Good point. I meant more the CDC’s theatre of thinking their guidelines mean anything to most people anymore.
If someone doesn’t care if they get it, if they then happen to test and realize that they have it, they are hardly going to care if others get it (with possibly the exception of vulnerable loved ones). That’s where we are as a society now. You do you! in all aspects of covid-19, but don’t expect me to alter MY behavior.
I agree not many people pay attention to CDC guidelines, but did they ever? (I don’t know if it’s different today, and if I have some time will search for some data)
For example, many people have never cared much about getting and spreading flu (or annual CDC flu guidelines), and most don’t bother to get vaccinated every year (there has been an increase in flu vaccine rates during the pandemic, but for some people, the flu vax was mandated along with covid vaccine, eg., in colleges, long term care settings, etc.).
There does seem to have been a shift in the thinking of childhood vaccines in the US (and rest of world) during the pandemic, as vaccination rates for serious diseases, like measles, are down quite significantly. Nearly 40 million children are dangerously susceptible to growing measles threat
I also think the globalization of our world has impacted people’s willingness to take covid precautions. Even if a country like the US implemented stricter controls for masking, etc., the effect is blunted if other countries don’t. What’s happening in China right now is evidence of that (but they also made poor vaccine/vaccination decisions).
Global/public health is complicated, yet more simple when people think about those they live with, and their communities…one doesn’t really need any government guidelines or mandates to do that, but still, some don’t care at all.
I don’t think that the CDC staff thinks their guidelines will be seen as “law” with everyone. They probably best hope to convince/affect half the people to look at and follow guidelines.
Probably because:
From the CDC re: this year’s flu shot:
Updated estimates based on data collected in January 2023 are expected to be added on late February 2023. National coverage for all adults, including Puerto Rico, is 5.9 percentage points higher this season compared with the same time last season (45.9% compared with 40.0%)
BINGO—many equate flu with a bad cold. Actual flu hits you like a 2x4 upside the head! You have a fever (not a symptom of colds), you literally don’t have the energy to get out of bed. Actual flu can run for a week or more.
We get the flu shot every fall and are convinced that there are days when we feel lousy for a day and wonder if we got a mild case of the flu that the vaccine prevented from being full-blown.
And kills between 25K and 50K people in the US per year, primarily elderly, immuncompromised, and very young.
H and I have also gotten our flu shot every year in the fall for many years. I’ve told the story before of my next door neighbor who got H1N1 and was in a coma for 6 weeks and almost died. To this day he can’t work (he was a lawyer) or drive a car. He was in his late 40’s when he got sick.
We always gave each other the flu shot in our unit. One year they changed the policy and you had to go to employee health, several buildings away, to get it. I kept putting it off.
I got the flu. I had a 104 degree fever, excruciating bone pain, and developed pneumonia that lasted for weeks. I felt like I might die, and my case wasn’t really considered severe since I was able to recover from home.
I will never go without a flu shot again!
FDA pulls Evusheld from the market:
The FDA has stopped use of another drug as a result of the new coronavirus variants. On Thursday, the agency announced that AstraZeneca’s antibody combo Evusheld, which was an important prevention option for many immunocompromised people and others, is no longer authorized. The FDA said it made its decision based on the fact that Evusheld works on fewer than 10% of circulating variants.
I had the flu about 20 years ago as a healthy young person and it kicked my butt for the better part of a week. My athletic, 18 year old at the time, son had the flu in 2020. It put him down really hard for most of the week.
I have gotten the flu shot every year since my bout with it. I took care of my son during his recent illness and never got a symptom myself. I’ll continue to take the flu shot as I do not want the flu experience again.
As part of my annual blood work, my doctor checked for Covid antibodies. I am still at about the same level as last year. He said to wait on getting another booster. I had my last vaccine last September.
D2 had her first Covid few weeks ago. She didn’t test negative until 13 days after the first symptom. Whereas her BF, who had Covid before, tested negative in 5 days and had a very mild case. A friend of mine also tested negative 13 days and it was her first Covid. They were all fully vaccinated.
Last September was the most recent available (bivalent) booster?
In terms of time to negative test, it took me 13 days last year for a very mild case (like minor cold; symptoms gone around day 7). Had J,J,m (ancestral virus) vaccines, last one about 4 months prior (bivalent boosters not yet available).
Yes, I had a bivalent vaccination. I am fully boosted. I am going on a trip in March, so I was wondering if I should get another shot. My doctor said no.
UK to end boosters to those <50 in Feb?
https://www.england.nhs.uk/2023/01/nhs-issues-final-call-to-come-forward-for-covid-booster/
Pfizer vaccine will cost $110-130 per dose after the government stops buying it. The price is far higher than the $19.50 per dose Pfizer sold it to the government. Some of the added costs may be due to using single dose packaging instead of bulk packaging. Medical insurance will pay for many people.
By law, all ACA-approved plans must pay for covid vaccines under the Preventive program, i.e., with zero copay or deductibles. Unlike the UK’s National Health Service where the vaccines will not be available for healthies under 50. (But perhaps that is actually good science, and not just single payor rationing.)
Insurance is currently (and has been since the beginning) paying about $90 per shot anyway for administration. This $110 will be on top of that. But that’s not terrible considering what a Covid hospital stay costs. And single dose packaging will cut way down on waste.