Not necessarily all the time. A nurse usually takes some vitals, asks a few questions, and then leaves and closes the door. Until the doctor comes in, that patient can be on her own in the closed room for quite some time. I noticed that in my clinic they posted large signs saying “keep your mask on all the time!”
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You don’t get taken from the waiting room to an exam room.and sit there waiting for the doctor for 30+ minutes and then another 15-30 min if you wait for results (flu, strep) ? I’ve waited in many such rooms for 60-90 minutes or more. And I talk to a doctor or nurse for 5-15 min Or is it just in our area?
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This is exactly what I’ve been saying. People think they are being careful, but really, they are not. All those stories in the news about people who were being SO careful - they only ate out once a week in restaurants, they only went to large indoor unmasked parties with their 30 best friends, they only had one family member who worked in a nursing home prior to vaccination, etc.
But at this point, it really doesn’t matter, because for virtually everyone who is vaccinated and boosted, it’s just a mild cold. I recently saw a pie chart of who is in the hospital now with Covid. If I recall correctly, about two thirds of patients hospitalized with Covid are totally unimmunized. Maybe 30 percent had had only one dose, or had the initial two dose sequence. And fewer than 3% had had both the initial sequence and a booster, and yet wound up hospitalized for Covid. And they didn’t mention whether that 3% had all received the booster dose over two weeks prior to infection.
So for all of us who are boosted, relax, just mask and glove or sanitize hands when going into public indoor spaces, stay out of them as much as possible, and remember that ANYONE can be infected, so avoid socializing indoors if at all possible. And if it’s not possible, remember that it will likely only be a mild cold for you and your household, assuming all are vaxxed and boosted. It’s just inevitable that most of us are going to get Omicron.
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My infrequent experience is that waiting in the exam room was at most 5-10 minutes before staff comes in. Probably because they do not want to consume exam rooms with patients who are just waiting (which they can do in waiting areas).
Along the lines of the title of the thread… not a good idea to isolate your kid with Covid in the trunk of the car while taking him to the testing site. 
Waiting room? Around here, the waiting room is now in your car…again.
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This is great but it only works if the parking lot is near the clinic and there is cell signal there. Our urban clinics are generally located in large medical complexes with multi-level garages with concrete walls that block cell signals, and some people walk or even take the bus to get there.
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Whenever I hear “it will only be a cold,” I think about my youngest daughter who was vaccinated for chickenpox but got it 3 years later. Every medical person I talked to assumed it would be a minor case but it wasn’t. I stopped counting pustules at 100. Then 25 years later she had a nasty case of shingles. No, that’s not typical for that virus but certainly possible in an otherwise healthy person. This is a novel virus. We have no idea what it might do after hanging around in a body for years. I try not to be overly anxious about it, but really we don’t know what we don’t know and cheerful “it’s all fine, it’s only a cold” talk may end up being true. Or not.
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You’re vastly overestimating the number of people who are significantly vulnerable because of immunosuppression, but you’re right, of course people should continue to be cautious, even though they are vaxxed and boosted. Of course they should. You’re so right. But the reality is, they’re not. They’re going ahead with their lives. And virtually all of them will be fine.
Yes, the risk of long Covid is lower in those who were vaxxed and boosted before they caught it. But yes, anyone who wants to avoid any risk of Covid sequelae should of course take every possible precaution to avoid contracting it. You’re right. You’re absolutely right.
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Actually, that’s the reason that a second dose of the varicella vaccine was added. And a second dose of the MMR, too. All three of my kids had mild breakthrough cases of varicella after having had only one dose.
As for shingles, I’ve seen it in children who had had two doses of the varicella vaccine. The vaccine strain can lead to shingles too (although it’s very rare).
I’m not advocating for anyone declining the vaccine or the booster. I’m not advocating for people to behave recklessly. What I’m trying to convey is that with the way that Omicron is ripping through our population currently, anyone who doesn’t strictly isolate IS going to get it, and as long as they’re vaccinated and boosted, and don’t have some other obvious special exception that someone can point out (“But what about THESE people? Huh? You forgot THEM! You made a mistake! You made a mistake!”), they will most probably be asymptomatic or have just a mild cold, and be fine.
This is how life is. It’s safer to stay home than to drive - but most of us do drive or ride in cars, because the benefits outweigh the risks. But for those who say that it’s too dangerous to ride in a car, that’s their choice. Most people are choosing to go about their lives - hopefully vaxxed, boosted, appropriately masked, appropriately avoiding large unmasked gatherings, but unfortunately, in many parts of the country, without any of those precautions. Some have special vulnerabilities, and strictly isolate. Some have become disabled with anxiety, totally out of proportion to their risk. But for those of us who have taken and continue to take the appropriate precautions, there is very little reason to fear, at this point.
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The risk of long COVID is much lower, not much greater, in breakthrough infections of vaccinated people than in unvaccinated people, according to that study.
There is one guy at my work who is vaxxed and boosted. Mid 40’s in good shape ( slim, no asthma) who has COVID manifesting as a bad flu. No danger of hospitalization but feels pretty terrible. He’s more careful than most people I know. Interestingly this guy gets “ breakthrough “ flu in many years…is often out for a week plus. I’m wondering if there is some correlation.
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@maya54 That’s what concerns me, DH gets illnesses way less often than I do, and gets them for a day or two, and not very severe. Me, I get colds that end up with coughs lasting 8-12 weeks, I get sick more easily and more severely and for a longer time than DH. I didn’t really realize it until we married and I saw it in action. I am more puny, which is quite annoying.
I also had a long lasting (7-8 months) adverse reaction to the vaccine so have not yet determined, with my PCP, the appropriate booster set up. Some people are more prone to getting sicker.
And I believe what one poster said above is that even Covid-positive mild or asymptomatic people today could have problems down the road.
Once again someone using the “fear” word for anyone who perceives the situation as slightly more concerning than they do. I’m fairly cautious, in part because I can be, but there is no fear, there is no disability anxiety. I’m just pointing out that you don’t know the future outcome of being infected. I hope you are right that it’s just a cold with no long-term impacts. I’m hoping the folks who are saying things will be much better by late February are right. But no one knows at this point in time. Including you. I’m not accusing you of being reckless. Possibly of being a bit overconfident about unknowns and about what is appropriate. Don’t accuse me of being fearful or anxious.
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Delete wrong thread!
“Most people are choosing to go about their lives” (vaxed and boosted)……hmmm… not in my world, not in my family. SOME are, most people in my circle are not going about their lives similar to pre-Covid. My goal is going to work, fullfilling work responsibilities, securing needed items for our home lives and then being outside as much as possible. No other real outside the home entertainment. No eating out in person. No concerts, plays, large gatherings at all.
I don’t live in fear - but I don’t desire to get even a “little” sick. Missing work for a week for me means all that I missed is waiting for me the minute I get back, no one else to do my job for me. I’m not doing any store “browsing” trips - only entering a store for necessities.
I’d rather have more freedom - but my stance stands - if this is what I have to do to get us all more freedom eventually, I’m going to keep on keeping on.
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Yup, I have been a hermit. I have not enjoyed it but am glad not to be a vector to get my vulnerable 92 year old mom ill, nor my nearly 80 year old male loved one nor my infant great relatives too young to VAX. I’m doing my best but would really like folks to be vaxed, boosted and masked to keep our hospitals available for folks who need it.
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And there is no data as of now if you can get any variant multiple times. The measles vax seems to work really well, and most never get the measles. Most who had the measles don’t get them a second time, although it is possible. Most who are vaxxed for chickenpox don’t get it, but some do, and some get it more than once.
For covid, there is no guarantee that those who are vaxxed, or get Alpha, or Delta, won’t get Omicron. Or those who get Omicron won’t get it again. There is also no way to tell if someone who tests positive for Omicron didn’t have it before but was asymptomatic and never knew he had it, so is now getting it for a second or third time.