Coronavirus

[cpp]

I think the vaccines reduces the chance of serious illness, not immunity from catching it.

That is a correct statement.

 

[Mr._Clark]

That is a correct statement.

As far as I can tell, it is. Here's a recent statement by the CDC:

>>>When considering vaccine effectiveness studies, it is critical to evaluate the totality of evidence across many studies which shows that:

• COVID-19 vaccines provide sustained protection against severe disease and death, the purpose of the vaccine.
• The protection against infection tends to be modest and sometimes short-lived, but the vaccines are very effective at protecting against severe illness.

Immune protection from both vaccines and previous infections can decline over time and as new variants emerge.<<<

5 Things You Should Know about COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC

Learn 5 things you should know about COVID-19 vaccines.

www.cdc.gov

 

[cpp]

As far as I can tell, it is. Here's a recent statement by the CDC:

>>>When considering vaccine effectiveness studies, it is critical to evaluate the totality of evidence across many studies which shows that:

• COVID-19 vaccines provide sustained protection against severe disease and death, the purpose of the vaccine.
• The protection against infection tends to be modest and sometimes short-lived, but the vaccines are very effective at protecting against severe illness.

Immune protection from both vaccines and previous infections can decline over time and as new variants emerge.<<<

5 Things You Should Know about COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC

Learn 5 things you should know about COVID-19 vaccines.

www.cdc.gov

As long as you stay up on the vaccines each year, at least it gives you a better than avg shot of staying out of the ICU if you catch it.


What gets me are those "anti everything' people that always try to push none of this stuff works, until they leave the ICU 3 months later and magically get the shot weeks later. But like anything in this country of ours, we all have a choice to make when it comes to doctors, medicine and science. .

 

[mtrycrafts]

...
What gets me are those "anti everything' people that always try to push none of this stuff works, until they leave the ICU 3 months later and magically get the shot weeks later. But like anything in this country of ours, we all have a choice to make when it comes to doctors, medicine and science. .

Or, make stuff up like someone recently told me I should watch Rand Paul being interviewed stating N95 effectiveness is gone after 3 hours due to static action on mask.
Three hours from when? When unpacked? When put on? Can I use a vinyl static remover to refresh it?
Where are the Journal papers, Rand? Oh, wait, he is an "ophthalmologist." Not qualified to comment.

 

[Dude#1279435]

Or, make stuff up like someone recently told me I should watch Rand Paul being interviewed stating N95 effectiveness is gone after 3 hours due to static action on mask.
Three hours from when? When unpacked? When put on? Can I use a vinyl static remover to refresh it?
Where are the Journal papers, Rand? Oh, wait, he is an "ophthalmologist." Not qualified to comment.

C'mon now. You're just suppose to believe him.

 

[mtrycrafts]

C'mon now. You're just suppose to believe him.

Oh, my mistake.
I will try and get a refund on my education.

 

[Dude#1279435]

Oh, my mistake.
I will try and get a refund on my education.

U of FL Anti-Wokeiversity

Woops, mixed up the states. That's where DeSantis attended. Oh well....

 

[Mr._Clark]

What gets me are those "anti everything' people that always try to push none of this stuff works, until they leave the ICU 3 months later and magically get the shot weeks later. But like anything in this country of ours, we all have a choice to make when it comes to doctors, medicine and science. .

Yeah, I hear ya. My impression is that many people are "anti everything" (or at least anti science) and make up reasons to support their preexisting beliefs.

My pet peeve is the anti-vaxers who asserted that the mRNA vaccines were dangerous, etc. but then raise doubts about the other vaccines (e.g. Novavax) that are based on an entirely different mechanism. The poster boy for this is RFK Jr

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1547327674527363072

He apparently needs to maintain a consistent anti-vax message regardless of the evidence so he can keep raking in the cash.

>>>In 2021, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earned more than $500,000 as the chairman and top lawyer at Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization that he has helped build into a leading spreader of anti-vaccine falsehoods and a platform for launching his independent bid for the White House.

The compensation was almost three times as high as the amount paid to the organization’s president, but it was not Mr. Kennedy’s biggest source of income. Neither was his family’s fabled wealth. Instead, most of his earnings around the same time came from law firms — a total of $7 million for lending them his name, connections and expertise to sue major companies.<<<

How R.F.K. Jr. Has Turned His Public Crusades Into a Private Windfall (Published 2023)

The causes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has championed have brought him admiration, criticism — and tens of millions of dollars.

www.nytimes.com

 

[cpp]

Yeah, I hear ya. My impression is that many people are "anti everything" (or at least anti science) and make up reasons to support their preexisting beliefs.

My pet peeve is the anti-vaxers who asserted that the mRNA vaccines were dangerous, etc. but then raise doubts about the other vaccines (e.g. Novavax) that are based on an entirely different mechanism. The poster boy for this is RFK Jr

View attachment 64648

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1547327674527363072

He apparently needs to maintain a consistent anti-vax message regardless of the evidence so he can keep raking in the cash.

>>>In 2021, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earned more than $500,000 as the chairman and top lawyer at Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization that he has helped build into a leading spreader of anti-vaccine falsehoods and a platform for launching his independent bid for the White House.

The compensation was almost three times as high as the amount paid to the organization’s president, but it was not Mr. Kennedy’s biggest source of income. Neither was his family’s fabled wealth. Instead, most of his earnings around the same time came from law firms — a total of $7 million for lending them his name, connections and expertise to sue major companies.<<<

How R.F.K. Jr. Has Turned His Public Crusades Into a Private Windfall (Published 2023)

The causes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has championed have brought him admiration, criticism — and tens of millions of dollars.

www.nytimes.com

This Kennedy seems a little wacko's on covid " “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” I guess he missed this item: China reported nearly 82,000 COVID-19–related deaths during December 16, 2022–February 17, 2023 .

 

[TLS Guy]

I had to travel for a funeral this week out to a rural part of the country. On the way back, I started getting a headache as well as a runny nose, aches, and chills. My brother who lives on the other side of the country and also attended the funeral started getting sick at the same time that I did, meaning that it probably came from someone who attended. I tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. The symptoms I have are not severe, but this is all very annoying. The problem is that there were many elderly people at this funeral. I am sure that vaccine acceptance is a mixed bag amongst rural elderly people, so who knows how much of a disaster this could become. I do hope that whoever the carrier was did not know they have it, because to go to an event like this ill with COVID-19 is so deeply irresponsible.

How are you doing?

When I got Covid, I thought it was just a cold, and not a very bad one. My wife insisted I test, and much to my surprise it was positive. I did develop a cough, which was productive and a nuisance for about 10 to 12 days. I would say the total duration of the illness was about 18 days. I was certainly over it by three weeks, so escaped the long Covid label. I did have a strange change in taste sensation over Thanksgiving. The sweet potatoes tasted like lumps of salt. But this was very transient.
I am completely back to normal. I am full vaccinated. When my wife had it, I did not get it. This time she did not get it. The immunity of this thing is strange.
My last vaccination was just over a month before I developed symptoms. So, I had maximum vaccine protection.

By protocol I should have taken Paxlovid, but I made the decision because of vital drug interactions, the treatment carried more risk than the infection. I think that was the correct call in my case.

 

[shadyJ]

How are you doing?

When I got Covid, I thought it was just a cold, and not a very bad one. My wife insisted I test, and much to my surprise it was positive. I did develop a cough, which was productive and a nuisance for about 10 to 12 days. I would say the total duration of the illness was about 18 days. I was certainly over it by three weeks, so escaped the long Covid label. I did have a strange change in taste sensation over Thanksgiving. The sweet potatoes tasted like lumps of salt. But this was very transient.
I am completely back to normal. I am full vaccinated. When my wife had it, I did not get it. This time she did not get it. The immunity of this thing is strange.
My last vaccination was just over a month before I developed symptoms. So, I had maximum vaccine protection.

By protocol I should have taken Paxlovid, but I made the decision because of vital drug interactions, the treatment carried more risk than the infection. I think that was the correct call in my case.

I'm OK. It set in while I was driving home, and the first two days were miserable. Now all the symptoms are mild, Slight congestion, slight stiffness, and other minor things, but overall I feel OK. The most annoying thing is that I can't taste any flavors (except spiciness, but I guess that is a different receptor), so all tasty food is wasted on me at the moment. What a waste of what otherwise would have been a delicious olive salad!

 

[TLS Guy]

I'm OK. It set in while I was driving home, and the first two days were miserable. Now all the symptoms are mild, Slight congestion, slight stiffness, and other minor things, but overall I feel OK. The most annoying thing is that I can't taste any flavors (except spiciness, but I guess that is a different receptor), so all tasty food is wasted on me at the moment. What a waste of what otherwise would have been a delicious olive salad!

Sounds as if you had it worse than me. I had no fever chills or body aches, and the taste issue was very transient, three or four days only.
I feel absolutely fine now. I have had far worse upper respiratory infections than this Covid episode in my time.

 

[Mr._Clark]

According to this, it might be best to get the booster in the same arm as the prior jabs:

>>>The immune response may be stronger if your booster goes in the same arm as your last Covid-19 shot, according to a study published August 11 in the journal eBioMedicine. . . . Two weeks after the booster, the number of “killer T cells” was significantly higher in those who had both shots in the same arm, according to the study. Those cells, which attack and destroy the other cells they target, were present in 67% of the same-arm cases and only 43% in people who had their injections in different arms, according to study coauthor Laura Ziegler, a doctoral student at Saarland University. . . . Although the study showed a greater immune response, researchers can’t say for sure that getting the booster in the same arm results in better or longer lasting protection, Schaffner said. “We wouldn’t know that unless we did a much larger clinical study with follow-up actual infections,” he added.<<<

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/18/health/covid-vaccine-arm-wellness/index.html

I've always thought that "killer T cells" are the badasses of the immune system. Hopefully the "wimpy little cells that don't really do jack" aren't too upset about it.

Here's a study that found that antibody levels were higher when people switched arms for the jabs.

>>>In the new study, Dr. Curlin and his colleagues repeatedly measured antibody levels in 54 pairs of university employees matched for age, gender and the time after vaccination. . . . Switching the arms increased blood antibody levels by as much as fourfold, the scientists found. The results were published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The immune response was stronger against both the original coronavirus and against the Omicron variant, which emerged roughly a year after the authorization of the first Covid vaccines.

“It’s a consistent, statistically significant effect; is pretty sizable; and it seems to be quite durable,” Dr. Curlin said.<<<

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/health/vaccines-arms-immunity.html

There were a very small number of people in this study. Assuming the results of both studies could be confirmed in larger studies, it's not clear to me if one is better off with more killer T cells or more antibodies.

 

[cpp]

Here's a study that found that antibody levels were higher when people switched arms for the jabs.

>>>In the new study, Dr. Curlin and his colleagues repeatedly measured antibody levels in 54 pairs of university employees matched for age, gender and the time after vaccination. . . . Switching the arms increased blood antibody levels by as much as fourfold, the scientists found. The results were published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The immune response was stronger against both the original coronavirus and against the Omicron variant, which emerged roughly a year after the authorization of the first Covid vaccines.

“It’s a consistent, statistically significant effect; is pretty sizable; and it seems to be quite durable,” Dr. Curlin said.<<<

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/health/vaccines-arms-immunity.html

There were a very small number of people in this study. Assuming the results of both studies could be confirmed in larger studies, it's not clear to me if one is better off with more killer T cells or more antibodies.

I've always got my Covid shot in the dominate arm and the other shots in the other arm. But some good friends of ours, switch arms and a week ago after coming back from Church, they both now have covid for the 3rd Time in the last 3 years. The wife got it first, from all that hugging of friends at church she feels and then he got, well from her. Covid will never go away, its going to be around like the flu it appears. And now this RSV vs Flu vs Covid VS a cold is making things a little harder to diagnose. I just got over this 3 darn weeks of a weird head congestion, NO fever, NO aches, NO wheezy, NO runny nose, a tickle in the throat, Breath just fine, didn't loose smell, but lost a little taste, not really fatigued but felt blah a little green phylum so i had a slight infection, which I thought I had Sinusitis which I have had before from pine pollen, but I usually have a really sore throat with that and in most cases I almost lose my voice. Doctor said its going around but they didn't know what causes it. And told me it will take its course, yea think. Some DOCS suspect allergies caused by early pollen . I paid $30 co-pay for that professional opinion.

 

[NINaudio]

It took 4 years, but Covid finally got the wife and I about a month ago. We both got Paxlovid, which helped, but we both experienced rebound symptoms about a week after finishing our course of antivirals. While most of our symptoms have disappeared we still struggle with getting fatigued easily. The wife seemed to get hit harder with it initially than I did. I suspect it's because I've had more boosters than she has including the most recent release towards the end of last year.

 

[cpp]

It took 4 years, but Covid finally got the wife and I about a month ago. We both got Paxlovid, which helped, but we both experienced rebound symptoms about a week after finishing our course of antivirals. While most of our symptoms have disappeared we still struggle with getting fatigued easily. The wife seemed to get hit harder with it initially than I did. I suspect it's because I've had more boosters than she has including the most recent release towards the end of last year.

It sure sounds like Paxlovid Rebound or Covid Rebound ( getting fatigued easily) after treatment which just impacts a lot of people differently. Hope it all works out for yall.

 

[Golfx]

It took 4 years, but Covid finally got the wife and I about a month ago. We both got Paxlovid, which helped, but we both experienced rebound symptoms about a week after finishing our course of antivirals. While most of our symptoms have disappeared we still struggle with getting fatigued easily. The wife seemed to get hit harder with it initially than I did. I suspect it's because I've had more boosters than she has including the most recent release towards the end of last year.

Absolutely same here. We still cannot figure out where we got it. Had to be short trip for groceries. Mine is lingering to almost 4 weeks and seems to love my rt side sinuses. We both had Paxlovid and all the boosters. She is fine now—I’m still struggling with my sinuses.

 

[davidscott]

Knock on wood I've never had it that I'm aware of. One of my sisters and her husband spent a week in an ICU back in 2020 before vaccines. My other sister and her husband have had it twice but with much milder symptoms as they were both vaccinated. Anyway, nothing so far for me as I get the covid and flu shot every year. Either immune or lucky.

 

[cpp]

ON something non covid, my sister 64 ( retired 2 years @ Hospital Director of nursing) took a cruise, and came home and 5 days later felt like crap. Felt like she had cold, congestion, runny nose, sore throat, a fever. Went to the doctor, they ran a Rapid RSV antigen test, she had caught RSV. This stuff is fast and it got into the chest. They got her on some type of antibiotics and 10 days on steroids and finally after 3 weeks she is starting to feel better. She called and asked if I got the one time RSV shot, I said no, she said do it. So that's my plan on Monday. With all of my past medical issues I sure don't need some deep chest infection that could led to crippling lung issue.

 

[davidscott]

ON something non covid, my sister 64 ( retired 2 years @ Hospital Director of nursing) took a cruise, and came home and 5 days later felt like crap. Felt like she had cold, congestion, runny nose, sore throat, a fever. Went to the doctor, they ran a Rapid RSV antigen test, she had caught RSV. This stuff is fast and it got into the chest. They got her on some type of antibiotics and 10 days on steroids and finally after 3 weeks she is starting to feel better. She called and asked if I got the one time RSV shot, I said no, she said do it. So that's my plan on Monday. With all of my past medical issues I sure don't need some deep chest infection that could led to crippling lung issue.

Thanks, I'm going to look into that shot.