Day 425: Wednesday, May 12
Wednesday Asa didn't have student calls until later, so we took a morning walk and then hit the pool- which made us the very first people to sign in at the pool for the day!
Totally empty!
And then after lunch, Hayden and I got to work on a long awaited project: framing puzzles we did over quarantine. We decided on which ones we wanted, and packed away all the others (yes, they'd all been sitting still put together in the garage!)
For a nice touch, I went through my blog and figured out what days we worked on which puzzles, and made a little tag for them to denote the days.
The Mickey Puzzle even has the extra piece included in it's frame, as a nod to the poor people somewhere who must have been one piece short.
And to celebrate Peyton passing his latest class, he got to have Taco Bell for dinner.
And now they have a $5 box with cheesy fiesta potatoes, so I wasn't too picky about it being Taco Bell for dinner.
Congrats Peyton!
After dinner, the news broke: The CDC had formalized the authorization of the vaccine for Hayden's age group. We could finally be a fully vaccinated household! Now we just had to wait and see how soon we could get him vaccinated.
So things were looking up on our evening walk.
Sadly, the rocket launch we hoped to see was scrapped at the last minute.
By 9 or 10, Walgreens had updated their website (the earliest Hayden could get his vaccine would be Thursday- believe us, we tried for Wednesday night- but apparently it takes awhile to update systems).
Oh, and in other news in the world: we've got a gas shortage here in Florida, thanks to a hack on some pipeline. We're not actually part of that pipelilne. But, Floridians panic buy. Like, hard. Especially gas. So there's that.
Oh, and there is a worker shortage around here hard. Everyone's hiring. When we went to Taco Bell there were huge signs for a hiring party. Next door to them, Arby's is only open 10-5 due to low staff. Dunkin Donuts is having the same problem. It's crazy.
And to end the day, the NFL released the schedule for next year. I've never wanted to go to a Bucs game more.
So, there it is. I don't really care what game I go to. I'll take any at this point, it's been FOREVER since I've been to an NFL game.
Day 426: Thursday, May 13
So you guys, it's the first day Hayden is eligible to get the vaccine!
So by 10:30 we were headed over to our Walgreens by Publix, just a couple miles away. As a walk-in. This is how far the vaccine distribution has come since we all sat at our computers trying desperately to get my mom registered for one dose.
(On the way we spotted a baby crane! Don't know why the picture is upside down though- weird).
Also weird: The Land O Lakes Walgreens has touristy t-shirts.
Anyway, it took us just about 20 minutes from start to finish. And there was a couple people in front of us (all funny enough born in 2006) to get their shot.
But there we have it. One dose down of the Pfizer vaccine for Hayden!
Science is amazing. Just five weeks- almost to the minute that we got the vaccine, Hayden was able to get his. Shout out to all the kids (including my niece!) who took part in trials to make this happen. It does get me in the feels, as they say. It's been a long- long- LONG 426 days. But here we are, 153 days out from the vaccine being approved for adults- and 1 day out from it being approved for kids.
And just like that, the Waterstraut's are five weeks out from being a fully vaccinated household!!
I let vaccinated Hayden pick anything for lunch, so he picked Taco Bell (it was a hard pass from me, but everyone else was happy to have it again).
We also decided to hang the puzzles. It's a work in progress, because we weren't sure how they'd all fit up there, and there are a couple of frames still in transit- but we did know to hang the ones up high, we'd have to move out the couch- so a good excuse to give it a good clean.
And Dipper loves when we have the ladder out!
The partially-finished product.
Calib also got his mega desk delivered! He decided he needed a longer desk, so I suggested he just order a new top from IKEA, since his was an IKEA desk anyway- the legs are interchangable with the tops. All he'd have to get is a new top instead of a whole new desk. It was like $30 bucks that way. But, he ordered it weeks ago, and it took forever to deliver.
But once Mega desk arrived, he was really excited.
Apparently that much more space makes all the difference in the world.
Because now those three monitors can sit next to each other.
A little later we realized while we'd been busy working, the CDC had made a major announcement!
Just about four hours after Hayden got his vaccine, somewhere around 2 pm the news broke that the CDC was going to announce that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks- indoors or outdoors (a few exceptions like hospitals, and transit remain).
And at first, a lot of people were very excited about this it basically broke Twitter. See my historical twitter timeline below:
Basically, the CDC is now saying, if you're vaccinated, you are good to go. They issued a new little infographic and the fully vaccinated person is no longer sporting a mask in any situation.
Which people were also VERY excited about.
This was one announcement basically everyone was getting behind.
So this is all exciting...we're just 35 days away from a fully vaccinated household! And Fauci says I don't need a mask! In a lot of circumstances, I do not mind wearing them. But outside? That is just absolutely brutal in the summer heat, you guys. And the thing is, we've still been living pretty carefully since we were fully vaccinated, kind of while the Science of it all is researched. Just how effective are these vaccines in the wild? Can vaccinated people pass it on to not vaccinated people? How should a mix-vaccinated household live? All these things I was willing to wait for. But, we were getting some answers, and that's awesome.
Asa went out to Publix, mask still in hand of course. Because changes don't happen immediately. (He also noted he hadn't been to Publix, having to remember a list in over a year. Asa: "Oh crap, I haven't gone to Publix with a list of three items, and then forgotten one of them in forever." (For the record, he came back with all three items and a bonus - Big Chipper's were BOGO).
And Disney? Well, they nearly immediately announced, they're upping capacity thanks to the new CDC announcment. (which I was pretty sure they were going to do anyway, opening some more hotels in the next few weeks anyway).
But, it looks like masks might be in place there forever!
So, this statement is giving me some hope.
Now, there are some things the CDC is still saying pump the breaks on... but overall, it was pretty positive news.
And, you know, I live in Florida. So this all started to make me a little nervous. It's already the wild, wild west out there. You tell people that fully vaccinated people don't have to wear masks, and in my head, I'm thinking, dude, EVERYONE is going to take off the mask. It's not like you have to prove to anyone you're vaccinated.
All in all, Thursday May 13th was a very good day. Hayden got the vaccine nudging my household ever closer to some normalcy as the CDC announced a rollback of some restrictions. We're not there yet..but we're close!
But, it wasn't long before I noticed not every doctor/epidemiologist I've followed on Twitter loves this decision. Spoiler Alert: for the next few days these cries would get louder and louder.
And there are breakthrough infections happening. Which, is to be expected, of course. And we know breakthrough infections are mild cases, but I still don't want to get it.
Oh, and then there's the thing with the Yankees- who have a little cluster of breakthrough infections (who also had the J&J vaccine). But, I'm also like, isn't this a great case study? I mean 7 of the 8 were basically asymptomatic.
So, it's time to bring back a countdown I started 428 days ago.
Days in Quarantine: 426
Days Remaining: 35
The world (or at least the US) woke up a different place, as the news was splashed on headlines across the country.
Even the morning shows looked different.
Hayden, however, was feeling the effects of his first dose of the vaccine. He was lethargic, tired, didn't really have an appetite and he complained of arm soreness and a headache. Not nearly close to what Peyton and Calib experienced, but it was only his first dose.
I am slightly concerned about the low percentage of vaccination (Pasco county is only just about 30% fully vaccinated), and demand has slowed. So much in fact, the FEMA site where we got our shots will be closing soon.
The good news is we do have significantly less cases in Florida. 2 to 3 thousand a day, which is pretty low for us.
Despite all this, most businesses seemed a little reluctant to jump on the CDC recommendations right away. (Though this will change- and quickly- so quickly it's hard to keep up).
But it was kind of whiplash on Friday- stores, companies, even counties would be like 'no, we're still going to require masks' and then hours later be like... nah, if you're fully vaccinated, you're good.
To be fair, Orange County (Orlando- where the theme parks are), had always said they were going to relax the guidelines when they got to 50% with one dose.
But, I was surprised how quickly a lot of places were like, nah, we're good. No more mask mandates. And, that started to give me a bit of pause. Now, I know, we're more cautious than the average family. And I was super excited for them to nix these orders outside (again, we discussed the summer heat here), but by Friday, with people lifting indoor orders... eh, I'm not so sure how I feel about that.
Because, we're largely going with the honor system here. The honor system IN FLORIDA?! Yea, ok. Now, some other businesses might take a different approach. But not here. Our governor even signed an executive order banning anyone from requesting proof of vaccines (In fact, he's now in a bit of a standoff with NCL who says they won't cruise out of Florida if they can't require proof of vaccinations for their passengers).
All day Friday social media was full of people celebrating no masks...
...and companies doing an about face and saying they were dropping their requirements to wear a mask for fully vaccinated people.
Keep an eye on this list- it's ever changings throughout the day.
Publix quickly changed their tune.
Emphasizing it's only for fully vaccinated people. But again, honor system IN FLORIDA.
It's encouraging- we are headed in the right direction. Even Florida is all in yellow!
Day 428: Saturday May 15
Friday, Universal dropped it's mask mandate outdoors (except in cue lines) . So you knew Disney couldn't be far behind. But, I was surprised when I got up on Saturday morning and they were like... starting today no more masks outside!
And this is something I can get behind- without reservations. Outdoors, without a mask? Sounds awesome to me.
And Disney had previously announced they "phasing out" temperature checks (I think starting on the 16th), but they dropped that early too. And I will take that. Those were not helpful.
Things are even changing for the Bucs! (Though note: they require proof of vaccination- good on you guys!)
Here's my hesitation. What about the people who aren't fully vaccinated. Because the argument that everyone who wants a vaccine has one by now, isn't super valid.
Because you guys, if we had gotten the two dose Moderna vaccine the same day we got out J&J (just FOUR days into our eligibility when appointments for the non-FEMA site were still hard to get), we wouldn't be fully vaccinated yet. We would have barely squeezed it out if we had gotten Pfizer. Hayden literally got it on the very first day he could- and he's still 34 days away!
But, I am encouraged that maybe people are policing themselves!
And some counties are doing better than others getting their residents vaccinated.
70% would be amazing, but it'll be hard to get there. Pasco county isn't even close.
At least I'm happy with Disney's "compromise" on masks. Indoors = keep it on. Outdoors= you cantake it off!
But, here's the thing. We're still 34 days away from Hayden being fully vaccinated. And, we're not going to do much for those 34 days to be extra safe. Because if we effed this up now, it'd be heartbreaking.
So, we'll just sit on it, see how all this plays out in the next 34 days and hang out. We have moved on to Lego Harry Potter to keep ourselves busy.
But for now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And that's everything!
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