Coronavirus

[Jeff N]

I anticipated that the general availability of the boosters for everyone at least 30+ years old would happen by around this time but wanted to be fully boosted in time for attending the LA Auto Show and Thanksgiving.

I had my 2nd Pfizer shot 8 months ago in mid-March, before most of the under 65 crowd (got an initial spare shot while volunteering at a temporary clinic), so I interpreted the National CDC and FDA guidance flexibly. I got my booster 2 weeks ago well after boosters first became available for older folks but before the present rush for appointments.

I got a milder version of the chills and fatigue than I had after the 2nd shot. Well worth it.

 

[Dave EV]

Got my Moderna booster yesterday afternoon - started feeling achy late evening. Felt slightly feverish through the night, so far through this morning so far just achy all over. It should pass by tomorrow!

Felt a lot worse (body aches, feverish) later yesterday afternoon into the evening (24-30 hours after Moderna booster and Pfizer 1st/2nd vaccines). Took a ZzzQuil before bed and feel a lot better today, but still a bit achy. For me the booster was significantly worse than either the 1st or 2nd shots which I thought was interesting given that most people seem to have similar side effects to the booster as the 2nd shot or less.

 

[madodel]

COVID-19 Vaccines and Children: Risk of Myocarditis & Implications for Public Health Mandates
Dr. Jha also discusses where he thinks COVID is going.

 

[JRP3]

COVID-19 Likely Started With A Vendor At Wuhan Animal Market, Says New Analysis

With "half of early cases" linked to the area, it "becomes very difficult to explain that pattern if the outbreak didn’t start at the market," writes Dr. Michael Worobey.

www.huffpost.com

“In this city of 11 million people, half of the early cases are linked to a place that’s the size of a soccer field,” Dr. Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona told The New York Times, referring to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.

“It becomes very difficult to explain that pattern if the outbreak didn’t start at the market,” he said.

 

[TespaceX]

'It's unacceptable': Anger after Sutter Health gives wrong amount of COVID vaccine to children It happened at the Sutter Urgent Care facility in Antioch.
This is the kind of incompetence that feeds into the anti-vaxx delusions. Children given the adult dosage of COVID vaccine.

Same thing happened to vaccinations at a county clinic in the county next door not too long before this incident.

Maybe they should start having doctors do this instead of nurses and techs. After each of these episodes, my local ND and FB blow up. As you say, this does not help the situation.

 

[bkp_duke]

Same thing happened to vaccinations at a county clinic in the county next door not too long before this incident.

Maybe they should start having doctors do this instead of nurses and techs. After each of these episodes, my local ND and FB blow up. As you say, this does not help the situation.

You want the nurses giving vaccinations. Not the techs, probably not pharmacists (but they would pay attention to doses).

It's been med school since I gave a vaccination. If you value your comfort, you don't want a physician giving vaccinations.

 

[jerry33]

You want the nurses giving vaccinations. Not the techs, probably not pharmacists (but they would pay attention to doses).

It's been med school since I gave a vaccination. If you value your comfort, you don't want a physician giving vaccinations.

The firemen that gave the first two Moderna vaccinations did just fine in the comfort department. I'm sure you could do the same. (I vacillated between funny and informative.)

 

[bkp_duke]

The firemen that gave the first two Moderna vaccinations did just fine in the comfort department. I'm sure you could do the same. (I vacillated between funny and informative.)

Firemen have EMT training. They aren't like techs, which usually do not give injections.

You still want the nurse over me.

Now . . . if we are doing surgery, you REALLY want me over the nurse.

 

[EVNow]

Now Austria ...

MSN

A country roughly the size of Washington state but with almost 10x the cases.

 

[bkp_duke]

Now Austria ...

MSN

View attachment 734930

A country roughly the size of Washington state but with almost 10x the cases.

I wonder what vaccine they are using. If Russian or Chinese, that explains the large 4th wave.

 

[EVNow]

You still want the nurse over me.

Reminds me of a story my brother told us when he was in med school. One of the patients told a student the shot he just got was the "most painful" in his life.

I think the best ones to get shots are pediatric nurses - though you will probably end up with a ducky sticker

 

[bkp_duke]

Reminds me of a story my brother told us when he was in med school. One of the patients told a student the shot he just got was the "most painful" in his life.

I think the best ones to get shots are pediatric nurses - though you will probably end up with a ducky sticker

ICU nurses are the best for any kind of injection or blood draw. They could do it blind folded by touch better than 99.999% of the people on other divisions.

 

[JRP3]

I figure pharmacists must have gotten plenty of practice in the last year, I barely felt either of my 2 jabs.

 

[EVNow]

I figure pharmacists must have gotten plenty of practice in the last year, I barely felt either of my 2 jabs.

Not just pharmacists, a lot of others who normally don't do shots too would have gotten a lot better.

My first 2 shots were by a pharmacist too, and I only knew he had given the shot when he put on the band-aid.

 

[TEG]

Felt a lot worse (body aches, feverish) later yesterday afternoon into the evening (24-30 hours after Moderna booster and Pfizer 1st/2nd vaccines). Took a ZzzQuil before bed and feel a lot better today, but still a bit achy. For me the booster was significantly worse than either the 1st or 2nd shots which I thought was interesting given that most people seem to have similar side effects to the booster as the 2nd shot or less.

If you got Moderna 3rd after 1st/2nd Pfizer, your more profound effects might have been due to the stronger Moderna vaccine.
I got 1/2/3 all Pfizer and 3rd shot wasn't any worse than the 2nd.
I hear that the side effects from Moderna can tend to be stronger, but it may offer more protection.

 

[Doggydogworld]

Now Austria ...

MSN

View attachment 734930

A country roughly the size of Washington state but with almost 10x the cases.

Their prior highest peak was also in mid-November. Oktoberfest hangover? Germany is also seeing their highest spike, but not as bad as Austria.

Norway is seeing its worst spike, but nothing like Austria. Same with Finland. So far the spikes in previously hard-hit countries like Italy, Spain and France are also much milder. Interestingly enough, Sweden is not spiking.

 

[EVNow]

Their prior highest peak was also in mid-November. Oktoberfest hangover? Germany is also seeing their highest spike, but not as bad as Austria.

Norway is seeing its worst spike, but nothing like Austria. Same with Finland. So far the spikes in previously hard-hit countries like Italy, Spain and France are also much milder. Interestingly enough, Sweden is not spiking.

Looks like various regions spike at different times because of Delta. Basically no country escaped Delta - even the SE Asian countries got hard hit. Now its Western Europe's turn.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

NY Times misinformation campaign continues. I need to cancel my subscription. I can’t believe “experts” are still saying things like this! I am no expert, but I am confident this is false. And that’s not Dunning-Kruger at work!

Meanwhile:

 

[Dave EV]

If you got Moderna 3rd after 1st/2nd Pfizer, your more profound effects might have been due to the stronger Moderna vaccine.
I got 1/2/3 all Pfizer and 3rd shot wasn't any worse than the 2nd.
I hear that the side effects from Moderna can tend to be stronger, but it may offer more protection.

I'm not 100% sure on how the volume correlates with vaccine strength, but the Pfizer dose is 30 ug in 0.3 ml for the first two shots as well as the booster, while the Moderna dose is 100 ug in 0.5 ml for the first two shots, but a "half dose" at 50 ug in 0.25 ml for the booster.

I didn't realize that before getting my booster, but the RN at CVS explained that the Moderna booster was half a normal Moderna dose. Even then, half a Moderna dose appears to have quite a bit more mRNA than the standard Pfizer dose, which is probably why the booster was cut in half from the normal dose.

Day 3 was almost back to normal - still a bit of a headache and the arm is sore around the injection point, but able to work normally all day. My wife was back to normal 24 hours after her Moderna booster, though she had Moderna for her first two shots.

Anyway, well worth it to minimize risk, have known too many people get bad cases requiring hospitalization.

If you are concerned about side effects, might be worth seeking out Pfizer for the booster which does seem to have milder side effects than Moderna.

 

[Jeff N]

NY Times misinformation campaign continues. I need to cancel my subscription. I can’t believe “experts” are still saying things like this! I am no expert, but I am confident this is false. And that’s not Dunning-Kruger at work!

View attachment 735200

Meanwhile:
View attachment 735201

The reporter whose article you are quoting, Apoorva Mandavilli, wrote an earlier article at the end of June about the notion that boosters won’t be needed and the original 2 shots may even give lifetime protection. I think her brain is still stuck on that and that she may be, to some extent, defending her earlier article against the new reality. I thought that June article was rather speculative at the time and that she was overselling the idea based on thin data.

Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Likely to Produce Lasting Immunity, Study Finds (Published 2021)

Immune cells are still organizing to fight the coronavirus months after inoculation, scientists reported.

www.nytimes.com

The experts she is relying on in the article include Dr. Paul Offit who spent the summer telling people that we probably wouldn’t need a booster until another “3 to 5 years”.

Why a top vaccine expert thinks we won't need COVID-19 booster shots for 3 to 5 years

Dr. Paul Offit, the coinventor of the rotavirus vaccine, told Insider that his best guess is that booster shots won't be needed for years.

www.businessinsider.com

Offit, and this latest NYT article, frame this around the idea that the need for vaccines is driven by preventing hospitalization and death and that prevention of infection and even mild to moderate symptomatic infection are not all that relevant in their opinion.

Part of this hinges on how readily infected but vaccinated/non-boosted people can spread the virus to others. Various studies give conflicting answers and make varying assumptions around the infectiousness implied by PCS test results in vaccinated people. As far as I can tell, the risk of actually passing on the virus by such people is lower but still substantial and plenty of 2-shot vaccinated people infected with the virus are passing it on to others in households, prisons, and other congregate living settings.

I suspect part of what is going on is that, historically, most vaccines aren’t all that great at preventing infection whereas the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are showing that they can provide strong protection against infection, at least for a few months.