COVID August - Vaccines, etc. @ Content

[neverfstop]

Didn't see a COVID thread on the first page.

What's the vibe now? I feel like it's not an anybody's radar and I don't know anybody that's had it recently.

I was just thinking about back to school and the flu vaccine my kids usually get in August or September & was wondering if kids/adults are due for a COVID booster. 

[pixy0stix]

I read in passing that there's going to be an updated vaccine this fall, but there was no timeline in the article.

[mrshandy]

@@@@@

Anybody else get a survey phone call about COVID vaccines from the CDC?

I answered their questions, but honestly couldn't remember how many doses me or my kids have had. I'm like as many as you would give me.

[rubytue]

Like pixy0stix , I feel I’ve read stuff in passing. I feel like updated shots in September. Like the annual flu shot. Personally, I’ll get it in November, so it’s nice and ripe for my winter vacation.

FDA has approved for “fall” www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/updated-covid-19-vaccines-use-united-states-beginning-fall-2023

edit, JH public health on call has a good discussion of vaccine that will be available publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/looking-ahead-at-covid-flu-and-rsv-vaccines-for-fall-2023

[seeyalater52]

There will be a booster this fall, anticipated at least for adults. No specific info about a kids booster yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Most covid surveillance has all cut ceased post-public health emergency so there really isn’t a lot of data about trends anymore. The best data comes from wastewater which isn’t available everywhere but from reports I’ve seen it looks like cases are ticking up right now, especially in hottest areas of the country. I imagine back to school season will spike it more. The good news is that cases and wastewater etc stabilized fairly low (relatively speaking) this spring and summer so big spikes at least for the time being don’t mean REALLY high numbers.

Anecdotally I know several families who have recently had covid, including some who have kept ip precautions since the start.

[rubytue]

Like seeyalater52, anecdotally I’ve also seen some Covid positives recently, after none since April.

[wanderingback]

@@&@

My daughter gets her 3rd dose this week finally!

I’m still masking, will likely drop more and more in a few weeks. I plan to continue masking on the subway, train or airplane.
I still eat outside if that’s an option.

We got notification at our office that this week (I think) is the last week to order the vaccine the way it’s currently being done. I guess after this since there’s no more public health emergency the orders have to be done directly through the vaccine manufacturers and not through the city and state.

I’m looking forward to learning more about booster updates for the fall.

[Jalapeñomel]

Three people around me currently have COVID.

[noodleoo]

Per wastewater for my area (MA), Covid cases are currently increasing. This is confirmed anecdotally where I know a few people who have had it in the last few weeks. I like to follow Your Local Epidemiologist for updates. Here's her most recent post about the current Covid surge. I highly recommend subscribing to her email newsletter.

yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/riding-the-covid-19-waves-2023-style

I flew to DC this past weekend and went to several very crowded museums, so I'm keeping an eye out for symptoms since 3/4 of my family hasn't had it since the Omicron surge in Jan 2022. H had it in May and the rest of us managed to avoid it even though we didn't realize he had it for 2 days.  Once he tested positive, he isolated.  I hope we don't get it from our trip as we have our big vacation coming up next week! <fingers crossed>

[Velar Fricative]

Timely, as I just today left isolation. 2/4 members of our household just had it (I caught it from the other person), the other two somehow managed to escape it despite nobody isolating from each other in the house. So covid indeed still exists and spreads in unpredictable ways. 

My workplace has proven to be an excellent barometer of the covid spread, at least locally; all positive results need to be submitted to us and I oversee ~150 staff. I went months with no reports (maybe the last one was in March?) and then starting around the end of June we started getting some. Not a huge surge or anything, but maybe 1-2 per week at different sites and still going and going (just got a report today of a new case). It started out infecting people who had never had it before but now it's a mix. I'm in NYC so if this is a noticeable surge other parts of the country may start seeing modest spikes soon? Wastewater evidence lines up pretty well with my anecdotal evidence.

My bout this time (second time) was much milder and did what it did much quicker compared to when I first got it in June 2022 - that was rough and long. Other family member was asymptomatic the first time (January 2021) and had very mild and quick symptoms this time. I did get a second booster this past fall so I'd like to think that helped since it was more varient-specific? I don't know. I just want my taste and smell back (it's been 3 days, lost them for a full week last time). I'll be ready for a new shot whenever it comes out this fall.

[erbear]

I actually know quite a few people who have Covid right now but it seems like precautions have gone out the window. They are reasonable humans and have thus been staying home and masking for a few days after but I think this is unusual, unfortunately. 

@@ there was no mention of protocols in our back to school email

[Velar Fricative]

Oh, and no actual protocols here either, BUT free covid tests are still getting distributed and still seem abundant city-wide. I have a lot at home, it's amazing how I figured my stock was overkill but then one person gets it and there are four tests out the window that day and then three every day thereafter for a bit.

[StrawberryBlondie]

I was just curious last week and was able to make an appointment for a booster (I didn't make one, was just curious if I could).

I was hoping I could get one before we go on vacation this fall. If I have to wait until the updated one comes out, NBD but I'd prefer to get a booster before stepping on a plane.

[abs]

It just went through my house last month. All 3 of us got it and it sucked. When we had it in May 2022 it was no big deal but our vaccines were more current then. I’ll be getting an updated booster if they are available because we were all down for about a week each.

Wastewater surveillance shows numbers are definitely way up here. Just in time for school!

[mrsukyankee]

Nothing in the UK - no boosters upcoming, no testing, no talking about it at all.

[wawa]

I got an email from the pharmacy where I got my shots letting me know that they were planning to have stock of the new booster in the fall and we should come in and get it once it's there.
otherwise I would have had no clue.

[macmars45]

My H, DS(7) and I just had our first bout of covid. As in DS just tested negative today. We all tested positive for 13 days even though we had 0 symptoms except feeling more tired than usual by day 6ish. It was crazy.

My grandma & mom also got covid at the same time.

We are business as usual in my red city. Someone just said to me on Saturday that covid is a cold now. I had just tested negative the day before and quickly set them straight.

I'm crossing everything that there's a vaccine for adults & kids this fall.

[hermione]

I read that the CDC(? - not sure I am remembering the correct agency) is planning a marketing blitz for the new fall shot that centers on educating people to expect this will now be yearly like the flu shot. I think they'd get more uptake if someone could figure out how to combine covid/flu shots into one.

[pixy0stix]

As part of "things I need to check on" I need to see if my doc office is now doing covid vaccines, or if they're still outsourcing them to pharmacies. I'd like to get both flu and covid done together and just spend one miserable weekend with sore arms instead of spacing them out.

[waverly]

We got Covid on Labor Day weekend last year, so our last Covid shot was delayed until December. We didn't get the flu shot fast enough and got the flu in October.

So my plan is to get the flu shot earlier like end of August/ beginning of September, and then the Covid shot when available.

[gardengal]

I’m excited about annual Covid shots. That seems to be good news.

I know Covid can cause serious, life long issues so tracking deaths isn’t perfect or even ideal but I did read a few weeks ago (can’t find it now) that excess deaths are back to pre Covid levels. I definitely wish we still had good case & testing data though.

[Velar Fricative]

Aug 2, 2023 12:43:43 GMT -5 gardengal said:

I’m excited about annual Covid shots. That seems to be good news.

I know Covid can cause serious, life long issues so tracking deaths isn’t perfect or even ideal but I did read a few weeks ago (can’t find it now) that excess deaths are back to pre Covid levels. I definitely wish we still had good case & testing data though.

Correct: www.nbcbayarea.com/news/coronavirus/excess-covid-deaths-pre-pandemic-levels/3274554/

I don't think we'll ever get back to good case/testing data. I mean, I just had covid and only tested at home, there was no one for me to call to report my case, and I didn't call my doctor because the symptoms were much more manageable this time versus the last time I had it. Same with the other person in our house who had it the same time I did. I think wastewater is where it needs to be for case surges, because even the biggest covid deniers can't avoid doing what needs to be done. In fact if I'm remembering correctly, there was a freaking case (or small cluster of cases) of polio in NY about a year ago and it was detected through wastewater. 

[tacokick]

They did finally launch a HHS office focused on long Covid research. Probably a good idea since It’s estimated that up to 23 million people in the United States have developed long Covid.


www.cnn.com/2023/07/31/health/long-covid-research-office/index.html

[bee20]

To add to the anecdotes in this thread, the CDC is reporting a summer surge started in July.

"We've seen the early indicators go up for the past several weeks, and just this week for the first time in a long time we've seen hospitalizations tick up as well," Jackson says. "This could be the start of a late summer wave."

Hospitalizations jumped 10% to 7,109 for the week ending July 15, from 6,444 the previous week, according to the latest CDC data.

The increases vary around the country, with the virus appearing to be spreading the most in the southeast and the least in the Midwest, Jackson says.

-NPR

[shauni27]

I follow Covid trends pretty closely for work, mostly in my region only, but I did hear the NPR story that bee20 posted and it tracks with what I am seeing locally. We are not seeing an increase in hospitalizations or even serious cases but an increase in positive cases for sure.

We were seeing single digit positives per week at my large health center and now we are seeing a couple per day.

[glw]

Like others have said, I just saw an interview with our epidemiologist saying that there was a July rise in number of cases, but not a corresponding rise in hospitalizations or deaths.

"Both of the last two years, we saw a noticeable summer peak in COVID admissions and deaths. We really aren't seeing that at all this summer, for the first time since the start of the pandemic. So I think that's overall good news. So people may still be getting sick, but they're not getting really sick... A fair amount of immunity to COVID-19 now is due to people having gotten sick themselves, not just the vaccine, and I think that's providing some ongoing protection now. But certainly we've seen this both of the past two summers as well: There was a big surge in the winter, and then a smaller rebound right around this time—which, again, we're not seeing in terms of serious illness, but in terms of cases we might."

Also predicting an early flu season again this year (Oct/Nov rather than Jan/Feb).


ETA: this is the full interview if you want to listen:  publichealth.jhu.edu/headlines/public-health-on-call-podcast 

[Velar Fricative]

Yay for more anecdotal evidence, but I've been chatting with the people at work who also just had covid and it's a mixed bag in terms of symptom levels (though none required hospitalization or Paxlovid). The first-timers all seemed to feel similarly to what I felt my first time (lots of body aches, fatigue, congestion - overall more flu-like). This one felt like a cold for me (in 2019 I would have gone into work every day like this except for the day I felt minor aches). Other person in the house who had it felt mild cold-like symptoms but they were asymptomatic the first time. This was the fourth time for someone else at work (also immunocompromised) and she said this was her most uncomfortable bout. Another has it for the second time now and he's feeling worse than the first time. I'm still the only damn person losing taste and smell lolsob (I haven't had them since Sunday, took a full week to come back the first time).

Basically, I don't understand anything about anything.

[aurora]

Adding to the anecdotes, it's been going around my parents' friends in the city where they live, but so far they have avoided it.

I am sure there are cases in my city but nobody I know has had it recently.

[al dente]

My H tested positive yesterday, for the first time! It went through our house twice previously but he was gone both times and somehow never got it while traveling for work. It's been close to a year since we had it so I'm really hoping no one else gets it.

But it also made me realize I have no idea what COVID protocol is. Do I tell work? Is it taboo to be doing stuff if someone in your household is positive? Is Paxlovid still recommended for everyone immediately? His doctor just said to stay home and nothing else.

[wanderingback]

Aug 3, 2023 19:49:24 GMT -5 al dente said:

My H tested positive yesterday, for the first time! It went through our house twice previously but he was gone both times and somehow never got it while traveling for work. It's been close to a year since we had it so I'm really hoping no one else gets it.

But it also made me realize I have no idea what COVID protocol is. Do I tell work? Is it taboo to be doing stuff if someone in your household is positive? Is Paxlovid still recommended for everyone immediately? His doctor just said to stay home and nothing else.

The recommendation for quarantine if you’re exposed went away awhile back. It’s recommended that you wear a mask and test yourself on day 6 of exposure. Obviously if you’re living with someone and they don’t isolate then hard to figure out exactly when day 6 is. However, what we did when I had Covid in Jan for the first time is I immediately started wearing a mask pretty much 24/7 and isolated as much as possible from my partner (we didn’t sleep together) and then he tested on days 6-10. Once he was still negative on day 10 we figured he was in the clear.

If he’s not going to isolate then I personally would wear a mask when out like is recommended and test regularly.