Coronavirus

[Cancer]

Are those recommended now?  After my own case in February I have not been paying as much attention.

[Old Man]

Immunity wanes and it’s been over four months since my  last booster. Ymmv. 

[archer]

11 hours ago, Cancer said:

Are those recommended now?  After my own case in February I have not been paying as much attention.

 

Pfizer or Moderna is now recommended for the elderly and also for those who are 50 or older if they're immune compromised. Should be done four months after your first booster.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/second-covid-boosters-whos-eligible-110240712.html

[Cygnia]

Gonna see if I can get one before Origins then.  My 1st booster was back in October.

[unclevlad]

Went ahead and got mine yesterday.

Not having a great day today;  arm soreness is more acute this time, and I think a low-grade cold generally.

 

My feeling is that a booster is likely to be the norm...if a flu shot's advisable, then I think a Covid shot will also be advisable.  Hopefully *just* annually, but we shall see.

[Cancer]

I'm closer to 66 than 65, and my booster was back on Pearl Harbor Day.  So, maybe I should re-up on it.

[Cygnia]

Riot Games Tells Workers to Return to Office Without Vaccines or Masks

[Matt the Bruins]

I'm kind of rolling the dice with risk statistics. I have a family event to attend in Las Vegas this October, so unless a variant surge gets really bad in my neck of the woods I'm going to postpone getting the second booster until early September to maximize my protection while I'll be surrounded by the most people from all over.

[Lord Liaden]

I'd like to get one, but in Ontario they want a five-month gap after our last booster. So I won't be eligible until end of May.

[unclevlad]

5 hours ago, Cygnia said:

Riot Games Tells Workers to Return to Office Without Vaccines or Masks

 

Companies will be caught between a rock and a hard place as we attempt to find a new normal.  I daresay there is NO policy they could set, that would satisfy everyone.

[Cygnia]

Philly Is the First Major U.S. City to Bring Back Its Indoor Mask Mandate

[archer]

4 hours ago, Cygnia said:

Philly Is the First Major U.S. City to Bring Back Its Indoor Mask Mandate

 

About time.

 

I don't think we discussed it here but Washington DC had it's Gridiron Dinner for 630 journalists and politicians about 12 days ago.

 

The 80+ attendees who've came down with COVID from the superspreader event so far include Attorney General Merrick Garland, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sen. Susan Collins, Rep. Adam Schif (the chairman of the Intelligence Committee), Rep. Joaquin Castro, Rep. Elaine Luria, Jamal Simmons (Vice President Kamala Harris' communications director), Michael LaRosa (first lady Jill Biden’s press secretary), NYC Mayor Eric Adams, and Valerie Biden Owens, the president’s sister. 

 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser tested positive after spending time with people who attended the event.

[unclevlad]

NYT story from...certainly less than a week ago...said that the BA.2 surge that was impacting Europe, wasn't showing up in the US.  That's only JUST changing in the last 24-48 hours or so.

 

IMO it's ill-advised to over-react and reimpose mandates before there's enough evidence to say we need them.  I don't see the coronavirus *ever* completely disappearing at this point...like the flu never disappears.  Even if universal vaccination was practical, it would go only so far.  The virus mutates too much.  We need to reach a state where, hopefully, we can treat it like a severe flu variant.  That may not be possible, at least until effective treatments can be developed.  (That's going to be some time.  There won't be the emergency impetus to fast-track it.)  

 

Note, I'm not saying the mayor overreacted.  I don't know enough about the local situation.  While the "nothing to fear, business as usual" response was IMO completely indefensible and irresponsible, the compulsion to slam down at ANY sign of an upswell may be nearly as damaging in the long term.

[Old Man]

The real idiocy is waiting for an upswing before reimposing mandates. Once you wait for an unmistakable signal in the data, it’s too late. Especially now, given that testing programs in most states have gone away. 
 

It still remains to be seen whether BA.2 XA or BA.2 XE are any more dangerous on a case-by-case basis than ordinary BA.2. They are almost certainly more contagious, however. 

[Lord Liaden]

Politics is a factor. How are people going to respond to whatever you do, and how will that impact their voting? Shouldn't be a factor, but it is.

[unclevlad]

You don't want to wait for a huge spike, but there are clear costs for restrictions.  

 

Right now I think we're split between the never-vaxer, no restrictions types, and these days, a hyper-sensitive "do anything and everything to stop it!" position.  The cost of restrictions is hard to measure, but they're certainly out there.

 

I don't have much of a problem with just mask mandates, but even those hurt bars and restaurants, if nothing else.  There's probably no real choice, tho.  The country is simply too polarized for any solution;  short term, this is probably best, even tho long term I think it'll be worse.

[Cygnia]

*sighs in frustration*

 

Cleveland RTA Suspends Mask Mandate on Buses and Trains

[archer]

A federal court overturned the mask mandate on airlines in the US.

[Old Man]

58 minutes ago, archer said:

A federal court overturned the mask mandate on airlines in the US.

 

To be clear, a federal District Court judge who was deemed unqualified by the American Bar Association, has zero experience leading trials in court, and was appointed by Trump after the elections in November, struck down the federal mask mandate on air travel in the U.S. 

 

Further discussion probably belongs in the political thread.

[Lord Liaden]

Right now, 373 million people in China are under COVID lockdown, including the world's largest and fourth or fifth largest ports (Shanghai and Guangzhou, respectively). The entire locked down area accounts for nearly 40% of China's GDP. Even if China starts manufacturing and shipping goods as soon as the lockdown ends, the ports will still have to unload the ships waiting at sea now, and destination ports will have to unload and deliver a huge list of back orders. Expect rising prices and long delays for a wide variety of goods until supply chains recover. Which won't be soon.

[Simon]

Do I need to remind folks that this is NOT the politics thread?

 

Keep it on-topic or I will have to shut this down.

 

For those who haven't been following closely, the immediately offending posts have been removed and warnings issued where appropriate. While there will be inevitable political cross-over, posts should remain on-topic and dealing directly with COVID. 

[Cygnia]

Will COVID ever end? A forgotten pandemic from the late 1800s might offer some clues

[Michael Hopcroft]

On 4/6/2022 at 9:44 AM, unclevlad said:

Went ahead and got mine yesterday.

Not having a great day today;  arm soreness is more acute this time, and I think a low-grade cold generally.

 

My feeling is that a booster is likely to be the norm...if a flu shot's advisable, then I think a Covid shot will also be advisable.  Hopefully *just* annually, but we shall see.

I am inclined to agree. Influenza has not gone away, but it does not cause panic mainly because of the annual shot. An annual (or, if we're really unlucky in our research, quarterly) booster that is generally available at a low enough cost that the system could easily give a vaccine to everybody who wants/needs one -- well, that would be an excellent idea.

 

Some people will not get their shots, nor allow schools to administer shots to their children, so they are likely to continue to suffer for quite some time.

[Tjack]

  An unexpected silver lining during the height of the mask wearing/everybody obsessively washing their hands days was that the incidents of ordinary colds and flu plummeted. Now that people (including myself) have been slacking off they are returning to normal levels.

   I mention this because I currently have a bitca of a cold, and with my respiratory problems it’s a real pain in the a$$.

Keep wearing your masks, friends. 

[Lord Liaden]

I intend to keep wearing my mask and sanitizing my hands in every public gathering place. I haven't had a cold or 'flu in two years, and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

Here in Canada, during the first COVID lockdown period in 2020, hospitalizations due to influenza were only 4% of what they were the previous 'flu season.