I was boosted late December, my wife a few weeks earlier. We caught Omicron early to mid February. These vaccines weren’t necessarily meant to stop infection just to limit the severity. They weren’t even designed against Omicron or BA.2. The vaccines are doing their job. The reality is there’s some talk of negative immune response if we get too many boosters. Nothing is 100% effective. Many important people have contracted Covid recently. I’m sure they have been vaxxed, boosted and following the best protocols. Eventually Covid is hitting almost everyone, it’s just a matter of time.
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I also am concerned about over boosting! Hoping for more use of testing and treatments when the system is not overburdened. Once the system is overburdened those do not seem to be accessible for many.
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Sigh. It seems like every time I get my hopes up another variant pops up. It’s really taking a toll on me since DH is immunocompromised and we’ve had to be super careful for the past 2 years. And my workplace is dropping the mask mandate in a couple of weeks … just about when BA.2 is likely to be on the upswing here.
Logically, who should be concerned?
Patient care/ first responders?
Essential Store customer service staff?
Immunocompromised/ health concerned,
Unvaxxed children
Unboosted teens/adults
Unvaxxed who have not already had original, delta, omicron/ other variants?
Unvaxxed who refuse vax?
What level of concern is appropriate for recently boosted? Nothing more to do but mask in crowds.
Not super concerned, honestly – although that could change. My whole family was boosted in late December and we live in a town where 85%+ of people are vaccinated and boosted. Despite having several close contacts at school (yes, masked, but not N95) during the Omicron surge neither of my kids got it and no one in my immediate family has gotten any of the covid variants. There are very few covid cases in our community right now. Unfortunately, the old fashioned cold and the stomach flu have had a resurgence now that masks have been dropped.
To answer the main question, no I am not concerned.
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My husband and I waited until January to get boosted.
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Generally, the more medically vulnerable and more highly exposed (e.g. those who spend a lot of time in crowded indoor spaces for the jobs) should be more concerned.
The unvaccinated should be among the most concerned, but those voluntarily (not for medical reasons) unvaccinated are probably the least concerned in actuality.
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Where is this talk coming from?
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Several different places, here’s one. I’ll post it because it does speak about Omicron in regards to additional boosters and so with BA.2 it should be relevant to this thread.
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What is mentioned in the actual page seems more concerned that giving boosters at too small time intervals results in less of a boost, rather than making immune response worse than before boosters. The headline does not exactly match the text.
Of course, this small bit is what would really help:
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Nothing has been studied regarding Covid and frequent boosting but again there is some talk of concern out there regarding immune system . Studies have shown that a fourth dose might not be that helpful regarding Omicron and thus BA 2.
Nothing has been proven regarding immune system “exhaustion” but nothing has been proven to deny it either. This is a “novel” situation that we are certainly still learning more about.
“Along with citing a lack of data on the effectiveness of multiple booster doses, Cavaleri said that frequent boosting could potentially have a negative impact on immune response to COVID-19, causing “fatigue in the population” that’s received multiple shots.”
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My D is vaccinated and boosted. Tomorrow is going to be hard enough with decisions coming out and she had two exams …she has just tested positive. My husband is immuno-compromised and we live in a small space. He is supposed to get evusheld(?) next week….arghhh. Those home tests didn’t work. She did one yesterday morning and this morning…both negative. Felt sick enough to go have the antigen test. It is spreading super fast…keep your mask on!
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Nope, not concerned, and I’ve got a huge risk factor - an indolent B cell lymphoma (currently in remission after treatment with a med that temporarily killed all my B cells, but still smoldering lightly), also high blood pressure. I get a booster every 6 months, have had my titer tested intermittently (it’s sky high), wear a good mask when indoors in public places. and try to avoid risky settings, like bars. But I have at this point begun traveling again, and I eat in restaurants again, and see friends in small groups without masks, as long as they’re vaxxed and boosted. I’m pretty sure that with a high titer from vaccination, even if I do contract Covid, it will be mild. I think that as Paxlovid medication becomes more available, people will be at less risk of becoming seriously ill, IF they test promptly, and IF they can get hold of Paxlovid to start immediately after having tested positive.
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It is still very speculative and unlikely that boosting (for example) every four months would actually be harmful, as opposed to ineffective or less effective than desired. After all, plenty of people are probably getting “boosted” frequently by exposure to the actual virus (e.g. if they work in a high-exposure indoor situation), even if the virus volume at each exposure is too low to give them symptomatic illness.
Given what we know of current mRNA vaccines, which is that they mostly stimulate antibodies against the ancestral virus, but the antibodies decline to a lower level after a short time, additional boosters with them are not likely to be that useful, unless you get lucky and get one just before a wave of COVID-19 hits your area. A booster that is a closer match to the circulating variants would be more worthwhile, but the vaccine companies have not offered one yet. People who have had only mRNA vaccines may want to consider a J&J vaccine to stimulate more T-cell response.
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Hyperbole. It’s showing to be less severe but more transmissible than original omicron which was not severe. Too much trying to scare people into submission. The vaccine companies have admitted the vaccines don’t work on omicron and are creating a new vax for it. Won’t be necessary for most people as omicron is like a mild flu for most people- and is less lethal than most flu strains and past exposure to omicron is showing to provide great immunity. Only k-95 masks are effective in spread and are a good option for immuno-compromised individuals. K-95 mask wearing is not a good idea for the population at large for various reasons. Covid (omicron) is endemic now and will be around like all season colds and flus before it.
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Who’s doing the scaring?
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Well -the media for 24 hour news ratings for sure… and I’m sure many use it to their advantage. Fear has historically been used to control the masses and push various agendas.
PS I’m not anti vax
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Today I went to the senior center, most of the people playing bridges are pretty senior, one is 95, but the city has removed the mask mandate. This is the most vulnerable group and the city has been super careful. Everybody cheered for the first normal day. I went in with a mask for about 10 minutes then I took it off.
My mother’s assisted living still requires masks for residents, staff and visitors. And screens visitors at the front desk. I am there several days a week so that is still my experience with COVID precautions.
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