Medellin Reports

There were two books I have read about someone providing a supposed cure after making others sick and who looked like a savior. The reason I bring this up is because the vaccine is almost too damned good for Covid. [URL]https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389?query=recirc_mostViewed_railB_article[/URL]#.

When you do a trial like Moderna did with this vaccine, half the people get the vaccine, and the other half get salt water (placebo) injections. Here was a result that caused my jaw to drop:

Thirty participants in the trial had severe Covid-19; all 30 were in the placebo group (indicating vaccine efficacy of 100% and one death among these participants was attributed to Covid-19 .

If you go to the table here, you can see how quickly the vaccine works: [URL]https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389?query=recirc_mostViewed_railB_article[/URL]#.

It appears that the vaccine provides protection 14 days after you get your first shot.

The study to get the vaccine approved did not mention antibodies, but other doctors did a study and the results are here: [URL]https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389?query=recirc_mostViewed_railB_article[/URL]#.

Now let me go back to the original article and you can see what all Covid can do. It is not just the runny nose, fever, and body aches.

A secondary end point was the efficacy of mRNA-1273 in the prevention of severe Covid-19 as defined by one of the following criteria: respiratory rate of 30 or more breaths per minute; heart rate at or exceeding 125 beats per minute; oxygen saturation at 93% or less while the participant was breathing ambient air at sea level or a ratio of the partial pressure of oxygen to the fraction of inspired oxygen below 300 mm Hg; respiratory failure; acute respiratory distress syndrome; evidence of shock (systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure <60 mm Hg, or a need for vasopressors); clinically significant acute renal, hepatic, or neurologic dysfunction; admission to an intensive care unit; or death.

Even that list is not all inclusive of what Covid can do.

A buddy of mine went to the hospital. He had an intestinal problem and was coughing. He was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs and an ileus where your gut does not move food down the tract like it should. He was checked for Covid 4 times, and all the tests were negative. 9 out of 10 times a blood clot in the lungs comes from the legs, but he had no clots in the legs. With Covid, only 5 in 10 people have clots comes in their legs. He said he was exposed to people 5 to 7 days before who may have had Covid, and he is convinced that all of his problems were due to Covid, and I cannot say he is wrong.

Truth is that given that Covid causes blood clots, it can affect any organ in the body. How many heart attacks or strokes were related to Covid and people were not tested or tested falsely negative? As bad as people said Covid was, it is actually even worse.

Moderna started testing back in March and the people who got the shots then still have elevated antibodies and are now saying the vaccine works for at least a year.

As for getting the vaccine in Colombia, it is not good news. [URL]https://thebogotapost.com/colombias-tense-wait-for-the-covid-19-vaccine/48357/[/URL].

When will Colombia get the COVID-19 vaccine?

No-one can say. Colombia's President Duque announced that vaccination would start in January, but the minister of health says that "no date is set" and that there are no final deals with vaccine suppliers.

Anyway, if you are thinking of going to Colombia like I am, waiting five weeks after the first vaccine injection and going is the smart thing but even waiting two weeks gives you a lot of protection.

One last thing: I mentioned the oral PCR test so if you are going to Colombia, you can use it versus the swab up your nose. I thought it would take 7 to 10 days to get the package. Actually, it came in two. The company says the oral PCR turnaround is 24 hours once you send them a sample.

With coming back to the USA, you need a negative Covid test as well, but you can get the antigen test and that only takes 15 minutes to run. It is not the logistical nightmare the PCR test is.

Y'all stay safe. Things suck right now, but if these vaccine works as well as advertised, maybe in 2022, we can put this shit in the rearview mirror.

[QUOTE=Nounce;2521570]I think it is the one across the street of the white church with a door to the second floor.[/QUOTE]It's obscured by trees in front, if your looking at the Hotel from the Church towards the Metro, there is a large restaurant directly to the right of it on the passageway toward the Metro. There is an entrance with a flight of stairs leading up to the office and typically there will be a ton of vennies hanging in front of the entrance.

[QUOTE=MongerHunger;2521353]The CDC can't require anything but they can suggest. It's the Department of State and all government entities under it that can require any measures.[/QUOTE]Yeah, the CDC got around that.

If a passenger chooses not to provide a test result or documentation of recovery, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger.

I understand the rationale for doing this, but this kind of pisses me off. You have government or really a psuedogovernment agency making private companies be responsible for implementing government policies, and they do this shit all the time. In effect, the CDC is now making law.

But it is what it is.

[QUOTE=SilverTurtle;2521576]In the last 3 years, an increasing number of blue collar guys, and / or high school graduates (or dropouts), came to or stayed in El Centro. Though many of them are nice and decent guys. They were disliked by locals, and they had many troubles with locals.[/QUOTE]Explain, what kind of issues did these guys have while staying in El Centro?

What is happening? It is starting to rain Centro rats!

[QUOTE=Moso2;2521378]I walked and consulted my map for Hotel Zona Rosa at CL. 51 #50-51, but I did not find it. Maybe I was experiencing GPS lag. I tried to only pull out my phone when I would duck into a store. I was paying close attention to everyone around me, so it was more difficult to always notice the signs with street numbers.

I took the metro for the first time and ended up getting the deed for 30 k +8 k tip and 6 k room at Hotel Cascade. She was a 23 yr morena with very large senos and some baby damage. Just did the deed and at towards the end when I was trying to finish manually, she hopped back on. For a while there was a nice view in front of me and no cover. Then I finished manually.

Then I met someone from Ohio and hung out with him for a while. He was taller and was wearing shorts so I suddenly noticed much more attention and higher prices. I told him to make an offer instead of asking how much. He ignored this and received offers of 50 k for some young cuties. We walked into a bar and he received offers of 40 k for a Bucaramangese, 46 for her friend.

Then we headed over to the Avenida de Greiff area and had a beer after perusing what was available. He went upstairs with someone after a while and ended up getting upsold to 150 k. He was staying in town for a short time and had more budget. So he did not care. We headed out of the De Grieff area at a bit after 7 pm in a taxi to parque Lleras..[/QUOTE]

USA will require PCR test for entry beginning Jan 26.

[QUOTE=Elvis2008;2521582]There were two books I have read about someone providing a supposed cure after making others sick and who looked like a savior. The reason I bring this up is because the vaccine is almost too damned good for Covid. [URL]https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389?query=recirc_mostViewed_railB_article[/URL]#.

When you do a trial like Moderna did with this vaccine, half the people get the vaccine, and the other half get salt water (placebo) injections. Here was a result that caused my jaw to drop:

Thirty participants in the trial had severe Covid-19; all 30 were in the placebo group (indicating vaccine efficacy of 100% and one death among these participants was attributed to Covid-19 .

If you go to the table here, you can see how quickly the vaccine works: [URL]https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389?query=recirc_mostViewed_railB_article[/URL]#.

It appears that the vaccine provides protection 14 days after you get your first shot.

The study to get the vaccine approved did not mention antibodies, but other doctors did a study and the results are here: [URL]https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389?query=recirc_mostViewed_railB_article[/URL]#.

Now let me go back to the original article and you can see what all Covid can do. It is not just the runny nose, fever, and body aches...[/QUOTE]

I am more interested in how "blue collar" is defined.

[QUOTE=RudeBwoy100;2521612]Explain, what kind of issues did these guys have while staying in El Centro?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Moso2;2521378]I walked and consulted my map for Hotel Zona Rosa at CL. 51 #50-51, but I did not find it. i.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Nounce;2521570]I think it is the one across the street of the white church with a door to the second floor.[/QUOTE]I did a little recon on Google Street Maps and found this. This could be very easy to miss if you were not playing close attention. The problem is that you have to be right in front of this place to see the sign. These images show why. Like Nounce said it is located across from the white church (Iglesia De La Veracruz). These images are from 2019 according to Google. If this information is still accurate then it is located on Avenida Carabobo AKA Carrera 52 it is the first entrance in the second builiding on the east side of Carrera 52 just north of Calle 51. From the corner of Carrera 52 and Calle 51 you would head north (slightly northeast) on Carrera 52 and it is going to be on the right (the white church is on the left at this point).

One image clearly shows the sign over the entrance. In one image I show the view from the corner looking north so that you can see the white church on the right I have a red arrow showing where the entrance is. In another image I show once you move north and get almost to the entrance, there is an arrow on this image also pointing out the entrance just to the left of the gold sign with black letters that say Entrada . I added another image that shows what the sign looks like coming from the other direction, this is the image that has a red awning in it, but again you have to be right up on the place to see that sign, any further away and the other awnings hide the sign as I show in another image.

These images are not loaded in the same order as they are described

[QUOTE=RudeBwoy100;2521612]Explain, what kind of issues did these guys have while staying in El Centro?[/QUOTE]The issues / problems described in the original post were removed by the moderator. So, the context of my post changed a lot. I intended to say that many of them are good guys, but some people caused problems.

[QUOTE=MojoBandit;2521649]I did a little recon on Google Street Maps and found this. This could be very easy to miss if you were not playing close attention. The problem is that you have to be right in front of this place to see the sign. These images show why. Like Nounce said it is located across from the white church (Iglesia De La Veracruz). These images are from 2019 according to Google. If this information is still accurate then it is located on Avenida Carabobo AKA Carrera 52 it is the first entrance in the second builiding on the east side of Carrera 52 just north of Calle 51. From the corner of Carrera 52 and Calle 51 you would head north (slightly northeast) on Carrera 52 and it is going to be on the right (the white church is on the left at this point).

One image clearly shows the sign over the entrance. In one image I show the view from the corner looking north so that you can see the white church on the right I have a red arrow showing where the entrance is. In another image I show once you move north and get almost to the entrance, there is an arrow on this image also pointing out the entrance just to the left of the gold sign with black letters that say Entrada . I added another image that shows what the sign looks like coming from the other direction, this is the image that has a red awning in it, but again you have to be right up on the place to see that sign, any further away and the other awnings hide the sign as I show in another image.[/QUOTE]I find it hard to believe other members are having difficulty finding the place, in my opinion it can't be missed if somebody says it's in front of the Church you would think guys would obviously be able to distinguish the entrance to a Hotel versus the little shops on each side. If a guy can't find the place after what you have taken the time to prepare and post, they probably shouldn't be in that area to begin with.

I remember trying to find a "casa" once in a large City in China, and I don't remember the name of the City, and they don't call them casa's there, but there was very limited information on ISG as to the location of the casa or whatever they call it in Chinese. It was kind of like an Easter egg hunt, and I was within 25 yards of the entrance based on the ISG reports and finally found it seeing guys entering the place and there was no signage / numbers albeit I wouldn't of understood them in Chinese to begin with.

So you would think somebody looking for Zona Rosa, if they spent a little time there would of identified it when they saw guys walking into a place with Chicas. And they also could of easily asked someone where it's located as well.

Regardless, if anyone else can't find it with the information you have provided, they don't belong there.

[QUOTE=Knowledge;2521625]What is happening? It is starting to rain Centro rats![/QUOTE]There must be a shortage of cats, that can be the only thing I can think of.

Its entrance is next to the very well marked entrance to Govinda vegetarian restaurant.

[QUOTE=Surfer500;2521695]I find it hard to believe other members are having difficulty finding the place, in my opinion it can't be missed if somebody says it's in front of the Church you would think guys would obviously be able to distinguish the entrance to a Hotel versus the little shops on each side. If a guy can't find the place after what you have taken the time to prepare and post, they probably shouldn't be in that area to begin with.

I remember trying to find a "casa" once in a large City in China, and I don't remember the name of the City, and they don't call them casa's there, but there was very limited information on ISG as to the location of the casa or whatever they call it in Chinese. It was kind of like an Easter egg hunt, and I was within 25 yards of the entrance based on the ISG reports and finally found it seeing guys entering the place and there was no signage / numbers albeit I wouldn't of understood them in Chinese to begin with.

So you would think somebody looking for Zona Rosa, if they spent a little time there would of identified it when they saw guys walking into a place with Chicas. And they also could of easily asked someone where it's located as well.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Knowledge;2521627]USA will require PCR test for entry beginning Jan 26.[/QUOTE]I only want to make sure that it is clear that the rapid test is the requirement because there's a big difference between a PCR test and an antigen test. The antigen test is the rapid test that is performed and the results are confirmed within 15 to 45 minutes of the test administration. A PCR test could require 3 to 5 days in order to complete depending on the time it takes for the center to ship the test to the lab. A PCR test is a lot harder to manage under a 3 day time period than a rapid test that is done in the same day at worst.

The PCR test requirement for Colombia is a lot harder to satisfy than the return trip test that the CDC / USA requires for entry onboard a return flight to the United States. That said, I do not know where you can find an antigen / rapid test in Colombia. If anyone knows or can confirm a few reliable options that would be great. If not, I'm asking friends and people I know in MDE for referrals to places where you can reliably get an antigen test for our return flights. Good luck everyone hopefully I can share reliable info.

My source is the CDC website here.

[URL]https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html[/URL]#text=On%20 January%2012%2 C%202021%2 C%20 CDC, airline%20 before%20 boarding%20 the%20 flight.

10 pm curfew and pico y cédula except restaurants and hotels.

Does anyone know if gyms have pico also?

[QUOTE=Sangnyc21;2521728]10 pm curfew and pico y cdula except restaurants and hotels.

Does anyone know if gyms have pico also?[/QUOTE]Could someone confirm whether the holiday lockdown in MDE has been extended or not? Looks like in Bogota it starts again this Friday until Monday, citywide, and then extended in some neighborhoods. Is MDE any better? I have read a couple of articles which said there are currently no new movement restrictions or business closures until they assess the situation and come up with a new plan.