Political Irony

So, I have been completely vaccinated against Covid-19, as have some of my friends. What we all have in common was that we had to spend a lot of time and energy finding a place to get vaccinated. Searching multiple websites for a place that was going to have open appointments to get vaccinated, waiting for a slot to open, and then jumping on it. In my case, the only place I could find (after weeks of searching) was a two-hour drive away (each way).

It was the Moderna vaccine, so I had to drive there twice. And now Moderna is saying that they are working on a booster vaccine, to guard against new varieties and strains, so I might have to do this all again. What a mess!

But a private citizen decided to do something about it! Nick Muerdter is a programmer (like me!) and built a website that shows open vaccine appointments for all 50 states — the COVID-19 Vaccine Spotter! Check it out!

According to Muerdter:

It seemed like a lot of people were just spending a lot of time on these pharmacy websites. And those were particularly frustrating just because it was, you know, you go to the website, you enter a zip code, you select a store and then nope, no, no appointments. And then you need to try a different store or try a different zip code.

All you have to do is give the website your zip code, and tell it how far you are willing to drive. The website does all the mechanical work to find any available appointments (something that computers are good at!)

If you are a programmer, the website is open source, so you can contribute to make the site better.

My only question is, why didn’t the government do this months ago? You might be forgiven for thinking that maybe because someone incompetent was in charge of the government.

There are two pieces of potentially very good news that just came out, based on real-world studies of people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Mind you, these are preliminary results, and more research needs to be done before we declare victory, but at least these give me hope.

The first article points out that even though cases are rising again, they fell dramatically among groups that have already been vaccinated (in particular, first responders and seniors). One big caution is that we don’t really know what will happen with the new variants. That’s why it is extremely important that we continue to wear masks and socially distance. The spread of Covid among as-yet unvaccinated populations will not only spread the existing new variants (some of which are much less responsive to the current vaccines), but will continue to create new variants. We need to stop this cycle in its tracks!

The second article could be extremely good news, if it bears scrutiny. New CDC data suggests that people who have been vaccinated do not carry the virus, and thus can’t spread it to other people. Of course, no vaccine is 100% effective, but current estimates are that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are around 90%. That means that if you get together with a group of people who have been vaccinated, your chances of being in contact with someone with Covid goes down an order of magnitude. And if you are vaccinated too, it goes down another order of magnitude.

Again, more research will be required to confirm that this is true, but for now it is giving me hope. Let’s use the good news to continue to be very careful, hopefully just for a little bit longer.

How gay can you get? Because there is recent news that should make gay people even happier (you might say more gay!).

First, despite the fact that the Republican Party is losing moderates, and becoming more socially conservative, a new poll (based on over 50 thousand telephone interviews during 2020) shows that for the first time a majority of Republicans support same-sex marriage. I find this extremely promising, considering that until a few years ago same-sex marriage was one of the strongest GOP wedge issues. I was frankly surprised when gay marriage became legal, and almost expected a backlash against it from the right.

Instead, the new survey shows that 51% of people who identify as Republicans support and approve of gay marriage. In 2019, the number was only 47%. The percentage of people who approve of same-sex marriage has been increasing steadily over the last ten years. Indeed, today, 72% of independents and around three-quarters of Democrats support it.

An even larger majority of all partisan groups support LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections: 62% of Republicans, 79% of independents, and 85% of Democrats. In February, the House passed a bill that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but the bill has languished in the Senate due to opposition from the GOP. If the current trends continue, it is only a matter of time before it becomes law.

Second, Joe Biden nominated Rachel Levine to the position of assistant secretary of health. Levine is a pediatrician, former Pennsylvania physician general, and currently the Pennsylvania Health Secretary, but is about to be the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the US Senate.

Finally, and something that is particularly gratifying to me, is that as part of the UK changing their banknotes, the new 50 pound note will feature the image of Alan Turing. Turing is one of the most famous pioneers of early computing. He was a brilliant mathematician, who had a huge impact across many fields, including biology. Turing is probably best known for his work breaking the Nazi Enigma code, which was thought to be unbreakable. In order to do this, he designed and built a precursor to the digital computer. Historians estimate that this enormous feat shortened WWII by around two years and saved millions of lives. I think they are being too conservative in their estimates, and it is not too far-fetched to think that the Germans might have won the war otherwise.

But despite all of his achievements, Turing endured terrible persecution for being gay, including from the government. Even though he saved millions of lives, he died at the age of 41 from suicide, an outcast who was stripped of his security clearance because of his sexuality, forced to take estrogen shots that chemically castrated him, and basically hounded to death. I just wonder what else he could have achieved if he had lived longer.

I am hopeful that this sad, misguided pseudo-pandemic of discrimination and persecution of gay people may sometime, hopefully soon, be banished to the past, and all people gain the right and opportunity to achieve their potential and live happy lives.