This is a personal thing. For many (most?) people it is a big deal. Why do you think so many have been quick to abandon them as soon as it was allowed? It’s going to take a lot to get people to put the masks back on.
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We need better masks in this country. I wear mostly old surgical masks from work. If we can wear them multiple times at work when caring for actual Covid patients (back in the days of shortages), I certainly can wear them till soiled in my non work life.
Fabric masks feel more restrictive for the most part. I had access to a few Taiwanese paper masks and those were the most comfortable yet. If a well made mask, I wear them all day as I still do at work and is no big deal. This country needs to step up the manufacturing. I will continue to wear masks in low vaccination areas till this thing is gone. It may be years at this rate.
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The definition of hot spot seems to produce some odd results.
For example in Texas, Dallas County, with 4 new cases per day per 100,000 population is a “hot spot”, while Willacy County, with 37 new cases per day per 100,000 population, is merely “emerging”.
Agreed! That’s the CDC for you 
.
their broad brush of county level data is also suspect. For example, Orange County (CA) shows up on their map as a hot spot. Yet, The OC has a 70% vaccination rate (at least one dose) with much of the County fully vaccinated ~80%; some OC zip codes are in the high 80’s. OTOH, the poorer zip codes of the county are below 50%. Clearly, those are potential hot spots for the Delta variant; the rest of the county, not so much.
Moderna describes vaccine-induced antibody neutralization response to several variants of COVID-19, based on sera from 8 vaccinated individuals.
https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-provides-clinical-update-neutralizing-activity-its-covid
Note that this is similar to what J&J - Janssen described (linked in post #3205).
Summary of neutralization reduction (N-fold) compared to ancestral variant (higher number = greater reduction in neutralization = greater risk of vaccine being less effective):
| Variant | Greek Letter | Moderna | J&J - Jannsen |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.1.1.7 | Alpha | ~1 | 0.9 |
| B.1.351 | Beta | 7.3-8.4 | 3.6 |
| P.1 | Gamma | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| B.1.617.2 | Delta | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| B.1.525 | Eta | 4.2 | |
| B.1.617.1 | Kappa | 3.3-3.4 | |
| A.23.1 | ~1 | ||
| A.VOI.V2 | 8.0 | ||
| B.1.617 | 1.5 | ||
| P.2 | 2.2 |
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Page about immune system misfunction and how that affects COVID-19 severity.
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That was a very interesting read. I hope they really can figure out some good treatments to counter the body’s response, for Covid, the flu, and other things.
I’m really glad people far more knowledgeable than I am have devoted their lives to understanding and delving into these things.
Thanks for posting it.
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Fascinating article, thank you. Full of hard science but written for non-immunologists.
It did make me so frustrated with those who believe in the superiority of the body’s own immune response over vaccines, and the ability of healthy living to combat disease. Clearly, our immune systems can go wrong in a multitude of ways. People who have antibodies that attack interferons or attack their own cells can not overcome this through exercise, sunshine and vitamins.
Of course it’s great to eat healthy and exercise, but just as that doesn’t prevent Type 1 diabetes or multiple sclerosis, it can’t keep people from dying of Covid if they have the wrong genetics.
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This is really fascinating.
I have a really dumb question. Why don’t the mRNA vaccines promote the same wacky antibody responses as the virus?
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Vaccines in general do not have exponentially replicating virus, so they are more like a one (or two or three) shot stimulus to the immune system, rather than a continuing stimulus to the immune system. So even if the immune system is misfunctioning, it will typically do so only for a short time with a vaccine, compared to with a virus that replicates exponentially, so the chance of such misfunctioning causing serious problems is much lower with vaccines than real virus (though not necessarily zero).
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Thanks, this make sense.
The brain effects of SARS-Cov-2 scare the daylights out of me and it is really interesting to read the reasons why it is happening.
This is also the theory I saw proposed for the thought that some who had bad side effects from the vaxes might have had really bad effects from Covid. As far as I know, it’s just a theory, but it made sense when I read it. Still does.
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The FDA accepted Pfizer’s BLA submission today for priority review of their covid vaccine (ages 16+). FDA has until Jan 2022 to decide, but Janet Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner, said this today:
While the FDA must make its decision by January, it’s likely to come much sooner, acting FDA commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said. “…the review of this BLA has been ongoing, is among the highest priorities of the agency, and the agency intends to complete the review far in advance of the … Goal Date,” Woodcock tweeted.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/health/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-fda-priority-review/index.html
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Getting that approval may help some get over their reluctance. I have no idea why it’s taking this long. I saw an interview with Fauci where he repeatedly mentioned “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s”. Really?
Caution due to blowback from Aduhelm approval? That’s my uneducated guess.
Pfizer submitted the full package in early May…not sure I would say this is taking long, at all. FDA personnel are basically working 24/7 on these vaccine filings.
Regardless, the sooner the better…i agree it will help some get over their reluctance, plus there will be a flood of companies and schools requiring the vaccine once fully approved.
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