Vaccine news has been coming in fast. We’ve heard good news from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax in the last few days, confusing news about Astrazeneca, all happening while you can get Pfizer shots at Disneyland and Moderna at Soka University right here in Orange County, California.

Good news on Facebook this morning–a friend got her first vaccination this morning after othena.com told her appointments are available! She checked at 5:30 AM, so maybe I haven’t been checking early enough.

Feeling a little smug this morning because the governor just lifted the stay-at-home order for Southern California–and John and I just reserved a townhouse next to the slopes at Big Bear yesterday. They’re probably sold out now!

Yesterday’s variant L425R has a new name. It’s now referred to as CAL.20C. The term L425R designates one of five mutations that comprise the CAL.20C strain that is rapidly increasing in California. Genomic researchers at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles reports that the California variant which they only saw once in October now constitutes over a third of the infections in Los Angeles.

Headline today: “Another new coronavirus variant found across California, including L.A. County.” This variant, L425R, which has three mutations to the spike proteins is not the same as the UK variant, known as B117. Describing the L425R variant as “new” is misleading.

Coronavirus affects animals too. Now it’s been found in gorillas at the San Diego Zoo. It started with symptoms–a cough and congestion–and a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 in fecal samples confirmed the diagnosis. They may have contracted it from an asymptomatic caregiver,

Only 58 days until the Pandemic Anniversary! I see Thursday, March 11 as a turning point, a time when we hear news about fewer cases/hospitalizations/deaths and more about openings, reunions, and summertime. On that day we begin the six months toward normal life, the final third of the eighteen months that I expect the pandemic to last.