Sounds like you will be able to get a booster if you want one.
“The biggest gray area now is for people ages 18 to 49, doctors say. “That is definitely the group that probably needs to have the most counseling and probably we need to take a closer look at what their individual risk is,” says Dr. Morris.
In that group, doctors say it’s important to look at occupation, where people live and work, who they are commonly exposed to, and their health. Dr. Morris says she has a healthy patient in that age bracket who cares for her mother who is severely immunocompromised. She wanted a booster earlier this week but Dr. Morris told her to hold off; now, she says she’d recommend that the patient get one.
Cameron Wolfe, associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Duke University health system, says the guidelines give doctors a lot of flexibility for 18- to 49-year-olds. “We’re going to use this in a fairly permissive fashion. If someone is interested and tolerated the first two doses and it’s been six months, I think this is open,” he says. (emphasis added by me)
Some of the questions to consider, he says: “What sort of work do you do? Who’s at home with you who might be at higher risk? Can you afford a couple of weeks off if you get sick? How did you tolerate the first two doses? Have you had Covid before?” “
We were still on the fence, but reading that recommendation and knowing how much time we spend with FIL, we’ll be getting boosters in early Oct - right as we reach 6 months.
FIL had Moderna, but his doctor might not wait for him. At 93 with heart issues and one lung, I can understand not wanting to wait - esp if no harm has been being seen with a third dose.
Both my mother and I got our Moderna booster shot. My mother was very weary of getting the third shot because she had long reactions to the second shot. Her doctor did a COVID antibody test on my low and thought it was low, so she wrote a note for my mom to get a booster.
Neither one of us had much of a reaction. I had the slightest fever, with very sore arm, and was told by my colleagues that I was cranky the day after.
So today I read that there are now more ways to lie and get a shot out of turn. People can claim any of the conditions on the list, claim to be over 65, or claim to work in health care or other front line jobs. The whole system is on an “honor code” which is a joke.
It’s pretty much what happened with the first round of vaccines, when people were claiming to be smokers, have asthma, diabetes, COPD etc…. The key difference this time is that there’s plenty of vaccines available. I wonder if states will set up mass vaccination sites again or if this roll out will be more akin to flu shots because not everyone may want a booster.
I think you are correct that not everyone will want a booster. I’m not feeling the pressure now that I did in the winter when they were first starting the rollouts. Even my husband who is over 65 and has a heart condition isn’t running out to get one. Covid is trending down again in many places and I think that a lot of people are feeling adequately protected with the shots they already have.
The only people who truly cannot get a booster shot are the 16 and 17 year-olds, who were authorized to get the Pfizer vaccine from the beginning. All the eligible people are 18 & older for the boosters. Someone asked about this in Thursday’s CDC ACIP committee meeting, and the response was that the FDA only approved 18 & above.
“One group that did not make the cut was 16 and 17 year olds. Pfizer had applied for the booster for everyone 16 years of age and up, but did not provide any data to support the safety of a third shot in anyone under 18. The FDA’s advisory committee objected strenuously to their inclusion and the authorization for the booster is for people 18 and older.”
Likely because of the cardiac risk in teens with both the MRNA vaccines. I expect agencies and the manufacturers are still sorting thru data, but this pre-print is concerning:
Results: A total of 257 CAEs were identified. Rates per million following dose 2 among males
were 162.2 (ages 12-15) and 94.0 (ages 16-17); among females, rates were 13.0 and 13.4 per
3 million, respectively. For boys 12-15 without medical comorbidities receiving their second
mRNA vaccination dose, the rate of CAE is 3.7 to 6.1 times higher than their 120-day COVID-
19 hospitalization risk as of August 21, 2021 (7-day hospitalizations 1.5/100k population) and
2.6-4.3-fold higher at times of high weekly hospitalization risk (7-day hospitalizations 2.1/100k), such as during January 2021. For boys 16-17 without medical comorbidities, the rate of CAE is currently 2.1 to 3.5 times higher than their 120-day COVID-19 hospitalization risk, and 1.5 to 2.5 times higher at times of high weekly COVID-19 hospitalization.
Not everyone wants to get a booster. My DH and I just had this discussion yesterday and decided to wait and see on getting a booster when eligible. It’s not the same situation as it was a year ago. There’s plenty of vaccine available so if anyone wants a booster and wants to lie I have absolutely no problem with it. What I do have a problem with is the vaccine police who shame people who want to bend the rules in order to get vaccine, which we have plenty of available now, just because .
I’m not as antsy as I was. H and I are 7 months out today. He’s been exposed and did ok last month. We both also had Moderna. So for right now I’m ok waiting another month or closer to the holidays.
Now I’m trying to figure about how to time the flu shots. Normally we go mid end of October so it’s fully effective November through end of February. Our flu season is usually worst between mid January and early March. But this year they say it might be earlier. I’m going to try to hold off until mid October but we will see. I guess it is already almost October so maybe I can hold out and come get the flu in the mean time.
Don’t worry about this preprint. It never survived peer review. Multiple additional studies and review have pointed out the problems. I’ve attached some.
So what? There is no shortage. It’s really just getting it before it is recommended by whichever government agency you choose to believe at this point- or the White House! If someone decides they want to get the booster, it shouldn’t matter a hoot to anyone else if they check a box that lets them get it.
There are so many articles from reputable sources (NPR for example) with the point of view I am expressing that any of you can google, so I won’t further inflame by posting. It isn’t just a matter of ethics but public health as well.