Another Christmas in California, another Christmas ruined by COVID-19…
A Very COVID Christmas (Again)
When we left off, I had just spent a lovely day with my kids in Orange County, California. Our plan was for a large family gathering at my parent’s house on Christmas Day, with 16 family members and friends converging together for a meal and fellowship.
But the day before, I received a text from my mother: she and my father had just tested positive for COVID-19.
What a shame, as I now have not celebrated Christmas with my parents since 2018. In 2019, we were in Germany. I was sick with COVID-19 myself in 2020. In 2021, we were in Germany. Next year we’ll be in Germany too. Maybe in 2024 we can finally have Christmas dinner together?
Heidi got home from work, not feeling well. She tested too. Positive.
My Uncle called. He was positive too.
My parents and uncle are vaccinated and all are experiencing moderate symptoms including headache, fatigue, runny nose, and cough.
My wife, who recently received her second booster, also has cold-like symptoms.
I have a hunch my son or daughter picked it up at school and spread it. They’ve had runny noses all week, but seemed otherwise fine.
This leaves me as the last domino standing…and yet I have to imagine that I will soon be testing positive and can only hope my symptoms are also light.
We considered still meeting, but since I was still negative and had no symptoms, we decided against it. Hopefully, we can “redo” Christmas at the end of the week when we are all feeling better. Sadly, that will probably be when I test positive…
In the UK and Germany, mandatory isolation periods are no longer required for people who have tested positive for COVID-19. Even so, we’re hanging back for now and will rest up ahead of our trip to Germany, which thankfully is not until next week.
Even with the disappointing test, we still had a lovely Christmas Eve together.
We ended up spending Christmas afternoon and evening doing yard work. It was over 80ºF in LA…
CONCLUSION
I had COVID-19 in late 2020, we all got omicron in 2022, and now my family has it again. I figure I’m a day away from it myself unless I am so asymptotic I already had it. Up to this point, we have just done at-home tests. My wife, who is supposed to work tonight, is now having a PCR test done at her hospital to see if she is still positive.
What a world…I hope your Christmas was better than mine!
If you notice, it is the vaccinated who are the ones coming down with Covid not the unvaccinated. And this is borne out in the results of two recent studies that show the vaccinated are about 3x more likely to contract Covid than the unvaccinated. The vaxx and boosters are destroying people’s immune systems. I hope everyone in your family recovers and for the sake of their health, encourage them to not get any more boosters!
Oh please….
also don’t forget all the people dying of sudden heart problems at the old age of mid 30s.
Actually, you’re 100% wrong. My close friend’s mother is in the ICU now with severe and life-threatening symptoms. She had zero vaccines and is extremely regretful.
When are you anti-vaxxers going to get your head out of your a**?
Replying to @Peter: If any single person reading this listens to a single word this guy just said, you will die before your time. Chicago data suggests exactly the opposite, since Omicron started (remember, this was when the vaccine was supposedly less effective and when folks started getting breakthroughs!) unvaccinated people were twice as likely to test positive as vaccinated/boosted people. They were 3 times as likely to go to the hospital, and 6 times as likely to die. Case in point, get all of your boosters, and get them quickly. It will literally save your lives, folks. Every single time someone like Peter tries to tell you otherwise, remember that he’s a thorn in your back and it is people just like him that hurt and kill our neighbors. Watch your own and each others’ backs, folks, and get your boosters!
Somehow all the unvaccinated people in my life are one, still alive and two, have not come down with all the respiratory viruses everyone else is coming down with. My friend’s wife had the flu at Thanksgiving and then just got covid and she is twice boosted!
Previous covid infection in the unvaccinated seems to be providing protection against these respiratory viruses that are going around.
You’re lucky, Peter. That’s not the case for everybody. I had COVID when I was boosted, my brother in law had it after the updated bivalent booster (2 boosters, including the updated one). He had a very mild infection. Mine was bad, but I’m grateful to be fully recovered and not have nasty long term complications thanks to being vaccinated. It doesn’t bare thinking about what happens if I hadn’t. I hope you never find out the hard way that I’m right.
Cleveland Clinic: Study shows chances of contracting COVID increase with each vaccine dose https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/health/study-shows-chances-contracting-covid-increase-each-vaccine-dose
Study: Vaccines ‘barely’ neutralize newest COVID variants https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/study-vaccines-barely-neutralize-newest-covid-variants
Send me the article directly from the Cleveland Clinic. Put the link to that article, directly from the Cleveland Clinic, and please leave no work required. I won’t read it unless the URL starts with clevelandclinic. Neither should anyone else. Once you do that, I will read it thoroughly and respond AFTER doing that.
Same thing, send me the scientific study and I’ll do my research. Justthenews is not a source I trust, nor should it be for anyone else.
Now only certain links are allowed? LMFAO. do your own homework bruh. We live in the Information Age, not the Stone Age. The info is at your fingertips but you want to be arrogant and ignorant — not my issue
The policy is no links at all, but I’ve been pretty lenient lately:
https://liveandletsfly.com/comment-policy/
What I’d say, ECH, is that Alan seems willing to engage and I understand why he doesn’t want to click on Alt-Right websites, even if they are conveying accurate info. If you are willing, in the spirit of discussion, to post the actual studies, I think we might have a more constructive back-and-forth.
He isn’t willing to engage — he specifically said he would be replying to all of my comments to counter them simply because it was me commenting. See a few comments above. Just the news isn’t a far right website, either. Y’all are impossible. If someone can’t find a study on their own, that’s okay. Alan isn’t changing his mind no matter what any of the countless studies say. Ignorance is bliss. I’ll go back to not commenting. Deuces
Oops his comment was below and not above
Alan Brint
December 27, 2022 at 11:26 pm
I’m going to keep answering everything ECH says because ECH will not kill any of you on my watch
— You can call that willing to engage if you want. I know better. Bye.
Matthew, ECH is actually right. I did in fact say that I would counter what ECH writes simply because it was ECH. This was wrong, and I apologize. Let me amend the comment as this is not what I meant to say. I will respond to the anti vaccine, conspiracy theory driven comments because I don’t want anyone to read this and then die. Since that’s all ECH has written in this comments section, that means I responded to everything he/she/they/whatever the pronoun said, but if this person starts writing good stuff rather than conspiracy theories, I will not try to counter it. The exact same is true of anyone else who writes that dribble.
Peter, you’re a schmuck. That’s all.
I can virtually guarantee this ECH misinformation-spreader is one of the posters from last year who just spammed LALF endlessly w/anti-vax conspiracy theories…same writing style & set of links.
Maybe you need that 15th booster, or are we on the 16th booster. I’ve lost count!
Just when L.A. County went back from high to medium…
Condolences. It’s harsh that you can’t get together for such an important occasion. Dumb question but I’ll ask it anyway: what about flying your parents over to Germany, either this year or next? The years have a way of slipping away from us and then suddenly someone isn’t with us anymore. I’d hate to see that happen to you.
It’s a good thought, but sadly my parents have very little desire to travel internationally. I’m going to try to drag my dad on a trip in 2023 like Ben did with his father.
But we’ll get together later this week (hopefully) for a make-up Christmas dinner.
Fools who don’t realize there’s only two types of people. Those who have gotten it and those that will get it. Stop wasting time and money on those silly tests and for gods sake do NOT get the failed injections
I have a drawer full of tests that the Administration sent. I didn’t pay (directly at least) for any of them.
Dude, you gotta have peoples’ backs. Truth hurts, guess what? You are killing people with talk like that. Cut it out, and maybe get vaccinated AND TELL OTHERS TO DO THE SAME!!!!!!
Sorry your plans got scuttled – don’t let any of them rush back to exertion – to minimize the chance of a longer period of malaise. Of course that advice is something to consider for any viral infection.
Certainly your decision but you have no one to blame but yourself for letting this ruin the day. You probably have it already and even if you didn’t, what was the risk?
Most normal healthy people aren’t getting tested every time they get a runny nose so the risk of you getting it at the gathering was about the same as your daily activities.
Amazing in almost 2023 anyone that isn’t already near death with another condition is even talking about Covid. Now que the liberals with stats saying how “deadly” Covid still is. They are still addicted to it.
Because my family is aged and whether a bad cold, flu, or COVID we don’t get together if we are sick.
I get high risk, but you stated your parents already had Covid, that was my point. The only it seemed at risk of getting it was you, and you either already have it or have the same chance of catching it as you do in your daily adventures.
And trust me, I understand the risk Covid is to those with preexisting conditions. I just didn’t see the risk here if they are already positive.
But my parents felt pretty lousy – would not have been a good day to have Xmas at their house (or even at ours).
What’s so hard to understand about people not wanting to gather when they are sick, even if it’s not covid? That’s just being considerate. You’re probably the guy at the office that doesn’t wash his hands after a mean steamy dump and the touches all the Donuts that someone brought in
Just do me a favor please, if you have any symptoms of any kind, you don’t have to get tested, you don’t have to know what it is if you don’t want to, because frankly I would tell you the same thing if it was a basic cold rather than COVID. Stay the f**k home and don’t get off your a** for any reason at all. Nobody wants to get hurt by your germs, so stay the f**k away from the rest of us when you’re sick. Maybe then, if people like you start helping us out that way, we can stop worrying so much about it.
And what does this have to do with the post? Oh, that’s right, NOTHING. As usual. We’re laughing at your lame, never-ending attempts to hijack someone’s PERSONAL blog with your political whining. So lazy and juvenile. And it’s CUE, not “que.”
My neighbor gets a booster a week if available. He and his family already had Covid 4 times. My family got the two first shots plus a stupid booster. We all had Covid once way before vaccine was available. We all had very mild or no symptoms. We all almost died every time we got a vaccine. Go figure. Nobody tests for Covid anymore. It is just another virus and it will be among us forever. Life goes on.
Props that you don’t know anyone who died from Covid. Not everyone has that luxury but I wouldn’t wish you to be one of the many who lost someone, often in an untimely manner.
@Chritian: not sure I follow your post. I am vaccinated, had Covid so what’s your problem with my post? Ask how many people out there that has cold symptoms that go test for Covid. Nobody does. They treat it as a cold. Schools don’t have mandates to test. I asked my doctor when I had my annual physical and he said nobody gets tested anymore. So if you want to get test, go for it.
You’re using your personal example to extrapolate for everyone. Using that logic, because I’ve never been in a car accident they don’t happen. Avoiding false equivalencies, particularly on a subject like Covid where long term effects are absolutely unknown, is a more reasonable course of action. If Matthew and his family had attended the big gathering and someone had been hospitalized or died as a result the guilt would have been overwhelming. Besides, his wife is a nurse so I can’t imagine he ignores her area of expertise. I’d genuinely love to hear what she thinks about “stupid” boosters as my next door neighbors, both RN’s, advise getting boosted at least annually.
Good for you. Go get a shot a day. It will be good for you. And for Pfizer and Moderna.
You have more neighbors and friends than any man on earth. All of them data points in your endless analysis of just about anything, Santastico. So here’s this….I’ve had four shots. I travel 300 days a year globally (throughout it all) into many of the worst spots in the world at different times for cases. I stopped wearing a mask this spring other than where mandated. Go figure, I have yet to have it. I’m sure it will happen. Might be next week, who knows. But until now I have remained Covid free to the surprise of many. As such, you can add me to your list of data points that counters much of your home spun antidotes. Ones you love to present. I present this as it counters your believe that the vaccines do nothing. I believe they have protected me well. And I really can’t believe that at this point we are arguing about this anymore. They clearly help to prevent Covid, or at the very least keep you and I from dying from it should we get it.
@Stuart: do you want to meet my neighbor? He lives next door. He said once that if Fauci recommended a new shot every day he would be the first in line to take. He is the stupid type that posts on Facebook his family holding the vaccine card every time they get a shot. Good for him. He has a record of getting Covid that I don’t know anyone to beat him. He got it 4 times and he doesn’t travel. He once disappeared for 10 days. When I saw him I asked if he was traveling. He said the entire family got Covid and they could barely leave their beds. And he is the most vaccinated person I know.
I have not gotten Covid. I have gotten 5 shots. I fought to get it in late December 2020, getting a left over dose at the end of the day. I got it in January 2021, October 2021, June 2022, and October 2022.
Life does indeed go on. And literally NOBODY in this readership CONTINUES to give a sh*t whether you are vaccinated or not, but you sound obsessed with whether other people find them valuable or not. Get a hobby, bro. You’re like a broken record with your drivel commenting on someone’s PERSONAL blog.
To everyone else reading this guys’ dribble, I got your back homies. I’ll always get vaccinated, and if I die from the shot, so be it. If you understand why I would write such a thing, I know you got my back too, so I won’t apologize for saying it. We know that the shot got our backs too.
Anyone who got vaccinated is probably doomed to this cycle. Your immune system has been set for the early strain and can’t adapt.
But, at least Pfizer made billions and Fauci got rich and famous.
Fake news. The vaccine is not that profitable. Johnson and Johnson lost money as did Glaxo and some others. The death rate is higher among the unvaccinated and those who didn’t get recent boosters or the new bivalent vaccine.
I’m confused, did you mean to say that we’ve got a drug/friend watching our back to make sure we don’t go to the fricken hospital after testing positive for the strain we’re “not protected” from?
Some of you all need a stats class. With that said, just had a family gathering (a mix of people like me who have gotten the bivalent booster and people like my aunt who thinks like Koggerj), and everyone except my partner and I got COVID. Fortunately, it’s minor symptoms as this variant has been much weaker (in large part due to the efficacy of the vaccines). Whether you get the shot or not is fully your choice, but to claim that the vaccinated are more at risk of COVID is just awful understanding of stats and sample size.
Disappointing timing. Praying that everyone is on the mend soon. With all the vax, masks, etc, good nutrition plays a vital part in prevention & recovery. So kudos on the beautifully prepared meal! And if that was braised cabbage extra healthy points.
I thought about doing the goose dinner with red cabbage and boiled potatoes like Lufthansa serves in business/first this month, but we had a piece of beef in the freezer I used instead. I figured I’d use the lower-quality meat because my wife was sick and not all that hungry.
I’m horrified not at the fact that your family has covid (hope they get through it quickly) but at the abomination you call steak with all that seasoning most certainly killing any taste of the delicious meat. Who cooked it?
The quality of this particular piece of meat (London Broil) necessitated that. It’s actually a fairly decent mustard herb crust I make myself. I cooked it and we all liked it. 😉
But yes, I do agree that the best meat requires no sauce or anything beyond a dash of salt and pepper. Then again, no matter how great the lamb is I love a herb crust on it…
What’s the recipe for the fairly decent mustard crust you created, if you don’t mind sharing? I freaking love mustard and steak. Have you ever had the mustard in Air France biz? I’m still trying to find it and so regret not taking a pic of the jar back in 2019 just prior to Covid…haven’t flown internationally since then so not sure if they still serve it. 🙁
I don’t use breadcrumbs. I just mix Dijon mustard with fresh herbs, salt, pepper, and very high-quality olive oil.
If you keep getting COVID, over and over (and you seem to be one of those who does), you might want to take a moment and think about why that might be. Perhaps take it more seriously?
Some of us have never got it (at least not yet…). I haven’t, and I’m still careful (I still mask up when in crowded places), and always, everywhere, do my best to give myself a bit of distance from strangers.
Hope you’re feeling better soon.
Children are vectors of transmission for Covid, putting adults at risk. Until we reach zero Covid, my children are indoor-only.
Of course the kids are the vectors! Whilst feeding the out of state travelers yesterday I could not overcome the impending doom. Used the same word vector! Last year it was the RSV virus. Two weeks sick. Makes me wonder as a child, how many people I had infected! 😉
So sorry to hear that. 🙁
Matthew’s Mom and Dad should consider taking Paxlovid but it might be too late for that. I had 2 relatives that tested positive for Covid on Christmas Eve at around 5 p.m. Nearly all pharmacies just closed or were about to and the vast majority would be closed on Christmas Day. One of my relatives is over 90 years old and frail.
That relative was able to get Paxlovid prescribed by a doctor the same day and popped the first Paxlovid pills that evening.
A lot of people get well. However, there are a few that die. There are also those that get terrible long Covid symptoms that last for months. Wish Matthew the best. He should quarantine, eat separately, use a different bathroom and dishes. He should wear a N95 mask at home. The pandemic is not over.
I agree that it’s prudent to take precautions. It’s not just COVID, the isolation and lifestyle changes have weakened our immune systems and there are lots of infections going around. Basically all my friends/relatives/colleagues who have small children have been ill for a substantial proportion of the past 3 months or so.
I avoid crowded spaces, wear a N95 mask on public transport (except planes as they have sophisticated ventilation systems) and keep taking generous amounts of vitamin D. I am not scared of COVID as such, but I don’t want to catch whichever virus is making the rounds and also long COVID still remains a mystery to large parts of the medical community and I don’t want to be a guinea pig for that. While I am fully vaccinated/boosted, these precautions are equally valid for the unvaccinated and don’t create any additional risks or hardships (well, unless you frequently travel in overnight buses or something), so I see absolutely no reason to debate the merits [or lack thereof] of the various COVID vaccines in that context.
Wtf!!! People still test for covid??? Must be a liberal socialist state thing! Love living in Arizona no one I know have tested for 2 years. Everyone has covid. Who cares. Thank God Republicans changed the law so new democrat governor can’t shut down everything or require masks.
Look what is happening in China. They used to have frequent lockdowns. Not many people died. Then they opened up. Now people are dropping like flies. There are predictions that 2 million people are going to die.
The Democrats are correct. Rich people should be punished. Make people wear masks and get their vaccine. Let everyone have abortions and ban guns. Tax frequent flyer miles.
Tell everyone you know to get vaccinated!!!
Twitter Files: How Twitter Rigged The COVID Debate https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1607378386338340867.html
Elon also said this is tip of iceberg on this topic — more releases to come. Guess many will be finding out why Pfizer wanted to seal their COVID docs for 70 years. Nuremberg II needs to happen.
Conspiracy!!! Garbage, not helpful, the world is worse off because of those like you.
How is the world worse off having transparency and knowing the truth? Please explain.
The world is much better off WITH transparency and the truth! You are absolutely right. I would very much like to offer a sincere apology for putting you down and not taking what you have to say seriously…if you actually were offering truth and transparency. Instead, you offer fake conspiracy theories that look like it makes sense. The truth is, unfortunately, that it doesn’t. The Pfizer vaccine has saved many hundreds of thousands of lives, at a minimum. Read what the CDC has to say about it, that’s a conspiracy free zone. And while you’re at it, stay away from other peoples’ opinions, stick to the facts. Forget anything that tells you the covid vaccine is fake or anything Donald Trump would say or imply, it’s not true. I’m not making a political statement or trying to stir up trouble, I’m trying to SAVE YOUR LIFE, AND THE LIVES OF ANYONE WHO READS OR LISTENS TO WHAT YOU SAY!!!
You’re not saving lives, Alan. COVID is 99.99% survivable for most. And the Twitter files are transparency and truth — the CDC is not. I’m just the messenger.. so really not my issue. Might want to take a chill pill, too. The truth hurts, yes, but it will set you free.
To anyone reading this, I’m fighting for you!!! Do not listen to a single word that ECH is saying, ECH is wrong on every level and deserves no respect from us. The truth is that the vaccine is safe, effective and that every person should get it, anyone who says otherwise is lying and/or misinformed.
The vaccine is not safe. Have you seen the Died Suddenly documentary? Regardless, how do you explain all of the sudden deaths in vaccinated athletes the past few years? Time to wake up, Alan. Not safe. Not effective.
I’m going to keep answering everything ECH says because ECH will not kill any of you on my watch. I have had the COVID vaccine 4 times and not once have died.
first time for everything.. be careful.
I will!
“Any possible doubts, whether or not well founded, about the safety of the vaccine, cannot be allowed to exist in view of the need to assure that the vaccine will continue to be used to the maximum extent.” —Twitter files
Pfizer wanted the jab data sealed for 70+ years
CIA sealed the JFK records for decades
J6 Committee wants their interview records sealed for decades
Ghislaine Maxwell client list is sealed
Are we noticing a pattern yet?
https://twitter.com/dc_draino/status/1606678212104388609
ECH: End. Covid. Hysteria.
The quotation is attributed to DHHS Federal Register, Vol 49 No 107, June 1, 1984.
In short: vaccine policy has been out of control for a long time.
There are no doubts. This is not true, it sounds semi reasonable but it’s not. Misinformation.
Pretty sure you must be a democrat as the left loves to term anything they disagree with ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation’. I’ll await your points on what is misinformation.
I am a democrat, yes. But that’s not why I believe it’s misinformation, I believe it’s misinformation because it’s not science. It’s not about politics (I know you’re going to say otherwise when I called out Trump by name earlier, but that’s OK) it’s about going to the New Years fireworks show instead of the hospital. It’s about a loved one hugging their parent, or going to the hospital to find out they’ve perished. Yes, I am a democrat, and by that, I will probably never convince you that I’m right. That’s fine. But maybe I’ll convince anyone and everyone who you try to change the mind of, since I’d hate to have you responsible for killing people.
Pfizer wanted their COVID docs sealed for 70+ years due to — science — or politics? Either way, what reason would there be for that unless there was info they didn’t want the public to see.
and I’m not responsible for killing people. That’s Pfizer and many other evil companies. Medical errors are like the third leading cause of death. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_suggests_medical_errors_now_third_leading_cause_of_death_in_the_us. Stop trusting public health (CDC), corporate medicine and big pharma — it makes you look foolish. It’s almost 2023 and it’s time to wake up.
Once again this is directed at the reader. Please do not listen to ECH, ECH and those similar are responsible for so many deaths. Misinformation is an epidemic. Please get vaccinated, wear your mask, and stay safe, I beg you from the bottom of my heart.
No.
Yes
We are not going to be test subjects for experimental vaccines.
We are not going to be subjected to mandates and lockdowns.
We are not going to be bullied into submission by medical tyranny.
Period
An experiment with 13 billion (with a b) doses given worldwide. Who’s died? Zero people. What safety concerns popped up? One, the blood clotting with J&J/AstraZeneca, in one in a million folks, and now people don’t really get the shots that have that risk anymore, so there is zero risk. I’m not scared of taking the shot at all.
Some articles for you to research:
Pfizer Knew Vaccine Injuries Were More Severe in People Under 55, Documents Reveal
Pfizer Hired 600+ People to Process Vaccine Injury Reports, Documents Reveal
Woman Dies From Rare Brain Disorder After Second Pfizer Shot, Husband Says We’re ‘Guinea Pigs’
Heart Damage Found in Teens Months After Second Pfizer Shot, Study Shows
Pfizer Exec Admits COVID Vaccine Was Not Tested for Preventing Transmission
I noticed that ECH was either not able to send links to those sources, too much the coward to post them, or knows that they’re not true. Folks, this is disinformation, lies, please get vaccinated.
They are true. I don’t post false sh!t like you. I didn’t include them because the commenting system only allows one link per comment and I wasn’t about to comment six or seven times. Get on your 1995 Packard Bell desktop and go to Google.
The world would seriously be better off if you just stopped yacking and started vaxxing. LOL
If your kids had runny noses all week you should have had them tested at the first sign of any cold related symptoms. Rapid tests are cheap. Lives are not.
Why put your parents at risk???
Because if I did that, I’d be testing my kids twice a week, every week. Didn’t you ever go to school?
Late advice, but if you’re still reading comments I suggest you can still celebrate Orthodox Christmas on January 7th. You can go to church and everything. We celebrate both in our household so the holiday season.