Community Update for week of 11/21/2022

November 22, 2022

Update to Residents on 11/22/2022

Afternoon Exchange

Will be tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving, at 4 PM in the Auditorium. We’ll likely have a light attendance so come prepared to join in with participation. I will give a brief overview of how we are doing on our Resident Responses to We Care Connect with 8 months in. As mentioned last week we will welcome a farewell visit by Rep. Joe Miller, District 56 to express his appreciation to his Kendal constituents and a chance for us to thank him for his service to District 56. With the redrawing of districts, he will no longer represent Oberlin. We will delay recognition of another Pandemic Hero from the larger community until December based on availability. You can catch the Exchange on KOTV, as usual.

Shop at AmazonSmile to support Kendal at Oberlin

Please consider shopping at Amazon Smile and support Kendal at Oberlin at the same time. Amazon Smile has the same products and prices as Amazon with an added bonus: a portion of eligible purchases will be donated back to Kendal. You have to designate Kendal at Oberlin as the charity you wish to support. Try it! www.smile.amazon.com. We will do a demo of the sign up during the Exchange.

Budget Highlights Recorded on Zoom

If you missed the November meeting discussion the status of the 2023 Budget, you can review it by using this link for the recording.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmn2TT-kGDk.

Tis the Season – Beware of Scammers!

A resident recently reported getting a phone call and an email offering him $1 million. Alas, it was just a scam. Don’t fall for ANY scam and they are prevalent online, on the phone, in the mail and more. Touch base with a friend/family before taking any action that mirrors an appeal for money that actually could be fraudulent.

Not a Scam — Viibrant is updating their database

You may get an email message that looks like the following. This one is NOT a scam. Rather, it relates to something Viibrant is doing behind the scenes. You don’t need to take any action on it:

“Subject: [Kendal at Oberlin] Email Changed
Reply-To: kora.notifications@gmail.com

Hi [lastname.firstname], This notice confirms that your email address on Kendal at Oberlin was changed to [firstname.lastname] @kao.viibrant.com. If you did not change your email, please contact the Site Administrator at mrunal@riithink.com. Regards, All at Kendal at Oberlin https://kaores.org”

The Environmental Concerns Committee

Shares these recommendations for residents about taking food home from the dining room:

• Bring your own bag (cloth, plastic grocery bag or the plastic bag you got from the dining room) to pick up your meal to go.
• If you expect to take home leftovers off your plate, you may bring your own container. Dining Services remains concerned about personally-owned containers holding bacteria that could result in someone getting sick.
• Ask for compostable green containers for salads, desserts and other food to take home – then remember to return them to the Langston conveyor belt for composting.

COVID NEWS / STATISTICS:

Governor Mike DeWine’s regular COVID Press Conferences: https://ohiochannel.org

New omicron-specific boosters show modest benefit, CDC study says

(The Washington Post) The White House on Tuesday announced a six-week push ahead of the winter travel season to increase booster uptake in seniors, minority communities and rural areas — all of which have disproportionately suffered severe disease and death during the coronavirus pandemic.

Anthony Fauci, who serves as President Biden’s chief medical adviser, emphasized that vaccine effectiveness wanes over time and that the coronavirus is an unusual foe because of the emergence of new variants every few months. He pointed to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that the recently authorized omicron-specific boosters work better against new variants than previous vaccines.

“It is clear now, despite initial bit of confusion,” he said.  Fauci, in his last briefing before his planned retirement in December after more than four decades in government fighting HIV/AIDS and Ebola and serving as the face of the scientific community during the covid-19 pandemic, urged the public to get their shots: “The final message I give you from this podium is that please, for your own safety, for that of your family, get your updated covid-19 shot as soon as you’re eligible.”

…The new CDC study represents the first published estimates of efficacy based on real-world data for the bivalent booster shots. Previous studies have measured whether the bivalent vaccines increase the levels of virus-blocking antibodies in people’s blood. It confirmed the importance of getting a new shot to boost immunity against the coronavirus as it continues to evolve and produce immune-evading variants but shows that the omicron-specific boosters appear to offer only a modest increase in protection against infection compared to previous shots. Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11/22/covid-bivalent-booster/

‘A huge deal’: Millions have long COVID, and more are expected

(from MDedge, shared by Don Parker):  Roughly 7% of all adult Americans may currently have had long COVID, with symptoms that have lasted 3 months or longer, according to the latest U.S. government survey done in October. More than a quarter say their condition is severe enough to significantly limit their day-to-day activities – yet the problem is only barely starting to get the attention of employers, the health care system, and policymakers. Read more:  https://www.mdedge.com/icymi-covid/article/259499/long-covid/huge-deal-millions-have-long-covid-and-more-are-expected?ecd=WNL_eve_221119_mdedge