2021 December
The temperature clearly knew when the month ticked over, as evidenced by a 7°C drop in daily temperature. On Dec 3 we even got some kind of light hail or brief clumpy snow. It didn't stick, but it was surprising!
Sinterklaas arrived in Amsterdam by Barge a couple weeks ago. Today he'll ride his white horse to put candy and toys by the shoes of good boys and girls. We put carrots in the shoes for his horse.
December 5, Sinterklaasavond (Sinterklaas Eve)
Learning Dutch!
Ik spreek en beetje Nederlands! I've been using Duolingo to learn some basic Dutch, and have made it a priority to practice every day. I've maintained my streak of 50 days!
Covid-19 (via New York Times)
Dec 20
Just days before Christmas, the U.S. is being hit by a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. More than 125,000 Americans, on average, are testing positive every day. Hospitalizations have increased nearly 20 percent in two weeks.
Most of the world’s vaccines provide almost no defense against infection from Omicron, studies show. All vaccines still seem to provide a significant degree of protection against serious illness from Omicron, which is the most crucial goal. But only the Pfizer and Moderna shots, when reinforced with a booster, appear to have success at stopping infections, and these vaccines are unavailable in most of the world.
Nations across Europe are tightening restrictions to prevent the spread from Omicron. The Netherlands became the first European country to announce a full lockdown to fight the variant.
Dec 16: US joins other countries as they stop recommending the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, citing the rare blood clotting issues occuring in some people. It's still available, in case it's your only option.
Dec17: Pfizer said its two-shot vaccine didn’t perform adequately in children 2 to 5, and it will test a three-dose series for official authorization.
Dec22: The Biden administration has extended the pause on student loans to May 1, (they were set to resume February 1st).
Comments
Post a Comment