by Anura Guruge
on December 22, 2021
Truth be told I was NOT going to attend … because of COVID. Just wasn’t going to take a chance. Plus, it would not have been the same — wearing a mask & even WORSE, no communal dancing of the ‘Lord of the Dance‘. That is MY HIGHLIGHT. So, c’est la vie. No show at all last year, & now these shows cancelled. Maybe 2022.
by Anura Guruge
on October 30, 2021
Just for the record in case anyone was suspecting sour grapes, I, given my background, am no stranger to motorcades. There were days I went to school in a motorcade though it was but one car & four motorbikes. The last time I was in a motorcade was in August 1992. But, that is by the by … However, while we are at it, let me also point out that I am also more familiar than most with International diplomatic protocols given that my adoptive father was a high-ranking diplomat for over three decades in Paris & D.C. So, I can & will comment on this.
Italy had the right to have put their foot down — BUT they put it down in the wrong place! They enforced, and, moreover, got the U.S. to accede to their COVID protocols. That was good. They, however, did not go far enough or, more to the point, think it through carefully. They are NOT Italians for nothing.
85 cars with 3 passengers = 255 people.
Two of those were Joe & Jill Biden. That still leaves 253 people. They could NOT all have been CLOSE presidential aides & staff. Even Biden couldn’t have an entourage that BIG. So, some of these, probably close to 125, had to have been the travelling press corp.
But, here is my point. All of these people, including the press corp, went over to Rome by plane. Even with empty seats, whatever, they sat in close proximity for 7 to 8 hours on plane.
So, why couldn’t they have been assigned to buses with similar or even better spacing between the seats. So, rather than 85 cars, we could have had 5 cars & 10 buses.
This was STUPID. Biden was STUPID not to have seen this coming. His staff was even stupider — but we already knew that. Yes, I am NOT amused. This was STUPID.
by Anura Guruge
on October 23, 2021
I am rather chuffed that I managed to get a BOOSTER to my J&J 21-Hours After The CDC approval.
A bit bummed that I wasn’t the 1st to get a J&J booster in Wolfeboro. 2 others had beaten me. BUT, I am sure that those two didn’t amble 5-miles this morning BEFORE working on getting the 2nd shot.
I got my ‘over 65’ flu shot while I was at it. Not that I had much of a choice. Walgreen’s online system was rather insistent on that. I was going to get one — as I have done for the last 7 years or so. But, I prefer to get the flu shot around Thanksgiving. But, I wasn’t going to argue. Kill two birds with one stone — though that might not be the best wording to describe vaccinations.
This afternoon, around 1:50pm, I started by checking with the State. Saw that they had given the green light for J&J boosters. So, that was the first hurdle out of the way. I then called Hannafords — my local pharmacy. I kind of suspected that they would NOT be ready. I was right. They said “maybe by Tuesday“. Well, I was NOT going to wait.
I called ‘Walgreens’ in Wolfeboro, NH. I had taken my 15-year old daughter there, earlier this year, for her two COVID shots. I knew they were more on the ball than Hannaford. I called them. They said ‘YES’, but I had to make the appointment online. That was easy enough. I opted for a 4:20pm appointment, today.
The process was not entirely as smooth as I would have hoped. A Pfizer booster for the J&J was still NEW. Luckily the two pharmacist on duty KNEW their stuff — & helped the clerical staff get the paperwork done. There wasn’t as much paperwork involved — because it was a booster. That I had my COVID vaccination card expedited matters.
I was at the counter at 4:15. I was rolling down my sleeves, after getting BOTH shots, at 4:30pm. So, that wasn’t bad.
So far, so good. Haven’t felt a thing. I will keep you posted.
by Anura Guruge
on October 17, 2021
Efficacy drops to just 3% in 6-months?
Efficacy drops to just 3% in 6-months!
That is I. Yes, that is I. I got a single shot J&J vaccination on March 6, 2021. It was the only one that I could get. So, it wasn’t as if I chose it. It was J&J in March or wait another FEW MONTHS.
This is criminal.
J&J should obviously just stick to making baby powder.
Oh, wait! Aren’t they being sued over that too.
I am sure lawyers will gladly go after the CDC & FDA too. They should.
This was a SCAM!
by Anura Guruge
on September 23, 2021
I kind of felt cheated from day one (& that is outside my belief that I (as a 4th-class alien was given a dose of saline)). There was, as you must recall, a stigma attached to the one-dose J&J COVID vaccine. It was the 2nd rate vaccine. The also ran.
The ‘Pfizer’ vaccine was the gold standard.
And now the booster shot debate has further accentuated this class distinction.
Those that got Pfizer get preferential treatment, those that got J&J just get screwed!
I am sure that there are ‘good’ lawyers out there busily collecting data on how many J&J vaccine recipients ended up still getting COVID — & (alas) how many have died. That would appear to be fertile grounds for a class action suit — accusing J&J of not being proactive enough in insisting on getting approval for a booster.
I could be wrong, but I have this nagging feeling that J&J is asking to be sued.
by Anura Guruge
on September 18, 2021
It is mid-September. Even last year, by this time, the media was jabbering away like crazy about the flu shots & the pharmacies were pushing it like crazy. This year, I am sure I have yet to see a sign outside a pharmacy offering the flu shot. The emphasis is all on COVID.
I have been getting the flu shot, religiously, for the last 5 or 6 years. But, I refuse to get it earlier than November. And in the last couple of years I have seen reports that concur with I that it is better to get the flu shot after October than before.
So, I am not looking to get a shot right now. I will wait till November — closer to Thanksgiving as possible.
I understand that COVID & the flu are separate things & that the COVID vaccine is not going to protect me from the flu.
Just wanted to share this with you so that you can start thinking about it.
by Anura Guruge
on August 11, 2021
I am fairly convinced that we will hear more & more of such instances as times goes by.
I have, from Day 1, claimed that I must have just got saline rather than a proper vaccine. I had no reaction, whatsoever. I couldn’t even feel where the needle went in. Nothing. NADA. No mark. No pain. No swelling. No anything. It was as if it was an illusion.
Hence, my belief that they kept fake vaccine bottles, with saline, for non-essential, non-whites like I. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting more. I know that we, the minorities, always play second fiddle. Brown lives do not matter.
Yes, I understand that this story is about Germany.
But, have they done any studies or investigations here? I think that in time they will be forced to do them just to try & understand all the ‘breakthrough cases’ among those who were supposedly vaccinated.
Maybe then I will get a chance to categorically say: “I told you so”. SMILE.
by Anura Guruge
on August 2, 2021
Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com
Given my advanced age & increasing frailty I really cannot afford to take a chance. I don’t want to end up in hospital having trouble breathing. Had asthma growing up & spent enough time in hospital gasping for breath.
I am THEORETICALLY vaccinated. But, as I have maintained from Day 1, I really don’t think they gave a dose of proper vaccine — J&J (or otherwise). I had zero (& I mean zero) side effects. That first night, I was rubbing my arm to see if I would feel anything. NADA. Nothing. It was as if they didn’t even puncture me with a needle. Well, they did give me an injection — BUT I am convinced that it was SALINE. I call it the special vaccination brand for non-essential minorities such as I. SMILE. Hey, it is OK. I have had a lifetime to get used to the discrimination.
This was March 2021. Vaccines were still at a premium. They didn’t want to WASTE a dose on some useless, colored guy. Give him a fake dose & send him home. With luck he will catch COVID & die. SMILE.
So, I decided to start wearing a mask again. I was surprised at how many others were wearing masks too.
by Anura Guruge
on July 25, 2021
Just my take. Provincetown, Mass. — ‘P-Town‘ — has some unique dynamics. As such enforcing masks in public gatherings is unlikely to come even close to addressing the ‘contact’ issue. Just saying.
That is IT. Not going to say anything more. In Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) butchers selling pork in open markets would never call it by its name — so as not to put off those with religious restrictions against eating pork from making a purchase. Instead, they would call ‘pork’, ‘those that know, will know‘. Same here, ‘those that know, will know‘. SMILE.
by Anura Guruge
on July 23, 2021
Over the last 48-hours I checked with two pharmacies, viz., Hannaford (in Alton, in person) & Walgreens (in Wolfeboro, by phone). In each instance I was told that there was no plans to administer a booster for those, like I, who got the J&J vaccination (or (in my case) at least told we got it).
The pharmacist at Walgreens went onto add that she had had a number of folks who had come by that day asking for the same thing.
The State of New Hampshire no longer has any COVID vaccination sites. It is all now done my private entities. You can, however, still use the State Website to see who the providers are & what vaccines they administer. I noted that quite a few places were out of the Pfizer vaccine. Interesting.
I am NOT willing to lie in order to get a booster, i.e., claim that I have yet to be vaccinated. They do ask for an ID & I know that they have to register it. I don’t want to stand there while being told that I was trying to ‘scheme’ the system. It even might be a minor offense. Will they — can they — call the police? I don’t intend to find out.
Yes, maybe if I was ‘special’ I could get a booster. But, I am far from special.
Well, I just thought I should share this with you. IT could be different in other States. I will have to find out. I can easily go to Massachusetts or Maine IF I could get a booster over there.