Called another local independent pharmacy for 2nd booster and had no trouble scheduling it. I might otherwise be waiting, but pending family health issues are impacting the amount of protection that makes sense.
I made my husband an appointment 2 1/2 hours from now, so I will post about whether he has any difficulty or not. Since he doesnāt have a spleen, he was allowed to get the first booster all the way back in September, so I want him to have extra protection now.
well GA did a backlog datadump today. so now it looks like cases are soaring when they are not.
NOTE: The COVID-19 Daily Status Report will reflect more than 9,600 newly reported cases (PCR positive and antigen positive combined). Please be advised this number includes a backlog of cases that were not previously reported by a large laboratory. The majority of these are from January 2022 during the peak of the Omicron surge. When accounting for the backlog of positive test results, the number of recent case reports and PCR percent positive is consistent with the previous weekās report and does not indicate a true increase in case numbers or percent positivity.
I have always assumed that the death rate was one of the considerations before a shift to an endemic period. But I have never seen what factors are used to categorized moving to an endemic period.
Endemic just means that it is regularly found in the area or community, similar to how measles, smallpox, polio, etc. were before mass vaccination with highly effective vaccines against infection by those viruses.
Given that current COVID-19 vaccines do not have a high enough effectiveness against infection and transmission, prior infection has a similar level of effectiveness (i.e. not enough), and there are still many vaccine refusers, COVID-19 will be endemic in the US for the forseeable future. If future vaccines reach the level of effectiveness that the measles vaccine has, then vaccine refusal will probably still allow COVID-19 to be endemic, although at lower levels, and vaccinated people will have less to worry about.
If vaccine refusal spreads to other vaccines like measles, then measles and other diseases could once again become endemic.
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757 deaths reported yesterday in the US
My husband just got his second booster at CVS with no difficulty. They didnāt even make him wait at all afterwards.
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I got my booster back in mid-December. I got a mild case of Omicron in the later half of February. I feel extremely protected against BA.2. I donāt think Iāll be looking for a booster anytime soon.
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Had the Pfizer booster before thanksgiving. Checked antibody level at 3 weeks post and 2 months post. And just again yesterday. My levels are considered high and thereās been a less than 10% drop since the 2 month check.
Sitting this one out.
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I just made my 2nd booster appt for Saturday. Have only had Pfizer till now, but only Moderna being offered in my area for the next 2 weeks, which is how far out I looked so I will be getting that. The closest CVS that offered Pfizer is only 3 miles away, but where I live thatās way to far. I had no reactions to Pfizer, so hoping that is true for Moderna as well.
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I will get a booster every time they authorize one.
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I had almost no reaction to Moderna which was my booster, having had Pfizer for the first 2 doses.
Unless you are worried about possible bad reactions, there is some evidence that mixing vaccines can help your immunity rate.
I have my yearly physical tomorrow. Iāll ask about a booster, I havenāt been particularly worried about getting another booster.
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Seems like mixing Pfizer and Moderna would not do much here, since they are basically similar, other than Modernaās larger dose. Mixing [Pfizer and/or Moderna] and J&J (or any other non-mRNA vaccine, such as some available in other countries) may have more of this effect.
This study, showing key differences between the two mRNA vaccines, has prompted some docs (including Eric Topol) to recommend getting a different booster than oneās first two or three shots. As always, ask your doctor what is best for you.
real-world vaccine efficacy has begun to show differences across the two approved mRNA platforms, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273; these findings suggest that subtle variation in immune responses induced by the BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccines may confer differential protection.
differences emerged across epitope-specific responses, with higher concentrations of receptor binding domain (RBD)- and N-terminal domain-specific IgA observed in recipients of mRNA-1273. Antibodies eliciting neutrophil phagocytosis and natural killer cell activation were also increased in mRNA-1273 vaccine recipients as compared to BNT162b2 recipients. RBD-specific antibody depletion highlighted the different roles of non-RBD-specific antibody effector functions induced across the mRNA vaccines.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.abm2311
Eric Topol twitter thread on this study:
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Daughter and SIL who are both physicians have signed off on it. Iām hoping the mixture helps, I am the full time caregiver for my 3 month old grandson.
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<<< We are clearly in a lull right now. Because antibodies wane, should I wait for the next wave and/or for fall?
A fourth dose can certainly be delayed. But there are a few challenges with this:
- Timing is difficult. I would caution against trying to time a booster right before a wave. Like Dr. Bob Watcher said, it would be like trying to time the stock market. We know that this virus continues to mutate and a variant of concern could pop up. We also know that boosters take time to work to their full potential. Finding a timing sweet spot of boosting before a wave is possible, but potentially risky with not much added benefit.
- Uncertain future. The current booster debate eerily reminds me of the booster debate last fall. Many scientists and clinicians said there wasnāt enough evidence for boosters. I even said: āIām not convinced that I (a healthy, young person) needs it (ā¦) but I will stand in line come September if itās recommended.ā But, boy, were we lucky to have boosters before Omicron arrived. Just like with last fall, we donāt know what the future holds. But we can prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
- Next move after delaying. We will likely have a fall/winter wave given that coronaviruses thrive in winter. Iām hopeful that fourth dose boosters will be durable. If not, we may need another booster or an updated vaccine formula before winter. If you delay a fourth dose now, what should you do then? Thereās considerable benefit to sticking to the recommended CDC schedule. The science and future recommendations wonāt be following any other timeline. If you go rogue, future decisions may be difficult to navigate.
Do I need a booster if I was infected with Omicron?
If you had the first booster and a confirmed Omicron infection (i.e. positive antigen test or PCR test), thereās really very little need to get a fourth dose. Vaccine + infection is called āhybrid immunityā and over 20 studies have shown this works fantastic due to complimentary and broad protection: Vaccine immunity targets the spike protein and infection-induced immunity targets the whole virus. This doesnāt mean you should purposefully get COVID19, but we need to recognize this as a viable path to protection.>>>
@MaineLonghorn - just to be clear - a fourth dose means a second booster? (for me: pfizer full course w- 2 shots spring 2021; then a pfizer booster - 1 shot - in the fall 2021. ) so the fourth dose is a second booster? ā thx.
I had a J&J shot first and then before a trip to Europe I got a full Moderna shot (guidance wasnāt out yet for J&J recipients) and then the pharmacy just signed me up for a second M shot, so I took it. Do I go for P in the next phase?
Iām currently in London, which is a bit like Florida: They are just pretending Covid no longer exits. No masks, no checking of vaccinations, no testing before group meetings etc. Lots of folks with Covid.
Yes, thatās correct. True for Moderna and Pfizer. I havenāt kept up with recommendations for J&J since I didnāt take it.
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The data for mixing mRNA vaccines was out a while ago, which is why I got a Pfizer booster (after Moderna primary series) back in October. So what to do for this 4th dose? Iām thinking Iāll get another Pfizer booster, so that will make it 2-2. Iām not ready to run out and get it yet, though ā have a family event this summer, so Iād really like to have whatever protection this booster will confer closer to that event.