Episode 115: COVID Updates From Argentina, Brazil to the U.S.

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Paige: You are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I’m Paige Sutherland.

Ian: I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And today we're going to be talking about COVID, something you've all probably not heard of recently. But we figured we at Coffee with Gringos haven't given any updates on COVID in quite some time so we just kind of wanted to touch back in and talk about some of the latest news, especially on vaccinations. So, hopefully, this global pandemic will be in our rearview mirror soon. So again, listeners if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online. So, Ian—COVID-19. It has consumed our lives for the majority of the year, but, hopefully, not too much longer. You are still in Santiago. Tell us a little bit about how COVID life has been there.

Ian: I feel like such a broken record every time we talk about this. I know we're always looking for different topics but it's something we can't avoid. COVID, especially, has been such a big part of this year, a part of everyone's lives in the world. So, we don't want to beat a dead horse here but these things are important as they develop. So, yeah, here in Santiago we are kind of seeing a mixture of things happening. So, Chile went through, at the beginning of the year, a really long quarantine since COVID hit really hard at the beginning of winter and so, we were all locked up for months on end. Now we're seeing a decrease in cases, slowly, people seem to be following the rules pretty well. There's a mandatory mask-wearing mandate here. So, it seems like most people are following the orders of wearing a mask in public. Places are about, I’d say, more than half capacity, there's eating in restaurants outside, but it seems like the government is being pretty precautionary with things as well. Just this last weekend we returned to Phase two, meaning weekend quarantines because the solar eclipse happened this week and so a lot of people were traveling, and that made the government nervous for an increase in cases. So, recently, we've seen a little bit of a back and forth between having more freedom and then having it taken back a little bit. But I think a lot of it's just having to do with being prudent with the situation. So, the weather here is nice. There is a semblance of normalcy being outside, and not being so locked up but we're definitely still living in the age of COVID.

Paige: I saw that the president, President (Sebastian) Piñera, was fined for not wearing a mask on the beach.

Ian: Yeah, he quote-unquote turned himself in. Genius—taking a selfie at the beach without a mask. Not the greatest example to set. That's kind of the worry here too, as well, is people are trying to take advantage of their summer so, trying to travel to the beach when they can. You know that in Chile there are so many beach towns, so many beach cities, to where, I think, there's a lot of concern about people just pretending like the virus has gone away. We are back to normal summer; we can do whatever. And that's kind of a worry that things are going to get worse for that reason. It’s a change of seasons, a change of policies, but I don't know what's going to happen in the next coming months, to be honest. We will have to see.

Paige: True, yeah. And in the US, unfortunately, we're probably in the second wave. Cases have really gone up everywhere. In my home state of Massachusetts, where I am right now, cases have really been increasing and, I think, in large part, like you said, people are becoming a little too used to it. That they're kind of loosening up some of their restrictions of going out and who they hang out with and mask-wearing and so forth. But also, the weather has been so cold, it's the cold season. Everyone kind of gets sick around this time. I told you, Ian, I even had my own COVID scare a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, COVID has all the symptoms of the common cold, and so I had the fever, I had the sore throat, I had the achy muscles, everything which is normal around this time of year. But living in the life of COVID, you get those symptoms and you're just like, “I have COVID.” So I couldn’t believe it.

Ian: Paranoia happens.

Paige: Exactly. I really was like this is just a cold but I don't want to be that person that spreads it. So, I just kind of bunkered down in my house for ten days, I got tested twice and it was both negative, so it was just the cold. But it sucks that you just get a cold and you have to take those precautions. So, I think, also, with the US, we just had Thanksgiving, which is our big holiday in November and I think there were more gatherings than there should have been. And so, I think that's, unfortunately, a big factor in the cases going up. And with Christmas coming up, it will be tough to see if people will see the cases is going up and not gather or just still gather.

Ian: Right. We were talking before the podcast about how Christmas is such a big deal also in the US that the CDC is going to say, keep the group small, you shouldn't travel. But when it comes to Christmas, it's hard to get people to follow all those rules and so I'm hoping that people can just, you know, we’re going to have other Christmases, just try to try to be safe this time around and follow those guidelines. But, unfortunately, I'm a little bit nervous about what's going to happen after December 25th as well.

Paige: I mean, luckily, vaccinations are out. They are being distributed as we speak. We just got our shipment in for our state today and we're already having doctors and nurses getting the vaccination. It's going to take time, it's going to be state by state, but in our state, and I think a lot of states will follow suit, is that the first responders are the first to get the vaccination. So, we're talking nurses, we're talking basically everyone in the medical field are going to get vaccinated first and then first responders like cops and firefighters and EMTs. And then, of course, people who are in long term care facilities who are very vulnerable, so the elderly. So, people like me and you, Ian, in the US won't get it maybe until March, sometime in the spring. We're definitely last on the totem pole.

Ian: Right. And that's another complication too. People are getting excited about the vaccines coming in. In England last week, I think the very first vaccines were given. Now we're seeing it, like you said, starting to be distributed in the US, and I think people are excited about it—and they should be excited—but you need to remember that the people that are not in those high-risk groups, we're not going to be getting a vaccine for a little while. So, the life of wearing a mask, the social distancing, all this is going to have to keep following it for a while. And I think a lot of people are not willing to do that. Maybe not not willing to do it but they want to get on with their lives. And so, the idea of a vaccine coming, it's like waiting outside a store for some new release. People are going to be just anxious and be wanting to get it but we just have to remember to keep being responsible and, unfortunately, it's going to last a little bit longer, the way that we have been living for the past year. So, for me here in Chile, I don't really know, I don't have an idea of when one's going to be available for me. So, wearing masks, using alcohol gel, hand sanitizer, all that—it's going to be a part of my life a little bit longer.

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Paige: You know, I was reading a recent study just about whether people want the vaccine or not, regardless of it being available. And I think the survey was back in May—it was like seventy percent wanted the vaccine. And now it's like half of the population of the US would definitely not get it, which is a little alarming as well because in order to really beat this, we need a majority of people to be vaccinated. If you have half the population saying, “Hell no, I don't want to get this vaccine,”, we could be even looking at living under this kind of lifestyle a little longer. I mean, it seems like a lot of the concerns are they really did push out a vaccine very early because we're under a global pandemic. We have to act now and I think people are a little worried that, who knows what the side effects will be, who knows what the long-term effects will be. Some people are just against vaccinations, in general, but I think once Phase one happens with the first responders and you have a month or two with no side effects and everything going well, I think that number will change, hopefully, because it's kind of silly not to get vaccinated. Because it's not just about you. It's about keeping everyone safe and the best way to do that is if we all have the vaccination.

Ian: Yeah, that's a good point and it's important to bring up too, like you said, there's an anti-vaccine movement that's been going on in the US for a while so this is no surprise. But even people who are pro-vaccine, who have always been pro-vaccine, still are a little hesitant about this. Because, like you mentioned, a normal vaccine takes a while to develop. We're talking, a year or years, in most cases, following that with clinical trials, following the long-term effects, the side effects. And so, people like myself, I'm very pro-vaccine, even I sometimes think we don't know the side effects, it's a little bit alarming. That's what makes it more complicated. That's why we see that bigger number, I think, even people who sit on the fence with a lot of these issues, they kind of say, yeah, you know I'm not sure in this case. And so, of course, the people who don't want vaccines, who are anti-vaccine, we understand their situation or their thoughts, but yeah, it's going to take some convincing, I think. And like you mentioned, once we see the first people to receive these vaccines if they're doing okay, they're not getting sick, they're not growing an eleventh toe or something like that, then more people will be willing to do it. Especially, if it means it gets us back to more of a normal lifestyle. I think that's the big kicker in this one is people want to return to somewhat normal existence that we had before and so, obviously, in this case, the vaccines got to get pushed out quick if we want to have those changes. And so, it's a tricky situation, but I think it's a good thing that we have these vaccines available instead of still not having anything available.

Paige: Absolutely. Like I said, cases are going up in the US. I think it was a couple of weeks ago, we had one of the darkest days of death tolls and not since back in March. So, we have not beaten this by any means. And so, having a vaccine saves lives and I think it's interesting how this issue is playing out in different countries. I was reading about Brazil and the president, who at the beginning was very like, “Oh, COVID is just the common cold. Everyone's blowing it out of proportion. We're fine.” So many people have died in Brazil because the President was so lax on setting the necessary policies and now doing a similar thing where he isn't buying the vaccinations. So, it looks like, Brazil, which is a huge country and is being really hit hard by COVID, won’t have vaccinations maybe at the earliest March. Where like I said, in my home state, we have it and we're distributing it now.

Ian: Exactly, just like everything else ever since COVID started, each country had its own response, its own policies. So, the same is going to happen with vaccination policies. Each country is going to have its own way of distributing it. So, like always, it's complicated and in selecting and who gets what. This year has been a mess. It’s going to continue in this sort of fashion until we really figured this out.

Paige: Well, speaking of what you said about how everything's been so politicized, here in the US, one of the major federal funding bills is being halted. Trump has just decided he doesn't want to weigh in on it. This kind of funding is to keep small businesses afloat, it's to keep families in their homes, keep food on the table. So, this has been a big issue in the US, because a global pandemic is expensive. The economy has been hit so hard; the average family has been really hit by this. I thought it was interesting, I was reading an article about Argentina and how one of the innovative ways they've come up with trying to pay for all the COVID costs is by taxing the rich. And I'm talking millionaires like these are the very super-wealthy. I believe it's anyone who has more than $2.4 million dollars, which is a lot of money and they're talking about a tax of one to two percent. So, nothing huge but just enough to pay for some relief, for families, for the treatment, the vaccinations, all those kinds of things. So, they call it the “Millionaire tax.” It's something I wish we would do in the US but that would never pass.

Ian: Yeah, good luck getting that to happen. Like I mentioned earlier, I hope people don't think that now that vaccines are getting rolled out that the pandemics over, we're going back to normality because that's just naïve. That's not going to happen. So, hopefully, people can keep staying safe, social distancing while we roll out this vaccine and, hopefully, by this time next year, we can be kind of back to normal, or a new normal in that way. But it's not going to happen quick.

Paige: I agree. Hopefully, this will be the last time CWG does an episode about COVID because COVID won't be news anymore. That would be nice.

Ian: I hope so. I'm tired of talking about it.

Paige: I know, same. Well, listeners, as always if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online. Everyone be safe. Thanks for listening.

Ian: We'll see you next time.

Paige: “Coffee with Gringos” was brought to you by Dynamic English, where you can learn English simply by using it. If you’re interested in taking classes or just want to learn more, go to our website at dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     rearview mirror (noun): mirror used to see behind the driver of a vehicle. Also refers to being in the past.  

a.     Hopefully with the vaccines we can put COVID in the rearview mirror.

2.     broken record (noun): repeating the same topic over and over.

a.     I feel like a broken record for continuing to talk about the subject.

3.     to beat a dead horse (phrasal verb): to waste energy on something that cannot be changed.

a.     I hate to beat a dead horse, but it’s something I cannot seem to forget.

4.     prudent (adjective): responsible; logical; wise.

a.     It is prudent to follow the health guidelines regarding the pandemic.

5.     semblance (noun): the appearance of something that isn’t reality.

a.     With quarantine restrictions, we have a semblance of normal society.

6.     to turn oneself in (idiom): to admit to a crime one has committed to the police.

a.     The president decided to turn himself in after breaking the law.

7.     achy (adjective): feeling sore, weak, and painful.

a.     Her worst symptoms were achy muscles, but not much else.

8.     to bunker down (phrasal verb): to stay in one particular area for a period of time.

a.     People had to bunker down for months in their homes during the quarantine.

9.     to follow suit (idiom): to copy or do the same thing as others.

a.     Other people will follow suit with getting the vaccine in a few months.

10.  cops (noun, slang): police.

a.     Look out, here come the cops!

11.  EMT (noun, acronym): Emergency medical technician, someone who is specially trained to give emergency services.

a.     The EMTs are on their way to the crash site to see the victims.

12.  elderly (adjective): old in age.

a.     The elderly are considered some of the most high-risk.

13.  bottom of the totem pole (noun): the least important or last considered.

a.     We are at the bottom of the totem pole in receiving the vaccine quickly.

14.  alarming (adjective): worrying or disturbing.

a.     The number of cases rising is alarming.

15.  to sit on the fence (idiom): to be undecided about something.

a.     The people who sit on the fence are not sure which decision to make.

16.  kicker (noun): unexpected discovery.

a.     The real kicker for this virus is the way it is transmitted.

17.  to play out (phrasal verb): to happen.

a.     We will have to wait and see how all this plays out in the next few months.

18.  to blow (something) out of proportion (idiom): to exaggerate the importance of something.

a.     We shouldn’t blow things out of proportion but we need to stay safe.

19.  lax (adjective): relaxed; careless.

a.     The president is being too lax about the situation and many more will die.

20.  halted (adjective): stopped.

a.     The plans have been halted temporarily until we can find a solution.

21.  to weigh in (phrasal verb): to give an opinion or point of view on something to make a decision.

a.     He refuses to weigh in on the situation because he’s afraid of the consequences.

22.  naïve (adjective): inexperienced; unrealistic.

a.     It’s naïve to think that we will return to our normal lives in a few weeks.