Any one else giving up snow birding due to the covid

[Guy_Roan]

We own our own rv spot in Key Largo, Fl, but will be staying right here in the high country of NC until it is safe to go.
Our county here has only a total of five deaths and just a few hundred cases, while our county there has a few thousand cases.
It is a no brainer for us !

Guy

[BarbaraOK]

The Pfizer one is looking promising but don't assume it will happen. They have tentative data but as of now it only shows 7 days of immunity. Hopefully that lengthens, but I wouldn't plan my year around it being available. Just go one and plan as if it won't be and if it is great.

[moisheh]

The fun in distributing the vaccine is still to come. I would not have any faith that the administration can handle the task.

[sidney]

charlestonsouthern wrote:
JaxDad -- It's Pfizer. 90 percent effective in early trials. The key word is "early." What is unique about their program is that Pfizer did it without government money and no participation in the government program "Warp Speed." So they had the freedom to conduct their own program with no outside rules, no time limits, and no strings attached or interference. The FDA seems excited about it. It's a two-shot deal three weeks apart; however the vaccine has to be stored constantly at -103F. My goodness, what kind of refrigeration would a vaccine distributor need to accomplish that!!

Ultra-Low Freezes

[charlestonsouth]

JaxDad -- It's Pfizer. 90 percent effective in early trials. The key word is "early." What is unique about their program is that Pfizer did it without government money and no participation in the government program "Warp Speed." So they had the freedom to conduct their own program with no outside rules, no time limits, and no strings attached or interference. The FDA seems excited about it. It's a two-shot deal three weeks apart; however the vaccine has to be stored constantly at -103F. My goodness, what kind of refrigeration would a vaccine distributor need to accomplish that!!

[Monaramblee]

90 percent effective sounds good!

[JaxDad]

justme wrote:
Looks like a vaccine is a very near approval.

Which one?

[Reisender]

justme wrote:
Looks like a vaccine is a very near approval.

Bring it on brother.

[justme]

Looks like a vaccine is a very near approval.

[JaxDad]

Tequila wrote:

JaxDad wrote:

Monaramblee wrote:
Closed border for us Canadians so we are staying put. There are options for Canadians to snowbird to the USA but none that allow rvs in. Canadians can fly to their snowbird destination and rent a car or have their car shipped.

Not true. A friend is on his way south in his motorhome right now. He had his coach shipped across the border then flew over and started the drive.

The lengths some people go to to shorten their lives amaze me. I hope they realize that no matter what their insurance says it is very unlikely they can be airvaced back to Canada & free medical if they get covid. In a worst case scenario they could spend 3 months in a US hospital, and travel insurance or not, they would be on the hook for 100's of thousands. On the other hand they may get it, survive and become a long hauler with all sorts of medical issues. Next season when they apply for travel insurance they may find they either can't get it, or afford it. Have a nice time spending the next 20 winters snowbound. I value my retirement years, I worked a lot of years to get them. I am not willing to risk them over one season of snow.

You can’t make blanket statements like that, the area of NW Florida he’s heading to is very sparsely populated and has (and has had) a much lower cases count than his part of Canada.

On top of that he spends his summers in a place that just cannot be occupied for the winter so he would need to go some other place anyway and the built up areas where he could possibly rent have higher case counts also.

In his case Florida was his best option.

[Tequila]

JaxDad wrote:

Monaramblee wrote:
Closed border for us Canadians so we are staying put. There are options for Canadians to snowbird to the USA but none that allow rvs in. Canadians can fly to their snowbird destination and rent a car or have their car shipped.

Not true. A friend is on his way south in his motorhome right now. He had his coach shipped across the border then flew over and started the drive.

The lengths some people go to to shorten their lives amaze me. I hope they realize that no matter what their insurance says it is very unlikely they can be airvaced back to Canada & free medical if they get covid. In a worst case scenario they could spend 3 months in a US hospital, and travel insurance or not, they would be on the hook for 100's of thousands. On the other hand they may get it, survive and become a long hauler with all sorts of medical issues. Next season when they apply for travel insurance they may find they either can't get it, or afford it. Have a nice time spending the next 20 winters snowbound. I value my retirement years, I worked a lot of years to get them. I am not willing to risk them over one season of snow.

[Tequila]

Here in BC Canada the rate is rising fast so they have just enacted new rules. You can no longer socialize with anyone not in your household. Still I feel it is safer here than traveling. I usually RV in Mexico, and when I go on the facebook page for the town I stay in, I see tons of people flying in and using hotels. Most of them aging snowbirds in their 70's & 80's. 2 people I know there have already died of it and now my spanish teacher tells me both her parents have it. It is a beach town, and what happens in Mexico in beach towns is that tour buses arrive every weekend loaded with potential superspreaders from the large cities. Pools will be full of their kids who I doubt will have masks on. Christmas will be crazy. When I tell snowbirds they are taking a big risk, I get told to go back to my cave and that sort of thing. The fact is, it is getting out of hand again in Europe and in the US. While everyone was distracted by the election, the infection rate in the US went up by 25%. I do not know why these folks think Mexico will be exempt. If it gets really bad they will all be expecting the government to evacuate them. That may have been fine in March when people were blindsided, but I dont think anyone who goes on vacation during a pandemic can expect the taxpayer to bail them out. No, I hate winter, but I hate dying more.

[CFerguson]

Masks dont help you, they retain your water vapor droplets and thereby protect others (assuming that you are sick and shedding). They also contribute to more pneumonia infections (in the users), which the US is currently seeing an uptick in. If you choose to wear a mask, Wash It Regularly or dispose of it regularly if it cant be effectively washed. And throwing it out the car window is not proper disposal even tho it seems to be the favorite choice of my local morons.

[Monaramblee]

If you wear a mask the worst thing that will happen is you might stay healthy or keep someone you love healthy.

edited because quoted text was deleted. feel free to delete if you disagree with the edit.

[wapiticountry]

Bowti wrote:
We always reserve our spot a year in advance, so when we left Florida last year at the end of March we were all set for this year. Our first thoughts early on were that things would not be too bad and the country would beat this thing. Then as it got worse it was, well the vaccine will be out and we will be OK. Now, that thinks are worse than ever, with no vaccine out yet, we are thinking that staying home might be the best for us. We have many people around us that have been careful and don't know how they got it. Scary stuff going on in Wisconsin.

I am not sure that where you spend the winter will matter when it comes to safety from infections. The upside to Florida is you will likely spend more time outside, in the sun. The best evidence concerning COVID is that it spreads mostly in enclosed spaces when you have extended contact with an infected person (you get a larger viral load in that situation). The fact people spend much more time indoors in close contact with others is the reason the Flu, and likely COVID, surges in the winter. Florida and the Sunbelt will likely fare better than the Northeast and the rust belt over the next few months. But in actual practice what you do will be much more important than where you do it. Avoiding crowds and taking reasonable precautions such as washing hands, wearing a mask in public and running away from someone coughing up a storm will go much further keeping you safe than trying to avoid COVID by geography.

[ellenbehr]

We've been full-timing since 2009 and in the last few years have found a loop that works for us, staying at our favorite places along the way. We've generally managed to follow the plan we made last year, but have been stuck in Idaho since somebody rear-ended our toad (unattached from the RV at the time)" while we've waited for it to be fixed (a long process that will end up being about a month's wait, if all goes as planned).

So the short answer to this is, no, we're not giving up snow birding. We're delayed a bit, not due to Covid. We have sites waiting for us in the southwest, so we'll spend time there through the coldest months. It's actually easier for us to self-quarantine there because of all the space. And we can spend time outside in the winter months 🙂

We are keeping an eye on the positivity rates and could alter where we stay or how long we stay someplace based on that, as things seem to be surging again.

Hope everyone is staying safe!