Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Has the Vaccine Changed Your Summer Plans?

 

A reader question:

I’m curious if your readers are planning to get or have already received a Covid vaccine? If so, how will it change their summer plans in New England? 

 

51 comments:

  1. I'm now fully vaccinated. While I won't be making any big trips, I'm excited for antiques at Brimfield and the British Invasion at Stowe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't count your chickens....

      It's very unlikely that the British will be allowed to travel abroad until September at the earliest. Government Ministers, NHS and public health bureaucrats are worried that foreign travel will import the South African covid variant which is spreading throughout Europe. The current vaccines offer much less protection against that variant which, we are told, is more infectious and deadly.

      It's very likely that the South African variant will find its way to the US within a few months. Even if you are fully vaccinated now, your are not totally safe from Covid. The EU's vaccination programme has been an abject failure compared to Britain's. I'm not planning to travel abroad until next year at the earliest as it's not worth the risk.

      Delete
    2. The British Invasion is a British car rally in VT (New England). The cars are necessity. The Brits would just be a plus, not a requirement.

      Delete
    3. Thanks. Your rally is exactly the type of summer event that I would normally attend.

      However, even with high vaccination levels, lots of outdoor summer events are still being cancelled here.

      Btw, my favourite cars are the original AC Aces, Austin Healeys, Triumph Stags and MGBs. Enjoy them if you can!

      Delete
    4. You're welcome. Good choices. I recently inherited a Humber Pullman. It is undergoing restoration. I don't expect it to be complete by September, so I will only be looking, rather than participating. Even when ready, it won't be as fun as your choices on the mountain pass. But, being a limousine, my spouse will be much more comfortable hanging out for the day. I learned this was a major concern watching the show widows and widowers in the Jags, Bentleys and Roll Royces...

      Delete
  2. I would hope that as more people get vaccinated the infection numbers will decline and more restrictions will be lifted. I am so ready to travel.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mummy and Daddy have received their vaccines and have sent LaTeacha, the house maid, up to Falmouth to open the house for Memorial Day, as always. We'll summer there until Labor Day, unless some unpleasant virus ruins everything. I hope not, as we expect our cousins from Darian to visit in June and our family from Sciuate to vist in August!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Satire is funnier when spellcheck is employed.

      Delete
    2. I assumed they were coming from the Darian Gap!

      Delete
    3. Where's Sciuate, then?

      Delete
  4. Thanks to the pandemic,many of us have learned the joy of staying at home, rather than using every excuse to run outside and play like kids.

    ReplyDelete
  5. No vaccine yet; I am told the earliest for me would be in May. I had hoped to spend time in the summer with my mother and sister Stateside and to bring my mother to Virginia and New Hampshire to look at houses. I had also hoped to book a week on a wee island on a Scottish loch in June. None of that is going to happen this year. I at least hope to see Mum in the early autumn.

    ReplyDelete
  6. No travel plans this summer. Hoping that by fall we will feel comfortable doing so.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Got my first dose yesterday and second end of April. My only travel plans thus far are picking up kids from boarding school/college in May and returning them to said schools in August.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We will "staycation" at our place on Cape Cod. Sticking close to home as the Cape is seeing a 3rd surge in new virus cases. There are too many variables to make big plans, so we will enjoy the beauty that surrounds us and the company of a few friends and family who, like us, are vaccinated.

    ReplyDelete
  9. We both have had our first dose, but no travel plans as hubby had a medical emergency (not Covid related) and used up all his time off. I told him if you were going to get sick, he couldn't have picked a better time I guess! I'm really not planning much of anything any different from last summer now as I'm seeing some of the stupidity and the numbers increasing again already. I'm perfectly content staying close to home.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Maybe back to Maine this winter, we hope! Thank you so much, for all you do for us all year long!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hoping to resume the annual trip to the North Shore of Oahu next December.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I moved to Maine full time last year and am a bit worried about how quickly the state is opening up. With the variants emerging and a great deal of people yet to be vaccinated, the influx of tourists is concerning. We will likely stick close to our home on the water, and avoid tourist towns as much as possible this year, although we do have vaccinated family members coming to see us. Also, continuing to delay a home buying trip to Nicaragua. We likely won't head there until after their November elections and until their covid entry requirements are a bit settled down.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Planning to get vaccinated as soon as I can get an appointment. Meanwhile I will stay close to home on Cape Cod. Maybe by August we can do a long weekend on Nantucket.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yes - resuming our large family vacation, this time at York Harbor, Maine. Most already vaccinated or in process. In our immediate family, spouse and all 3 adult/nearly adult kids already done. I participated in a phase 2 vaccine trial - injected twice in September, once in March. when i get an appointment, they’ll unblind and tell me if I received vaccine or not. [the vaccine, Novavax, has proved to be highly effective in UK and South Africa trials].

    ReplyDelete
  15. Frederick J JohnsonMarch 31, 2021 at 10:52 AM

    Got both shots, just planning on playing a little golf locally.

    ReplyDelete
  16. We are both fully vaccinated. Our elderly parents are vaccinated too. We canceled Bermuda, but have several hiking and camping trips planned.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm not up for a vaccine until 4/5, but travel plans don't begin until August, so we should be to go to Maine (a wedding), the Cape (vacation) and Nantucket (a wedding).

    ReplyDelete
  18. We're waiting to see whether Bermuda or any of our other favorite spots will be appealing and worth the trip.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Although I’ve now been fully vaccinated (Moderna), I’m still wary because the beast is still out there and he’s not dead yet. And, of course, nobody knows how all this will eventually play out. I do know that the big pharmaceutical companies are busy around the clock developing new vaccines against the expected mutations. $$$$.

    I also expect we'll have to undergo another series of new immunization shots probably later this year, and have reconciled myself that this will be another lost summer coming up. No travel, staying put, and getting in an occasional round of golf, and maybe some local fly-fishing is about it for the time being. Not ideal, but things could be worse – a lot worse.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Fully vaccinated here. Plan to stay close to home because both kids (no jabs yet, of course) have lacrosse camps, except for spending August at our summer place in Maine and sailing weekends on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

    ReplyDelete
  21. We've completed our vaccinations but probably won't travel much out of our county. My county commissioner duties keep me close to the flagpole. There are many outdoor recreation activities we enjoy here which draws many outdoor recreators (outdoor recreation is our top industry) but we know how to avoid them. We are flying home today from a short trip to Georgia to visit my parents.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Here's a conundrum. There are 56 yachts signed up for this year's Marion Bermuda Race which starts June 18. Americans entering Bermuda must test negative no more than five days before arrival. Some slower boats may not make the five-day window and may still be en route. Once there, American visitors must check in and retest on day 4, 8, and 14. Sounds almost impossible for those hoping to Race, but the Race Committee has not updated their plans so far. You have to wonder what they are thinking. And each boat is sure to have a crew of 2-8 people at the minimum on board. So multiply that by 56.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are 46 boats registered for the Marblehead Halifax Race. The Canadian border is closed for the foreseeable future.

      Delete
  23. No, but my 2 year old has a heart defect that puts her in a very high risk category. 10% of kids with the same issue who get diagnosed go into heart failure. We're staying home until it's safe to vaccinate 2 year olds.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Mine will be a minority opinion here but I have no plans on getting the vaccination unless I am forced. Is nobody concerned about the speed with which the vaccines were produced, the "warp speed" as it were, coupled with the exceedingly high survivability rate for all but the most "at risk" people? I am in the Old Dominion and not New England but my plans remain unchanged-hiking the Blue Ridge, sailing the Chesapeake Bay, golf, tennis, horse riding and going to the beach.

    Will

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At some point in our lives we all will find ourselves in a position where we have to trust the expertise of medical and health professionals. This seems to me like one of those times.

      Delete
    2. Incidentally, my masks are made from Brooks Brothers oxford cloth from the backs of OCBDs that had been relegated to yard work. I have three blue, two blue/white U striped, one re/white U striped and a yellow.

      Will

      Delete
  25. We are both vaccinated, but our family situation keeps us local. So, like Fred, a little local golf will be about it for now.

    ReplyDelete
  26. My wife and I (no kids) are fully vaccinated, but will probably stay close. Our beach home is about an hour away, and if all goes well we will be moving into another house, albeit in the same neighborhood. I think these things along with the idea of uncertainity still lingering, will keep us busy for the summer.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Good luck with the move. Across the country or across the street, a move is a move. That’s the only certainty in these times. Nobody at this time last year could have predicted where we are today. Nobody today can predict where we will be in even six months. Look at the disarray in France.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Fully vaccinated. I’m optimistic. Late June trip to NC, July London, Sep Scotland and Litchfield CT. Expect restrictions lifted in all areas by then, many have been significantly reduced as of now; can reschedule as did last year for two of four of these. For NC already rescheduled three times (years) previously for different reasons. Also at age 73 there are other reasons to go or not to wait.

    Randy Ventgen
    Vancouver WA

    ReplyDelete
  29. Although my whole family was recently vaccinated I would say things do NOT look good in terms of travel. Londra Palace (in Venice) emailed me to say their grand re-opening scheduled for Easter has been pushed back to early May. Also Chicken Itza (the historic Mayan site in Cancun) has been shut down due to tourists NOT wearing masks. If you haven't already, please schedule your vaccination. Encourage everyone you know to do so. Rumor has it that you will not be allowed on airplanes without it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is that "Chick-fil-A Itza?"

      Relax, relax, I made the same funny mistake by calling it that when I visited. A Mexican quickly corrected my pronunciation.

      Delete
  30. I will be fully vaccinated by the end of April. Taking a mother/daughter trip to the Finger Lakes in New York and possible day excursion to Ontario, Canada. Hoping the Canadian border will be open by the end of September.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You might want to avoid Canada for a bit until they get their vaccine rollout under control. Canada is now the epicenter for the P1 variant of covid thanks to BC hockey and ski resorts.

      Delete
    2. Sadly, this is very true. We have long lines and no mass vaccination sites. The 25 to 35 demographic are 42% of our positives.

      David J Cooper

      Delete
  31. I will be fully vaccinated by May as will my family from out of state so I'm really hoping they will be able to visit me in Maine this summer and fall. I'm also looking forward to being able to get together with my vaccinated friends who summer in Maine.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Plans? I've forgotten how to make plans.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Go for the Johnson & Johnson shot she thought. Such convenience, such simplicity, get it all over with in one dose. Such a short time later yesterday, only nine hours, such back, shoulder, ribs, skin aches and fever. Such crazy weather on April 1st (in the Blue Ridge, VA), such pretty snow flurries and howling winds. Such a struggle to keep my teeth and everything else from chattering while under a duvet and two fleece blankets. All in all such efficiency all round and such gratitude for receiving this vaccination! I'm trying to think beyond the next couple of days to summer. No NE plans unfortunately but a week hiking in Washington state is planned. We'll see, we'll see.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Your wool blanket could be helpful. Pack it, please, with you when you travel.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Check your vitamin D3 levels. Have a good level between 60-80 will help with recovering and possibly blocking reactions to vaccine.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Vaccine? What vaccine? My options are to either drive an hour and a half to Gillette or Dartmouth, or waste hour upon hour playing "Vaccine Hunger Games." I've given up trying to get a vaccine for the immediate future, and will continue to hunker until, hopefully, the mad scramble subsides sometime this summer.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated.