The Oscar Slap thread has done much to highlight a condition known as alopecia. This brought to mind that there is yet another reason to want to avoid a Covid infection.
Since H and I had both of the original vaccines and then our booster in late November and Omicron in January we are waiting before getting a second booster shot.
Had my annual physical today. My PCP recommended I have a booster, I had my first booster middle of November.
Had moderna since thatās what they had. So 2 Pfizer, 2 moderna. I figure if nothing else, if thereās a shortage Iāve received mine.
1 Like
That makes sense, from reading the article. Thatās what the epidemiologist recommends.
1 Like
We are starting to sound like baseball scores! Pfizer, 2 Moderna, 2. LOL. 
7 Likes
Iāve had my 3, got them all as soon as I possibly could! Last one (the booster) was in November. And I am very open to a 4th (I am over fifty, but just barely of course 
). But this time Iām less confident about the timing. I thought Iād be skipping off to the pharmacy as soon as I was eligible, like in the past. But cases are relatively low where I live, and Iām considering waiting until there are signs of a real surge. Iām not sure I want to get one now, and then go into a summer with barely any cases/risk, but then have cases rise in the fall (for example), and be stuck with an old, waned, 4th shot from the spring. I also feel like where I live, we are going into the season where a lot of activity occurs outdoors, further decreasing risk. I wish I knew if they were going to recommend a booster approximately every 6 months, or what. I donāt want to āwasteā my booster during a period of low transmission. But maybe weāll just keep getting them every 6 months and it doesnāt matter? Is there anyone else who is perfectly pro-vaccine, but questioning the timing of their 4th shot?
2 Likes
The epidemiologist in the article I posted advised against waiting. Iāve followed her all through the pandemic and trust her advice.
1 Like
LOL I missed a whole bunch of posts talking about the same topic I brought up. Sorry, my website didnāt update for some reason ;-).
1 Like
Weāre waiting a little bit, but thatās to time the most effective part of the protection for our trip with FIL. Heās the one weāre the most worried about if he were to get it, but not worried so much that we wonāt take the trip with him, because at 94, I donāt know how much time heāll have left to be able to take such a trip.
Our motto has always been weād rather truly live and die young than grow into old age and have done absolutely nothing.
Even so, we still wear seatbelts, donāt use phones while we drive, and will be getting boosters for extra precaution.
2 Likes
Yeah, I was waffling, but my husband who is a biologist, but nothing to do with viruses was gungho. The med school where he works just strongly suggested everyone go back to wearing masks. Iām hoping that the next shot I get will actually work on whatever the new variant is.
I think it definitely depends on your location and upcoming plans (along with the usual age/health stuff). We donāt have any exciting plans coming up. Our summer vacation will be visiting our kids in a highly vaxād area. And my local area seems to be a good 2-4 weeks behind the rest of the country. We are just now finally coming down to low levels from omicron 1.0! We will likely be a few weeks behind everyone for the 2.0 surge. Not to mention Iām a few months shy of 50 anyway, so itās moot for me. But H isnāt in a hurry either at this point. Of course that could change at any time.
I got my 4th shot few weeks ago - 3 full Modernaās and 1 Pfizer
My company announced a week ago that we are to go back 3 days a week. I requested for a permanent office in anticipation. Today they told me that we have just gone to āredā again, which means no going to the office unless absolutely necessary.
Regarding Long Covid, here is a column by a thoughtful public health person:
1 Like
The summary is that, although vaccination reduces the risk of getting COVID-19 and the risk of getting long COVID if one gets COVID-19, there is not enough known about the risk so that there is still considerable guessing when trying to assess risk of long COVID and where that fits into oneās personal risk tolerance and what one can personally do regarding it.
where are things āredā again? sigh.
My favorite part of the article: I think she boiled the decision down to each personās individual risk tolerance, which is my own stance and that both examples (someone taking more precautions and someone who accepts the risks with the protection provided by vaccines) given by Dr. Wen are presented as reasonable decisions as we continue to look for therapeutics to help treat or prevent Long Covid symptoms.
4 Likes
Nyc. We are usually a leading indicator.
I am really curious as to why someone would not get a Covid qualitative antibody test before running towards the 4th jab (with a 5th already in the rumbling)?
Wouldnāt you want to know if your antibodies are currently in the high zone? Did anyone test their levels before the third shot and then after to see if you had an immune response.
My before #3 were 1.75 (an no one was willing to say what that meant)ā¦ Same test after #4 and the level was #150 (high)ā¦ Now itās #135 (still high). What possible reason would there be for someone in my position to take a fourth jab without underling information on Just because the odometer read 60+ means this is a good thing for My.Own.Body?
Aside from a few states you can order your own antibody test. In CA via Quest labs it runs you $75. If you get a doc to issue the order the negotiated rate is much less.
I figure I am worth $75 to see where my body is at before charging full speed ahead towards something that is recommended for the norm/median/ average based on age. Which is such a funny cut off. So a 49 year old is safe, but a 51 year old had better run at whatever speed their old body allows - to get yet another jab - for a variant that is no longer in circulation.
Reminds me of the sayingā¦āthey jumped on their horses and rode off wildly in all directionsā
PSā¦if your antibodies are high based on a homogenous previous vaccination routine, wouldnāt you want to add something different. And if your antibodies are low based on a previous homogeneous protocolā¦maybe you donāt respond to that particular vaccineā¦and againā¦wouldnāt want to know and make an informed decision to MAYBE take a different type?
5 Likes
Because itās only one part of the immune response. Other parts, such as T cells, need to work as well.
6 Likes
Nope, Iām good. Perfectly happy to get the booster ASAP.
4 Likes