Coronavirus 8: One Million Dead in 2022 and We're Only in August

[Ozlsn]

4 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

Tracking the Omicron subvariants is getting more and more complex.

I was reading yesterday about convergent evolution in Omicron, and some of the implications that may have, including the difficulty of identifying new waves, changes in spike protein which may affect vaccine efficacy and reduce immunity.

It's a long read but interesting.

[Smash!]

Looks like I‘ll be able to get the Pfizer B.A 4/5 booster next week in a neighboring country. 🙂 It‘s sad to have to go abroad (and potentially taking away a dose from someone else) in order to get an updated vaccine.

Switzerland still only has approved the B.A 1 boosters. But I‘m also mad at Moderna and Pfizer. Looks like they wait until the EMA (European Medicines Agency) approves the vaccine before they even bother to submit the application for approval for the new vaccines in Switzerland. And Swissmedic checks everything again carefully instead of taking over the approval of the EMA. 🙄 Doesn‘t help that we don‘t have the tool of Emergency Use Authorization.

[Dandruff]

8 hours ago, Smash! said:

Looks like I‘ll be able to get the Pfizer B.A 4/5 booster next week in a neighboring country.

That sounds excellent.  Will you be able to get your vaccination records in Switzerland properly updated?  I'd make sure to get a paper copy at the vax site.

I got my bivalent booster a few weeks ago, got my (new, the old was full) vax card filled out, and had an appointment with my primary care doc about a week later.  When I mentioned that I got the booster she said she could see it - there's now, apparently, electronic access to Covid vax records for medical professionals and I don't know who else.

Mask wearing in my area seems to have really dropped lately.  A few weeks ago it appeared to be at about 30 - 40% indoors.  Now it looks like about 10 - 15%.  Just in time for fall...

[Ozlsn]

13 hours ago, Smash! said:

Looks like I‘ll be able to get the Pfizer B.A 4/5 booster next week in a neighboring country.

I need to get the next booster as well, not sure what's available here right now.

5 hours ago, Dandruff said:

Mask wearing in my area seems to have really dropped lately.  A few weeks ago it appeared to be at about 30 - 40% indoors.  Now it looks like about 10 - 15%.  Just in time for fall...

Our covid isolation requirement ended yesterday except for health/aged care workers, just as the mask requirement on public transport was dropped.  At least we're in spring, although last summer was when we had a major wave. Indoor shopping areas are very low mask numbers - I still feel weird in supermarkets without a mask so am still wearing one.

[Ozlsn]

The Guardian is running a series on long covid, and this article they asked 8 experts from around the world about what they see as the future.

The main takeaways appear to be that we need to be able to distinguish between the different groups of people experiencing long covid, in order to better target studies on treatments, and indeed to better target treatments.  To quote:

"We need to understand that long Covid is not all one thing. Looking for a cure for long Covid is the same as looking for a cure for cancer. We don’t have a singular cure for cancer, we have many targeted treatments, and they have been intelligently derived from physiological sequelae."

Another quote:

"But what I would say to patients is, if you are experiencing some of these most common symptoms, you should seek care. Don’t suffer alone."

 

[Manda]

On 10/3/2022 at 10:32 PM, Jackie3 said:

For example--about 250 people die per day of Hep B. Almost as many as covid! This is inexcusable no matter how I try to twist it.

This has been bugging me.  You continue to lie and twist things.  In 2020 3,943 deaths from all forms of hepatitis were reported to the CDC.  Did you slip deliberately and use a worldwide number?  Shame, shame.  

[Ozlsn]

Hoping this doesn't mean another projected winter wave.

[Coconut Flan]

Yes, winter wave is already in the projections.  

[CTRLZero]

Our friend was scheduled for a minor surgery.  His doctor requested that he delay getting his bivalent booster until after the surgery.  Does anyone know why that would be?  Anyway, even though he was cautious during the pre-surgery weeks, our friend and his wife both contracted Covid.  So he's having to delay his surgery for quite some time as his bout with Covid is very nasty.   I'm amazed at how many people we know are getting it at this point, despite taking precautions.  We are just wondering when our turn will come...

[Smash!]

18 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Hoping this doesn't mean another projected winter wave.

Well this means our officials are worried for winter. Interesting, since the pandemic has been officially over since spring. 

The public transportation companies are already fighting HARD against a possible new mask mandate. 

Lots and lots of mixed signals.

@CTRLZero I hope your friend gets better soon!

“Being cautious“ means different things to different people. So unless you know exactly which precautions your friend took I wouldn’t be too worried for yourself. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Smash!

[Dandruff]

COVID positivity rates are up in parts of NYC, with new Omicron variants rising (BQ.1 and BQ.1.1).  I hope this isn't a harbinger for a fall surge in the US but, aside from the numbers being some sort of quickly-receding local phenomenon, the news is concerning.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/covid-rates-back-above-20-in-parts-of-manhattan-as-virus-rebounds/3913772/

I'm glad I got my bivalent booster.  Am still masking in stores, doctor's offices, and public transportation.  I wonder if/when I'll eventually get COVID and how bad it might be, but am not dwelling on it.  I hope, if/when the NY surge gets to the DC area, that people here will start masking up again.

[Coconut Flan]

It's predicted to be the beginning of a fall/winter wave.  The uncertainty is the size/wave height.

[Coconut Flan]

Tentative data from Europe shows the fall wave may already have peaked in France, Germany, and Italy.  Their cases have possibly begun trending down.  If so we might get a shorter lower wave peaking about a month into it.  

[Smash!]

Went over the border, paid 50 Euros and got my B.A 4/5 booster 😃 

[Dandruff]

25 minutes ago, Smash! said:

Went over the border, paid 50 Euros and got my B.A 4/5 booster 😃 

Congratulations!  Hope your side effects are few to none.

Why did you have to pay for the shot?

[Smash!]

2 hours ago, Dandruff said:

Congratulations!  Hope your side effects are few to none.

Why did you have to pay for the shot?

Thank you!

Because non-residents of the country have to pay a fee. I could’ve gotten the shot here for free, but at the moment only the B.A 1 booster is available. Since cases are going up fast and the next variant here is likely a relative of B.A 5 I didn’t wanna wait until the updated bivalent booster is approved here.

[clueliss]

Well, here’s an interesting tidbit about lingering genetic mutations after the Black Death centuries ago,  and how that should concern us because hey, genetic mutations possible with Covid (specifically diabetes)

 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRH42y5t/

[Smash!]

So yesterday was my first time Pfizer after four doses of Moderna. Those side effects are something else. Muscle sores and so so fatigued. Took some pain killers and now I‘m feeling somewhat functional.

[Coconut Flan]

I had the first Pfizer after four Moderna (always had side effects) and only had a barely sore arm.  There is hope.  

[Dandruff]

I had two Moderna after three Pfizer with essentially the same side effects, but they've been slightly more pronounced with Moderna (without lasting any longer).

[clueliss]

Just got my booster.  Pfizer after 3 moderna 

[Ozlsn]

News article about a US study looking at long covid, has some interesting background.

McComsey, who has spent the last two decades studying HIV, said that the data they have found so far paints a picture that is eerily familiar.

“Now I just look at it, and I’m like gosh, it’s like a déjà vu,” McComsey said.

If the idea that the behavior of the SARS-CoV-2 virus might have any similarities to HIV is news to you, you aren’t alone. But McComsey said that for the HIV researchers who have made the crossover to studying this new coronavirus, the similarities that emerged were unmistakable.

...

To be clear, McComsey isn’t suggesting that the viruses themselves are similar. Coronaviruses are not retroviruses like HIV, nor are they sexually transmitted like HIV. But it’s the way they make the people they infect sick that caught her attention. It hides in the body and continues to wreak havoc in the various organ system by driving inflammation and disrupting the immune response.

“HIV patients don’t die from the virus itself. They die from immune activation – from the high levels of inflammation that causes cancer, heart disease, liver and kidney disease,” she said.

..

An early pre-print autopsy study from the NIH has found the virus throughout the body – in a wide range of tissues including muscle, fat, gut, and brain tissue of patients who died with COVID, and in some cases in those who were asymptomatic, or had mild infections and died many months later. This proving, the authors say, that SARS-Cov-2 is capable of persisting in the body for many months after infection.

They're recruiting for a study, link in the article.

[Smash!]

More on Covid and cardiovascular diseases: 

 

[clueliss]

20 hours ago, clueliss said:

Just got my booster.  Pfizer after 3 moderna 

Well, that’s interesting.  Moderna 2 I had symptoms beyond the sore arm.  Moderna 3, my December 2022 kicked my butt.  This Pfizer?  Sore arm.  Bit of a headache (but that may not necessarily be from the vaccine).  
 

Although I do wonder if the lack of reaction is from not having the exact same vaccine as before.  

[Smash!]

56 minutes ago, clueliss said:

Well, that’s interesting.  Moderna 2 I had symptoms beyond the sore arm.  Moderna 3, my December 2022 kicked my butt.  This Pfizer?  Sore arm.  Bit of a headache (but that may not necessarily be from the vaccine).  
 

Although I do wonder if the lack of reaction is from not having the exact same vaccine as before.  

For me it was pretty much the opposite. With the Moderna shots it felt like I had a cold the next day. This Pfizer booster? Kicked my butt. Ended up laying in bed all day with flu like symptoms. Extreme fatigue, no appetite, my whole body hurt, legs felt heavy when going to the bathroom. The next day almost all symptoms were gone tough.