first day of no masks at my work for those who showed proof of vaccination.  pretty much everyone is still wearing a mask & i'm finding out how many don't want to get vaccinated...including one who mentioned an article about vaccinated people shedding spike proteins. god, i love nepa.    

 

 

1 hour ago, mr_hunt said:

first day of no masks at my work for those who showed proof of vaccination.  pretty much everyone is still wearing a mask & i'm finding out how many don't want to get vaccinated...including one who mentioned an article about vaccinated people shedding spike proteins. god, i love nepa.    

 

 

Stay safe, hunt. 

My office reopened. Everyone is vaccinated. Still we wear masks in the common areas and the rest of the building. 

Septa no longer has restricted seats and customers can sit next to each other. Everyone still has to wear a mask. 

Look at Wuhan all you want. The Science proves otherwise.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/the-new-coronavirus-was-not-genetically-engineered-study-shows

The new coronavirus was not man-made, study shows

 

New research finds that SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is the result of the natural process of evolution rather than a product of laboratory engineering.

The new study appears in the journal Nature MedicineTrusted Source, and Kristian Andersen, Ph.D., an associate professor of immunology and microbiology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA, is the first and corresponding author on the paper.

Andersen and colleagues set out to see what they could deduce about the origin of the new coronavirus from analyzing the genomic data available.

As the authors mention in their paper, since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, researchers have been trying to grapple with the origins of the virus that caused it.

Initially, experts linked the virus to the seafood market in Wuhan, China, while later study papers suggested that the virus may have spread to humans from illegally trafficked mammals called pangolins.

To evaluate the origin of the new virus, the researchers compared the "backbone” of SARS-CoV-2 with that of other viruses that commonly affect bats and pangolins.

They did so using the genetic sequencing data that Chinese scientists made available.

Andersen and his team also looked at spike proteins — features that coronaviruses use to bind to the membrane of the human or animal cells that they infect.

 

Ending the rumors about SARS-CoV-2

More specifically, the authors of the new research looked at two components of spike proteins: the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which latches onto healthy host cells, and the cleavage site, which opens up the virus and allows it to penetrate the host cell.

To bind to human cells, spike proteins need a receptor on human cells called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).

The scientists found that the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein had evolved to target ACE2 so effectively that it could only have been the result of natural selection and not of genetic engineering.

Furthermore, the molecular structure of the backbone of SARS-CoV-2 supported this finding. If scientists had engineered the new coronavirus purposely as a pathogen, explain the researchers, the starting point would likely have been the backbone of another virus in the coronavirus family.

However, the backbone of SARS-CoV-2 was very different than those of other coronaviruses and was most similar to related viruses in bats and pangolins.

"These two features of the virus — the mutations in the RBD portion of the spike protein and its distinct backbone — rule out laboratory manipulation as a potential origin for SARS-CoV-2,” explains Andersen.

"By comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, we can firmly determine that SARS-CoV-2 originated through natural processes.”

– Kristian Andersen

Josie Golding, Ph.D., who is the epidemics lead at the Wellcome Trust, a research charity based in London, United Kingdom, did not participate in the study but comments on its significance.

She says the findings are "crucially important to bring an evidence-based view to the rumors that have been circulating about the origins of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) causing COVID-19.”

 

3 hours ago, mr_hunt said:

first day of no masks at my work for those who showed proof of vaccination.  pretty much everyone is still wearing a mask & i'm finding out how many don't want to get vaccinated...including one who mentioned an article about vaccinated people shedding spike proteins. god, i love nepa.    

 

 

My company sent a mask update.  Basically:

1) Despite what the regulation is in that state\company, we are to wear masks

2) If we are alone in a room, we can take it off, but be ready to put it on right away in case someone enters

6 minutes ago, paco said:

My company sent a mask update.  Basically:

1) Despite what the regulation is in that state\company, we are to wear masks

2) If we are alone in a room, we can take it off, but be ready to put it on right away in case someone enters

7 minutes ago, paco said:

My company sent a mask update.  Basically:

1) Despite what the regulation is in that state\company, we are to wear masks

2) If we are alone in a room, we can take it off, but be ready to put it on right away in case someone enters

Even if you’re vaccinated?  That’s horse crap. 

16 minutes ago, paco said:

My company sent a mask update.  Basically:

1) Despite what the regulation is in that state\company, we are to wear masks

2) If we are alone in a room, we can take it off, but be ready to put it on right away in case someone enters

Ridiculous. Ours lifted the mask mandate if you're vaccinated. 

13 minutes ago, DBW said:

Even if you’re vaccinated?  That’s horse crap. 

Yup

 

5 minutes ago, Paul852 said:

Ridiculous. Ours lifted the mask mandate if you're vaccinated. 

I'm still WFH.  But they may start sending us back in the fall.  I'm not looking forward to 4 hour plane rides with a mask on.

Just now, paco said:

Yup

 

I'm still WFH.  But they may start sending us back in the fall.  I'm not looking forward to 4 hour plane rides with a mask on.

Hopefully you can just continue to work from home until all mask mandates are lifted.

17 minutes ago, paco said:

Yup

 

I'm still WFH.  But they may start sending us back in the fall.  I'm not looking forward to 4 hour plane rides with a mask on.

That’s awful!  I’m in sales and our company says follow the local guidelines and make your own decisions. But if a customer requires a mask then we have to abide but most aren’t requiring them at this point. 

20 minutes ago, paco said:

Yup

 

I'm still WFH.  But they may start sending us back in the fall.  I'm not looking forward to 4 hour plane rides with a mask on.

It's brutal on the ears due to the straps. When I had to fly to Louisville and connect through Dallas, it was like 8 straight hours with the thing. 

37 minutes ago, Paul852 said:

Hopefully you can just continue to work from home until all mask mandates are lifted.

I hope to wfh as long as possible

17 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

It's brutal on the ears due to the straps. When I had to fly to Louisville and connect through Dallas, it was like 8 straight hours with the thing. 

Ive done a few 2 hour ones this year.  That wasnt fun.  I dont think i could tolerate any longer

So sitting in my car yesterday eating my mcdonalds hamburger ( wealth challenged can only afford this) I noticed people going into staples, the younger people had masks but many of the older people did not, I found that interesting

1 hour ago, paco said:

My company sent a mask update.  Basically:

1) Despite what the regulation is in that state\company, we are to wear masks

2) If we are alone in a room, we can take it off, but be ready to put it on right away in case someone enters

I thought PA still had mask mandate until end of month

I haven't quite fully ditched the mask at the store yet, but it's coming as more and more have removed their signs.  Now have to learn where I need it and where I don't.

From Walgreen's today:

We are updating you on Walgreens in-store mask guidance.  Below is our guidance as of today for customers and our team members, please share with your team members at the co-located Walgreens retail clinic locations.

 

Following the latest CDC guidance, Walgreens no longer requires fully vaccinated customers to wear face coverings inside of our stores, unless mandated by state or local regulations. Customers who are not fully vaccinated are asked to continue wearing face coverings. In addition, Walgreens team members who are fully vaccinated and who do not perform patient care activities (immunizations, specimen collection and testing) are no longer required to wear face covers while working, unless mandated by state and local regulations. Walgreens team members who are not fully vaccinated will continue wearing them while working. Those who choose to no longer wear a face cover must confirm by attestation to being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.  Team members will continue to wear face covers when administering vaccines or COVID-19 tests. We will continue to maintain in-store COVID-19 precautions that are already in place and make any changes based on guidance from the CDC or OSHA. The health and safety of our customers and team members will continue to guide our decision process.

 

We ask of your team members similar guidance; if your team member is vaccinated, they may enter our facilities without a mask. If they are not vaccinated, they are required to wear a mask. All other COVID precautions remain in place.

Texas only 100 new cases today .....PA 842 ....NJ 158 ,  eat it PA

5 minutes ago, Joe Shades 73 said:

I thought PA still had mask mandate until end of month

I (and my company) works all over.  Current project had me splitting time in Denver and Minneapolis. 

1 minute ago, paco said:

I (and my company) works all over.  Current project had me splitting time in Denver and Minneapolis. 

The thought of flying now would make me want to hang myself , that and online chats with Amazon , what a bunch of tools, can't follow delivery instructions

3 minutes ago, Joe Shades 73 said:

Texas only 100 new cases today .....PA 842 ....NJ 158 ,  eat it PA

We still doomed?

 

Just now, paco said:

We still doomed?

 

Who said that ?

Still need many more vaccinated 50% with at least one shot is not good enough

2 hours ago, vikas83 said:

It's brutal on the ears due to the straps. When I had to fly to Louisville and connect through Dallas, it was like 8 straight hours with the thing. 

 

Maybe I just have really comfortable masks or my ears have the right shape, but the straps don't bother me. In general masks aren't an inconvenience for me at all so much as just a thing to remember. I double masked in the airport and plane rides to and from Colorado last year with no complaints, but that flight is a breeze out of Baltimore nonstop. 15 hours in planes and airports for Hawaii should be fun, though. I don't know what the deal is with the possibility of a false positive for someone who is vaccinated but potentially had close contact, so I've just been continuing the mask up. First COVID test is tomorrow afternoon, then I gotta do it again in Honolulu next week to get to Kauai. I'm supremely confident that I'm protected by the vaccine, but I'm also taking no chances with the possibility of a testing snafu, no matter how remote. I've got too much invested in this trip.