Locally
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“Patients wait for vaccine in dangerous cold."

"HISTORIC AND DANGEROUSLY COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS ARE EXPECTED TO PEAK THIS WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.

"At the same time our area fell under the current wind chill advisory, seniors lined up outside to wait and get their vaccine.” KCTV

From what I saw on the TV news, these were quite elderly people; many on walkers or in wheelchairs & some carrying portable oxygen. Social distancing was also not being observed. Actual temperature high was -2 degrees F; Wind Chill -30. Not safe to be outside for prolonged periods of time. What a dangerous mess!!!

Statewide
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‘At The Whims Of The State’: Confusion Persists For Missouri’s COVID-19 Vaccinators
“A lack of clear communication trickles down to residents trying to get their turn at a finite amount of vaccine, as appointments are put on pause and new waiting lists add to the growing inventory of places to put their names down. There’s also been some confusion around the second booster dose sent to vaccinators, including how to know whether a shipment contains booster doses and when to give them out. Some providers have mistakenly given out booster doses as the prime dose, the state said on a call with vaccinators this week.” St Louis Public Radio

Here
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Today, we finally got an Internet notice from the state that vaccine is available at a vaccination site 2 ˝ hours drive away. However, farther investigation showed that location has actually been out of vaccine for almost 2 weeks now & doesn’t expect more for weeks at the earliest. Obviously, the state seems to have no idea of what is going on in real time…

News from Home
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COLD. COLD. COLD.

The inside of the Solar Room has now officially hit freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit). More plants have clearly frozen to death. Others are surprisingly still hanging on. Those plants are very close to the heaters. Those areas are a couple of degrees warmer. Unfortunately, the tempts in front of the heaters are now below 40 degrees.

Because of the extreme cold, the entire Metro is now having rolling black outs because the power grid can’t keep up. So far, we haven’t been hit. But the local TV new says to expect these rolling black outs to expand and be more frequent. If the feeble heaters go out in the Solar Room, all will be lost. If tempts dip into the 20's indoors tonight or tomorrow, there probably won't be any plants to survive either way. The low temperature outdoors tonight is supposed to be negative -19 with a strong South wind.

In the photo above, there are tracks in the snow from wild animals searching for food in the cold. Our neighbor, who fed the deer all Summer, no longer puts food out for them. As soon as Winter set in, she completely stopped. However, wildlife still go there in hope.