Tag Archives: covid

fully jabbed!

30 Friday Oct 2026

Posted by in sevilla, covid, health

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Went for my Covid-Flu boosters yesterday and thought I’d try my luck getting the shingles jab again. I tried a couple of years ago only to be told I’d missed my moment – the 2-year age window when it’s covered by the health care system. Otherwise it costs about 300€ for the two-jab vaccine. But then I remembered that the year I became eligible (2022) was the same year I got Covid TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE BOOSTER DATE. So I had to postpone getting the booster for five months. By that time nobody thought to tell me I was also eligible for the shingles one (like they had done with the pneumonia jab the previous year). And so I let it slide until I started reading that getting the shingles jab was a very good idea for all kinds of reasons. Anyhow, I thought I’d try again today.

Luckily the vaccination consulting room was pretty quiet and when the guy was checking on the computer to see which vaccines I was up for I asked if I could also get the shingles one. Nope, sorry, blah blah… so then I told them my tale of woe, missing my moment, and that I’d heard it was also helpful for people with cardiological issues – like me! – and was told I would have to get my GP to make an appointment if they thought it was warranted (are you kidding? tried that one last year). So then I gave them (there were about four of them standing around) my saddest eyes, looking from one to the other and saying… are you sure there’s no other way??

And thank god computer guy gave in and shouted “do we have this one in the fridge?” (they did!) and I was in. I got Covid-Flu in the right arm and Shingles in the left, and I go back for the second one end of December. Phew! Arms are pretty sore at the moment but it’s worth it.

mini co2 detector

01 Wednesday Apr 2026

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, health, sevilla

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Yeah I know I’m (quite) late to the party on this, but I just got this cute mini CO2 detector. Because as much as I try to be careful about sitting next to open doors or windows when I’m out in bars, etc, it’s not always possible, especially when I’m working. Anyhow, this little guy will clip onto my kipling bag and at a glance I’ll be able to see, well, if I should actually be there. Again, not super helpful if I’m in the middle of a sherry tasting, but in other circumstances I would be able to just get up and leave.

Meanwhile, masking for me has now been extended (or re-extended) to include supermarkets and pharmacies. I don’t know why I let those slide. Possibly because my neighbourhood farmacía always has the door open and I’m seldom in there more than five minutes. And I am never at the supermarket when it’s super busy, but it’s another public place that hundreds of people pass through daily and we all know that aerosols linger for hours after they’ve gone. So now they are back to being included along with any public transport (taxis, buses, trains, planes), crowded public places like airports, train & bus stations, and any sort of hospital or health care centre. And that’s easy because I always carry a couple of masks in my bag.

But can I tell you? I actually hate it. Wearing a mask triggers all kinds of shit for me, feeling restricted or claustrophobic, not able to breathe, all that. The last time I was on a 5-hour train ride to Barcelona I got hit with quite a panic attack because of the mask that I COULDN’T TAKE OFF. But I sucked it up because in the end it’s a minor inconvenience, all things considered. And because I am not just protecting myself… I am protecting you too.

I still require that anyone signing up for my food tours and sherry tastings be up to date on their Covid boosters. I mean, it’s just another layer of protection, because if the people I’ll be sitting across from for 2-3 hours at least cared enough to get boosted maybe they also wore masks on their flight over. The other day someone wrote back saying they assumed this was a “leftover message” from the Covid era as it was no longer applicable today. The Covid Era. Like it’s something from the past. Honestly, sometimes I despair.

So far I’ve been lucky that I’ve “only” had Covid once, well that I know of, in October 2022. Though it is possible that the “cold” I picked up in March 2020 was Covid, but of course there were no tests available then.  Meanwhile flatmate Peter has had it twice, but we never caught it from each other while infected because we wore masks at home, stayed away from each other as much as possible and kept the windows open. Also… WE STAYED HOME. For at least ten days, or until we got two negative test results in a row.

For some time there has been a hepa filter in the living room at Casa Azahar and more recently a baby hepa in each of our bedrooms. There are a stack of Covid-Flu tests on the living room bookshelf, plus boxes of both surgical and N95 masks in the hallway. Nothing is perfect, nor does it have to be. Whatever mitigations you take, it will all help. Mine are to wear a mask in the aforementioned situations, test when I am sick (3-4 times at least) and stay home until I am sure I won’t be infecting others. This does not impact my life in any serious way other than to keep me aware that we still need to be looking out for each other. A few minor inconveniences, yes. But you know what? I think you guys are worth it. xx

dafuq

12 Thursday Mar 2026

Posted by in health, hospitals, sevilla

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Spotted at the heathcare centre last week. WTF is the point of putting this up if none of the doctors or other staff ARE WEARING A FUCKING MASK?? They should be leading by example, not living in denial. I saw maybe one other person wearing a mask (other than me and Peter).

WEARING A FACE MASK IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
For everyone in this healthcare facility
We’re here to help protect your health

delusional december

09 Tuesday Dec 2025

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, health, sevilla

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Here we are once again, heading into year 6 of the COVID pandemic and people are still in fucking denial. Even people I know here who have always seemed reasonably reasonable are not only NOT getting their Covid-Flu boosters (although they have been available to everyone in Andalucía for the past couple of weeks) they are also NOT GETTING THEIR KIDS BOOSTED.

I think the greatest trick the Devil every pulled was when they told us early on in the pandemic that KIDS ARE NOT AFFECTED and somehow people chose to believe this. When even the least scientifically-minded person must have wondered… how would that even be possible? Why are kids magically exempt from viral contagion? Well, because they weren’t that’s why. Just like they’re not now. Yet even more than adults they are shoved into crowded social situations every day without any protection or proper ventilation and parents are somehow aghast when their little darlings comes home with yet another “bug” while they also suffer from a litany of symptoms that leave them almost constantly feeling “under the weather”. But god forbid anyone should mention the C-WORD.

Peter has just got over his second “bug” in two months. In October it turned out to be Flu A, this time it apparently was just a cold (he tested negative for Covid-Flu several times over ten days). But he stayed home and wore a mask. We also bought a small hepa filter for his room as it was too cold to open the windows for fresh air. And I think thanks to those precautions I didn’t catch either “bug”.

Which brings me back to… why the fuck won’t people take any precautions at all?? For starters, get vaccinated and keep up to date on your boosters. Wear a mask in crowded situations, especially on public transport. Stay home when you’re sick. If everyone did just those three simple things there would be so much less airborne illness. But people seem intent on pretending we are back to “normal” despite what is right in front of their faces. In short, people are inherently selfish.

[A note: I was reminded by my friend Sharon that one of the worst offenders are health care workers who are not wearing masks in spite of what they should have learned during the worst of times in 2020-2021. Bad enough that patients don’t mask up, but doctors in cancer wards, for example? No excuse.]

Because although Covid-19 is airborne and often presents as a respiratory illness, it is in fact a cardiovascular disease that affects the entire body, ageing blood vessels while destroying immune systems, increasing inflammation and leading to all manner of short and long term complications. IT IS NOT A COLD. And it isn’t seasonal like Flu, which is bad enough (and also isn’t a cold). What’s so frustrating is that we have the tools to help, if not eliminate, significantly reduce transmission. Except nobody cares. There’s no social conscience or sense of civic responsibility any more. Was there ever?

I sit here looking at everyone out there almost frantic in their need to spend and consume, with one obvious example being the over tourism explosion. Investing more and more into the most fragile of economies while destroying the cultures it requires to exist. I mean, just pull one thread and it instantly unravels, and then it’s gone, as we found out in March 2020. And it’s going to happen again.

Anyhoodle… I’m pushing 70 and probably won’t be around when the worst of it happens. At least I hope I’m not. So why then do I care so much? I can’t help it. In spite of all my cranky complaining I still love this world with all my heart. I even love some of the people  😉 Because the best of you are simply awe-inspiring and admirable in your empathy and courage, your talent, your energy and generosity… and so you inspire me to keep getting out of bed and caring. Please don’t ever stop.

The rest of you… either get vaxxed, wear a fucking mask and stay home when you’re sick or fuck off.