This month has seen the end of almost all Covid restrictions in America. It’s not like most Americans were even following Covid protocols in the first place, but I’m still wearing my mask in the grocery store at least, and I do make an effort to social distance (just because it’s my nature). Two weeks ago, President Biden delivered his State of the Union to a non-distanced audience, and almost no one wore masks. Within the Biden administration, masks are being taken off, although there are still some testing protocols and obviously, people are fully vaccinated and boosted.
Still, there have been some disturbing Covid cases this week among Democrats! A few days ago, Barack Obama tested positive. He announced it on Twitter, and he used the moment to remind everyone to get vaccinated and boostered. And now the Second Gentleman has Covid! Doug Emhoff also announced it on Twitter.
Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, according to a statement from the White House.
“My symptoms are mild and I’m grateful to be both vaccinated and boosted,” Mr. Emhoff wrote on Twitter, encouraging others to get vaccinated and boosted as well.
Mr. Emhoff’s positive result forced Ms. Harris to back out of an event at the White House with President Biden about equal pay, according to Sabrina Singh, a spokeswoman for Ms. Harris, who said the vice president was skipping the event “out of an abundance of caution.” Ms. Harris tested negative for the virus on Tuesday, Ms. Singh said.
Before skipping the equal pay event, Ms. Harris stood alongside Mr. Biden during a bill signing on Tuesday. She also joined him in the Oval Office to receive the President’s Daily Brief, according to her schedule. Mr. Biden received a negative test result on Sunday, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said on Tuesday.
Notice how Vice President Harris skipped an event because she is a close contact? That’s what people should do regardless of what “the rules” are. Anyway, I hope Second Gentleman Doug is okay and it’s just a mild case. I also hope that people choose to remain cautious – even though we seem to be through the worst of the pandemic, people are still dying, people are still getting Covid, people are still sick.
I tested positive for COVID. My symptoms are mild and I’m grateful to be both vaccinated and boosted.
If you have yet to get vaccinated and boosted, please don’t wait. https://t.co/6bYZT38osN
— Douglas Emhoff (@SecondGentleman) March 15, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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- United States Vice President Kamala Harris takes the Oath of Office as the 49th Vice President of the US as her husband Doug Emhoff looks on at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on Wednesday, January 20, 2021.,Image: 584931015, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: usage worldwide, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Kleponis – CNP / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
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- Vice President Kamala Harris visits with her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2021, in the Second Gentleman’s Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House.,Image: 616804731, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Lawrence Jackson / Avalon
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- Supporters greet Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff as they walk in the Capital Pride Celebration in Washington, DC on Saturday, June 12, 2021. Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff walked a few blocks, while greeting supporters near freedom plaza. Pictured: Kamala Harris BACKGRID USA 12 JUNE 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
I travel domestically for work and am from NY. Lots of businesses still
Require a mask where I live even though there’s no “mandate”.
I got Literally yelled at by multiple men, at a business travel hotel, for wearing a mask inside in Florida this week. One guy goes “take it off” so I yelled “RAPIST” and he scurried away. Again, these are men in suits at a hotel with business travelers.
It’s fine if restrictions have lifted but the whole point of the idiot “body sovereignty for me and not for thee” MAGA/MRA Venn diagram is that I CAN WEAR ONE IF I WANT. In the words of the great Mero “Suck my dick from the back”, disrespectfully.
Yes these people are such snowflake bullies the sight of a mask hurts their feelings.
Rapists was the perfect response! Stupid men trying to tell women what to do with their own bodies!
It’s driving me crazy that people are just like oh it’s over. I can understand the frustration but there are still vulnerable people.
I just quit my job yesterday where they don’t require patients/customers to wear a mask near me during close contact appointments that can last from 20 mins to two hours. Now they are talking contracts and reimbursement but I felt so unsafe. I have no idea how to handle my safety now.
Went to the store yesterday with two of my grandson’s (teenagers) and made them wear a mask. Not letting up until I know it’s safe.
My three yr old tested positive Sunday after being exposed at daycare. She had a bad fever but seems to be ok now.
The annoying part is daycare has her and her age all wear masks, the staff wear masks and are all vaccinated, and they encourage outdoor play as much as possible. However it seems like one family with a kid to young to wear a mask brough their kid to daycare when they were symptomatic and it has spread to the whole daycare. So because they couldn’t possibly stay home for a few days everyone has lost day care for a whole week.
I hate people
The whole point of the vaccine and booster is so when people eventually do get the virus they won’t get seriously ill.
It’ll be like having a cold and not you in the hospital. Unfortunately so many people are choosing not to get vaccinated that we are stuck in a constant cycle of variants and waves. If vaccinated people want to go out without a mask they shouldn’t be judged for it. They did the right thing by getting the vaccine.
It’s actually like having the flu, then being exhausted for a week. And some people do end up in the hospital. Even after being vaccinated and boosted. Let’s be honest, in the USA, we are prioritizing political games over people’s health.
Some immunocompromised people will still end up in the hospital or dead and they should still wear masks if they are in that category. Healthy, vaccinated people shouldn’t always be expected to wear a mask. They absolutely can if they want though.
I am fully vaccinated & boosted. Will get the 4th booster dose when we are allowed too. I have been exposed to Omicron several times even though I was taking precautions. I never showed symptoms. My DH was symptomatic but testing was so crazy back then we couldn’t get an accurate result. I know he had it. I know I was asymptomatic.
I have stopped wearing masks too in accordance with CDC guidelines. I do still social distance. DH works outdoors. I am home all day. We don’t run many errands. Maybe three a week and the rest are deliveries. Still sanitize my hands every store I go to. It has been a hard adjustment but I am happy we have gotten to this point. I have packed my masks away, until next variant if/when we will need them.
I do respect those who are wearing masks. I make sure I stay six feet apart.
I had COVID over a week ago. I got it at work. I wear a mask in a county/state that doesn’t require them. My work allows me to go unmasked if I am vaccinated but because I have severe asthma, I’ve been wearing one everywhere and will continue to do so in the future.
Prior to the vaccinations, my doctor said that if I got COVID with my lungs I would probably die. I know the vaccines saved me from being very ill. However, I can still get another variant, so my butt will always be wearing a mask.
To the person who yelled rapist at anti-mask people in Florida…you are my hero. I’m going to try that the next time I’m at the grocery store and some moron yells at me.
It *reduces* odds of hospitalization/death, not eliminates – and for those of us who have underlying conditions, it’s still a tremendous threat. Plus, you do not want long COVID. And who wants to be sick?
Just saw a news story the other day saying cases are going back up in Europe and the U.S. Another wave is coming due to the Omicron sub-variant. This isn’t over. We shouldn’t be getting rid of masks.
Exactly. This is probably going to keep happening every three months until infinity because people won’t get vaccinated or observe basic precautions for lowering transmission. Our life expectancy as a nation is going to lower dramatically in the coming years.
What will really be interesting is the number of post-covid infection deaths we will see in the coming years, specifically for the unvaccinated. I read a study that said after surviving a severe or even moderate case of covid, your risk of death within the next 12 months increases by 233%. Yikes!
Seriously, WE CAN NEVER JUST TAKE MASKS OFF AGAIN. We should not be getting rid of restrictions because the rates are up in 2 weeks! Every time! Why are we so stupid?!?!
Vaccinated and boosted = SAFE.
Absolutely!
..If you ignore the elderly, the immunocompromised, cancer patients, people with comorbidities, people who get a higher viral load, people whose vaccination immunity is wearing off and people who are unlucky enough to get very ill or die even with vaccinations and boosters, and if you completely ignore the organ damage covid leaves behind and the sometimes utterly disabling effects of long covid, that is.
Of course it’s very important to get vaccinated and boosted. But it sadly can never be a total guarantee of not getting covid; of not getting seriously ill from or dying of covid; of not spreading covid to others who may get seriously ill or die; or of not getting serious organ damage/ long covid.
Which is why things like masks and contact tracing and testing would be good to have.
I hadn’t heard about Obama. Hope both he and Doug recover quickly with no bad symptoms and no long term effects.
I had to go into a busy store this morning and was the only one wearing a mask. Don’t care, will continue to wear it out in public. I have a big event I’m trying to stay well for, and in addition to covid, I want to avoid cold, flus, and whatever stomach bug has been going around here.
Since there’s SO MUCH Covid in the air with folks not wearing masks…along with the warmer temperatures in the Midwest this winter…even people like me who have been on-point with the double masking & staying out of large public gatherings …and social distancing…you can end up catching it…which is why masking is as important as vaccination…the meds keep you from severe sickness and the masking kills off the actual virus so that it dosen’t replicate or mutate…and you can contact trace…but this will NEVA happen on planet Earth…so we will continue to swing back & forth 😷😒😢
I hope he has a mild case and recovers quickly! And way to go Kamala Harris!–I’m glad she’s not mingling until she knows she won’t spread the virus.
My Dad is elderly and just got out of Covid isolation. Even though he’s been vaxxed and boostered, he’s elderly and has cancer. He had to be hospitalized, and he had pneumonia. Right now he’s really weak and I don’t know if he’s going to make it–he has to relearn how to walk and is too weak for chemo now. I’m flying over this weekend.
My family had omikron (except me) and it ranged from asymptomatic to a really nasty flu. All of us had our shots–everyone reacts differently. Please stay safe.
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear this – I hope things turn better for him.
Thank you, @Eurydice!
Wishing him a speedy recovery. Having avoided people, vaccinated, boosted, masked, etc. I had to make two trips into London for work last week (including train and tube travel where I was definitely in the minority with my mask), now two years into the pandemic I finally have covid. Thank goodness I got all my shots when they were offered as I’m feeling ROUGH and waking up at 5 this morning feeling really breathless was not fun.
On that note I’m off back to bed.
I hope you recover well and quickly!
I have gotten weird lo9ks, but no one has said anything nasty to me as I still wear my mask. I’m vaccinated but some in my love circle are babies or immo compromised. I’m uncomfortable at this point without it.