Coronavirus (Covid-19) informational thread

[44267547]

The above members posts it’s semi-accurate and also not true in the same respect. It is kind of confusing as noted, but it’s hardly a waste of time. The problem is, is that the guidance is completely dynamic for everybody’s situation, which organically will create a sub-group of categories that apply to different ages, medical situations and professions that people that are applicable for booster.

Also not mentioned in that above bullet point, is first responders at six months who are also applicable due to exposure.

 

[rokeyyyadav]

Are you a scientist, or physician, or other scientifically advanced professional? If not, then this thread will be filled with heresay and perhaps personal judgments of the wrong kind. Just my 2 cents.

thanks for provide information

 

[pshufd]

FYI, this email from Dartmouth-Hitchcock hospital provides a good summary of the booster guidelines for anyone who may be looking for clarification:

CDC recommendation of Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot

On September 24, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that certain individuals should or may get a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot. The booster shot needs to be given at least 6 months after completion of the primary vaccine series and can only be given to patients who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The CDC recommends booster shots for these individuals: People 65 years and older and residents in long-term care settings should receive a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. People aged 50 to 64 with underlying medical conditions should receive a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. People aged 18 to 49 with underlying medical conditions may receive a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine based on their individual benefits and risks. People aged 18 to 64 who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting may receive a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine based on their individual benefits and risks. It’s important to note that it’s common and normal after getting a vaccine for your immune system to lose immunity over time. This does not mean that the initial vaccine did not work. The mRNA vaccines produced very strong immune responses in healthy people and helped to protect against severe illness from COVID-19. After many months, that immune response becomes weaker, leaving some people more vulnerable to illness.

I get emails on COVID status from Dartmouth-Hitchcock (just drove by their main campus yesterday). I'm kind of borderline in the second group. My son got an email from his employer but it's a bit unclear for him. He works in an institutional setting where a lot of employees, perhaps even most, will get the booster; but he mostly works remotely. So he's waiting for clarification from his employer. He could simply get the booster at his employer. I think that he mentioned something about the Flu shot which they require annually.

So it would be nice if the CDC were a bit more detailed but I think that they usually leave an out: see your doctor if things aren't clear. Six months would be near the end of October for me. Actually getting the booster would not be a problem as my local pharmacy said that I can put down that I'm immunocompromised and get it. They don't ask questions nor check.

 

[Mainsail]

The above members posts it’s semi-accurate and also not true in the same respect. It is kind of confusing as noted, but it’s hardly a waste of time. The problem is, is that the guidance is completely dynamic for everybody’s situation, which organically will create a sub-group of categories that apply to different ages, medical situations and professions that people that are applicable for booster.

Also not mentioned in that above bullet point, is first responders at six months who are also applicable due to exposure.

It’s a waste of time because we already did the risk based guidance with the first round of shots, so it is baked into the time phasing of the boosters. The additional confusion and nuance in the booster guidance buys us very little. For example, per the guidance issued my daughters 26 year old friend that is super fit would occupationally qualify for the booster because she works part-time remote for an institution (private university), since educational institutions defined all of their employees as occupationally qualified. So, I don’t see how nuanced guidance buys us much of anything. Keep it simple.

 

[AimeeHogan]

Looking good, but for those of us living in the Northeast U.S., we probably won't know how large of a Delta spike we'll have for at least another month.

Deaths are still at a more than 700,000/year-pace, though.

Exactly! Here in Maine, we just got the largest daily number of cases yet. Over 800 in as small a state as this.

 

[pshufd]

Exactly! Here in Maine, we just got the largest daily number of cases yet. Over 800 in as small a state as this.

Maine and Vermont are making all-time new highs in daily cases. Massachusetts new cases per day are way below their peak. NH new cases is about half of its peak. Deaths are down a lot for MA and NH. Not sure what's going on in VT and ME but not NH.

 

[AimeeHogan]

Maine and Vermont are making all-time new highs in daily cases. Massachusetts new cases per day are way below their peak. NH new cases is about half of its peak. Deaths are down a lot for MA and NH. Not sure what's going on in VT and ME but not NH.

Yes, it's been weird. Thankfully, the deaths have leveled off here, but not the cases.

 

[Gregg2]

Let's hope the downward trend continues! The last few days have been better in Wisconsin. But we won't get to herd immunity unless more people get vaccinated, of course. (I suppose there is another way to get there, but it is not the preferred way.)

 

[A.Goldberg]

Moderna was rumored to be working on some form of actual ‘medicine’, as in -tablet form- in addition. I’d wager at this point, all these pharmaceuticals are experimenting with alternatives to combat the constant cycle of mutations.

Merck, not Moderna, is working on a therapeutic treatment (aka “actual medicine”… though vaccines are medicine too by definition). This new treatment with allegedly promising results is an antiviral, but they haven’t published the data yet.

The problem with antivirals like this historically is that typically they have to be started within 48-72hrs to provide benefit any benefit at all. It’s already known Merck tested this antiviral in progressed, severely ill patients and had to stop the study early because it wasn’t working, which doesn’t surprise me at all.

If their drug works it’s a game changer in that it can be taken orally therefore not requiring people to go to a clinic to get infusions like with monoclonal antibodies. That said, I’m expecting this drug to be very time sensitive to be effective, which is one of problems with many other antivirals for respiratory infection being useful. Most people wait too long before seeking treatment and by that point it’s too late to use the antivirals.

I think the media and stock market needs to be careful not to over-hype something that’s still in clinical trials as a magic bullet. Even if it’s effective it’s highly unlikely to be anywhere near 100% effective. Vaccination is still the best way to deal with COVID. And the side effects of such an antiviral are likely more significant.

 

[Clix Pix]

I'm just waiting for Moderna to be officially approved by the FDA and subsequently for them to then begin releasing vaccine for use as boosters......

 

[nicho]

The problem with antivirals like this historically is that typically they have to be started within 48-72hrs to provide benefit any benefit at all.

After exposure, right, rather than onset of symptoms? So for a respiratory disease with an incubation period of about 5 days, it means taking them daily as a preventative measure. Nice little earner if it works.

 

[chown33]

The new Merck pill is called "molnupiravir". It's named after Thor's hammer, Mjölnir.

Meet molnupiravir, Merck’s Thor-inspired pill that hammers COVID

In Phase III trial, the drug smashed hospitalization and death rate by about half.

arstechnica.com

Direct link to Merck's info:

Merck and Ridgeback’s Investigational Oral Antiviral Molnupiravir Reduced the Risk of Hospitalization or Death by Approximately 50 Percent Compared to Placebo for Patients with Mild or Moderate COVID-19 in Positive Interim Analysis of Phase 3 Study -

At the Interim Analysis, 7.3 Percent of Patients Who Received Molnupiravir Were Hospitalized Through Day 29, Compared With 14.1 Percent of Placebo-Treated Patients Who were Hospitalized or Died Merck Plans to Seek Emergency Use Authorization in the U.S. as Soon as Possible and to Submit...

www.merck.com

 

[pshufd]

CDC details on "Certain Medical Conditions". It has far more details than before but it still is somewhat vague for several conditions. I now qualify under their clarification on Cancer. Not that it matters as basically anyone can get a booster if they're willing to lie at the Pharmacy.

People with Certain Medical Conditions

What you can do if you are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

www.cdc.gov

 

[44267547]

Let's hope the downward trend continues! The last few days have been better in Wisconsin.

There’s not much of a downward trend in Wisconsin at all. There’s over 25 counties that are in critical condition, two of which, do not have any ICU capacity. My wife traveled out of our state to a ‘card-2-health’ conference this last week in Green Bay. One of the regional hospital CEO’s, Dr. Iman Andrabi, said in the conference that he’s having actually having to reach out externally to other states for assistance, which is something he hasn’t had to do during the entire pandemic. He (Andrabi) commented that Wisconsin’s caseload has been spiking and has not plateaued or even shown signs that it’s significantly decreasing. Another local regional CEO/doctor that attended the conference, Dr. Ashok Rai, said that East Wisconsin has only grown in cases, as has not seen a decrease since August, Green Bay specifically.

If you look at Wisconsin’s H&H website, it will show you specifically the spike since the first week in September with no downward trend.

 

[Gregg2]

Correct. The trend has not turned down in Wisconsin. My post was noting that the last few days, or maybe only two days at that time, had fewer new cases. That is not a trend. And, sadly, after that post, the count was up again.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I'm just waiting for Moderna to be officially approved by the FDA and subsequently for them to then begin releasing vaccine for use as boosters......

I think Moderna's vaccine may get full FDA approval by the end of October 2021.

 

[Clix Pix]

I hope so -- early November would be a fine time for me to get my booster!

 

[Cave Man]

I hope so -- early November would be a fine time for me to get my booster!

I doubt there will be a booster approved for those who had the Moderna vaccine anytime soon. Certainly not as soon as the Pfizer vaccine.

 

[Clix Pix]

Many of us who were in the first cohort to receive the vaccine were given Moderna because at that time it was all that was available, and we are in the group which most needs the booster fairly soon.....

 

[Cave Man]

Many of us who were in the first cohort to receive the vaccine were given Moderna because at that time it was all that was available, and we are in the group which most needs the booster fairly soon.....

Thus far, the efficacy data suggests there is no need for a Moderna booster. Heck, if the goal is keeping people out of the hospital, there's no compelling evidence for Pfizer boosters, either.

 

[pshufd]

Thus far, the efficacy data suggests there is no need for a Moderna booster. Heck, if the goal is keeping people out of the hospital, there's no compelling evidence for Pfizer boosters, either.

I would have gotten the Moderna were it available and were I to know the efficacy numbers.

 

[44267547]

The part that I find most fascinating, is how much Delta still has a chokehold on the country and you hear nothing about the other variants (I.s-Mu, Lambda, ect.) In a strange way, I find it really unique how Delta is so dominating, and yet affects everybody so dynamically, and there’s no set trajectory or pattern of events of who it affects.

 

[poorcody]

Thus far, the efficacy data suggests there is no need for a Moderna booster. Heck, if the goal is keeping people out of the hospital, there's no compelling evidence for Pfizer boosters, either.

Moderna says COVID-19 vaccine protection wanes, makes case for booster

New data from Moderna Inc's large COVID-19 vaccine trial shows that the protection it offers wanes over time, supporting the case for booster doses, the company said in a news release on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

 

[Falhófnir]

The part that I find most fascinating, is how much Delta still has a chokehold on the country and you hear nothing about the other variants (I.s-Mu, Lambda, ect.) In a strange way, I find it really unique how Delta is so dominating, and yet affects everybody so dynamically, and there’s no set trajectory or pattern of events of who it affects.

A while back it was floated Delta might be about as infectious as this virus can get without severely compromising in other ways, if that is true, the Delta will continue to outcompete (and suppress) all other variants unless one comes along that is better at circulating among vaccinated individuals, where Delta can't get a secure foothold.

 

[44267547]

A while back it was floated Delta might be about as infectious as this virus can get without severely compromising in other ways, if that is true, the Delta will continue to outcompete (and suppress) all other variants unless one comes along that is better at circulating among vaccinated individuals, where Delta can't get a secure foothold.

That makes sense and seems likely. It’s been discussed Delta will likely start to weaken over the course of time, showing minor cold symptoms. I’m not saying that’s not a reason to not become vaccinated or anything of that matter, but more or less; become far less dangerous than how it has been.