vaccine than the vaccine itself.

I am guessing that millions of those effected by the Spanish flu 100 years ago would have liked to have had the opportunity to try out a vaccine. My grandfather was a physician, beginning practice in 1903, and spoke of going for days at a time without ever going to bed, driven from one household to another, trying to do what he could for those infected with the virus. In the 70's an older gentleman I knew told of his entire family being afflicted, each too sick to try and care for anyone else. He thought they would all die. His fever was so high that it killed all the hair follicles on his head, so he had no eyebrows.

This whole attitude of so many regarding vaccines, masks, social distancing, personal rights, etc, etc, reminds me of a story I once heard about an extremely devout man who lived on the Gulf when a hurricane, not unlike those recently, brought deluges of rain and massive flooding.

When the water was a few feet from his home, a neighbor stopped by in his rowboat and tried to get the man to hop in and leave. The gentleman declined, stating he had faith in the Lord, and that he would be safe.

After the waters inundated his home, and he was forced to take shelter on the second floor balcony, a man in an airboat stopped and begged the man to jump in so he could take him to safety. Again the man refused, saying he had complete faith in the Lord, and new He would protect him.

Eventually the water rose to the man's roof, and as he straddled the peak, a Coast Guard helicopter hovered above and dropped a line, imploring the man over a bullhorn to slip into the harness and let them lift him to safety. Once again, the man waved them off and shouted that he had faith in the Lord.

Moments later, the horrified crew watched helplessly as the home collapsed and the man was swept away and pulled under by the current.

When the man appeared before God, he asked why he drowned when he believed he should have been spared because of his faith.

The Lord said, "I sent a rowboat, an airboat, and a helicopter, what more do you want?"

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

My uncle Benny had polio when he was young. I do remember the one shoe much more built up on one side than the other to make up for the way his body was deformed, the braces and the hunched back. It does not however change my mind about trying something untested for a period of time.

I remember reading about John Adams family being treated with an experimental procedure where they injected some cells from I think it may have been smallpox into the body. It helped some including most members of his family (Read John Adams by David McCullough for more information) but it also killed many.
Here, I dug this up.

Inoculation for Smallpox

In 1775, inoculation against smallpox was not new; it had been used in America for several decades with reasonable success, albeit with great danger.   It was also very controversial.

Not long after the Adams family was inoculated, Dr. Edward Jenner substantially improved the procedure.

A cut was made in the healthy arm, and a small amount of skin lesions from infected pustules were introduced. Then the arm was bandaged. It purported to give the patient a "light" case and subsequent immunity. Many people could not understand the concept of this practice, however it had a high success rate. A patient needed at least a full month for preparation, for the inoculation to be administered, to take hold, to "suffer the light case" – sometimes far more severe than anticipated, to recover, and to be no longer contagious.

In short, it was not to be undertaken lightly.

https://featherfoster.wordpress.com/2017/12/04/abigail-adams-and-the-inoculation-decision/

[Tom007]

Absolutely no reason not to go hunt. I hunted Texas in the middle of it last April and had no problems. Will be in Texas in a few weeks for the deer season open and plan to hunt Ala, Miss, Texas and Michigan for turkey this season. If you are driving to these places to hunt, there is nothing to keep you from hunting. Go enjoy the outdoors where most of the time you are by yourself anyway.

X2, we all hunted last year during the worst stage of this unnecessary plague. We know more now, have medical help on the way. The safest place to be is alone outdoors. We will beat this thing...be safe....

[Crghss]

I canceled my trip to Black Hills in May last year. If I had the chance to do it over I would have gone.

I will be going next spring...........along with a couple million other people. To each his own.

[Dtrkyman]

Only issue I had this past season was Nebraska cut off non res tags, I hunted Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan with no issue, other than Michigan having a new license system that gave me fits!   

[joey46]

I've been checking the web sites of a few well established outfitters in the WY/SD Black Hills area.  The one thing I noticed is no apparent price increases.  Very leery about sending anyone a deposit after hearing some stories from this past spring.

[Spurs Up]

It's looking more and more each day like travel in 2021 will continue to be affected by COVID. With another wave supposedly emerging, air travelers to winter ski destinations are being hit with self-quarantining orders or testing requirements. Driving may be the best option again.

[GobbleNut]

I agree that driving is the way to go,...and with minimal interactions and contact with other folks, both for their benefit and our own.  I suspect the biggest question for the traveling turkey hunter will be whether the covid situation reaches the point where interstate travel is not only restricted, but also ENFORCED next spring. 

I don't really think that is going to happen at this juncture, but if we don't get our sh*t together as a country in the near future, it just might!

[greencop01]

When it comes to COVID politics obfuscates the issues. I live in Massachusetts and plan to go to Kentucky and hunt turkeys and hunt for good bourbon. I will not let this disease cancel my plans unless Kentucky closes its borders. The world survived the Spanish Influenza and it will survive COVID. I really believe politics is keeping the truth out of the conversation. Common Sense is a rare commodity these days. 

[PalmettoRon]

Some of it makes no sense. The NM governor has now decreed that virtually all out of state visitors must quarantine for 14 days or for the duration of their stay even with a negative Covid test taken shortly before arrival. This includes folks from Colorado and other bordering states. NM has a high rate of infection, yet their citizens are free to travel to virtually every state except a few in the Northeast without the same restrictions. I do not understand why any governor is able to unilaterally issue such orders.

[Tom007]

Absolutely no reason not to go hunt. I hunted Texas in the middle of it last April and had no problems. Will be in Texas in a few weeks for the deer season open and plan to hunt Ala, Miss, Texas and Michigan for turkey this season. If you are driving to these places to hunt, there is nothing to keep you from hunting. Go enjoy the outdoors where most of the time you are by yourself anyway.

Agreed here, anyone that drives to their turkey destination will be fine. There may be COVID case increases, but the death rate should remain low due to the available therapeutics. Be safe, see you in the spring woods...

[Dtrkyman]

Some of it makes no sense. The NM governor has now decreed that virtually all out of state visitors must quarantine for 14 days or for the duration of their stay even with a negative Covid test taken shortly before arrival. This includes folks from Colorado and other bordering states. NM has a high rate of infection, yet their citizens are free to travel to virtually every state except a few in the Northeast without the same restrictions. I do not understand why any governor is able to unilaterally issue such orders.

Almost nobody follows this, I am living in Santa Fe, lot's of out of state folks around, no way they waited 14 days to go out and do something!  And they shouldn't have too.

Pretty easy to keep distance and wear a mask in close quarters!

[Kylongspur88]

Everyone has to make their own decisions when it comes to this. Historically these things last 18-24 months before subsiding. I'm my opinion the vaccine will help things but I also think we will always be dealing with this virus to some degree from here on out. Wearing a mask and avoiding crowds is probably the best way to curb this thing. What's really worrying to me is people I know who have had it and still have symptoms months after the fact. I know 2 middle aged people who now have scaring on their lungs from it. Another person in theirs 30s like me has constant fatigue and brain fog which has made it difficult to perform at work. If folks do travel they should just do it respectfully and responsibly i.e. wear a mask in public and socially distance.