How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions... #2

@AzulOscuro - that's funny you watched Divina Comida Chile. All participants on the show here are famous for something but I don't even know who they are sometimes. There are definitely many D-list actors, "models", soccer players' wives and influencers! My husband is more up to date with the local gossip, so I usually ask him. Sometimes they feature four chefs. That really takes it up a notch, everything is so beautifully presented.

Not exactly this program. I got confused. I watched the Chilean version of the Hell’s kitchen. Sorry. I got confused. But I know which program you are referring to. There’s a Spanish version too.
Not very fan of reality shows but I understand that in these times with the covid-19 thing, we are hanging on whatever. lol!

Here, things seem to be better and we are allowed to travel to other provinces in our communities. So, this weekend my sister will come here and I will be able to share with her and my niece and nephew. And the new member in the family, their rabbit Lenny.

@Break, I’m sending you my partner who is working outdoors and he’s all the time bringing home new plants for me to take care. lol! For you. lol!

@AzulOscuro - I am so happy for you that you will be able to see some of your family members soon! You might find the Divina Comida here entertaining if you are bored. They are on YouTube. And, no, most of us here don't live in the houses that many of the people on the program have!


Here, in my municipality, lockdown will continue for the time being. May is the month here to plant flower bulbs, so I ordered some to help keep me busy with my gardening. All I can do. In the areas that went to phase 2, the malls opened, causing chaos again. How soon until we see a new spike in cases?

I had ordered online some sweatpants that turned out to be very nice for winter. It was 2 Celsius this AM, so I ordered two more pairs. We are at that crazy time of year where it's 2 in the morning and 26 in the afternoon!


I have a whole other post about the Catholic University here trying to sign a deal with Sinovac to make vaccines to export to Latin America, but that will have to wait for another time.

I checked in with a dear friend in Colombia since the unrest there is very concerning. She hasn't been vaccinated yet, but she not very happy that she might have to get Sinovac since that is the majority that they are receiving. It seems like Sinovac is distrusted almost everywhere!

Hahaha! Don’t tell me. I live in a flat, an apartment how it’s called in the States. A very modest place. My pants are in the kitchen’s window.

@rechu, I would have to be very bored to see something on TV about celebrities. I don’t give a damn about reality shows. I like a movie that makes you think. lol! I’m rare as thaDocumentaries about different topics of my interest. And things like that. Cachai? lol!

Yes, thank you. I’m super excited to see my sister and my nephew and niece. It will be a good time in family. But with masks and all the security measures. There are some members in my family who are already vaccinated but not all.

Today, I finally, finally, thanks god! I heard something about vaccines patents being liberalised. At last!
At last, people in India and other countries will have the possibility to receive the vaccine. I guess Chemist’s enterprises won enough money. Now it’s time to care about people.

I don't watch it for the celebrities, like I said, I don't know who they are half the time. I watch it to see what they cook. I like to cook and have gotten some good ideas. Obviously, some participants have no clue what they are doing but many cook well.


I wish they would arrange to produce another vaccine here if patents are no longer an issue. Why does it have to be the worst one? I swear our president must be making money off it somehow. I have nothing against the Chinese people, but I don't trust their government or companies. There have been past quality scandals with Chinese-made medications and vaccines. In the end, I see the vaccines as an attempt by China to gain influence in the region. They've been trying to do it for years in Africa and Latin America. Basically, they need our natural resources.

My previous job was as a research analyst for infrastructure projects in Latin America where I had to track the progress of projects like new highways, ports, public transit, hospitals, etc. In Bolivia and a few other countries, Chinese companies often underbid the competition to win these projects. The companies were always shady. If you were able to track them down, they never answered the phone or e-mails. There were frequent reports of delays, shoddy quality and workers not being paid. They bid cheaply thinking that if they help Bolivia develop these projects, it will give them access to Bolivia's mining resources like lithium. Here, too, some Chinese companies received mining concessions and have been accused of mistreating workers. There was one case where they brought workers from China and didn't pay them anything. They were paid in food. Basically, China giving access to vaccines comes with strings attached.

Chinese official says local vaccines '''don'''t have high protection rates''' - BBC News

It is being more widely discussed that the Chinese vaccines aren't as effective as others.

Yeah. I had read that @Discombobulated. Our Health Minister was not happy at all when the news hit the media here and reporters started asking questions about it in press conferences. I swear, our government will defend Sinovac to the death. They just ordered another 3-4 million doses. Apparently the Public Health Institute wants to study whether a not a third dose of Sinovac will improve the efficacy. They double and triple down on this vaccine instead of seeing how soon we can get additional doses of the more effective vaccines now that it looks like the US may start to have excess vaccines soon.

Oh, I wanted to say that my plants are in the kitchen’t window, plants (instead of my pants)

I think you were right. The Health minister must be defending a kind of agreement with China.

I don’t understand many about macroeconomy but I know it happens all the time among countries. An unluckily, the well-going of the population is not always put as a priority.

@AzulOscuro - Haha! I just noticed you said cachai. Soon, you'll be saying puta la wea!

I would not be surprised at all if one of the president's family's businesses or the blind trust has some business dealings related to the vaccine. At some point it may come out, like with the casinos. It’s either that or maybe they don’t want to admit that they bought the worst vaccine.

It's not like they were even donated or cheap. From what I heard they paid a per dose price only slightly lower then Pfizer.

I was a reading a twitter feed from Mexico, where they were discussing Sinovac too since It’s what they mainly are using there. It started with a doctor saying that the best vaccine is the one you can get, so go get your vaccine. A lot of people responding were unhappy about not having more options. The bits of Pfizer and AstraZeneca they have received are reserved for certain groups. It sort of feels like we are being told that since we are middle income countries without much power in the world, we just need to suck it up and take the crumbs we are given and be happy we were even allowed to have those crumbs.

Our country having one of the fastest vaccination rates in the world feels like a sick joke when we are locked down, you know? You see the other countries like Israel, the US and UK that are vaccinating at similar rates, but with other vaccines, starting to get back to normal. Next week I will have my second vaccine and I will probably still be locked down. Vaccinated people are really going to lose their patience with the lockdowns soon I think, especially since more and more will have had their 2 doses.

In other news, the three main population centers s in our furthest south region, Magallanes, went back to lockdown yesterday. That region has the highest vaccination rate in the country!

Hahahahaha a while back I mentioned this cafe with lots of people drinking outside when they should've been closed.

This evening I was trying to walk off the frustration from a job interview (didn't work, still feel ugh) and it was quite busy there again, despite the weather not being very nice today. I was nearing the cafe, feeling very annoyed that those arseholes were blocking most of the sidewalk again..... up rolls a police van and an entire horde of cops jumps out knock knock on the door they went.

I was wondering why in the window but it didn't sound all that strange to me. I was thinking you just had your laundry hanging up to dry.

Interesting, it's similar to what is going on here:

Why the world’s most vaccinated country is seeing an unprecedented spike in coronavirus cases | The Seattle Times

So far, the number of deaths in the Seychelles attributed to the virus is relatively low — 28 out of more than 6,000 cases. But the surge in new cases may also confirm that the vaccines being used in the country have comparatively low effectiveness.

Roughly 60% of the doses administered in Seychelles are vaccines made by the Chinese company Sinopharm that were donated to the Seychelles by the United Arab Emirates. The remaining doses are of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and produced by the Serum Institute of India.

In many ways, Seychelles government negotiations for vaccine supplies were savvy and speedy. But the country has ended up using two vaccines that appear to be less effective against symptomatic COVID-19.
The World Health Organization had recently estimated the efficiency of the Sinopharm vaccine at just over 78% for adults under 60, with little data on its success with older patients.

The UAE has asked some who received the Sinopharm vaccine to return for third doses, citing low immune responses, though officials said only a “very small number” need to do so.

Sinopharm is an inactivated virus vaccine like Sinovac.

I thought you had hung the pants up to dry!

Ugh, they announced changes in the phases today. We will continue locked down. I don't know how I am going to handle this endless house arrest.

That sucks sending virtual hugs your way!

My state briefly got under 100 new cases per 100.000 per week or whatever the number means. Which would have meant the end of curfew and shops that were closed getting to open again. But we're back to more than 100 now

Apparently the Jansen vaccine is now also only advised for people of 60 and up :/ which is pretty useless, as that group should already be vaccinated soon enough.

On the bright side: placed a new order for the plants that were previously returned, they should be arriving on Friday. And I had two more plants delivered today. One of them is slightly bigger than expected I already don't know where to put all of them but I'm not done yet - need more plants! (I don't like cats so I guess I'll be a crazy old.plant lady?)

@BreakForTheLight. Thanks. I hope your plants arrive this time. I had a problem too with an order of colored gravel I wanted to put down in the rock garden I am creating for the front yard. It was supposed to arrive last week when I was off, so I could use it. I finally got a response today that it is out of stock and I had to request a refund. They now have a larger bag for sale, so I ordered two of those along with some other stones to hopefully finish that project.

I also ordered dirt for planting. I hear you about the plants! I am always happy buying more plants. I have this large tub I don't use for anything, so I am going to drill some holes in it and plant those bulbs I ordered when they arrive in it, so we will have beautiful spring flowers.

Our clown Health Minister had to come out and defend Sinovac yet again. There's been lot of talk about a "green card" that would allow people who are vaccinated more freedom, such as has been created in Israel. Anyways, the medical college, which is the doctors' union here came out to say that it won't work here because we are using 90% Sinovac and the virus is going to keep circulating since it doesn't effectively reduce transmission as much as other vaccines do. Honestly, they should have come out about this more forcefully earlier on, I think. The Minister came out with the party line that all vaccines are safe and effective. He refuses to have engage in any discussion about Sinovac's lower efficacy.

Lately I've been thinking about this surgery that was recommended to me a while back - like a few months before the mess started. I want to get a second opinion and if they say the same, I'd like to get it done.
But because it's not an emergency, I don't want to go see a doctor during a pandemic to talk about it :/ I hate feeling like my life is on hold.

That's how I feel too, BreakForTheLight, like my life is on hold.

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Well, what I feared seems to be happening. There was a small remote town down south (Laguna Blanca) that was fully vaccinated in February. I guess with the logistics and schedule for vaccinating such a small town it made sense just to vaccinate them as quickly as possible. Anyways, they recently had an outbreak that got up seven new cases in one day, which is a lot for a population of 264 people. They got kicked back to the more restrictive phase 3 from phase 4. The government is blaming interaction with Punta Arenas, a city that has a high rate of infections for the cases. Now, everything we know about Sinovac indicates that it supposedly helps to keep you out of the hospital although it doesn't do much to reduce transmission, so it's not surprising that people got infected. In this case, no one had to be hospitalized so far.


When will the health dictatorship and its restrictions end in this country? The the virus will still be circulating (due to the vaccine being used) and it seems like the government will continue using numbers of active cases as one of the main indicators for implementing or reducing restrictions. In theory, the lockdowns are to reduce stress on the hospitals. In this case no one is hospitalized, but they are still ramping up the restrictions on the town. When does it end? If more people only have asymptomatic or mild infections akin to a cold or flu, are they still going lock us down? It's absurd.

I totally agree with you. They are taking to an extreme restrictions there. I understand your desperation. 😕

Do you already know if the Sinovac vaccine will have to be given again next year? Is it known something about how long the effects could last?