Short and sweet Sunday

News blues…

Yes, SA's new coronavirus variant - 501Y.V2 – is rapidly displacing others; yes, data suggests it is highly transmissible; yes, according to experts it is “the dominant lineage of the second wave,”; yes, it likely transmits more easily; yes, younger people are more infected and [sicker] with it than any other variants. And, yes, hospitals are struggling and oxygen is in short supply. The latest SA news  …
What else do we need to know to convince us take all necessary precautions? Stay home. Wear a mask when away from home and keep your distance from others. It may not be enough, but think of it as not just you you’re protecting, it’s our entire community….

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Meanwhile, even some conspiracy theorists, skeptics, and just plain nutty Americans are getting on the vaccine bandwagon.

Ever since the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine began last spring, upbeat announcements were stalked by ominous polls: No matter how encouraging the news, growing numbers of people said they would refuse to get the shot. The time frame was dangerously accelerated, many people warned. The vaccine was a scam from Big Pharma, others said. A political ploy by the Trump administration, many Democrats charged. The internet pulsed with apocalyptic predictions from longtime vaccine opponents, who decried the new shot as the epitome of every concern they’d ever put forth. But over the past few weeks, as the vaccine went from a hypothetical to a reality, something happened. Fresh surveys show attitudes shifting and a clear majority of Americans now eager to get vaccinated. 

In polls by Gallup, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Research Center, the portion of people saying they are now likely or certain to take the vaccine has grown from about 50% this summer to more than 60%, and in one poll 73% — a figure that approaches what some public health experts say would be sufficient for herd immunity. 

Perhaps the spell of Trump, Trump-fever, is breaking? At last.

Healthy planet, anyone?

• Discovery of 'cryptic species' shows Earth is even more biologically diverse 
• How humans and small gardens help wildlife 
• Nature photos of the year 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

We’re moving from the rainy season to the swelter season. Today will be 34C/94F with 82 percent humidity. 

After decades in the San Francisco Bay Area, I sometimes wonder about my ability to handle weeks of KZN summer.