Coronavirus - In the DR

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aarhus

Long live King Frederik X
Jun 10, 2008
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I don't really think we have the same doubts John as mine go way beyond yours. I will not deny that the infection rate will be very high and have said I believe most of us will get it eventually. There are those at risk of it being more serious and even fatal and I've heard of "some" cases of younger fit people succumbing to it although that seems very rare. Young fit people do sadly die of cancer all the time. I believe enough time has passed and the knowledge regarding the virus has obviously increased so that even with increased cases the number of deaths will either stay low or even more likely go lower than they already are. Last stats I saw from the U.S. was 0.003% dying from it.
I think that the sever damage being done to the global economies (and no it's not about $$$ but people earning a living to provide for the families), educational systems is far outweighing the damage done by the virus. I think that the D.R. is a good example of this but Colombia even more so since they had such a sever shut down (a good friend tells me that 80% of the businesses in downtown Cartagena have not re-opened). I love the country of Colombia and considered moving there but after seeing their response to this, they are off my list. I'll stay put here in the D.R. at least for now.
No worries. Well thats good then if you like the DRs response better than Colombia
 
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chico bill

Dogs Better than People
May 6, 2016
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Thank you for confirming the undue optimism of some people when it comes to vaccines like Phizer's or Moderna's when it comes to a place like the DR.
Such a vaccine requiring cold temperatures will be impossible to deal with here. It will be extremely difficult anywhere.

As for how well and how long the AZ/Oxford vaccine works only time will tell. By the end of 2021 we should know more.
They can send it in dry ice in insulated Styrofoam containers on a Fed Ex plane and find thousands of Presidente neveras island wide to store them in. In fact what a great publicity stunt for Presidente - Donate Presidente beer refrigerators to clinics all over the island.
Probably sell millions of beers from the good will alone
 
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william webster

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Jan 16, 2009
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Before you need to give yourself a lobotomy..... read (or reread) the article

Dry ice don't fly
You can only open the cooler one minute - maybe 2-3x a day... just for one minute
One dry ice refill allowed... max life very short

Impossible to distribute outside major cities....

So sayeth the article.........
 

lifeisgreat

Enjoying Life
May 7, 2016
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dry ice can’t be shipped by plane hazardous material..

To get around this, Pfizer has developed a reusable, suitcase-sized shipping container where 975 doses of the vaccine are kept on dry ice. The vaccine is stable for 10 days from the point of departure in this case. If more dry ice can be secured, then the vaccine can be kept in the case for another 15 days.

“The clock starts well before you actually receive the product,” said Soumi Saha, an attorney, pharmacist and vice-president of advocacy at the healthcare logistics company Premier Inc.

Dry ice is considered a hazardous material, so it cannot be shipped by air or sea. It must be transported by ground, posing potentially serious challenges for rural areas where several days of vaccine viability could be lost in transit.

During this time, the case can only be opened twice a day for one minute per opening. Healthcare workers will need to take out an appropriate amount of vaccine only twice a day, meaning carefully calibrating between taking out too little and risk sending patients home, and taking out too much and risk wasting very limited doses.
 
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nanita

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Jul 28, 2014
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I was just wondering if your Dominican friends and family are starting to doubt the official narrative of the virus...

The reason I mention it is that in my country (Canada), the Former head of Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons has told the Government of Alberta in secret meeting that 'COVID' measures are ridiculous and that 'COVID' is just a "bad flu" and all PCR testing should cease immediately."

Here's a link to the audio of the meeting.


Anything similar happening with medical authorities in the DR?
 
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chico bill

Dogs Better than People
May 6, 2016
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Before you need to give yourself a lobotomy..... read (or reread) the article

Dry ice don't fly
You can only open the cooler one minute - maybe 2-3x a day... just for one minute
One dry ice refill allowed... max life very short

Impossible to distribute outside major cities....

So sayeth the article.........
Dry ice is allowed to fly. On commercial flights (i.e. Passenger flights) they limit the amount to 5.5 lbs, it must be vented, properly labeled and declared.

However on non-passenger flights (Fed Ex or DHL as examples) it is done all the time and dozens of organ transplants are express shipped daily using dry ice.
Omaha steaks ships that way and I used to get 4 steaks next day to Oregon so they were flown. Loved playing with the dry ice in the garage.
If this is a 2-hour flight from Miami to SD they certainly can declare vented vaccine packaged in dry ice via a shipping carrier to get it here. Probably gel packs would be sufficient for such a short flight.

FEDEX even has instructions on its web site for shipping perishables using dry ice, recommends only next day air, has instructions for venting and labeling packages as IATA Class 9 shipment.

Dry ice is not toxic per se, they worry about "oxygen depletion" in cabin space or package rupture on non-vented packaging. No dry ice bombs should not occur if properly vented.
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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I think the practicality of dealing with the Pfizer vaccine in this country is just too much for this country to handle. From the time the shipment arrives to the time it actually gets to a clinic where it can be properly stored and administered is just beyond the technical capabilities here. No sufficient cold storage units and the urge to open the packages too often will be tough for many to resist. There could be drugs being smuggled in them there vaccine containers so lets open them up on the 30C tarmac while the dogs and the people have a nice long look then let the cases sit at the cargo facility until the trucking union decides to come pick them up.
 
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chico bill

Dogs Better than People
May 6, 2016
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I think the practicality of dealing with the Pfizer vaccine in this country is just too much for this country to handle. From the time the shipment arrives to the time it actually gets to a clinic where it can be properly stored and administered is just beyond the technical capabilities here. No sufficient cold storage units and the urge to open the packages too often will be tough for many to resist. There could be drugs being smuggled in them there vaccine containers so lets open them up on the 30C tarmac while the dogs and the people have a nice long look then let the cases sit at the cargo facility until the trucking union decides to come pick them up.
It's not beyond the capabilities if money and the economy is at risk.
Heck maybe the Chinese can help?
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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a lot will depend on how the Govt here acquires the doses then distributes them. If they make it it quick and easy, it shouldn't take too long to administer 10 million doses. If a second inoculation is necessary sometime after the first, it will take twice as long. I"m not sure the govt is capable of coming up with a distribution plan that is quick and easy. Something along the lines of go to a Doctor, a clinic, or a Farmacia, show your cedula and get the vaccine would be ideal but nothing on that scale of simplicity has been seen before. Even if the vaccine is provided free of charge to Dominicans, I'm not entirely sure the same will apply to resident foreigners. There is usually a distinction made between Dominicans and foreigners who are not citizens.


Seems to me the Salud Publica has the rage vaccination for cats and dogs very under control-----at least around my parts. They go door to door once a year.
Guessing they could do the same for humans :)

Where I doubt the vaccine theory though, here in the DR, is that even if they pre-ordered/pre-paid for it, I still can't imagine us being very high on the list for actual delivery.
Unless NA/europe/china/russia decides that the DR will be the world's guinea pig, well there will be a couple of billion of people in line ahead of us.
 

cavok

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Jun 16, 2014
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The Pfizer vaccine will never be used here. Fugheddaboudit! I think some people have been wearing their masks too long.

So far, the DR has only managed to test about 6% of the population. Good luck with a vaccine any time soon.
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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The Pfizer vaccine will never be used here. Fugheddaboudit! I think some people have been wearing their masks too long.

So far, the DR has only managed to test about 6% of the population. Good luck with a vaccine any time soon.
Two different things, testing and vaccines. People here are only getting tested if they have symptoms. Vaccine will be for everyone, or alt least all adults.
 

aarhus

Long live King Frederik X
Jun 10, 2008
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The Pfizer vaccine will never be used here. Fugheddaboudit! I think some people have been wearing their masks too long.

So far, the DR has only managed to test about 6% of the population. Good luck with a vaccine any time soon.
Did they really test that much. I agree with you on vaccine. That would be one more of those excellent ideas. Vaccination of all Dominicans. Lol
 

lifeisgreat

Enjoying Life
May 7, 2016
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Now does that 10 million doses cover 5 million people because it takes 2x or is 10 million covered?
 

Catseye

Member
Nov 7, 2009
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Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic
For months I didn't know a single individual who was sick with this. I had no idea what was going on. By now, I know several people who have had this. One of them almost died and the majority went through it okay but I didn't get to discuss their symptoms, I know they mostly slept a lot. The person who almost died had his blood pressure plummet down to 80 over 50. He was in ICU for days but never got on a ventilator. My cousin is the other person I know who sent me a detailed email about her symptoms. She and I are a lot alike, same size and all, same age, same mentality. We're both going through menopause at the same time with the same symptoms, LOL. And she said the covid put an end to her hot flashes. That's where the fun ends.

She described really bizarre, buzzy feelings in her head making her think she was crazy, had muscle weakness and numbness so odd that her body didn't feel like it was hers. She was up and down, feeling like she was recovering one day and then some bizarre symptom would crop up somewhere else in her body, like weird shivers and feelings. She described it as being something she could feel inside her, attacking her, not like any flu or cold she has ever had. She would wake up with buzzing in her head, panic attacks, and it feeling like it was on fire inside and she had a helluva time getting calm and going back to sleep. At first, she thought it was a cold but while she was waiting for her covid test results a few days later, she lost her sense of taste and smell and knew it was something else. She was scared for 2 weeks and now she's over all that and wondering if she'll have long term effects from it. I'm trying like hell to avoid this.
 

Catseye

Member
Nov 7, 2009
163
1
18
Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic
For months I didn't know a single individual who was sick with this. I had no idea what was going on. By now, I know several people who have had this. One of them almost died and the majority went through it okay but I didn't get to discuss their symptoms, I know they mostly slept a lot. The person who almost died had his blood pressure plummet down to 80 over 50. He was in ICU for days but never got on a ventilator. My cousin is the other person I know who sent me a detailed email about her symptoms. She and I are a lot alike, same size and all, same age, same mentality. We're both going through menopause at the same time with the same symptoms, LOL. And she said the covid put an end to her hot flashes. That's where the fun ends.

She described really bizarre, buzzy feelings in her head making her think she was crazy, had muscle weakness and numbness so odd that her body didn't feel like it was hers. She was up and down, feeling like she was recovering one day and then some bizarre symptom would crop up somewhere else in her body, like weird shivers and feelings. She described it as being something she could feel inside her, attacking her, not like any flu or cold she has ever had. She would wake up with buzzing in her head, panic attacks, and it feeling like it was on fire inside and she had a helluva time getting calm and going back to sleep. At first, she thought it was a cold but while she was waiting for her covid test results a few days later, she lost her sense of taste and smell and knew it was something else. She was scared for 2 weeks and now she's over all that and wondering if she'll have long term effects from it. I'm trying like hell to avoid this.
oh, I should add, she and her husband both tested positive but he had no symptoms
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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Still too much uncertainty surrounding caching this disease. I'd be a bit more accepting of the gambler mentality if there was a standardized treatment that was effective and recognized as the best way to treat someone with CV19. With all the gambling euphemisms people are using, catching Covid really is like rolling the dice at this point in time. If you can stay healthy that seems like the safest bet to me until we get a treatment and a vaccine.
 
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