November 22, 2021 - Thanksgiving Blessings

Thanksgiving Blessings

November 22, 2021

Thanksgiving Week has arrived. Like many of you, Louise and I are looking forward to spending it with our loved ones. In our case, that means our adult sons and spouses/fiancée. Everyone is fully vaccinated and nearly all will be boosted. If you received your second shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least 6 months ago, or the J&J vaccine at least 2 months ago, and you are over the age of 18, then I strongly recommend you do the same. On Friday, the FDA and CDC formally issued the same recommendation for all adults.

Compared to most states, Alabama finds itself in an enviable position this Thanksgiving. Only one state has a lower 14-day average of new daily cases (per capita) than Alabama’s rate of 9 cases per 100K population. Only 5 states have a lower 14-day per capita hospitalization rate than Alabama’s rate of 9 patients per 100K. The reasons for Alabama’s recent success are impossible to pinpoint (perhaps greater immunities stemming from our recent battle with the Delta variant played a key role). Consequently, the future trajectory of the virus in our state is equally impossible to predict.

In the last week, an average of 14,000 doses per day were administered in Alabama, a 15% increase over the week before. Alabama has fully vaccinated 2,245,543 people, covering 48.7% of the eligible population, 5 and older, and 45.8% of the state’s entire population. Our state ranks 47th in the nation in the percentage of fully vaccinated individuals, but we are 39th in the percentage of fully vaccinated people who have received a booster shot (16.8%).

More than 90% of federal employees will have received at least one vaccine shot by the end of today, the deadline set by President Biden when he announced vaccine mandates in September. An additional 5% have received an exemption or an extension of the deadline, meaning that 95% of the 3.5 million federal employees in the United States and overseas have complied with the executive order thus far.

Meanwhile, the agency overseeing Medicare & Medicaid has finalized its rule requiring vaccinations for workers in most health care settings, including hospitals and health systems. All such eligible workers must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022. The federal workplace safety agency, OSHA, has temporarily suspended its regulation requiring large employers either to vaccinate their employees or ensure they are regularly tested. OSHA’s authority to issue such regulations for safety reasons awaits judicial review.

That does it for me until after Thanksgiving. Louise joins me in giving thanks for our many blessings, including all of you. See you next week. The totals:

11/9 - 995

11/10 - 178

11/11 - 686

11/12 - 722

11/13 - 600

11/14 - 259

11/15 - 258

11/16 - 542

11/17 - 496

11/18 - 492

11/19 - 473

11/20 - 680

11/21 - 272

11/22 - 253