1/1/23: "Canada and Australia impose COVID testing requirements on travelers from China"- https://www.npr.org/2023/01/01/1146517988/canada-australia-covid-test-requirement-china
1/4/23: "China COVID data shows no new variant, WHO says, easing some global fears"- https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-urges-final-victory-over-covid-global-concern-mounts-over-spread-2023-01-04/?fbclid=IwAR08Gq1a30nS8sa7boVBHxv21zhkw76TiChC1hWAGbTZbnuBYocx8zERAyE
1/9/23: "Omicron COVID booster cuts hospitalization in over 65s, Israeli study finds"- Here's a study outside of the US that shows the boosters are helping. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/israeli-study-finds-omicron-covid-booster-cuts-hospitalization-65-2023-01-09/?fbclid=IwAR1o1uWEn23cRoPXaYyiCMwl0kKqSNF70Fx6UHDowwjLB8etNHFrEif4el8
1/15/23: "Will 2023 partisanship lead to another Covid surge? There is a noticeable divide at the state level between who is getting those booster shots and who isn't. The 2020 presidential results hold the key."- https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/will-2023-partisanship-lead-another-covid-surge-rcna65869?fbclid=IwAR2crsG0rtqCnPbEwGbk2ewuFfzrCFtWIbzfDLCIaBn3MD1lD84Kqh6Cgrk
This was taken at RMR (VA hospital in Aurora, CO). The VA are still on high covid alert and masks are still required. This makes sense since while we were in the ER it seemed like at least half of the people there were sick with covid. Some of the people had been waiting hours to get the results of a test that is supposed to be done in 15 minutes. The VA just doesn't have the staff it needs.
This was the trash can by the elevators in one of the parking garages. They don't even have the staff to keep up with the trash.
12/8/22: "Prognosis of Myocarditis Developing After mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination Compared with Viral Myocarditis"- This article shows that things may not be as bad with the vaccination. https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2022.09.049
12/11/22: "Shoppers, workers clash over post-pandemic expectations" - I've noticed many of the things this article talks about. Places just don't have the same hours they used too which is a negative impact on people with non-traditional schedules. Not to mention that a lot of the labor shortages is because people are lazy and do not want to actually work. Work ethic has been lost in this country. We were already seeing the effects before covid and now it is at an all time high. https://apnews.com/article/business-pandemics-national-restaurant-association-5573d1102cfced4b22cf9930dcf4f77f
12/22/22: "Shanghai hospital warns of 'tragic battle' as COVID spreads"- https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinese-cities-give-out-free-fever-drugs-covid-flares-2022-12-22/?fbclid=IwAR1RdE1ADAucXbU-hars43Gl7Wd4cMc649p_pNGsIxVIb_qPOTQNhMgjx1A
12/24/22: "China's COVID-19 surge raises odds of new coronavirus mutant"- https://apnews.com/article/science-health-china-covid-306b688d84e31a9462f82d0ead1f4584?fbclid=IwAR36letiqeNlpVihJBYA7vuXrt9UPBUNMc7Dqfj6NxRw-6_FgMWLPpiQzLk
12/25/22: "China Stops Releasing COVID-19 Case Counts as Infections Skyrocket"- https://www.thedailybeast.com/china-stops-releasing-covid-19-cases-deaths-as-infections-skyrocket?fbclid=IwAR23uPv7lG-Qr9AX8ca_b58qDKVtBmC1zAjeEXZsoj_37DyyL68GHvVGxVk
12/30/22: "Highly immune evasive omicron XBB.1.5 variant is quickly becoming dominant in U.S. as it doubles weekly"- https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/12/30/covid-news-omicron-xbbpoint1point5-is-highly-immune-evasive-and-binds-better-to-cells.html
11/10/22: "Sotomayor rejects plea from NYC workers who lost their jobs due to COVID vaccine mandate"- This makes me have mad respect for this woman. What these people do can have negative impacts on the people around them. This is not a form of religious discrimination. Religion is an active choice, like picking where to work is an active choice. People have been using their religion to step on people throughout history and these people were trying to use their religion as a weapon to hurt the people around them. If these people are that locked on to their religion they can choose to work in fields that allow work from home so that they will not have to interact with and endanger others. - https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sotomayor-rejects-plea-nyc-workers-lost-jobs-covid-vaccine-mandate.amp "Unvaccinated infants were hospitalized with Covid more this summer than most age groups, CDC says"- https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/11/10/unvaccinated-infants-were-hospitalized-with-covid-more-this-summer-than-most-age-groups.html
11/7/22: "'COVID Hasn't Just Gone Away,'" Virus Expert Says in New, Concerned Warning"- https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/covid-hasn-t-just-gone-away-virus-expert-says-in-new-concerned-warning/ss-AA14dK4X?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=aa2fc57d556645c3919b1aa9cda4ae6d
Unknown Publing Date
"The off-patent that could protect us from future COVID-19 variants"- https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/UDCA-COVID19
10/3/22: "Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Candace Owens' Complaint About Fact-Checkers of Her Covid-19 Posts on Facebook"- https://lawandcrime.com/supreme-court/supreme-court-refuses-to-hear-candace-owens-complaint-about-fact-checks-of-her-covid-19-posts-on-facebook/?fbclid=IwAR3C6zInsopqyb7Wgukts7XO1LbGdHiTYWRZvEA0WwIPYGWrTz-PhtgKqjI
10/6/22: "Covid death rates are higher among Republicans than Democrats, Mounting Evidence Shows"- https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-death-rates-higher-republicans-democrats-why-rcna50883?fbclid=IwAR3UwdEuZ6C3FF-3Us_MPOFdsgInALi5SQNoIKCtk0exKygBHnJQ9i0enOM
10/24/22: "COVID research is free to access - but for how long?" - https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03418-9
10/27/22: "Some healthcare workers vaccinated against COVID-19 show unexpectedly low responses to immunizations" - https://www.news-medical.net/amp/news/20221027/Some-healthcare-workers-vaccinated-against-COVID-19-show-unexpectedly-low-responses-to-immunizations.aspx
This year many of the same costumes as last year can be found online. If you would like to read more about those ones you can look at our article from last year (https://geekedcolorado.blogspot.com/2021/10/accessible-costumes-2021.html). I will only focus on new finds this year. I was a little disappointed that I didn't even find the wheel covers in stores this year. For those who do not know, accessible costumes are adaptive costumes for people that have disabilities or medical conditions where costumes for the general population do not work well for them.
The next few pictures are a good example of how adaptive costumes have been adjusted to be able to have holes for wires or tubes.
This is what the costume looks like. https://www.halloweencostumes.com/minecraft-child-adaptive-steve-costume.html
This one gives you the best view why special holes are so important. They allow for quick access to ports. https://amzn.to/3VJ0zPK
Options Out There
Target also has a limited amount, but they seem to have more franchise costumes instead of generic (https://www.target.com/c/adaptive-halloween-costumes-holiday-shop/-/N-66yhm).
This is actually one of my favorites that I was able to find. https://www.target.com/p/kids-39-adaptive-pok-233-mon-halloween-costume-wheelchair-cover/-/A-84235513#lnk=sametab
HalloweenCostumes.com has one of the largest selections (https://www.halloweencostumes.com/adaptive-costumes.html).
Meijer grocery chain is also offering some adaptive costumes as well (https://www.meijer.com/shopping/search.html?text=adaptive%20halloween%20costume).
The only thing I don't like about this is that they even break the costumes into 2 "boy" and 2 "girl" costumes.
Party City does carry some on their website, but styles are very limited and are mostly the same from last year: https://www.partycity.com/group-costumes-adaptability .
Disney also had a few new ones up on their website.
Walmart also has a few, but most are repeats from last year (https://www.walmart.com/browse/adaptive-and-diy-halloween-costumes/c2hlbGZfaWQ6MjMwMzMzOQieie).
For you Amazon shoppers here are a whole bunch of the ones I found there.
This was actually the only adult sized adaptive costume I could find. https://amzn.to/3MIDpVM
https://amzn.to/3EVnkdu
https://amzn.to/3gpgump
https://amzn.to/3MJ4IiC
https://amzn.to/3VHJPbx
https://amzn.to/3TwfhbD
https://amzn.to/3TSrmrp
https://amzn.to/3ShtXtF
https://amzn.to/3MRU0Xi
https://amzn.to/3VFDduo
https://amzn.to/3yTKCwr
https://amzn.to/3VKLEob
https://amzn.to/3yPJrOn
https://amzn.to/3DcSFHc
https://amzn.to/3VJ0zPK
https://amzn.to/3yUbaNU
https://amzn.to/3VGu0lD
https://amzn.to/3EVSUI7
An overall problem with these costumes is that they are made in kid sizes. Adults also take part in Halloween activities, but right now manufactures are not really making much for the adult population. Also if you noticed, many of the costumes are made for standard wheelchairs and does not account for electronic ones that have a different set up. Seeing these makes me happy that we are moving in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go.
Top Picture From: https://www.halloweencostumes.com/blog/p-1494-adaptive-costumes.aspx
