Lucky you! My luck was not so good.
I had appts for both boys in the 12 - 15 range for the Pfizer booster at CVS but they just canceled one appt and kept the other. Anyone else experiencing this type of thing from CVS? We’re thinking to show up with both boys and see if they’ll take them.
DS13s are scheduled for tomorrow at our CVS Target pharmacy. We have only gotten multiple confirmations of their appointments.
The canceled appt was canceled one hour before. I spent 45 min on the phone with various cvs people and nobody could tell me why. DH took the other child for the later appt. One person from the main cvs office (I think…) was certain that cvs was not yet doing boosters for under 16s, and didn’t waver when I told her that the cvs website says they’re eligible. I looked it all over again and cdc, Maryland, and cvs websites all say that over 12 can get the Pfizer booster. Will see what happens with the son we took.
Bona Vida is slammed. I’ve gotten a couple of emails from them saying things like:
Our Response To Unprecedented Surge In Demand
Bona Fide Masks is currently experiencing increased consumer demand for high-quality, authentic masks’, well surpassing previous spikes… Bona Fide Masks’ swift response to these operational challenges include the following steps. Effective immediately, Bona Fide Masks is operating 6 or 7 days a week with evening and early morning shifts. The company has significantly increased its work force to accommodate these shifts and bolster its fulfillment efforts. Additionally, Bona Fide Masks has leveraged its direct and exclusive relationships with mask producers Guangzhou Powecom Labor Insurance Supplies Co., LTD. (Powecom) and Guangzhou Harley Commodity Company Ltd. (Harley) to rapidly increase production with the purchase of additional machinery, the expansion of production shifts and the agreement to continue production through the Chinese New Year.
and
We have spoken with many of you over the last few days and many more of you are waiting to hear back from us. We have a dedicated team here working around the clock to pack your orders, address your concerns, provide you with status updates and more. We realize how frustrating our delays have been for you and your family… In recent days, it might feel like we have let you down you with our inability to answer your emails quickly or to get through to our phone lines. We promise you that our dedication to customer service and to our business is unwavering and we have a team here doing everything in their power to support you and get you the orders you are patiently waiting on. We have transitioned many employees to customer service in order to address the needs of our customers.
By the time our masks get here, the northeast may be past the peak. It’ll still be useful to have them whenever they get here but would have been even more useful a week ago when DD6 was exposed in class. (Thankfully she didn’t get ill regardless.)
I agree 100%. That’s not a good way to do business. I think that they’re in unchartered territory - I don’t think they’re nearly as used to direct to consumer business as B2B sales, and I doubt that there’s ever been a surge in demand for ball chains that can compare to the surge in demand for masks. (Though I haven’t really looked into their business in any depth.)
I’ve stopped counting on masks getting here from Bona Fide anytime soon, hence me looking for alternative suppliers. I think I’ll give yesmask.net a try based on seeing them on the Mask Nerd’s database and in lists of potentially trustworthy vendors here and here. Wish me luck 
For BeHealthy - presume they’ve been slammed with orders. I’ve never had stock issues with them in the past (started ordering from them back in Jan 2021), but this is the first time I’ve actually seen the KF94 masks that my kids have been using all along go out of stock.
When I e-mailed them, they mentioned that they try to match their online inventory with their physical inventory, to minimize taking in orders which they can’t fulfill.
They’ve added a “notify me when back in stock” option, which worked out for me. The first time it alerted, it went out of stock as I was checking out, but I was able to submit an order after a subsequent alert. Reminds me of the race to reserve popular ADRs after getting those res. finder alerts 
Some people were having issues over the weekend and others had no problem. It must vary from location to location. But it definitely says on CVS’s website that they are doing boosters for 12-15 year olds.
My sister got my niece (age 6) some KN95s from MaskC. She said that they seem to be an approved kind, but don’t take my word for it… my sister did say they weren’t cheap. She lives in NYC and wants my niece to be wearing a high protection mask to school.
The Bona Fide Powercom masks did indeed arrive today and everyone is ok with the fit so ordering more. DH asked for some black ones, and they have a 28(!) day estimated arrival date. The white ones are now 14 days. I ordered some of both. We’ll see.
DS12.1 probably isn’t the most reliable reporter, but he shared the following 2 anecdotes today.
One classmate threw up in the hallway today and tested positive for Covid. I just got my first “classroom contact” email of the new year, so this report appears to be accurate. The infected kiddo is a mask wearer, so at least there’s that.
One classmate hasn’t been in class since even before winter break started. Supposedly she is in the ICU with Covid. I hope this is just a speculative rumor.
Numbers update. Up to the Christmas break, our school district had 1652 cases of Covid this school year. Since then, they’ve had 1098 (including the ones from over the break that were reported).
These are the ones where the students/staff were on campus prior to testing positive.
Th 1/6 - 39
F 1/7 - 30
M 1/10 - 71
Tu 1/11 - 68
W 1/12 - 66
Th 1/13 - 50
F 1/14 - 38
Total 362
Including those who still haven’t returned from break, 1.9% of our district currently have active cases. So I guess the real number is probably at least 4 times that?
Last we heard, they would close schools at 5% confirmed active cases. That’s around 35-45 cases for most of our schools. 37 at Rogers. The 2 main high schools are much bigger, so 126 at Dawson and 164 at PHS. I think everyone is under 3% right now.
Hoping we peak soon.
Given your county’s metrics, 1.9% seems really low. Last week (week ending January 7), my area was about 300/100,000 and 17% positivity rate. The school district (K-8) reported 4.2% of the students as positive cases that week.
Edit to add: The local high school tested all students (except those whose parents opted out) and reported a positivity rate at the high school of 8.5%.
Yep. Keep in mind, presumably all 22 of the 1/6 student cases were kids sent to school obviously sick enough that a teacher flagged them for testing. Lots of people completely unconcerned about spread. Probably lots of kids that the parents suspect are positive at school. 
May the odds be ever in your favor.
I can’t believe we’ve gotten to a place that I have zero clue if this is serious or not…
After almost 2 years, how do we not have our own standards for high-filtration masks meant to be worn by laypeople of all ages? Why do we have to look to South Korea to fill that gap?
The story below reminded me of the train burglaries. In this one, it’s pure incompetence leading to wasted PPE and taxpayer money.
So we can’t drink pee or blood now? Talk about taking all the fun out of life.
In seriousness, there are probably more people that sadly copy what D-list celebrities do than pay attention to real health information from reputable sources.
Temporary respite
Served up here in case geeking to the weather - something else we can’t change - is a welcome, but short, break. And because, while I’ve appreciated our warm spells this season, I’ve been wondering to what they’re attributed.
I’m glad that at least they’re sharing with us now (i.e. allowing exports).
According to this article, they did face similar issues (shortages, distribution) early on in the pandemic, but figured it out (two years ago):
Incheon’s 1,100 pharmacies … began to sell out of KF-94 face masks, the equivalent of the American N95.
…
Such was the extent of the “mask crisis” when the central government decided to intervene in production and distribution. At the end of February, it announced that it would purchase 50 percent of KF-94 masks from the nation’s 130 or so manufacturers. The government began to ship these masks, at a discounted price of 1,500 won each (about $1.23), to some 23,000 pharmacies, in cooperation with the Korean Pharmaceutical Association.
…
As South Korea’s infection and fatality numbers grew, people felt desperate for protection.On March 5, the government increased its share of mask purchases to 80 percent of national production. … In addition to expanding mask manufacturing, the government was about to start a new rationing system.