May be of interest here… a study indicating that vaccination substantially reduces the risk of long COVID (conditional on getting infected in the first place, which itself is less likely after vaccination): Inside Medicine. What Are You Seeing? [COVID-19 medical news] - #5617 by ucbalumnus with link to Association Between BNT162b2 Vaccination and Long COVID After Infections Not Requiring Hospitalization in Health Care Workers | Vaccination | JAMA | JAMA Network
All the time I hear my neighbors saying that they’ve been exposed to covid. Or they’ve been around a lot of people but haven’t caught covid yet.
I think that we still don’t know that much about this disease to know how we are transmitting it. Some times it spreads so easy and other times a person exposed never gets it.
The one thing I don’t think we can do is think that we are the very few that can’t get covid no matter how much we are exposed. Be complacent
I have been in Amsterdam for a week now and to see how the Dutch are living has been surprising. I haven’t seen a mask at my hotel, at work (office even had an indoor mixer after work with 100+ employees today) , or eating out in the last 2 days and they are living a completely pre-pandemic lifestyle here. But they also have had a much lower toll recently (averaging 1 death a day and have about 30 people in ICU daily in a country a little more than 1/20th the size of the US population). This is despite the Netherlands having a similar fully vaccination population (less than 1% difference) to the US.
The population in the Netherlands seem to live a healthier lifestyle in general to Americans (lower amounts of obesity from what I have seen with people walking and biking everywhere), but I hope that the numbers in the states are trending in the same direction since we have been a few months behind Western European Covid trends. I am just excited to see that returning to “normal” is even possible.
They also have universal health care and fewer people in poverty. That could lead to:
- Fewer people with uncontrolled comorbidities that increase the risk of severe COVID-19.
- Fewer people with severe COVID-19 hesitating to seek medical treatment early and waiting until it becomes an emergency room situation.
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I have also come to a similar conclusion that Universal Health care is probably having an effect on Dutch Covid outcomes. I have been waiting to see a study on Covid deaths and hospitalizations based on socio-economic status (since it ties directly to health care access in the US) because I believe that could be affecting outcomes as much as all other factors besides age and vaccination status.
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What’s the latest thought on the “mix and match” pfizer/Moderna for the bivalent shot?
Obesity, a significant factor in covid deaths, in the Netherlands nearly half (20%) of that of the US (37%), and that has little to do with national health care (frappucinos, on the other hand…)
Or, looked at another way, the US is 3rd worst in covid deaths (317/100k), and teh United Kingdom – home of the National Heatlh Service for more than a generation – is 6th worst (303/100k). Italy, which also has national health program is not far behind.
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There is also the poverty rate. US > UK and Italy > Netherlands.
Pfizer and Moderna will each offer a bivalent shot, so (in the US) you can get either a Pfizer shot with both ancestral and BA.5 mRNA, or a Moderna shot with both ancestral and BA.5 mRNA. No mixing or matching needed.
Oh, I totally agree. They are definitely a healthier more active population in general. But their Covid data on serious outcomes is multiples better than the US, so I think that their are several factors.
Around NYC area, Appts are available for Moderna, but not for Pfizer yet. I heard Moderna has “stronger” dosage. I wonder if that’s the case.
| Bivalent vaccine | mRNA ancestral virus | mRNA BA.4/BA.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Moderna | 25µg | 25µg |
| Pfizer | 15µg | 15µg |
I guess the question is if it is better to get more or less?
I was able to sign up for either new booster (I’m sticking with Pfizer) starting next Wednesday in metro Atlanta area despite being under 50 years of age. I am slightly surprised to see no initial restrictions to availability.
Some previous studies have suggested that immune responses from Moderna shots have been stronger than for Pfizer shots, probably due to the larger amounts of mRNA in the Moderna shots (100µg or 50µg versus 30µg in the adult shots).
However, YLE says: “my official recommendation is to just get the vaccine that is most easily accessible”, but also says “There is one case in which I think it does matter: If you’re a male and under the age of 30, your risk of myocarditis is higher. I would go for a Pfizer, as it has less RNA than the Moderna vaccine and will theoretically decrease risk.” (That page also has her recommendations on timing, based on your most recent previous vaccination or infection.)
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Unable to find a bivalent appt in NorCal or SoCal, but perhaps I’m need to try other zip codes?
I think the stores are not all setting up many if any appointments until they get the supply. CVS isn’t making appointments available yet; Walgreens had one spot about 25 miles away on September 13. I’m waiting until mid-October for mine - six months after my second booster and two weeks before brother and wife stop to visit after their Hawaii vacation.
The County of San Diego anticipates receiving the new COVID-19 bivalent boosters early next week and beginning vaccinations shortly thereafter.
Appointments are made available at CVS.com and via the CVS Pharmacy app as doses are received.
Walgreens:
As inventory of the updated booster arrives to our stores, additional appointments will be added daily. Schedule now for appointments beginning next week.
Son in Seattle was notified that UW Medicine will accept waiting list names for the “fall booster” as of September 7.
Both CVS and Walgreens are taking appts for Moderna around NYC area. I am not seeing any for Pfizer yet.
I had way worse side-effects with my Moderna primary series than I did with my Pfizer booster, so I am sticking with Pfizer when I decide to have another booster. However, the few people I know who still haven’t had COVID (including me) mostly had Moderna as their primary series so there may be some validity to it being more protective. Question though (and I’ll go look it up) is this now double the RNA in the original shots since it’s two strains? Ugh.
Responding to myself - for those who are interested/worried - it appears that each strain is half the original dose (so the original Pfizer boosters were 30 mcg, and they remain the same, but with 15 mcg of each strain).
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