Will The Covid Vaccine Change Global Politics?

 I really hope that America gets the vaccine first because if any other country gets it first, I believe that they will not give us the vaccine and if they do, they will raise the price so high that not many people will be able to afford it. America is the wealthiest country as of right now so if another country gets the vaccine first and raises the price super high, I don't think that'll be the case anymore. Whatever country gets the vaccine first will also hold leverage over every other country and use that to their advantage good or bad.

The Distribution of The Covid Vaccine

Obviously it takes more than one person to develop a vaccine so how do people work together to develop and distribute a vaccine? To start, the vaccine has to stay the at the same temperature from the time it is made to the time it gets injected. For this to happen, They will need to be packed in with dry ice and planes, trucks and warehouses will need to be outfitted with freezers for transportation of the vaccine, the article talks about arranging rows of upright freezers that are capable of holding 48,000 vials in a warehouse to keep the vials at the correct temperature. Each file also needs to be carefully clean, filled, stoppered, sealed and packaged. When it comes to who needs the vaccine first, they will focus on poorer countries and countries that need it the vaccine most, such as India. Aside from when the vaccine will actually be approved, there is a lot of other aspects that go into it, including timing the orders of medical products like syringes and all the raw materials required to make them, increasing manufacturing shifts and overtime for employees to produce the number of vials and syringes needed for the vaccine and collaborating with American and foreign trade authorities to expedite shipments in shorten lead times. 

Possible Long Term Effects of Covid

 I know there isn't much research about the long term effects of Covid yet but I believe I am experiencing some right now. Back in late August/early September, I had Covid. I didn't know I had it at first but it was a good thing I was at home and quarantined at home so I didn't spread it at school. At first I felt normal and then it got pretty bad. When I lost my sense of smell and taste, I didn't eat much, my body was constantly aching and I had pounding headaches but I never had a super high fever. My chest was also super heavy and i had trouble breathing but after about two and half weeks i felt okay again. But i've started to notice when I go up a flight of stairs I run out of breath super easy and my chest feels heavy again, I think this could be a long term effect of Covid. About three weeks ago, I developed a super nasty cough, a bad earache, a sore throat, and congestion. I thought it was just a normal sinus infection due to the weather change but it became more serious when the coughing didn't stop and my symptoms escalated so I began to feel worse. I'm starting to believe that I have bronchitis because I am still coughing and I think it could be a potential long term effect of Covid because I have never gotten it before. I barely have the energy to get out of bed anymore, I feel like i've been sick the whole second half of this year and I don't remember what it feels like to not be sick. My body is exhausted and I am drained, thank God this year is almost over because I want to feel like my best self again. UPDATE: My bronchitis even worse so i had to go to the hospital and got diagnosed with costochondritis as well which is inflammation of the rib cartilage. The doctor said this is affecting my body harshly because I had Covid and she said it most likely post effect of it.

Did This Pandemic Change Me Forever?

 After having about eight months off with nothing to do but sit at home and coming back to school and working has probably had the worst affects on my mental health out of everything i've gone through. i used to love school and i always had good grades and perfect attendance and now i am struggling. I feel like school isn't about learning the content anymore, but just turning in assignment after assignment by the date it's due. I no longer feel like myself or even think i look like myself, but its strange because i don't know how to change that feeling and i don't even know if i will feel the same i did before even after this pandemic ends. The way I would describe the situation I am in right now would be that i am trying to dig myself out of a deep hole that i didn't even get myself into and I'm sure many other people feel this way, especially college students. I will never forget the toll this pandemic had taken on me physically, mentally, and emotionally and I really hope I can get out from under this storm cloud that has been hovering over me soon.

What Affect Has Covid-19 Had on Pop Culture?

 Im going to specifically focus on pop culture migrating to streaming sites. Now, as the coronavirus spreads and social distancing becomes essential, streaming may become the main site of collective cultural experience. Schools are closed, movie theaters and performing arts spaces are have shut their doors, and sports are on hold. Suddenly, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, Disney+, Spotify, and so on, are now the only way people can connect to the culture without physically being at the event. Streaming movies and performances on television do not compare to seeing a them on opening night but that is unfortunately the only way for people to watch while staying safe indoors. Im also going to focus on the closing of theme parks and conferences outside of the U.S. All of the Disney Parks in Asia have closed. Tokyo Disneyland announced it would close for a two week period when the pandemic started, Universal Studios Japan and Legoland Japan followed suit, and Disney’s two Chinese parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong closed indefinitely in late January. Also, the Game Developers Conference, which was supposed to take place in San Francisco starting on March 16, has been postponed. The conference organizers made the call to move the event to the summer after several major tech companies and developers like Facebook, Electronic Arts, and Sony announced they wouldn’t be attending due to health concerns according to https://www.gq.com/story/how-coronavirus-is-affecting-pop-culture-around-the-world. Obviously this pandemic has taken away a lot of cultural experiences for people all around the world and people are just working with what they have for the time. 

Goodbye Straight A's

 Online education has definitely negatively affected my learning. Yes, it is pretty awesome getting to do my school work while comfy in my bed but there are far more downfalls that come with it. Knowing that i do not have to physically get up and walk to class makes me lose motivation quickly because since i have all online classes this semester, i have the same daily routine while being cooped up i my dorm room which got old quick. This also lead to a bad mental sate of mind for me, from doing the same thing everyday without actually having to leave my dorm room to lower grades by attempting to completely learn all of the needed content through a screen. I also find it very hard to learn the content online because it is very unorganized along with technical difficulties which lead to missing assignments and failing grades. In an in person class you can ask questions throughout the class and get an immediate answer, but with virtual learning, if you have a question, you have to message your teacher and then wait for them to answer. I do not think i will be less competitive in the job market because online education has a lot to do with self discipline, even though this pandemic has caused students to become lazy, i think the work can still get done effectively and efficiently if you really want it and have a goal to reach. This was something we all had to adapt too and you have to know how to work well under whatever circumstance you're under.

UK Core Issue: How Do We Distribute Covid Vaccines?

 To distribute a Covid vaccine I would make them only available in hospitals so that people couldn't go to a CVS to get it like they could for a flu shot because it is only be available to a third of the Fayette population. My reasoning for this is so that the people who need it more can have access to it before other people. The first people I would give the vaccine too would be healthcare workers and people at high risk, for example people with diabetes and serious heart diseases. I would give it to healthcare workers first because healthcare workers have way more exposure to the virus than others so they have a higher chance of getting it and we need healthcare workers in our lives so if they get ill, we wouldn't get the help we needed as fast. Also, it can be even more harmful to people with preexisting chronic conditions which could lead to worse problems or even death for them, but other people who don't fall into either of these categories could heal from the virus and become healthy again so the vaccine wouldn't be as much of a priority to them.

My Family's Experience With Covid-19

 About a little over a month ago, I found out my whole family and my boyfriend back home had gotten Covid-19. I hadn't seen them in a while and wanted to come home sometime soon until I found out that they had it, and I obviously didn't want to get it so I didn't get to see my family for about two or three weeks just to make sure that it was completely gone so I didn't get it and bring it back to school with me. I asked them how Covid made them feel and they described to me that the worst part was that their chest constantly felt heavy and they had headaches consecutively throughout the day. When I went home I still didn't get to see my boyfriend because he actually tested positive again after two weeks of quarantine, which we thought was a little strange because he felt completely fine. Although he felt better after the fourth week of quarantine, he described having Covid as the worst two to three weeks of his life. Some of his symptoms included high fever which caused him to sweat a lot, he had no taste or smell so he rarely had an appetite which caused him to be weak and shaky. He also had a very bad cough and excruciating headaches. My parents didn't have as bad of symptoms, they said it kind of just felt like the flu but not as exhausting. Therefore, I found it interesting how it affected everyone differently. This is my boyfriends Covid test result the second time getting tested.

My Look on Covid-19 at UK

     Over the past few weeks I have concluded that Covid-19 is spreading like wildfire here at the University of Kentucky. I say that because I found out recently that many of my friends that go to school here had gotten Covid and gave it to their roommates and other friends. There are many reasons to why this is happening but I am going to focus on college parties. The residence halls and the university have restricted policies that we must follow which decreases the exposure of Covid to students living on campus resulting in less cases. On the other hand, it's different for the students who live in their own apartment or house off campus because they don't have the same restrictions, if any, as students who live on campus. Therefore, if they decide to have a get together of however many people they want while not following social guidelines, Covid is highly exposed to the students who attend which can result in Covid spreading to other students on campus who don't attend the parties. This problem does worry me because I don't want us students to get sent home. Although all of my classes are online already, I enjoy being in Lexington and the environment of the UK campus. Other than that issue, I have noticed that a majority of the students have been taking the correct precautions to stay safe by always wearing their mask and social distancing, so if a solution can be found for those students to take this virus more seriously and be aware of the rise in cases, I think we'll be able to continue our education on campus.

Chipotle During Covid-19 (Lexington, Kentucky)

How Covid-19 Impacted My Diet

 Covid very much affected me and my family's relationship with food in a positive way. Since restaurants have closed down, my mom cooked homemade meals that were obviously way healthier than fast food so i would conclude that my family and I's diet improved. Covid did make accessibility to the grocery store difficult, so my mom subscribed to Home Chef for the time being and they sent a box a week which contained about three to five meals and they were always delicious. However, when restaurants begin opening back up, I did eat a lot of takeout food because of how much I missed it during quarantine. 

University of Kentucky's Budget Cut for this Year Due to Covid-19

https://www.uky.edu/coronavirus/updates/planning-uncertain-budget 

Who Am I Supposed to Believe?

 If i'm being completely honest I do not voluntarily read up on Covid unless it relates to my schooling or work. When i do want to find out more information I usually look on either New York Times since I now have a subscription or on UK's website. As of right now, I do not really trust anything I hear about covid because I have seen so many things about false positive tests, exaggerated positive test numbers, and how they have counted deaths unrelated to Covid as "Covid deaths." For example, I saw a tweet that Robert Tayman posted that said "Nurses at a hospital doing Covid testing became suspicious when all their tests were coming back positive. they sent 2 tests with unused swabs and they came back positive. Nurses used fake names, sent 10 unused swabs to be tested and all came back positive. We are being played!" This tweet was deleted, but screenshots quickly made their way to facebook, where they were shared thousands of times. None of my family members or friends think that New York Times or UK's website is faulty information, therefore not causing any conflict, but there are definitely some questionable websites out there with unreliable sources. I believe that the way Covid has been politicized will be more dangerous in the long run compared to just the pandemic itself because if it hadn't been politicized the way it was and we had just let this virus run its course, obviously still taking precautions, then there wouldn't be so much conspiracy and political issues brought into it.

This is an example of why I do not trust anything I hear about Covid from officials.

My Five Minute Graduation

 This is what my senior graduation looked like. Not a single person in the audience but my parents, the principals, and a camera man. I had to remove my mask before walking across and put it back on when I reached the end of the of the stage, I also picked up a fake diploma for the graduation video and returned it after because ours have yet to be made due to printing company's closing because of Covid. It only lasted about five minutes compared to a usual three hour graduation ceremony so that, I didn't mind.

Did Covid-19 Change The World Forever?

About a year ago, this is not what I expected my first year of college to be like. Are we going to have sports games, or tailgates, or other fun school wide events? For 13 years I looked forward to college and had very high expectations for my first year as a freshman but then we get hit with a global pandemic right before we were supposed to graduate high school. Everywhere I look I see masks, "wash your hands", "six feet apart", or "do not enter if you are feeling ill" and i just ask myself "is the world ever going to go back to normal?" "are people still going to continue to keep a distance and wear masks for the of their lives?" But right now, everything is up in the air and no one really knows whats going to happen next. I believe that the world is going to be changed forever because of Covid-19. Coronavirus will never go away but I believe that the world will become less restricting and treat this like any other sickness. 

My Safe Home Away From Home

 I believe that the University of Kentucky will not have to go online before the end of the semester. After being on campus for three weeks i have noticed that this school seems to take more per-caution than other universities. Obviously UK has signs promoting social distancing and mask wearing but they also made everyone that would be living on campus get tested so that students that had Covid-19 could quarantine before knowing they had it and accidentally spread it to other students, which was a very smart decision. Personally i don't know any other schools that made testing mandatory for students before starting school in the fall. Although all of my classes are online, some of my friends have told me how safe the in person classes seem because they have to sit so far away from everyone. I've also noticed that every student on campus has a mask on 99% of the time, even outside. We were also all given wellness kits that had all of the sanitary things we would need and even a UK mask when we arrived to campus which was pretty cool because i haven't seen any other university do that either. Recently, my residency hall has extended the restricted visitation policy for two more weeks, which to me was a smart move because it is less exposure to the students living in this hall.

The beginning of Covid-19

 My name is Stazia Donathan. I am from Wilder, Kentucky and I am 18 years old. I am Caucasian and considered middle class. A little more about me is that my parents have been divorced for six years now, I have two older brothers, and the cutest nephew that is about to turn seven months. When it comes to terms about Covid-19 in my family, it wasn't quite a burden to us but it was an eye-opening experience. We spent way more time together and my mother cooked great homemade meals for dinner every night which used to only be on rare occasions. Although those times were good, my nephew had just been born before the virus so it was very scary for us to have a new born during a pandemic. The grocery stores quickly became empty and restaurants and stores began closing. My workplace also closed, cutting off my income and not too long after that, my parents jobs closed as well. This is when Covid-19 began to get a little more scary for my family and other families too. Although toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, foods, etc. were scarce my family did alright through this pandemic. We had plenty of food in our cabinets and fridge to keep us full and enough cleaning supplies left over that we already had but it was difficult not having access to our favorite restaurants or stores. It was also upsetting that I didn't get the have the graduation that I had looked forward to the past 13 years and I never got to see my class all together for the last time. We didn't have the senior bike ride, senior walk, or an official last day to say goodbye to our teachers or classmates because we were not aware that we would not be returning back to school. I was probably the only family member that has come the closest to Covid-19 because in May, me and my boyfriend went to his family's beach house in Daytona, Florida. We were aware that the virus was spiking but as individuals, we maintained the social guidelines. I say that I was the closest to Covid-19 because when we arrived to Florida, almost no one was following social guidelines. People were still going out to eat normally, shopping without a mask, and not staying six feet apart from one another, it was almost as if there wasn't a world wide pandemic occurring. It was very strange but we still managed to have a fun time while staying safe and we didn't not get the virus so all was good.