COVID-19 III: No Politics For Thee

[Kevin Bresnahan]

53 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Third Moderna Saturday at Publix. Since boosters for everybody is the policy now, I wonder if, for a brief time, getting appointments at Publix will be as difficult as it was for the first month or so when they made the vaccines available.

 

It is disconcerting to hear someone had J&J and died.  I know the odds aren't perfect for avoiding hospitalization, but they are very very good. Do you know Bresna if they had co-morbidities?

I didn't know him personally but his manager, who I do know, says that he was in good health otherwise. According to him, everyone was very shocked because it happened so fast. He was in work, went home sick one day with cold-like symptoms, went to the hospital a few days later, got intubated for a few days and then died. It was over in less than two weeks.

Just to add - and I'm not saying that happened here - there was at least one person in my building who claimed that he got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and didn't actually get it. This seems to be a thing among some anti-vaxxers. They go as far as to get fake vaccination cards and submit them as proof of vaccination for work & travel purposes. The guy here in my building who falsely claimed he was vaccinated didn't go that far but he definitely tried faking the system by telling everyone he was vaccinated. He eventually got the J&J vaccine because his wife made him get it.

My company has a vaccine mandate that starts December 1st. They are still reviewing all the exemption requests. Many of the request are for religious reasons.

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, bresna said:

I didn't know him personally but his manager, who I do know, says that he was in good health otherwise. According to him, everyone was very shocked because it happened so fast. He was in work, went home sick one day with cold-like symptoms, went to the hospital a few days later, got intubated for a few days and then died. It was over in less than two weeks.

Just to add - and I'm not saying that happened here - there was at least one person in my building who claimed that he got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and didn't actually get it.

That possibility would help explain how quickly he went, actually.  Or waning immunity if he got J&J early.  Plus J&J had the least statistically impressive results.

Anyway ... once again no brief physical response indicative of mild disease. Just a hellaciously sore arm. Maybe they misunderstood and gave me shingles instead.

 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

The daughter of one of my co-workers, who sits in one of the offices next to mine, got married last weekend. My co-worker, his son and quite a few people in the wedding reception are now sick with Covid. Luckily, they were all vaccinated but I am in a remote meeting with him now and he sounds terrible. He's got a pretty bad case. Lucky for him that he's vaccinated if he's this bad. He says he's getting better... I hope that continues.

Maine's hospitalizations are now at a record high.

[Dan Gould]

Happy to report that my wife (finally) has an appointment for Pfizer at CVS tonight. This is her first shot, and the final impetus for her was that her Mother/Aunt/Sister warned her that her presence might not be encouraged for Mom/Aunt's birthday celebration next month -  unless she finally does something about vaccination. (We aren't sure if half a vaccine will be sufficient for them or not, she's going to find out, which will ruin the prior surprise appearances that have been engineered for her Mother's sake.)

My wife is not opposed to vaccines, but she does have a history of multiple severe allergies and she wasn't, shall we say, extremely proactive about figuring it out and getting it done.  And it did not help that her current (I use the term advisedly) doctor basically told her that all she could say is that there are vaccines available, and you have to decide for yourself. Getting her to find and consult with another doctor was damn near impossible, for one reason or another, usually work-related.

Finally I did one google search and sent her two links: The CDC page on vaccines and allergy sufferers and a Cleveland Clinic page about the ingredients for each vaccine.  She did her own research, and determined that Moderna has some ingredient related to aspirin, while Pfizer didn't. So Pfizer it is.

I am probably going with her tonight just to be there in case anything bad happens in those first 15 minutes.

[JSngry]

fwiw...my granddaughter (age 4) caught it at her preschool, had a fever for an hour, and then was asymptomatic for the rest of the time.

We spent Halloween with her, they sent everybody home the following Tuesday. and she tested positive, results back on Thrsday.

The next day, I got a Pfizer booster, a flu shot, and took a test to see if I had picked it up.

Saturday, I found out that I had.

Meanwhile, back in the jungle, Brenda had a hip replacement surgery the Tuesday after Halloween and came home that Wednesday. So now we were balancing quarantine and care-giving. There's a sitcom in there, somewhere...

She was able to get out of the house on Saturday to get tested. She tested negative, and did so again this past Saturday, after spending all that time with me.

I was basically asymptomatic the entire time. A little achy for a day, and a little more easily tired than usual for a week or so, but nothing dramatic. Still working from home and they gave me two weeks to not work at all. I only needed one week, to be honest.

The granddaughter, meanwhile, has remained as active and bouncy as always.

My takeaway from all this is that the vaccine regimen works. Even though I tested positive, all that vaccine goop in me kept the damage at bay. It could have been SO much worse. I feel blessed. Totally.

My other takeaway is that a state administration which proactively forbids individual, privately owned day cares & preschools from requiring masks is  presenting a clear and present concrete danger to its entire citizenry. One kid in the same class as my granddaughter ended up in the pediatric ICU with a collapsed lung. Perhaps nothing is a 100% effective prevention, but dammit, asking kids to wear a mask to a preschool/day care under the current conditions is as close as you can get. These are young children, and if we can't take reasonable actions to protect them (and by extension, all of us), then we are sick mentally and spiritually. It's a freaking death cult is what it is.

[mjazzg]

Moderna booster yesterday. High fever, muscle and joint pain, generally feeling crap today. NHS website says 48 hours of this, ho hum.  That'll teach me to have no reaction to the two AZ doses earlier.

[Rabshakeh]

1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

Moderna booster yesterday. High fever, muscle and joint pain, generally feeling crap today. NHS website says 48 hours of this, ho hum.  That'll teach me to have no reaction to the two AZ doses earlier.

Yeah, my moderna number two wiped me out. I haven’t been that sick since I was in my early twenties.

[Rooster_Ties]

My Moderna booster last week (after my J&J, 6 months ago) — made my arm sore as hell…

But other than being a little tired, both of my Shingrix shingles shots earlier in the year were way worse — chills all night and overnight, shivering, and my teeth were even chattering after my first Shingrix shot (even bungled up under 2-3 layers covers).

[jazzcorner]

My first 2 injections with Pfizer (8 month ago)  didnt touch me at all.

Now looking forward to by booster (Moderna)  I dont like what I can read above.

But I have to take it on behalf of my fixed appointment on Dec. first. Otherwise i can wait month to get an appointment.

The complete organization now in Germany is the pure chaos. Those responsible politicians are simply shrinkheads is all I can say.

 

 

Edited November 25, 2021 by jazzcorner

[Rooster_Ties]

1 hour ago, jazzcorner said:

My first 2 injections with Pfizer (8 month ago)  didnt touch me at all.

Now looking forward to by booster (Moderna)  I dont like what I can read above.

But I have to take it on behalf of my fixed appointment on Dec. first. Otherwise i can wait month to get an appointment.

The complete organization now in Germany is the pure chaos. Those responsible politicians are simply shrinkheads is all I can say.

From what I’ve read, Moderna is the longest acting immuno-response. Even if you get a strong reaction to the vaccine, personally I think it may well be worth it.

[Dan Gould]

3 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

From what I’ve read, Moderna is the longest acting immuno-response. Even if you get a strong reaction to the vaccine, personally I think it may well be worth it.

I've had Moderna 3X now, no bodily reaction; worst of the arm pain after #3. I do think its the best option available though the differences probably are pretty small.

Update on the Mrs: No immediate reaction last night however very sore arm now and also tired, though no other flu-type symptoms. And her mother has said now that first shot 9 days before visit is good enough for her - she's welcome to go to south Florida next weekend.

[Rooster_Ties]

29 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

I've had Moderna 3X now, no bodily reaction; worst of the arm pain after #3. I do think its the best option available though the differences probably are pretty small.

My arm was very sore for 36 hours, but I’d get the Moderna again if I had it to do over. I’m sure Pfizer is good too — and I’m not trying to talk it down — but there was no way in heck I’d get J&J again.

That said, J&J was deemed “effective” at the time — and in defense of all these drug manufacturers, they were all doing their damnedest at the time to develop a vaccine under the gun, with no way to know the various longterm effectiveness of each one.

We are all lucky there were multiple “good” options developed so quickly, including J&J (even if it doesn’t appear to last as long).

It’s too easy to Monday-morning quarterback all this, and I’m trying not to be hyperbolic about my not wanting J&J again — especially since theirs could have just as easily been the best one as far as anyone knew…

…but ESPECIALLY since so many people around the world haven’t even been vaccinated yet (some of whom will yet die of Covid), while so many of us here in the US and other parts of the “western world” have the privilege to be debating 3rd booster shots.

In other words, I’m trying to be mindful of how lucky most of us are — I’m assuming practically all of us on this board — to have such easy and free access to multiple vaccines and boosters on top of that.

Edited November 25, 2021 by Rooster_Ties

[jazzcorner]

13 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

From what I’ve read, Moderna is the longest acting immuno-response. Even if you get a strong reaction to the vaccine, personally I think it may well be worth it.

Thanks thats good news.

What I've herd  is that the "booster"  term uses only 50% volume instead the full injection as for the fist & second injections.

Looking with good faith now forward to it.

 

[mjazzg]

1 hour ago, jazzcorner said:

Thanks thats good news.

What I've herd  is that the "booster"  term uses only 50% volume instead the full injection as for the fist & second injections.

Looking with good faith now forward to it.

 

48 hours after and all side effects have gone apart from some tiredness. Worth 24 hours discomfort for the protection afforded, definitely

[Brad]

There is a new variant from South Africa causing alarm. Said to be a huge step in evolution from previous variants. Many nations, as a result, have closed their borders. The financial world has reacted with alarm.  NYSE stock futures are down 800 points. It’s going to be a bloodbath today. 

[Rooster_Ties]

3 hours ago, jazzcorner said:

What I've herd  is that the "booster"  term uses only 50% volume instead the full injection as for the fist & second injections.

I understand only the Moderna booster is 50% of the ‘regular’ dose for the 1st and 2nd shots. BUT that Moderna may actually still be stronger.

From a Reddit thread I saw on Nov 17 (I know the date, because I txt-msg’d this to my cousin on that day)…

In the comments on a Reddit thread, two different Reddit posters cited these particular figures about Moderna vs Pfizer:

“A Pfizer full shot is 30 micrograms of mRNA, whereas a full shot of Moderna is 100 micrograms. So a half shot (booster) of Moderna (at 50 micrograms) is still more mRNA than a full shot of Pfizer.” …and nobody else on Reddit refuted these figures. So (yes) I don’t have a source, but I think this is more than likely accurate. (But whether that’s really “apples to apples” or not, I guess I’m not sure.)

FWIW, I went with Moderna for my booster anyway, despite the “50% dose” thing — which I knew before making my decision.

Oh, also, my wife’s doctor of ~6 years said she felt strongly that Moderna booster was the best of all the options — although I didn’t hear this until after I’d already gotten my Moderna booster (and after my wife had gotten her Pfizer booster).

Edited November 26, 2021 by Rooster_Ties

[GregK]

On 11/24/2021 at 9:48 AM, Dan Gould said:

 

Finally I did one google search and sent her two links: The CDC page on vaccines and allergy sufferers and a Cleveland Clinic page about the ingredients for each vaccine.  She did her own research, and determined that Moderna has some ingredient related to aspirin, while Pfizer didn't. So Pfizer it is.

 

just wanted to clear something up here. There is nothing related to aspirin in the Moderna, or the Pfizer vaccines. They each contain different lipid mixtures that make up the nanoparticle that delivers the mRNA to cells. The remainder is buffer.

[Brad]

The only possible ingredient found in both aspirin and the vaccines are sugar and corn starch but these are inactive ingredients only. 

[Dan Gould]

On 11/27/2021 at 6:21 AM, GregK said:

just wanted to clear something up here. There is nothing related to aspirin in the Moderna, or the Pfizer vaccines. They each contain different lipid mixtures that make up the nanoparticle that delivers the mRNA to cells. The remainder is buffer.

I didn't question my wife about the details she only said she looked up each item in each vaccine to try to determine if it could be risky to her. So I'll mention your info to her. Hardly matters in the end she took Pfizer so she's going to take it again in a little more than three weeks.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

On 7/14/2020 at 3:22 AM, Soulstation1 said:

I'm going to get tested on Wednesday around 1

My sister is concerned for me 

A close married couple I know tested positive 

Has anyone ever found Jeff's contact info? Given how frequently he used to post here, his last post (above) seems rather ominous.

[Guy Berger]

On 11/26/2021 at 5:37 AM, Brad said:

There is a new variant from South Africa causing alarm. Said to be a huge step in evolution from previous variants. Many nations, as a result, have closed their borders. The financial world has reacted with alarm.  NYSE stock futures are down 800 points. It’s going to be a bloodbath today. 

I think this is somewhat overdone.

The S&P 500 is down something like 3-4% since Thursday.  That's a small decline, not a bloodbath.

It's still not clear how serious this new variant will be - to vaccinated & boosted people, to vaccinated but unboosted people, to unvaccinated previously-infected people, or to unvaccinated and previously-uninfected people.  It's also not clear how contagious it will be compared to prior variants, or whether there's a differential impact on infection efficacy vs serious illness prevention efficacy.  Within two weeks we'll have a better idea.

I think everyone should be aware of it - and get vaccinated (most importantly) and boosted (if they are already vaccinated and 4-6 months past the 2nd dose) - but I don't think panic is warranted, at least not yet.

[clifford_thornton]

12 hours ago, bresna said:

Has anyone ever found Jeff's contact info? Given how frequently he used to post here, his last post (above) seems rather ominous.

oof -- hope he's ok. I knew he had a parent die in the last couple of years, with whom he was very close.

moderna boost today, feel ok but will probably feel less ok tomorrow.

[T.D.]

14 hours ago, bresna said:

Has anyone ever found Jeff's contact info? Given how frequently he used to post here, his last post (above) seems rather ominous.

Inquiries posted several times, no results I noticed.

IIRC, Jeff was also pissed off about something on the forum at the time he disappeared. Can't recall details.

[Dan Gould]

Both of Jeff's parents died during the month of February 2020.

If you go to his profile and search for his content, there's some randomness to the list at first, and then it goes chronological as you might expect.  I saw no posts at all indicating any upset with the board or any board member, going back thru most of 2020.

 

[Brad]

15 hours ago, Guy Berger said:

I think this is somewhat overdone.

The S&P 500 is down something like 3-4% since Thursday.  That's a small decline, not a bloodbath.

It's still not clear how serious this new variant will be - to vaccinated & boosted people, to vaccinated but unboosted people, to unvaccinated previously-infected people, or to unvaccinated and previously-uninfected people.  It's also not clear how contagious it will be compared to prior variants, or whether there's a differential impact on infection efficacy vs serious illness prevention efficacy.  Within two weeks we'll have a better idea.

I think everyone should be aware of it - and get vaccinated (most importantly) and boosted (if they are already vaccinated and 4-6 months past the 2nd dose) - but I don't think panic is warranted, at least not yet.

Well, on the day I posted it went down 900 points. Yesterday wasn’t a great day either although stock futures look good this morning. Pfizer had a great month as their stock hasn’t been this high since the early 90s.